You think any WWE wrestlers could make it in MMA?
 

I think lashley might under some training since he's got years of amature wrestling experience.

anyone else?

Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas have solid wrestling backgrounds, so with training they might hold their own, as alot of guys with their backgrounds are flocking MMA.

What do you mean, "make it?" I wouldn't particularly think of many people who could be a champion per se, but Folks like the aforementioned WGTT could easily make SOMETHING of themselves in MMA.

Kurt Angle could do it... WITH A BROKEN FREAKIN' NECK! And HGH.

by make it I mean be a regular "wrestler" wether they be as good as Rampage or as bad as Keith Jardine both of those still are quite regular in the events

ONLY, I repeat, ONLY the guys with NCAA and above wrestling backgrounds could stand any chance of being average, hell, maybe they could be great, you never know. But that is it.

Kurt is too old and broke, and Steiner cannot fucking MOVE, let alone win a fight. He can barely FAKE fight. Steiner 10 years ago would rule be formidable. Before he exploded with roids.

Im not so sure on Blackman, what is his background again? Anything legit?

The Kid at Virginia Tech has a background in killing people, but would get fucked up in MMA.

Well the Moral Kombat Killers used their hands...


Now im just arguing to be a bitch


















Benoit for UFC Champ, he already knows the chokes.

You do know there are pro wrestlers with an actual background in martial arts, right? Boxing, too...Care to revise your bullshit statement?

Beyond that, I know that pro wrestling has this whole rep for being fake, but you will learn to kick the shit out of people from wrestling training. Would I put it up against a traditional martial art? No. But it could be a decent base for MMA in the right cases.

I dont think there are any WWE guys with Martial art backgrounds right now, so, given the roster as it is, I don't see the "bullshit". Ill stick with it.

As for the Wrestling Base.....Maybe, I wont say no, because I dont know. But learning to bump and learning a few moves is different than a fight/match. You can teach anyone moves, but it takes experience and alot of natural instinct. Some people are naturally good fighters. Some people are just awkward.

Case in point, Maria. She can train all she wants, and they can teach her moves, but she always just looks awkward, like she doesn't belong in a ring. Not the best example for a MMA thread, but you get the idea.

What makes MMA fighters so much better than boxers or pro wrestlers in their fighting ability?

I know they have training in various martial arts and wrestling, but I would imagine that practically every wrestler in the WWE has the size and ability to train to become an MMA star. I'm just trying to understand why MMA fighters are being put on such a higher platform than these other guys.

Maria's T&A. try picking someone who's not, you know, a Diva, at least.

Sensei actually made the point that very little separated legitimate pro wrestling training from a legit martial art. The primary differences deal in philosophy. He loved to use Hulk Hogan as an example, though he's probably a pretty poor one. Though it was interesting picturing Hogan as Uke. but yeah, philosophy. This is why Jericho could beat up Goldberg. I wouldn't want to fuck with someone who came out of Stu Hart's Dungeon or Japan, "fake" wrestlers or not, if I didn't have to.

This opinion may vary, but I tend to respect Sensei's opinion. He's an afficianado of MMA and wrestling (which makes the Hulk Hogan comments amusing, but...), so I don't think he's just talking out his arse.

And while Maria might not ever be a threat, that doesn't mean someone like Victoria or Trish couldn't fight. Would they? Doubt it, but could they? Well, they're there for more than TNA.

Of course, a lot of the guys today are broken down hasbeens. Even some of the "younger" stars, like Batista (Who collects his Social Security in two years). That does cramp things. I'm betting with a bit of training, your average young pro wrestler could become your average MMAer, as long as we're not talking about them actually being top tier guys. That's another story.

Not completely. I mean, someone who is versed in multiple martial arts will do better than someone versed in only one. Boxing, Aikido, Kung Fu, all play to different strengths. By learning to adapt to different techniques, you can be versatile. Of course, what it ends up with in MMA is a ton of guys who fight in a similar style with minimal differences.

Granted, it's mostly hype, but this shit has a strong philisophical base.

One of the first MMA practitioners was Antonio Inoki...

I'd be remiss to forget Dan Severn, who was a wrestler BEFORE getting big in MMA.

As far as WWE wrestlers. If they were younger, I'd say Regal and Finlay could BOTH fuck up some people.

Punk being an instance of a Jiujitsu practitioner in WWE.

I prefer Ju jutsu over BJJ, but it's a solid art.

Hey, hey, hey, I partially agree with you, but ninjas are unbeatable. Unless you have a gun and they are cornered and can't use their mystic powers for whatever reason.

Wasn't Dan Severn some MMA guy before he showed up in WWF? They were all like "He's so dangerous!!!" and put over his armbar finisher as the most devastating thing ever.

He was NWA Wrestler before debuting at UFC 4, IIRC. One of the main reasons UFC went from the BJJ era to the Wrestling era (with him, Frye, Coleman, and Couture)

I believe Mr. Kennedy is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and Escrima. Santino Marella used to practice Judo competitively at Shin Bu Kan and was actually an MMA fighter in Japan before signing with World Wrestling Entertainment.

That is two off the top of my head.

Nunzio and Funaki are both shoot wrestlers, which means they could probably handle themselves in a fight. As KK said, I would not want to get into a fight with someone trained in the Hart Family Dungeon. William Regal has also been kicking ass since about the age of 15. He might not be trained in any official martial art, but the instict is there.

