The Similarities in Gimmick Matchmaking in MMA and Wrestling
by Brent Brookhouse on Jun 5, 2010 12:45 PM EDT
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Yesterday Jake Rossen of Sherdog published a piece on the "devolution" of MMA among the smaller promotions and the reliance on pro wrestling style gimmickry. From the piece:
MMA was once a gimmick itself: the premise of throwing brave (and possibly stupid) fighters in a cage is a sports anomaly if there ever was one. Now that it’s somehow evolved into a legitimate event -- and the UFC has a monopoly on that structure -- the only answer is to devolve.
Two cases of note: Shine Fights, the promotion which branded itself as MMA’s least competent office with the Ricardo Mayorga fiasco in May, now has plans to resurrect itself with a single-night elimination tournament, a format so archaic that most athletic commissions refuse to recognize it; according to the Syracuse Examiner, former cruiserweight champion Bobby Gunn has offered to fight Kimbo Slice in a London-rules bare knuckle prizefight, the kind popularized by fighters with nicknames like "Gentleman" and "Battlin’."
I did a guest piece at SB Nation's Cage Side Seats yesterday to expand on the gimmick overlap between pro wrestling and MMA. In the piece I talk about the gimmickry from the top level to the absolute bottom:
They even go on to address the fact that the UFC is not above the gimmick matches, as can be seen in their willingness to promote James Toney's MMA debut or their attempt to shoehorn a low talent, high Q rating name like Kimbo Slice into their sharktank. To many experts the outcomes to these situations were obvious, as soon as Kimbo was put in with a real fighter he'd be beaten just like he was every time up to then...and as soon as Toney was matched up with a wrestler (as he will be against Randy Couture) he'll get taken down and pounded out. But to the casual fan there is a "what will happen?" element that makes their tuning in almost a necessity. Hell, anyone that claims that bringing Brock Lesnar in wasn't a gimmicky move is out of their mind. His success doesn't lessen the fact that the main reason they wanted an unproven 1-0 former pro wrestler was that people would tune in to see him.
The UFC has the luxury to pick and choose when to take these chances with bringing in a Slice or a Toney but, as Sherdog points out, for many lower level promotions the gimmick match is standard operating procedure.
MMA on the local level many times is a gimmick in and of itself. In my life I've been to plenty of both wrestling and MMA shows in bingo halls and local auditoriums and they both share the same level of disgusting carny characters and that feeling that you know someone is going to get hurt in a way that costs way more than they're getting paid (if they get paid at all). Still, you'll see a bigger crowd at a local MMA show than a local wrestling show because while bad wrestling just looks awful, at least in a real fight you're going to see some local hillbilly get knocked out.
Just to be clear, I'm not saying pro wrestling and MMA are the same thing at all. Simply that the promotional tactics are often similar...especially at the lowest levels of the sport.
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Oh shit
Someone dared denigrate the golden Lesnar by associating him with the “G” word. I better get out of here before 100 people yell at you that he was a D1 wrestler.
Seriously though…good piece.
BOOSH
To be fair with Lesnar he was brought in and thrown in the fire. Kinda like Kimbo except Kimbo fought a up and coming prospect while Brock fought a former chamion. If Brock had to have lost to Herring and looked as bad as kimbo he would have been punted to the curb as well. Brock was brought in as a side show but earned respect. His WWE stance is what got his in such a high profile position but his wins are what keep him there.
by Riley_96 on Jun 5, 2010 1:52 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
I don’t know how the “Pro Wrestling Gimmickry” can be completely avoided in a sport that lacks teams (IFL case in point) and relies on the marketing of individual personalities. People can buy into a team because it represents their city, state, or in the case of Olympians, country.
"You go to hell! You go to hell and you DIE!!"
