The details of Cain Velasquez’s pro-wrestling debut are officially set in stone.
According to ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, the former UFC heavyweight champion will make his debut alongside former WWE star Cody Rhodes in a six-man tag match at August 3’s TripleMania under the AAA banner. The booking was announced at a press event on Tuesday:
“Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez makes his pro-wrestling debut at TripleMania on Aug. 3 in Mexico City. Announced at a AAA press conference today: Velasquez will be teaming with Cody Rhodes in a six-man tag team match.”
Velasquez was last seen losing by TKO in only 26 seconds when he fought freight train-like Francis Ngannou in the main event of UFC on ESPN 1 in February. The match was Velasquez’s first fight since July 2016. The news that he would transition to pro-wrestling then broke one month later.
Could Have Been The GOAT
The former Division I All-American wrestler from Arizona State was long considered the best heavyweight in MMA history by many. However, his sheer inactivity over the latter half of his professional fight career has certainly called that into question. His long-running rivalry with Junior dos Santos will always be the stuff of legends.
But overall, Velasquez’s career may become a cautionary tale of what-ifs rather than a full-on respect for what he accomplished. There’s no doubt he had the skills, talent, and endurance to become the greatest heavyweight MMA has ever seen.
He’ll now move on to professional wrestling, yet it could be wondered if Velasquez’s body will be able to withstand the beating pro wrestlers’ bodies endure. He underwent many surgeries on his knees, back, and shoulders thanks at least in part to his notoriously brutal training regimen at Northern California’s AKA.
For whatever it’s worth, AAA has set him up to succeed with a partner like Rhodes.
Will Cain Velasquez last in the rough-and-tumble world of pro-wrestling?
