Going Pro (Wrestling) - Athletes That Should Try the Squared Circle
- Admin
- Jun 13, 2017
- 19 min read
As the NBA Finals and The Stanley Cup both come to a close, I can’t help but watch these incredible athletes and wonder how some of them would do if they were thrown into the squared circle. Many athletes over the years have briefly parted with their proprietary sport to lace up some boots in an attempt to fulfill their inner-mark, and just for a moment call themselves a professional wrestler.
Floyd Mayweather, Dennis Rodman, Karl Malone, Reggie White, Mike Tyson, and more recently Shaq at WrestleMania 32, are just a few of the bigger in-ring cameos that have surprised us throughout the years. But while all of the athletes I just listed were mainly “one time only” appearances, there is a long list of athletes that chose the wrestling industry as a home and made it into a lifelong career. A great example of this is Mark Henry, who was the greatest professional power-lifter in the world until he suffered a back injury before the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and Vince swooped in with a 10-year WWE contract. Henry has since made a long and successful career with the WWE and is regarded by most wrestling fans as a future WWE hall of famer.
While guys like Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar and even the up-and-coming “King of Bros” Matt Riddle all made less drastic transitions to the ring having prior wrestling and MMA backgrounds, let’s take a look at some present day athletes that I think have the personality and potential to actually hold their own in the ring, and maybe want to consider professional wrestling as a "plan b" in case anything happens to their career in their current sport.
10. Steven Adams – Oklahoma City Thunder (Age 23 – 7 FT – 255 lbs.)
Steven Adams has literally evolved over the years like a freaking Pokémon, and is currently at what might be his highest level. He went from a baby-faced timid role player to being a passionate and energetic defensive animal for the Oklahoma City Thunder. If Russell Westbrook is the heart of their team, Steven Adams is the soul. The Aussie-native not only has intimidating height, but his entire look basically screams the complete opposite of “bring home to mom”. Wild long black hair, primitive and assertive facial structure, deep bellowing voice, tattoo covered arms and an alpha-male mustache that even Captain Hook would be impressed with. The man is a natural born villain and his look alone literally screams sports entertainment.
As if his physical attributes weren’t enough, Adams is both completely organic and genuinely comical in front of the camera. Recently, him and fellow teammate Enes Kanter tweeted a video of themselves hilariously pitching their point guard Russell Westbrook to voters as league MVP. The two casually lounged in front of a fireplace while smoking cigars and pipes, expressing their unconditional support and reasoning for Westbrook as most valuable player. It is simply amazing and leaves no doubt that Adams specifically is not afraid of the spotlight and would be completely comfortable with a mic in front of a sold-out crowd.
9. James Harrison – Pittsburgh Steelers (Age 39 – 6 FT – 265 lbs.)
I’m legit afraid of James Harrison. And it’s not just because I’m a Cleveland Browns fan. Along with Miami Dolphin’s DT Ndamukong Suh, Harrison may be the NFL’s purist and most natural heel. A bad-ass, hard hitting, defensive monster who most of the time is just as aggressive off the field as he is on the field. He has never been afraid to “say it how it is”, and anyone that follows him on Twitter knows exactly what I’m talking about. He has called out other NFL players, teammates, NFL reporters and analysts, as well as the commissioner of the NFL Roger Goodell on many occasions.
Let’s not forget to point out that Harrison is only 6 FT tall and weighs 265 lbs. The dude is a house, and he loves to put his work ethic and weight training on display via social media. In 2016 (at age 38) after a Thursday night game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Harrison was tweeting out pictures the following morning of himself already in the gym and squatting over 500 lbs. The man shows no weakness and could easily go toe-to-toe with almost any size wrestler in the WWE.
Imagine this scenario. Several years from now, a super-over heel Miz wins the WWE Intercontinental Championship for a record 9th time (breaking Jericho’s record), and is going on RAW weekly pronouncing how he is the greatest IC Champion of all-time. RAW lands at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh and the Miz being a Cleveland native, decides to sport his Browns jersey and really lay into the crowd that night, telling them that there isn’t a single person in a crap-hole town like Pittsburgh that could walk down that entrance ramp and stand a chance against the Miz. Suddenly the words JAMES HARRISON appear across the Titan Tron and the freshly retired Pittsburgh hero walks down to the ring to confront the Miz. “Yinz” would all go nuts and you know it. Obviously Harrison would not accept the open challenge for the IC belt, but a brief appearance to power slam the “you know what” out of Miz would make for a fantastic moment, as much as it truly pains me to think about it being a CLE guy.
