UFC 288: WWE Superstars Pop Up During Henry Cejudo's "Heel" Promo

Tonight's UFC 288 pay-per-view in Newark, New Jersey will see Henry Cejudo attempt to become a two-time UFC Bantamweight Champion when he takes on current champ Aljamain Sterling. Cejudo made a name for himself during his initial UFC run with incredibly bombastic promos and entrances, oftentimes channeling the same heelish energy that defines many of WWE's greatest villains. In a promo for Cejudo that aired during the event's premlims, WWE stars Finn Balor, Cody Rhodes, Charlotte Flair and Seth Rollins all popped up to help properly define what a "heel" truly is. 

"What makes the perfect heel? Doing everything in your power to make sure people don't like you," Balor said. "Which sounds easy, but is very, very difficult."

The UFC-WWE era is officially upon us at #UFC288. Superstars Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes and Charlotte Flair explain what a "heel" is during this Henry Cejudo promo pic.twitter.com/t1ny20MtgT

— Shakiel Mahjouri (@Shak_Fu) May 6, 2023

"A heel is not a bad guy. A heel is somebody who takes something away that you want," Rhodes noted. "Which can make you a bad guy. So if a crowd starts clapping their hands and they want to see a guy get beat up, you take it away."

"What makes the perfect heel? Being unapologetic. And even when you're wrong, you're right," Flair said. "The Queen" was shown still holding the SmackDown Women's Championship at the time, indicating that this was taped prior to WrestleMania 39 last month.

"The perfect heel is rotten. He believes in his rottenness, I think that's the key," Rollins said with a smile.

Endeavor, the parent company of the UFC, announced last month that it will be merging the UFC with the WWE to former a new publicly-traded company. While that company has not been officially named, this promo does mark the first major crossover between the two promotions since that announcement. 

Here's a link to the piece that just aired on the broadcast about Henry Cejudo and what it means to be a heel, featuring comments from WWE's Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins and Charlotte Flair #UFC288 https://t.co/2R967gsKmw

— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) May 6, 2023

Will Endeavor or UFC Try to Affect WWE's Booking?

During WWE's latest quarterly investors' conference call earlier this week, WWE CEO Nick Khan was asked if the UFC or Endeavor would play any role in WWE's Creative booking after the merger. Khan quickly denied the idea.

"I can certainly represent emphatically to you on the creative that there's no one at Endeavor or the UFC that has any interest in trying to interfere with that, in any way whatsoever," Khan said. "I think [UFC President] Dana White would also represent to you that never or almost never, I don't know the specifics but never would be my guess, have the Endeavor folks told him no, you should do this match or you should do it this way. That's not what they do.