Former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett is currently serving a suspension from mixed martial arts (MMA) competition after being flagged by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), stemming from an out-of-competition test administered on December 9, 2016. Just because Barnett can’t compete inside the Octagon, however, doesn’t mean he won’t be keeping busy by participating in
Former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett is currently serving a suspension from mixed martial arts (MMA) competition after being flagged by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), stemming from an out-of-competition test administered on December 9, 2016.
Just because Barnett can’t compete inside the Octagon, however, doesn’t mean he won’t be keeping busy by participating in other forms of competition. Wrestling Inc. reports that Barnett will be making his pro wrestling debut for a major American promotion at tonight’s Total Nonstop Action (TNA) tapings (Thursday, January 12, 2017) in Orlando, Florida.
The plan is to pair Barnett up with Bellator MMA competitor Bobby Lashley in an angle that sets up a Bellator fighter going one-one-one with a UFC fighter.
Barnett has some experience inside the pro wrestling squared circle, competing for Japanese organizations such as IWGP and IGF, where he defeated Lashley once before at the Tokyo Dome City Hall during a heavyweight championship tournament.
Aside from his in-ring competition, Barnett is also active in the world of pro wrestling as a commentator, working for New Japan Pro Wrestling on AXS for who he just wrapped up doing six weeks worth of voice over material in California.
The 39-year-old’s last Octagon appearance saw him take home a third round submission victory over Andrei Arlovski this past September, but if he is able to conjure up a nice career inside the wrestling ring, Barnett may have found himself a new occupation.
“If you’re gonna take a baseball bat to a Horseman, finish the job! Because there’s one rule of gang fighting. See, we are the original gang and we’re the most vicious in all of professional wrestling history. They send one of yours to the hospital, you send two of theirs to the morgue.”
That the legendary Four Horsemen never feuded with nobodies like Hardbody Harrison — and sure as hell never jobbed to sub-.500 fighters — is completely besides the point. “The Four Horsewomen” have become such a tired joke that even mocking people who criticize how loosely they resemble The Four Horsemen on your social media accounts is completely worn out. Since we’re all in agreement that they need a new name, let’s look to some professional wrestling stables who The Four Horsewomen have resembled far more closely. Here are six that fit the description…
A backwoods cult that’s gotten tremendously over with professional wrestling fans, despite accomplishing very little of note. Why it works: Both factions are led by a compelling, charismatic eccentric. Why it doesn’t: No offense to Bray Wyatt, but Ronda Rousey has accomplished far, far too much for this comparison to work.
“If you’re gonna take a baseball bat to a Horseman, finish the job! Because there’s one rule of gang fighting. See, we are the original gang and we’re the most vicious in all of professional wrestling history. They send one of yours to the hospital, you send two of theirs to the morgue.”
That the legendary Four Horsemen never feuded with nobodies like Hardbody Harrison — and sure as hell never jobbed to sub-.500 fighters — is completely besides the point. “The Four Horsewomen” have become such a tired joke that even mocking people who criticize how loosely they resemble The Four Horsemen on your social media accounts is completely worn out. Since we’re all in agreement that they need a new name, let’s look to some professional wrestling stables who The Four Horsewomen have resembled far more closely. Here are six that fit the description…
A backwoods cult that’s gotten tremendously over with professional wrestling fans, despite accomplishing very little of note. Why it works: Both factions are led by a compelling, charismatic eccentric. Why it doesn’t: No offense to Bray Wyatt, but Ronda Rousey has accomplished far, far too much for this comparison to work.
In ECW, Raven’s Nest were a crucial part of major storylines. In WCW, Raven’s Flock could not have possibly been used more differently.
Why it works: “I don’t think there’s ever been a more over group that lost every single outing,” Raven recently said of his WCW Flock. You can say the same thing about how over The Four Horsewomen are with MMA fans — even if they think the Horseman comparison is a total farce. Why it doesn’t: For the same reason it doesn’t work for The Wyatt Family. Ronda Rousey as Raven may sort-of work when comparing their personalities, but in terms of their accomplishments, it ain’t even close.
