Sherdog: Ten Pro Wrestlers Who Could Have Made It In MMA

[The Butcher]

Just give the guy his due, Bacon. You can't fairly rate his past achievements on today's scale. The sport has changed. The funny video of him wearing his jockstrap mask and getting stomped will live forever, but he had to win a few to get that shot.

 

[BaconBits]

Just give the guy his due, Bacon. You can't fairly rate his past achievements on today's scale. The sport has changed. The funny video of him wearing his jockstrap mask and getting stomped will live forever, but he had to win a few to get that shot.

Wrestling fans seriously overstate how successful his MMA career was. He won a few fights against Mexican nobodies. Then PRIDE decided they wanted another freak show fight and put him on the card purely to embarrass him. If it was a serious fight, there's no mask involved.

For God sakes Jose Canseco managed to get a televised fight in Japan. Jose. Canseco. Does that make him a successful fighter?

 

[Rayne]

For God sakes Jose Canseco managed to get a televised fight in Japan. Jose. Canseco. Does that make him a successful fighter?

Oh, Jose Canseco. Totally off the topic, but he recently shot his finger off.

http://www.tmz.com/2014/10/28/jose-canseco-shot-finger-gun-cleaning-accident/

He played for the independent minor league team in my city for one season. He was best known for batting .190 and pulling several do-you-know-who-I-ams at movie theaters and restaurants. The baseball player who at one point was getting $4.7 million dollars per year capped this all off by giving a 19 year-old waitress his phone number on a receipt with a $5 tip, which she immediately posted on social media.

Being a big fan of comedy (I consider myself a Jets fan only because I get to laugh every Sunday), I really miss having him around.

 

[Bernkastel]

This may have already been mentioned but I know Jack Swagger defeated Cain Velasquez in several amatuer wrestling bouts in college so... score one for pro wrestling.

Some of the names dont surprise me. The likes of Danny Hodge and Jack Brisco and Lou Thesz were beasts. I was surprised the likes of Meng, Bad News Allen, Vader, Dick the Bruiser, and maybe even Andre werent on the list.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Lou Thesz made a career out of making grown men, sometimes larger then him, sometimes much larger, his bitch. And he usually did it with a smile on his face and some manners.

 

[jmt225]

I'd take either Briscoe against any MMA fighter in a bar fight.

[YOUTUBE]ELOn2amIn_w[/YOUTUBE]

 

[BaconBits]

Oh, Jose Canseco. Totally off the topic, but he recently shot his finger off.

http://www.tmz.com/2014/10/28/jose-canseco-shot-finger-gun-cleaning-accident/

He played for the independent minor league team in my city for one season. He was best known for batting .190 and pulling several do-you-know-who-I-ams at movie theaters and restaurants. The baseball player who at one point was getting $4.7 million dollars per year capped this all off by giving a 19 year-old waitress his phone number on a receipt with a $5 tip, which she immediately posted on social media.

Being a big fan of comedy (I consider myself a Jets fan only because I get to laugh every Sunday), I really miss having him around.

You live in Newark?

 

[Rayne]

You live in Newark?

Worcester. Another reason why I call myself a Jets fan is because I really, really, really like trolling obnoxious Patriots fans.

 

[Bockwinkel's Class]

Lou Thesz made a career out of making grown men, sometimes larger then him, sometimes much larger, his bitch. And he usually did it with a smile on his face and some manners.

Thesz was a legit submission shoot fighter from a time when the champion had to be to get the belt in the first place. It wasn't until Buddy Rogers came around that belts started getting put on guys who couldn't legitimately throw down and go.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

Thesz, Danny Hodge, Jack Swagger, Kurt Angle, Shelton Benjamin, or both Steiner Brothers could have been serviceable MMA fighters. Benjamin is a sleeper in this, because if he learned submission techniques and boxing, he'd be as good as Jon Jones, IMO.

Angle would have been what Shamrock was if he'd went straight to the UFC instead of WWE. Thesz and Danny Hodge are probably the two toughest pro wrestlers of all time, so they are much needed on that list.

 

[Rayne]

This whole listing thing really makes me wonder what MMA fighters active today would have made great professional wrestlers. Fifteen years ago the choice was a no-brainer if the WWE was knocking on your door, because the UFC was paying ROH wages. Putting aside the amount that UFC fighters get paid today strictly through fight wages, you can make a substantial amount of endorsement money as an MMA fighter.

 

[Danger Burger]

Zolph Diggler all the way. He has a good enough wrestling background (set a few records if I remember right, and was on the same team as Gray Maynard). He's got the athleticism, and seemingly has no problem causing himself harm. Love to watch him overselling a real clobbering too.