They are also infinitely more matured as a sport then MMA. As MMA matures and grows these tactics will begin to fall by the wayside, as they just now are beginning to with the UFC.
skins game, 5th set tiebreak in us open, fedex cup, nadal and federer playing on a half grass half clay court, wild card entries into majors, sponsors exemptions…
by Phildo on Jun 5, 2010 10:15 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
Not really a good comparison to tennis
The Fed v. Nadal on the half and half court was a gimmick, but it wasn’t part of any promotion large or small. Instead, it was backed by a tourism board wholly independent from any minor or major sanctioning entity of pro tennis. It wasn’t even a sanctioned match for points or money.
Also – the 5th set tiebreak rule in the US Open is a progressive rule designed to help the efficacy of the biggest tournaments in the world. Look at what happens in the other Slams – Roddick plays a 5 hour match because of the no-tie break rule and has to play again in 30 hours. His next opponent plays a normal match. Why should we watch a useless player in the next round get destroyed because he has no legs. The U.S. Open rule makes plenty of gimmick-free sense. The lack of a tie-break rule in other slams is the gimmicky relic if you ask me – “look at these two guys play for 5 hours, amazing!” – yea and ruin their side of the draw because we have to watch a sub-top 20 journeyman win the lottery and sneak into the semis of a slam.
Wild card entries allow young prospects a chance to break through, they are the opposite of gimmicks. Jenkins, Ginepri, Querrey, Isner – all benefitted from U.S. Open wildcards from winning Kalamazoo or being high-ranked juniors. Those wild-card matches at majors are terrible draws, nobody knows who those guys are when they’re 18. Also, the U.S. Open/USTA has taken a bath by investing wildcards in some busts. See Donald Young.
Wildcards also allow players who may have been highly ranked but got injured, or stabbed, the chance to reclaim their position without grinding through Futures and Challengers. See, e.g., Goran, Dent, Seles, Graf, Agassi. It’s not a gimmick if the guy IS that good.
I don’t know shit about golf though.
"Yes Gina, I am a Wise Cracker"
by lcollins1 on Jun 5, 2010 3:58 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
they’re all gimmicks. The half court thing was an exhibition, but when there are rules for putting people in tournaments, but you decide to ignore those rules for a select few, that’s the same gimmick as letting james toney into the ufc.
And the 5th set tiebreak is definitely a gimmick, if people thought it was definitely 100% “pure” tennis, all the majors would use it. It’s not a coincidence that the one major that can have games in prime time in the US is the one that needs help with “efficacy” aka, matches of reasonable length to maximize ratings in the us.
Every sport has gimmicks, it’s just harder to find them because the sports are a little older so you either don’t realize their gimmicks, or they don’t take on as much importance.
I think there's a difference between rules changes and gimmicks:
tennis is slow to move, man. Look at the “all whites” rule at Wimby – that’s a goofy ass relic too. It sure isn’t “pure tennis” though. Imagine if you could only wear all white in an MMA fight – that would be pretty damn weird.
NCAA DI doesn’t use “lets” on serves because it’s too easy to call a “let” after you get aced and replay the point. Is that a gimmick? – No. It’s got a really good purpose and it’s worked great to prevent cheating. It’s just a rules change.
WTA women now play with smaller, lighter, less pressurized balls than the men. Not a gimmick – prevents shoulder injuries for smaller, weaker-shouldered people – ie most women.
Wild-cards are deeply rooted in Slams, been there for decades. They ARE, as you say, part of the “rules for putting people in tournaments”. For as long as I can remember the winner of the 18s hard-courts, Kalamazoo, gets a wildcard into the main draw of the U.S. Open. Take a look at the list of winners, it’s a “whose who” of legendary American pros – Connors, Johnny Mac, Agassi, Courier, Sampras, Chang, James Blake, Roddick, John Isner. Your rationale seeks to send these guys to the minors for a few years instead of straight to the big show where they belong. Why? – I don’t know.
