15 rappers and athletes who low key watch mad wrestling
If your idea of wrestling is grown men in tights doing a bunch of fake stunts then deadass dip from this page right now.
If you’re a person who does understand the culture of it and been a fan since the Attitude Era of the WWE (or even earlier!) then you will find comfort knowing that you’re not alone.
Going to any live wrestling event, you’ll see all types of people. Mostly out of shape dudes stuffing their faces with food but you may also see a pretty poppin’ rapper or pro athlete from time to time.
No matter when you started watching wrestling, it’s something that you pretty much carry for the rest of your life. No matter how much you actually watch of it, being a WWE fan puts you into a select group.
To these athletes and rappers who can enjoy wrestling like the rest of us, we salute you.
The Flatbush Zombies
The Flatbush Zombies are huge wrestling fans and can often be seen at every WWE event that pulls up to Barclays. These guys are die hards and actually know their shit.
Not only are they lifelong watchers but they’re friends with many current superstars including The New Day who they recreated a promo for above.
Considering there’s three of them, and three in New Day, maybe we’ll se a cross-genre match up between the two either at a Wrestlemania or Coachella type situation.
DeAngelo Williams
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The former Carolina Panther and current Pittsburgh Steeler DeAngelo Williams loves him some wrasslin and goes to Wrestlemania every year with his buddy and current NFL free agent Gary Barnidge.
The two could’ve easily been pro wrestlers and even got into the story line at a recent IMPACT Wrestling event. Williams shoves the shit out of Davey Richards and Barnidge scoop slams him!
When asked about his fascination with sports entertainment DeAngelo admitted that he draws motivation from wrestlers and even compared himself to current superstar Enzo Amore saying,
“He talks a lot but he backs up what he talks. I kind of push myself through my words and how I carry myself.”
Smoke DZA
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSZOQDugN6z/
If you listen to the Kushed God, you don’t have to go far through his catalogue to hear a wrestling reference or see where he gets inspiration from. He has a series of mixtapes using wrestling references and he’s already up to 5. Dude loves this shit.
He truly is a tastemaker when it comes to this wrestling shit and even got to chill with Hulk Hogan at this year’s Wrestlemania. Hell he even kicked it with Stone Cold! This dude is really out here on the scene.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRttxcuAVWu/
Mike Tyson
Not only is Mike Tyson a huge wrestling fan but at one point he was actually a part of DX, appeared at Wrestlemania and even got inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame!
Even with his busy schedule today, he’s more than often going to show up at a live event from time to time and give the universe what they’re looking for.
His love for WWE started all the way back in the 90s when he was teaming up with the likes of Triple H and HBK, to today where he remains homies with The Rock and of course the head honcho, Vince McMahon.
Wale
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Wale is another huge wrestling fan who uses plenty of references in his lyrics and he may even be the slickest to do it. He has a song called “Hacksaw Jim Duggan” and even dropped this gem in “Beautiful Bliss” featuring J. Cole,
“When Bret Hart meet Brett Farve/
A sharp shooter well exceeding any figure four/
You see my figure more or less six or more”
Wale is very on the scene with it, is friends with many wrestlers, attends Wrestlemania every damn year and even hosts his own event leading up to the big event called Walemania. Deadass. Walemania.
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He will more likely than not get some type of programming deal with the WWE Network one day as they continue to broaden their product. Transitioning from mid card rapper to a potential wrestling personality wouldn’t be a bad career move. Just saying.
Snoop Dogg
Snoop is another WWE Hall of Famer and has appeared at shows throughout his career.
He is also cousin to current WWE women’s superstar Sasha Banks who he walked out during her first Wrestlemania entrance in Dallas last year.
He’s also probably one of the only people the WWE will let blaze in their locker room areas (just speculation). But if you think I’m just messing around, John Cena low key snitched him out during the HOF induction last year. Fucking worm!
Rob Gronkowski
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Gronk is one of the most recent superstar athletes to join the WWE family and randomly be placed into the storyline.
At this year’s Wrestlemania, Gronk jumped into the ring to help his college buddy and current WWE superstar Mojo Rawley win his match.
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He would go on to appear at several other shows around the Boston area during this time but the best part is that he probably doesn’t even realize it’s scripted.
All jokes aside, there’s a lot of speculation that Rob may seriously consider joining the WWE once his NFL career is over. But even a one-off match at a Wrestlemania would be huge.
Eminem
Slim Shady has been out of the public eye for quite some time.
It’s reported that while his fandom didn’t start at childhood, he first immersed himself in the culture back in 2009 when he used a Rey Mysterio mask to cover his face while leaving a a shop in London.
