Could this invasion angle work?

[CeramicDuck]

Since the mid nineties and well before invasions angles have been very popular and always create a ton of interest for short periods of time.

The invasion angle has been done a lot and it is something that will always be hard to recreate and make fresh again.

I am just as big an MMA fan as I am a wrestling fan and the recent rule change that outlaws TRT seems like it will eventually cause some of MMA's biggest stars to step away from the cage and move on with their lives, this coupled with age and the loss of ability to compete with younger more advanced fighters will at some point create a huge amount of MMA fighters that are pretty mainstream to be without work.

I know TNA was not able to move the needle with King Mo, Rampage and Tito Ortiz

But could WWE create an invasion angle with MMA stars on the decline who can come and and create legitimate threats to todays superstars?

I picture something with Paul Heyman as the spokesperson and Brock Lesnar has the head of the stable and with the addition of guys like Chael Sonnen, Stephan Bonnar, Dan Henderson, Frank Mir, Overeem, and a few more who seem to be done or soon to be in a weird position based on TRT bans.

I think they will all be easy to train and prep to be ring ready and can be perceived by the mainstream as a serious threat to the Cena's of the world

I think they can take the approach of being "Real" bad asses and being tired of choreographed dancers getting all the big money and fame.

I don't know, just something I thought could be interesting, your thoughts?

 

[NancyBenoit]

Firstly I don't believe it would be "easy" to train mma fighters to wrestle as a sports entertainer. Secondly have you ever heard alot of these guys before and after a fight? Lots probably couldn't cut a great promo. Thirdly no chance these guys will work a wwe schedule. Lastly there are already a ton of wrestlers not being used so why would you want to use up what little space there is? Could it work yes, but nah

 

[wrestler36]

I think to an extent it can work. The thing with MMA fighters is that it's a pretty uniform fighting style all around. A combination of a stand up game and a ground and pound game, so unless there's a natural charisma, it will be hard to get over. I can see Sonnen as a pretty damn good manager, but not sure about the others. Shamrock got over pretty well in the 90s, but Severn not so much. Blackman kind of stalled out too as did Tank Abbott.

I think initially it would be cool as a stable, but it would wear its welcome out rather quickly, even if Heyman was their mouth piece.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

It would certainly work better than when WCW had the "Battle Dome" guys "invade". (One of the forgotten failed WCW angles during the Monday Night Wars)

On paper it works, but to train a bunch of MMA guys all at the same time, and to expect them all to have the desire to WANT to do it in the first place, is a bit of a reach.

I'd like to see Chael Sonnen on commentary. He is GOLD on the mic, and if he were ro be involved in the WWE, I'd prefer him as a commentator than as a manager.

 

[OYDK]

I really don't think so mostly because everybody knows those guys can probably take out the majority of the roster pretty easily. No disrespect to wrestlers, many do have MMA training but obviously MMA fighters work for YEARS to train their craft and they really are ultimate fighters and some of the most lethal men on the planet. Wrestlers are sure damn tough but most of the guys in a fight would just brawl and not stand a great chance.

BUT if you take all the realism aspects away, it could work... It would work poorly though as training these men in a short time frame will NOT work (Remember Mongo Mchmichael, Dennis Rodman, Kevin Green, etc.) It's much more difficult to learn all the aspects of ring work and as similar as UFC and WWE may be, it would probably take an MMA fighter longer to be trained in the WWE than it would be for a wrestler to be trained in MMA. Also you put your wrestlers at great risk. I mean Brock's a pro and he can't go a match without hurting somebody.

 

[Catacomb]

with the right wrestlers representing wwe and the right writing it could work. id make brock the savior of the wwe guys, and have cesaro roman (punk if hed be returning) mayber swagger and mark henry, tough guys with mostly legitimate backgrounds. just as long as it comes across looking realistic the angle wouldnt be bad

 

[whoopin' ass]

Your idea doesn't sound so much as an invasion as a faction - we were in mma, we are legit badasses and we are going to show you boys how it is done.

I don't think any invasion angle would work today unless there was actually something going on behind the scenes. Fans are too smart now to buy into the idea that some guy just wonders into the ring and starts beating up a wrestler without actually being part of the company. With the nWo, it kind of worked as there was this mysterious investor people didn't know about (Million Dollar Man). With the WCW invasion, it would have worked because Shane owned WCW and partly owned WWF so you could see them invading. But look at Aces and Eights - it was interesting at first how they kept getting in but after a while that seemed lame and once they were revealed you wondered why the lot wasn't just fired (and why no TNA official notices that this bunch of guys were signed yet never wrestled). I think unless you are going to make it a major power struggle, one that you are willing to commit to for a long time, invasion angles won't work and as wwe is a publicly traded company, I can't see them doing something on tv which makes investors question if they are being taken over.

 

[CM-Punkha]

A disaster. What would do with them after? With so much talent coming out of NXT and so much in the mid-card now that there is one title, these guys will only cluster it more.

Plus few other problems:
1) Brock will not work that often, it will be a leader missing a lot
2) What does that say to NXT guys? Do your time so maybe you are lucky to watch MMA guys get main event spots from the back?
3) If you don't retain them after, then we all know how it ends. What is the fun? These guys will come in with huge egos. No way they agreeing to come in and lose to a bunch of fake wrestlers.

 

[MC_Live]

Wouldn't work. There's just a multitude of problems. First of all, how many MMA guys want to be wrestlers? Sure, some of them might be fans. But how many would actually want to get in a ring? Also, training them just wouldn't work. You can't just train someone to be a good wrestler within a few months. They would be green for very long, and many would probably not care enough to go through the proper channels. Finally, the MMA vs. Wrestling deal just wouldn't work with a bunch of MMA guys. Works with Brock because he was a wrestler first. But with a whole group of them, the whole "real fighter vs. Fake wrestler" thing would just backfire. There's obviously a bunch of other reasons I'm too lazy to list. The best use of any MMA guy would be a one night thing as a special guest. I'm actually surprised we haven't seen any WWE UFC cross promotion. Probably Dana's decision.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

I think to an extent it can work. The thing with MMA fighters is that it's a pretty uniform fighting style all around. A combination of a stand up game and a ground and pound game, so unless there's a natural charisma, it will be hard to get over. I can see Sonnen as a pretty damn good manager, but not sure about the others. Shamrock got over pretty well in the 90s, but Severn not so much. Blackman kind of stalled out too as did Tank Abbott.

I think initially it would be cool as a stable, but it would wear its welcome out rather quickly, even if Heyman was their mouth piece.

Shamrock actually started as a wrestler before going to MMA, which is probably one of the reasons he had the most success of the MMA guys that crossed over, but good point. Severn was a UFC champ who was never really more than a good hand inside a professional wrestling ring. Abbott was kind of a joke in pro wrestling. Blackman I don't believe actually fought MMA, but still his best run was as the straight man to Al Snow in a comedy team.

I also don't really see the point of an MMA invasion angle. It's apples and oranges for one to pro wrestling, and besides... it's the WWE giving indirect promotion to their biggest competitor. Sure you book the WWE guys to go over the MMA guys, but that can just be viewed as the WWE guys beating a bunch of washed up fighters. You also have to book the MMA guys strong to make it look good, in which case it's the WWE guys having a hard time with a bunch of washed up fighters. Book the MMA guys weak, and what's the point of watching?

Sorry, but I don't think this one works.