WWE vs UFC, The Pro's and Con's

Ever since Brock Lesnar won the UFC Heavyweight Champion, MMA fans have been an uproar and have been vocal about their hatred for pro wrestling and people involved in pro wrestling. This has led to the pro wrestling fan to be defensive and defending their heroes. I am a fan of both pro wrestling and MMA and I would like to take a look at the pros and con's of both.

Lets start with the pros of MMA, more specifically the UFC. The UFC has come incredible fighters. One pro about UFC is you're not on the road 300 days and you only fight 3-4 times a year and makes a fan of a certain fighter anxious to watch their next fight. Another thing about the UFC, is it is not scripted as far as we know and it's unpredictable. It always has the big fight atmosphere. The one thing that really put UFC on the map again is the the Ultimate Fighter. To me the first season of the Ultimate Fighter was better then the first season of WWE's Tough Enough. I mean the Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar fight really captured my attention, and I loved Forrest Griffin since that show. Their are a lot of great fighters that came out of the first season of TUF. More people from the first season of TUF became successful then any of the Tough Enough seasons. The only people I really think that have had any success from being on Tough Enough are Matt Morgan, Melina, The Miz, John Morrison, and if he wouldn't have had a battle with cancer Matt Cappotelli would be in WWE right now rocking the joint. So simply put the UFC has the better show for competition. The UFC has a lot of momentum for them right now and are headed in the right direction.

Now on to the con's of UFC. The problem with UFC is that they don't really have weekly TV shows. They have replays of PPV fights, not something that interest me unless I missed the PPV. Also they have replays of each Ultimate Fighter Finale every Friday. If you have already seen it, why would you watch it again, unless it was a good fight. I'll watch the first fight between Griffin and Bonnar any day because it was a classic. The other problem is that UFC pay-per-views are 60 something dollars and you're not necessarily guaranteed 2-3 hours of action where as WWE guarantees 2 hours every Raw, and Smackdown, 1 hour of ECW and Three hours of every PPV. I would never ever pay for a UFC PPV unless the card was stacked. I don't even buy wrestling PPV's anymore with the exception of Wrestlemania. The one thing that Dana White said an interview once that really bothered me is that UFC's stories are better because they are more real. How can you call pitting to fighters against one another a story/feud. The only real feuds I've ever seen out of UFC are Ken Shamrock/Dan Severn, Chuck Liddell/Randy Couture, and Ken Shamrock/Tito Ortiz. Other then that they do their trash talking before the bout and move on once the bout is over. Those are really, the only con's to the UFC.

Now on to the pros of professional wrestling, more specifically the WWE, and little bit of TNA mixed in as well. The WWE has characters anyone can relate to. The Jamaicans relate to Kofi Kingston, the goths relate to the Undertaker and the rebels can relate to Stone Cold Steve Austin. There is something for everyone to enjoy. The WWE also travels internationally which has given more worldwide exposure then any sports or entertainment brand. Also Wrestlemania has more PPV buys then almost any MMA or boxing PPV every year. The WWE has had some great feuds over the years, like Flair-Sting, Flair- Austin-McMahon, Austin-Rock, DX-McMahon's, Jericho-Michaels, and even Edge-Undertaker. Even TNA has had a great feud, and that's Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe. That has been one of the most surreal feuds in quite sometime in pro wrestling. They have had some of the best matches in recent memory in pro wrestling. WWE also does a lot of charity work and is has a lot of wrestlers who are considered heroes to those who watch them. WWE, TNA, and pro wrestling to me will never die.