He’s been spotted at random wrestling events over the years and may be something of a closet fan. At one point it was reported that he was supposed to appear at a Wretslemania but plans never fell through. Who knows, one day he could debut as a masked wrestler and we wouldn’t even know it.
Rick Rubin
The OG Don Dada super producer himself, Mr. Rick Rubin pulls up to WWE shows often. Pretty much any show in LA, you’ll see his signature beard in the first row right behind the commentator table.
But what many people don’t know is that he once financially backed a smaller wrestling promotion called Smoky Mountain Wrestling back in the early 90s.
Rubin says one of his biggest groups, The Beastie Boys, were even influenced by pro wrestling itself and called them heels saying in an interview with Rolling Stone,
“Early on, the Beastie Boys were very influenced by pro wrestling. One-hundred percent. The idea of being bad-guy rappers, saying really outlandish things in interviews, that all came from a love of pro wrestling.”
These days he just posts up in the cut and watches it with his glorious beard.
Daniel Cormier
The current light heavyweight UFC champion Daniel Cormier is a huge wrestling fan and has even alluded to competing in the WWE once his MMA career is over. His reaction to Seth Rollins winning at Wrestlemania 31 a couple years ago is priceless.
At his most recent fight, a win against Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, he mimicked the New Day’s “Who” chant when asked a question during a post-fight interview.
But Cormier is smarter than most casual fans. He looks at it from a psychological standpoint and even compares himself to current superstar Roman Reigns.
“I was watching WWE WrestleMania last weekend and I said wow it would be great if Roman Reigns pins the Undertaker clean. It’s how the old school guys do business. Monday night, Reigns walked out to the ring and they booed him for 10 minutes, would not allow him to talk but it was the most organic crowd that they’ve had in a really long time. He said ‘this is my yard’ and he left. It was perfect because they were playing the game for him. That’s me.”
Fabolous
Fabolous is not only a huge wrestling fan but he’s a great dad and gives his son the full wrestling fanboy experience including tickets to all the events and even his own wrestling ring for a bed.
Don’t believe me? Who knows where I’d be today If I had this shit as a kid!
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Fab also appeared in the WWE 2K16 press event where he spoke about his love for wrestling and spit some bars. He’s good at any wrestling event he goes to.
LeBron James
LeBron James is a big fan of wrestling and if him taking a picture of Stone Cold on a flip phone back in 2003 doesn’t prove that… nothing will.
This photo was back when he first got drafted to the Cavs but if you think he’s changed since then check out this video shouting out The Rock and showing off his belt after his last championship win with Miami.
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But more importantly in the caption, he talks about a side not many people knew about. Watching sports entertainers like The Rock, Sting and The Undertaker made him actually want to be a wrestler at one point.
Imagine a world where King James was in the squared circle and not the hardwood.
Kevin Love
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LeBron isn’t the only huge wrestling fan on his team. In fact, Kevin Love might be the biggest WWE fan in the NBA!
After winning his first world championship with the Cavs last year, this man was truly rocking the heavyweight belt throughout the parade showing his true colors as a wrestling guy. This dude literally wore it everywhere for a few days.
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As a matter of fact, not only was Love rocking the current championship belt, but he had the old school Stone Cold one too. Sheesh! Now that’s stuntin’. Unfortunately he’s still never met Steve but would love to one day. In an interview with Sports Illustrated he said,
“I’ve never met Stone Cold. I’d love to meet Dwayne Johnson because of what he’s done. Those were my childhood heroes. That was the era when wrestling was incredible.”
Action Bronson
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A lot of people on this list could’ve probably been wrestlers but no one more so than Queens rapper Action Bronson. This dude has the stature of a Rikishi or Yokozuna and has the charisma of a Dwayne Johnson or Stone Cold.
It’s a rare combination but Action actually watches a shit ton of wrestling and has the lyrical references to prove it. Noisey actually did a whole feature on it but here’s my personal favorite off of of “T.K.O.” saying
I’m known for cooking meat, cooking beats, and wildin’ like I’m Booker T
But even more awesome than that was this photo and story he shared on Instagram recently where he had the privilege of sitting behind two WWE legends, Goldust and The Big Show where he shared a story about how Show was just ripping ass the whole time.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BQ0Dtw1gVRt/
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Last but definitely not least, as much shit as Floyd Mayweather Jr. talks about other sports like UFC, he actually fucks with the WWE. Not only has he appeared on a couple of shows but he duffed the shit out of The Big Show.
This was crazy for a couple of reasons. First off, it was to set up a match up against the two at Wrestlemania, not to mention Big Show is literally five people bigger than Floyd.
The craziest part of this all was that Show reportedly asked Floyd to break his nose. Fortunately he didn’t but just know that this wasn’t Mayweather’s last time in WWE.