WWE News: Did UFC Star Conor McGregor’s Shot At WWE Create An Opportunity For Him With The Company?
UFC Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor stirred up controversy over the weekend when he called out WWE stars for “being p****ies.” Clearly, WWE Superstars both old and current were not too thrilled with it, and for that matter, neither were WWE fans. Due to the fact that Conor is such a nice young man, he issued an apology over what he had to say as he could obviously tell the tension was mounting.
He said, “I didn’t mean no disrespect to the (WWE) fans. What I meant to say was that I’d slap the head off your entire roster. And twice on Sunday’s.”
You could tell he was speaking from the heart there. Maybe an apology isn’t the right word. In this case, maybe “sinking in cyber quicksand” would be a more accurate way to describe Conor McGregor right now. When you anger literally every single wrestler in the WWE, and many outside the company too, you’ve clearly worked the heel role well.
The issue is that this was not Conor McGregor talking to sell a fight, where he’ll likely just talk to get you interested. Rather, this was Conor going into an area that forced a clear divide. It seemed that no one from the UFC had his back on this online while seemingly every WWE Superstar spoke out against him. MMA Reporter Ariel Helwani would call out the WWE stars for being “insecure” when they spoke out against Conor.
However, what man or even woman for that matter would take what Conor said about them lying down? What athlete would allow that? Conor could have easily said that wrestling sucked and left it at that. However, that didn’t happen, and he called them a very dirty word that belittled them and even said he could beat them all up. Interestingly, Conor McGregor is usually 170 pounds and is five-foot-nine. Former WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte could fit in his division and probably take him by herself.
Most of the WWE Superstars were athletes before coming to the WWE. Chad Gable was a former United States Olympian in wrestling, and he is one of just the new guys. The idea behind this, according to most, was that it was Conor McGregor creating business for himself in the WWE. However, he may have gone too far.
According to the Wrestling Observer, the controversy he caused may have cost him a possible opportunity with the WWE, and any minor angle WWE had with him may have been completely killed off. Most assumed going into all of this that he was clearly trying to make something happen, but that did not appear to be the case, and he later stood by his comments.
While Conor McGregor at 28-years-old may not care about this right now, he may surely begin to think a career outside the octagon might be beneficial to his health. Leaving a sport where they try to knock you out on a regular basis could be good for the brain. With all the things we know now about the head, it makes sense to leave to avoid any life-altering issues.
Many are starting to do this in sports today. Lions WR Calvin Johnson retired this past year at just 30 years of age. Most believe he had a good five years of productive football left in him, but he left because he felt it would be good for his livelihood. Due to McGregor being a great talker and really learning a lot of what he does now from pro wrestling, it makes sense for him to work with WWE after he’s finished with the UFC.
He can play a both a villain and good guy and has a lot of skill as a mixed martial artist, which allows him to come in with some organic skill that WWE can use. However, you can only take things so far in the world of WWE. While the world of wrestling always tells you to “never say never,” it may take a lot for WWE Superstars to ever be okay with Conor McGegor after his recent comments. It is doubtful they will have a short memory over this.
[Image via UFC]
