Joe Rogan's Comments On Pro Wrestling

[Jack-Hammer]

The main page has a somewhat interesting article in which Joe Rogan, during an interview with stand up comedian Tony Heathcliffe, blasts pro wrestling. Some of Rogan's comments will upset some wrestling fans to some degree while gaining praise from some hardcore MMA fans.

Rogan essentially went on a rant against pro wrestling when Heathcliffe said something to the effect that most UFC fans are or were pro wrestling fans at some point. Rogan stated:

“One of them is real. One of them is people battling for their lives in the most difficult content in all of sports. The other is some weird, ****** jerk-off thing where strange guys sit in front of the TV and pretend they don’t know its fake. You don’t want to know. You shut that part of your brain off.”

Rogan also addressed Brock Lesnar, though his words weren't quite as inflammatory.

"If Brock Lesnar did it the right way – if Lesnar left the WWE and dedicated himself to becoming the best fighter in the world, and I mean like best striking coaches, best overall coaches, like a real MMA coach – find out what they can fix and work on him for years, and then built him up slowly and eventually work his way up to a larger organization, and then eventually fight in the UFC when you have 15, 20 fights. Instead his second pro fight was against a former world champion. His second fight was against Frank Mir. He could have been an all-time great. He’s a freak athlete.”

As to his comments towards pro wrestling in general, pro wrestling's no different than any other show on television. I know that civilization hasn't collapsed and that the world isn't infested with roaming hordes of flesh eating zombies like in "The Walking Dead", but that doesn't it from being interesting television. People have known that pro wrestling isn't 100% real since before Joe Rogan was born. I'd understand his hate if pro wrestling tried to claim it was 100% real, but it doesn't. I also think he's sort of exaggerating the aspect of MMA fighters "battling for their lives. Please ...they're fighting for money, or peanuts when you compare what most of them make per fight with what a lot of boxers make. The guy's entitled to his opinion, but I don't see him as actually having a great deal of credibility in what makes good television. After all, Joe Rogan's biggest claim to fame is that he used to host a "reality show" in which people did everything from swim through sewage to drink blended stink beetles for $50,000.

As far as his comments on Lesnar goes, Brock Lesnar doesn't give a shit about being an all time great at anything and never has. You have to have passion about something in order to hope to be thought of as an all time great. Lesnar couldn't care less about MMA, pro wrestling, pro football or anything else because it's all about making a huge chunk of change for as little work as possible. Not hating on him for that, he's someone that's managed to make that work to his advantage, but Lesnar couldn't possibly care less about whether or not he's thought of as an all time great in anything.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

It is hard to understand where Rogan is coming from. I've never lived in his shoes. I've never had the privilege to yell at women to eat bull testicles.

Anyway, I just suspect he is trying to be edgy. Trying to be the heel in attacking UFC's competition. I imagine I would appreciate his loyalty if I were Dana White. His language just comes off like a bully trying to make pro wrestling fans feel bad about their interest. He isn't much different from others who want to make themselves feel better. I do it all the time with my obnoxious behavior on this forum.

 

[OYDK]

Sounds like every other male who never got "into" professional wrestling, to be honest. Obviously Joe Rogan doesn't understand a wrestling fan's perspective. He doesn't understand the thrill that pro-wrestling can give to somebody who looks up to these wrestlers as real-life heroes. He doesn't understand that, we fans don't give a shit if it's fake, we just like to be entertained. And he obviously doesn't understand that pro-wrestlers risk their lives a hell of a lot more than any UFC fighter... One of these two athletes take legitimate chair shots, go through tables, fall off ladders, and get dropped on their heads WEEKLY. The other has a legitimate fight about three times a year ... Come on, my buddies have more scraps than that in a night.

The problem with pro-wrestling is, it is lumped into the "sports" section, whereas a TV show like Game of Thrones is looked as at entertainment in the grand scheme of things. As long as pro-wrestling is compared to football, hockey, and the UFC, comments like Joe Rogan's are going to be commonplace for a long time. Pro-wrestling is not a sport. Wrestlers are athletes without a doubt, but the WWE is an entertaiment company, not a sport's franchise. Still, very disrespectful comments. Word of advice to Rogan... If you know nothing about a certain subject, than keep that subject off your lips.

As for Lesnar, I agree with Rogan. However, I assume Brock Lesnar could give two shits about becoming "one of the greatest" as long as he's getting his easy paycheck.

 

[smizzy]

I think Joe just needs to go back to his sensory deprivation tank and shroom truffles.


The MMA v. pro wrestling debate is irritating. And his comparative criticism is unwarranted. He's an intelligent guy, but one wouldn't know it by reading that quote.

