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Influence of MMA has reached the world of professional wrestling at it’s biggest stage.
This past Sunday night at Wrestlemania XXIV, the Undertaker beat Edge with a gogoplata submission.
Formerly known as the “Dead Man” and “American Badass”, the Undertaker has evolved his character into a mixed martial arts fighter of sorts. This includes wearing MMA style gloves and using submissions a lot more often in his matches.
To put this in perspective: Vince MacMahon scripted a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu submission as the finisher for the biggest WWE event of the year.
Somewhere Lou Thesz is rolling over in his grave.
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you gotta be kidding me right? Gogoplata? What is vince thinking here?
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you know.. back when Ken Shamrock was in WWE [or WWF back then] he used all sorts of BJJ from the triangle to his finisher, the ankle lock..
oh, and current fighter, CM Punk.. uses the Muay Thai clinch, with elbows and knees.. and says that he trains JJ.. idk.. i don’t really like when they encorporate MMA into WWE.. but.. you can’t stop it i suppose..
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lmao. I heard about this earlier on in the year,
http://youtube.com/watch?v=0b_EDUJdBqc
Apparently it’s old news.
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I heard the Undertaker is a BJJ practitioner as well
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i remember when the undertaker first put “mma gloves” on as a part of his act and he had the most dangerous hands in all of wwf, idk it is bothersome to a point that he uses this move, i caught him doing it on one of their shows and it was horribly done then the guy started spitting up blood or whatever it was weak….. but hey i grew watching wwf and the undertaker sooo whatever but its kinda bothersome and cheesy
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Yeah he’s been winning all his fight by a sloppy gogoplata these days.
Taker is a big MMA fan.
I think taker should have went with a triangle choke instead.
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Yep, I’m def not trying to start a flame war with pro wrestling fans. I could be wrong about the Undertaker wearing the gloves earlier in his career, etc. However the main point of the post was how the finisher of the biggest match of the year for the WWE is a bjj move.
Growing up I was a big fan of the Dead Man gimmick. And congrats to the Undertaker for evolving and staying relevant for 20 yrs…
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koko beware by spinning backfist
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It’s not farfetched to think that the WWE would incorporate some aspects of MMA into their product as the two are distant cousins. The “pro” wrestling we see nowadays had roots in catch wrestling and shoot fighting bouts in the early 20th century.
Also, the Undertaker has attended various MMA events (most notably Brock Lesnar’s UFC debut back in February).
I think what really has me scratching my head here is why a reputable MMA news site is covering developments in pro wrestling… ?… Was the lure of Floyd Mayweather possibly getting fake beat-up too great?
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Sorry, but the physical soap opera that is pro wrestling, holds no interest with me.
No doubt, these guys put themselves through Hell and eventually pay the price for it, but it just never did anything for me.
It is no surprise that a savvy showman like Vince would try and appeal to every fan he can, so incorporating mma moves is not a bad decision.
I think the Undertaker is a bjj practitioner, but I can’t remember where I read it for sure.
A lot of these guys are combat sport fans. There was a pic of Undertaker and Batista at Ricky Hatton’s training camp before the Mayweather fight.
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#9 – i disagree. i think the report is an example of the impact mma is having on it’s current competition, and is relevant. it’s not like the 5oz crew is doing wwe event predicitions, and putting undertaker in their top ten rankings.
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Hillbilly Jim by flying knee…
most of these guys (wraslers) are big fans of MMA, after thinking about it with the rapid growth and populatity of MMA it does make sense to incorparate MMA techniques into a male soap opera such as wwf or e or whatever it is… Vince isnt worth alot of money because he is stupid, but atleast its the Undertaker doing this not some new guy, hey we all can remember when the undertaker first debut he was the scary guy from parts unknown (actually i think was Death Valley) or some shit, i dont watch it like i did when i was a kid, but hey the Undertaker is still kicking ass kinda cool
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“Hillbilly Jim by flying knee…”
ha! that might be tough in those sweet overalls of his
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I think a lot of these guys would have been in MMA had this sport started earlier.
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Touché #11. I was caught up in the heat of the moment but I thought it was curious that 5oz had covered the finisher of the main event of the biggest PPV on the WWE calendar.
I think in the back of my head I had this fear that 5oz would go the TMZ route. Start with a little bit of mainstream coverage (appearance by quasi celeb a.k.a. Donald Trump) and then all of a sudden you’re reporting on the personal lives of the WWE performers (a.k.a. Hogan’s divorce, etc).
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AG Silver and Woooburn: We know that we have MMA purists and 5 Oz diehards as readers of this site. I’ll admit I was crossing my fingers when I clicked “publish” that I wouldnt get killed for a WWE post. However as you guys already pointed out, it’s not about us covering the finisher. It’s about what finisher was used and in what context it was used. If ‘taker dropped Edge with a DDT from the top rope, it would not have been highlighted by this site.
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I think its a good story. A massive crossover like this is huge news for the diehard dorks.
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I saw WM last night and was laughing my arse off when Taker’ did this. He has been wearing those gloves on and off for a long time. I don’t watch as much as I used too but I’ve seen him do the gogo’ before recently. Arm bar would’ve been better. Overall, it was one of the better matches on the card last night. I would’ve been pissed if Edge would’ve beaten him.