The con's to pro wrestling are the fact that it has become so predictable and the Internet reveals everything before its going to happen. I always watch wrestling on TV because it's something I enjoy but the problem is I can tell you whats probably going to happen within the first 10 minutes on every show, and about 5 minutes into every match. Unless you're watching independents, you pretty much know how a match or show is going to go unless you're a crazy obsessed mark who takes everything that they literally or think it's not staged. And that's the word I use, is staged because it is not fake. I hate the word fake, because they do get hurt. Guys like Triple H, Kurt Angle and even Hulk Hogan have comeback from injuries that should have ended their careers. And if you still think wrestling is fake go to YouTube and search for Mankind vs. the Undertaker, Hell In a Cell, and watch the first five to ten minutes of the match and tell me that its fake then. Granted when someone gets hurt in UFC its always real where is in WWE it's not but people wrestle through their injuries all the time and sometimes don't have the time to recover whereas UFC fighters get 3-4 months to recover. Being a WWE superstar to me has the toughest schedule out of any sport or brand of entertainment. They are on the road 300 days out of the year. The one last con about pro wrestling is that the secrets have been exposed and it's not as kayfabe as it once was. I remember their was a time, when good guys and bad guys has their own locker rooms, and opponents never rode together or never stayed at the same hotel and the wrestlers always stayed in character. It's not like that anymore and sometimes I think it harms the business.

To me WWE and UFC are two completely different companies, and two different professions. I believe you can be a fan of both and not show favoritism to one or the other. They actually have a few things in common. Both have bosses that can be complete jerks, in the form of Dana White and Vince McMahon. Both have put their greatest competition out of business as in WWE taking out WCW, and UFC taking out Pride FC which to me has hurt both businesses tremendously. To me when their is no competition things get boring and dry and lose interest. To me WWE was it's best when WCW was taking them on head-to-head. And UFC put on better PPV's when Pride FC was in business.

The one thing I find funny about Dana White, is you never hear him knock TNA Wrestling. Why? Because TNA and UFC share the same network, Spike TV. They have actually co-promoted a few times in the past. So it proves two things to me, and that is Dana White is a smart business man. And he also doesn't hate pro wrestling as much as leads us to believe. If he did, he wouldn't have signed Brock Lesnar.

The one thing that pro wrestling has that MMA doesn't, and people might hate me for saying this. The one thing that they have, or had is Hulk Hogan. When people think pro wrestling they think of Hulk Hogan. Even non-pro wrestling fans know who Hulk Hogan is. Do any non-MMA fans know any MMA fighters? Probably not unless they are from your hometown. Hulk Hogan is known worldwide and to me is the biggest attraction in sport-entertainment history. You name one MMA fighter who is what Hulk Hogan was to wrestling? Chances are you can't. Does this mean I like MMA any less? No. I actually love it equally as much as pro wrestling but pro wrestling was in my blood first.

I know their will always be a lifelong debate on which is better, but to me both are great and I enjoy watching both pro wrestling and MMA. They both capture my attention and people who are in either profession deserve respect for the hard work they put in. In closing, I would like to say I look forward to some great things in 2009 from WWE, TNA and UFC. It's going to be a great year to watch.

NFL Week 11 Recap, Detroit teams, Survivor Series, More on Lesnar-Couture

Well week 11 of the NFL season is now over. And it was a nail-biter between my Carolina Panthers and the now 0-10 Detroit Lions. I must say that the Lions did play a decent game even though both running backs from Carolina kicked the crap out of them. However, I have not been impressed with Jake the last two week. What is he waiting for? He did well the first 7 games but now he's out there acting like he's a rookie. I hope he gets it together before Atlanta this Sunday. The Titans remain undefeated at 10-0 and I am really happy for Kerry Collins on having success again. He was a great Quarterback in Carolina and he's proven to be a great QB in Tennessee. Also the Jets defeated the Patroits in a close one as well the Browns beating the Bills in a close game as well. It should be an interesting week 12.

You know overall in Michigan you pretty much have the Detroit teams to root for. Pistons, Tigers, Lions and Red Wings. Overall it's a pretty good sports town. However my biggest problem with Detroit is two thing, Tigers pitching and the Lions in general. Bill Ford honestly needs to sell the team to Illitch and Davidson. Illitch owns the Red Wings and Tiger. Davidson owns the Pistons, Shock and Tampa Bay Lightning. I think those two good make better decisions then Ford is at this point. As far as the Tigers go, if they don't get pitching this off season, they can plan on a last place finish like this season. It was pathetic to have such a high payroll team and finish in last place. I really hope this upcoming season is great

Survivor Series is the Sunday and it's looking to be a great card. Go to WWE.com for more info. The one thing I am going to predict is that the World Heavyweight Championship is going to John Cena and the WWE Championship is going to....Vladimir Kozloff. I think he's going beat Triple H and Jeff Hardy (sorry to spoil Smackdown for you). I can't wait for the 5 on 5 traditional Survivor Series matches. They are going to be great. I can't wait.