 

[ABMorales787]

MMA isn't even a legitimate martial arts based sport. Under what martial arts tournaments do you see people just sitting each other for 2 minutes pounding each other? You see that crap on the streets or in school. It's certainly not "the most difficult content in all of sport" because anyone can learn martial arts and become a black belt. Funny enough the only "arts" worth a damn in MMA are Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, created specifically for, you guessed it. MMA. Wrestling and Muay Thai. By the way how can something written in Japanese be Brazilian? And it's "Jujutsu" too, while I'm ranting. But where's Jeet Kune Doo? Where's Shotokan? Where's Kung Fu? Where's Hapkido? It's so-called "MMA" but it's based on the same crap styles over and over. Where's the so called "Mixed"?

At least with wrestling there's flare and showmanship. I watched the Lion's Den match between Ken Shamrock and Owen Hart at Summerslam '98 on the WWE Network (for just $9.99!). There was about three spots in the match where they'd do something bouncing off the cage. Don't see that in MMA. Nah, we see them on the floor for 2 minutes twatting each other like a schoolyard bully would try to do on an overweight nerd. Interesting stuff indeed. Or we can see them go down from a single kick or punch. Just like real Martial Arts tournaments do. Rarely.

I'll take my fake fights now with a side of excitement thank you. Hell, I'd take Boxing over MMA.

 

[Slash-LN]

MMA isn't even a legitimate martial arts based sport. Under what martial arts tournaments do you see people just sitting each other for 2 minutes pounding each other? You see that crap on the streets or in school. It's certainly not "the most difficult content in all of sport" because anyone can learn martial arts and become a black belt. Funny enough the only "arts" worth a damn in MMA are Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, created specifically for, you guessed it. MMA. Wrestling and Muay Thai. By the way how can something written in Japanese be Brazilian? And it's "Jujutsu" too, while I'm ranting. But where's Jeet Kune Doo? Where's Shotokan? Where's Kung Fu? Where's Hapkido? It's so-called "MMA" but it's based on the same crap styles over and over. Where's the so called "Mixed"?

The "mix" is that while fighters have a primary discipline they learn most of them work with coaches and other fighters to learn other disciplines to help with their upcoming fight.

So say a guy's main discipline is wrestling and he's facing a bjj guy. He'll work with people who train bjj to learn holds and escapes.

For shotokan see Lyoto Machida.

I have no problem with Joe Rogan but he seems to have tunnel vision here. He also seems to have some weird stereotype about the common pro wrestling fan. He just comes off as very ignorant.


EDIT: Also Killyjoy I agree with you that both lay and pray methods and at times ground and pound can be somewhat boring. I hate watching a fight where a guy is doing nothing to advance his position. Some referees seem to have a hard time standing them back up.

 

[Savior of Silence]

Look at all you butt hurt marks attacking Rogan at all costs.

Joe Rogan is a COMEDIAN. A comedian who thrives on controversy. He knows pro wrestling is fake yet has respect for the "sport".
[YOUTUBE]/watch?v=Y5AEjfuPOKM[/YOUTUBE]

I'd understand his hate of pro wrestling...

He doesn't "hate" pro wrestling. That's an assumption you made based on ONE clip from ONE podcast that has been airing for several years. (see video above).

You want to get this straightened out? Do what I did. Tweet him and request that he have a wrestler on his podcast. I suggested Mick Foley to him because Foley is a comedian and the podcast usually features comedians.

Rather than make a haste judgement about Rogan and his opinion based off one segment in a podcast that has produced over 400+ episodes, let's encourage some sort of debate to get to the bottom of this situation.

Anybody that makes a snap judgement off of one segment on a podcast needs to sort out their priorities.

 

[The Warlord]

It's Joe Rogan, who cares?
The guy is a devoted hard core martial artist...I wouldn't expect him to like pro wrestling or understand it for that matter.

In fact I would have been shocked if he didn't bash it. Everyone has their opinions.

I still think he should have RVD on his podcast though...it would be an awesome 2 hour show and they wouldn't have to talk 1 second of wrestling.

 

[smizzy]

Look at all you butt hurt marks attacking Rogan at all costs.

Oh, fuck. Here we go. We have a guy tossing around "mark" and "butthurt" in the same sentence. I'm sure much intellect shall follow..

He doesn't "hate" pro wrestling. That's an assumption you made based on ONE clip from ONE podcast that has been airing for several years. (see video above).

Not everyone is familiar with everything that Joe Rogan has his name attached to. He was quoted saying what he said and it is therefore being analyzed as such. Yeah.. he's a comedian but he's also a lot of other things. Is every word muttered by the guy supposed to be a part of his act?