Much like MMA fans with “The Four Horsewomen,” professional wrestling fans are trying to pretend that one Warrior nation was never a thing that existed. Sorry for re-opening this wound, guys. Why it works: Imagine Raven’s Flock, if it were led by an accomplished, ultra-charismatic, clearly insane grappler that fans either loved or hated. Why it doesn’t: …except for the whole Halloween Havoc 1998 thing, when Hulk Hogan defeated The Warrior in one of the worst worked matches ever, but that’s another story for another day. As is that time Hulk Hogan saw The Warrior in his mirror…
A cheap, inferior knockoff of one of the greatest stables in professional wrestling history – why does that sound familiar? Why it works: The L.W.O. was Eddie Guerrero and not much else. Why it doesn’t:
See, because they were the entourage of a wrestler named “Awesome Kong.” I don’t care that you didn’t need the explanation. Why it works: A dominant female champion, plus three random ladies who hung out with her. Sounds about right. Why it doesn’t: Because what, are they supposed to call themselves the Rondarage? Egads, that’s unforgivable.
Consider this your daily reminder that The Attitude Era wasn’t nearly as awesome as you remember it being. Why it works: Pretty Mean Sisters is regarded as one of the dumbest, most unnecessary stables in the history of professional wrestling. Plus it has the whole “all members were women” thing going for it. Why it doesn’t: Because there really aren’t enough Al Bundy GIFs on the Internet to properly capture how ridiculous it would be for Ronda Rousey to describe her friends as “The Pretty Mean Sisters of MMA.”
So, what should it be? The Rousey World Order? Rousey’s Flock? Rousey and The J.O.B. Squad? Let us know in the comments section, or tweet your suggestions to @cagepotatomma.
The inevitable has finally occurred: TMZ is reporting that Spike TV has cancelled TNA Impact Wrestling after nine less than spectacular years. It is unclear when the final edition of Impact will air, but TMZ says that TNA’s deal with Spike runs through October. Neither Spike TV nor TNA have released official statements at this time.
So why are we covering the death of a minor-league professional wrestling outfit that did everything it possibly could to run itself out of business on CagePotato.com? Because this is the same promotion that partnered with Bellator to bring us King Mo’s (unintentionally hilarious) wrestling career and Tito Ortiz slugging Rampage Jackson with a hammer. It goes without saying that the Bellator/TNA partnership is about to dissolve, but what can we expect Spike TV to replace TNA Impact with? Will this bring more MMA to Spike TV, or will Spike just find another indie wrestling organization to fill in TNA’s shoes? Your guess is as good as anyone’s at this point, so let’s recklessly speculate for a while.
Isn’t it a little premature to write that TNA Impact Wrestling has been cancelled, considering that TNA could still renew with Spike TV/find a different network?
Sure, Spike TV could still renew TNA Impact, just like someone hypothetically could hold the UFC flyweight and heavyweight titles simultaneously. Not that it matters, but rumor has it that Spike TV executives cancelled Impact because they learned that TNA president Dixie Carter hired Vince Russo as a consultant, even though Spike specifically told her not to give him a job. If that’s true, that’s an oddly appropriate note for a company so hellbent on running itself into the ground to go out on.
As for another network picking up TNA Impact? Take it away, Razor…
The inevitable has finally occurred: TMZ is reporting that Spike TV has cancelled TNA Impact Wrestling after nine less than spectacular years. It is unclear when the final edition of Impact will air, but TMZ says that TNA’s deal with Spike runs through October. Neither Spike TV nor TNA have released official statements at this time.
So why are we covering the death of a minor-league professional wrestling outfit that did everything it possibly could to run itself out of business on CagePotato.com? Because this is the same promotion that partnered with Bellator to bring us King Mo’s (unintentionally hilarious) wrestling career and Tito Ortiz slugging Rampage Jackson with a hammer. It goes without saying that the Bellator/TNA partnership is about to dissolve, but what can we expect Spike TV to replace TNA Impact with? Will this bring more MMA to Spike TV, or will Spike just find another indie wrestling organization to fill in TNA’s shoes? Your guess is as good as anyone’s at this point, so let’s recklessly speculate for a while.
Isn’t it a little premature to write that TNA Impact Wrestling has been cancelled, considering that TNA could still renew with Spike TV/find a different network?
