When MMA Fighters Tried (and Failed) in Pro Wrestling.

MMA and professional wrestling may seem to be related disciplines; both are physically demanding, dramatic, highly popular, and feature larger-than-life characters. Still, it is possible to notice that the physical and stylistic change is quite similar, but the shift from one to another is not as smooth as it could be. Some of the MMA fighters who have transitioned into the pro wrestling ring have sometimes been overwhelmed by the dramatic nature of the sport.

Still, there are some fighters who have been able to transition from MMA to pro wrestling successfully, for example, Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey, but there are those who have tried and have failed in the process of translating their skills and character in the wrestling ring. In this article, you will get to know about some of the MMA fighters who attempted to make a career in pro wrestling but failed or whose career was not as successful as expected.

Dan Severn: The Beast Who Couldn’t Find His Place

Dan ‘The Beast’ Severn is among the first generation of fighters in MMA and boasts of a great record that includes being a UFC Hall of Fame fighter and multiple tournament winner. Severn moved to pro-wrestling in the mid-1990s, at the time MMA was still emerging. Severn joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF in 1998. Since Severn is ex-military and has a legitimate fighting style and the build, he should have been a perfect candidate.

Still, Severn’s time in pro wrestling was short of great. His serious look and serious attitude towards fighting did not fit the flamboyancy of professional wrestling. Severn was quite a dominant figure in the field of MMA; however, he lacked that appeal that would make the wrestling enthusiasts connect with him. He was involved in rivalries with other big stars such as Owen Hart and Ken Shamrock; however, he was not very vocal, and his shoot-fighting style did not fit the scripted nature of the business. Severn later joined the WWF and went back to MMA and never replicated the same success in wrestling as he did in MMA.

Ken Shamrock: Promising Beginnings, Subsequent Setbacks

Ken Shamrock is one of the most vivid examples of an MMA fighter who started from pro wrestling and then had a hard time succeeding. Shamrock is known as “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” and enjoyed a successful career in the MMA, especially in the early years of the UFC. He first appeared in WWF in 1997, and like most of the MMA fighters, he had a smooth transition to the world of pro wrestling, at least for the first couple of years.

Shamrock had a fierce look about him and was quite athletic, which made him a star in the WWF at the time of the late nineties. He also had incredible rivalries with The Rock, Bret Hart, and Stone Cold Steve Austin and was also the Intercontinental Champion. Although, after the exit from the WWF in 1999, all the efforts to come back to the pro wrestling ring by Shamrock were not successful. However, in the mid-2000s, his in-ring performances had deteriorated, and he could not get to the level he was before. He had not been able to recreate the success of his initial stint in the ring, and his MMA career had also started declining at that time, but he had made appearances in some of the lower-tier wrestling promotions, including TNA (Total Nonstop Action Wrestling). This is especially true since Shamrock’s later wrestling career is regarded by many as a failure after his successful return.

Cain Velasquez: A UFC Champion, A Wrestling Disappointment

Cain Velasquez is one of the most dominant heavyweights in UFC history and the two-time UFC heavyweight champion. Following injuries that ended his MMA career, Velasquez made the rather unanticipated transition to becoming a professional wrestler. In 2019, he joined Lucha Libre AAA, and fans were amazed at his flexibility and ability to adjust to the Lucha style of wrestling.

It is said that Velasquez’s performances in AAA attracted the attention of WWE, and he was hired by the company. He began his WWE career in October 2019 and was immediately placed in a storyline with Brock Lesnar, the man he knocked down in the UFC to capture the UFC heavyweight title in 2010. But Velasquez’s time in WWE was a complete nightmare. His match with Lesnar in Crown Jewel 2019 only lasted for two minutes, and Velasquez, who was still nursing his knee injuries, did not do well.

The issue of charisma, lack of exposure to WWE-style pro wrestling, and real-life injuries also played a big role in Velasquez’s inability to fit into WWE’s sports entertainment. Velasquez only competed in one match for WWE and was quietly let go by the company in 2020, and his pro wrestling career never got off the ground as it was cut short.

