Dana White may need more than a background as an aerobics boxing instructor to save him from Vincent Kennedy McMahon.In March, the UFC President broke the news during an appearance on L’antichambre, a Canadian talk show, that McMahon had challenged him…
Dana White may need more than a background as an aerobics boxing instructor to save him from Vincent Kennedy McMahon.
In March, the UFC President broke the news during an appearance on L’antichambre, a Canadian talk show, that McMahon had challenged him to a fight in the UFC or at WWEWrestlemania, an annual event serving as the Super Bowl for professional wrestling.
The fight was quickly shot down by White, who claimed McMahon was “too old” to be fighting.
McMahon may have a flare for the dramatics, but he has shown throughout the years that he isn’t afraid to slap some baby oil on the old pythons and step into the ring.
Sure, a bout between McMahon and White would be an obvious train wreck, and we all should be ashamed of ourselves for even thinking it into existence, blah-blah-blah. Are we done party pooping yet?
The proposed fight would obviously rake in plenty of dough and steal a lot of attention from major news outlets. It couldn’t be any worse than some of MMA‘s other circus endeavors, including Randy Couture vs. James Toney and Hong Man Choi vs. Jose Canseco.
The bout is already catching fire with legends in both Boxing and MMA, who are eagerly stepping up to give their predictions.
Boxing Hall of Famer Mike Tyson, who has been involved with both the UFC and WWE, recently spoke with Ariel Helwani at UFC on FUEL TV and gave his thoughts on the boss vs. boss superfight:
“Oh, that’s a tough one. That’s a tough one because Vince is pretty big and tough and he got the wrestling moves down. Let’s stick with Vince in that one.”
One thing that has to be taken into consideration is the obvious gap in age.
White is sitting comfortably at 43-years-old as a middle-aged man, but McMahon, who turns 68 in August, is creeping well into his senior years.
Perennial UFC title contender ChaelSonnen believes McMahon is biting off more than he can chew in challenging White. In a post on Twitter, Sonnen predicted White would dominate McMahon in an MMA bout.
Perhaps McMahon is “too old” to be fighting, but how many men in their 60’s receive an opportunity to grace the front cover of Muscle & Fitness?
There will be those who ridicule McMahon for dishing out absurd challenges, but his willingness to put himself in harm’s way for the entertainment of others has earned him tremendous respect from many athletes.
During an interview with Ring Rust Radio, UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock gloated over McMahon’s ability to always step up and practice what he preached:
“Dana always talks and talks and talks, but I’ve never seen him do anything. I’ve saw Vince talk, talk and talk and he has done something. He has gotten into the ring. He has participated with the fighters and the wrestlers. I have not seen Dana White do that. I’ve seen him call out Tito [Ortiz], like they were gonna fight, and it never happened.”
For a small minority, this bout might have actually drawn up some competitive interest, but yours truly would have tuned in just to see “Vinnie Mac” do his patented strut to the Octagon with “No Chance in Hell” blaring in the background.
Perhaps White could even pull a Floyd Mayweather Jr. and pay for a rapper to bust out a few lines during his walk to the cage.
Snoop Dogg anyone?
It would be a dream to see White and McMahon put on a pair of four ounce gloves and step into the Octagon, but the UFC has nothing to gain from co-promoting with the WWE. The two worlds are separated for a reason. White works in the sports industry, and McMahon deals in the entertainment industry.
Unfortunately, hell would probably freeze over before this bout comes to fruition, and that’s the bottom line, ’cause Dana White said so.
So I guess it should come as no surprise then that according to Dana White, Vince McMahon once challenged him to a fight. As he told the media leading up to tonight’s UFC 158:
(I have nothing funny to say, so instead I’ll remind everyone that this guy was an ECW champion, and that makes me feel empty inside.)
So I guess it should come as no surprise then that according to Dana White, Vince McMahon once challenged him to a fight. As he told the media leading up to tonight’s UFC 158:
I’ve never said this before ever in an interview, anywhere. If Vince hears this, he’s going to go nuts. Vince is too old. He’s too old, which he won’t think he is, and he’ll go crazy. He wanted to do that one time. Vince wanted to fight me. Swear to God. Called me up and said, ‘Let’s do it. We can either do it in the UFC, or let’s do it at Wrestlemania [Author Note: It would have been at Wrestlemania 27].’ And I said, ‘You are crazy, man!’ Vince is- look, a lot of people talk about Vince- I’ve always said it, and I’ll say it again: I respect Vince very much. But Vince is too old to be fighting anybody.
