Big news befell two former WWE stars this week. One was vastly more exciting than the other.
Batista announced he’d be appearing in the next James Bond movie as a baddie. CM Punk one-upped Batista and announced he’d be joining the UFC with no previous fighting experience whatsoever, save wrestling, of course.
I say Batista wins the week for a few reasons. One, Bond films are legendary and all are memorable regardless of the plot. The latest batch of Bond films have been superb and Batista’s star is rising after a breakout in “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
Secondly, acting doesn’t require you to have your face beat to a pulp. Batista also tried his hand at MMA, winning his only fight, but realized acting pays the bills in a cooler way.
CM Punk might be remembered, but it could be for the wrong reasons. He’s in his late-30s, which is well past prime fighting age. He won’t step into the octagon for a good six months and the clock isn’t slowing down.
What’s more interesting and hypocritical is the way CM Punk entered the MMA ranks. He made it a point to bemoan part-timers Brock Lesnar, The Rock and The Undertaker for stealing the spotlight from established guys such as himself and Daniel Bryan. That, my friends, is exactly what CM Punk is doing now.
I know some pro fighters, many of whom worked really hard to get where they are and never sniffed the UFC. That wasn’t for a lack of trying, it’s just an ultra-competitive arena. You can go your whole life reaching for the brass ring and not grasping.
So here’s CM Punk, stealing headlines at a UFC pay-per-view as if he’s the second coming. If I’m a guy on the roster, especially if I have a belt or am highly ranked, I wouldn’t take kindly to my boss, Dana White, making a spectacle of a dude who’s never fought. That breeds contempt, my friends, and CM Punk (Phil Brooks) could learn his lesson harshly.
Sure, CM Punk will get some “easy” opponents to start, but he might just find himself on the bad end of a beating like even Lesnar took a time or two. And Lesnar is truly a beast, folks. That tells you all you need to know about UFC.
In time, when the world is watching old Blu-rays, Batista will be there kicking ass on a Bond film. And we’ll recall all of his one-liners and evolving career and think “this guy has come a long way.”
And there will be CM Punk, who will be an afterthought on an odd UFC PPV dredged up from the past. The “Best in the World” will be better known as a former WWE standout. He’ll be forgotten elsewhere soon enough.
