Issue 036

April 2008

Tough. Determined. Strong. Those are the requirements of a professional wrestler. While it may get flak, pro wrestling is an extremely hard endeavor to endure as a participant, and the road to the top is just as hard as that in mixed martial arts (MMA).

The similarities between the two industries seem few on the surface. In fact, there are actually a lot more than you might imagine, and both have had run-ins and crossovers on more than one occasion.

Prevalent too are the links between Japanese pro wrestling (Puroresu) and MMA, and as time passes more wrestlers, both Western and Eastern, are exchanging the squared circle for the cage. With Brock Lesnar making the switch and freestyle wrestling Olympian Kurt Angle making plenty of noise about doing the same, the connection between the two sports is highly apparent.

Hulk Hogan was once the most iconic wrestler in the world. His token shirt rip and trademark leg drop were the things that gave goosebumps to young wrestling fans across the globe throughout the 80s and early 90s. The same goes for Bret Hart's wraparound sunglasses and sharpshooter leg lock, or the Undertaker's tombstone piledriver and chokeslam. The list goes on.

Wrestling is something that many young males have been fans of at some point in their lives. They grew up with larger-than-life personalities and intimidating promos to the camera, exciting matches and stadiums packed with fans, exploding pyrotechnics and title belts exchanging hands.

If you think about it, that might sound familiar. It's not too much to suppose part of the reason MMA fans love the sport and got into it so easily was due to their days as fans of professional wrestling.

During the early years of the Zuffa-owned UFC, you might have found it hard to distinguish the production from that of the WWE (as it became after 2002). Events began with a barrage of pyrotechnics, and fighters entered via a sloping ramp while their attributes were announced and a video baring their name played on a big-screen. All are elements borrowed from pro wrestling.

Fight build-ups are influenced by the same industry as well. Drama is constructed with a re-telling of past encounters and highlights of match endings, and each fighter threatens the other with a beat down.

It's quite an odd phenomenon. Mixed martial arts is billed as being as close to a real fight as possible. As such, it would be expected to borrow more from its non-predetermined counterpart, boxing. But companies like the UFC choose to draw ideas from the theatrics of pro wrestling.

However, it is a two way street. In 1998 the then WWF held Brawl for All. It was an eight-man knockout tournament consisting of real fights intended to piggyback on the UFC's popularity. Open to all WWF wrestlers, entrants included slugger Bart Gunn, highly-pushed hard-man Dr Death Steve Williams, and UFC alumni Dan Severn. All fighters wore boxing gloves and the bouts used a complicated scoring system based on takedowns, knockdowns and a number of punches.

What entailed was a widely disliked set of boring brawls in which the wrestlers' lack of real life striking skills were exposed and spectators booed the action. Severn withdrew after winning his first fight, frustrated with the rules, but officially announced he preferred to settle his disputes 'like a man' with his hands unbound. Bart Gunn, who had ‘Toughman’ experience as well as his pro wrestling skills, knocked out favourite Dr Death Steve Williams along with two others to be named tournament winner. After continuing his wrestling career for some time Gunn, real name Mike Polchlopek, took up MMA, losing to Ikuhisa Minowa and beating Wesley 'Cabbage' Correira. Coincidentally, Gunn fought Eric 'Butterbean' Esch at WrestleMania XV in 1999 in another Brawl for All fight, getting knocked out in just 30 seconds. 

The crossovers continue however. A huge MMA fan, The Undertaker has taken to wearing grappling gloves in the ring in recent times, and has been to known tp pull off versions of both the triangle choke and the gogoplata, a sign that the WWE are more than happy to refresh their move set by borrowing from MMA. But The Undertaker's not the only MMA fan. The Hulk himself was recently spotted ringside at a UFC event. 

Both industries have linked up on other occasions too. For the Lesnar vs. Mir fight at UFC 81, the UFC struck promotion deals with both WWE and Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling (TNA). Advertisements appeared on the WWE website and flyers were handed to spectators at the Royal Rumble event. In the run-up to the fight TNA showed promos during its programming.

Another collision between the WWE and UFC came when US TV channel Spike asked Vince McMahon for the go-ahead to show The Ultimate Fighter first season after his Raw program due to a no-compete clause. McMahon agreed and the UFC broke out of the underground and went one step closer to mainstream.

