Professional wrestling and mixed martial arts are linked to the hip for good reason. Not only do the two share the same common roots of catch wrestling, but they deal in a similar manner of spectacle and appealing to people’s rawest senses. Of course, there’s one huge difference between the two and that is the fact that professional wrestling is predetermined entertainment that is meant to simulate combat, while mixed martial arts is an actual competition (most of the time, at least).
That main factor should give professional wrestling the edge when it comes to crafting enjoyable storylines, as they have everything in their control. One doesn’t have to look far into the past to see how many heavily pushed MMA stars got a career deflating loss at a key moment or got knocked out during their time to shine on network television. However, when I watched both WWE Super Show-Down and UFC 229 on Saturday, I couldn’t help but realize that I was far more invested in the latter.
Now the UFC 229 card was more entertaining than most mixed martial arts events due to a mixture of star power and promotion, but I can’t recall the last time the WWE in particular left me so thoroughly entertained. Conor McGregor, a reckless multi-millionaire with an ego the size of the moon, became a complete babyface after the main event ended thanks to a brawl started by the victor, an undefeated opponent that is backed by a Chechen dictator with blood all over his regime. It was a double-turn to the mainstream if I’ve ever saw one.
There was a bloody war in the co-main event that kept both fighters looking strong after a broken hand ended the battle prematurely, and the fight before that couldn’t have been scripted any better as Derrick “The Black Beast” Lewis continued his incredible MMA career by mounting an epic comeback in the last minute of the fight. Lewis cut an incredible promo afterwards that has more quotable gems than any WWE superstar has in the past year. I’m going to be talking about “my balls was hot” and “USA in this ho” for years down the line, but I can’t tell you a single non-catchphrase that Roman Reigns has said during a pay-per-view or Monday Night RAW.
The gift that keeps on giving ?
There's nothing quite like a @TheBeast_UFC full post-fight interview. Relive his best one yet after #UFC229. Enjoy. pic.twitter.com/KFNgfkGwvN
— UFC (@ufc) October 8, 2018
It ultimately poses the question: If the most popular scripted version of combat can’t write more entertaining events (either in action or storytelling) than reality then why are we watching it every week?
I got a pretty resounding answer to that question on Monday morning as New Japan Pro Wrestling held their King of Pro Wrestling 2018 event. The main event triple threat match told an incredible story about two men trying to see if they cared about a title more than their friendship, a new member was added to the most intriguing stable in all of wrestling, Chris Jericho made a shocking return, Will Ospreay teased matches against heavyweights, and there was a huge twist regarding Jay White. All of that storyline development happened on one event while being paired with great in-ring action, so why can’t WWE deliver the same when everything is under their control.
King of Pro Wrestling 2018 had all of these fascinating angles moving forward, and got me excited for the next card while simultaneously leaving me pleased. It was professional wrestling at its finest, and when the art that good, it doesn’t even need to be compared to something like mixed martial arts even when the in-ring action is more similar. On the flip side, when the art leaves you constantly disappointed, maybe it’s time to seek other entertainment. If it wasn’t my job, I almost would certainly not be watching Monday Night RAW tonight, but I’ll continue to tune in while droves are tuning out.
Make us care again as the product currently breeds apathy like none other.
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