10 Ways Wrestlers Proved Their Gimmicks Outside WWE

5. Ken Shamrock Craves MMA Competition

Mark Henry
Twitter, @ShamrockKen

UFC wasn't quite the booming business it became when Ken Shamrock kissed the Octagon goodbye and joined the WWF in 1997. Still, the company called him the "World's Most Dangerous Man", and Shammers did carry a legitimacy about him that many pro wrestling characters lacked.

There were still probably some doubters though.

The MMA itch never left Ken. In 2000, having officially fled the WWF in '99, Shamrock returned to martial arts with a bang. He defeated Alexander Otsuka on a Pride card in Tokyo on 1 May. That was the kind of swaggering bad-assery that Kenny boy had ached to feel again since switching out real fighting for "sports entertainment" three years prior.

Despite calls from some that he was too old to make an impact in MMA again, Shamrock succeeded. Did he win every fight? No, but he did get to do what he loved before once again dipping toes into the wrestling game with TNA.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.