Wrestling is also big business in Japan. The now-defunct Japanese organizations RINGS and UWF-International tampered with the boundaries between ‘shoot fighting’ and pro wrestling. So much so that Puroresu and MMA are deemed to be almost one and the same by Japanese fans.

Zach Arnold, MMA and Puroresu expert and founder of both PuroresuPower.com and FightOpinion.com, backs this up: “In Japan, MMA is viewed as an extension of pro wrestling since a lot of the shoot elements of MMA were incorporated in Japanese wrestling in the 70s and 80s. In Japan, the wrestlers not only train to wrestle but also practice being shooters in the dojos.”

Just as the UFC did in America in the early 2000s, Pride borrowed from domestic wrestling organizations. “The whole influence of Pride, when it started in 1997, was a take-off of UWF-International,” states Arnold. “With [Nobuhiko] Takada (pro wrestler who fought in early Pride shows, and the organization's public figurehead) being involved since day one, there was a heavy influence to copy some of what New Japan Pro Wrestling was doing production-wise.”

Countless numbers of Japanese wrestlers have crossed over to MMA. Notable among them are people like Naoya Ogawa, 'The Gracie Hunter' Kazushi Sakuraba and Kiyoshi Tamura who holds wins over Renzo Gracie and Pat Miletich. But wrestlers crossing into MMA used to mean that they risked their credibility.

“A few years ago, someone like Yuji Nagata getting crushed in MMA was a bad thing. It damaged his image with the fans. However, as MMA continues to become more specialized, more and more fans are separating the art of pro wrestling from the discipline of MMA,” says Zach Arnold.

Unsurprisingly many Pride fighters have also dipped into Puroresu. Mostly in promotions affiliated with Dream Stage Entertainment (DSE, the former Pride owners). Among them are Don Frye, Josh Barnett, Kevin Randleman, Bob Sapp and Mark Hunt. The common denominator in many of the appearances? According to Arnold, money.

“Yuji Shimada and others, who worked in Pride, were or are the bookers of Hustle (a DSE-founded wrestling organization). A lot of MMA fighters are pro wrestling fans. Nobuyuki Sakakibara (Pride president) paid fighters to work easy pro wrestling dates so they took the money.”

There are western-based MMA fighters who have made the switch as well. Probably the most successful was Ken Shamrock. He had a strong spell playing a caricature of an 'ultimate fighter' in the WWF. Former UFC and PRIDE fighter Ron Waterman also jumped ship to WWE briefly. Dan Severn made his way to the WWF as mentioned before, and even Tank Abbott joined WCW. His role quickly descended into the comedic however when he became part of dancing boy band stable, '3 Count'. Tito Ortiz also appeared at a TNA PPV as a guest referee and later alluded to being interested in joining the company.

Not to be outdone by their Japanese brethren, Western wrestlers have jumped ship to MMA too. Daniel Puder won the WWE's Tough Enough program (think The Ultimate Fighter for pro wrestlers) one year after beginning his MMA career. During the show, Kurt Angle challenged cast members to a shoot (real) wrestling match. Puder accepted the offer and had him in a tight key lock which Angle managed to turn into a debatable pin. Angle, irate at Puder's audacity, immediately gave him a severe dressing down in the ring. Puder has since stated he was willing to break Angle's arm.

After release from the company Puder added five wins to his record. Former WCW and WWE wrestler Sean O'Haire holds a 2-2 record in MMA and fights K-1 kickboxing bouts. Sylvester Terkay, who until recently appeared in WWE, has wrestled most of his career in Japan. He dipped into an MMA career for two years with K-1, ending with a 3-1 record.

It's human nature to make comparisons. Just like fans speculate MMA will eclipse boxing, it's pondered if the same could happen to wrestling. While much has been made of WWE's declining PPV buys as the UFC's have risen, there could be other factors responsible.

There will always be those who are only fans of one form of fighting. Purists are stubborn and they aren't a dying breed. Just as MMA has crossover appeal it also fences people off. Whether it's a boxing fan who doesn't like to see a fallen man take shots, or a wrestling fan who has little time for human chess and wants big bumps, there will always be room for all industries to co-exist.

It's not a big surprise that mixed martial arts chooses to gather influence from pro wrestling over boxing – the more obvious choice. Pro wrestling is built on entertaining huge crowds. Regardless of match outcomes everything is stylized to make the product the best visual spectacle possible. And that's what MMA is all about – seeing the ultimate spectacle between the best fighters in the world.

