The mix of music and wrestling is a tale as old as time, but Hip-Hop is the wave that wrestling keeps riding.
Pro-Wrestling has always had a connection to music. Wether it’s the custom entrance themes for superstars, licensed songs for Pay-Per-Views or even the phenomenon that was “Rock-N-Wrestling.” You can’t think about wrestling without an iconic theme song coming to your head, but for Hip-Hop, the connection to Pro-Wrestling is much stronger than any genre. Rock music has long been a staple in wrestling for years and years and still is. Many theme songs from back in the day were very rock heavy. Many pay-per-view theme songs were solely rock based. Country also has its fair share of plays on wrestling programming, but the Hip-Hop connection is only growing stronger.
Back in 1989, Run DMC preformed the “WrestleMania Rap” at WrestleMania V, which was a huge moment in the cross over from Rap to Wrestling. Since then, we’ve seen many stars of Hip-Hop show up on WWE programming, even Run DMC continuing to work with WWE as they produced a rap heavy remix to Degeneration-X’s iconic theme song. We’ve seen stars like Snoop Dogg, who remixed his cousin, Sasha Banks’ theme song, Wale, who’s record was the intro for NXT 2.0, Bad Bunny, who even preformed in a match, as well as many other cross-overs throughout the years with live performances such as Salt-N-Pepa, Three 6 Mafia, and many more. But, with AEW, things feel more gritty, much like the raw, uncut feel of the hip-hop scene today.
AEW began in 2019 and in just three years, we’ve had many Hip-Hop cross-overs. All Elite Wrestling has had their fair share of musical acts and different genre inclusions, but the Hip-Hop world continues to dominate in pro-wrestling and that’s never been more evident than right now. Snoop Dogg, who seems to be everywhere these days, was one of the first Hip-Hop stars to nudge his head into an on-screen role in AEW. The popular artist did a remix to Cody Rhodes theme song, which he kept for a bit in AEW before moving back to the original and moving over to WWE. But, Snoop also got some in-ring time on 1/6/21 episode of AEW Dynamite titled “New Years Smash” when he made an entrance with Cody Rhodes and stayed ringside with him for Cody’s match against Matt Sydal. The match went off without a hitch, but when Luther and Serpentico got involved, the D-O-Double G had to step foot in the ring, in a moment that gave the internet a trending video for weeks to come when Snoop frog splashed Serpentico in a hilarious moment. From there, the Hip-Hop cross-over’s kept rolling in.
It would be a mistake to not mention The Acclaimed, who at the time of this writing, are the current AEW Tag Team Champions. Max Caster and Anthony Bowens are one of the hottest tag teams going today. Max Caster and Anthony Bowens made their AEW debuts without each other on AEW Dark in mid-2020. But quickly there after, the two were paired up in what would be one of the most entertaining tag teams going today. We’ve seen many Rap influenced gimmicks in wrestling, most popularly John Cena has he battle rapped his way to the ring in the early to mid 2000’s, dissing his opponents with any clever bar he could think of. Or, Men On A Mission who rapped along with the fans to the ring in the early-90’s as well as R-Truth, who rapped his own theme song while he made his entrance and continues to do it until this day. But, Max Caster is a good mix of all and with Anthony Bowens by his side with his signature BoomBox, the duo soon became unstoppable and took a sharp upwards trajectory into AEW Stardom. Max Caster rips apart his opponents with disrespectful bars while staying on beat with his theme song instrumental. The signature “Yo, Listen!” Hits and you know you’re in for a treat. Sometimes though, his bars are so out of this world it may get him into some trouble with upper management, which we’ve seen happen before. But regardless, Max pushes the boundaries in AEW, much like Rap pushes the boundaries in the music industry. Max Caster continues to pump the Hip-Hop sound into the brains of the AEW fans and even those out of touch, old and lets face it, white folks couldn’t help but to cling onto Max’s every word. Now, as champs, they’re undeniable stars that continuously get some of the biggest crowd reactions weekly.