And again on this wildcard thing – your rationale for why the 5th set breaker rule is a gimmick is that “if people thought it was definitely 100% pure tennis, all the majors would use it”. Well, all the majors use wildcards – they all use them for their prospects and landed guys coming back from injuries Top 100 ATP get in automatically, 20 wildcards left over – that’s the rule. Goran Ivanisevic won Wimbledon on a fucking wildcard! Your rationale here is like saying that because Brock Lesnar’s been out with a sickness, he should start over, – go fight in Shine for a few fights, and then come back to the UFC. Makes no sense – we KNOW he’s really good.
I’ll tell you the apt comparison of tennis to MMA – especially in the modern era — It’s the idea of “well rounded”. The best tennis player of the last ten years has been Federer – a finesse player with touch, feel, a great serve, volleys and the ability to come over and slice the ball at the highest level. What else does he have? – He can grind like a sonofabitch on clay – not as well as Nadal obviously, but at an extremely high level. Fed can play all day – top-level conditioning. We’ve never before seen all that shit in one player.
And on the other side you’ve got the grinder Nadal, lunch-pail, body blows guy who wears people out all day. What else has he got? – A borderline weapon serve and soft hands at the net. The pure clay courter can now attack, and the technique guy can grind.
The days of the “pure” grinder or “pure” serve and volleyer are over, just like the days of the wrestle-boxer or the pure Jits guy are over. – That’s the comparison between the two, not that “every sport has gimmicks”.
"Yes Gina, I am a Wise Cracker"
you are getting way too defensive. the 5th set tiebreak that only happens at 1 major is a gimmick. it’s not a bad thing, but it’s a gimmick. like sudden death overtime in the nfl, or what college football does, or shootouts in hockey. They’re all gimmicks. It’s not bad, but they are all gimmicks.
look
what if there was no clock on an MMA fight? What if you fought until somebody tapped or got KO’d? The rounds would still be 5 minutes, but there would be no cap on the number of rounds you could fight. Do you think that would be a good idea? Doo Koo disagrees.
All the US Open did was say “this is stupid. We got guys out here all night. The level of tennis becomes garbage and it screws up the draw because the winner of this marathon always loses their next match anyway”. I agree with them. I think it’s a better system.
The US Open’s rule adheres to that fundamental notion of sport – “may the best man win”. When one dude plays a marathon and one doesn’t, and then they play each other, the outcome has very little to do with the “best man”.
"Yes Gina, I am a Wise Cracker"
"as soon as Kimbo was put in with a real fighter he'd be beaten"
Was Houston Alexander not a real fighter?
"If your going to come on then come on!" - Harold Howard
I probably should have said a “more complete” fighter. But good to see it only took until the third comment for the complaining to start.
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by Brent Brookhouse on Jun 5, 2010 8:59 AM EDT up reply actions
So Matt Mitrione is what you consider a complete fighter?!?!?
Just kidding Brent. A draw is a draw no matter what the industry is. It’s not like it is a complete insult. Some gimmicks turn legit and others fall by the wayside.
P.S. BROCKLESNAR!!!!!
by Earl Montclair on Jun 5, 2010 9:06 AM EDT up reply actions
More complete than Kimbo...yes.
Petruzelli, Nelson, Mitrione…the three “more complete than him” guys he fought and the three guys that tooled him.
But yeah. That’s what I’m hoping people realize. It’s FINE to be a guy who was brought in to draw. Both Lesnar and Slice were brought in for their drawing power. It just happened that Lesnar’s old wrestling skills were still in that giant head of his and he was able to translate it into legitimate success while Slice’s streetfighting proved to not translate in a truly meaningful way (other than drawing power)
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by Brent Brookhouse on Jun 5, 2010 9:30 AM EDT up reply actions
Sorry that came out the wrong way. I actually really enjoyed your reading your piece. Good job.
"If your going to come on then come on!" - Harold Howard
You’re good people, I was just messing with ya.
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by Brent Brookhouse on Jun 5, 2010 9:28 AM EDT up reply actions
You admit that you could have worded that better but still don’t think you should be getting criticized? Really, if you’re getting on Kimbo for his lack of skills you should be getting on a hell of a lot more people in MMA. But why would you do that? None of them are youtube sensations that drive traffic, right?
