POP CULTURE + WRESTLING
Bad Bunny, Cyndi Lauper, Snoop Dog, The Rock+
“Bad Bunny, from the top rope!”
Over the past several months, social media has been ablaze with many celebrities entering a different side of pop culture. And while in most cases, it fits like a hand and glove, no industry offers a “wait, who was where?” factor like the wrestling industry.
As recent as the latest WWE Pay Per View, the Royal Rumble, Bad Bunny not only performed at the but was a part of a wrestling segment in which the artist dove off the top rope to thwart The Miz, a Real World alum, an egotistical villain on screen.
He took it up another notch, appearing the next night on Monday Night Raw, in a segment involving the aforementioned wrestling star, and his tag partner John Morrison. It proved to be integral, as the segment was made to usher in the brand’s latest new Latin-American star, Damien Priest.
All of this started with a song featuring Booker T!
Just weeks before, Snoop Dogg made an appearance of his own on AEW Dynamite where he hopped inside the square circle. Having a cousin as a reigning champion in Women’s Champ, Sasha Banks, and appearing in projects such as Ric Flair’s 30 for 30 ESPN Documentary, the rap legend has long intertwined the wrestling medium with his. As many artists have in the past.
Gorgeous George’s awe-inspiring presence inspired a-then 19-year old Olympian in Muhammad Ali; a swagger that he paid the business forward for in his many appearances in the WWF in the 80s during its Rock & Wrestling period.
The era that combined one of the biggest pop stars in Cyndi Lauper with wrestling’s biggest star in Hulk Hogan, a man then-known as the menacing, Thunderlips in Rocky III.
The era culminated at the first-ever Wrestlemania, a now yearly-pay per view known best for its celebrity cameos.
Those times are to credit for other celebs coming in; from Snoop Dogg to Motörhead to Trump. Yep, even that guy.
No matter how small the part, or even how cringeworthy it may come across at times, it adds to the pageantry that is sports entertainment. And this year, on schedule for the event is the SuperBowl performing artist himself, The Weekend. Who knows, perhaps this year, we may see the singer doing a dive of his own; embedded in Blinding Lights.