8. Bryce Harper – Washington Nationals (Age 24 – 6 FT 3 IN – 230 lbs.)
It’s been a long time since Pete Rose made his back-to-back appearances at WrestleMania 14 & 15, and it would only be of benefit to both the WWE and MLB to have a big time baseball superstar cameo in the near future. And coincidentally, the MLB’s “once in a generation” player happens to be a hot-headed, show-boating freak athlete, that already likes to fight and also has some some gorgeous locks on his head to complete the package.
Just last week Harper took an (obviously intentional) pitch to the right thigh from Giant’s pitcher Hunter Strickland, and without hesitation charged the mound with a flurry of hay-makers and a whirlwind of beautiful hair. As you can see from the GIF below, if this were an article entitled “Athletes That Are Amazing at Throwing Helmets”, Harper would obviously not make the list. At all. My two-year old son throws toys at me with more accuracy. Luckily for him this article is not about throwing sports equipment, and therefore the feisty MLB superstar definitely makes the cut. Injuries aside Bryce will have a long successful career in baseball, so a full-time career in wrestling surely makes no sense. But a one-off celebrity cameo on a big stage could really be lucrative for both the MLB and WWE, and help to possibly draw some viewership to each side as well.
(Careful watching this GIF, or you may realize that you just lost 10 minutes of your life staring at it and laughing uncontrollably like I have)
7. Brock Hekking – NFL Free Agent (Age 25 – 6 FT 3 IN – 250 lbs.)
As if the picture alone isn’t enough, right? (too sweet!) The idea for this article has been floating around my head since Gronk’s run-in at WrestleMania, but it wasn’t until I recently saw that someone actually created Brock Hekking on WWE2K17 that I got out the pen and paper and got right to work. Obviously I’m not the only one that sees that this dude is made for professional wrestling. After a couple of seasons of setbacks due to a minor foot injury, the L.A. Chargers decided to cut ties with Brock making him an official free agent. Unfortunately for Hekking the NFL is a cut-throat business and there may not be an NFL team willing to take their chances on a guy with a reoccurring foot injury, even if he is feels healthy and is technically ready to go.
This creates a perfect scenario for him to consider professional wrestling. In 2014, Hekking told the Reno Gazette Journal in Nevada that his friend and fellow Vacaville High alum Clayton Jack had even tried recruiting him to the WWE. So the seed has already been planted. However, without being an already established and well-known name in sports, it would be difficult for Hekking to make the leap to the WWE main roster, but he could absolutely start off on NXT. A modern day “Ultimate Warrior” type gimmick would be a perfect homage to the PG era of wrestling that the NXT audience demographic grew up loving and watching. It would also be a fantastic contrast to all of the Allister Black “feels” that NXT has going on right now. A perfectly groomed bleach blonde mullet, some wrestling tights that give the appearance of acid-washed jeans, some bad-ass Van Halen-ish guitar riffs; the type of 80’s vibes that would make Bailey appear chic’ and contemporary. His move? A straight up power slam. I may be a little bias to the “golden era” but with the right balance of old-school and new-school, I think it would be something refreshing that fans would eat up, not only in NXT but on the main roster as well. It's just too bad that a perfect name like Brock Hekking would most likely have to go to waste as there can obviously only be one "Brock" in the WWE.
6. Katya Kavaleva – Kickboxing/MMA (Age 25 – 6 FT 5 IN – 179 lbs.)
There have been some dominant female superstars in WWE history, with the late-great Chyna probably being one of the most obvious and notable. Coincidentally Chyna was also the tallest WWE female wrestler of all time, standing at 5”10’. Tamina Snuka who is basically playing the current role of female giant/enforcer in the WWE stands at 5’9”.
