Search Results: "Mixed martial arts"

NEWS

Tread Carefully: Brock Lesnar Reportedly Faces Backstage Heat Over Royal Rumble Tirade

February 2, 2023

He’s not like everyone else. There is no one quite like Brock Lesnar in the history of professional wrestling. With his amateur skills, mixed martial arts training and pure strength, Lesnar is not someone who can be duplicated. WWE knows this and has presented him as one of the biggest stars in the company’s history. That does not mean Lesnar is immune to criticism though and now he is in a bit of hot water. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Blast From The Past: Cody Rhodes Hints At Bringing Back Winged Eagle WWE Title Lesnar took part in the Men’s Royal Rumble match last weekend but was eliminated by Bobby Lashley in less than three minutes. Following his elimination, Lesnar through the ring steps onto the announcers’ table and attacked a referee. According to Fightful Select, there was some heat on Lesnar over the reaction, as some of it was not planned. However, heat is said to be a subjective term for Lesnar, who is not expected to be in trouble over the incident. Lesnar has been on rampag..

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That Takes Guts: How Brock Lesnar Was Reportedly Called Out To Fight Backstage At WWE Event

December 27, 2022

That could have been interesting. Throughout its history, wrestling has drawn athletes from other sports into its ranks. It makes sense, as wrestling needs to keep its rosters fresh and bringing in other sports’ stars can help make the process easier. In recent years, mixed martial arts has served as a pipeline to wrestling, with several stars coming from the sport. Now a new story is being told about how an MMA fighter/wrestler almost had to prove himself. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Here’s Looking At You: Wrestling Fans React To Roman Reigns Breaking The Fourth Wall Back at Crown Jewel 2019, world boxing champion Tyson Fury made his in-ring wrestling debut, defeating Braun Strowman via countout. Brock Lesnar was also on the show, where he defeated former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez to retain the WWE Title. During a 2019 interview with Fury’s brother Tommy, IFL TV host Kugan Cassius revealed that one of Tyson’s corner men nearly got in a backstage fight with Lesnar. The corn..

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The Other Ring: Former WWE Star Makes Pro MMA Debut

December 19, 2022

It’s a different world. Wrestlers have a difficult time in being seen as legitimate athletes. They have to do some very athletic things and their efforts are anything but easy. At the same time though, it can be difficult to shake the stigma of their matches being pre-determined. Occasionally a wrestler will try their hand at another sport though, which was the case again this week. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: WRESTLING RUMORS: WWE Discusses Brock Lesnar Intercontinental Title Reign Former WWE star Jack Claffey, better known as Jack Gallagher, competed in his professional MMA debut this weekend. Claffey fought Marlon Jones at FCC 32 and was defeated via TKO in the first round, with the event airing on UFC Fight Pass. Claffey posted a photo of himself and Jones following the fight. Following the end of his wrestling career, Claffey has competed in bare knuckle boxing and amateur mixed martial arts, compiling a 1-0 and 2-0 record respectively. You might remember him. Check out Claffey in t..

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WRESTLING RUMORS: Upcoming Plans For Ronda Rousey (Contains Possible SPOILERS)

December 2, 2022

The next steps. There are very few wrestlers in WWE with the star power of Ronda Rousey. She is still one of the biggest names in the history of mixed martial arts and is presented as one of the top stars in WWE. It means something for a wrestler to feud with her as it is a special opportunity. Now we have a better idea of what is next for her, including her likely next challenger. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Add Him Up: Another Former World Champion Reportedly Returning To WWE Last month, Rousey and Shayna Baszler attacked Raquel Rodriguez, resulting in her being written off WWE TV with a broken arm and dislocated elbow. However, according to Wrestlingnews.co, Rodriguez is expected to be the challenger for Rousey’s SmackDown Women’s Title at the Royal Rumble on January 28. In addition, Rousey is expected to go into WrestleMania 39 as champion, meaning that even if Rodriguez wins the title, she is not expected to hold it very long. That could be good. Check out the two in action and how ..

NEWS

AEW’s Paige VanZant’s Trainer Claims She Has Stopped Wrestling Training

October 13, 2022

Maybe later? Wrestling has a long history of athletes from other sports coming in and trying their hands at something else. It has been hit and miss throughout history, with certain sports doing it better than others. Mixed martial arts has some of the better success, but now one of the more prominent fighters turned wrestlers seems to have have dropped wrestling, at least for the time being. Former UFC fighter Paige VanZant has appeared multiple times for AEW over the years, including wrestling a match at Double Or Nothing 2022. However, during an interview with K & S Wrestlefest, VanZant’s trainer Gangrel said that VanZant has stopped communicating with her. Gangrel says that VanZant wrote him and asked for some critiquing of her match but the stopped contacting him. He also said that while she was talented, she did not train as often as he would have liked. There is no word on if VanZant is training elsewhere or has stopped training for the time being. She has not appeared on AEW T..

