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Here’s a word of advice to future opponents of Bobby Lashley–don’t make fun of his background in professional wrestling. Mike Cook found that out the hard way in the co-main event of the Maximum Fighting Championships MFC 21: Hard Knocks event. After spending the run up to fight week making fun of Lashley’s tenure in the WWE, Cook lasted a mere :24 seconds before being choked unconscious via a guillotine choke.
In prefight interviews, Cook had suggested that Lashley would soil himself once he entered the ring (though in not so erudite terms). That clearly incensed the massive 64 250 pound Lashley, who despite his inexperience in MMA is hardly the sort of individual prone to losing bowel control at the prospect of a fight.
A smirking Cook attempted to tap gloves with Lashley before the fight, but his obviously insulted opponent would have none of it. Even after the opening bell rang, Cooks arrogant approach to the fight continued as he immediately clinched with his opponent as if he had no regard whatsoever for Lashleys strength. Lashley immediately locked in a guillotine choke and basically yanked Cook down to the mat by his head. Once on the canvas, Lashley cinched it in deeper as Cook flopped around”partially in an effort to escape, partially in an involuntary muscle reaction as he sunk into unconsciousness. Cook didn’t even get the chance to tap out as veteran referee Big John McCarthy recognized he was out cold and pulled Lashley off of him.
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After the fight Lashley gave his opponent a hug and flashed his trademark megawatt smile as if to say I told you so. In his postfight interview, however, he did slip in a final verbal jab toward his vanquished opponent saying that he didn’t come to play and that he is all business.
Despite the fact that mixed martial arts and professional wrestling have been interwoven from the beginning, the American Top Team trained Lashley has been singled out by less knowledgeable fans for his tenure in the WWE. Against his next opponent, Bob Sapp, hell be facing a foe that has also spent some time in the worked environment of professional wrestling. In addition to his legit fighting experience in K-1 and PRIDE, Sapp has worked for several Japanese pro wrestling organizations and briefly held the prestigious IWGP Championship.
Even though Sapp’s days as a serious fighter are long past and he likely spends less time in the gym during a given year than Lashley does in a month, he does present an element of danger. Hes still got decent punching power, and his sheer bulk will be a challenge for Lashley who could give up as much as 100 pounds come fight night. Still, Sapp’s only victories in several years have been against overmatched and/or outsized opponents. In his last fight against an opponent of similar stature he was destroyed in under a minute by Jan Nortje who entered the matchup with a 1-6 career MMA record. Sapp remains a hugely popular personality in Japan, however, and simply by fighting him Lashley’s marketability in the lucrative Japanese fight sport market increases significantly.
Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and World Cup betting sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.
Mitsuharu Misawa died in Hiroshima, Japan earlier this year less than a week before his 47th birthday. He was in a tag team match for his Pro Wrestling NOAH promotion with Go Shiozaki against Bison Smith and Akitoshi Saito. Saito hit a back suplex on Misawa, which appeared to knock him unconscious. Medical staff attempted to revive him in the ring, but when CPR failed he was taken to a hospital by ambulance. He never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead on arrival.
There’s at least a small bit of solace in the fact that he died in the ring doing what he loved, and what he did better than just about anyone on the planet. Misawa’s last moments were spent working the kind of brutally stiff, athletically realistic match that got a generation hooked on Japanese wrestling.
Misawa was a top level high school wrestler, and that got him noticed by All Japan Pro Wrestling majordomo Shohei Giant Baba. He made his professional debut in’81, and got his first big break in’84 when he was chosen as the second Tiger Mask replacing Satoru Sayama. In’90, he had his longtime tag team partner (and occasional rival) Toshiaki Kawada unmask him.
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Misawa would wrestle as himself from then on, and become an even bigger star in the process. In June,’90 he became one of the top stars in All Japan Pro Wrestling when he defeated Jumbo Tsuruta. That match was his first main event appearance at the famous Nippon Budokan. He soon faced Triple Crown Champion Stan Hansen in an unsuccessful challenge for the title, and would become the biggest star in Japanese pro wrestling for the next decade.
