View Full Version : Best Pro Wrestler Ever In MMA
Heffster
10-22-2005, 03:53 PM
In your opinion who is the best Pro Wrestler in MMA ever
I would have to say the Natural Randy Couture. He has proved him self by winning the title in two weight classes more than once. He also was close to being in the olympics more than once.
ACIDBATHBELFORT
10-22-2005, 05:27 PM
Wow! A sensible post by win. Agreed, Randy was never a pro-wrestler. Saku is easily the best pro in MMA. Without a doubt in the top 3 all time MMA fighters.
Xtreme
10-22-2005, 06:04 PM
I have to say Mark Coleman if you allow wrestling at the Olympic & the World Championships level as part of the category.
Mark Coleman even defeated Kurt Angle in 1995.
Coleman is a:
2-time UFC tournament champion
UFC superfight champion after defeating Dan Severn
2000 Pride Grand Prix champion
Anytime
10-22-2005, 06:27 PM
not the best, but Rulon Gardner did impress me in his first fight against Yoshida.. when is he supposed to fight again?
Solaris Flare
10-22-2005, 06:36 PM
The Olympics & World Championships for wrestling is still considered amateur. I think Saku wins this hands down.
Xtreme
10-22-2005, 06:50 PM
The Olympics & World Championships for wrestling is still considered amateur. I think Saku wins this hands down.
Who else is considered a pro wrestler in MMA? They all must be all from Japan as we all know North American pro wrestling is "entertainment."
sakukada
10-22-2005, 07:02 PM
I have to say Mark Coleman if you allow wrestling at the Olympic & the World Championships level as part of the category.
Mark Coleman even defeated Kurt Angle in 1995.
Coleman is a:
2-time UFC tournament champion
UFC superfight champion after defeating Dan Severn
2000 Pride Grand Prix champion
I think he is talking about wwe style wrestling other then real wrestling, but I have to say saku he has done a lot, but coleman entered pro wrestling after he entered mma so that really doesnt count
robbypark
10-22-2005, 09:14 PM
Even if the title included all forms of wrestling, Sakuraba would still be the correct answer. In my view, he's the greatest in the history of Mixed Martial Arts. Seeing as though he clearly stated "pro wrestling" there is no other even possible logical option other than Sakuraba.
robbypark
10-22-2005, 09:16 PM
Who else is considered a pro wrestler in MMA? They all must be all from Japan as we all know North American pro wrestling is "entertainment."
Well, I think what he would mean is, fighters who started off pro wrestling before they got into MMA.
In that case, this would include Sakuraba, Ken Shamrock, Kiyoshi Tamura, and Nobuhiko Takada among others.
ilostmydog
10-22-2005, 09:37 PM
Randleman and Sapp wrestle too.
robbypark
10-22-2005, 09:42 PM
Only a select few actually started off as pro wrestlers though.
Shamrocked
10-23-2005, 12:53 AM
The two that come to mind are fighting each other on Monday. Sakuraba is hands down the greatest pro wrestler turned MMA fighter in the short history of the sport, but Ken Shamrock (who was an indy wrestler before MMA) has been pretty successful in MMA as well. I believe Fujita wrestled first, so he deserves inclusion.
Several others have been mentioned, but most of those guys were either fighters first who've benn less than stellar pro wrestlers (Barnett, Sapp, Coleman) or wrestlers who became mediocre fighters (Otsuka, Takada).
The of course you got some guys who started as fighters, left to pursue pro wrestling and returned to find some success in MMA. Don Frye, Ken Shamrock (again) and Ron Waterman come to mind.
Shamrocked
10-23-2005, 12:54 AM
i don't know if Quinton Jackson has done any pro-wrestling but that was his initial ambition as i understand it.Quinton would make an excellent pro wrestler, as would Phil Baroni.
Cbear
10-23-2005, 03:10 PM
I'd vote Tamura ahead of Sakuraba. Saku has accomplished much more in mma than Tamura could dream of, but Tamura was probably the best in the world at doing the style of wrestling to make it look real. Tamura treated a young Saku like a jabroni and they have hated each other ever since. Tamura and Saku would be my top two picks but I'm going with Tamura as being the better of the two at pro.
Quinton would make an excellent pro wrestler, as would Phil Baroni.
Baroni is a pro wrestler, he just made a wrong turn once and it snowballed from there....he still has no idea...
nhbfan8080
10-23-2005, 09:53 PM
Baroni is unfortunately for him too small to be a successful pro-wrestler.
ACIDBATHBELFORT
10-23-2005, 09:56 PM
Baroni is about the same size as Benoit. Baroni will sometimes weigh around 220 before a fight, which is what Benoit weighs.
nhbfan8080
10-23-2005, 10:08 PM
Is there a WWE clown who is 5'9" which is Randleman/Baroni's height? I don't think McMahon would be interested in stubby looking characters.
Benoit is only about 5'10", Mysterio is closer to 5'6". Guys like Juvi, Psychosis, Tajiri, Eddie Guererro, etc. are all in that size range.
