8 Big Name MMA Fighters Who Tried Out Pro Wrestling

4. Tank Abbott

wikiwikiSpeaking of Tank Abbott - not only has he fought Josh Barnett in IGF, he was actually brought into the WCW back in the day. Lets start with his MMA career. Abbott made his debut at UFC 6 on July 14th, 1995, and won his first two fights that night before falling to Oleg Taktarov. The problem is, from then on he traded wins and losses at best, and lost to essentially every major name he fought. Don Frye, Dan Severn, Vitor Belfort, Pedro Rizzo, Frank Mir, Kimo Leopoldo... by 2003, Abbott was gone from the UFC. He would pop up again in Strikeforce and EliteXC (managing to lose to YouTube sensation Kimbo Slice), but his days as a viable MMA draw were behind him, though he would fight as recently as 2013. Towards the end of his UFC run, however, it made sense for a wrestling company to cash in on his imposing presence - sort of a bulked up Kerry King. He was brought in by the WCW, as an opponent for Goldberg, in a booking move that on paper, at least, made sense. He would be sold as a legit fighter with one-punch "knock-out power" in the WCW. Again, it made sense - but the feud with Goldberg never took place. Instead, Abbott would face Jerry Flynn at the Souled Out PPV in 2000, even after Vince Russo had suggested he fight for and briefly win the heavyweight championship due to multiple injuries to stars Bret Hart and Jeff Jarrett. Abbott won the match, but his career didn't really go anywhere. He wound up playing the "biggest fan" of 3 Count, a parody of boy bands, and then feuded with them prior to being released from the WCW. Still, his WCW record at least features a win over DDP. In 2008 he would fight Barnett in Japan under the IGF banner, but Abbott's pro-wrestling career was pretty much done at that point.
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Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.