I hate to even talk about this again but I am so sick of all the people criticizing Brock Lesnar just because the UFC fans' hero, Randy Couture. So what if he was a former WWE Champion and made it big there. That's not even relevent anymore. He is in the UFC, he is the UFC Champion. The UFC fans are doing themselves any favors. The more they criticize Lesnar, the more motivated he is going to be to kick the crap out of another UFC Fan Favorite. Couture is a great competitor, but he had no buisness in the Heavyweight Division. It's Lesnars time and if people don't like it, then maybe they should get in there and try to right him.

On that note I am done for the day, before I say something thats going to get me in trouble. Have a good one.

History Made at UFC 91

Last night at UFC 91 in Las Vegas, history was made when Brock Lesnar defeated the Randy Couture for the UFC Heavyweight title. This makes Lesnar the first man to hold the WWE Title and UFC Heavyweight Title. However I have to give two guys credit before I really start praising Lesnar. I really think that Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock proved about 10 years ago that you can be successful at both pro wrestling and MMA even though they are two different the Beasts. Although Lesnar is the first to hold both WWE Heavyweight and UFC Heavyweight Titles he is not the first man to hold an MMA title and a pro wrestling title. Ken Shamrock held won a UFC title, and also has won the WWE Intercontinental Championship, the WWE Tag Titles, and the NWA Heavyweight Title. Then you have Dan Severn, a man I have met and have great respect for. He has won a UFC Title, and won the NWA Heavyweight Title in wrestling. Unfortunately the NWA is not as big is use to be so both wins really went unnoticed by people. However I believe Lesnar is the first to make the transition from pro wrestling to MMA while Shamrock and Severn went from MMA to pro wrestling.

Now back to Lesnar, I love he didn't let the crowd get to him in this fight. Couture was definitely the fan favorite. I do have a lot of respect for Randy Couture and loved his fights with Chuck Liddell but it was Lesanrs night. The wonderful thing about Lesnar winning is now hopefully all the anti-pro wrestling fans that love UFC will now have to eat their words. I was in about 10 different chatrooms last night while this fight was going on. I heard a lot of things that just ticked me off. Let me give you some statements:

"The only reason most people are watching this fight is because the stupid wrestling fans are watching Brock Lesnar and they don't know anyone else."

"Wrestling doesn't take any bit of talent, and all pro wrestlers are not talented."

First off, I was watching UFC long before Brock Lesnar was there. I have old tapes from when Severn won his first UFC tournament, and the matches he had with Ken Shamrock. I also watched UFC Ultimate Fighter 1 everytime it was on. The thing that got me hooked was the Stephan Bonner and Forrest Griffin fight that really to me was the greatest fight ever in my opinion other then watching Severn maul through everyone at Return of the Beast. I've seen a few other good fights in my time like Griffin and Rampage Jackson and like I mentioned before Liddell and Coutures fights.

Now to say that pro wrestlers aren't talented really bothers me. Sure, it's not a legit sport and I am sure no one will consider it to be, but you just can't be any average person and climb in to a wrestling ring in think you're going to do whatever. Pro wrestling has a lot of physicality to it and people get injured all the time. Some of these guys have come back from major injuries like Kurt Angle, Triple H, John Cena and even Shawn Michaels. There are injuries in pro wrestling like any other sports and you have to keep your self in shape just like in every sport. I am passionate about pro wrestling, but I would never knock the UFC because it's just as awesome as pro wrestling to me. I just think it's ridiculious that MMA fans knock pro wrestling because they think it's all "fake." Well to those ignorant fans, a pro wrestler just came in took out two credible and respected fighters, and one of them is considered a legend. I am not rubbing it in, I am saying it's fact. Brock Lesnar has trained very hard to get to where he is and I know he is going to be a great champion.

