This weekend was a big one for fans of combat sports — especially those who consider professional wrestling to be somewhere among those ranks.
First, let’s cover the real fighting: Former WWE Superstar CM Punk (0-1) had a pretty rough debut Saturday at UFC 203, where he tapped out to opponent Mickey Gall (3-0). Making matters worse, it was one of the most anticipated initial fights in recent memory, as the ex-sports-entertainment star has taken a lot of time to prepare for his oft-delayed octagon career. Unfortunately, this still-new gig looks like it might not last as long as his training actually did.
Smash cut to Sunday, when WWE’s “SmackDown Live” held its first solo pay-per-view of the so-called “New Era.” There, the Intercontinental Championship match started in an eerily similar manner to Punk’s short-lived Ultimate Fighting Championship battle.
Pro Wrestling Sheet reporter Ryan Satin pointed out the similarities from the obviously scripted match between challenger Dolph Ziggler and incumbent champion The Miz. Anyone who pays attention to these topics knows that Punk and the WWE had a pretty rough parting of ways, so (Super)-kicking the man when he’s down doesn’t feel about Vince McMahon & Co.
We posted Satin’s tweet and embedded video below, as well as highlights (er, lowlights) from Punk’s Round 1 loss.
Check them out after one more link, and let us know in the comments section if you think the similarities are a mere coincidence or not.
https://twitter.com/ryansatin/status/775142536205656064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/karlt187/status/775060988764848129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw