Today, former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez will make his WWE debut against fellow former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. Are you interested in Cain Velasquez in the WWE?
Are you interested in Cain Velasquez in the WWE?
Frank Hyden MMATorch Columnist
Yeah, I’m interested but there’s a very real chance this goes south quick. I’m not really all that worried about Cain in the ring. He’s probably not capable of having good matches by himself but if you book them right, they could be extremely good. There’s been a lot of guys over the years who couldn’t wrestle all that well for various reasons (Austin, Hogan, Rock, Cena, Reigns, etc.) but are able to have exciting matches because of the way they were booked. Even if that doesn’t happen, this could still be a success for WWE if a few other things happen.
For one, Cain needs to get better on the mic. Having Rey Mysterio be your mouthpiece isn’t going to cut it because Rey is just okay on the mic. Rey’s appeal has always been his wrestling and underdog status. That’s why people like him. He can pander to the Spanish-speaking crowd all he wants but that’s not going to translate to excitement, no pun intended. It’s like when the other wrestlers pander to the crowd by mentioning what city they’re in or the local teams. That doesn’t do much of anything except make the people watching at home roll their eyes or sit there emotionless.
WWE is making a huge mistake by giving away this match way too early. This should be Brock Lesnar’s WrestleMania match, one that’s built to over months and months of hype. Perhaps they can’t do that, though, for various contractual reasons. If that’s the case, they should book an injury excuse for Cain and that’s why he loses to Brock. That way, they can still book a Cain vs. Brock match down the road and hype that up as much as they can.
Michael Hiscoe MMATorch Columnist
I’m interested in seeing how Cain Velasquez can fit in to WWE after the obvious story with Brock Lesnar plays out. Lesnar already fills the MMA badass role, so Velasquez will need to find a way to define himself outside of his UFC credentials.
Robert Vallejos MMATorch Managing Editor
In general, I love the idea of pro wrestling and MMA becoming synthesized when it makes sense. It has always been my belief that the WWF made a mistake by not booking Dan Severn vs. Ken Shamrock III in the late 90’s. Someday I hope we get Ronda Rousey vs. Cyborg in a wrestling ring. And let’s be honest, Cain-Brock II is much more appealing in the WWE than the UFC.
As it pertains to Velazquez, he seems to have more of an aptitude for performing in AAA as a masked luchador, than a heavyweight menace in the WWE. However, I am willing to give him a chance. Leading up to her WWE debut, Ronda Rousey seemed like a fish out water, before surprising a very skeptical audience. Maybe Velasquez can continue this trend.
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