Very, very true. But note, they recover quickly. Wouldn’t help much in an actual fight, but if they can get their hands on you in that 10 seconds, you’re in trouble.
Also true.
But while it looks good, and WWE wrestlers have a high threshold for pain, what they do in a ring is no basis for comparing against actual combat.
And on that note, as I’ve said on this board before, while I feel that they would probably do better, if a MMA fresh off the UFC circuit goes up against someone who has actually done combat or fought for their life, they are probably gonna loose.
All it takes is for the big man to run and smash into Lee and get him on the ground. After that, his strength would overwhelm even Lee. No doubt Lee was fast as hell, but the speed differential isn’t night and day, although the strength, size and experience differentials are. If these featherweights/bantamweigts are so effective, why don’t they dominate the ultimate fighting competitions? Ring fighting is nothing like street fighting. (Is someone going to suggest that Lee could have taken Mohammed Ali in his prime–in a boxing match?)
I’ve heard many claims that Lee was an “experienced fighter.” Credible cite? I’m afraid much of this is urban legend. In his youth, Lee allegedly fought many a 125-lb. (Asian) man, but that hardly is the same as an 280-lb. cage fighter.
Lee himself was on record as saying that if confronted by a much bigger, much stronger man, he would definitely run.
I agree 100% about sumo rikishi in general, but the example Malacandra linked to was of Akebono. If any rikishi qualifies as “mountain of blubber that can’t fight to save his life,” it’s him. The man gets his ass handed to him by TV comedians, for Og’s sake.
Sounds like a paraphrase of one of the great sages.
"Take the biggest guy in the world, shatter his knee and he’ll drop like a stone. "
–Patrick Swayze
Road House
Unless he shatters your knee first, then he’ll kill you.
– OR
I went to see The Protector tonight and this very situation came up. Tomy Jaa had to fight not one but THREE giant sized wrestler types at the same time. Apparently the solution is to batter them about the head and shoulders with elephant bones, then break the bones into shards and sever all the tendons in their legs.
If you don’t have access to elephant bones then I think you may be fucked.
maybe in a controlled setting with rules. It ain’t given in no holds fighting. There’s also the “Big Guy Syndrome” thinking size makes you invinceable or bullet proof.
You don’t try to outbox a boxer - you break his knee at the start. Bruce would definately have the advantage over these big boxers in busting kneecaps, and that’s where he would start. Of course, not ignoring groin, kidney, ankle, neck and eyes.
First off, I don’t think Bruce Lee belongs in this discussion. Other than a lot of carefully-choreographed action sequences and some dubious secondhand accounts, there’s really no way to know for sure how good a fighter he was. Plus he’s dead. 
(If you wish to substitue a living credible martial artist, go ahead.)
Can a little guy beat a big guy? Yeah, sure. UFC itself devoted an entire tournament to that question, and one of the lightweights won handily. It was a long time before anyone saw the need for weight classes. Of course, that was a time when nearly all the big guys were largely immobile and had no staying power whatsoever (David Abbott, in particular, seemed especially vulnerable to running out of gas).
Given rougly equal ability, the big man has the advantage…PROVIDED that he can keep up with his opponent’s speed and avoid getting hurt. These are not minor points; bulk makes it harder to get around and gives the opponent more places to hit.
I can say with complete confidence, however, that any reasonably skilled martial artist obliterate someone who only knows how to do theatrical fighting with lots of blowing smoke on the mike and the occasional cornball skit. 
Against, say, someone from Pancrase (which does equal parts works and shoots), all bets are off.
P.S. - Saw Keith Hackney vs. Emmanuel Yarborough (even wrote about it on my website). The impresson I got was that Yarborough was damn lucky his opponent wasn’t too powerful. Patrick Smith would’ve torn him four new ones (six if he really put an effort into it). I never thought that sumo was appropriate for the octagon, but at least do more than lie down and get pummelled, for crying out loud.
Wasn’t it pretty much every tendon in their bodies, possibly excepting the pinkies?
Adhering to the OP in a rather stricter sense, and sticking to pro wrestlers (rather than the fine gentlemen of the UFC), how many of them have real martial arts/street fighting experience, and how many of them are “merely” gifted athletes? And assuming most are in the latter category, is their size and strength enough to overtake a martial artist (who may or may not be Bruce Lee) who does martial arts for a living, is an accomplished street fighter, but happens to be giving up a decent amount of size?
Does size really matter in a fight? After all, Rocky did beat up Hulk Hogan!
And Dolph Lundgren. Who said “He’s not human. He’s like a piece of iron” about him. How’s that for an endorsement?
Former WWE champion Brock Lesnar (6’8", 300 lbs.) is training with Miletich Fighting Systems. In a sparring session with UFC 170 lb. champion Matt Hughes, Lesnar got submitted in under 2 minutes.
It doesn’t matter how big or strong you are when you give up your back to a trained fighter.
Brock Lesnar was an NCAA Champion wrestler. It’s not like he isn’t trained - but he’s not as good as he thinks he is.
The key term is “trained fighter.”
Bruce Lee was a film superstar, icon and gifted maryial artist. He wasn’t a trained “no-holds, all out, kick ass and take names” fighter, despite urban legend.
True, but he hasn’t wrestled competitively in 6 years, and not at the same size coughJUICEcough that he’s at now.
Here is Mirko Cro Cop’s famous knock out of Bob Sapp. Mirko is 231lbs, 6ft and 2in, while Bob weights in at 350lbs and has a height of 6ft and 5in.
This is a 120 pound difference. If 135lb Bruce Lee were to fight the Big Show, who is 507lbs, the difference would be 372lbs. I still think Bruce Lee could pull it off. He would definitely be the one strike first, and according to National Geographic’s Fight Science, martial artists are capable of producing devastating forces.