5 Matches WWE should book if Vince McMahon started promoting MMA

Before I begin, I wanted to explain that these matches are based on a fantasy scenario where WWE opens up their own MMA promotion, which frankly, I'm surprised they haven't already done.

Under the aforementioned scenario, they might be able to keep someone like Brock Lesnar under WWE contract where he can both wrestle and fight for the company. Also with this idea, they can put themselves back on pay-per-view, as they could treat it as a completely separate entity from what would be considered as their main programming.

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Of course, all of the world's top MMA talent will eventually want to go to the UFC at some point, so in this scenario, WWE's MMA promotion won't be looking to find the hot young fighters on the rise, but instead, they'll just look to put on a few "freakshow" fights with big names once or twice per year.

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As of right now, WWE has a few people under contract who have amateur wrestling backgrounds, which has long been thought of as the best base for an MMA fighter. They could also bring back names from the past like Ken Shamrock, who's 54 years old, to fight another MMA legend who is around the same age.

So, with all that said, let's begin!

#5 Daniel Bryan vs. Mike Jackson

Just in case you don't already know, Mike Jackson is the fighter who defeated CM Punk via unanimous decision back at UFC 225. He's had a few amateur boxing and kickboxing bouts, and he has a 1-1 record in MMA, with his only win coming over the previously mentioned CM Punk.

Following the fight, Daniel Bryan, who does MMA-style training whenever he can, sent out a tweet saying that he thinks he could beat Mike Jackson, but as we all know, that fight won't happen in the UFC, and it won't happen at all unless WWE decided to start promoting MMA.

You could argue that someone with the concussion history of Daniel Bryan shouldn't do an MMA fight, but if WWE ever got into the MMA business, I would assume that the ex-WWE World Heavyweight Champion would want to have at least one fight.

#4 Batista vs. Goldberg

Back in October of 2012, former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Batista decided he was going to try his hand in MMA, as he defeated his opponent Vince Lucero via TKO in the very first round. The fight ended up being the ex-WWE star's one and only MMA bout.

Essentially, Batista did what CM Punk should've done, which is a fight on a low-level show against an opponent of your skill level.

In the past, Goldberg has expressed his interest in doing a fight under the right circumstances, and if WWE opened up an MMA promotion tomorrow and decided to book Goldberg vs. Batista, I'm pretty sure both guys would be willing to take the fight.

They're both in the same age range, they're both around the same size, and while Batista is more experienced simply because he's had one fight to Goldberg's zero, they're probably both at a similar skill level.

#3 Kurt Angle vs. Ken Shamrock

Back in November of 2015, Kurt Angle strongly teased a future fight with ex-WWE Intercontinental Champion and MMA legend Ken Shamrock, and obviously, the fight didn't end up coming to fruition.

While this fight probably would've gotten a lot of attention if it happened outside of WWE, but it would have a lot more interest if it happened under the WWE banner, as they both gained the bulk of their popularity while they were working for Vince McMahon.

Like with the previous entry, both men are similar in age and weight, but the difference is that Ken Shamrock has a lot more experience in the world of MMA compared to Kurt Angle. However, Angle is an Olympic gold medalist, and would probably be able to give Shamrock a heck of a fight if he had enough time to prepare.

#2 CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler

By now, we all know what CM Punk's stance on a potential WWE return is -- he's not interested, at least as of right now. But, if he still wants to fight, he'd be the perfect fit for the WWE MMA idea.

Looking at the roster, there were a few names that stuck out as potential opponents for the ex-WWE Champion, but the one that stood out is Dolph Ziggler, who has a pretty accomplished amateur wrestling background. Also, they could both probably fight each other at welterweight (170 pounds), which is the weight Punk fought at for his two UFC fights.

CM Punk might not be interested in going back to WWE as a pro wrestler, but I'm sure he'd be interested in returning as an MMA fighter if the opportunity were there.

The only question is though: will fans take Punk's third fight seriously after he looked so bad in his first two? We obviously don't know the answer to that, but my guess would be that the fans would still care, especially the WWE fans.

#1 Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley

While it didn't surprise me that WWE ended up having Roman Reigns be the one to defeat Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship, in my personal opinion, it should've been either Braun Strowman or Bobby Lashley.

However, I am surprised that WWE never ended up booking a match between the two prior to Lesnar's contract expiring. Sure, he could decide to come back to WWE at some point and do the match, but if he doesn't, then we probably lost out on a classic, hard-hitting match.

To me though, there's a lot more intrigue to a Lesnar vs. Lashley MMA fight than there is for a pro wrestling match between the two, and the intrigue is based on the two unique MMA career paths they chose.

Lesnar, who won the UFC Heavyweight Championship in just his third fight, has a pro-MMA record of 5 wins, 3 losses, and 1 no contest. So, while he doesn't have a ton of fights under his belt, he was considered to be one of the best heavyweight fighters in the world at one point, which is obviously a big deal.

On the other hand, Lashley has competed in nearly twice the amount of MMA fights that Lesnar has, but he never fought in the UFC, and he was never thought to be one of the best heavyweights in the world. But, experience aside, he and Lesnar are extremely similar in just about every way, so the fight would definitely be intriguing.

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Edited by Shruti Sadbhav