WWE: Ten wrestlers that you may not know were MMA fighters

Look at the two highest billed matches set for this year’s WWE SummerSlam; Brock Lesnar versus Roman Reigns and Alexa Bliss versus Ronda Rousey. What do they have in common? Ronda Rousey and Brock Lesnar have both had prolific mixed martial arts careers in UFC.

I’m hypothetically willing to bet a thousand rands that you, the wrestling fan, already knew that. On the flip side, I would hypothetically bet against you knowing that these 10 wrestlers once stepped into the octagon.

Like Ronda Rousey and Brock Lesnar, many of WWE’s past and present have mixed martial arts backgrounds. Let’s see how much you know about these more obscure crossover athletes.

 

Jack Gallagher

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You may know Gentleman Jack as the twisted umbrella wielder of 205 Live, with even more twisted holds and stretches. In fact, his only two MMA matches have been victories via submission in the first round.

It’s exactly how he qualified for the Cruiserweight Classic as well, by making future WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne tap out!

 

Bam Bam Bigelow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the 90s, there were few big men on the same level as Bam Bam Bigelow, let alone as agile. He was an extreme force of destruction, exemplified by the time he tossed Spike Dudley from the ring into the crowd.

Bam Bam once cashed in on his intimidating aura by making taekwondo black belt Kimo Leopoldo look good. The Beast From The East was paid the equivalent of over 1,000,000 rands to lose his first and only mixed martial arts match.

 

Batista

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dave Batista, The Animal, Drax. Whatever you call him, he carries the honourable weight of being a six-time world champion of the WWE. After learning Brazilian jiu-jitsu from Cesar Gracie, Batista won his MMA debut by way of TKO.

 

Taka Michinoku

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TAKA made his first marks on American wrestling soil through ECW in the mid-90s and later the WWE tag team Kaientai with Funaki. In mixed martial arts, lost his only match via submission. It’s ironic how “just tap out!” is now his catchphrase in NJPW.

 

Alberto Del Rio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s nothing scarier than a guy in gold underpants putting you in an armbar and incessantly calling you “perro”. I hate to break it to you, but Alberto Del Rio has likely done at least two of these things five times as part of a 9-5 mixed martial arts record.

Fun fact: Del Rio part of a legendary Mexican wrestling family that includes his father Dos Caras and uncle Mil Mascaras.

 

Santino Marella

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Santino is the WWE’s favourite goofball from Calabria, Italy, with infamous manoeuvres such as The Cobra and… the arm-triangle choke? Yes, this jokester was once an MMA fighter. Santino’s mixed martial arts record is not well recorded, but according to him, it’s 6-1.

Fellow MMA fighter Bobby Lashley helped him win the Intercontinental Championship from Umaga in his debut.

 

Rezar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2015, William Regal hand picked Rezar to sign with WWE from an open audition in Dubai. It was not long until he became one-half of The Authors Of Pain.

Before he dealt any destruction in the squared circle, he was dishing it out in the octagon. The man also known as The Albanian Psycho has an 8-2 record with half of his wins by submission.

 

Jushin Thunder Liger

Jushin Liger is essentially a real-life anime superhero whose 90s material changed high-flying wrestling forever. In his first and only MMA match, the masked Liger tapped out to the sadistic Minoru Suzuki of New Japan Pro Wrestling.

 

Matt Riddle

Without a doubt, Matt Riddle currently holds the title of “the hottest free agent in the business”. It won’t be for long because The King Of Bros is NXT bound. The former Ultimate Fighter contestant left MMA in 2014 with an 8-3-2 record.

Many talk about Ronda Rousey’s incredible transition from MMA to wrestling. Matt Riddle has done exactly that, and that’s why he’ll be making a big splash upon his WWE NXT debut.

 

Shinsuke Nakamura

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smackdown Live’s unhinged rock star Shinsuke Nakamura borrows part of his Strong Style repertoire from his MMA background. Nakamura acquired a decent 3-1-1 record from 2002 to 2004, with his penultimate match featuring the original Kinshasa.

Did you know that The Rockstar was once a pop star? He showcased his Michael Jackson-esque dance moves in the Japanese version of the music video for “Happy” by Pharrell Williams. Check it out at 0:54 if you don’t believe me.

 

WWE SummerSlam is streaming live on 19 August, only on the WWE Network. Don’t miss Brock Lesnar versus Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship and Ronda Rousey challenging for Alexa Bliss’ Raw Women’s Championship.