After the recent announcement that former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar would be making his return to the Octagon at July 9’s blockbuster UFC 200 from Las Vegas, Nevada, many had wondered what was in it for the WWE. After all, Lesnar is still under contract with the professional wrestling organization so why would Vince McMahon
After the recent announcement that former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar would be making his return to the Octagon at July 9’s blockbuster UFC 200 from Las Vegas, Nevada, many had wondered what was in it for the WWE.
After all, Lesnar is still under contract with the professional wrestling organization so why would Vince McMahon let one of his biggest stars go off and compete in the UFC?
Lesnar made it seem as if McMahon was simply allowing him to follow his dreams, but perhaps the WWE is also hoping to use the deal as leverage in luring in some UFC stars to participate in WWE events in the near future.
For example, it was recently reported that rising star and women’s strawweight contender Paige VanZant could potentially appear at ‘SummerSlam’ later this summer.
According to Forbes, that’s not all the WWE is hoping for, however.
Aside from some added promotion to ‘SummerSlam’, which Lesnar will also compete at, the WWE is hoping to have former UFC bantamweight champion and mega star “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey participate at the highly-anticipated Wrestlemania 33 in Orlando, Florida.
Rousey actually appeared in the ring at Wrestlemania 31 in a segment, but the WWE is now hoping to book her for a legitimate wrestling match as opposed to just an appearance.
Rousey hasn’t competed in the Octagon since shockingly surrendering her title in brutal fashion to Holly Holm at November 2015’s UFC 193 from Melbourne, Australia.
Her return to MMA has been discussed, rumored, and pushed back time and time again, and there is no official date as of now.
Will we see the former champion next in the Octagon or the WWE ring?
While former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight title contender Chael Sonnen is still banned from the Octagon, he might just be poised to start appearing in the squared circle. Speaking on Off the Record with Michael Landsberg on TSN, “The American Gangster” spilled the beans that he would be meeting with representatives of the WWE at […]
While former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight title contender Chael Sonnen is still banned from the Octagon, he might just be poised to start appearing in the squared circle. Speaking on Off the Record with Michael Landsberg on TSN, “The American Gangster” spilled the beans that he would be meeting with representatives of the WWE at […]
It’s hard to believe that only a few years ago, fans were predicting that MMA was going to kill off professional wrestling. The WWE’s ratings were slipping, and with the rise in popularity of MMA as professional wrestling’s unscripted counterpart, many fans did not feel that professional wrestling was long for this world.
To write that professional wrestling hasn’t exactly gone extinct would be a gigantic understatement. The WWE is not only attracting more viewers to its cable shows than the UFC is, but the company is also coming off of a wildly successful Wrestlemania XXX, an event in which over one million households paid to watch. Although pay-per-view buys were estimated at a healthy 400,000 for the April 6th event, much of the credit for that strong figure can be attributed to the WWE Network — the all-digital online streaming service that had 667,000 subscribers by the time Wrestlemania XXX aired.
“The Wrestlemania numbers just go to show how popular our sport is, even in the Internet era,” says Matthew Roblez, a veteran wrestling announcer and commentator who was appointed as commissioner of the Ultra Championship Wrestling Zero league last year. “People can’t wait to consume wrestling through new methods.”
Of course, it isn’t just the WWE that has been benefiting from the rejuvenated popularity of professional wrestling. Independent wrestling promotions such as Ring of Honor, Chikara, and Wildkat Sports have enjoyed packed auditoriums and sold-out events, as well as healthy Internet followings devoted to keeping up with their favorite promotions. In fact, the aforementioned UCW Zero has recently been awarded Utah’s Best of State for professional and semi-pro sports, beating out the Utah Jazz, Utah Grizzlies, and Real Salt Lake as the state’s best sports organization.
It’s hard to believe that only a few years ago, fans were predicting that MMA was going to kill off professional wrestling. The WWE’s ratings were slipping, and with the rise in popularity of MMA as professional wrestling’s unscripted counterpart, many fans did not feel that professional wrestling was long for this world.