Katya Kavaleva is 6 foot 5 inches tall. That is 7 inches taller than the tallest female in WWE history. And she has already had 2 tryouts with the WWE.
At first glance Katya seems to be the complete package. The 25 year old Belarus native has a black belt in both Karate and Taekwondo, and won a gold medal in the World Kickboxing Championships. She currently trains with one of the most respected MMA gyms in the world the Blackzilians in Boca Raton, FL, which is the same team that notably includes former UFC light heavyweight champions Rashad Evans and Vitor Belfort.
Along with her extremely impressive fighting resume, Katya is also known for being extremely attractive. And whether it is politically correct or not, everyone knows that this is an undeniable attribute that can help a female wrestler’s success in the sports entertainment industry, especially while Vince is still running the show. It’s no secret that the WWE these days almost requires their female superstars to dazzle both in and out of the ring (cough, Total Divas, cough cough), and Katya Kavaleva would have absolutely no issues doing this. She has been quoted saying that she is the “toughest female on this earth” and that she dares “any woman in MMA” to face her. I would expect Katya to possibly have a similar contract to what Brock Lesnar had towards the end of his MMA career, where she would be able to hop back and forth between WWE and UFC if necessary. If this were to happen, look for her to not only make a big name for herself in WWE, but also the sporting world in general very soon.
5. Conor McGregor – MMA (Age 28 – 5 FT 9 IN – 154 lbs.)
Let’s break into the top 5 with a tricky one. Even though it has been over 7 months since McGregor’s last fight at UFC 205 where he became the first UFC fighter to ever hold two titles simultaneously, he is still easily the most famous fighter in the world right now. His cockiness is warranted, he backs up all of his shit-talking, and it seems that the more attention that he gets the more he thrives. He is a natural born “main-eventer”. So much, that he is currently solely training as a boxer in an attempt to lure boxing legend Floyd Mayweather out of retirement for one last match against him. This is a genius move by McGregor not only because it would most likely be one of the most watched and highest paid fights of all time, but if he were to successfully make the transition from MMA to boxing and actually defeat the undefeated Floyd Mayweather, McGregor would arguably go down in history as the greatest fighter of all time. But if Mayweather destroys him, he may look like a bit of an idiot. It’s a big gamble, which shows that McGregor also has some decent sized huevos.
However, win or lose, if McGregor eventually decides that he has proven himself in the MMA (and boxing) world, there is a certain “universe” that will always be waiting for him with outstretched arms. WWE would be the perfect place for a personality like McGregor. He could easily become Stone Cold version 2.0 if WWE allowed it. A wildcard who’s mere presence at a live show or event would make the crowd pop like a bottle of Asti Spumante on New Year’s Eve. Much like Lesnar, McGregor would have that big-time main event draw and WWE creative would have a field-day with the endless amount of booking possibilities with someone that could simultaneously be perceived as both a heel and a face, much like Austin did during the attitude-era.
Although the chances of McGregor becoming a full-time competitor in the WWE are probably slim, there is definitely a good chance that he at least makes a large scale cameo in a WrestleMania level match sometime in the future. He has already ruffled some superstar’s feathers with some unapologetic tweets that he aimed directly at the wrestlers of the WWE regarding their toughness. Some thought the Twitter-battle was a work, possibly leading up to an appearance at WrestleMania, but knowing McGregor’s aggressive candidness and seeing that no WWE appearance ever came from it, it appears the tweet storm was probably genuine. Regardless, you better believe that HHH and the McMahon’s have their eyes on McGregor, and I would not be surprised to see him in the squared circle eventually at some point in his career.
4. J.J. Watt – Houston Texans (Age 28 – 6 FT 5 IN – 295 lbs.)
Brock Lesnar is a big guy. He currently sits at 6’3” and roughly 265 lbs. Add two inches and thirty pounds to that, and you have J.J. Watt.
There is a reason that this man is the most dominant defensive player the NFL has seen in decades. The dude is a house. He is incredibly gifted athletically, prides himself in his work ethic, is a super-hot stud (so I hear), and is also one of the league’s most positive role models for kids and adults alike in the NFL community. He is the John Cena of professional football basically. Any similar article or list on the internet discussing wrestling a hypothetical involving pro athletes, you will most likely find J.J. Watt near or at the top of those lists.
