KANSAS CITY – After an impressive second-round submission in a war with TJ Brown, “Signor Perfecto” Bill Algeo took to the microphone and forced his way through a pro-wrestling promotion, drawing host Kansas City to immediate boos and jeers.
Of course that was exactly the reaction Algeo (17-7) was looking for when he cut this promotion.
Algeo told the media including Cageside Press after the fight, in a manner of explanation. “I’m trying to cross the train. Let’s see what’s up, in the next couple of years, if they need some wrestlers, skinny ones—I know a guy.”
In fact, UFC parent company Endeavor has announced plans to acquire 51% of WWE, forming a new company that will comprise both the professional wrestling powerhouse and the UFC, the world’s leading MMA promotion, under the stock ticker symbol TKO.
When asked if he was a fan of wrestling, Algeo admitted he wasn’t. “never.”
Maybe it will be soon. Algeo performed as a textbook heel on Saturday with his pitch, faking his retirement before exclaiming that he would “never retire in a dump like Kansas City.”
So what has Kansas City done to deserve such treatment? Beat the Eagles in the Super Bowl, for one. Algeo is, after all, a native of Pennsylvania.
“They’ve got milk here called Eagle’s Tears,” I was told by our Uber lead. “There’s some kind of cream or something,” Algeo recalls. I think it’s like bright green or something, they just make a lot of them. But they are called Eagle’s Tears. it looks delicious. So I had to throw some love back in Kansas City.”
When Algeo was asked if he expected a post-fight bonus for his performance, he hoped that was the case. “Promo tonight would be off if it were up to me, but we’ll see.”
Turns out he got it – Algeo and Brown went home to Fight of the Night. And believe it or not, Algeo later said that he no longer bothered to train in jiu-jitsu.
“I don’t even train for any jiu-jitsu at all. Once you get to a black belt, I think you’re good enough. So everything like wrestling, MMA stuff, was eye-catching, because that’s what’s important to me. But yeah, it didn’t. I’ve been doing any jiu-jitsu for years.”
Watch the full UFC Kansas City post-fight press conference with Bill Algeo above.