Hed have legendary battles against Kawada, Hansen, Kenta Kobashi, Jun Akiyama and Steve Dr. Death Williams in singles competition. Hed also become a force on the tag team scene along with Kawada facing Williams and Terry Gordy along with Tsuruta and Akira Taue. Misawa would continue as a mainstay in AJPW until the early part of this decade. After the death of Giant Baba, he repeatedly bumped heads with his widow over the companys direction and in 2000 quit to establish Pro Wrestling NOAH. He would serve as the companys president while wrestling a full time schedule until his untimely death.
Japanese pro wrestling served as an introduction for many American fans into shoot fight sports and MMA. Before the Internet, fans would trade videotapes to stay up on the latest matches from Japan and along with Jushin Thunder Liger and The Great Muta Keiji Mutoh it safe to say that Misawa is one of the wrestlers most responsible for getting a generation of American fans hooked on the product. Were it not for the subculture he created in America, later wrestling promotions like Ring of Honor and MMA promotions like the UFC wouldn’t have had a ready made audience to tap into.
Ross Everett is a freelance writer and noted authority on NFL football betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.
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Less than a month after his demolition of Japanese pop culture icon Bob Sapp, former WWE superstar turned MMA fighter Bobby Lashley has opted to return to the scripted world of professional wrestling. Lashley made his debut for #2 US wrestling promotion TNA on their Victory Road PPV in late July. Lashley had already made several on-camera appearances for the promotion, but the signing will mark his return to in-ring action. Lashley’s last in-ring pro wrestling appearance came in Mexico on a show for Lucha Libre promotion AAA.
Reports suggest, however that hes not giving up his MMA career. In interviews prior to the TNA signing Lashley indicated that he was leaving the door open to return to pro wrestling for its significant financial upside, while remaining committed to his shoot fighting efforts. Lashley trains in Florida with the prestigious American Top Team, and ran his record to 4-0 with his victory over Sapp in late June. A press release issued by TNA this morning further validated his suggestions that he planned to do both sports. Lashey himself is quoted as saying:
I want to do both because I can. TNA is giving me the opportunity to compete in both sports which I have a passion for. I will bring MMA fans to wrestling and wrestling fans to MMA
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TNA President Dixie Carter also praised Lashley in announcing the signing:
This is a great opportunity for Bobby to do something that has never been done before. He is the perfect ambassador for both sports. We are excited to have him join TNA, he is a true star that brings so much to the table as a member of our roster.
Despite TNAs claims that Lashley is the first active MMA fighter to compete full time in pro wrestling, that’s not the case. Its very common in Japan, where fighters frequently compete in shoot fights like MMA while simultaneously appearing in worked (eg: pre-determined) pro wrestling contests. In fact, Josh Barnett, originally slated to face Fedor Emelianenko at the ill fated Affliction: Trilogy event still makes several appearances a year for Antonio Inokis Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) promotion. Following his positive drug test in California, he may spend ore time in pro wrestling. Lashley isn’t even the first to pull the feat in the US, though hes definitely the highest profile fighter/wrester to turn the trick since MMAs overwhelming boom in popularity. Dan The Beast Severn at one point simultaneously held the UFC heavyweight title and the NWA heavyweight title in pro wrestling.
Lashley’s departure from the WWE in early 2008 was very sudden and remains largely unexplained. He indicated at the time that his departure was not of his own volition but due to circumstances beyond his control. Interestingly, Lashley wasnt subject to a standard non-compete agreement. Speculation at this point suggested that he may have left in response to a racial incident, a theory given more validity when WWE writer (and former member of the Fabulous Freebirds tag team) Michael Hayes was suspended for a racial slur. Neither Lashley nor the WWE has ever confirmed the reason for his departure.
At the time he was released from the WWE, Lashley began training for MMA building on an extensive background of amateur wrestling from both college and the military. The UFC took a pass on Lashley due to the perception that they couldnt market him successfully so soon after Brock Lesnars debut.
Ross Everett is a widely published freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.