Wait, you mean the world almost lost Snooki: Professional Wrestler just so Vince McMahon could promote a boring, “normal” fight against Dana White? THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN…well, okay, I could have lived with that. And not that it matters, but McMahon once featured Butterbean vs. Bart Gunn during Wrestlemania, so the blatant publicity stunt wouldn’t have been the first “real” fight featured on the WWE’s biggest annual pay-per-view.
Interestingly enough, Dana White also spoke about the upcoming WSoF bout between Anthony Johnson and Andrei Arlovski, and let’s just say he isn’t a fan of the match. Via MMAMania:
“The problem with that fight is, it’s not a legitimate fight to me. For Arlovksi to want to get back into the UFC, he’s a heavyweight fighting a 170-pounder, you know what I mean? “Rumble” has trouble making weight, but he’s not a heavyweight. I don’t know man. I just don’t know. I like Andrei Arlovksi and when he left the UFC, there were no issues whatsoever. We respect him, his management. The way that they handled everything back then — there are a lot of guys who leave and do it the wrong way and burn bridges and stuff like that. Like Tim Sylvia. Lot’s of people talk about Tim Sylvia. Tim Sylvia couldn’t have been a worse fucking guy when he was here and how he left and how he did it and everything else. Then you look at a guy like Arlovski who couldn’t have left the company in a better way. Just because you leave, doesn’t mean it’s on bad terms. I just don’t know if Arlovski is at that level and a fight against “Rumble” Johnson isn’t going to make us go, ‘holy shit, Arlovski is going to be back in the UFC.’”
I’m not sure I agree with the notion that a guy who is the same size as Andrei Arlovski isn’t a real heavyweight because he used to destroy his health by cutting to welterweight, but then again, I’m also not expecting Dana White to compliment his competition, either.
Make sure to come back tonight for coverage of what we can all agree are real fights, as we liveblog UFC 158.
Vince McMahon wants a piece of Dana White.During an appearance on Canadian talk show L’antichambre, the UFC President stated that McMahon, who is the CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, challenged him to a fight in the UFC or at Wrestlemania.”I’ve ne…
During an appearance on Canadian talk show L’antichambre, the UFC President stated that McMahon, who is the CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, challenged him to a fight in the UFC or at Wrestlemania.
“I’ve never said this before ever in an interview. If Vince hears this, he’s going to go nuts. Vince is too old, which he won’t think he is and he’ll go crazy. Vince wanted to fight me. He called me up and said, ‘Let’s do it. We can either do it in the UFC or let’s do it at Wrestlemania.”
Wrestlemania is the WWE’s annual event that serves as the Super Bowl for professional wrestling. McMahon has been successful over the years in wooing other celebrities like Donald Trump, Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather Jr. to take part in the festivities.
McMahon may be “old,” but he still possesses a certain kind of crazy White may not be prepared for.
At age 67, McMahon is still willing to get into the ring and put his body at risk to entertain fans. Unless White feels comfortable fending off foreign objects, he should probably steer clear of the WWE.
Then again, who wouldn’t want to see White and McMahon compete in a steel cage, ladder match or boiler room brawl?
An actual fight in the Octagon may not bode well for McMahon, even if he’s managed to maintain the body of a Greek god well into his senior years.
White is nearly three decades younger with past experience as an aerobics boxing instructor.
All jokes aside, White has a tremendous amount of respect for McMahon. Both have proven to be remarkable businessmen in turning flailing ideas into global successes. The WWE is a multi-billion dollar empire that sits as the grand leader of “sports-entertainment,” and the UFC is the mecca of the fastest growing sport in the world.
“A lot of people talk about Vince. I’ve always said it and I’ll say it again, I respect Vince very much, but Vince is too old to be fighting anyway,” said White.
As Jim Ross would say, it would have “one hell of a slobberknocker.”
(“Brock, I want to trust you, I really do. But I’ve seen The Jeffersons before and I’m pretty sure this isn’t how you fix my bad back.”)
