Com'n Kevin. Don't you want to see the WWE bring Brawl for All back. Dan Severn hugging his opponent for three minutes straight! Dr. Death Steve Williams getting knocked on his a**! Bart Gunn becoming a Tough Man hero, then getting his jaw handed to him by Butterbean!

Good lord, why did they ever stop. Really.

Something I whole heartedly agree with you on Kev .
MMA , pro wrestling = apples and oranges . While ocassionally an MMA match may grab my attention , I want no part of an intermixing of the two . I had no interest when TNA began involving Frank Trigg into its production and wish not see any further attempts to involve MMA . It's definitely not a lack of respect of the sport though .
BTW , Brock Lesnar , while I guess it was commendable for him to walk away from WWE $$$ to persue a "dream", looking back never should have left wrestling in my opinion .

Agreed, 100 percent. UFC has my attention with this one, but I won't be watching. My resurgence into wrestling fandom began in 1998 when "tapping out" became the norm in WWE and guys such as Ken Shamrock competed. I'm still trying to forget Tank Abbott, though.

That basically sums up my thoughts on mixed martial arts. It's interesting, but it's not wrestling.

Ok, all I can say is wow. The two are not even at the same level...MMA is real and pro-wraslin is not. To even speak, in the same breath about MMA warriors and actors playing around in a ring is insane. I too was a wraslin fan...when I was 10. I remember the days of mid-south and JYD, I remember riding the elevator at the Myriad Center in Oklahoma City and having Hawk and Animal riding right next to my dad and I....but again I was 10 and looked at sports through the eyes of a 10 year old. Wraslers are no more than in shape showmen with little to no skills in MMA or real wrestling.
It amazes me that grown men still watch pro-wraslin, with all the other soap shows it looks like they could at least pick one with better story lines and actors.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: If you're an MMA fan, that's great, but you show your ignorance when you belittle pro wrestling. Did you forget that the "MMA warrior " in the UFC main event Saturday is one of those "actors playing around in a ring" who has "little to no skills in MMA or real wrestling." Have you ever heard of Kurt Angle? I think he was pretty good at "real wrestling."

I'm a big MMA guy along with following pro wrestling.

Brock Lesnar has the physical tools to become one of the greatest heavyweights in the world. There has never been a guy that big with so much power and athleticism.

"The two are not even at the same level...MMA is real and pro-wraslin is not. To even speak, in the same breath about MMA warriors and actors playing around in a ring is insane."

Whatever. Bottom line is that we find wrestling to be better TV/entertainment than the 'real fights' in MMA. Who cares what is real and wasn't. We watch it because it entertains us. You watch what you want because it entertains you. What's the problem?

Kevin never said anything about wrestlers being better humans in any way than an MMA guy. Just that they're more entertaining.

"It amazes me that grown men still watch pro-wraslin, with all the other soap shows it looks like they could at least pick one with better story lines and actors."

Here's the thing: as Kevin said - nothing combines athleticism and showmanship to create such a powerful form of entertainment as wrestling. There ISN'T some better at that job.

MMA and Pro Wrestling are indeed much more closely linked then most people realize. MMA owes much of its development to pro wrestling.

For instance, in Japan-home perhaps to MMA's greatest fight promotions-MMA's rise was a virtual offshoot of pro wrestling. Take for example, the debuting event of Pancrase was titled "Yes We Are Hybrid Wrestlers." Moreover, it is very common for Japanese fighters to appear in both MMA and pro wrestling events, Kazushi Sakuraba being the greatest example.

Not wanting to turn Kev's blog into an MMA forum , I only comment further because of the former wrestler Lesnar . From just a casual ( infrequent ) viewer of MMA , I tend to compare Lesnar to Kimbo Slice , maybe not so much because of skills or lack of , but because neither have done much in the sport to warrent so much press .

Boxing is real too, but speaking as someone who has ordered boxing pay-per-views and wrestling pay-per-views, the real sport can be a much bigger waste of money than the fake one.

"MMA is real and pro-wrestling is not"

wrestling may be fake but it is way more entertaining than an hour of headlocks, granted that those headlocks are real

So out of the whole of Wraslin you picked two people. One who has said he only did the WWE thing for the pay check and Kurt Angle, who was tempted to try his hand at MMA but from those inside said he chickened out.

What you fail to realize is that MMA is a sport and Wraslin is not, period. The very few who can cross over from acting to combat sports is few and far between.

How can you call a chess match between to MMA fighters boring, is it the fact that it you don't understand it the game or just that real fighting scares you?

