The legitimacy of the mainstream of sport, celebrity and big business is something that, for all his bluster, Vincent Kennedy McMahon has aspired to for three decades or more. All of his failed commercial ventures the World Bodybuilding Federation, the XFL, WWE New York and Niagara Falls, some would say WWE Studios have been attempts to diversify his companys business out of the niche market of professional wrestling. Now we have the Network, an online streaming service working as a foundation for control of the cable television broadcast of WWE-owned product. In the same way, when it come to the wrestling business WWE have always been keen on hyping their performers by bigging up their sporting exploits prior to joining the company. In recent years theyve exploited the legitimate credibility of Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, Steve Blackman, Kurt Angle, Shelton Benjamin, Jake Jack Swagger Hager, Stuart Wade Barrett Bennett, and Brock Lesnar, to name only a few. For a promotion keen on rewriting any history that doesnt take place inside its ring, WWE has steadfastly maintained any back stories that involve shoot fighting, the reasoning being that they add weight to the performers kayfabe hard man reputations. Its telling that many of these performers are the ones that get to keep their real names. With MMA and the UFC making a killing in 2015, the WWE is keener than ever to capitalise on their mainstream success. Brock Lesnar is one of the biggest names in professional wrestling and mixed martial arts, and occupies the rarefied position of a semi-retired wrestling legend with WWE: he has the part time status and high salary of an Undertaker, Triple H or Rock, at the age of only 37. But the Beast Incarnate isnt the only hardass out there who could bring legitimacy to the WWE roster, Fed up with matadors and midget bulls, crap rock stars and cosmic superheroes, pyromaniac serial killers, undead sorcerers, teleporting cultists? Want more Wrestling Machines, Worlds Most Dangerous Men, Lethal Weapons and total Beasts? Especially for all you wrestling fans with only a passing familiarity with the world of MMA, heres a primer: a dozen legit hardcore fighters who might benefit greatly from considering a change of tack to the bizarre, theatrical, worked world of the WWE.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
