WWE News: Cain Velasquez Claims He Was Initially Turned Down By WWE
Cain Velasquez made his WWE debut in October of last year and was immediately put into a high profile feud against Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship. While he was subsequently squashed by “The Beast” and has been absent from WWE television since, the company supposedly has some big plans for the former UFC fighter. However, according to Velasquez, they weren’t interested in signing him at first.
As quoted by 411Mania, the superstar opened up about the experience during the company’s recent BT Sports celebrations, ahead of Monday Night Raw‘s move to the British television network. The mixed-martial artist revealed that he approached the company about joining after the 2018 Elimination Chamber, but they didn’t think that he was ready for WWE at the time.
“Triple H and Vince McMahon weren’t going to give me a shot right away, that was clear. So I said, ‘Okay, let’s do something else.` I’ve always loved lucha. Lucha was my first love of wrestling. I watched that as — that was my first time watching any kind of pro wrestling. So I said, ‘Why don’t we do a lucha match?’ Me and my wife, my manager — my wife was super into it. She was like, ‘Why don’t you do a lucha match?’ I said, ‘Okay, let’s do it’…”
RIGHTS AND LEFTS!!!@cainmma is taking it to #TheBeast!!! #SmackDown @BrockLesnar pic.twitter.com/Mu3dTEf42D
— WWE (@WWE) October 5, 2019
Prior to joining WWE, Velasquez got in-ring experience with the Mexican promotion AAA. During his short tenure there, he competed under a mask and performed luchador high flying maneuvers. That element of his in-ring style hasn’t been present in WWE so far, however, the company seems intent on pushing him as a mixed-martial artist. Given his history in the octagon with Lesnar, some of those maneuvers may become part of his WWE performance.
While it’s too early to predict how his WWE career will evolve, fans would undoubtedly warm more to Velasquez if he was allowed to showcase more of his wrestling ability. At the time of this writing, he hasn’t had the opportunity to make a big impression on the WWE Universe, especially those who aren’t familiar with his UFC work.
It remains to be seen when Velasquez will be featured on WWE television on a full-time basis. As documented by The Sun, he will be in next weekend’s Royal Rumble match, which will likely determine his WrestleMania match. Lesnar is also in the match, so chances are Velasquez will eliminate “The Beast” and set up a rubber match between the two of them at the biggest pay-per-view of the year.