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Brock Lesnar Passed On Fighting Another World Champion

October 10, 2022

He’ll pass for now. There are very few stars in the history of WWE who have become anything close to Brock Lesnar. Over the years, Lesnar has become one of the top attractions in modern WWE and it takes the right kind of opponent to give him a challenge. To make it more impressive, Lesnar was also a success in mixed martial arts, and it turns out that he turned down a fight there as well. Back in 2018, Lesnar seemed to be ready to set up a fight with fellow UFC heavyweight Daniel Cormier. However, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Lesnar turned down the idea of fighting Cormier for unknown reasons. Lesnar would eventually fight once more in the UFC before returning to WWE. Cormier made his WWE debut this weekend as the guest referee in the Fight Pit between Seth Rollins vs. Matt Riddle at Extreme Rules. There is nothing to suggest that Cormier will be returning to WWE in the future. Opinion: That’s kind of a weird way to go, as Lesnar vs. Cormier did seem set for a big ..

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Shawn Michaels Reveals Changes To NXT’s Hiring Strategy

September 28, 2022

They have a type. There are all kinds of wrestlers under the WWE banner and most of them come from a few select backgrounds. You can probably figure out some of the most common, with amateur wrestling, football and mixed martial arts being very prominent. That leaves off some of the most obvious, but WWE does still have their eyes pointed elsewhere. Shawn Michaels was recently interviewed by My San Antonio and revealed that NXT was still looking for both independent and Japanese wrestlers. Michaels said that nothing is off the table when it comes to finding new talent, which will continue to be the case in the future. This comes after reports that NXT was no longer looking for independent wrestlers but rather focusing on athletes that could be turned into wrestlers. Opinion: This is far from a surprise and something that is still nice to hear. What matters is that WWE is trying to look through the more traditional areas for future talent. I understand the idea of bringing in athletes..

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WRESTLING RUMORS: WWE May Be Hinting At A Long Teased Match

July 22, 2022

Call it a tease? Wrestling can be a fun sport in that you never know what kind of a match you might see. Every now and then you see people get together for a match that you wouldn’t have imagined seeing under almost any circumstances. That can make things very fun, and now WWE might be teasing a rather personal showdown, though then again they may not be. Over the years, Monday Night Raw’s Riddle has been open about his dislike for WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg’s work in the ring. This includes criticizing Goldberg’s mixed martial arts style, including on WWE programming. WWE has posted a clip of the two of them running into each other backstage at Summerslam 2019, with Goldberg saying that they needed to talk and Riddle saying anytime. Goldberg also said that he wasn’t Riddle’s bro. According to Cagesideseats.com, this has led to speculation about a possible future match between the two, but this is not yet confirmed. It was an intense moment. Check out Goldberg meeting Riddle: [This ..

NEWS

Bring Him In: UFC Champion Wants To Try His Hand At Professional Wrestling

July 5, 2022

He has a plan. There are all kinds of wrestlers who have come from another sport. This has been the case for years and it will likely continue to be the case for as long as wrestling is around. In modern times, mixed martial arts has become more prevalent as a feeder system to wrestling and now another top mixed martial artist seems interested in at least dabbling in wrestling. On Saturday, UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya made an entrance inspired by the Undertaker. In an interview with BT Sports, Adesanya said that he would be interested in working with WWE, or some other promotion at some point. Adesanya said that it is something he would like to do for fun rather than as a full time job. Adesanya revealed that he once broke his arm jumping off the couch trying to do a shooting star. There is no word on when Adesanya would want to try wrestling or where it would be. Opinion: This is the kind of thing there you can imagine WWE or AEW lining up to get Adesanya to appear whe..

NEWS

Put Her On The List: WWE Likely To Sign Another MMA Star

June 2, 2022

There is a history there. Wrestling has a history of bringing in athletes from other sports and seeing how much success they can have. It is something that has worked well for decades and will continue to do the same for years to come. One of the sports with a solid track record is mixed martial arts, and now WWE is trying their hand with another fighter coming over to wrestling. According to Fightful Select, WWE is expected to sign Bellator fighter Valerie Loureda. This comes after Loureda, a fighter with a 3-1 career record, spent a week at the WWE Performance Center and impressed the company. WWE is hoping to have Loueda start her official training at the Performance Center in July. There is no word on when she could start regularly appearing in WWE. Opinion: It makes sense for WWE to try signing another mixed martial artist as they certainly have a history of success with them. Why not see what you can find out there? WWE has found stars such as Riddle, Brock Lesnar, Shayna Baszl..

