Jim Cornette: Shane MacMahon wanted to buy UFC before it got big

[the muntjac]

Just imagine if Shane bought the UFC back in the late 90's. It would have become more WWE-like as it's becoming today, but much quicker. The guys with more charisma on the mic, whether they'd be getting heat or cheered, or just having the look, would be getting the bigger pushes regardless of their in-ring abilities.

Or Shane may have just ran it into the ground shortly after purchasing it. The audience also might have thought fights would be fixed in the UFC, and wouldn't be able to take it at face value.

I'm not condeming nor condoning how it might have played out. I'm just trying to imagine how it would be. What say you?

 

[Pliny Pete]

It woulda failed just like everything else the McMahons touch outside of WWE

 

[JamesRyko]

If Shane bought UFC he would have turned it into pride.. The UFC woulda been really fun for a year or two and then it would get absurd. Meanwhile Dana White and his goon squad would have bought Pride and turned it into the UFC is today.. UFC would have been just as successful as the XFL and We would all be watching Pride FC today under the management of Dana White.

 

[the muntjac]

It woulda failed just like everything else the McMahons touch outside of WWE

Very real possibility. Might have just went the way of the XFL.

I remember when the XFL was struggling so bad that they were promoting how they were going to take cameras into the cheerleaders locker room in a desperate attempt in ratings. The voiceover guy actually said the words, "...in a desperate attempt for ratings."

Yowzer.

 

[the muntjac]

If Shane bought UFC he would have turned it into pride.. The UFC woulda been really fun for a year or two and then it would get absurd. Meanwhile Dana White and his goon squad would have bought Pride and turned it into the UFC is today.. UFC would have been just as successful as the XFL and We would all be watching Pride FC today under the management of Dana White.

In that world, we'd be hearing complaints how Fedor never fought in Pride.

 

[ThunderL1ps]

Shane wanted to buy PRIDE FC and Sakikabara actually went to Connecticut and after due diligence it was passed on and the UFC ended up buying them.

Vince probably told him "no" and had the real say in the matter.

 

[JamesRyko]

If Shane wants to get into MMA I don't see any reason why he couldn't do it right now. They have plenty of money to burn and they have good name recognition. And they have the massive RAW audience to promote it in.

Whats the point in being a billionaire if you aren't going to take some risks with your money. If Shane made a fully legit organization without any pro wrestling gimmicks and paid legit $$$ it wouldn't be hard to pull in some great talenet. Especially now days since the UFC is having so much bad press about fighter pay and the rebook screw job. Even the "warrior" mentality fighters that don't do it for the money are getting wise to how badly they're being abused.

If I had a billion dollars to burn and the WWE backbone to carry the promotion on I wouldn't hesitate to delve into both boxing and MMA. Having all relevant boxers under 1 roof so the best can fight the best without 10 years of drama would certainly proit in the long run. It would just take some time to phase out the boxers that think they should be paid 100m$ for 1 fight and bring up new up and coming talent into it. It would probably not do well at first but if they stuck with it, gave up and commers a place to go and know they will earn enough money to be able to train full time.. in 5 years they'll have some dominate champions that are happy making 6 figures+sponsors+bonus' instead of bullshit maywhether money. Once it gets to that point it'll start bringing in hella ratings. Add it into their existing 9.99 wwe.com subscription and theyre get boat loads of new subscribers.

I think the McMahons have an excellent foundation to start their own promotion provided that they keep their egos in check and start out slow and respectfully instead of try to put the UFC out of business in year 1 like they tried to do with the XFL in regards to the NFL. It's hardly even a change in business model. They just need to give it a clean, respectable name that isn't vulgar, and be humble and respectable to the media and their competitors instead of proclaim themselves as the king leaders of the industry before they finish their first year of operations.

Shane, stop playing grab ass with the undertaker and get to work on "WWE pro" the mma/boxing/kick boxing network.

 

[My Spot]

The problem is Vince was starting up the XFL around that time.

 

[My Spot]

Shane, stop playing grab ass with the undertaker and get to work on "WWE pro" the mma/boxing/kick boxing network.

Or better yet...bring back the Brawl for All!

