Wrestler options after college: UFC, MMA, NFL, WWE -- but not RPW

July 9, 9:27 PMCollege Wrestling ExaminerMark Palmer

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Mark Coleman -- an early competitor in the Ultimate Fighting Champion-
ships who is competing at Saturday's UFC 100 -- had a successful amateur
wrestling career, winnng an NCAA title while at Ohio State and wrestling
for the US at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. (Photo/Ohio State wrestling
media guide)

Once a wrestler completes college, what are his options?

Assuming he's not quite ready to trade in his singlet for a sales job or a corporate cubicle, nowadays, in addition to coaching -- or the Olympics -- a former college wrestler has an alphabet soup of athletic options: UFC, MMA, NFL and WWE.

With this weekend's UFC 100 – a landmark event in mixed martial arts (MMA) competition -- it's hard to believe how the Ultimate Fighting Championships has come so far, so fast.

It seems like it was just yesterday that UFC had a small but intensely loyal following… but, it seemed that the mainstream media, general public and public figures either ignored it, or didn’t seem to take too kindly to it. (Senator John McCain – once a prep school and U.S. Naval Academy wrestler – labeled mixed martial arts competition “human cockfighting.”)

Now, stories about UFC 100 fill newspapers and TV newscasts… and, yes, amateur wrestling websites and online discussion groups. As expected, some of this coverage mentions the amateur wrestling backgrounds of some of the participants, including the two men vying for the UFC heavyweight title, Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir, along with Dan Henderson, CB Dollaway, and Mark Coleman who are all fighting at UFC 100.

UFC and other brands of MMA competition have opened incredible new opportunities for former college wrestlers. Opportunities to make a serious living… as well as gain some serious media exposure (and, possibly, some fame in the process).

Not that long ago, once a wrestler got his college diploma, his options for using his mat skills were rather limited (other than becoming a coach). A tiny portion could pursue an Olympic dream… or, if large enough, strong enough and versatile enough, possibly find a career in the NFL. (For example, Stephen Neal, Brock Lesnar’s opponent for the 1999 NCAA heavyweight title, who’s enjoyed a long, lucrative career with the New England Patriots.)

Then there's WWE and other brands of professional wrestling. Some guys who had successful college careers appear to have found fame and fortune in the pro ring... guys like Jake Hager (University of Oklahoma NCAA All-American heavyweight who’s now Jack Swagger in the WWE), Shelton Benjamin, Kurt Angle and, yep, Brock Lesnar. But we’re talking about guys whose size and acting abilities seem larger than life. In other words, not necessarily an option for the strong, silent 125-pounders out there.

Now, college wrestlers who aren’t big enough for football – or who lack a thespian talent for the squared circle – now can participate in MMA, and make money using what they’ve been using on the college wrestling mat.

Interestingly, a handful of years ago – just as MMA seemed to be going mainstream – another option for former college wrestlers was emerging… something called Real Pro Wrestling (RPW), competing under a variation of amateur wrestling rules, and getting paid to do it. (Real Pro Wrestling had significant differences from MMA events; for starters, there was no Octagon or cage… no striking… and no submissions.) Real Pro Wrestling’s Season 1 was shown on Fox Sports and PAX-TV in early 2005 (and in syndication in some markets since); preliminary events to determine participants for Season 2 took place somewhat later… then it all vanished without any word or warning.

Like many of us in the amateur wrestling community, writer Matt Krumrie wondered about the fate of Real Pro Wrestling. However, unlike most of us, he did something about it… and conducted an in-depth interview with one of the two founders of Real Pro Wrestling, Matt Case (who once wrestled at Northwestern). Part 1 was posted a few days ago; Part 2 is now available at TheWrestlingMall amateur wrestling website.

We can speculate all we want as to whether Real Pro Wrestling would have had any impact on MMA and UFC. Perhaps some MMA fighters might have chosen to continue their competitive careers in RPW instead. We’ll never know. And, we’ll never know if, had circumstances been different, if RPW and MMA could have peacefully and successfully coexisted.

Resources

Amateur wrestling careers of Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir