Issue 087
April 2012
Love it or hate it, the MMA and pro wrestling worlds are closely intertwined, and it’s not only Brock Lesnar, Kazushi Sakuraba and Ken Shamrock who have wrestling roots. Here’s five forgotten rasslin’ careers
1 Mirko ‘Cro Cop’
How did you celebrate New Year’s Eve 2007? Several thousand fans of Hustle (a truly bizarre, star-driven comedy pro wrestling outfit) spent at least a couple of minutes of it in fits of sheer pant-wetting joy at the sight of Mirko ‘Cro Cop,’ by then a UFC fighter, step into a Japanese ring for the first time since winning the Pride open weight grand prix over a year earlier. Called to the ring by one team as ‘the weapon’ in a weird, mixed-gender hardcore weapons tag match, Mirko calmly strolled down the aisle to the iconic sounds of Duran Duran, took out one foe with a belly-to-belly suplex and leg kick, then head kicked the other into oblivion. Very strange, and Mirko’s only foray into the pro wrestling world (so far).
2 Renzo Gracie
Think the legendary Gracie family, pioneers of what we now call MMA, would never ‘lower’ themselves to get involved in pro wrestling? Think again. Headlining the 2000 Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye show that kicked off Japan’s New Year’s Eve fighting tradition (an event filled with real fighters taking on pro wrestlers in pro wrestling matches ignited a fighting tradition, yes really, and yes, Japan is strange), Renzo faced 57-year-old Japanese legend Antonio Inoki. Together they messed about for a three-minute time limit ‘grappling exhibition’ that saw them throw some half-speed kicks and slaps, the odd takedown and roll around a bit. Not the finest example of the pro wrestling art form, but it definitely counts.
3 Gary Goodridge
One of MMA’s great characters, able to maintain his popularity despite consistently losing, ‘Big Daddy’ parlayed his fame from high-profile Pride FC fights (including a massacre of ancient former pro wrestling star Yoshiaki Yatsu) into paydays on a few major Japanese pro wrestling events. Traditionally, big heels (bad guys) of African descent have done well in Japan and Goodridge seemed to fit the mould perfectly. That, and his ability to ham up his natural aggression should have ensured a successful, lucrative run but he simply never committed fully, continuing his fighting career while working a few matches on big shows in 2001. Goodridge did headline a major event that year, losing to New Japan Pro Wrestling star Manabu Nakanishi before battering the hapless Yatsu again in a truly pointless, and very real, rematch just eight days later at Pride 16.
4 Mark Kerr
Few remember Kerr’s brief pro wrestling career. And those that do would probably rather they didn’t. Signed up by fledgling second-tier promotion Zero-One, Kerr was meant to be one of their top stars. He’d debuted at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye in 2000, as Mark Coleman’s tag team partner but while Coleman ‘got it’ immediately, Kerr, despite being a huge pro wrestling fan growing up, was clueless in the ring. Still, Zero-One paid him a lot of money and put him in some main events. Unfortunately, this was in 2001 and at the height of the drug problems chronicled in the superb ‘Smashing Machine’ documentary. Out of shape and an embarrassingly poor performer, Kerr was released after just a few dismal matches.
5 Bas Rutten
Is there no end to El Guapo’s talents? A beloved commentator, trainer, actor and former Pancrase and UFC heavyweight champion, Bas could also, had he pursued it longer, been an excellent pro wrestler. A genuine natural, especially in Japan’s more ‘credible’ style, the charismatic Dutchman debuted, as did many other fighters, at the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2000 show. He then worked several major New Japan shows in 2002, prominently positioned and given wins to set him up for a shot at the promotion’s champion, Yuji Nagata. And they had a great match. After losing to Nagata (whose own reputation had been left in tatters after a disastrous MMA debut in 2001 where Mirko Cro Cop KO’ed him in 21 seconds), Bas wrestled a few more times in 2002, improving with each outing and always putting on entertaining matches. Unfortunately he moved on and never returned.