And speaking of Cena, he would totally be J.J. Watt’s perfect tag-team partner for a big time celebrity cameo match. Perhaps SummerSlam lands in Texas in 3 years? Part-time 43 year old John Cena would be looking for some more high profile gimmicky type matches at that stage in his career, much like the high profile gimmicky tag match he recently had with now fiancé Nikki Bella at this stage of his career. (See what I did there?) Imagine the all-American mega tag team of J.J Watt and John Cena taking on a mega heel tag-team (maybe a fully evolved main-roster AOP?) at the Toyota Center in Houston. A whole lot of “3-point stances” and dual Attitude Adjustments, with American flags waving all over the place. It would be incredible. And totally doable with the athletic build and personality of someone like J.J. Watt.
3. Rob Gronkowski – New England Patriots (Age 28 – 6 FT 6 IN – 265 lbs.)
The most obvious pick of this list has to be New England Patriot’s TE Rob Gronkowski. With his recent run-in during the Andre the Giant Battle Royal at WrestleMania 33 to help real life friend Mojo Rawley pick up the win, everyone is anticipating a match that includes Gronk at some point in the near future. Shortly after, he followed up his WrestleMania debut with another ring-side appearance at SmackDown Live in Boston where he assisted Mojo Rawley’s victory again, this time by throwing a beer in Jinder Mahal’s face. The obvious assumption after his second cameo would have been a Rawley/Gronk tag-team match against Jinder and someone of his choice (like a Rusev), but with Jinder’s surprising win over Orton at Backlash for the WWE Championship, it seems that any Gronk related feud has been at least postponed for the unforeseen future, or at the very least until Mahal loses the title. Perhaps SummerSlam? Maybe WrestleMania 34?
Regardless of the current situation, Gronk now has his foot in the door. He already has several ties to professional wrestling, a clear and outspoken passion for it, and the physique to instantly be a legit contender as long as he has decent in-ring flow and commitment. What is unique to Gronk’s situation compared to other athletes we are discussing is that he is an already established superstar athlete in his sport who has had just enough bad luck with minor injuries that he may be forced to find another career path outside of football maybe sooner than he would have liked. In his 7 seasons as a professional football player, here are his totals for missed games and the injuries he has collected:
Total NFL Games Missed: 24
Back Injuries: 3 (Including College) Ankle Injuries: 1 Hamstring Injuries: 2 Hip Injuries: 1 Knee Injuries: 2 (Torn ACL, Bruise) Broken Bones: 2 Concussions: 1 Internal Injuries: 1 ("Chest" injury) Infections: 1 (From forearm surgery)
Even with all of these injuries and setbacks, Gronk has still managed to etch his name in NFL history as one of the most dominant tight ends to ever play the game. He holds the single season touchdown record for any tight end to play the game and now has multiple Super Bowl rings. What else does he have to prove in football? And it ain’t about the money, that’s for sure. Gronk has been quoted saying that he has “never even touched” any of his earnings from 7 years with the Patriots, and has been solely living off of endorsement money. One of his greatest endorsements might just be the “Gronkasaurus” bit that he did for BODYARMOR sports drink, where he cuts an 80’s style promo while embracing his inner Warrior and Macho Man.
Here’s an idea: Use the Finn Balor/Demon King recipe with Gronk. 95% of the time he comes out as either Rob Gronkowski or Gronk when appearing on Raw or SmackDown, but has to channel the “professional wrestling gods” and transform into Gronkasaurus before big time PPV matches. I would pop every time for sure. And probably buy a lot of Gronkasaurus t-shirts if we are being honest.
