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Ken Shamrock was not only a very good professional wrestler, but was the original MMA to professional wrestling crossover star.
While men like Dan Severn and Tank Abbott would do so around the same time, no one quite had Shamrock’s talent and ability to connect with fans merging over from the early days of the UFC. He brought his real combat sports credentials to the squared-circle and was an instant star.
WWE justifiably kicked off his run there by having him referee the Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin "I Quit Match" at WrestleMania 13. The spot not only put him into a direct line of confrontation with two of the biggest stars of the day, but also highlighted his real life submission credentials upon entry to the highest profile pro-wrestling company in the world.
Shamrock only stayed in WWE for about two and a half years, though. He’d wrestle elsewhere, including being crowned TNA’s first world champion. In addition, he’d continue to fight in MMA on and off for years.
Shamrock has expressed an interest in returning to WWE, and has claimed in interviews that his differences with certain executives in the company are blocking his re-entry to the WWE. While we may never know the full story there, Shamrock’s colorful career, and relatively short time in WWE, does pose a real question. What if Ken Shamrock hadn’t ever left WWE?
#5 Ken Shamrock wins the WWE Championship
Ken Shamrock was treated like a big deal for the first year of his WWE contract. Those looking for proof need look no further than his WrestleMania 14 match with The Rock. Both were bright young stars, and though Rock technically won the bout by disqualification, it was only after Shamrock was booked to dominate the Brahma Bull and wouldn’t stop beating him down after Rock tapped.
Shamrock’s star-power dropped over time, particularly after a heel turn and becoming essentially just another guy in Vince McMahon’s Corporation stable. However, if Shamrock were to have stuck around, there’s reason to believe that his sheer talent and look would have eventually brought the powers that be back around.
Shamrock may not have been the world champion during the Attitude Era, with Steve Austin, The Rock, and Triple H to contend with. However, in the period afterward, when Austin stepped away from the WWE before eventually retiring, and as Rock transitioned to Hollywood, "The World’s Most Dangerous Man" may well have gotten a brief reign at the very least.
#4 Shamrock Passes The Torch To Brock Lesnar
Had Ken Shamrock still been around after the Attitude Era, and particularly if WWE had booked him to win a world title in that era, he would have been an optimal guy to put over a young Brock Lesnar. Even before Lesnar got involved with the UFC, the foundation of his pedigree was in amateur wrestling--a legitimate combat sport discipline.
With similar shoot-fighting styles and both having killer physiques, Shamrock and Lesnar would have looked like an instant dream match. In addition, the bout likely could have delivered in the ring, combining elements of ultra-realistic grappling with a young Lesnar’s athleticism and the experience Shamrock would have cultivated by that stage of his career.
Of course, Lesnar was destined to shoot straight to the top of the pro-wrestling world, and there’s little reason to think Shamrock would have changed that trajectory. Facing off with him might have offered an even more memorable stepping stone, however, in "The Next Big Thing’s" journey.
#3 TNA’s Early Struggles Worsen
In the early days of Impact Wrestling, the company founded as TNA, broadcast its show via a weekly PPV format. Founded by industry veteran Jeff Jarrett, who had family roots in the pro-wrestling business, the company understood the importance the element of legitimacy brings, early on.
This led to brokering a deal to feature the National Wrestling Alliance World Championship as their featured title. This also meant signing Ken Shamrock as one of the early top stars of the company.
Indeed, in TNA’s first PPV, Shamrock won the vacant championship to become the company's early standard bearer. His time on top would be short lived, but Shamrock’s name recognition and credentials from WWE and UFC, did help put TNA on the map.
TNA has, more often than not, had a rough go of making ends meet. It’s an underdog company founded in the shadow of WWE buying out WCW, largely built out of a love for the business. Without someone like Shamrock to push the product early on, those first broadcasts may have drawn even fewer viewers, and it’s possible the promotion would have died before it even registered on most fans’ radars.
#2 Kurt Angle Never Uses The Ankle Lock
Kurt Angle is widely heralded as not only one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, but a guy who was remarkable for his ability to pick up on the nuances of pro-wrestling and become great startlingly fast.
As WWE played up his real-life wrestling credentials, and particularly as the character became a bit less cartoonish, and a bit more serious, he adopted the Ankle Lock as a signature move.
The Ankle Lock was first popularized as a finishing move in WWE by Ken Shamrock, who’d famously snap en route to trying to break his opponent's ankles. Shamrock and Angle narrowly missed one another, as Angle started up on the main roster mere months after Shamrock headed out the door.
Had Shamrock hung around, it seems unlikely Angle would have started using the same hold. That’s even more assuredly true if Shamrock had moved back up the card, and thus started out in a much better established and more prominent role than the Olympic gold medalist.
#1 Ken Shamrock vs. John Cena
As the definitive icon of his era of pro-wrestling stars, John Cena can be a particularly interesting guy to cook up dream match scenarios for. Cena missed the Attitude Era by just a year or two, and ascended to the top a few years after that.
Regardless, it’s interesting to imagine him squaring off with Steve Austin or Bret Hart. It’s interesting, too, to think of Cena vs. Ken Shamrock.
Had Shamrock stuck around, he may well have been peaking, at least in his kayfabe standing, when Cena arrived on the main roster. With each of their imposing physiques, they’d make for a prototypical WWE pairing in the ring, and Shamrock’s serious, severe style, could have nicely offset some of Cena’s more cartoonish antics.
In the end, Cena would probably have reached the top of the business just as Shamrock would have been fading anyway. Nonetheless, this would have been a fun clash of styles matchup; and it’s a shame the world never got to see it.