To write that professional wrestling hasn’t exactly gone extinct would be a gigantic understatement. The WWE is not only attracting more viewers to its cable shows than the UFC is, but the company is also coming off of a wildly successful Wrestlemania XXX, an event in which over one million households paid to watch. Although pay-per-view buys were estimated at a healthy 400,000 for the April 6th event, much of the credit for that strong figure can be attributed to the WWE Network — the all-digital online streaming service that had 667,000 subscribers by the time Wrestlemania XXX aired.
“The Wrestlemania numbers just go to show how popular our sport is, even in the Internet era,” says Matthew Roblez, a veteran wrestling announcer and commentator who was appointed as commissioner of the Ultra Championship Wrestling Zero league last year. “People can’t wait to consume wrestling through new methods.”
Of course, it isn’t just the WWE that has been benefiting from the rejuvenated popularity of professional wrestling. Independent wrestling promotions such as Ring of Honor, Chikara, and Wildkat Sports have enjoyed packed auditoriums and sold-out events, as well as healthy Internet followings devoted to keeping up with their favorite promotions. In fact, the aforementioned UCW Zero has recently been awarded Utah’s Best of State for professional and semi-pro sports, beating out the Utah Jazz, Utah Grizzlies, and Real Salt Lake as the state’s best sports organization.
“The fact that our league beat out big four sports teams to win the Best of State Sports award speaks volumes,” Matthew Roblez continued. “People love wrestling more than ever.”
What’s interesting is the contrast between independent wrestling and independent MMA. Many independent MMA organizations — despite the popularity of the sport and abundance of prospects willing to compete — are failing to reach the audiences that independent wrestling leagues currently enjoy. For that matter, many small-time MMA shows today are only attracting the crowd sizes that small-time wrestling shows would attract not too long ago.
So why are the indie wrestling leagues like UCW Zero more successful than their MMA counterparts? Well, pick up an event poster from your local MMA promotion. How many times will you spot the phrase “UFC Veteran” on the poster, next to a fighter who is fresh off of a forgettable run in the big leagues? And how many times is this fighter given top billing over local prospects who are still attempting to prove themselves? A big part of independent wrestling’s success is due to the dedication to finding talented young wrestlers and turning them into stars; as indie wrestler Chris Hero recently noted, independent wrestling promoters have realized that they no longer need to rely on established ex-WWE wrestlers in order to generate interest in their own shows.
Perhaps the key to the consistent growth of MMA doesn’t lie with the high-profile powerhouse of the UFC, but with a stronger independent scene. If local, independent MMA can create and support future stars with the same efficiency as independent wrestling, then mixed martial arts might be able to recapture its “Fastest Growing Sport” slogan. In the meantime, there’s a lot that real fighting can learn from sports entertainment.
But can we please talk about how Brock Lesnar snapped The Undertaker’s undefeated Wrestlemania streak at Sunday night’s Wrestlemania XXX at 21 straight Wrestlemania victories? Because holy shit, Brock Lesnar snapped The Undertaker’s undefeated Wrestlemania streak, and I’d really like to talk about it.
(Your reaction. Enjoy it before it gets taken down.)
But can we please talk about how Brock Lesnar snapped The Undertaker’s undefeated Wrestlemania streak at Sunday night’s Wrestlemania XXX at 21 straight Wrestlemania victories? Because holy shit, Brock Lesnar snapped The Undertaker’s undefeated Wrestlemania streak, and I’d really like to talk about it.
I probably don’t speak for the majority of fans when I write that I was getting pretty sick of The Streak. It was next to impossible to get excited about his Wrestlemania matches when everyone already knew the routine: ‘Taker kicks out of his opponent’s finisher a few times, hits the tombstone, roll credits. (The irony of wrestling fans complaining about predictable booking, then celebrating The Streak wasn’t lost on me, either.) And let’s face it, if The Undertaker won on Sunday night after spending the overwhelming majority of the match on his back, it would have felt cheap.
Back in October of this year, Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White said that the rumor of Brock Lesnar competing in WrestleMania was nothing more than idle talk. “Brock Lesnar is still under contract with the UFC,” White told…
Back in October of this year, Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White said that the rumor of Brock Lesnar competing in WrestleMania was nothing more than idle talk. “Brock Lesnar is still under contract with the UFC,” White told TMZ. “He is not going to wrestle in the WWE. He cannot wrestle or box or […]
