Forget imitating pro wrestling, MMA might see the real deal
Zach Arnold reports that the WWE is seriously considering promoting MMA events.Vince McMahon and the WWE ought to be very wary about getting into MMA since they have failed miserably when they have tried to promote anything other than professional wrestling. Most people probably remember the WWE's failure with the XFL, but many may not recall that McMahon also bombed with a professional body building association in the early 90's. Plus, the WWE's experiment with the "Brawl for it All" (real fights with toughman style boxing and take downs) did not go over too well with wrestling fans.
However, MMA promotion is not too different than professional wrestling (definitely closer to professional wrestling than football or body building). While I would put the WWE's chances of being able to dethrone the UFC at less than than 50%, it would definitely be a force to reckon with - one that the MMA promoters could not easily ignore.
Zach goes into great detail about how this will affect Pride, but I think another interesting question is how it will affect the UFC. If the WWE gets into MMA it not only gives the UFC a new formidable competitor, it also puts the UFC in a funny position.
The UFC has been spending its time and energy promoting itself like a professional wrestling promotion without pre-determiined outcomes (anyone know how the Dana White vs. Tito Ortiz boxing match went?), but its natural spin would be that the WWE is a pro-wrstling promotion trying to put on "phony" shows without pre-determined outcomes. You have wonder whether the UFC would counter the WWE by increasing its theatrics, or by treating MMA more like a serious sport.
In any event, regardless whether the WWE entering MMA would be good for the sport (it would not be in my opinion), this is certainly an interesting development.
del.icio.us tags: wwe, mma, ufc, business_model, whaledog
I completely agree that it would be bad for the sport. All MMA needs is for it to be cast in the same light as pro wrestling. We try hard enough as it is to shrug off the thug/street image, having the "fake" or "entertainment" description attached to mma would be devastating.
Posted by Maxx | 10/24/2006 11:02 AM
If WWE does ever start an MMA promotion, it will fail miserably, not only because of the stigma that the “fights must be fixed” since Vince McMahon is behind it, but also because the McMahons have failed miserably at everything outside of their core business of pro wrestling. It would be the XFL, WBF, Raw Diva Search, Manhunt, and WWE Films all over again.
Posted by Ivan Trembow | 10/24/2006 11:20 PM
What's funny is that the UFC got away from the big theatrical fighter intros they used to do a while back. The last one I remember was TITO/Shamrock 1. They had the big ramp and fireworks and all that other stuff. Now it is more like Boxing with the narrow walk-way and only music. There is no way that vince could start an MMA promo and have it be legit. Even the brawl for all was thought to be fixed. Plus, wouldn't Vince's company then be considered a legit sports company and thus be forced to follow the same rules/regulations that other promoters/promotions are required to follow? The only way Vince would get this off the ground would be to grab well known, established fighters from other organizations....I don't see that happening...even though some have gone with vince before.
Posted by Anonymous | 10/25/2006 8:59 AM
what happened to this lovely blog?
Posted by Anonymous | 1/10/2007 2:02 AM
MMA is doing great on its own now, the IFL is kicking ass too. I found lots of good up to date IFL info at zewkey.com
Posted by wrongheaded | 1/21/2007 10:44 AM
Man, I hope that Vince and gang stay out of the MMA. It's already borderline stupid when guys like Rampage and Tito start their bombardment of propagana and hype. I think that Dana has too much sense to ever let things lean towards the Vince approach. Not to mention the mass quantities of steroids....
Posted by Dennis | 2/20/2007 8:50 AM
The Gracies help start the UFC which gives it real credentials. The WWE is just trying to get back some of their audience that they lost to the UFC.
Posted by zack | 2/21/2007 11:12 PM
MMA and prowrestling have been linked always and always will be. Nothing wrong with Vince wanting to start his own promotion, hes has plenty of money to do it.
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Posted by ninjashoes | 3/24/2007 3:00 AM
Did ANYBODY in their right mind really think that "The Donald" would end up bald? WWE had to make sure he kept his as Rosie O'donnell called "A COMBOVER".
Posted by Anonymous | 4/02/2007 1:11 PM