Junior dos Santos has officially made his in-ring professional wrestling debut.
After weeks and weeks of American Top Team owner Dan Lambert dropping promos on AEW, one of his fighters finally took part in a professional wrestling match and it was none other than dos Santos.
The former UFC heavyweight champion teamed up with Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky to take on Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara and interestingly, Bellator’s Jake Hager in a six-man tag match Friday night at AEW Rampage.
You can see his first moments in the ring below against Jericho.
.@junior_cigano bludgeons @IAmJericho with body shots! Tune in NOW for #AEWRampage LIVE on @tntdrama pic.twitter.com/owyDqu0s2l
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) October 16, 2021
While it wasn’t the worst sequence, it’s clear “JDS” naturally needs a lot more practice in the world of professional wrestling. However, he wasn’t just there for the experience.
Dos Santos even took a big bump as Hager countered him and slammed him through a table.
The war between the #InnerCircle and @AmericanTopTeam is far from over. See what happened when @IAmJericho, @sammyguevara, & @RealJakeHager battled @ScorpioSky, @OfficialEGO, & @junior_cigano w/ @GamebredFighter on #AEWRampage
▶️ https://t.co/poK9IX6Vou pic.twitter.com/Ff7YYGCbnN
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) October 16, 2021
Dos Santos certainly deserves respect for that and given his enthusiasm, it might even be a new career path for the Brazilian who departed the UFC earlier this year.
However, “Cigano” hasn’t officially closed the door on his mixed martial arts career as of yet.
The match ended after Jericho fell victim to another knee from BMF champion Jorge Masvidal, who is just as much involved in this storyline as Lambert.
Got em #supernecessary https://t.co/7YdXSHUA5Y
— BMF.eth (@GamebredFighter) October 16, 2021
It’s not a storyline that will last long for Masvidal though — especially with his December 11 grudge match with Leon Edwards officially being announced by the UFC on Saturday.
The fight ✌️ years in the making is HERE.
🏴 @Leon_EdwardsMMA vs 🇺🇸 @GamebredFighter
[ #UFC269 | Dec 11 | @TMobileArena ] pic.twitter.com/RxDncWa5Wn
— UFC (@ufc) October 16, 2021