Sure, Spike TV could still renew TNA Impact, just like someone hypothetically could hold the UFC flyweight and heavyweight titles simultaneously. Not that it matters, but rumor has it that Spike TV executives cancelled Impact because they learned that TNA president Dixie Carter hired Vince Russo as a consultant, even though Spike specifically told her not to give him a job. If that’s true, that’s an oddly appropriate note for a company so hellbent on running itself into the ground to go out on.
As for another network picking up TNA Impact? Take it away, Razor…
What are the odds that Vince McMahon buys TNA Wrestling?
This may sound crazy, but I doubt Vince McMahon wants to acquire TNA; frankly, he’s far more interested in what the UFC is doing than anything TNA has ever done. TNA has never been any sort of legitimate threat to his business, and without a television contract, buying them out just means buying a few wrestler contracts and a video library filled mostly with guys he doesn’t want in the first place. As awesome as early AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, and Samoa Joe matches were, there’s no point in making them a part of the WWE video library when none of those guys are ever going to be relevant WWE wrestlers.
Enough wrasslin’ talk, what does this mean for Bellator?
At the very least, it means no more awkward plugs for TNA Impact during Bellator events, and no more Bellator fighters stumbling through cheesy professional wrestling storylines in crossover appearances. That alone is a gigantic plus in my book.
Unfortunately for Bellator, I’m tempted to say not much else. There’s no way that an MMA promotion could pump out enough events to fill in for a professional wrestling show, so let’s not even entertain the idea of Bellator getting a weekly segment on Spike. Even if they could, MMA simply wouldn’t bring in the ratings that professional wrestling brings in; despite being on its deathbed, TNA Impact is averaging more viewers than Bellator’s most-watched event brought in, period. Professional wrestling is cheap content that can bring in decent ratings, even when it’s complete garbage.
So Viacom is going to bring in Ring of Honor/Chikara/Some other indie wrestling promotion, then?
Not necessarily — I wouldn’t be surprised if Viacom was refusing to renew the television deal in order to outright purchase TNA Wrestling. Right now, the Spike TV deal is TNA’s primary source of income. Without that, they’re worth next to nothing (both ECW and WCW were bought out for peanuts when they lost their television deals). As for why Viacom would want to buy the promotion, it’s because the problem with TNA isn’t a lack of talent on the roster, it’s how completely clueless everyone running the company is. In other words, Viacom recognizes that a new, more competent regime would easily lead to better ratings.
By now, you’ve all heard the news: The main event of Bellator’s inaugural pay-per-view has been cancelled due to one of the headliners getting injured only one week out from the fight…again. Except this time around, Bellator isn’t simply moving the remaining card to Spike TV. Instead, Bellator is making Rampage vs. King Mo the new main event, having Michael Chandler fight Will Brooks for a completely meaningless interim lightweight title, moving Alexander Volkov vs. Blagoi Ivanov to the main card, and asking us to kindly fork over our money for this new line-up.
I hate to be pessimistic, but I really don’t think this strategy is going to end well for anyone involved.
The biggest problem with the “Alvarez vs. Chandler III-free” Bellator 120 is that there’s no hook. Every good pay-per-view has to be about something, and if “These two aging light-heavyweights used to really hate each other five years ago” is that something, it’s doubtful that too many fans are going to spend both their money and a Saturday night on it. The boom period for MMA on pay-per-view is long gone. If a new competitor is going to put on a successful pay-per-view event, it’s going to need a stronger product than UFC Lite — it’s going to need something to make it actually stand out.
So it’s in that spirit that I’ve decided to offer up a few last-minute suggestions to make Bellator 120 a more interesting card, to both the casual MMA fans and the grizzled diehards who Bellator is hoping to attract. All of these suggestions are at least a little crazy. Some are crazy enough to actually work. We’ll start off with what I feel is the most practical, then descend further into madness in no particular order…
By now, you’ve all heard the news: The main event of Bellator’s inaugural pay-per-view has been cancelled due to one of the headliners getting injured only one week out from the fight…again. Except this time around, Bellator isn’t simply moving the remaining card to Spike TV. Instead, Bellator is making Rampage vs. King Mo the new main event, having Michael Chandler fight Will Brooks for a completely meaningless interim lightweight title, moving Alexander Volkov vs. Blagoi Ivanov to the main card, and asking us to kindly fork over our money for this new line-up.
