5 UFC Fighters who gave pro wrestling a shot
MMA and Pro-wrestling fans are always at loggerheads. MMA fanatics never miss the opportunity to bash the apparent ‘fakeness’ of the glitzy world of pro wrestling.
However, fans who follow both the brutal sport and the avenue of sports entertainment would agree that either of them follows the same fundamental principle and that is to sell fights.
The UFC and WWE – the top dogs in their respective promotional spheres –primarily follow a similar business model. Building up and marketing fights in order to lure the consumer into buying PPVs – it’s pretty much the same.
Remember Chael Sonnen’s pro wrestling styled promos? We all are familiar with Conor McGregor’s impudent style of advertising his fights, right?
UFC has always taken a page out of the WWE’s handbook when it came to merchandising their product and many a time, UFC fighters crossed over to the other side to give pro wrestling a shot.
While some tasted success and heightened mainstream fame, others just dabbled around in the indie circuit and gave up on the orchestrated form of grappling for good.
Note: For this list, the top 5 includes only those names that went from UFC to the WWE and not any other wrestling promotion. Before we move on with the list though, for your reference, here’s a list of all UFC fighters who wrestled for smaller promotions during their career:
Kevin Randleman
Stephan Bonnar
Mark Coleman
Tom Lawlor
Phil Baroni
Don Frye
Bas Rutten
Tito Ortiz
Josh Barnett
Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson
Tank Abbott
Mirko Crop Cop
Frank Trigg
#5 Dan Severn
Known as the first man to compete for both UFC and WWE, Dan 'The Beast' Severn was a one-of-a-kind athlete during his heyday.
Even though Severn’s pro wrestling career began before his excursion in MMA in 1992, he gained recognition for being a part of the initial UFC Tournaments.
The former UFC Superfight Champion won the UFC 5 Tournament and subsequently the Superfight title from Ken Shamrock at UFC 6.
Severn created history in 1995 when he won the UFC title as well as the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) World Heavyweight Championship, becoming the first and only man to win both MMA and pro wrestling titles at the same time.
While an appearance for WWE in 1997 served as the groundwork for his inevitable debut in 1998, Severn continued to focus on his MMA career before giving WWE a fair shot.
Flanked by the loudmouthed Jim Cornette and all of his titles, The Beast was booked as a heel and had notable feuds against Ken Shamrock, Owen Hart, Steve Blackman and D’Lo Brown.
Creative differences led to his exit from WWE in 1999 after he was asked to tattoo ‘666’ on his forehead. Severn was pitched the idea of joining Undertaker’s Ministry of Darkness stable along with the devil's number on his head, however, he shot down the idea and left the promotion.
He resumed his MMA career and as of this writing is a ‘semi-retired’ at the age of 64 with an overall MMA record of 101-19-1. We told you, one-of-a-kind!
He may not have been as big as originally intended in the WWE, but the UFC Hall of Famer was unlike any other athlete in his prime.
Moving on, the next man on this list was one of his biggest rivals in the UFC as well as WWE…