But since you’re so happy about the complaing, i’m glad to oblige you with some more ;D
Same thing with Lesnar. Do you get to criticize him for being gimmicky while he’s also extremely talented and a physical specimen? His popularity or his past don’t change these facts, so I don’t think you do.
Gimmick
a. A device employed to cheat, deceive, or trick, especially a mechanism for the secret and dishonest control of gambling apparatus.
I don’t think anyone paying to see Lesnar is being cheated or tricked. Yet again an instance that you could have used better wording. Or better yet, you could have opted not complain about a non-issue.
Even with Toney, i’m not sure that’s a gimmick. It’s more just a lame, stupid fight that isn’t going to be very good most likely. But both guys are professional fighters. Toney is a historical boxer and that he’s in a bad match up or way past his prime, again something clear for all to see, doesn’t make it a gimmick, just a bad fight.
To me a gimmick is something like Hong-Man Choi vs Jose Canseco. Probably Hershel Walker fights as well.
Hmmm. Rereading this comment
I realize it’s probably a bit more confrontational then i intended. It’s early and i haven’t had my coffee!
It’s not like i have a huge problem with anything you said Brent, just pointing out a few thing i don’t agree with.
Well…let’s start with Lesnar. I’m not criticizing him. I’m actually a big fan of his and find him fascinating. But he was not brought in with any certainty that he was a top level talent. I’m not really sure why you think I was complaining about Lesnar at all.
I think you’re also looking at the wrong definition of gimmick and that’s probably my fault for not properly expanding on it. I wrote this as a favor for the SB Nation pro wrestling site. In pro wrestling gimmick could refer to a wrestler’s character (i.e. Doink’s gimmick was an evil clown) or it could refer to a type of match (i.e. a ladder match is a “gimmick match”) or it could just be “gimmick booking” which is something like bringing in Lawrence Taylor to wrestle Bam Bam Bigelow at Wrestlemania to generate interest in a different kind of audience than would be interested in your normal product.
I don’t think anyone is “cheated” when they pay for Lesnar, nor did I mean to imply such. The terminology probably made much more sense in the place where I initially wrote the piece.
It’s not a “bad thing” when I say that the UFC bringing in Lesnar or Toney is a form of “gimmick matchmaking” when I’m discussing it in the wrestling context. Basically I just mean that it’s a business move the create interest different than what an average event would normally generate.
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by Brent Brookhouse on Jun 5, 2010 10:46 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
Thanks for mentioning article was written fir SB Wrestling, I was getting tired of so many wrestling/mma articles here. This wasn’t just another one, it was intended for a cross audience.
by pwrcartel on Jun 5, 2010 11:40 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Yeah...
it was “guest written” for Cage Side Seats, who were a little light on staff due to personal situations. I then cross posted here because early on non-major event Saturdays are usually light on the news. Just wanted people to be able to talk a bit.
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by Brent Brookhouse on Jun 5, 2010 12:54 PM EDT up reply actions
But this kinda rings true for any where except many times what we see as a character is who that person really is. In MMA we have Cheal who is an uptight guy whos into politics and likes tomake fun of brazilians, in the NFL there are the chad johnsons, and TOs whos larger then life personalties bring in fans. NHL has Ovechkin who is hated by a great deal of people for being cocky and doing shit like spraying a little kid with snow. Just the difference the sports are not built on gimmics as much as WWE is, yet its still there.
Oh how could i forget Tennis has its johnny mac
you're conflating amateur wrestling as applied to mma
with pro wrestling.
Follow me on Twitter @KidNate
"I'm not saying pro wrestling and MMA are the same thing at all. Simply that the promotional tactics are often similar...especially at the lowest levels of the sport."
Much truth in this statement there is.
Walking the line between intelligence and ignorance since 1985
@deowade
There is, however...
if Brent thought that line needed to be added at the end, then he probably should have relooked at his entire article. Just a thought.