I hate to be pessimistic, but I really don’t think this strategy is going to end well for anyone involved.
The biggest problem with the “Alvarez vs. Chandler III-free” Bellator 120 is that there’s no hook. Every good pay-per-view has to be about something, and if “These two aging light-heavyweights used to really hate each other five years ago” is that something, it’s doubtful that too many fans are going to spend both their money and a Saturday night on it. The boom period for MMA on pay-per-view is long gone. If a new competitor is going to put on a successful pay-per-view event, it’s going to need a stronger product than UFC Lite — it’s going to need something to make it actually stand out.
So it’s in that spirit that I’ve decided to offer up a few last-minute suggestions to make Bellator 120 a more interesting card, to both the casual MMA fans and the grizzled diehards who Bellator is hoping to attract. All of these suggestions are at least a little crazy. Some are crazy enough to actually work. We’ll start off with what I feel is the most practical, then descend further into madness in no particular order.
Throw a One-Night Heavyweight Tournament
Tell Rampage, King Mo, Tito Ortiz and Alexander Shlemenko to forget about that pesky cut down to 205, and throw in Cheick Kongo, Eric Smith, Alexander Volkov and Blagoi Ivanov for good measure. Keep the original four fights as the opening round of the tournament, then air Michael Page vs. Rickey Rainey before the semi-finals and Michael Chandler vs. Will Brooks before the tournament championship bout.
Why It Would Work: The appeal of one-night tournaments has been obvious since the dawn of MMA (no matter what you consider that to be), and the tournament concept is consistent with everything Bellator already does. Why It Wouldn’t Work: Well, let’s ignore the fact that this season’s light-heavyweight tournament will be decided by a heavyweight bout in this scenario, and instead focus on how this tournament would guarantee that at least one division’s tournament winner will go on to earn a title shot despite coming off of a loss. Also, anyone who thinks a one-night heavyweight tournament is a fool-proof promotional strategy has clearly never heard of YAMMA Pit Fighting.
On that note…
A One Night Open-Weight Tournament
Embrace your inner-Super Hluk. You know you want to.
Why It Would Work: This is the type of spectacle that practically sells itself to the hardcore fans who remember when staying up until 7 AM to find out that Sakuraba mangled his arm seemed like something a normal human being would do. Why It Wouldn’t Work: This is also the type of spectacle that the Mississippi Athletic Commission would (presumably) frown upon.
BellaTNA: The Hybrid MMA/Professional Wrestling Card
Why It Would Work: At least TNA Impact has a built-in fan base that has demonstrated they’re willing to spend money on the company’s pay-per-view events. And besides, Bobby Lashley is currently on the TNA Roster, so there’s that, I guess. Why It Wouldn’t Work: So, you expect TNA to announce its involvement in the pay-per-view on Thursday’s edition of Impact, hope that fans actually buy it in time for Saturday, and present it to an audience that paid for a show they assumed would only feature MMA bouts? TNA has made some boneheaded business decisions, but this would be a low point even for them.
On the next page: PRIDE, boxing, and the most obvious solution of all…
(“I’ve always considered myself a human being first and a fighter second. Sometimes that isn’t the best thing for my career.” Photo via Getty)
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson got into a car in New York City one afternoon this week, headed to Connecticut. Shortly after he sat down I asked where, specifically, he was headed to in Connecticut and why.
“I’m going to a little place called, ‘None of your damned business.’”
A standard tongue-in-cheek answer from Jackson, really. He was headed to Connecticut to visit a doctor of his.
The former UFC champion is currently on the mend from a number of injuries. He’s also at the start of what he is optimistic will be a flourishing new career with Bellator and Viacom.
After walking out on the UFC earlier this year, Jackson announced in early June that he had signed with the Viacom-owned Bellator Fighting Championships. He will fight there, wrestle on the TNA pro wrestling circuit, appear in a reality show airing on Spike and, he hopes, star in Paramount Pictures films, also owned by Viacom.
Despite this windfall of opportunity, I was a bit concerned for Jackson as an outside observer. Increasingly, he’s sounded less like the terrorizing, hungry fighter that became a world champion and more like an aging veteran content to show up, take lumps and collect a pay check.
