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Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino is perhaps one of the most intimidating figures in the rich and storied history of Mixed Martial Arts.
Cristiane Justino, or as most in the combat sports world prefer to call her--"Cyborg"--truly is one of the greatest fighters of all time. Not only does Cyborg possess undeniably slick striking, but also some of the very best grappling in MMA today.
Fortunately for the WWE Universe and the professional wrestling community as a whole, Cyborg has time and again exhibited a rather healthy interest in dipping her toes into the waters of pro-wrestling and sports-entertainment. Cyborg has lately been quite vocal about her intentions of eventually signing with the WWE, particularly seeing that her longtime nemesis "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey officially debuted as a WWE Superstar earlier this year.
In fact, Cyborg took to her official Twitter account in order to reach out to WWE RAW Women's Champion Alexa Bliss; offering her services as a training partner for Bliss, ahead of the latter's title defense against Rousey at SummerSlam.
Cyborg coming over to the WWE would be a huge acquisition for the company, and the following reasons serve to consolidate the fact that her signing would be a gift, not only to the WWE Universe, but professional wrestling as a whole. Read on to know more about this dominant MMA superstar's potential in WWE--
#3 Cris Cyborg knocks out the stereotype of the women's pro-wrestling champion
We, as humans, often fall prey to prejudice and ideas that seem to govern not only our personal lives but also our approach towards the professional sphere--be it in sports or entertainment.
Back in the old days, the women's pro-wrestling champion was generally regarded as little more than eye candy, and performers who dared to break away from that stereotype were treated as outcasts of sorts. In other words, the female professional wrestling champion was presented by promoters in any and every regional organization as someone who's not particularly great at wrestling, but rather gets by merely on her looks.
Nevertheless, with the TNA Knockouts Division leading the charge for women's wrestling in the 2000s, and the WWE Women's Evolution blossoming over the past few years, the aforementioned stereotype of a female pro-wrestling champion is steadily being erased.
Today's female performers such as Tessa Blanchard, Charlotte Flair, Asuka, Io Shirai and Becky Lynch assert their strength as much as, if not more, than their looks. In other words, they prove that a female wrestler can be both strong and pretty at the same time.
Speaking of which, when it comes to asserting one's strength and dominance, seldom has a female combat sports athlete done it better than Cris Cyborg.
Signing Cyborg would most definitely boost the WWE Women's Division's credibility as regards breaking down old stereotypes.
#2 Cris Cyborg vs. Ronda Rousey
Yes. This is the fight to make!
When people talk about big money fights, certain matchups that come to mind are Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield, Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather, and so on and so forth.
On that note, women's combat sports hasn't witnessed an athlete other than perhaps Christy Martin in pro-boxing several years ago, who has captured the imagination of martial arts fans the world over as has Ronda Rousey. The Rowdy One is a former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion, and widely regarded as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time.
Rousey is also widely considered to be one of the biggest PPV attractions in combat sports history. Additionally, her history with Cyborg is rather interesting, so to speak.
Rousey's natural weight class is at 135 pounds (Bantamweight) whereas Cyborg has trouble even making it to 145 pounds (Featherweight)--with the latter being the current UFC Women's Champion at Featherweight. Regardless, years of legitimate bad blood between Rousey and Cyborg now seems to have crossed over to the WWE realm, as Cyborg has stated that she'd love to face Rousey in WWE.
Now, while the bad blood between the two may be real, many believe that both Rousey and Cyborg--being the thorough professionals that they are--would perform with one another cordially in the WWE. While we never got to see these two MMA legends lock horns inside the UFC's famed Octagon, Rousey could compete against Cyborg inside the WWE's squared circle.
Ronda Rousey vs. Cris Cyborg is a big money matchup, and WWE would be remiss to let this one slip away.
#1 The Latin fan-base and popularity in the BJJ community
Cris Cyborg hails from Brazil, and is widely revered in the BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) community; not only in her native Brazil, but also in both the North and South Americas. In fact, Cyborg's reputation and accomplishments are such that she's regarded as a force to be reckoned with even in the ADCC (Abu Dhabi Combat Club) and its community of elite grappling-specialists.
While Brazil is generally regarded as a unique entity in Latin America, Cyborg's following in Brazil has proven to have carried over well to all of South America. That, coupled with her loyal fan-base in the BJJ world can truly help attract a new section of fans to the WWE.
It's not that the WWE doesn't have a following in South America or in the BJJ community, however, should WWE choose to sign Cris Cyborg to its roster; the casual fans in the aforementioned realms are likely to turn into more ardent followers of the WWE.
Furthermore, Cyborg is only 33 years of age, and a true workhorse at heart.
If there was ever a good time for WWE to sign Cyborg, it is right now!