Dude. It's Anderson Silva.
If he gives a damn he will end Sonnen’s night by either sub or KO.
-SSreporters
By Monday morning Chael Sonnen will be pissing out of his neck.
-Also SSreporters
ECW events were perfect in bingo halls.
Among pro-wrestling hardcores, up to this date, there is still a great amount of respect and nostalgia on how great ECW was. Probably the same way MMA hardcores views Pride Bushido..
I am. I think. I will. - Ayn Rand
I predict much hate for this article in the comments section ...
… because the truth hurts.
the hate is going to be unfounded.
People have this irrational fear of being associated with pro wrestling and gimmickry, but people fail to realize that every sport has its gimmicks, and they are to be expected, especially in a sport as young as mma.
and...
as I’ve talked about in the past, a lot of it comes from boxing, or wrestling back when it was hooking, or any number of other things. The spectacle aspect can share some similarities with pro wrestling but at the end of the day MMA is a real sport without predetermined outcomes which always makes it different.
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by Brent Brookhouse on Jun 5, 2010 10:50 AM EDT up reply actions
I guess maybe I’ve seen too many old fights like Butterbean vs Genki Sudo to think the UFC’s monopoly on talent has suddenly caused promotions to rely on gimmick fights. Didnt Muhammad Ali fight an “MMA” fight in Japan in the early 80s?
A good comment above mentioned the “hometown” appeal being lacking in MMA, but that’s where it still comes into play. Can the best regional MMA fighter from Pioria beat a UFC castoff like Rich Clementi? Most of the regional shows I hear promoted make a huge deal out of any former UFC fighter they can line up. There is an obvious up side to the UFC’s dominance in the talent department, as anyone they let go immediately becomes a huge draw on the regional level.
Getting bent out of shape over a fight promoter lying is like getting upset that a hooker won't kiss you. It betrays a deep lack of understanding of the nature of the profession.
Brock was defiantly brought in as a gimmick but he showed in the following fights that he was more than that. Brock is the perfect storm for a promotion. Gimmick with skill
See, i think that if you have skill, if you’re a legit fighter, that precludes you from being a gimmick. And with Brock, it was pretty clear before his MMA debut that he had to tools AND some of the skills to be a monster.
im not knocking him at all im a big brock supporter but his size personality and background screams gimmick but the skills are there to succeed
Right...
there was no proof that he had any sort of submission defense, or any proof as to how he handled taking a punch, or any proof of how his gastank would hold up in a real fight, or any proof of if his wrestling skills were going to translate into MMA (not everyone’s do and sometimes several years away make that even more clear).
You bring him in initially because you know he can draw viewers. You also look and see his work ethic and think “okay, he might really develop into something special”
I think Goonisis is taking more offense to the term gimmick than is intended.
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by Brent Brookhouse on Jun 5, 2010 10:54 AM EDT up reply actions
It’s so easy to forget how ridiculous it sounded at the time, putting a 1-0 MMA fighter with a pro wrasslin’ background against a former UFC HW champ… which is what Lesnar-Mir I was.
Look what became of that…
by Monday Morning Martial Artist on Jun 5, 2010 11:45 AM EDT reply actions
the truth
while i personally dislike pro wrestling greatly i must give credit where credit is due and say that mixed martial arts and pro wrestling are cousins as they were both born from a common denominator in catch wrestling.
from catch wrestling professional wrestling was born and the dangers of catch wrestling were limited by faking most all of the hits and holds changing it from legit fighting to simply acting.
until karl gotch and his disciple pro wrestler antoni inoki began hosting matches where champions from various disciplines would fight for real. which spawned unprecedented popularity in these clash of style bouts that would later become modern mixed martial arts.
this is from mixed martial arts wikipedia page
In Japan in the 1970s, a series of mixed martial arts matches were hosted by Antonio Inoki, a former star of New Japan Pro Wrestling; this inspired the shoot-style movement in Japanese professional wrestling, which eventually led to the formation of the first mixed martial arts organizations, such as Shooto, which was formed in 1985.
by Johnathan Willis on Jun 5, 2010 12:12 PM EDT reply actions
I've written about this is my MMA History series
In part 1 I discuss the collision of the two strains of proto-mma, Pancrase and Vale Tudo.