“I know that realistically I probably won’t win all my fights in Bellator. But I’ll be damned if I won’t entertain people. I’m going to come over and put on the most exciting fights.”
That sentiment sounded generous, surely, but also a bit unsafe. In response, I wrote that “When a fighter who used to once be driven to be the best now simply hopes to titillate spectators by hitting and being hit, however, it can be a bad sign of damage to come.”
My concern was unfounded, though, Jackson says. Either I wasn’t listening or I didn’t get what he was saying.
(“I’ve always considered myself a human being first and a fighter second. Sometimes that isn’t the best thing for my career.” Photo via Getty)
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson got into a car in New York City one afternoon this week, headed to Connecticut. Shortly after he sat down I asked where, specifically, he was headed to in Connecticut and why.
“I’m going to a little place called, ‘None of your damned business.’”
A standard tongue-in-cheek answer from Jackson, really. He was headed to Connecticut to visit a doctor of his.
The former UFC champion is currently on the mend from a number of injuries. He’s also at the start of what he is optimistic will be a flourishing new career with Bellator and Viacom.
After walking out on the UFC earlier this year, Jackson announced in early June that he had signed with the Viacom-owned Bellator Fighting Championships. He will fight there, wrestle on the TNA pro wrestling circuit, appear in a reality show airing on Spike and, he hopes, star in Paramount Pictures films, also owned by Viacom.
Despite this windfall of opportunity, I was a bit concerned for Jackson as an outside observer. Increasingly, he’s sounded less like the terrorizing, hungry fighter that became a world champion and more like an aging veteran content to show up, take lumps and collect a pay check.
“I know that realistically I probably won’t win all my fights in Bellator. But I’ll be damned if I won’t entertain people. I’m going to come over and put on the most exciting fights.”
That sentiment sounded generous, surely, but also a bit unsafe. In response, I wrote that “When a fighter who used to once be driven to be the best now simply hopes to titillate spectators by hitting and being hit, however, it can be a bad sign of damage to come.”
My concern was unfounded, though, Jackson says. Either I wasn’t listening or I didn’t get what he was saying.
“I have the same attitude now in fighting that I’ve always had,” he tells me from inside the car headed to his doctor in Connecticut.
“People misunderstand what I say. I’ve always fought to entertain the fans, and I think I have a pretty good record [of winning] doing that. A lot of times you win but sometimes you make a mistake. You get caught because you left yourself exposed. I think I’ve done good with that approach. I’ve always been a fighter to entertain, not just to win.
“But when I came to America it got to be a little different because of the fans. The fans here are different and only care if you win. If you lose, they don’t care if you were exciting, or fought injured. In Japan it was different. Maybe it’s just different because they are speaking Japanese and you don’t understand what they say to you [chuckles] but the feeling back there when I fought in Pride is different than what I found when I came to the U.S. and fought in the UFC. I started to care more about winning, and playing it a little more safe. Now I’m just getting back to my roots where my main objective is to entertain.”
His wanting to simply fight in exciting fashion isn’t a sign of Jackson being burned out on MMA, he says. The Memphis native still wants to win. It’s just that focusing on fighting hard and being exciting also makes him a better fighter.
“It takes the pressure off me,” he explains.
“I know when two guys step into the cage, there is a 50% chance that one is going to win and 50% chance that he’s going to lose. I know that. Both fighters can’t be winners every time. So, I can’t focus too much on that and put that pressure on my shoulders. At the end of the day, it’s about entertainment.
“I could go out there and put on boring ass fights for the fans, taking people down and humping them like Chael Sonnen [laughs]. I can go and fight that way but I don’t think people will buy my pay per views. How can you be a fighter named ‘Rampage’ and be taking people down, holding them down, pushing them against the cage? There are a lot of tricks that fighters do like that and I know them all. I just don’t want to use them and fight that way.”
Jackson’s rosy outlook on his new Bellator/TNA deal also sounded a bit naïve, considering how he’s eventually soured on so many prior business dealings in the past decade. “Rampage” once thought Pride was great, then got sick of them and said that Dana White had saved him before then ultimately falling out with the UFC President.
The fighter trusted an old trainer with managing his career and handling his estate, only to become disillusioned when he says he was taken advantage of. Jackson says that his affairs are in much better shape these days.
