Top 10 WWE Wrestlers Who Should Crossover into the UFC

The UFC and WWE have what you might call a "friendly rivalry." The two companies compete for viewers and PPV dollars all the time, but still remain on relatively good terms in the corporate world.

The close connection between the two has often led some athletes to switch organizations depending on their needs.

We've seen guys like Ken Shamrock switch over to WWE (then WWF) in order to make money while guys like Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley made their money in wrestling and were seeking real competition.

There are a number of guys in the WWE right now who could attempt to switch sports given their natural physical talents, as well as some of them having amateur wrestling careers.

I'm not saying any of the guys on this list would succeed in the UFC, most would likely fail in a manner that even James Toney could laugh at, but rather to say the people on this list would create a sincere interest in appearing in the UFC.

CM Punk

CM Punk is the guy in WWE right now and will be walking out with Chael Sonnen at the UFC on Fox 2 in Chicago.

Punk doesn't have a wrestling pedigree or any freakish physical talents, but he has integrated some MMA moves into his repertoire.

His submission finisher is a modified (for wrestling) arm-triangle and he likes to mix in some leg/body kicks with his matches.

Punk would be entertaining in the UFC simply for his talking abilities on the microphone. "The Summer of Punk" in 2011 saw some of the best mic work in recent memory in WWE.

If the man can get thousands of people to take to Twitter asking for WWE ice cream bars, imagine what he can do for a full UFC event.

Dolph Ziggler

If you've ever watched Dolph Ziggler wrestle a match, it's clear that he has quite a bit of physical talent. No matter his opponent, Ziggler always manages to put on an entertaining match.

His wrestling career began in high school at St. Edward High School, where he placed fifth in state and competed on the same team as Gray Maynard.

Ziggler has shown more of a personality lately with his "show off" gimmick, and that could be used to benefit him if he were to crossover.

Ziggler's announced height and weight is 6'0" and 213 pounds, which would likely mean we would see Ziggler at 185 pounds or even 170 if he wanted to cut some muscle mass.

The Big Show

The Big Show may be getting old and not as mobile as he used to be, but just imagine seeing a 7'0" 400-pound man gracing the Octagon. Dana White isn't too keen on the "freak show" aspect of MMA, but if he's willing to put James Toney against Randy Couture, why would he be against putting Show in a cage for one night?

Beyond his incredible size, Show is actually quite an athlete. If you look at one of his recent matches against Mark Henry, Show dove off the top turnbuckle to nail a flying elbow.

During his earlier years in WCW, Show would also do a dropkick from the top rope and attempt to show that he's more than just a big guy.

Big Show vs. Shaquille O'Neal should be headlining a UFC on FX show sometime soon.

Cody Rhodes

"Dashing" Cody Rhodes is one of the top prospects in WWE right now. Rhodes debuted in 2007 and has had a fairly successful career thus far.

Rhodes may look like just another pretty-boy, but make no mistake, the kid can wrestle.

He placed sixth in state in his sophomore year at 171 pounds, and won state at 189 pounds his junior and senior year.

Rhodes even had plans to wrestle collegiately at Penn State, but chose to pursue the family business of professional wrestling instead.

Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan has been billed as a submission-wrestling expert by the WWE. Bryan no doubt has some technical wrestling ability, as he's had great trainers throughout his career like Dean Malenko, Shawn Michaels and William Regal.

Throughout his career, he's always been dubbed as "the underdog story," evident by his winning of NXT without even winning a match.

Bryan has trained at the Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas and has even used some jiu-jitsu moves in his wrestling moveset. His finisher is the "Lebell Lock," an omoplata mixed with a crossface.

At only 5'10" and billed at 210 pounds, Bryan would likely have trouble with the much bigger fighters at 185 pounds.

Triple H

HHH needs to come to the UFC, if only for one match.

It's not because he has some great amateur wrestling background or was a standout at anything other than professional wrestling. It's because he refuses to acknowledge the UFC is a competitor to WWE.

HHH has said the UFC needs to evolve more than WWE, and plenty of MMA fans would like to see "The Game" evolve his survival skills once the cage door locks.

Santino Marella

Santino Marella may be good for some cheap laughs on WWE programming, but Marella has MMA-related skills.

Before getting into professional wrestling, Marella competed in Judo for over 20 years.

It's not like his career is on the upswing, and Marella would definitely have more success in MMA than he's had in the WWE.

Although not on the same level as a Chuck Liddell overhand right, "The Cobra" is an underrated finishing maneuver.

Jack Swagger

"The All-American American" Jack Swagger has, perhaps, the most credibility of anyone on this list if he were to join the UFC.

Swagger attended Oklahoma University and played both football and competed on the wrestling team for the Division-I school. Forgoing football, Swagger switched to wrestling full-time and made his mark in NCAA history.

In 2006, Swagger set the NCAA record for most pins in a single season with 30.

Swagger would see a lot of negative backlash just like Brock Lesnar did, but both men had credible wrestling backgrounds and I believe Swagger could at least have some success in MMA.

He's only 29, stands at 6'5", 260 lbs (so the announcer says), and hasn't been away from amateur wrestling for very long.

Alberto Del Rio

Alberto Del Rio, unlike the men on the list, has actually competed in MMA before. Pictured here as Dos Caras Jr., you can find him on the receiving end of a Mirko "Cro Cop" highlight.

On the brighter side, check out Del Rio nailing a belly-to-belly suplex against Kengo Watanabe.

Given the fact that Del Rio has a Greco-Roman background and sports a decent 14-5 record in MMA, it's not a stretch to imagine Del Rio having at least some success in the UFC given the proper amount of time to train.

John Cena

There's no hope for this ever happening, but that doesn't stop us from dreaming right?

John Cena is the WWE and is the quintessential company man. He's basically the Rich Franklin of the WWE except he wins and makes a lot of money.

The reason Cena should cross over is because every Internet-wrestling community member would tune in just to see Cena lose and get beat.

Yes, Cena's main audience are children and women, but don't underestimate the amount of people who would want to see Cena face plant like Robbie Lawler.