I might not follow professional wrestling anymore, but I’ve started to notice a pattern of sorts in regards to Brock Lesnar’s relationship with the WWE, which has to be the easiest job that anyone could ever ask for. Seriously, Lesnar shows up once every year or so, says less than a sentence, F-5’s whoever the hell is standing across the ring from him, and then stands menacingly over the victim’s body until they cut to commercial. He’s like the Mongo of the WWE, only instead of punching horses, Lesnar takes out his frustrations on genetically-enhanced geriatrics like Vince McMahon, who the announcers hilariously reminded us was in fact a grandfather while Lesnar was tossing him through the air like a bag of garbage during last night’s Monday Night Raw as the dude from Hardcore Pawn stared on in horror. Pretty sweet gig if you ask me.
We probably should’ve seen something like this coming when it was reported that Lesnar had signed a two year extension with the wrestling promotion, but the exact same routine, down to the sleeveless black tee and breakaway pants? Methinks the WWE is running out of ideas. I mean, they could’ve at least gone the Shooterroute and had Lesnar show up sporting some camo pants and an unkempt beard before declaring that McMahon had double-crossed/left him for dead at last year’s SummerSlam. Seriously, Vince, if you’re looking for a writer with a penchant for abortion jokes and hyperbole, I’m your guy.
Video after the jump.
(“Brock, I want to trust you, I really do. But I’ve seen The Jeffersons before and I’m pretty sure this isn’t how you fix my bad back.”)
I might not follow professional wrestling anymore, but I’ve started to notice a pattern of sorts in regards to Brock Lesnar’s relationship with the WWE, which has to be the easiest job that anyone could ever ask for. Seriously, Lesnar shows up once every year or so, says less than a sentence, F-5′s whoever the hell is standing across the ring from him, and then stands menacingly over the victim’s body until they cut to commercial. He’s like the Mongo of the WWE, only instead of punching horses, Lesnar takes out his frustrations on genetically-enhanced geriatrics like Vince McMahon, who the announcers hilariously reminded us was in fact a grandfather while Lesnar was tossing him through the air like a bag of garbage during last night’s Monday Night Raw as the dude from Hardcore Pawn stared on in horror. Pretty sweet gig if you ask me.
We probably should’ve seen something like this coming when it was reported that Lesnar had signed a two year extension with the wrestling promotion, but the exact same routine, down to the sleeveless black tee and breakaway pants? Methinks the WWE is running out of ideas. I mean, they could’ve at least gone the Shooterroute and had Lesnar show up sporting some camo pants and an unkempt beard before declaring that McMahon had double-crossed/left him for dead at last year’s SummerSlam. Seriously, Vince, if you’re looking for a writer with a penchant for abortion jokes and hyperbole, I’m your guy.
Video below.
(Skip to the 4:30 mark for the action.)
Adding to the embarrassment of Lesnar’s return was the fact that Erik Koch had apparently stolen most of the former heavyweight champ’s spray tan before he could complete his transformation into Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage like he always wanted, resulting in the disconcerting hue of red-orange that took center stage last night. Truly a sad day in the world of fantasy fiction, and it’s a shame what happened to Cinderella as well. BA-DUM-TSH!
Seven buses rolled out of the hotel parking lot. Not minibuses. Full sized Greyhounds. Inside were the wrestlers, legends, families and friends of WWE owner Vince McMahon. Traffic was stopped in Miami as they rolled to I-95, then onward to the Miami Do…
Seven buses rolled out of the hotel parking lot. Not minibuses. Full sized Greyhounds. Inside were the wrestlers, legends, families and friends of WWE owner Vince McMahon. Traffic was stopped in Miami as they rolled to I-95, then onward to the Miami Dolphin’s Sun Life Stadium, alone, in a row, in the HOV lane.
Following behind was James J. Dillon. An industry lifer who has worked every job imaginable from VP to referee, Dillon was best known as the manager of the legendary Four Horseman. For his role in the group, a clique of champions that featured a rotating cast of wrestling greats like Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard and Barry Windham, Dillon was about to be recognized by wrestling czar Vince McMahon as a hall of famer.
His long time foe and backstage booking partner Dusty Rhodes would introduce Dillon and the gang.
It was the culminating moment of a long, proud career, and J.J. Dillon was scared. Not of the crowd. Not of the moment. But of those two icons, the men who had meant the most to him over his career. The men he was afraid he had done irreparable harm in his 2005 book Wrestlers Are Like Seagulls.
“With everything that had happened, if I was a betting man, I’d have never bet on this happening, me being inducted into their Hall of Fame,” Dillon told Bleacher Report in an exclusive interview. “I was worried. What’s it going to be like when I get there? Will there be a little chill in the air? I didn’t know.”
