There's a funny story about how Kurt got into pro-wrestling and it wasn't anything to do with how pro-wrestling was viewed although in that period it was a part of pop culture and Kurt was sold by watching Austin on RAW much like majority of us lot! Vince approached Kurt a while back but he was still open to other sports to and was considering joining the UFC but the money wasn't great then and WWF was the place to be so in addition to his fandom of Stone Cold he thought he'd give it a try. But when he called Vince he said to them listen "I can't lose"
)
) Vince burst out laughing, Kurt was incredibly competitive and was a little knowledgeable about how things worked.
Ronda Rousey is also a huge fan of the WWF! and even Conor Mcgregor (inspired by Ric Flair/Ali/Gorgeous-George)! many of the personalities we see in combat sport took inspiration from characters in wrestling, Muhammad Ali's heel shtick and the "I am the Greatest" was inspired by gorgeous george, Ali was a huge fan of pro-wrestling to and he attended events headlined by Gorgeous George, and George was a top heel he;d really rile up fans in the arena and Ali said to himself man this guy talks so much but these people still come to see him whether they love or hate him! Many of these UFC fans are closet wrestling fans but a few are not afraid to admit it like the light HW world champion DC
And even those who are not fans have a respect for it deep down when they do a little research, Ken Shamrock wasn't a fan but he was arguably the greatest MMA fighter of all time at his peak and he made the switch to WWF, thinking you know money is decent and it can't be too bad plus it was a part of pop culture in those days to but he gained even more respect for the guys who take bumps 300+ days a year and the athleticism required in unreal. Vince in the past use to help promote UFC/MMA fights to even when the promotion wasn't big and has a special bond with MMA, Ali-Antonio-Inoki was dubbed the first MMA fight and it was promoted by Vinces dad.
Many fighters in Boxing or MMA today take inspiration from the world of pro-wrestling to hype their fights but Vince remains the ULTIMATE promoter especially when you see Conor and Diaz throw water bottles at each other as the final segment to hype their fight
) Vince despite his old age would be bit more creative then that
A lot of that stuff you see before fights is all scripted, only a few they legitimately hate each other or else you wouldn't see them have a cuddle at the end of the battle.
I think more then anything Talha bhai money is a huge factor because these people got to take care of their family's to, right now WWE or MMA can be a decent place to be from a financial point of view. And peeps who do make the switch give the WWE bit more legitimacy and they never have to worry about being taken seriously given their background. But the industry is respected a lot more then it use to be, Conors comments about WWE were timed to perfection so close to his fight against Diaz to create some publicity for his fight and I won't be shocked to see him in the WWE
Ronda has been interested in a WWE match in the past, has also had few pro-wrestling sessions; but that example of Kurt I gave "I can't lose"
) is another thing to bear in mind so if it's a short term thing then Ronda would want to be protected
[MENTION=46929]shaz619[/MENTION]
he is one of the greatest draws of all time and not every fan has the intelligence to appreciate his value to the WWE, thank god for Vincent Kennedy McMahon