The good, the bad, the ugly... and the odd

The Good: Ken Shamrock

Probably one of the most successful crossover fighters ever. As well as winning the first ever UFC Super Fight against Royce Gracie and being a King of Pancrase, Shamrock became WWF Intercontinental and Tag Team Champion among other pro-wrestling plaudits.

The Good: Josh Barnett

Hugely popular in Japan, Barnett made his name in the UFC and later in PRIDE. He began wrestling in New Japan Pro Wrestling after his departure from the UFC, and openly states that he tries to use pro wrestling moves in MMA.

The Bad: Yuji Nagata

Although a well-respected wrestler, Nagata's two forays into MMA were disappointing. His first fight took 21 seconds. His second, and last, barely over a minute. In fairness both were against Mirko Cro Cop and Fedor Emelianenko respectively.

The Bad: Yoshihiro Takayama

Primarily a pro wrestler, Takayama had some legendary bouts in PRIDE, including one against Don Frye which Fox Sports named top in its 'Best Damn 50 Beatdowns'. Although he holds a modest 0-4 record the Frye fight earned him a reputation as an extremely tough fighter.

The Ugly: Giant Silva

You can't be good at everything and although Silva played basketball at the Olympics and gained reasonable success in the squared circle, joining WWF at one point, he only holds an MMA record of 2-6.

The Odd: Bob Sapp vs. Ernesto Hoost

It only happened once and thank God. The world doesn't need to see Bob Sapp floating to the ring in a feather-trimmed gown again. Hoost won the match at a Wrestle-1 event in January 2003 in reply to Sapp's two wins in K-1.

The Odd: Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman

The Hammer House duo has wrestled in Wrestle-1, HUSTLE and Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye a large number of times. The duo would enter in luchador (Mexican wrestling) masks with Randleman making his trademark hyperactive jumps. Usually they tag team together, but in recent times have wrestled separately.

The Odd: Mirko Cro Cop

Although he didn't strictly wrestle, Cro Cop did make a guest appearance complete with Duran Duran entrance music at the HUSTLE New Year's Eve show in 2007. The Croatian come to the aid of Ryouji Sai and Erica with trademark kicks and a belly-to-belly suplex.

David Hogan

“King” David Bollea is the nephew of wrestling icon Terry ‘Hulk Hogan’ Bollea, and won last year’s FILA Pankration World Championships. What’s more he’s just embarked on a professional MMA career.

With the pro wrestling link in your family, how come you chose MMA?

Because I’m not 7ft tall!

How did you get involved in the sport?

I started watching it on pay per view then years later a couple of my friends started jiu-jitsu. They were entering Grapplers Quest, I thought I could beat them so I decided to look into it. I signed up and entered my first tournament with no experience. I made it to the finals and I’ve been competing ever since.

What do you think about pro wrestlers making the switch to MMA? Do you think it’s a good idea?

Most people think it’s a good idea, actually going through with it is a different story. Brock Lesnar is drawing more viewers than anybody else so it gets us all more exposure. That’s good for everybody.

You train out of Cobra Kai in Las Vegas, how beneficial is it to have a world-class jiu-jitsu practitioner in Marc Laimon in your camp?

When I go into a fight I know they’re not going to do to me what Marc does. Marc physically dominates me on the ground and I know my opponent isn’t going to push me that hard on the mat. That’s a huge confidence booster.

How long have you trained there?

I’ve trained there since before there were mats. Marc opened the gym four years ago or so. My friend ‘Useless’ (Ulysses Gomez), Marc and I painted the walls and power-washed the floors. I was there back when it was just us three.

Your uncle, Hulk Hogan, has been spotted at MMA events, is he a fan?

Yeah he likes MMA. He likes to see good competition whether it’s pro wrestling, American Gladiators or MMA.

What are your goals in MMA?

MMA is just one part of life. There’s more to it than TV and being ‘that fighter guy’ in the club. I just want simple things – I want to take over the world!

Where does the nickname “King” come from? And will you be using the name Bollea or Hogan for your fights?

Being related to my uncle has helped me a lot so it’s only right to come out as Hogan. ‘King’ came about in a strip club. My friend and roommate at the time Dave Terrel (WEC) was telling some girl that if she forgot his name that he was named after King David. I thought that was good so I started using it and it stuck. He still gives me shit about it!