Inoki’s matches of the 1970s against Ali, various Judokas, Olympic wrestlers and others were all works but they were critical to the evolution of MMA.
Follow me on Twitter @KidNate
Good article, but a reference to Yamma, Shock Fights, or X-Arm would make it even better.
The parallels between pro-wrestling and MMA are fascinating. You’d be crazy not to want to look at one to better understand the other. Especially since one is real and the other is scripted. That’s almost like having a control group in an experiment.
You Dont Know Kimbo
“as soon as Kimbo was put in with a real fighter he’d be beaten just like he was every time up to then…”
If you’re at all familiar with Kimbo’s brief body of work it includes wins over Ray Mercer, Tank Abbott, and Houston Alexander, all of whom would likely take seriousy exception to your statement that none of them are ‘real fighters’ given that they combine for a lifetime’s worth of fight experience where Matt ‘Meathead’ Mitrione is a former NFL player who boasts a 2-0 MMA record…
Whats more of a gimmick? NFL players turned fighters or boxers/street brawlers turned fighters? Seems to me you need to revisit this premise on ‘gimmicks’ as MMA is still evolving and like our great country invites all comers to step up to the challenge… I’ve grown very tired of these ‘good for the sport’ type stories that seem to be hemorrhaging out of the blogosphere on a weekly basis.
Don’t confuse poor event management with ‘gimmicks’, and I would caution you not to offend these boxers turned cage fighters unless you are looking for an excuse to visit the dentist…
"Every day gets better for me, you know what I'm saying? If anyone has a chance to beat me, it was yesterday..." - Kevin Ferguson
by bloodsportmmadotcom on Jun 5, 2010 12:49 PM EDT reply actions
First of all...
there is nothing more annoying than the “don’t let a fighter hear you say that, he’ll commit felony assault and put you in the hospital!” talk. I’m not exactly sure why we’ve all decided that no one can say that a fighter is not good but we can shit on football players and the like all day, every day. You know who is a better quarterback than 99% of the planet? Ryan Leaf. The guy was also one of the most glorious wastes of a draft pick in the history of the NFL. And don’t give me the “well, fighters are taking a risk with their lives…they deserve better” thing, because aren’t we also the ones that, when safety comes up, are so quick to point out that concussion and injury rates are much higher in football?
If you’re saying that fighting an over the hill Ray Mercer in an exhibition fight, Tank Abbott who had gone 1-6 since his 2003 return, or Houston Alexander who refused to engage was the same as Mitrione who you knew was going to bring the fight to him. I mean, I’ll admit that I sold Houston short here, bot the others? Not so much.
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by Brent Brookhouse on Jun 5, 2010 1:03 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
*but the others
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by Brent Brookhouse on Jun 5, 2010 1:04 PM EDT up reply actions
Nothing wrong with gimmick booking, imo
I have no problem with the UFC putting someone like Brock Lesnar, James Toney or Kimbo Slice up against legit fighters because while the booking might be gimmicky, the fights aren’t. People are intrigued by the gimmick but when they tune in, they get a real fight. Sometimes the fighters can’t cut it but that’s the case with any fighter.
People are confusing the type of gimmick booking that happens with Kimbo Slice or James Toney with the gimmick fights you see with Bob Sapp or Minowaman.
the punk
i like minowaman
but minowa is a pro wrestler
as are several other japanese superstars
brock lesnar is treated as if he were the first pro wrestlers to make a successful transition into mma because of their popularity but that simply isn’t true. its been happening in japan since the beginning of mixed martial arts
japanese mixed martial arts more closely resemble pro wrestling in many ways because of it’s close relation to pro wrestling.
by Johnathan Willis on Jun 5, 2010 1:19 PM EDT up reply actions
Sakuraba had a pro wrestling background as well.