In closing, I would like to congratulate Brock Lesnar on his win last night, and that I cannot wait until the fight to see who his next in-line to fight between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir at UFC 92. It should also be noted that Forrest Griffin will defend his UFC Light-Heavyweight Title against Rashad Evans, and Wanderlei Silva takes on Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. It's all on the same card on December 27th on PPV. It's going to be great. Again congrats to Brock Lesnar on becoming the new UFC Heavyweight Champion

NFL Week 10 Recap, Survivor Series, and more

So let me first start off saying that even with a great Quarterback Detroit can't even win. I mean I know they suck but stop giving games away. Like Mike Singletary said to his 49er's "We are not a charity!" Now as far as the Panther go, I am glad they got the win but Delehomme's four interceptions was ridiculious. How they managed to beat Oakland is beyond me. Then again it's Oakland, the most dysfunctional team in all the NFL. This week The Panthers take on the Lions. I am happy. Carolina is my favorite team while Detroit is my favorite team to pick on. Hopefully I'll have more to laugh about next week. How about those Tennesee Titans. Kerry Collins looked great this week and I wouldn't be surprised if they go 16-0 at this point. Lets see what Week 11 brings us.

Survivor Series next Sunday and only two matches have been announced. The first is World Champion Chris Jericho defending against the returning John Cena. Cena hasn't held the title in over a year which has been great for TV, because no one wants to see him as champ. Unfortunately the powers to be will put the title back on in his hometown at Survivor Series. The other match is Team Michaels vs. Team JBL in a traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series match. Hopefully their are more great matches to come.

TNA's Turning Point was Sunday and I laughed my butt off when Scott Hall was shown drunk in the crowd with ICP. The Idiotic Crappy Posse. I can't stand those guys. How they ever got national exposure in wrestling is completly sickening.

Don't forget UFC 91 is this Saturday. Randy Couture defends his UFC Heavyweight Title against Brock Lesnar. I am obviously going to cheer on Lesnar. He's a former WWE Champion. And for those of you who said he couldn't handle the "real" fight atmosphere guess again, because this Saturday he will make history. He will be the first man to win the WWE Heavyweight Title and the UFC Heavyweight Title. However he won't be the first to hold a MMA title and wrestling title. Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn have already accomplished that.

Well until next time, have a good one and be safe. The weather is slowly but surely starting to suck. God Bless

NFL Week 9 Recap, Raw, Pistons Blockbuster deal and more

NFL Week 9 is over and I didn't care much this week because my Carolina Panthers had their bye week. This week they are back and playing Oakland which should be an easy victory. The Bengels finally won this week leaving the Lions as the only team who haven't won a game yet (Does that surprise any of you?) The Titans barely escaped with a win against Green Bay making them undefeated. Can anyone stop them? We'll find out soon.

Last night was the 800 episode celebration of Monday Night Raw...and damn what a great show it was. Chris Jericho regains the World Title after losing it a week earlier. This now sets up a match between him and Cena at Survivor Series. Also DX had a great match with Miz/Morrison and Randy Orton made his in ring return. Overall a good night of wrestling. I was actually pleasently surprised on how good it was.

The biggest news of the day yesterday was that the Pistons traded, Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Chieckh Samb to the Nuggests for Allen Iverson. Yes thats right. A.I. is now a bad-boy. I'll miss Billups and Dysse but I welcome Allen Iverson. I think he will be great for the Pistons. It ought to be interesting to see how he and Rasheed mesh. They both have a certain attitude about them. I can't wait for tomorrow night against the Raptors. Go Detroit.

Raw vs. Smackdown 2009 comes out in 5 days. I am really looking forward to the 60-man roster this year. I am not mad that their isn't any legends because now it makes it more real. I definitely think that this might be the best wrestling game yet (I say this every year)

Well until next week, God Bless and make sure you go out an vote!!!