9 Ways WWE Owes A Debt To UFC

Brock Lesnar’s debut match upon returning to the WWE was at Extreme Rules in April 2012, against John Cena, the face of the company.

Cena might have come up at the same time as Lesnar, but when Brock left WWE in 2004, Cena stayed. By Extreme Rules in 2012, Cena had been the top guy in the company for seven long years, crushing the backbreaking schedule that had defeated Lesnar.

It mirrored the situation in 2008 at UFC 81, in Lesnar’s first ever UFC bout against Frank Mir. Back then, Lesnar was a fearsome monster from the pro wrestling world, a decorated amateur wrestler, a natural athlete and a brute in the flesh, abnormally fast and strong... but his UFC debut was only his second ever pro MMA fight.

This contrasted with his opponent, who had a 10:3 professional fight history, and had already commanded some impressive record-setting performances in the octagon.

The narrative of the match was identical to his WWE comeback match against Cena. It was the unstoppable challenger with the intimidating reputation, setting foot into an unfamiliar situation against a veteran opponent: the arrogant overconfidence in his own ability, the ruthless dominance that bore that confidence out, and the upset victory of the wily veteran over the challenger right at the last minute.

And just as happened in his second bout against Mir over the UFC Heavyweight Championship at UFC 100, Lesnar’s SummerSlam 2014 match against Cena for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was pretty much a one-sided mauling.

Neither man would get much of a look-in against Lesnar in these much-fêted rematches - Mir was pounded to hamburger, and as for Cena, Los Angeles hadn’t seen that many Germans in one place since Oktoberfest at the Fairplex the previous year...