Conor McGregor has become wrestling’s biggest heel without even joining the industry.
The UFC featherweight champion recently ripped the entire WWE roster, including Brock Lesnar, who failed two drug tests amid his return to mixed martial arts. McGregor doubled down on his criticism Friday, even going all in on John Cena, who’s long been one of WWE’s most popular superstars.
“I just said it like it is. They’re dweebs,” McGregor said at a press conference ahead of his UFC 202 fight against Nate Diaz. “What’s the main guy? John Cena. He’s 40. He’s 40 years of age. He’s walking around in a luminous orange T-shirt and a headband talking about nobody can see him. We can see him right there. He’s a big, fat, 40-year-old failed Mr. Olympia (mother f-er). They’re dweebs, those guys.”
McGregor’s initial criticism didn’t sit well with the WWE community, as many superstars and fans fired back on social media. No one was as boisterous as wrestling legend Ric Flair, who blasted McGregor for stealing his gimmick and claimed WWE superstar Dolph Ziggler could “tie Conor in a knot.”
“I don’t know what to say to Ric Flair,” McGregor said, per MMAFighting.com. “This ain’t no gimmick. This is the real (crap). I’ve got to get in and fight a man for real. With no script, with no nothing. He was talking about bringing some other wrestler guys out to challenge me. Come bring it, then. This is the real (crap) over here. You know want to come over, we can fight no problem. A few of them are talking about the street and all. If they want to do that, come at me and see what happens.”
McGregor’s vitriol does have its limits. He has heaped praise on the McMahon family, Triple H, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin and even Flair amid his verbal assaults. His disgust seems to be directed more toward the current crop of WWE superstars rather than the “dons of the game.”
“I’m just speaking the truth,” McGregor said. “That new age of those guys are absolute dweebs. They just seem messed up in the head. I don’t know what it is. When I listen to them talk, when I listen to them carry themselves, they just don’t seem right in the head. That might have been a bit rudeness for me to say, but again, it ain’t trash talk, it’s truth talk.”
This whole rivalry began with a question about whether McGregor someday would consider joining WWE. The Notorious has said such a move isn’t in the cards right now, but Vince McMahon has to be licking his chops at the possible storylines and feuds should McGregor ever make the jump.