What would this be without talking about the “Who We Are: A Celebration Of Excellence, Volume 1” Album that was produced by AEW, described as telling the life stories of its black wrestlers through the voices of renowned artists. To commemorate Black History Month, AEW put out this album executively produced by their in-house producer, Mikey Ruckus. The sales of the album would go towards the Bootsy Collins Foundation. The album itself had an introduction from the legendary Bootsy Collins as well. The collection of songs were based around the stories of Red Velvet, Lee Moriarty, Nyla Rose, Private Party, Sonny Kiss, Jay Lethal, Jade Cargill, Ricky Starks, Shawn Dean, Max Caster, Anthony Bowens, Brandi Rhodes, Anthony Ogogo, Mark Henry, Top Flight, Will Hobbs, Keira Hogan, Lee Johnson and Scorpio Sky. Each of these names has a single song dedicated to them to tell their stories from rappers across the nation including BodySlam’s own, Righteous Reg, Josiah Williams, Cutright, E.Quipped, True God, Shokus Apollo, Monteasy, Bliz, Jon Connor, Brinson, Omega Sparx, Swats, Kit Walters, Anthiny King, Mega Ran, Toure Masters, Frivolousshara, Zane Oliver, Quinn O’Donnell, Sir Tizzy, Staylo Dom, Rich Latta, Gram, Will Washington, Tamira Slade, R8ted R, Teek Hall and Doe The PaperBoy. The stars of AEW used their songs from this album on TV throughout the weeks of February and gave some artists the spotlight and shine they deserve. Plus, with the title of Volume 1, we can only imagine Volume 2 is coming down the line.
Lil Scrappy is a legendary name in Hip-Hop with songs like “Money In The Bank”, which featured in WWE’s SmackDown vs. RAW 2007 video game. But, Lil Scrappy’s resurgence in the wrestling world with his involvement in Battle Slam, a independent promotion that fuses Wrestling and Rap for shows that’ll always entertain. Lil Scrappy got involved first by preforming and quickly got his toes wet in-ring when he was led into a feud with AEW Dark regular and Battle Slam owner, Baron Black. Scrappy set the internet on fire with his entree into a Battle Slam ring back in August and now it seems he’ll be sticking around as he has a match against Shoot Taylor on September 25th. But, Lil Scrappy also made a TV appearance for AEW on AEW Rampage: Fyter Fest in July when he moderated a Rap Battle with Max Caster vs. Austin Gunn, which ended with Acclaimed winning and Billy Gunn cracking Lil Scrappy in the head with a punch. Video games, TV and even matches, Lil Scrappy is now cemented into wrestling history forever.
As you can see, the Hip-Hop influence comes into AEW at all angles and none more surprising than a cross over between AEW and the man with 2 Phones, Kevin Gates. Kevin was introduced on AEW by Swerve Strickland alongside Keith Lee, when Swerve shouted out his friend Kevin Gates for coming through for a championship celebration. But, as always in wrestling, a celebration is interrupted. This time, it was by Tony Nese and Smart Mark Sterling. Sadly for Sterling, he picked the wrong person to interrupt because he got in the face of Kevin Gates and mistaking him for Young M.A., another Hip-Hop artist to happens to be female in a hilarious moment. But, Mark and Tony paid the price because Kevin Gates hit Tony Nese with one of the stiffest celebrity right hands we’ve ever seen, only for Mark Sterling to get a cake to the face by Swerve Strickland. Much like Lil Scrappy’s appearance, this took place at Fyter Fest the same night, which was in Atlanta. Not only a hotbed for wrestling, but one of the biggest hotbeds for Hip-Hop in the world. Atlanta brought out all the stars that night because Jermaine Dupri, Rapper, Song writer and famous Producer was also in the building when he accompanied Jade Cargill and The Baddies to the ring. Jermaine didn’t get involved in any action, but to see a multi-platinum star next to Jade Cargill just felt right and yet again adds to the fusion of Hip-Hop culture into AEW.
