If you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve missed a lot. Let me catch you up to speed. Smackdown is now on Fridays on FOX. Brock Lesnar beat Kofi Kingston in about 5 seconds. And Cain Velasquez, the former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion and an absolute legend in the octagon is in the WWE.
Fresh from his appearance last Friday on the debut episode of Friday Night Smackdown, Velasquez was announced to appear on this afternoon’s press conference live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the site of tonight’s Friday Night Smackdown.
But before he touched the stage to hype his upcoming, and now confirmed, match against the Beast Incarnate, news broke via sports apps Bleacher Report and ESPN, that he made it official: Cain is now a WWE superstar. And not only has he signed with the WWE, an undisclosed multi-year contract, he’s also officially retired from the UFC. In an interview with Marc Raimondi of ESPN, Cain disclosed that wrestling is “definitely my focus,” and “my family is into it. They Love it. They’re super excited. I haven’t seen them excited over something like this in a while. It’s cool”. (Source: ESPN)
An unexpected debut
As announced, Cain Velasquez will face the man he beat almost 10 years ago for the UFC Heavyweight Championship, Brock Lesnar..
Caul’s Call: This was expected, as I stated earlier today. Cain Velasquez was also in talks with AEW and IMPACT but I think this was a smart move signing with the WWE. The Lesnar angle works for Velasquez and it’s a money match. Interesting they didn’t put the WWE title on the line but I expect Kofi to get his rematch. Velasquez has shown a lot of promise. It was previously reported he was training down in NXT and did have a 3 match deal with the Mexican-based promotion AAA, so he’s not coming in completely green. Either way here’s hoping we get a solid match from these two heavyweights.
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If you have never seen the former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion in a wrestling ring before? Check out some highlights from his debut teaming with Pyscho Clown and AEW’s Cody at AAA’s Triplemania event (via Wrestling Observer).
