Perez's Take
PEREZ: Roy Nelson's talk of wanting a run in WWE brings fighting and wrestling full circle
Nov 23, 2010 - 1:30:02 PM PEREZ: Roy Nelson's talk of wanting a run in WWE brings fighting and wrestling full circle

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By: Anwar Perez, MMATorch Columnist

Let me preface this by saying that before I delved into MMA, and before I really knew what "ultimate fighting" was, I knew who Ken Shamrock was. To me, Ken Shamrock was the Intercontinental Champion in WWE. This was 1998, and as I was getting back into wrestling (grew up a fan, but then lost interest, then high school came, and in the wooded country, EVERYONE watched wrestling) I saw this guy that was touted as "The World's Most Dangerous Man," who came from the world of "ultimate fighting." I had no clue what he had done outside of WWE, but knew that he was known as what we around here refer to as "the Man." He would "snap" and put an ankle lock on his opponent and it would take seemingly the entire WWE staff to make him let go of the hold. As a fourteen year old kid, that was the most badass thing I'd ever seen.

Fast forward twelve years later, and we recently had the opposite happen. A guy from the "sports entertainment" world came into MMA, and seemingly dominated the sport for nearly two years. That would be Brock Lesnar. Also, it appears that with more wrestlers making the jump to MMA, such as Bobby Lashley and Dave Bautista, it would only be a matter of time when the reverse would happen again with fighters wanting to be wrestlers. As mentioned before, it's happened with guys like Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, and on a more embarrassing scale, Tank Abbott (look up Tank Abbott+3 Count to see what I mean).

Recent comments from Ultimate Fighter winner Roy Nelson have stirred the pot more by saying that he would face Lesnar in a UFC cage, or even an WWE ring. He went on as far to say that he would love to face the Undertaker in WWE, just to spread the "Roy Nelson brand."

As hateful as the couch fighters and keyboard trainees want to be, the facts are facts. If MMA wasn't as popular or realistically, profitable, as it can and has been recently, you could definitely see an influx of fighters that would be in wrestling. Look at and ask some of them today and they will tell you that they at one point wanted to be a wrestler. B.J. Penn, in his documentary "90 Days," said that growing up he wanted to be like his idol, Hulk Hogan. Speaking of Hogan, earlier this year, Tom Lawlor channeled the "Hulkster" and came out during his fight entrance to Hogan's old WWE theme song, complete with feather-boa, mannerisms, and ripping of t-shirt, just like Hogan. After Bruce Buffer announces Spencer Fisher, Fisher lets out a big "woooooooohhhhhh," just like one of his idols, Ric Flair.

There are plenty of fighters that would probably be great in wrestling. Imagine Rampage Jackson giving promos against his opponents, or even Matt Hughes, who says things that sometimes only a wrestler would probably say. Who knows, maybe Forrest Griffin could have been the next John Cena. Chael Sonnen himself had a contract almost set up with WCW before they were bought out by the WWE. Now, imagine if HE was a wrestler. He'd be the greatest heel in all of wrestling, as he would just have to be himself.

Say and complain all you want, but if Rampage or Nelson went on to do wrestling in WWE (or TNA - that would be like joining Strikeforce, but I digress), you would hate them , you would curse them, but most of all, you would watch to see what it would be like to see them in a wrestling ring.

If all this seems like parody, it's because it is. Fighters were becoming wrestlers before wrestlers were becoming fighters because that's where the money was. Now, it's somewhat quite lopsided, so the guys who wrestled now want to fight; but slowly, the fighters that fight now may want to relive their childhood and wrestle. It'll only be a matter of time before it comes full circle.