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by Brent Brookhouse on Jun 5, 2010 2:31 PM EDT up reply actions
…had I scrolled down one more comment I’d have seen R.T. already mentioned him
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by Brent Brookhouse on Jun 5, 2010 2:31 PM EDT up reply actions
I like Minowaman too
But the difference between him and Lesnar is that Lesnar fights world class MMA fighters and Minowaman has been fighting fat guys for the last few years. The initial booking of Lesnar was gimmicky but every Minowa fight is a gimmick.
Sure he’s fought ridiculous guys over the last few years, but Minowaman actually has a few legitimate wins (Phil Baroni, Gilbert Yvel) on his resume.
And not just any fighter walks away with the Super Hluk belt…
Inhale deep, like the words of my breath—I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death
He's actually kind of a rare case
Most gimmick fighters start out that way due to a lack of skills but Minowa was a legit fighter for almost a decade before he started the giant killer gimmick. i can’t speak on the level of fighters he faced in Pancrase but he faced solid competition for most of his time in Pride.
Not to mention that Josh Barnett talked about the "superiority of pro wrestling" as a style after his victories.
And Barnett fought the best of the best in Pride, short of injuries preventing a Fedor matchup.
"Someone is WRONG on the internet. What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!"
-Randall Munroe
by pdl on Jun 5, 2010 3:33 PM EDT up reply actions
That doesn't really apply to US pro wrestling though
Japanese pro wrestling is more similar to catch wrestling, which Barnett has shown to be a very successful style in MMA.
Just a quick question. Have there been any midget MMA matches yet?
"If your going to come on then come on!" - Harold Howard
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by Brent Brookhouse on Jun 5, 2010 2:35 PM EDT up reply actions
Awesome! Someone needs to make an all midget MMA league.
That was more entertaining than I thought it would be. They needed a bigger cage though and a midget ref.
"If your going to come on then come on!" - Harold Howard
I was hoping that this would be a link
to a Scott Jorgenson vs. Joseph Benavidez fight announcement.
"Someone is WRONG on the internet. What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!"
-Randall Munroe
by pdl on Jun 5, 2010 3:35 PM EDT up reply actions
I think
I just watched the greatest thing that ever was ever
by Patrick John McGreevy on Jun 5, 2010 4:57 PM EDT up reply actions
ECW
I went to an ECW event back in the day…it was so amazing. RVD vs. Jerry Lynn in Milwaukee was off the hook.
I'm ashamed to say it...
but I was watching on T.V. when he debuted. I remember Hulk Hogan pulling him out of the front row…they really sold the idea that he was just some hick fan who was into wrestling…at first. Or it could be that I was just a little kid at the time.
Dude. It's Anderson Silva.
If he gives a damn he will end Sonnen’s night by either sub or KO.
-SSreporters
By Monday morning Chael Sonnen will be pissing out of his neck.
-Also SSreporters
How would Hillbilly Jim do in MMA?
Think he could make the transition?
I mean, hypothetically, if he were still in his prime?
I don't think overalls are legal cage atire...
let alone those bright red hand-me-down boots from Hogan.
Dude. It's Anderson Silva.
If he gives a damn he will end Sonnen’s night by either sub or KO.
-SSreporters
By Monday morning Chael Sonnen will be pissing out of his neck.
-Also SSreporters
Tap-Out could Sponsor him... he'd have custom board shorts that look like cut-off jeans.
and he’d have his own Tap-Out Walk Out shirt….
Out of all the Hillbillies
I think Cousin Luke would have had the best shot. Uncle Elmer would never have been able to make weight.
Were those real wrestlers that existed?
Someone has to post a Youtube video.
Funny thing is, Hillbilly Jim LITERALLY has horseshoes up his ass.
That’s how hillbillies do things in the Appalachian hills…
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