As reported by thescore.com, legendary manager and professional advocate Paul Heyman recently spoke to ESPN about something that we may not have needed a reminder for: That when it comes to crossover stars, there is no one in the world quite like ‘The Beast’ Brock Lesnar.
Though the most dangerous man to ever carry a portable phone to the ring will not be accompanying his best buddy to the ring at UFC 200, Heyman remains firmly in Lesnar’s corner: especially when it comes to talk about John Cena ever having interest in the Octagon, or appearances by Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey in the squared circle. Here are some choice excerpts from his interview:
“I have all the respect in the world – more so than most would ever believe – for John Cena, for example. But John Cena could not main event WrestleMania, main event SummerSlam and then walk into the Octagon in true heavyweight competition against another heavyweight UFC fighter…”
“Nor could Conor McGregor, the biggest box office attraction with the exception of Brock Lesnar in UFC, go from a UFC fight and then transfer over to do all the hype, all the television, all the publicity going into a WWE pay-per-view event and then continue to perform at the top level of sports entertainment.”
“Ronda Rousey can make an appearance at WrestleMania. But can she work a full schedule to promote WrestleMania and then get into the Octagon and fight Holly Holm or Miesha Tate?”
Now, Heyman is stretching the truth and selling some tall tales here — Brock isn’t exactly working a full-time schedule for any of these companies, after all — but it’s his job to turn Lesnar into a modern day Paul Bunyan that only leaves his mountain home to murder to death those who dare to cross him.
And while McGregor and Rousey may not be able to handle a full time schedule with WWE, it would be silly to expect them to. An appearance on Raw or Smackdown by these two fighters, apparently being negotiated even as we speak, will be more special if their appearances are limited- like a Batgirl episode of the old Adam West series. But with more armbars.