Al Snow and RVD are legit tough guys with martial arts backgrounds. I bet they could do alright for themselves.

The more I think about it, the more I think RVD would do well. The guy is really flexible, which might help him (a little) in submissions and shit, and he could literally flip around and kick a guy's head off, I bet. The guy is also deceptively strong. Teach the guy some submissions, and I think he'd be there.

Also, if Vince wanted to embarrass MMA, he should get someone like Nunzio or Funaki, as I previously mentioned, to train for it and kick some ass (assuming it is possible for them to do so).

Kennedy's Escrima is probably all that matters. Tae Kwon Do isn't very practical.

EDIT: looked shit up, escrima focuses on weapons, guess he's fucked.

The guy was in the military. Not sure what they teach you, exactly, but I'm sure there are some practical forms of self-defense they hammer into you. Kennedy's also a fairly decent wrestler, which he could apply.

Not saying he would do well, just saying that he wouldn't exactly be a deer caught in the headlights.

As someone who has taken Tae Kwon Do, I'm going to say this...it's not a real sense defense martial art. I feel it's one of the weaker martial arts, and is really good only for exersice or flashy hollywood fight scenes. Otherwise I think any other form of combat could probably destroy someone with Tae Kwon Do.

Well yeah, but I don't see him lasting too long against the best.

Oh, I've taken Tae Kwon Do, too, and I agree completely. If anything, Tae Kwon Do is more an offensive art, and as you said, done for show. My sensei and I used to get into discussions about how Tae Kwon Do practitioners were fucked when I was doing jiu-jitsu afterwards.

I was more interested in pointing out that there are wrestlers with martial arts backgrounds than addressing the situaion of whether a guy would do well in MMA.

Mick Foley

like in that one episode of The Simpsons where Homer becomes a boxer

CM Punk got his arse handed to him by Teddy Hart. He'd be booking his own funeral if he fought a trained fighter.

zach gowen :shifty:

You're telling me a martial art intended to take men off horseback has no practical application in MMA? Especially the sporting application which is far removed from the combat form?

Damn. Next thing you're going to tell me is that sport Karate is good for physical fitness, but not much else.

Gilllllllberg

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In all seriousness, I think we will see quite a few more current or former pro wrestlers end up in MMA in the next couple of years, seeing as how it's been popular for a couple of years, people will jump on bandwagons, and there's already a couple of precedents.

I think most of them will be about as successful as Dustin Diamond's sex tape (Did ANYONE want to see "Screech" get it on?????) but...

Wait, they do have horses in MMA, don't they? :?: .........................:shifty:

Does Sara Silverman compete?

Was gonna point this out as well. Wasn't Elijah Burke a pretty legit boxer?

Also, apparently he is a former Sheriff as well.

So is Kurt Angle.

I thought Burke CAME from MMA.

I thought they both had MMA experience. Weren't they at least hyped as such?

Perry Saturn would of had potential.

Wasn't blackman a legit martial Arts champion?

Also, Ernest the Cat Miller. THREE TIME! THREE TIME WORLD KARATE CHAMPION!!

I think by world, he meant Albequerque.

I would like to see how tony jaa would fare.

Wikipedia says that Blackman does MMA classes.

Though they also site Lords of Pain, which should tell you exactly why Wikipedia shouldn't be taken as gospel.

They were hyped in similar fashions, so I might just be confusing them.

I don't think Burke was hyped as an MMA fighter. He was put over for his amateur boxing background, and Toughman Contest success.

I'm fairly certain that Elijah Burke could blow up an opponent in MMA without even touching them, though. Awesomeness alone.

Word, I forgot Burke, he has won over 100 amateur boxing matches, so that is a solid base for a MMA career.

Lets all agree on one thing thouigh, none of these guys could win an MMA bout without a good deal of training. No one is just going to show up and beat a guy that has been training in MMA for a few years. Its just such a diffeent style.

The Hart dungeon guys, the japs, Regal and Finlay, all good choices. Someone brought up tiny Jericho taking out a bull in Goldberg, and that isnt all, as Pillman took out Sid, a massive man himself. Dungeon toughness is built in.

I think even guys like Taker could do well. Size matters at times, but Taker looks able to throw them.

In his younger days, Piper is another guy I think that could at least stand up for himself. Fighting on the streets, and then being trained by the same guys who helped Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris among others, is a big time help. Piper was pretty good in boxing.

Tony Jaa would kill a man

or 16

I wanna see Tony Jaa fight Jet Li. Not because I think it'd be a good fight, but because of the attitude Li took about Jaa's style.

I'd like to see big show in an MMA fight.

Hmm? Did I miss Jet Li talking some shit about mah boi Mr. Jaa?

More about the syle of movies. Back when Jaa was getting popular for not using stunt doubles and computers to make himself look hard.

Although not a wrestler Steven Seagal would of kicked ass in mma when he was in his better shape. Trained in multiple martial arts, has a natural strength and has good height. Plus imagine all the cheesyness his promos would of been full of!

I'd love it just to see someone on that level in Aikido compete.

I think with enough training there are a few wrestlers that could do it but none that could get into it anytime soon.

Well lets see how Brock does.

I would love to see Scott Steiner in MMA. That would be fucking hilarious.

I'd have to say Shelton Benjamin, Charlie Haas, CM Punk and Elijah Burke. After those guys it might be hard to find someone who can be successful.

Pretty damn well.

With an NCAA background in wrestling.