Ken Shamrock isn’t just one of the greatest fighters in the early days of MMA, but he also had a lot of success in pro wrestling as a part of the WWE and NWA: TNA.
The legendary fighter believes that if UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor were to cross over to the WWE, then the UFC star would have a tough time.
“Conor McGregor would, I believe, have a really tough time trying to transfer over from the combat sport into the entertainment sport,” Shamrock told Bloody Elbow. “Not to say he can’t; it’s possible for anybody. Just because he’s a lighter weight, he would have to have a whole lot of different types of moves in order for it to make sense for him to get in there and be able to wrestle the bigger guys. Listen, the guy’s tremendous, great athletic ability. But he’s a lightweight. And (there are few smaller-sized athletes in pro wrestling), other than guys that are high flying and have a lot of tremendous ability and their flexibility and movements and head scissors and all those fancy things they do in pro wrestling, which takes a long time to learn.”
McGregor has yet to make a transition to pro wrestling in any way, but rumors have surfaced in the past about the MMA star appearing in the WWE ring.
Shamrock also thinks that if the UFC Lightweight Champion would have a chance to shine in the WWE, then he would need to be primed before competing in the squared circle.
“Protect him in that sense, without going out and having an actual match, and get him primed for it, I think he might have a chance,” Shamrock said. “But just to walk right in the ring and just start doing matches, it would kill him. He wouldn’t be the dominating thing that everybody’s used to seeing.”
During his time in the WWE, the UFC Hall Of Famer would hold the intercontinental title, tag team title (with the Big Bossman) and win the 1998 King Of The Ring tournament.
