In case you were on Mars this weekend and haven’t heard the news, former WWE Champion CM Punk has signed with UFC. Yes, the one with the actual fighting. They announced the signing on their UFC 181 pay-per-view on Saturday and, as it is known to do, the Internet went crazy.
A lot of famous folks from the wrestling, MMA and entertainment worlds chimed in, and we’ve collected ten of the best responses in an easy-to-digest-on-Monday-morning list. #Content! Consider it a handy guide to knowing where everyone stands, from fellow fighters (“WTF?”) to former employers ( ¯_(ツ)_/¯ ) and the man himself.
Enjoy! Now let’s not mention Punk again until July. Or an hour from now, whichever comes first.
10. Legendary WWE play-by-play man turned voice of Battlegrounds MMA Jim Ross, who considered Punk’s signing from a business standpoint.
Congrats on @CMPunk signing apparently w/ @ufc is he going to fight? What weight? Will sell PPV's w/o question. Smart biz by @danawhite
— Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) December 7, 2014
Lots of @ufc fighters will be calling out Punk because Punk's going to sell PPV's and they want some of the $$. Plus, Punk's a rookie.
— Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) December 7, 2014
Just as Lesnar brought many wrestling fans to @ufc to see him lose, Punk will being newer & younger fans to @ufc out of curiosity/ to win.
— Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) December 7, 2014
9. Nate Diaz, with the opposite of JR’s analysis.
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) December 7, 2014
8. Current WWE hostage Rey Mysterio, who does not totally understand how hashtags work.
Awesome to see my homie Punk at UFC 181 announcing his new career as a UFC fighter! Congrats & wish him the best… Kick some ASS homie! #ItWasAPleasureBeingInTheRingWithU#LifeChanger#CantWaite2SeeUKickAss
YOU CAN JUST WRITE ANOTHER SENTENCE, REY.
7. Former WWE wrestler Tyler Reks, taking the “guy on the Internet” position.
https://twitter.com/GabeTuft/status/541454472283578368
6. Green Power Ranger and occasional MMA guy Jason David Frank, continuing his never-ending, Fatal Attraction-esque campaign to fight Punk.
Via Haymaker:
“Jason’s actually been kind of toying with the idea of fighting CM Punk for over a year now,” Frank’s manager Brian Butler from Suckerpunch Entertainment told FOX Sports on Sunday. “They toured together on the Wizard World conventions and they were doing appearances together and the fans were kind of talking about it and it got some buzz about a year ago. It never really died down, but with the announcement last night it flared back up.
“I got a text message from Jason right away saying ‘he wants to fight at middleweight, too, I’d love to do it, he got away from me’ just kind of joking around. But actually it makes a lot of sense.”
Via Facebook:
This was posted on my managers page!! I’m sorry guys I have to do this and wake up UFC. I need your help to tag @danawhiteufc @ufc please hash tag this direct to there page. I like CM this is just a professional call out Again. Thanks SUCKER PUNCH ENTERTAINMENT for believing in me!! Team I depend on you. This is my life and I deserve a shot at this. @suckerpunchent haters hate winners WIN. It’s a great fight embrace don’t hate
5. UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey, the most adorable smark in MMA.
WHA?!?!?! @CMPunk!!?!!!!?!! #cantwait
— Ronda Rousey (@RondaRousey) December 7, 2014
4. AJ Lee, aka AJ Brooks, who should be trying to tap Ronda Rousey to a shoot Black Widow any day now.
I am the proudest wife in the world. pic.twitter.com/N02RJzumQK
— AJ Mendez (@TheAJMendez) December 7, 2014
3. UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon ‘Bones’ Jones with a layup, but a good one.
BREAKING NEWS: I'm headlining wrestlemania 31.
— BONY (@JonnyBones) December 7, 2014
2. Punk himself in an interview with Ariel Helwani, in response to the notion that he’s a famous pro wrestler with no pro fighting experience waltzing into a high-level position in the world’s top MMA company.
“At the ripe old age of 36 I’m trying to be less of a hot head, and see where people are coming from. And I understand – if that’s your opinion, that’s awesome; it’s my job to change your mind, although that is not going to be one of my hang-ups. I’m not going to deal with negativity. Plus, I think it’s part of the game. There needs to be fighters that call me out and say those things, I just hope somebody is more creative because the ‘fake wrestler’ thing is a little too obvious.”
1. WWE, taking passive-aggression to new levels with their one-sentence statement. They didn’t even use a picture of the man. They used their logo.
WWE wishes Phil Brooks (aka CM Punk) the best of luck in his newest endeavor.
Ice cold.