He’s got a good contract with Viacom and it is the result of solid management. “Right now I’ve got one of the best managers in MMA,” Jackson assures me.
“He’s really good. He’s honest, which is the one thing that is very important to me. A lot of times the public don’t understand that the fighters, when we training for a fight, that’s what we focus on. We don’t want to focus on business while we’ve got to train for a fight. So, a manager is very important. A manager know basically everything about you. My manager now, he’s the one that put together this deal right here and it is one of the best deals I’ve ever had. I’m back on Spike, I’m going to fight, I get to do pro wrestling and I have opportunities for movies. Athletes always say, ‘I could be making more money,’ but I have to say that I’m very happy with this deal and he did a great job. I’m happy with everything.”
Certainly, there is a lot of business to manage in Jackson’s world these days. In addition to fighting, Jackson has already appeared on a TNA wrestling telecast and is pitching a movie script that he’s written to Paramount.
As a matter of fact, “Rampage” says that he just had a meeting with a writer that Viacom sent his way to help him work on his script. “They are helping me write a script. I wrote one but I’m not a script writer. They already got me on TNA and they are working on a fight for me before the year ends. Plus, I’m going to start filming the reality show soon. And, the car they got for me is going to get dropped off Friday.”
Jackson says that pro wrestling has always been a dream for him but acknowledges that the business may be even tougher on one’s body than MMA is. “Pro wrestling looks like it is tougher on the body than MMA because they do it so often,” he observes.
“When I was young I used to fight six times a year. These guys can go six times a month. My style of pro wrestling is going to have to be a style that is not so hard on my body. Maybe it will be a little harder on my opponents. My body has been through it. I’m going to have to bring my own style to wrestling. I’m not going to do crazy high-flying stuff because that’s not me.”
Jackson says that TNA is providing him with a pro wrestling coach and that he will begin to learn how to run the ropes, take falls and everything else involved in the wrasslin’ biz soon. For now, Jackson has to get healthy.
He hasn’t fought since January and doesn’t say how much he weighs at this moment. In the past, however, Jackson has ballooned in weight in between fights — making for tough weight cuts.
“I’ve always considered myself a human being first and a fighter second,” he explains.
“Sometimes that isn’t the best thing for my career but no one is perfect. Ideally, my ideal weight in between fights would be 225 pounds. But that is in a perfect world. I’ve got a lot of muscle on my body. You add a little fat onto that and there you go.”
After filming “The ‘A’-Team” and before fighting Rashad Evans, Jackson had a particularly large amount of weight to lose. He enlisted the help of former fighter and current strength, conditioning and nutrition coach Mike Dolce.
Dolce now works on UFC products in addition to his own coaching business and recently gave an interview where he claimed that Jackson was his most challenging client because the fighter wasn’t honest about what he ate and showed little will-power. Secret stashes of chocolate bars were a constant hindrance, according to Dolce.
Jackson dismisses Dolce’s criticisms. “Mike Dolce is just promoting himself. All that guy does is talk shit,” he says.
“If you look at the Countdown show to fights before I worked with Dolce and while I was working with him, my face actually looked better before I worked with him…I did my last weight cuts myself. I got a chef and did it myself.
“When was the last time Mike Dolce won a fight himself? He says I didn’t win without him. My last three fights I lost because Jon Jones kicked my ass and I was injured for my last two fights. I didn’t lose because of my weight. I’m a human being first and a fighter second…I don’t eat, sleep and breathe this stuff. I nibble a little bit sometimes. All you have to do is eat clean to lose weight. He has the ‘Dolce Diet’ and tries to fool people into thinking it is something special. Everything in the ‘Dolce Diet’ you can learn yourself by searching on the internet.”
Feuds, new business deals and everything else aside, if Jackson is going to continue fighting and do so before the end of the year, he’ll need to properly motivated to do so. He insists that he is.
His hunger to compete is back. Once he heals up, Jackson says he’s eager to get inside the cage once more. “Yeah. I can’t wait,” he says.
“I just want my body to get as close to 100% as it can. I’ve been fighting injured for a while. Fans don’t see that. All they see is you losing. They don’t see you missing training. All they see is you getting your ass kicked. What I’ve got to do is get my body right.”