I’ve seen that CM Punk guy do the whole Wanderlei bit with his hands and all. It’s pretty disturbing to see a wrestler copy that but oh’ well. Maybe he’s a fan of Wand’s so? He did win his bout so I’m sure he’ll be getting a major push sometime soon.
Pretty Boy Floyd was wearing some MMA gloves last night as well. They looked about 3 sizes to big. His match with The Big Show was fricking’ stoopid. OMG, did it ever suck! But hey, I’d fight The Big Show in a wrestling match for 20+ Million dolla’s too so.
I guess to was only a matter of time before we saw little references of MMA in the WWE. I wonder if there is any in TNA? For what it’s worth, Vinny Mac should’ve bought out Pride FC when he had the chance.
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this might be the most polite wwe vs ufc discussion in history!
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wooburn…shut up bitch.
I kid I kid!
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…. My first thought was, WTF? Apparently this is old news for some but not me. I haven’t watched WWF(sic) in several years apparently. LOL!
This is too funny. Where can I read about said douchebaggery?
Jay K.
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#19,
AGREED!!
there’s been plenty of guys who have intro’d aspects of MMA to the WWE matches.. like.. as i said before, Shamrock, CM Punk, but also… Chris Benoit [RIP], Kurt Angle, obviously Undertaker, etc..
these guys have done armbars, RNC’s, ankle locks, kneebars, triangles..
[and i know that the RNC's and Ankle locks are more wrestling, now, than MMA, what with having at least one "sleeper hold [RNC]” in every match, just about..and having several superstars with the anklelock as their “finisher”]
but, i do think it’s wild that they’ve encorporated a move that’s as wild as the gogo, now..
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MMA loses via gogoplata
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ran into him at the cleaners here in Austin. There is something inherently funny about The Undertaker saying “I’m picking up a duvet cover”.
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The return of the UWF and Takada!!!
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takada, brilliant
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Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. The cross over just proves that MMA is breaking out. As long as it’s pro wrestling copying MMA, and not MMA copying pro wrestling, I have no worries.
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Gogoplata? that has got to be the worst gogoplata ever… the left leg is supposed to be on the rival’s back!!!! look at that!!! My little brother could do a better move!!! Horrible… what a bad imitation!
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Undertaker rules … but seriously you guys want a laugh? TNA Wrestling is now doing scripted MMA matches… Kurt angle fought two guys one at a time for 4 1 minute rounds.. hilarious shit
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Well… like my grand pop says “There was a time when wrestling was real”
I usually reply with “When Ancient Greece?”
But Pop refers to the time when people paid to watch Olympic style wrestling.
Now we pay for extreme combat…. In another 80-100 years we may say death matches WHO KNOWS!
BRAD IMES vs THE UNDERTAKER under the unified rules of MMA but in a ring to make it comfy for the TAKER
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Haha, I remember watching the Taker’ as a kid, and then seeing him doing a biker piece, and now he’s pulling gogo’s…I fuckin love it. haha
Vince McMahon does business the way business needs to be done…the man is smart, and I garuntee you he deliberately placed the MMA aspects for a future crossover into MMA…he’ll make so much money…he can have the same crowd pay the same price for a similar event…but the fights are real.
It would be like a US version of pride…I kinda like that idea actually.
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I hope some MMA fighters try to use WRESTLING FINISHERS in their fights.
Maybe Eddie Alvarez can try to finish his next fight with a Jimmy Snuka superfly off the top turnbuckle at Pride 2.
Now that would be AWESOME.
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Is it just me or is it embarrassing to follow wrasslin’ closely enough to notice this? Old style catch wrestling is one thing. Greased up roiders with Jheri curls is another.
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Why was Iggy Pop the ref? Was the Mazza ‘stache not available or were they worried the ‘stache would overpower both wrestlers?
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how about Samoa-Joe of TNA spending the first 18 months of his career UNDEFEATED with the use of a RNC
and 2 weeks ago, Kurt Angle, “sparring” against 5 different HW’s, one right after another, in a “MMA – type” sparring session where he defeated each one in a different “fashion” … rnc, ankle-lock, gnp, standup, and an armbar(if i’m not mistaken)
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Next up, Rashad loses to Chuck via DQ, due to a Greg Jackson folding chair shot to Chuck’s dome.
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I have to admit that I laughed out loud when I read the headline for this piece. I guess it’s a credit to the popularity of MMA that it happened, but still, I can’t believe that anyone over the age of 12 would actually watch that crap. And the idea that someone would pay to watch it is beyond comprehension…
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honky tonk man by guillotine choke on king kong bundy!
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[...] would think that a company so eager to whip out a gogoplata at Wrestlemania would be a little more in-tune with the current MMA [...]
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LOL @ some of the reactions
Why are ppl criticizing a FAKE sub? IT’S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE DONE RIGHT. What’s next, ppl criticizing that Shawn Micheals doesn’t throw a proper jab?!
And why are ppl getting offended by BJJ moves in the WWE? They’ve faked kickboxing and amateur wrestling moves for years.
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u gotta realize that they probably asked him to dumb down the move because of the potential severity of it
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taker’s been striped of the title after winning the last ppv using… you guessed it, the gogoplata. the move has also been banned for causing “grevious harm” to wrestlers. shows that it was not Mcmahon who introduced mma into the wwe but taker. he was also seen at an mma match where the gogo was used to win the match
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