Dillon had been open and honest in his book. As a true WWF insider once part of McMahon’s inner circle alongside the stalwart Pat Patterson, Dillon had plenty of knowledge about what went on inside the headquarters building in Stamford Connecticut. And he shared—and shared plenty—with fans. A lifetime of frustration poured out on those pages. Now, sixteen years after leaving the WWF, he was about to come face to face with Vince McMahon one more time.
Meeting Vince
J.J. had actually been to one previous WWE event after leaving the company, making the trip to Ric Flair’s final match against Shawn Michaels. He had seen Vince from across the building, but never came into his orbit. Now he found himself at the run through for the WWE Hall of Fame television special, McMahon, as always, running the show. He was all business, but cordial.
“HHH was orchestrating everything, and we were the first one’s out,” Dillon said. “Tully was right in front of me, and Vince stood up, took his headset off, and in front of this room full of people, reached out, shook his hand. He made eye contact with me, saw me standing right behind him, reached around Tully and shook my hand. He said ‘J.J, thanks for being here.’ I said ‘Vince, thank you for inviting me.’ That was the extent of our conversation, our first in 16 years.”
Later, each of the Hall of Famers had a chance to meet with McMahon individually. About 40 minutes before the Ceremony, each was brought into the presence of the closest thing we have to a wrestling god. He had already met with Vince’s wife Linda and his daughter Stephanie (who heir apparent to the company business). Both had been gracious and kind. Vince though? That might be another story.
“He was going to personally present us our rings. I remember going in there, Flair first and then Arn, then it was Tully, me, and Barry Windham was last,” Dillon said. “It was in a room where they were going to take pictures. And as I walked in, I didn’t know. I said ‘Vince, I don’t have the words to thank you for this and what it means to me personally and my family.’ He had a little smile on his face and he put his hand on my shoulder and said ‘We had some great times together didn’t we?’ That was his reply. He handed me my ring, turned around and we took a whole bunch of pictures. I stepped away and Barry got his ring.”
Just thinking about it was enough to make Dillon catch his breath.
“There have been lots of great bookers in the business, and every one of them had a shelf life,” Dillon said. “Eventually their ideas would repeat themselves. And Vince has been the final say since day one. The fact that he’s still there, still has the vision, still has the final say is amazing. The proof to me was seeing the scope of that event [WrestleMania], 78,000 people in Miami setting a record for that venue, and just seeing where he’s taken the business. You can’t have anything but respect for him.”
The Dream
But McMahon wasn’t the only wrestling legend he had unfinished business with. Rhodes, who Dillon had battled in the ring and later worked closely with behind the scenes, had also taken some heat in Dillon’s book. The two had parted on bad terms. Could they reconcile? Thinking about Christmas parties with Dusty and his wife Michelle, Dillon couldn’t miss his chance to make things right with one of his oldest friends.
“There was that big question mark. It was never really talked out between Dusty and I,” Dillon said. “My book came out in 2005. Fast forward to the weekend of the Hall of Fame. Dusty inducted us. There was a party after that. The McMahons threw in the hotel for WrestleMania weekend, first class all the way. Sushi bar, oysters on the half shell, open bar—it was as only they could do it.
“I was tired. It had been a very emotional few days. And I saw Dusty and his wife Michelle sitting four or five tables down. And I just went up and went down there and asked Dusty if he had a minute. I said ‘Something has been bothering me for six or seven years. I’ve never had this conversation with you and I felt I should have.’
“It was very emotional,” Dillon continued, breaking into tears. “It was just him and I one on one. And I basically told him that so much of my success, which was being showcased there that weekend, I owed to him. Going back to Florida…The two of us, in this huge room full of all these people, having a very personal conversation. He told me I was important to him too… Here’s the two of us in this big room. Two grown men and I tell him I love him and he says he loves me. He told Michelle to come over and the three of us had a big hug. And I’m crying. It was like the weight of all those words, all the years, was released. Because he heard from me how I felt and he was very sincere about how he felt. It was a highlight of the weekend for me, this very personal thing.”
The Horsemen
Today Dillon is out of the wrestling business. But he still has plenty of expertise to share and stories to last a life time. His most recent project, a special DVD with Kayfabe Commentaries called Being a Four Horseman, was intended to expand the horizons of the “shoot interview.” Instead of just asking Dillon a series of questions about his career, Kayfabe’s Sean Oliver decided to focus in on a week in his life. There was one question in Oliver’s mind: What was it like to run with the legendary Four Horsemen?