You can’t talk about Rap in Wrestling nowadays without talking about Griselda, a rap group slash independent record label made up of Westside Gunn, Conway The Machine, Mach-Hommy, Benny The Butcher and producer Daringer. Wrestling bars are heavily infused into their songs but the believed biggest fan of them all is Buffalo, New York’s own, Westside Gunn. The FLYGOD himself even has a Compilation Album called The Fourth Rope, which has now turned into a brand, with every song on the album being wrestling infused and named after icons, such as tracks like RVD, The Dudley Boys, Perfect Plex, John Bena and many more. Westside Gunn makes no secrets about his love for Pro-Wrestling and you may possibly see him at an event near you. AEW, WWE, NXT, it doesn’t matter, he’ll be around. Gunn also will let his feelings known on if he likes or dislikes anything, even taking offense to T-Pain being shouted out from the crowd on AEW Dynamite after helping Cody Rhodes during a December 2021 match and not him, even though he was also ringside and he pays for his own tickets and supports wrestling constantly. But, Gunn got his due-diligence in the end. The Buffalo New York connection from Westside Gunn and AEW talent such as Butcher, Blade, Allie The Bunny and Daniel Garcia is strong. When AEW hit Buffalo, New York just back on September 7th, the Buffalo native rapper bought out the first few rows of seats for AEW Dynamite. His entire crew rocked custom 4thRope hoodies that featured a bloody Allie The Bunny on the front. But, the highlight for Gunn was in the main event when the Buffalo Kid, Daniel Garcia battled Wheeler YUTA for the ROH Pure Title and Westside Gunn got to Rap Garcia out to the ring. A cool moment for Gunn, Garcia and the city of Buffalo. Plus, to make it even sweeter, Daniel Garcia picked up the victory and became the new ROH Pure Champion in a night I’m sure he’ll never forget. You can also catch Westside Gunn hanging out with AEW newcomer Parker Bordeaux and even continuing to make wrestling-themed songs, such as the “Brody Lee” intro and “Eddie Kingston” off of his album “Hitler Wears Hermes 8: Side B” and even a records called “Bobby Rhude” and “Danhausen” off of his new “Peace “Fly” God” album. Not only that, but WestSide Gunn continued to show his love for wrestling when he performed at this weekends popular “Rolling Loud” festival with a AEW replica championship belt on his shoulder and was accompanied on stage by a mascot Kane who beat up a mascot Hulk Hogan and even Daniel Garcia himself was on stage. It’s undeniable that one of the biggest Hip-Hop influences on wrestling these days is Westside Gunn and we respect it!
AEW Grand Slam seems like one of AEW’s biggest shows of the year and it’s only their second year doing it. But, what’s a big show without celebrity cameos? During the 2021 AEW Dynamite Grand Slam event in Arthur Ashe stadium, the sold out crowd got to witness a moment that shocked the fans when The Acclaimed made their way to the ramp and started dissing AEW owner Tony Khan, challenging him to a rap battle. But, Tony brought backup. Tony Khan made his way out to the ramp and introduced the crowd to Lil Uzi Vert, who helped Tony Khan diss the Acclaimed in a hilarious moment and one you’d never expect to see. But, AEW Grand Slam 2022 had many more surprises up their sleeves. The guests kicked off when Swerve in Our Glory defended their tag team titles against The Acclaimed, in which both teams brought some backup. Swerve must have many friends in the music industry because he and Keith Lee came out with Brooklyn Rap legend Fabolous, while The Acclaimed brought out legendary Brooklyn DJ, DJ Whoo Kid. Though neither of them got involved in any action and just watched the match from ringside, maybe that’ll change. After The Acclaimed picked up the win to become the new AEW Tag Team Champions, Swerve Strickland took to Instagram to call DJ Whoo Kid a “Traitor” and well, Whoo Kid didn’t take that lightly. Early this weekend, DJ Whoo Kid took to TMZ to reveal he brought backup, which happened to be multi-platinum rapper, Waka Flocka Flame. Waka and Whoo ended up challenging Swerve in our glory to a match, in which Waka claimed it could even go down in a parking lot. Joking or not, Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee vs. DJ Whoo Kid and Waka Flocka Flame would be insane to witness.