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New Champion Crowned At AEW Battle Of The Belts

January 9, 2022

History has been made! There are a lot of titles in the wrestling world and some of them are a bit more unique than others. It can be interesting to see what kinds of titles a promotion comes up with, as you can find some rather unconventional ideas. That was kind of the case this weekend, as a new title was introduced with an idea stemming from mixed martial arts. This weekend, AEW presented its first ever Battle of the Belts special. The show was focused on title matches and was originally scheduled to include a TNT Title match between Cody Rhodes and Sammy Guevara. However, Rhodes was forced out of the match due to Coronavirus issues. As a result, Guevara faced Cody’s brother Dustin Rhodes in a match for the Interim TNT Title. Guevara defeated Dustin, setting up a future match with Cody to unify the titles. It was a busy night. Check out the two in action, plus what Cody could have added: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] [Thi..

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MMA Fighter Slams Her AEW Appearance, Calls Wrestling “So Stupid”

October 28, 2021

I guess she isn’t a fan. Wrestling is in a weird place when it comes to athletics. While it is certainly an athletic field, it is not exactly the same as traditional sports. The endings to wrestling matches are determined in advance and that is something that a lot of people are not going to like. It seems to be the case with a more mainstream athlete who appeared on a recent wrestling show. One of the bigger stories taking place in AEW at the moment is the rivalry between Dan Lambert and the American Top Team mixed martial arts fighters and the Inner Circle. Several mixed martial artists have appeared in the angle, including Kayla Harrison. However, in an interview with Jim Varsallone, Harrison has said that she will not be back, saying that fighters who keep going back to wrestling are “yahoos” and described wrestling as “so stupid” and “so silly”. Harrison made one appearance in the angle and did not return. That’s a rather hard no. Check out how the angle has gone so far: [This ..

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WATCH: The Usos’ Brother Gets Physical In His NXT Debut

October 27, 2021

Nice to meet you. There are certain wrestling families that you are always going to see pop up over the years. Some of them are among the most famous names in all of the industry and it can mean a lot when you see the next generation come up. It can be made even better when you easily tell that you are seeing a new family member and now we are seeing the next part of a classic wrestling family. This week’s NXT featured the debut of Solo Sikoa, who is part of the Anoa’i wrestling family. Sikoa interrupted a segment between LA Knight and Grayson Waller, attacking both of them to clear out the ring. Sikoa joined WWE earlier in the year and is the younger brother of the Usos. His appearance was advertised in advance and he appeared in something similar to mixed martial arts gear. There is no word on when Sikoa is scheduled to have his first match. He’s the new generation. Check out how Sikoa’s debut went and how his family works in the ring: [This post contains video, click to play] [..

NEWS

He’s Done: CM Punk Officially Announces Retirement (Just Not How You Think)

September 1, 2021

Everyone does it eventually. Wrestlers are not like most people, but they are like most athletes. As amazing as they may seem most of the time, at some point they are not going to be able to get in the ring any longer. That means something has to change, and their career is going to end in one way or another. We saw that again with a wrestler, but not in the way you might think. According to MMA Fighting, AEW’s CM Punk has officially announced his retirement from the UFC and mixed martial arts. Punk has been removed from the USADA drug testing pool and will be moving back into his professional wrestling career. Punk fought twice in the UFC, losing via submission at UFC 203 in September 2016 and fighting to a no contest at UFC 225 in 2018. There had been nothing to suggest that Punk would be fighting again prior to his announcement. Punk did indeed try. Check out some of his MMA work, plus his pretty awesome return to wrestling: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post ..

NEWS

Surprising Update On CM Punk’s UFC Career

July 8, 2021

I hope you used an erasable pen. Some wrestlers have a hard time figuring out what to do after they leave the ring and that can create some problems. Every now and then you do find someone who can get out on their feet though and that makes for some interesting situations. Occasionally someone tries their hand at another sport and fails, but now one of them might have done a bit better than previously thought. According to MMAJunkie.com, CM Punk’s loss to Mike Jackson at UFC 225 has been overturned and reversed into a no contest. Jackson failed a post fight test for marijuana, resulting in Punk’s decision loss being overturned. There is no word on why it took so long to announce the result, as the fight took place on June 9, 2018. As a result, Punk’s mixed martial arts record is now 0-1-1. Punk has yet to comments on the change. Following his exit from WWE in 2014, Punk eventually tried his hands at mixed martial arts and fought twice in the UFC. Punk lost his first fight to Mickey G..