“Of my whole career, the one thing that is kind of a blur is that run with the Horsemen. One day ran into another, and we were working very hard,” Dillon said. “I had these ‘week in a glance’ journals I used for tracking expenses on the road. So I knew what hotels, if there was a cab, a portion of a charter, we chipped in. It gave me some cues about where we were the night before and how we got there.
“How do you take one week, 25 years ago, and expound upon it? It was the most challenging interview that I’ve ever done. In the process we talked about a lot of things that were never asked before. What did [the] guys drink? What were their personalities really like? Things that had never come up in prior interviews. In the end, it’s a general look at what it was like to be in the Horseman and on the road with the Horseman. And I was very pleased with the end product.”
You can follow J.J. Dillon on his website. Jonathan Snowden is the author of Shooters: The Toughest Men in Professional Wrestling. He is a regular contributor to Bleacher Report.
As many are aware, WWE champion CM Punk was scheduled to accompany his friend and UFC fighter, Chael Sonnen, to the Octagon on January 28.The upcoming event—the UFC on FOX 2 special—will emanate from Chicago, the hometown of Punk.Given the …
As many are aware, WWE champion CM Punk was scheduled to accompany his friend and UFC fighter, Chael Sonnen, to the Octagon on January 28.
The upcoming event—the UFC on FOX 2 special—will emanate from Chicago, the hometown of Punk.
Given the location, Punk’s presence at the show was to simply show support and rally the crowd behind Sonnen before his bout with Mark Munoz.
In fact, Punk had already gotten approval from the WWE to make the appearance and everyone, especially him, was under the impression it was going to happen.
However, all it took was one man to curtail Punk’s plans to show up at the UFC broadcast—and one is more than enough if your name is Vince McMahon.
According to F4WOnline, McMahon’s refusal to allow CM Punk to attend the show, let alone show his face on FOX TV, came out of the blue:
Dave Meltzer writes about the situation in detail:
It is extremely unlikely that C.M. Punk will be walking Chael Sonnen to the octagon on the 1/28 show in Chicago. Punk, in fact, has been told that he shouldn’t even be at the show. Front Row Brian, a noted poster on message boards including ours, who broke all aspects of this story from the beginning, first noted yesterday that Punk was told by Vince McMahon that he couldn’t walk Sonnen to the ring and that he didn’t want him at the show. Punk also confirmed to Ariel Helwani yesterday that he would not be allowed to walk Sonnen to the ring.
We contacted two people very close to the situation, one who noted that officially nothing was 100% but that they would be surprised if it happened. The other noted that Punk got the official word yesterday after pretty much being told on Monday and described it as Vince just being in one of his moods. Punk and Sonnen had become friends, which makes sense given that Punk is a pro wrestler who overachieved from a marketing standpoint including by learning from MMA, and Sonnen is an MMA fighter who overachieved from a marketing standpoint from learning from pro wrestling. Sonnen had asked Punk to accompany him since it was in Chicago and Punk and Sonnen both got it cleared. But when it became a news story, WWE had a change of heart.
Being a consummate businessman, it is perplexing that McMahon would suddenly forbid Punk from escorting Sonnen to the Octagon.
Logically, there are only good things that would result from the current WWE champion hobnobbing with one of the UFC’s top stars.
The most invaluable benefit is the exposure—from both UFC die-hards and the casual mainstream audience—Punk would garner.
And more than just being highlighted on a hyped, nationally-televised event is the legitimacy the “Straight Edge” superstar would reap via his association with a “real” combatant in Sonnen.
In addition, any fears that Punk—and by extension, the WWE—would be undermined by the UFC announcers are unfounded. If such were the case, UFC president Dana White wouldn’t have allowed Brock Lesnar to partner with the WWE regarding the video game WWE ’12. In reality, White didn’t have to share his top draw with the WWE, but he did.
Consequently, the only possible reason for McMahon’s decision is that he does not want any member of his roster to transcend the WWE brand.
For example, after having to endure Steve Austin’s retirement, The Rock’s Hollywood dreams and Lesnar’s abrupt exit, McMahon may be paranoid about relying on his talent—and their whims—to carry the company.
Instead, by reinforcing the WWE global brand as a singular entity, superstars become relatively interchangeable in an organization wherein the whole exceeds the sum of its parts.
Dana White may need more than a background as an aerobics boxing instructor to save him from Vincent Kennedy McMahon.