You want to get this straightened out? Do what I did. Tweet him and request that he have a wrestler on his podcast. I suggested Mick Foley to him because Foley is a comedian and the podcast usually features comedians.

Wow! You're a real difference maker aren't you, bub? I'm sure Joe Rogan, who has more than a million followers, is going to a) see your tweet b) actually fucking take you up on that offer. I look forward to hearing what Mick has to say. Thanks for making that happen, guy!

Rather than make a haste judgement about Rogan and his opinion based off one segment in a podcast that has produced over 400+ episodes, let's encourage some sort of debate to get to the bottom of this situation.

Anybody that makes a snap judgement off of one segment on a podcast needs to sort out their priorities.

And here we see you essentially do the same thing with Jack-Hammer. You act as if he doesn't take the time to formulate valid opinions based on evidence and context as well as his own, best judgment. Are you familiar with everyone of his posts or do you make 'snap judgments' based off of a single one of them?

You must have grown up across the street from Rogan. Christ dude.

 

[Savior of Silence]

Not everyone is familiar with everything that Joe Rogan has his name attached to. He was quoted saying what he said and it is therefore being analyzed as such.

And that's part of the problem with today's society. People make haste judgements on only what has been presented to them and don't take the time to do any research on their own. They're the same people that go out and vote for a president based solely on which political party he is a part of.

When you don't do your own research then you might be forming an opinion on something that has been taken out of context.

Enjoy!

[YOUTUBE]/watch?v=PDWOP_McMHA[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Mustang Sally]

“One of them is real. One of them is people battling for their lives in the most difficult content in all of sports. The other is some weird, ****** jerk-off thing where strange guys sit in front of the TV and pretend they don’t know its fake."

The usual yawn. The "pretend they don't know it's fake" line also applies to the drama, adventure, mystery, science fiction, horror and western stuff we see on TV and the movies. In all of them, we're supposed to suspend disbelief for the time it takes the program to air.....in fact, you probably get more enjoyment out of the show if you do. For some reason, this seems to offend people when it applies to pro wrestling. ("It's fake!") Big deal. Nothing new here, Joe.

.... Brock Lesnar doesn't give a shit about being an all time great at anything and never has.

I'll buy that. He hated pro wrestling, couldn't hack it in pro football, and was rushed in martial arts fighting so that we'll never know how good he might have been since he got out after finding out he wasn't the best right off the bat.

Again, big deal. True, Brock never seemed invested in any of these pursuits enough to make one his career. But he has the last laugh on everyone, doesn't he? He's found a way to make a super living while giving only a part of himself to his current pursuit. I have no idea how he and Sable spend their time the other 360 days of the year he's not associated with WWE, but Brock is plainly a guy who has beaten the system the rest of us who weren't born rich have to labor under.

As for Joe Rogan? I have no idea who he is, but he isn't giving us any insight we didn't have before, is he?

 

[Slash-LN]

The usual yawn. The "pretend they don't know it's fake" line also applies to the drama, adventure, mystery, science fiction, horror and western stuff we see on TV and the movies. In all of them, we're supposed to suspend disbelief for the time it takes the program to air.....in fact, you probably get more enjoyment out of the show if you do. For some reason, this seems to offend people when it applies to pro wrestling. ("It's fake!") Big deal. Nothing new here, Joe.



I'll buy that. He hated pro wrestling, couldn't hack it in pro football, and was rushed in martial arts fighting so that we'll never know how good he might have been since he got out after finding out he wasn't the best right off the bat.

Again, big deal. True, Brock never seemed invested in any of these pursuits enough to make one his career. But he has the last laugh on everyone, doesn't he? He's found a way to make a super living while giving only a part of himself to his current pursuit. I have no idea how he and Sable spend their time the other 360 days of the year he's not associated with WWE, but Brock is plainly a guy who has beaten the system the rest of us who weren't born rich have to labor under.

As for Joe Rogan? I have no idea who he is, but he isn't giving us any insight we didn't have before, is he?

I think Brock would have stayed in UFC if he hadn't gotten sick. Once he got sick he couldn't handle the blows to the abdomen anymore and it was smart on his part to leave. Not only to preserve his record but his health as well.

He was a dominant fighter pretty much right off the bat. He lost to Frank Mir in the first fight but that was only because he made a mistake which ended up resulting in a submission. Otherwise had he stayed healthy he probably would have had a hall of fame career.

Joe Rogan is one of the announcers for UFC pay per views. He's also a standup comedian and hosted Fear Factor for a while.