Iron Maiden
10-24-2005, 01:53 AM
It's got to be Sakuraba. Hands down.
edogg75
10-24-2005, 08:02 AM
Sakuraba. Sapp did some pro wrestling didn't he? If so, honourable mention for that effort against Nog.
Cbear
10-24-2005, 12:56 PM
Sapp gets honorable mention for everything he has done. He had virtually no training at anything before being thrown into kickboxing, mma, pro wrestling and acting. He really isn't good at any of it but you can't fault him for not trying.
Again, I'm ok with Saku as the no 1 pick but I think Tamura was far more advanced and better at pro. For mma though, Tamura isn't in Sakus league.
nhbfan8080
10-24-2005, 01:21 PM
I've just seen a few of Saku/Tamura's shoot puro matches but I don't think Saku ever achieved much in puro. Did Tamura ever became a champ in puro or something like that?
I've got a clip of Saku losing to Bad news brown by Kimura. Looked ok I could tell it was fake.
Cbear
10-24-2005, 07:13 PM
I've just seen a few of Saku/Tamura's shoot puro matches but I don't think Saku ever achieved much in puro. Did Tamura ever became a champ in puro or something like that?
I've got a clip of Saku losing to Bad news brown by Kimura. Looked ok I could tell it was fake.
Yup, thats the way I see it too. Tamura was a huge draw in pro and was very good at it. Saku was a rookie while Tamura was already a star and Saku went over into Pride where by the grace of the fighting gods he became a massive star. I really don't remember what titles if any that Tamura won in pro but he has been widely acknowledged as being the tightest worker of them all at making it look real. For mma fans, puro and the worked-shoot style of pro is a whole different style than the cartoonish WWE stuff. This is where Akira Maeda, Takada, Tamura, Sakuraba, etc... came from.
I don't remember exactly but Bad News Brown/Allen (Allen Coage) was a major heavyweight judo champ. He either went to the Olympics or was world champion--but he was a legit heavyweight judo practicioner. Its also been said that he once backed down Andre the Giant after the big guy told a racial joke or comment.
NHB, who are the two crazy looking guys in your footer picture?? :)
nhbfan8080
10-24-2005, 07:37 PM
Yup, thats the way I see it too. Tamura was a huge draw in pro and was very good at it. Saku was a rookie while Tamura was already a star and Saku went over into Pride where by the grace of the fighting gods he became a massive star. I really don't remember what titles if any that Tamura won in pro but he has been widely acknowledged as being the tightest worker of them all at making it look real. For mma fans, puro and the worked-shoot style of pro is a whole different style than the cartoonish WWE stuff. This is where Akira Maeda, Takada, Tamura, Sakuraba, etc... came from.
I don't remember exactly but Bad News Brown/Allen (Allen Coage) was a major heavyweight judo champ. He either went to the Olympics or was world champion--but he was a legit heavyweight judo practicioner. Its also been said that he once backed down Andre the Giant after the big guy told a racial joke or comment.
NHB, who are the two crazy looking guys in your footer picture?? :)
The 2 crazy guys are going to be in Pride tonight.
Yeah Coage was in WWE as well and he said he prefered to be in Japan because they don't try to cheat you like McMahon.
Maeda and Takada can't fight for real except unless they are matched up with WWE characters. Tamura and Saku have legit skills.
Heffster
10-26-2005, 10:29 AM
Before you bash him listen to me for a sec.
Chris Benoit trained in a Japanise Pro Wrestling Dojo which automaticlly means you have to shoot grapple after ever training. You are trained how to shoot so you can make your matches look more shoot in Japan.
Also as a good source Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle who at one point in the match went shoot with Chris Benoit (it was worked that they whould shoot for a point in the match) said that he could be the best techincal wrestler if he worked on amature.
Also as many people know Benoit is in amazing shape and is amazingly smooth. A while back there was a match with William Regal that looked like a shoot the the results showed it was about as close as you get. They posted a pic of William Regal on WWE.com but it was a while ago and they took it down.
I realy think he might hold his own in the world of MMA with some training.
Give me opinions
Anytime
10-28-2005, 05:18 PM
not the best, but Rulon Gardner did impress me in his first fight against Yoshida.. when is he supposed to fight again?
ttt.. anyone know?
nhbfan8080
10-28-2005, 05:22 PM
ttt.. anyone know?
From an interview, Rulon I think is finished with MMA unless he gets offered a whole assload of cash. But Pride or K1 would prefer to spend big money on bigger names.
Anytime
10-28-2005, 06:04 PM
From an interview, Rulon I think is finished with MMA unless he gets offered a whole assload of cash. But Pride or K1 would prefer to spend big money on bigger names.
.. thanks..
Cbear
10-28-2005, 09:12 PM
Rulon wanted to try mma, so its no longer a novelty. He was also very upset at Pride dropping the yellow card and taking 10% of his money. I don't look for him to come back.
vBulletin® v3.6.8, Copyright ©2000-2010, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.