Last night Ronda Rouse made her much anticipated WWE debut after a lifespan in Judo and MMA. Ronda was a star in MMA, she was a great draw and adored by the fans. But then things changed, starting with the season of TUF where Ronda coached against Miesha, Ronda showed a very unstable and immature personality. One that would resort to juvenile name calling and other childish tomfoolery. Her personality came out, and it was ugly. She was an arrogant bully who was listening to all the wrong people tell her what a gem she was. Two devastating knock out losses later she is in a whole other world with a whole new fan base to impress. Although it may be impossible to gain these attributes now is the time for her to take a look at the two men who crossed over successfully and learn how not to make people want you to fail.
So what do Ken Shamrock and Brock Lesnar have is common? Easy, they both fought in WWE and the UFC. Also, they are the only two men to headline shows in the WWE and in the UFC. Why? What do those two have that say, Dan Severn or CM Punk didn’t? What do they have that Ronda needs to learn? Can Ronda learn?
Let’s start with Ken. Ken had a rough life growing up. He spent his youth fighting and defending himself. He was trained in shoot fighting by his adopted father Bob Shamrock along with his adopted brother Frank. Ken Shamrock became a Pankration pioneer and had several fantastic matches while working in Japan. Ken came back to America, fought in the first couple UFC’s then signed with the WWE.
Now remember when Ken signed with the WWE shoot-fighting was pretty unique and unheard of in the United States so the WWE had a diamond. It’s also important to note that shortly after the WWE signed Ken they brought in Dan Severn another UFC and MMA pioneer who would go on to have great success in both MMA and pro-wrestling, just not to the extent Shamrock had and Dan was pretty much a bust during his time in the WWE.
Shamrock signed with the WWE in 1997 and was white hot from the get go. He headlined the first PPV he was on and would go on to have multiple runs with the Intercontinental title and float around the main event right up until his departure in late 1999.
Ken would then fight in PRIDE and return to the UFC where he would headline a trio of one-sided matches with Tito Ortiz all drawing well. So why was Ken able to do it? People respect a person who works hard to get what they have. Ken did that. He was a great fighter and a great wrestler because he trained and worked his ass off. His second run in the UFC was bad and he was over the hill but by then it didn’t matter. He had climbed the mountain and people respected him for life, in both endeavors.
Brock was a standout wrestler in both high school and college and after he finished at University he was immediately signed by the WWE and put into their development program OVW. He worked hard and was considered a blue-chip prospect. Brock would make the transition into the WWE quickly and go onto to have one of the fastest rises in the history of the business. Then he got sick of it.
Brock left the WWE but MMA was not his first choice, pro-football was. He got a tryout with the Vikings and had some cheap shots in a pre-season game but was cut before the real season started. So Brock got in touch with Dana. Dana was unsure about signing a fighter with no pro experience and encouraged him to get some fights in Japan first. Dana would go a full 180 on this thought signing another WWE burnout CM Punk who had no fight experience in any discipline, he wasn’t even good at street fighter.
Brock would win in Japan and Dana would rush to sign him, giving him a title shot within his first three UFC fights. Brock would be mega-drawing champion who would go on to defend the belt twice, take two bad losses and then leave. Brock would go back to WWE where again he became their biggest star and money gainer. Why? Because he put in a ton of work to get there.
Phil Brooks worked his ass of to get to the WWE but didn’t do shit to get to the UFC. Fans turned on him and now he is looked upon like some sort of town loony. Ronda is a lot like Phil. Ronda worked her ass off in Judo and in MMA but once she fought someone not afraid of her POW! It became evident that Ronda’s bark was louder than her bite.
So here we are. Ronda has been training for about 4 months, never had a pro-wrestling match and is about to headline Wrestlemania the biggest WWE show of the year. What about that is enduring to the fans? She is going to fuck-up, she is going to botch something, and instead of it being in a lower tier promotion or overseas, it is going to be on the biggest stage, with the most people watching. How can someone succeed with those ridiculous expectations? Either she needs the money, she doesn’t think pro-wrestling is very hard, or she is totally daft and lacks a good amount of self-awareness to understand she is putting herself in a very bad position.
Either way, best of luck to her in her WWE run.