2. Lebron James – Cleveland Cavaliers (Age 32 – 6 FT 8 IN – 250 lbs.)
I understand that this pick is absolutely the most unlikely to happen out of any of them. That is obviously not why I have Lebron at #2. And yes, I am from Cleveland. Also not why he is at #2. I have Bron-Bron (as my wife likes to call him) listed so high because of the shear fact he is the biggest athlete in the world today and would create the biggest draw on almost any stage. It would be the most surreal cameo out of any of the other athletes if it actually were to happen. I think back to how it felt watching Dennis Rodman cut NWO promos with Hogan, and how crazy it was watching them in the ring with Karl Malone and DDP. It was absolutely unreal to watch. I understand that neither of these guys were on the level of a Lebron at that time, but these were still two big-name NBA superstars, with Karl Malone arguably being a top-20 greatest NBA player of all time. It was a big deal. And the beauty of it was that WCW did a great job of making it feel more real than past cameos in wrestling history. You felt like Rodman was a legit member of NWO. Hell, he basically WAS a legit member of NWO. And his real life heel persona he adopted on the court, carried over to the ring seamlessly. And what really sealed the deal for the entire story line, was that literally just several months prior Rodman and the Chicago Bulls had beaten Malone and the Utah Jazz in the NBA Finals. It really made you feel like Malone and Rodman had some bad blood, and for all we know they probably did.
As defeat consumed Lebron and the Cavs last night, it consumed me as well and like most Cleveland fans last night I found myself lying in bed not being able to sleep. The only thing that made me feel somewhat better as I laid there in the dark, was the idea of a Lebron vs. Draymond Green WWE match, exactly like the Rodman vs. Malone match. With the completely unnecessary addition of Kevin Durant, the Warriors instantly became heels through most NBA purist's eyes. This whole series felt like a face underdog Cavs taking on a superpower heel Warriors team. And with Draymond being the biggest heel on their team, I couldn't help but smile last night at the thought of Lebron power bombing Draymond through an announcer's table. It doesn't matter if your from Cleveland or Oakland, you would watch.
Aside from the Warriors rivalry, Lebron is still touted as possibly the greatest all-around athlete in the world, and besides maybe a Christiano Ronaldo probably has the biggest name recognition out of any athlete in the world as well. The association of his name alone in a match at WrestleMania would easily make it the biggest and most watched WrestleMania of all time, hands down, no questions asked. His draw would world-wide and unstoppable.
Like I said, the chances of Lebron ever stepping foot into a WWE ring are probably not good. However, times are weird man. Trump is president. Jinder Mahal is WWE Champion. Goldberg just came back and had a title run. I don’t know what to think anymore. But I do know that Lebron has always been an extremely smart business man and very conscious of doing what's best for his legacy. With WWE slowly becoming a global juggernaut of a company, it could be a logical platform for Lebron to expand his brand to an entirely new demographic at a late stage in his career.
1. Ronda Rousey – MMA (Age 30 – 5 FT 7 IN – 135 lbs.)
As you can see, I am a proud Ronda Rousey advocate. With 6 straight UFC wins in just under 3 years, and the last 3 wins totaling a combined time of 1 minute and 4 seconds, the greatest women’s MMA fighter of all time and seemingly unstoppable Ronda Rousey finally lost a fight. And then lost another.
Her first loss was a brutal second round KO by Holly Holm that almost instantly turned Rousey from sexy bad-ass superstar to a meme of Sloth from The Goonies.
It was apparent that Rousey was devastated after her loss to Holm. Reportedly after the loss Rousey went into seclusion, depression and even publicly discussed having suicidal thoughts. After a year off from fighting, Rousey finally stepped back into the octagon to redeem herself against Amanda Nunes where she was again convincingly beaten, this time by a first round TKO that only took 48 seconds.
Since her second loss in December of last year, Rousey has been completely radio-silent. Her only public communication was an obviously prepared statement was released after her loss, stating that she needed to take some time to reflect and that she did not know what the future would hold for her at the moment. It’s now been 6 months and we still don’t know what the future holds for Rousey. But I can’t help but think, what else does she have to prove to the sport of MMA? Her two losses aside, she has still undoubtedly been a pioneer for women not just in fighting but in all sports, and UFC President Dana White openly and completely credits Rousey for the recent women’s revolution in UFC over the past 3-4 years. But is the risk of her coming back to try and get one last UFC win really worth it at this point in her career?
Stephanie McMahon doesn’t seem to think so. She is ready to sign Rousey to a WWE contract like yesterday, and has been quoted saying “the door is always open” for Ronda to come to the WWE. Her appearance with The Rock at WrestleMania 31 really got people talking at the time about a possible future switch from MMA to WWE. But her WrestleMania appearance was early 2015 at the peak of her dominant undefeated run, and now after her two defeats and dramatic loss in hype, many people question whether Rousey would still have the momentum to make a statement in the WWE if she did decide to take the leap.
Well those people are full of shit.
There is no doubt that Ronda Rousey still has the power to make a huge and immediate statement in the WWE, and honestly the longer she stays silent the more of a reaction she would get if she were to one day show up in the ring. People want this to happen and by people I specifically mean wrestling fans. It doesn’t take an expert to realize that even with her MMA losses, from the moment she joins the WWE roster that she would immediately be the most dangerous wrestler (male or female) in the ring, next to only Brock Lesnar.
I understand that Brock was already an established WWE superstar before returning from MMA, but that wouldn’t matter with Rousey at all. Wrestling fans absolutely love any athlete that chooses to fully commit to professional wrestling. Especially when they are leaving a more publicly accredited sport such as MMA. Also, Rousey has openly discussed how she has grown up a lifelong wrestling fan, and still loves it to this day. The WWE Universe would welcome Ronda with open arms, just like they did Brock when he left UFC to return to the WWE. Just like Cleveland fans did when Lebron left Miami and returned to The Land.
The WWE Universe would be even more sold on Rousey with a surprise commitment to the company. Maybe Rousey makes another in-ring appearance where you are lead to believe that it is just another one-time deal similar to WrestleMania 31. But then just as you think Rousey is finished, she asks for a mic and announces that she has no plans of going anywhere until she gets her chance at the WWE Women’s Championship. You know that sound when you dump a bag of Pop Rocks into your mouth? That’s the sound every wrestling fan would be making if something like that happened.
Rousey vs. Charlotte? Rousey vs. Becky Lynch? How about Rousey vs. a STILL undefeated Asuka?
It would honestly work, and most importantly could seriously help revive not only the career of Rousey but the confidence of an MMA legend that didn’t deserve the negative backlash that she received from finally losing a couple of fights. Besides a very limited select few, combat sports is an unforgiving career path that doesn’t favor any one fighter’s long term legacy. One day you are the best in the world, the next you are being used as a platform to launch the next big thing.
A well known late-great WWE Hall of Famer that Rousey just happens to share a nickname with (Rowdy), once was quoted saying,
“I don’t need to know how tough I am to know how tough I am”.
Now I know that most of Piper's quotes don't make the most sense, but this particular quote in this particular situation, applies perfectly to Rousey. Whether she returns to the UFC or follows a career with the WWE, I hope she realizes that she does not have to prove anything to anyone, for all of us to know that she is still and always will be one of the toughest women on the planet.
Honorable Mentions:
1. Jon “Bones” Jones
- Regarded as the greatest UFC fighter ever, still undefeated, but serving literally years of suspension time due to drugs and personal issues. If he can't get clean enough for UFC's taste, WWE may be a little more forgiving.
2. James Lauranaitus
- Wrestling is in this man's blood. His dad is Road Warrior Animal, his uncle is former wrestler and RAW general manager John Lauranaitus. James' recent retirement in 2017 from his 8 year professional football career, sets the 31 year old up with a lot of spare time on his hands.
3. Sidney Crosby
- With his recent Stanley Cup repeat victory, "Sid the Kid" has solidified himself as the greatest hockey player in the world. A WWE cameo would be huge for both U.S and Canadian viewers. Plus did you see Sid repeatedly smash Subban's helmet into the ice?? The Kid obviously has some built up aggression he needs to get out.
4. Colin Kaepernick
- The 49'ers don't want him, and the Seahawks ultimately decided they didn't either. No team is stepping up. Kaep needs a job. Best PR move for him would be to join the WWE, accept the obvious hate from fans, and then have an unexpected face-turn where he embraces America.
5. Russel Westbrook
- Russ is probably the most explosive athlete in the NBA if not all of sports. He is like a cruiserweight Lebron. Which makes for a perfect cruiserweight cameo at a big-time PPV. Give me a cruiserweight battle royal at WrestleMania where Russ is a surprise entrant. I bet he has a 6-star frog splash in him.
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