WWE.com
Professional wrestling and mixed martial arts have been somewhat married since their inceptions. As legit pro wrestling gave way to scripted pro wrestling, the same tactics and training techniques stuck around for decades. The likes of Billy Robinson, Judo Gene LeBell and Stu Hart transitioned their shoot wrestling abilities and parlayed them into success in pro wrestling.
Worked fights continued all the way up through the 1990s, but as the Ufc emerged, it became much easier to decipher a work from a shoot. That hasn’t stopped the two worlds from intersecting, as the likes of Ken Shamrock, Brock Lesnar, Dan Severn, Bob Sapp and several others have managed success in both Mma and pro wrestling.
Not every pro wrestling crossover has had the same level of success as the aforementioned stars, though. Some pro wrestlers that transitioned into the cage quite frankly had no business being involved with the sport,...
Professional wrestling and mixed martial arts have been somewhat married since their inceptions. As legit pro wrestling gave way to scripted pro wrestling, the same tactics and training techniques stuck around for decades. The likes of Billy Robinson, Judo Gene LeBell and Stu Hart transitioned their shoot wrestling abilities and parlayed them into success in pro wrestling.
Worked fights continued all the way up through the 1990s, but as the Ufc emerged, it became much easier to decipher a work from a shoot. That hasn’t stopped the two worlds from intersecting, as the likes of Ken Shamrock, Brock Lesnar, Dan Severn, Bob Sapp and several others have managed success in both Mma and pro wrestling.
Not every pro wrestling crossover has had the same level of success as the aforementioned stars, though. Some pro wrestlers that transitioned into the cage quite frankly had no business being involved with the sport,...
- 6/28/2014
- by Sean Ross Sapp
- Obsessed with Film
Jane Kalinowsky/AP/Press Association Images
The Mma/pro wrestling crossover has been alive for decades, before mixed martial arts really even existed.
From Billy Robinson transitioning his fantastic catch-as-catch-can wrestling ability into the Awa, all the way to Bobby Lashley taking his professional and amateur wrestling to WWE and Tna wrestling, the crossover is still alive.
While the Ufc isn’t as quick to embrace former WWE stars these days, that wasn’t always the case. Since the company’s inception all the way through their mainstream explosion, pro wrestling stars were instrumental in gaining attention for the Ufc. It just so happens that a few wrestlers happened to become champions, greats, and even Ufc Hall of Famers.
Some names you’ll know, others you wont, and some will flat out surprise you. This may not be the last of this list, either, as rumors have been flying about...
The Mma/pro wrestling crossover has been alive for decades, before mixed martial arts really even existed.
From Billy Robinson transitioning his fantastic catch-as-catch-can wrestling ability into the Awa, all the way to Bobby Lashley taking his professional and amateur wrestling to WWE and Tna wrestling, the crossover is still alive.
While the Ufc isn’t as quick to embrace former WWE stars these days, that wasn’t always the case. Since the company’s inception all the way through their mainstream explosion, pro wrestling stars were instrumental in gaining attention for the Ufc. It just so happens that a few wrestlers happened to become champions, greats, and even Ufc Hall of Famers.
Some names you’ll know, others you wont, and some will flat out surprise you. This may not be the last of this list, either, as rumors have been flying about...
- 6/16/2014
- by Sean Ross Sapp
- Obsessed with Film
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