But, the hits of Grand Slam 2022 kept coming when Diamanté challenged Jade Cargill for the TBS Championship on AEW Rampage GrandSlam. Diamanté claimed that since Jade has her baddies, she was bringing the OG Baddie from the 305, which happened to be popular female rapper, Trina. Trina dropped an album back in 2000 titled “Da Baddest Bitch” so, it’s only right that Diamanté one-up’s the self named “That Bitch” and the baddies. Well, sadly for Diamanté, that backfired. Trina was ringside for Diamanté but after Jade Cargill picked up the win and retained the championship, Trina turned on Diamanté and shoved her down before shaking hands with Jade and joining alongside her. Now Jade really does have all the baddies. But, how about adding one more to the list? Because after Trina’s backstage segment on Wednesday’s Dynamite where Diamanté revealed her as her backup, Rap superstar Cardi B tweeted out the clip of Trina’s backstage promo, showing respect and saying “MY MOOD ALWAYS” to Trina’s “you see me now” comment. If Jade managed to pull Trina and Cardi B into the mix, that’d be huge and at this point, it probably isn’t impossible.
Yet, there was still one more name ready to appear on AEW Rampage Grand Slam this past Friday and that’s New York Rapper, Action Bronson. Not only is Bronson a huge wrestling fan, but he also is the composer of the FTW Champion, HOOK’s theme song “The Chairman’s Intent”. Action is a good friend with HOOK and his father, the legendary Taz. So, when 2Point0 messed with HOOK back at AEW All Out, Action Bronson jumped the barricade and got involved. This prompted HOOK and Action to call out 2point0 for a match at Rampage Grand Slam, and it surely went down. Bronson not only wrestled at Grand Slam, but also Rapped HOOK out to the ring beforehand. Then, with shoulder tackles, clotheslines, power slams, body splashes and unreal smoothness and speed, HOOK and Action Bronson locked in a double Redrum for the submission victory. Action Bronson won his wrestling debut and I don’t think anyone would complain if we saw him hop back in the ring one day.
All the excitement around the hip-hop talent involved with AEW Grand Slam had social media on fire. Not only did Cardi B and Waka Flocka make their presence known on socials, but AEW star Nyla Rose tweeted at the ever so popular Lil Nas X saying “Hey @LilNasX you like wrestling? I haven an idea” to which Nas X simply replied “Listening.” Now, we’ve seen all these artists get involved but could Lil Nas X be next alongside Nyla Rose? With that reply, it seems like it’s a possibility and we’d all be curious to see what Nyla Rose has in store for us. A tag team match? A performance? A manager? Who knows, but bring Lil Nas X to AEW pronto!
Hip-Hop influence continues to rule the world of wrestling and AEW. Many theme songs in AEW have a rap heavy melody, even if they’re in-house made songs or paid for like HOOK’s. Or, maybe even like Bryan Danielson’s “Born For Greatness” theme song that is sang by singer/songwriter Elliot Taylor. Then, Born for Greatness received a remix featuring popular rappers Mozzy and Fetty Wap. Though Bryan didn’t use the remix on TV (yet), he did plug it on his social media and shouted out the artists. The days of “Rock-N-Wrestling” are long over and now we’re under the “Rap-N-Wrestling” wave, per-say. The Hip-Hop influence is off the charts in All Elite Wrestling and selfishly, I hope it continues. With AEW titles around the shoulders of Rappers on stage, to Hip-Hop music being implemented into AEW’s upcoming “Fight Forever” video game soundtrack and even Rappers on the roster such as Max Caster and Swerve Strickland, who just dropped a single on September 5th titled “Lifeline” under the name “Sw3rve The Realest,” it seems like this ride is going to continue for a long while and only going to get bigger from here. For a long time the Hip-Hop culture loved professional wrestling, but professional wrestling didn’t love Hip-Hop back. Now, the change is here. Pro-Wrestling is Hip-Hop and Hip-Hop is Pro-Wrestling. Forever.
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