Following a different path after college, I could see the Nemeth name doing well.

Edit:

I don't know much on translating the american wrestling stuff into something I understand, but wiki says the following: Nemeth attended St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio where he was an amateur wrestler, and holds the school record for most pins in a career with 82.[2] At St. Edward, he was teammates with Gray Maynard and Andy Hrovat.[7] During Nemeth's time at St Edward, the wrestling team won the National Championships on two occasions.[8]

He wrestled collegiately at Kent State University, eventually setting what was then the record for most career wins in the team's history.[2][9] Nemeth's record was passed in 2006, and as of 2010 he stands second all-time in career victories at Kent State.[9] He had 121 career wins between 2000 and 2003.[9][10] He was a three-time All-Mid-American Conference champion, winning the 165 lb (75 kg) tournament in 2000, 2002, and 2003, and as of 2010 is the last wrestler from Kent State University to have won three amateur wrestling championships.

And when you check the "collegiate wrestling" wiki page, Dolph is fourth on the arbitrary list of famous practitioners, after Angle, Velasquez and Lesnar. Not sure why they've been ordered as such though.

 

[BaconBits]

This whole listing thing really makes me wonder what MMA fighters active today would have made great professional wrestlers. Fifteen years ago the choice was a no-brainer if the WWE was knocking on your door, because the UFC was paying ROH wages. Putting aside the amount that UFC fighters get paid today strictly through fight wages, you can make a substantial amount of endorsement money as an MMA fighter.

That's a good question. Off the top, the two names that stick out the most the me are Mark Coleman and Josh Barnett.

Both have professional wrestled in Japan. Barnett, I believe may have been IGF champion a few years back.

 

[Danger Burger]

That's a good question. Off the top, the two names that stick out the most the me are Mark Coleman and Josh Barnett.

Both have professional wrestled in Japan. Barnett, I believe may have been IGF champion a few years back.

Sonnen was built for pro-wrestling. Could not have failed. Mark Hunt because all Samoans are wrestlers at heart, right?

I always thought Frank Mir had a good look for a wrestler too.

 

[BaconBits]

Sonnen was built for pro-wrestling. Could not have failed. Mark Hunt because all Samoans are wrestlers at heart, right?

I always thought Frank Mir had a good look for a wrestler too.

Chael Sonnen wasn't always as vocal as he is now. That's only really been the last five or so years. Before that he was pretty reserved.

Mark Hunt has probably professionally wrestled at some time or another, considering for the majority of his career he was in Japan, where there is significant MMA/wrasslin crossover.

Mir probably would make a great heel in wrestling. He looks an absolute douche. He's got a very cocky personality by nature, and is very comfortable when he has to give interviews.

I'd add Bob Sapp. He's wrestled a bunch over in Japan, and he's fucking huge. I'm actually kind of amazed that he's never been in the WWE.

 

[Rayne]

Sonnen was built for pro-wrestling. Could not have failed. Mark Hunt because all Samoans are wrestlers at heart, right?

I always thought Frank Mir had a good look for a wrestler too.

Without his MMA pedigree, I see Sonnen as a guy that hovers around the mid-card, in the Wade Barrett sense. He's a talented shit-talker because at some point, he figured out that if he could sell fights, he'd get matches he otherwise wouldn't get. See: Sonnen vs. Jones.

I did laugh a little at the Frank Mir bit, not because he doesn't have the right build for it, but because of his quite outspoken outlook towards professional wrestling.

I'm surprised Tito Ortiz never tried to make a serious crossover into professional wrestling. His brief period in TNA was there mostly to sell a Bellator fight, but he's got a gifted mouth which people pay a lot of money to see punched- not that it ended up happening too often in his prime. The Diaz brothers are in the same mold- Nick Diaz is about to get paid a whole bunch of money just so fans can watch Anderson Silva embarrass him.

 

[nightmare]

If Taker had more training in BJJ, he could have been one of the old salty dogs who stuck around a bit. He is a decent striker & wont quit easily. Plus, you know, the entrance mind games.


I would think Cesaro could do well with a bit of work with the striking aspect. Otherwise the guy would have a great ground game & has the stamina.


Orton looks like he could be, but would surely need some training on both fronts. He definitely would be someone to cheer against.


Wild Card picks? The guys from reDRagon & considering Fish has some training already, that would not be too far off. Also I think Benoit would have fucked some people up if he had a bit of training. Granted, his stand up would need some help, but that would not be his focus in a fight with the obvious skills at grappling\submission.

 

[Dirk]

Scott Steiner in his prime would have been interesting to see.

Yeah, but I would think that your chances of getting away with (ab)using steroids are much less in competitive fighting.