Monte Barrett Going Forward With WWE Opportunity

Ryan Songalia reports at BoxingScene.com that 40-year-old heavyweight veteran Monte "Two Gunz" Barrett is on his way to WWE training camp:

"I gotta call [WWE senior director of talent relations] Ty Bailey this week and go through some of the particulars, but I know whatever it's gonna be, it will be a lot of hard work," said Barrett. "I told him I will commit 110% and put my best foot forward with everything that I do."

I've said before and will say again right now: This is a very, very long shot. Pro wrestling isn't easy to learn, and at 40 without prior training, it's next to impossible that Barrett will get good enough at it to work for WWE. It's kind of like Kimbo Slice trying to come in and be a legitimate heavyweight contender. Maybe there's some mild novelty to it, but out here in the real world, Kimbo boxes in Oklahoma, off-TV, against guys who aren't really fighters. In the real world, guys like Barrett, even the ones in good shape, don't walk into WWE. They work middle school gyms and have no hope of ever going further than that.

But in both cases, I admire the guys going for it. Call Monte and Kimbo dreamers, call them crazy, but they're giving it a shot. Clearly this is something Barrett really wants to do, and I'm sure he's heard the odds against him.

Best of luck to Monte Barrett.