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RUMOR: Backstage Reaction To Monday Night Raw Debut

June 2, 2021

It’s a first step. Commentary is one of the most important parts of any wrestling show. A broadcast team can help steer the show in the right direction, meaning the fans will know what they are supposed to know about a match or a segment. That is a difficult task to accomplish at any level, especially on one of the biggest wrestling shows in the world. Someone tried it for the first time this week and now the reviews are in. This week on Monday Night Raw, Jimmy Smith made his debut as the show’s new lead broadcaster. According to the WrestleVotes Twitter account, the WWE production staff was thrilled with Smith’s performance, calling him “tremendous” and a “natural fit”. Smith is a former mixed martial arts broadcaster and replaced Adnan Virk, who held the position for less than two months before stepping away. The RAW production people I’ve spoken with were absolutely thrilled with Jimmy Smith’s performance last night. “Tremendous” & “Natural fit” were two comments concerning his de..

NEWS

More On Matt Riddle’s Main Roster Call Up

May 26, 2020

It’s one of two ways. There are a lot of talented wrestlers down in NXT but it takes the right kind of performer to come up to the main roster. Someone has to have the correct balance of charisma and in-ring skills to make it work. That isn’t the most common thing in the world but the times when you see someone get the call, it can be something special. That should be coming up soon, and now we know some more about it. Matt Riddle is one of the more unique performers in a very long time. Not only does he have more charisma than he knows what to do with, but he has the mixed martial arts background to make it work in the ring. That is the kind of thing you don’t get to see very often but you will be seeing Riddle on one of the main rosters soon enough. But which one will it be? According to PWInsider.com, Riddle will be moving up to SmackDown in the near future, though it is not clear when that move will take place. Riddle is currently scheduled to face Timothy Thatcher in a steel cag..

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Wrestling Might Be Getting A New Home State

May 1, 2020

It could be a new home. Wrestling is in a weird situation at the moment as it can run events but can’t have any fans in attendance. That makes for some very strange dynamics on the shows but a few companies are making it work anyway. Some of these events may not be the most successful looking, but they are better than nothing. Part of the problem is finding a place to run them, but another option might be opening up. In April, the Governor of Florida designated WWE an essential business in the state, citing its connection to the entertainment industry. The designation was looked at with some skepticism from outsiders but WWE certainly didn’t seem to mind. WWE now has a permanent home to run their evens from with the WWE Performance Center, but what about other companies? Another state seems interested in helping them out. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt wants to bring wrestling, boxing and mixed martial arts to the state in an effort to p..

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It’s A Defensive Issue. Here’s What Started The Heat Between Matt Riddle And Goldberg.

June 17, 2019

That’s an explanation. You never can tell when a wrestling feud is staged and when there is something actually going on. I know it seems fine on paper most of the time, but sometimes there are feuds that take things a little more seriously. Other times, the heat between the wrestlers doesn’t even play out in a match, which can be very interesting in its own right. That seems to be the case this time and now we know why. According to Bryan Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Radio, the heat between Goldberg and Matt Riddle stems from Riddle not liking Goldberg’s technique when using mixed martial arts style offense in professional wrestling matches. Riddle considers Goldberg’s work sloppy in that area and called Goldberg out as a way of defending mixed martial arts. During and after Goldberg’s match against Undertaker at Super ShowDown, Riddle mocked Goldberg’s technique and abilities in the ring. There is no word on any potential match between the two. That makes more sense. Check out some..

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2018 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards Revealed

March 14, 2019

It’s that time of year again. The latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter contains their annual awards for the year 2018. They are based on the time frame from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018 and are voted upon by the readers. Here are the various categories, along with the winners: LOU THESZ/RIC FLAIR AWARD (WRESTLER OF THE YEAR) : Kenny Omega MIXED MARTIAL ARTS MOST VALUABLE: Conor McGregor MOST OUTSTANDING WRESTLER: Kenny Omega MOST OUTSTANDING FIGHTER OF THE YEAR: Daniel Cormier TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR: Young Bucks BEST ON INTERVIEWS: Daniel Bryan PROMOTION OF THE YEAR: New Japan Pro Wrestling BEST WEEKLY TV SHOW: NXT PRO WRESTLING MATCH OF THE YEAR: Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada, Dominion 6.9, June 9, Osaka MMA MATCH OF THE YEAR: Justin Gaethje vs. Dustin Poirier, April 14 [This post contains video, click to play] UNITED STATES/CANADA MVP: AJ Styles JAPANESE MVP: Kenny Omega MEXICO MVP: L.A. Park EUROPE MVP: Walter NON-HEAVYWEIGHT MVP: Will Osp..