If you watched the undercard fights you watched a battle between Aaron Riley and Jorge Gurgel, this match had more action than RAW, Smackdown and TNA rolled into one 30 minute show and force feed speed.

As long as you wraslin fans understand the fact that you should never compare your form of entertainment to real combat sports then MMA fans will have no problem with wraslers playing like MMA fighters in the ring. (the whole tapout and arm bar moves some wraslers are doing.)

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I think Lesnar is in UFC for the paycheck, too. Remember, he left WWE to try and make it in the NFL. When he failed at football, he turned to MMA because it was lucrative -- the same reason he signed with WWE.

You said: "Those who can cross over from acting to combat sports is few and far between." Really? There's Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, Ron Waterman, Bob Sapp and many others.

I'm not even sure what your argument is. I have never ever said wrestling is a sport -- everyone knows that it isn't. In fact, what I said was that I enjoy it as a unique form of ENTERTAINMENT. I personally prefer it to MMA. You prefer MMA. Good for you. The difference is, I never insulted MMA or its fans -- I just stated my preference.

The whole point of the post was to discuss the connection between the two genres. Speaking of which, it's good of you to say that you have no problem with "wraslers" playing like MMA fighters in the ring. As a wrestling fan, I have no problem with MMA building up its pay-per-views by having guys cutting promos and playing babyfaces and heels. Dana White has obviously taken his cue from Vince McMahon. Instead of being so condescending, just say thank you.

One last thing: You stated previously that you haven't been a wrestling fan since you were 10. So if that's true, how do you know that undercard match had more action than Raw, Smackdown and TNA combined unless you actually watch those shows?

I knew it -- you're a closet wrestling fan. It's OK to come out. You're among friends here.

I think Lenser is the great white hype of MMA, but that's my POV being a MMA fan and amature fighter.What I will say is Dana White has NOT taken anything from the WWE playbook as far as presentation and PPV's. Now the same can not be said for Dream, M1, and some of the other Japanese MMA promotions. Comparing their culture and ours is like comparing apples to machine guns.
Not to offend but they do some strange stuff. As far as myself and wraslin, yes I will admit that I have watched some WWE in the past. I watched back in the days of the WCW/WWF wars and some of the early ECW stuff was pretty cool. It's just way to silly and fake now, I guess once I picked up MMA and started fighting, "play fighting" just seemed way to childish. I will on the lazy monday night, turn on RAW, but it's normally to see the hot chics.
I agree we all have different tastes, mine just lean a little to the real side. I did notice on a certain financial site that UFC PPV buys are higher than WWE. The WWE might want to start, if they haven't, embracing more of the MMA community, otherwise they might find themselves with a fan base that has to ask daddy for the PPV.

Good blogs by the way...I'll start watching wrasling again when they bring back Ultimate Warrior!

Dale, I take it you don't watch movies or dramas either? Cause, in case you didn't know, they're not real. Must mean they're boring, I guess. By the way, I am a huge fan of both MMA and pro wrestling and Kevin is definitely right. UFC has borrowed heavily from the pro wrestling genre in terms of promoting and hyping fights and ppvs. Sad thing for Vince McMahon is, Dana White is a lot better at it!

I agree that there should be minimal MMA stuff in pro wrestling. TNA tried to incorporate MMA into the Samoa Joe/Kurt Angle fight at Lockdown in April and it was a terrific bore (which is sad since Joe was booked to win the TNA Championship after three years in the company). The MMA/Amateur Wrestling match at No Surrender turned out to be a dud, too. MMA is a methodical, sometimes slow moving sport with unscripted outcomes. That doesn't mix well with pro wrestling. Wrestling promotions should always use discretion with MMA angles.

Dale, firstly it's called wrestling. I do understand that you're from the south and all but it's by no means called "rassling" or how you so eloquently put it, "wrasling".

No one disrespected MMA so why do you feel the need to disrespect something that the people that read Kevin Eck's blog find entertaining? I call it ignorance.

We all understand that pro wrestling isn't as "real" as MMA but these "actors" put their lives on the line every single night and have been doing so since I can remember.

Now I am a avid viewer of MMA and have been since it's first conception. There were no rules as there are today which turned alot of people off due to the excessive violence but thankfully, Dana White implemented the rules & regulations that we see today.

There's no need for you to come on a wrestling blog and due your best to try to belittle pro wrestling since obviously, you're on this site for a reason. If that reason is to berate all wrestling fans, then my friend, grown up & get a life!