MMA Fighting reports that Vince McMahon has nixed the idea of CM Punk walking out with Chael Sonnen before his fight at UFC on Fox 2 in Chicago. The original announcement of the du0 walking out came out earlier this month.
Punk, a Chicago native, would have drawn some extra cheers for Sonnen in his fight with Mark Munoz.
Payout Perspective:
This is the best for the UFC. There are no crossover issues to worry about and the casual viewer won’t associate pro wrestling with MMA. The WWE probably feels the same. As a brand, it does not need to associate itself with the UFC. Also, since the WWE’s biggest program, RAW, is on the USA Network and its owned by NBCUniversal, its likely that the WWE would not want one of its bigger stars helping Fox with its ratings.
I think people often overstate the extent to which networks are at “war” with one another. Entertainers appear on Universal networks to promote Fox projects and vice versa all the time. It’s more likely that WWE didn’t want to have one of its stars promoting the UFC, which is a major competitor for PPV dollars, this close to Royal Rumble, which is probably very close. As you know, the period from the Royal Rumble to Wrestlemania is the most crucial period of any PPV year in the WWE, and without any overt cross-promotion opportunities, they probably decided that it wasn’t worth it.
I think its more so the WWE and UFC don’t like each other and don’t want to do anything to give each other any pub. Re: The undertaker Lesnar exchange from two years ago.
However… 20 bucks says now that Brock is “retired” from MMA… he’ll be running back to uncle vince for a pay check as soon as he needs some cash.
I would think it would be the UFC not wanting it, not WWE.
WWE is fake and having Punk shown on Fox in front of millions of people cant hurt, its the UFC that you would think wouldnt like it cause they are real and dont want to be tied to fake WWE shit.
Strange.
Will Punk still be in attendance for this fight? You have to figure he will be.
I dont think this is a network issue or an issue of brand and product confusion. No one that doesnt watch wrestling would even know who this guy is. The problem is there is a ton of current or former WWE PPV buys who are watching the UFC. Those fans know who this guy is and would add a little more entertainment to their UFC purchase. WWE wants them back and that isnt going to happen if they get to see their favorite WWE stars during UFC events. Their apperance also looks as if they endorse the UFC and the UFC is the “cool” thing in town. So they are even more encourage to keep buying PPVs.
The guy wouldnt even make it into the picture if the UFC didnt want him too. THe annoucers would mentioned him if the UFC didnt want. It really was/is a no issue outside f the few WWE fans who would recongize him and speculate he was going into fighting and getting more buzz for the UFC. If this was 5 years ago or a mainstream WWE name like Stone Cold, HHH, or Goldburg i could understand the risks for the UFC but not with this guy.
“I think its more so the WWE and UFC don’t like each other”
That is patently false.
Dana considers Vince McMahon a friend and mentor. The obviously have a business rivalry, but there is no animosity there.
No one seems to have considered that this wasn’t a savvy decision on the part of the WWE, but rather a quite boneheaded and reactionary move by Vince MacMahon. People are forgetting that as recently as a couple years ago, Triple H was part of Mayweather’s entourage for a PPV fight, something that gave the company a lot of mainstream press. I’m sure Vince thinks he’s one-upping the UFC here, but wrestling dirt sheets are reporting that there is a lot of backstage head-scratching over this one.