 

[Wariowokecancel]

Vince took two decades to get his head around the fact that little dudes like Rey Mysterio and Daniel Bryan can draw money.

And he fucked up the biggest possible money making angle in the history of sports, bigger than Mayweather vs Pac with the Invasion shitfest.

He is still unable to get his head around a nonscripted fight being worth anything.

That said, the WWE is making money and the UFC is still losing money. So maybe Vince might be right about that.

Source: Check the UFC credit ratings.

 

[Wariowokecancel]

The problem is Vince was starting up the XFL around that time.

Vince forgot what made him rich. Go big or go home.

Anyway he had no chance of challenging the NFL.

XFL to NFL was current TNA to Attitude Era WWE

 

[Ninja]

Shane would have done an amazing job with WWE.


Vince really should have just gave Shane WCW when they made the purchase and let Shane run that organization separately ..then every year at New Years have a massive WWE Vs. WCW PPV!

 

[AronaBeatsJones]

If Shane bought UFC he would have turned it into pride.. The UFC woulda been really fun for a year or two and then it would get absurd. Meanwhile Dana White and his goon squad would have bought Pride and turned it into the UFC is today.. UFC would have been just as successful as the XFL and We would all be watching Pride FC today under the management of Dana White.

Interesting alternate scenario, and seemingly likely, but I don't think the Fertittas would've been able to (or willing to, I should say) afford Pride when it was becoming a huge sensation in Japan around 2001.

They were only willing to buy the UFC after weakening its value with Lorenzo Fertitta as the NSAC Commissioner suppressing MMA's legalization.

And I think they wanted an American-based business, so IMO, it would've been much more likely they would've bought King of the Cage instead, or reverted back to their original idea of getting into the boxing business.

 

[the muntjac]

Shane would have done an amazing job with WWE.


Vince really should have just gave Shane WCW when they made the purchase and let Shane run that organization separately ..then every year at New Years have a massive WWE Vs. WCW PPV!

Way to get me excited about something that can never happen. Thanks, dude.

 

[Wariowokecancel]

Nobody would have taken MMA seriously a legit sport with McMahons involved. Everybody would assume it was fixed.

 

[Frank23]

 

[Halifax]

If Shane bought UFC he would have turned it into pride.. The UFC woulda been really fun for a year or two and then it would get absurd. Meanwhile Dana White and his goon squad would have bought Pride and turned it into the UFC is today.. UFC would have been just as successful as the XFL and We would all be watching Pride FC today under the management of Dana White.

I doubt it. Pride did not fail because of normal reasons. They lost their TV and exposure with the ties to the Yakuza. That's like being a politician on a campaign run and the world finding out you have ties to the mafia. Your support system crumbles.

Shane would have done an amazing job with WWE.


Vince really should have just gave Shane WCW when they made the purchase and let Shane run that organization separately ..then every year at New Years have a massive WWE Vs. WCW PPV!

That was the plan initially. The problem is, Vince rarely watched other wrestling shows, so he was not aware of who was who in WCW, and the first WCW match they ran in WWE was Buff Bagwell vs Booker T. Vince saw them wrestle and was convinced most of the WCW guys sucked balls at wrestling.

Most guys who jumped over to WWF before WCW went under sucked initially because it is a different style of wrestling. Its like working in 1 place for years and then going to another similar place with different software. No you can't do the job 100% from the get go, but Vince does not get that.

Mind you, booker T was merely "Okay", Bagwell sucked wherever he went, and DDP was not a good wrestler.

The quality of matches suffer until you learn the style of the new workplace.
Vader sucked for a long time when he went to WWF. So did Big show and so did Jericho. Their matches sucked for the first few months until they got the hang of it.

WWF also did not get most of the big names. Vince refused to buy the contracts of the big name players(With good reason. They all had creative control and limited schedules for HUGE money). But not getting Poppa Pump, Hogan, Hall and Nash, Goldberg, Sting, etc made the invasion consist of the dregs of the WCW roster. Mike Awesome and Kanyon were not exactly household names. Booker T was the only superstar they got initially.

After seeing Bagwell/BookerT stink out the joint, Vince just assumed they were so awful in WCW that they could never run on their own.