Pros and Cons of Booking UFC Fighters and Boxers to Feud with Top WWE Superstars

WWE has never shied away from using celebrities and athletes from other sports to bring in new fans, and this year's Crown Jewel will continue that trend with two big matches.

Boxer Tyson Fury will step into a wrestling ring for the first time when he battles Braun Strowman while Cain Velasquez will take on Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship.

These are both billed as standard matches so we aren't going to see a bunch of weapons or outside interference, or at least that is the intention. 

Some fans might have a problem with this kind of booking but there are arguments on both sides for why bringing in boxers and MMA stars is a good and bad idea.

Let's look at the pros and cons of WWE using these athletes for pay-per-view bouts. 

WWE is the most popular wrestling company in the world but it still struggles to get mainstream exposure most of the year.

Bringing in big names from other sports will not only get outlets like ESPN and Sports Illustrated talking, but it will also get coverage from non-sports entities.

Fury is a big name in the world of boxing and Velasquez still has a lot of respect among MMA fans. They will bring eyes to the product, which could create new fans for WWE moving forward.

That is the basic goal. Management is hoping Fury and Velasquez's popularity will translate into higher ratings. It doesn't always work but it's worth a shot. 

There is only so much room on any given card, so whenever someone comes in from outside the business for a match, they are taking a spot from a full-time Superstar.

There is value in using celebrities from other sports but it's hard not to think about all of the people who work hard every single week who should have been booked in their place.

Several champions are not booked for Crown Jewel yet, including intercontinental champion Shinsuke Nakamura. Both sets of tag team champions are in a non-title Turmoil match and none of the women are booked for the show in Saudi Arabia due to local customs.

Every spot is valuable. If Fury and Velazquez don't drive up interest in Crown Jewel, their inclusion is a waste of time. 

The number of people who used to watch wrestling every week far outnumbers the people who still faithfully watch Raw and SmackDown.

Gaining new fans is a priority but bringing lapsed fans back is just as valuable to the company because every viewer's time and money are equal in the eyes of a corporation.

Television no longer has appointment viewing because most people can either use a DVR to record and watch whatever they want later or watch it on Hulu the next day.

If WWE can convert even a few wayward souls to regular viewers because they came back to see how Fury and Velasquez performed, it will all be worth it in the end. 

Getting new and lapsed fans to check out WWE is important, but it is even more vital to keep the people who still watch every week happy.

One bad decision by management can cause a person to unsubscribe from WWE Network and stop watching regularly on Monday and Friday.

While pro wrestling has an inclusive following made up of people from all walks of life, we are still guilty of gatekeeping and armchair booking. 

We think we know what is best for everyone despite the fact that everyone likes professional wrestling for different reasons. Our passion can often get in the way of what is best for the industry as a whole.

One of the biggest complaints about WWE programming is how we tend to see the same people face each other over and over. Repetition is boring, especially when it comes to entertainment.

Even wrestlers who have their first match together can find the crowd turning against them a few months later if WWE keeps putting them in the same situations.

Bringing in athletes like Fury and Strowman guarantees we will see something new. It might not be great but it will be different and that is rarely a bad thing.

It's also fun to see different styles clash. A boxer or MMA fighter taking on a pro wrestling is something we have seen before but never with stars like Fury and Velasquez.

The former UFC champion has been training for a career in wrestling and showed promise in his first match at AAA's TripleMania 27. Fury is the wildcard in terms of skill. He knows how to throw a real punch but that doesn't mean he can throw a convincing pulled punch. 

Seeing people from other walks of life enter a wrestling ring for a match can be interesting but more times than not, fans are left disappointed.

Floyd Mayweather didn't get rave reviews for his WrestleMania 24 match against Big Show and Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow from WrestleMania 11 divides fans to this day.

We can't expect inexperienced performers to be on the same level as Seth Rollins or AJ Styles but the WWE Universe expects to be entertained for its money. 

A bad performance by someone in this kind of position will bring negative attention to the company and possibly cause some fans to tune out, which is exactly the opposite of the intended goal of using these stars to attract more viewers.

There are good reasons for and against using boxers and MMA fighters in pro wrestling. In the end, the quality of the match will determine everything.