Ronda Rousey: From Loved to Hated

Ronda Rousey can be regarded as one of the pioneers of women’s MMA. She is the first-ever women’s bantamweight champion of the UFC; she was a crossover star, dominating her division, before her MMA career was cut short by a couple of devastating losses. Rousey joined WWE in 2018 and initially had a lot of success in the company, making her entrance at Wrestlemania 34.

Rousey’s physicality and ferociousness made her a prominent star on the WWE women’s roster, and she captured the Raw Women’s Title soon after. However, as time passed, her MMA background that used to be an asset started to become more of a disadvantage. People booed Rousey, and she appeared to be out of her depth in terms of what is expected in wrestling in terms of the mic skills and character creation. Also, she did not have a long career in wrestling, and this was evident when her matches were not as impressive as they were when she started.

By the time Rousey made her final appearance in WWE in August 2023, she had moved from being one of the biggest draws in the company to a person that was universally disliked by fans and co-workers behind the scenes. Her wrestling career might have begun on the right note, but it ended on the wrong note; she could not dominate the MMA as she used to do and was not as popular as she used to be.

Junior Dos Santos: From UFC Champion to AEW Struggles

Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos entered the wrestling ring in the year 2021 by joining the All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Dos Santos, who is known for his finish and charisma in the Octagon, made his wrestling debut as part of the ongoing angle featuring the American Top Team MMA gym managed by Dan Lambert.

Dos Santos was athletic and had fighting experience, which made him a dangerous man to wrestle, but he lacked the ability to perform the dance-like moves in pro wrestling. In his first bout, he formed a team with wrestlers from AEW to face the Inner Circle faction, but he was not very polished. The rhythm of wrestling is much different from that of MMA, and this was evident from the movements of Dos Santos. His kicking, which is extremely dangerous in the mixed martial arts context of the UFC, appeared clumsy and off-tempo in the wrestling ring because the moves are meant to be more dramatic for showbiz.

Dos Santos tried his luck in wrestling and was quickly off the sport; even though he is still active in MMA and other projects, wrestling never became the niche Dos Santos expected.

Tom Lawlor: High Attempt, Low Achievement

This was especially the case with Tom Lawlor, a former UFC light heavyweight fighter who always had a flair for entertainment and thus appeared to be a pro wrestler in the making. After ending his stint with the UFC, Lawlor went into the independent wrestling promotions before joining Major League Wrestling (MLW) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).

However, Lawlor did not achieve much success in the independent wrestling scene; he won championships in MLW and also showed his personality, but he never got to the level that was expected of him. Some of his skills as a grappler were not suitable for the showmanship of pro wrestling, and despite trying his best, Lawlor could not establish a long-term career in mainstream wrestling companies such as WWE or AEW. Although he has not been a complete flop in wrestling, Lawlor’s career has been more of a cult success, wrestling in the B-shows and among the die-hard fans only.

Tito Ortiz: A brief and clumsy career

Tito Ortiz, one of the most popular fighters in the early days of the sport in the early part of the 2000s, has tried his hand at pro wrestling during his MMA career and after it. Ortiz first wrestled in TNA in 2005 and then came back in 2013 as a part of a storyline with Rampage Jackson.

Still, Ortiz’s sporadic appearances in TNA were quite uneventful. Although Ortiz is one of the most popular fighters in MMA, he was not able to fit well into wrestling due to the performance-driven nature of the sport. While he was good with the microphone in the UFC, he was not very good with pro wrestling promos, and his technical offense was also restricted. After his stay with TNA, Ortiz did not return to pro wrestling and instead concentrated on his MMA career and other business.

Conclusion

This is not as simple as switching from MMA to professional wrestling. Both sports entail physical strength and resilience, but the actual wrestling is far different from pro-wrestling in that it would also entail acting, roleplay, and even dramatization. Some superstars like Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey have demonstrated that one can be both an MMA fighter and a pro wrestler, but for most MMA fighters, pro wrestling has been a bridge too far.

These efforts saw these fighters transition to pro wrestling and achieve unimpressive runs and short tenures and come to the painful realization that the skills that make them champions in the UFC will not translate well to the wrestling ring.