During the mid-2000s, WWE executive Tommy Dreamer attempted to get at-the-time unpolished street fighting legend Kimbo Slice signed to become a pro wrestler. This week, Dreamer spoke with the official WWE website about the process of attempting to get what became one of MMA’s most controversial figures into the “sports entertainment” profession.
Dreamer saw the same tapes that went viral and made Kimbo Slice an international phenomenon and admittedly, it was all it took for Dreamer to have interest in potentially bringing the street fighter into WWE.
“His manager sent me a very impressive demo reel. Back then, it was on a VHS tape and I was totally in awe of what I was seeing. It was all street fighting and him cutting promos. I had no clue who he was and I was captivated once I saw him.”
From there, Dreamer began the process of taking his “find” to upper-management in WWE.
“I spoke with his manager and then I spoke with [Kimbo] briefly and he was down and ready to go — he was a big fan. My job was to look for new talent, [so] I brought the [demo] packet to John Laurinaitis, the head of Talent Relations at the time, and I presented it to him. The handling of how to hire him would have been different because he wasn’t a trained wrestler.”
So, how did WWE’s Head Of Talent Relations at the time react to the pitch?
“[Laughs] Well, John, who was my boss, always trusted me and my opinion and he was kind of on the fence. He asked me about his age, I don’t remember how old he was. He was impressive to John, but John was like, “Do you think he can adapt to what we do?” And I was like, “Who cares? Let him learn on the road, this guy is getting a reputation, blah, blah, blah …”
Dreamer went on to explain to the WWE web site why he felt a deal never materialized.
“I was told “We’re not going in that direction,” and “How long would it take to develop a talent like that?” I don’t know if he would have went to developmental system at the time or if he [Kimbo] was thinking, “Hey, I’m gonna get signed and go to the main roster,” but it was kind of shot down quickly.”
“This was somewhere between 2003 and 2005, so if he’s 42 years old today, he was in his early thirties then. So if you’re going to bring in a talent who has no wrestling experience, it’s going to take a while to adapt. You know, the developmental system when I was there had a lot of guys who had UFC and MMA experience and it didn’t work out. Ron Waterman fought for the UFC and I wrestled him, a bunch of times, and some of those guys weren’t translating to do what we do. So I just think if you get someone that age, unless they are a superior athlete, it is going to take at least two years to learn how to do what we do. And if you’re trying to make someone a star, it’s going to take another two years to try and elevate him. So, “We’re not going in that direction,” that’s what that means.”
In speaking hypothetically, Dreamer also speculated what he felt Kimbo’s role in WWE could have been had he successfully gotten the street fighting legend signed back in the day.
“If you think about that time, we had Brock Lesnar and we had Kurt Angle. To me, [Kimbo’s] a modern day Clubber Lang who can really back it up. I can remember being in the crowd when Mr. T hopped the guardrail before the first WrestleMania and when I first saw Slice, I just saw him looking into the camera like Clubber Lang and saying, “Pain.” A guy who is just too extreme for the world and is an underground fighter, and that is how I would have introduced him in WWE. I think he would have been a huge star in our industry if he had pursued it.”