The arrival of Fergal Devitt on wrestling’s biggest stage

As we approach UFC 202 in just over a week’s time, Conor McGregor once again sits atop the fighting world as fans and critics alike await his rematch with Nate Diaz. The Dubliner seeks redemption against the man who tapped him back down to Earth, while Diaz looks to cement his victory over McGregor in another much deserved payday.

This week McGregor has enticed abuse from wrestlers and wrestling fans after his dismissal of their “sport”. Comments that were no doubt tongue in cheek, but the thought that a like-for-like matching between a WWE entertainer and an established MMA champion would result in anything other than victory for the latter is laughable.

UFC has quickly paralleled the showmanship and drama of WWE’s bright light sports entertainment shows. Ric Flair, the legendary WWE wrestler, pointed out that McGregor is mimicking the suited-up bravado act he once portrayed in the WWE ring. The fact Ric Flair is talking about McGregor ten days before Conor’s next fight says everything you need to know about McGregor’s ability to market himself.

His contempt of wrestlers as “messed up pussies” comes at a bad time for his fellow Irishman Fergal Devitt. I’m not sure if they’ve ever met, but if their paths were to cross I’m sure Conor would quickly backtrack on his comments.

Fergal Devitt, for those who aren’t familiar, is a 35-year-old wrestler from Bray, Co. Wicklow. He’s just made his long awaited debut on WWE Raw, wrestling’s flagship show, after years of travelling the circuits — ultimately arriving in WWE’s academy for fledgling talents called “NXT”.

I’ve followed Devitt for a long time, long after my interest in wrestling waned. He was a massive star in Japan’s “New Japan Pro Wrestling”, right up until the peak of his gimmicks in the fearsome “Bullet Club” in 2014. He was much loved there, and although he had established himself as one of their top stars the allure of WWE always lingered.

Ultimately, Fergal decided to leave Japan and embark on his toughest challenge yet — cracking the major leagues at WWE. When he arrived in WWE he was initially based in their minor league show, WWE NXT. Many thought this would be a brief layover before his triumphant debut on Raw.

His layover lasted two years. In that period he became the longest reigning WWE NXT Champion and legitimized the show to a standard praised right across the world of wrestling. With Devitt and his “Finn Balor” demon gimmick at the driving seat, NXT went from being a second tier academy to the premier wrestling show.

There’s a great RTE documentary on Devitt’s time in Japan which I would recommend everyone to watch. His fighting may be orchestrated, in fact not too dissimilar with McGregor’s fighting training methods, but the training and work effort required would match that of most top level MMA fighters.

Fergal Devitt made his Raw debut on the 25th July 2016, a week after being “drafted” NFL-style onto the show from NXT. He won two fights on his debut night, first toppling three opponents in a four-way contest, and then defeating the superhuman Roman Reigns — a powerhouse Samoan who wears a bullet-proof vest.

Devitt, on his opening night, had earned himself a shot at the newly created WWE Universal Championship at Summerslam, WWE’s summer equivalent of Wrestlemania. This, in all of wrestling’s beautifully pre-determined nature, shows just how much the Irishman has been rated all this time by the powers that be at WWE.

The results may be pre-determined, but seeing Devitt crack wrestling’s biggest stage is just as inspiring as McGregor’s rise at UFC. If their paths do ever cross, I highly doubt McGregor would repeat his “messed up pussy” remark to his fellow Irishman. Perhaps one day they could train together, knowledge-share, and show that their worlds are a lot more similar than many perhaps care to admit.

With Summerslam coming up on Sunday week, it’ll be a big weekend for Ireland with Conor and Fergal both competing. Conor might get his redemption against Diaz and Fergal might become yet another world champion on the top of the world stage.