Vince McMahon's a f***ing genius. So, here's the situation. Your top performer decides to leave and work for the competition, quite possibly ending up in a situation where he can take part of your fight-based fanbase market cache along with him. Of course, add in the fact that the man you currently have booked as the champion could leave and head back to the competition, too. In this situation, there's two options. Foremost, you can capitulate to pop culture and pressure and let UFC dominate. Or, you can make the savvy move of saying, let's kinda-sorta be friends and make all of the money "together." Ronda Rousey doesn't get in the ring at Wrestlemania unless Dana White already knows about it. As well, CM Punk doesn't sign with UFC unless Vince McMahon says, "it's cool, Dana." There's an admirable mafia-style relationship between the two bosses that allows combat sports to thrive, and now prosper to a greater degree. Vince re-signs Brock and gets unimpeded access to Ronda Rousey for a few shots. Dana gets CM Punk and the entire WWE Universe tuning in for Punk's first fight. Sounds like a pretty fair trade, right? Business and industry are amazing things.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
