Former WWE colleagues poke fun at CM Punk’s UFC debut

Some of the former colleagues of Phil “CM Punk” Brooks appear to be having fun at his expense after he quickly was defeated in his professional mixed martial arts debut.

Brooks left professional wrestling in 2014 as one of the biggest stars of WWE and later that year announced a deal with the UFC to take a fight as soon as his training could get him ready to step in the cage.

It finally happened on the main card of UFC 203 in Cleveland and Brooks was manhandled by Mickey Gall from the opening bell until he finally tapped out at 2:15 of the opening round.

The fight was comically re-enacted on Sunday night’s WWE pay-per-view event as a character known as “The Miz” rushed in on another known as “Dolph Ziggler,” much as Brooks had attempted to do against Gall at the opening bell.

Just like Gall had done the night before, “Ziggler” changed levels and took his charging opponent down before pummeling him with punches on the ground and looking for a choke.

When Brooks was performing in the WWE as “CM Punk,” he had participated in a similar parody of a UFC fight when he mocked the failed spinning backfist Chael Sonnen had attempted in his fight against Anderson Silva.

Another former colleague, Randy Orton, might have been making a reference to Brooks on Twitter during an impromptu question-and-answer session with fans on Monday night.

In response to a fan who asked whether Orton would have any interest in taking a fight in the UFC, the star professional wrestler made it clear he was happy with his current career.

“I like making (money) over and over, not once every 6 months,” he wrote. “Plus I’d (probably) fake punch the guy and get choked out #lol.”

Earlier in the evening, Orton had credited the courage it took for Brooks to actually step in the cage.

He was not as complementary of UFC star Conor McGregor.

Orton offered one caveat to his response of not wanting to fight in the UFC.

“Unless it was the Irish guy little person Connor Mcdonald,” he posted.

It was a clear reference to McGregor, who has ruffled feathers in the WWE world over the last few months, particularly when he said in a tweet he would slap the head off the entire roster.

His comments have drawn responses from all over the world of professional wrestling, including many from stars of the past.

Orton clearly has not forgotten.

It’s doubtful he’ll ever get to fight McGregor in a sanctioned fight, however. The Irish star is the UFC champion at 145 pounds, though he did compete at 170 in his last two fights.

Orton would have a difficult cut from a listed weight of 250 pounds.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow @adamhilllvrj on Twitter.