There’s an obvious appeal to trying out mixed martial arts for WWE Superstars, with many of the ones that switch into the sport wanting to prove just how tough they are. Unfortunately, not all of them were blessed with the natural talents necessary to thrive inside the octagon – and these guys found that out the hard way.
You may consider some of these selections unfair, and there may even be a few others that you feel belong on this list, but it’s the nature of their careers that have landed them in this position. Of course, if any of them see this, we know full well that we wouldn’t stand a chance if they were to track us down and query us on their entry.
In reality, there are only a few exceptions to this rule, most notably Brock Lesnar because more often than not it’s extremely difficult to transition into something completely different. After all, these guys are used to throwing themselves around a ring and attempting to create a story: not trying to knock someone’s head off for fun.
So with all of that being said, here are (in our opinion) the five WWE Superstars with the worst MMA histories.
#1 Batista – 1-0
Now look, we understand that a winning record in mixed martial arts is nothing to be ashamed of – but Batista’s one and only match inside of the cage was a tad embarrassing, and the man himself will admit that. Following a last minute change on the card, The Animal came face to face with journeyman fighter Vince Lucero.
The fight was slow, lethargic and extremely dull at times, with Batista ending up getting the TKO victory – which isn’t really saying much. To this day, Lucero has a 22-25 record, which is essentially the equivalent of Batista squashing a jobber on Monday Night Raw. Needless to say, it was a smart decision for Dave to move into the movie world after this.
Remember this guy?
#2 Nathan Jones – 0-1
In case you’d forgotten, Nathan Jones was groomed for stardom in WWE back in the early noughties when he was paired together with The Undertaker on TV. The eventual plan was for the two men to face off against Big Show and A-Train at WrestleMania 19, however, the company felt that Jones wasn’t progressing quickly enough for a spot like that, so they pulled him out of the match.
Unfortunately, WWE wasn't around to prevent Jones from engaging in his one and only MMA fight, with the big guy losing via submission to Koji Kitao back in 1997. Perhaps the one and only positive of this was the fact that he wrestled in Pride, which was actually quite a highly regarded MMA promotion in its heydey.
What a jerk.
#3 Kid Kash – 0-1
From personal experience, we can confirm that Kid Kash is one of the biggest jerks in the wrestling business. For whatever reason, the guy seems to think that he should’ve been a much larger star than he was, despite the fact he was given several opportunities to succeed in both WWE and Impact Wrestling.
Needless to say, things didn’t go so well when he stepped inside the octagon, with Kash being knocked out in 39 seconds by Lindsey Jones in Nashville. Oh, and funnily enough, he said one of the reasons that he got into mixed martial arts was to knock out CM Punk.
Which brings us to our next entry perfectly...
Also read: 5 professional wrestlers with the best MMA records
#4 CM Punk – 0-1
You have to have some serious courage to step inside the octagon, and you have to have even more to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship in your first professional fight. CM Punk didn’t need the money, and he didn’t need the recognition, but he wanted to try and prove to himself that he could climb this mountain.
Unfortunately, he was submitted in the first round by the now 4-0 Mickey Gall, but he shouldn’t feel all too bad about the defeat. After all, Gall could go on to become a World Champion one day and given Punk’s age, he was already a massive underdog heading into the fight. We’d love to see the former WWE Champion fight again, but we’d also understand if he doesn’t.
What a story...
#5 Steve Williams – 0-1
“Dr Death” Steve Williams was brought into the World Wrestling Federation with the intention of turning him into a challenger for Stone Cold’s WWF Championship. It was an unusual idea, to say the least, but it was one that the company got behind by trying to push Williams as a legit bad ass in the Brawl For All tournament.
By now we all know that things didn’t go too well for Steve, and they went even worse when he made his MMA debut back in 2004. Williams was defeated by knockout within 22 seconds of the first round, with Alexey Ignashov being the man who did the damage. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Ignashov’s only other MMA opponent was Shinsuke Nakamura. Small world.
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