Nineteenth century English writer Charles Caleb Colton once said, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." In the pro wrestling game -- or, if you prefer, sports entertainment industry -- plenty of opportunities exist to pay homage to those who came before you.
Co-opting a specific move or historical sequence from a classic match is generally a surefire way to get a reaction from fans, but generally speaking, there's usually a gap in time that's measured in years before you have any real value in a tribute -- but don't tell that to The Miz and Dolph Ziggler.
On Sunday, as part of the WWE's Backlash pay-per-view, the duo squared off for The Miz's Intercontinental championship. Soon after the bell rang, Miz got a full head of steam and charged at Ziggler, who hit a double-leg takedown, a series of punches and then locked in a rear-naked choke.
If that sounds familiar, it's the exact way that CM Punk's MMA debut against Mickey Gall at UFC 203 went down. Punk charged forward and met the same fate as The Miz did -- only Punk didn't have the luxury of being able to grab the ropes or roll out of the ring to escape.
While it would be easy to look at The Miz and Dolph Ziggler using their stage to mock CM Punk, it might not be as simple and straightforward as that. Both guys are big Cleveland sports fans and Ohio natives, so making their callback to a big event in Cleveland makes sense in and of itself. And with the level of notoriety that UFC fight received, it could just as easily have been a tribute. Not much was made of the sequence on commentary, although JBL did potentially make a roundabout reference to Punk when commenting on Ziggler's future.
"I asked him last week, if you don't win this match, what's gonna' happen?" said JBL, as The Miz ran toward Ziggler to begin the sequence. "He said, 'I'm going to have to re-evaluate.' I said, 'What, you're going to quit?' He said 'No, re-evaluate.' I'm not sure what that means. Doesn't sound good."
It's worth noting that Punk utilized several historic spots from MMA fights and integrated them into his own wrestling matches and move sets, including several showdowns with Daniel Bryan. Punk often utilized wrestling history as well; he adopted the "Macho Man" Randy Savage's flying elbow (and even donned a pair of Savage-styled trunks as a tribute after his passing), and took a large portion of his move set from Japanese-style wrestling.
In the case of someone who often utilized real life and history to augment his matches during his days in the wrestling ring, it only seems fair that his own UFC career would become a source of inspiration, too.