Whether fans what to believe it or not, professional wrestling and mixed martial arts go hand in hand. From the days of Muhammad Ali versus Antonio Inoki, to Ken Shamrock in the World Wrestling Federation, and now Phil “CM Punk” Brooks in the UFC, the two sports-entertainment platforms are members of the same family tree. Ronda Rousey‘s appearance at WrestleMania may have started off a storyline that will take a year to materialize, but it speaks to a budding partnership of sorts that would be worth the experiment.
Three days after WWE’s annual super show, the combination of “Ronda Rousey” and “WWE” within a Google search returns more than 300,000 results. Her actions in the ring with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Paul “Triple H” Levesque and Stephanie McMahon Levesque caught the attention of nearly everyone within the mainstream entertainment world. A few words, a hip toss, and a standing arm lock have the sports world clamoring about what may come in the future. Yet, one must wonder if this was the right move for all the parties involved. The answer is a flat out “Yes!”
Rousey’s star power has transcended the sport of mixed martial arts. It may not have translated into PPV buys for the UFC, but her growing popularity continues to open doors that are well beyond those of her colleagues. In the past, the UFC and WWE shied away from any connection to one another. Their competition over the signing of Brock Lesnar was very public, so public in fact that Lesnar announced on ESPN that he would return to the world of professional wrestling rather than mixed martial arts. But after Rousey’s appearance, one should hope that both organizations have changed their stance.
WWE has a hold on the sports entertainment world that the UFC needs to tap into. There are multiple aspects of the business that the UFC could stand to learn from the group led by Vince McMahon. For example, after WrestleMania WWE reported that its WWE Network has surpassed 1.3 million subscribers. At the price point of $9.99 for the service, that brings in nearly $13 million dollars per month for the service. As the UFC’s counterpart in Fight Pass continues to flounder, there are clear tactics that the company could learn from WWE when it comes to creating a product fans are willing to buy into.
This isn’t a call for UFC fighters to start to appear on WWE programming; that would immediately kill any of the appeal that Rousey’s potential performance may build. Instead, there are other ways in which the companies can cross-promote to assist the further development of their brands. Charitable events featuring wrestlers and fighters side-by-side and promotion with athletic brands such as the re-launched Tapout are just two ideas for ways the two organizations could work together in the hopes of tapping into each’s consumer base.
The UFC and WWE do not need each other to achieve legitimacy within the sports world. However, this does not mean they cannot find a way to work together to further their other efforts. Partnerships are beneficial within the world of business, and sports organizations are slowly learning that point. The UFC and WWE long ignored each other’s existence, but with recent developments, one can only hope that they have changed their position.
