With the rise in popularity of the UFC, there’s lately been a rivalry between fans of ‘real fighting’ and ‘fake fighting’. While each is a discipline far removed from the other, there’s a great deal of mutual respect from both camps. We all remember the WWE stints of Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn, and cheered for Brock Lesnar in the octagon when he competed against Mark Hunt.
‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey even got her nickname from Rowdy Roddy Piper. However, this ‘respect’ would be put to the test when UFC Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor would call the WWE roster a bunch of ‘p*****s’. He’d go on to say- ‘I didn't mean no disrespect to the @wwe fans. What I meant to say was that I'd slap the head off your entire roster. And twice on Sundays.’
This resulted in a war of words on Twitter, where several past and present WWE stars would attack McGregor for his comments including Roman Reigns, Ric Flair, Chris Jericho, Sasha Banks and even The Iron Sheik. We suspect that this may very well be an angle for McGregor to make an appearance at a future WWE show, and maybe even step into the ring in the future.
Whatever the case may be, we look at 5 current WWE superstars with genuine ‘combat sports’ backgrounds, who can, if not legitimately defeat McGregor, then take the fight to him.
Gzim Selmani
NXT fans recently saw a beast of a tag team called the ‘Authors of Pain’ step into Full Sail University and challenge American Alpha, with their manager, WWE Hall of Famer – Paul Ellering in tow. One-half of this unstoppable force is a man named Gzim Selmani who is a legitimate combat athlete.
This Kosovo-Albanian was learning Judo since the age of 4 and graduated to kickboxing at the age of 8. Beginning his career in the Netherlands, he even fought for Bellator in a losing effort against Daniel Gallemore.
At present, his MMA stats stand at 4 wins and 2 losses. We can guarantee Mr. McGregor that he's anything but a p****.
Jack Swagger
This all-American is a legitimate all-American badass. Donald Jacob Hager Jr. or Jack Swagger started wrestling at the age of 5. A natural athlete, he was making waves both as a football player and a wrestler in school. Gravitating towards amateur wrestling, Swagger was the No. 5-ranked 215-pounder by Wrestling USA in 1999 and subsequently, won the 215-pound division of the state wrestling championship as a junior.
He holds the NCAA Oklahoma record for most pins in a single season with 30 pins. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma and was about be to join the corporate world when he was contacted by the WWE.
Boasting accolades such as the 7th place in the NCAA in 2006, and a defeat over Dustin Fox who’d become a future national champion; we can assure Mr. McGregor that Swagger is not a p****.
Chad Gable
it is the Olympic season, and no one represents the spirit of the Olympics than one-half of the most popular tag team on Smackown right now – Chad Gable. Not only does Gable boast an amateur background, he is a legitimate Olympian.
An accomplished wrestler in college, Gable was a Minnesota High School State Champion before his Olympic run. Defeating Jordan Holm in the finals of the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials, he moved on to the 2012 summer Olympics where he lost in his second round. Nevertheless, this alpha male is a certified badass and definitely ready, willing and ‘gable’ to put on a legitimate fight.
Dolph Ziggler
Ric Flair named Ziggler as one of his picks to fight McGregor. Indeed, the Nature Boy wasn’t far off the mark. Ziggler is a celebrated amateur wrestler and holds the school record for most pins in a career with 82 pins. And that’s not all, during his time in his school’s (St. Edward High School, Ohio) wrestling team, they bagged the National Championship on two separate occasions.
Moving to Kent State University, he set the record for most career wins in the team’s history. And he did not stop there. He was a three-time All-Mid-American Conference champion, winning the 165 lb (75 kg) tournament in 2000, 2002, and 2003.
We can assure you Mr. McGregor, there’s more to the Show Off than his flamboyance and gimmick.
Brock Lesnar
McGregor says that Brock Lesnar, in his fight against Mark Hunt, was juiced up to the ****ing eyeballs. Be that as it may, Lesnar is superhuman. As an amateur wrestler his feats are well known. He finished his amateur career as a two-time NJCAA All American, the 1998 NJCAA Heavyweight Champion, two-time NCAA All-American, two-time Big Ten Conference Champion, and the 2000 NCAA Heavyweight Champion, with a record of 106–5 overall in four years of college.
After a run in the WWE, he became the UFC Heavyweight Champion after defeating Randy Couture. going on to defeat Shane Carwin and becoming the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion.
ESPN referred to Lesnar as "the most accomplished athlete in pro wrestling history. Juiced up or not, the beast incarnate is not a p****.
