Here's a strange fact about at least a portion of the staff here at MTV News: Several of us — hip-hop editor Shaheem Reid, rock editor James Montgomery and myself — are big fans of professional wrestling. We all follow it with differing degrees of intensity and all have different taste when it comes to what we like, but give us a hot promo and a cage match and we'll probably walk away smiling. So yesterday was a big day in the Newsroom, as there were a pair of wrestling-related interviews going down (which happily coincided with the WWE's "Raw" show airing live from Madison Square Garden on Monday night).
First, we got a visit from Ted DiBiase, Jr., who sat on the Newsroom couch to talk to Reid about his role in the upcoming film The Marine 2, which will hit DVD and Blu-Ray on December 29. He also talked about the thrill of winning the Tag Team Championship with partner Cody Rhodes, the pressures of being a third-generation performer, how he uses Eminem to get himself worked up during workouts and who among the WWE stars has the best musical taste.
One of those stars he mentioned was Chris Jericho, who happens to front his own metal band called Fozzy and who also called in for an interview yesterday. Jericho has long been one of my favorite performers in all of pro wrestling, so it was a thrill to talk to him about the new Fozzy album Chasing the Grail (which hits stores on January 26, 2010), the response his band gets from metal fans in the U.K., the thrill of meeting some of his idols (including Lemmy, Ronnie James Dio and Ozzy Osbourne) and who among the WWE wrestlers has the worst taste in music ("[ECW Champion] Christian knows the lyrics to Backstreet Boys songs," he said).
There will be more from both of these guys in the coming weeks, but just know that between Reid, Montgomery and I, we would talk to a wrestler every day if we could — so you can be glad that we aren't constantly doing coverage of the ongoing feud between Randy Orton and Kofi Kingston.
On tonight's episode of "Raw," World Wrestling Entertainment's flagship television program, they will welcome a very special guest host: Rapper/actor/entrepreneur/wrasslin' enthusiast Snoop Dogg. It's hardly Snoop's first foray into a WWE ring, as he was the "Master of Ceremonies" for a match at Wrestlemania 24 in 2008. (He also appeared on a few episodes of "Raw" leading up to that event.) In the past few months, the "Raw" show has welcomed various celebrity hosts, from Bob Barker to Seth Green to Shaquille O'Neal. Each one has played a different role, with some even getting involved in the in-ring action. While not a trained wrestler, Snoop is no stranger to violence in the squared circle: He delivered a segment-ending lariat to heel wrestler Santino Marella at Wrestlemania 24. Though Snoop's plans have been kept under wraps, it's certain that his nose for television and his ability to cut sharp, hilarious promos should make for great wrestling television as "Raw" builds to the "Bragging Rights" pay-per-view event.
Snoop is hardly the first musician to step onto WWE programming. The company got huge in the early 1908s thanks to a lot of musical crossover (most notably with Cyndi Lauper). In more recent years, Kevin Federline helped promote his hip-hop album by getting involved in a feud with wrestler/MC John Cena (the two wrestled on "Raw" on New Year's Day in 2007, leading to a Federline victory). Kid Rock was a special musical guest on this year's Wrestlemania, making him the latest in a long line of guests for that big event, including Aretha Franklin, Boyz II Men, Limp Bizkit, John Legend, Ice-T, Mötorhead, Alice Cooper and Nicole Scherzinger.
Who would you like to see step into the WWE ring? Leave your thoughts in the comments or head over to Your.MTV.com to make your voice heard!
Plenty has gone down in the wake of Kanye West's stage-crashing incident at the MTV Video Music Awards: Kanye issued multiple apologies, vanished from the blogosphere (only to reappear) and though he said he was going to take some time off appears ready to soldier on with his tour with Lady Gaga. One of the wackier rumors that has come out of the past week was the idea that West has received an offer from WWE to make some appearances and do some "light wrestling." While the rumor doesn't have any real substantiation and has been swatted down by people in the WWE, the idea of Kanye stepping into the squared circle, cutting a few promos and perhaps getting into a feud or two (perhaps with erstwhile rapper John Cena?) is simply too awesome. If WWE hasn't made Kanye an offer, Kanye should go ahead and offer up his services.
West is the perfect foil for WWE, as he's got a huge personality and the right amount of heat-drawing speaking skills. He could probably learn some moves pretty efficiently (and even if he wasn't any good at all, he'd still be better than, say, the Great Khali) and really wouldn't have to commit that much time to the cause.
But West should mostly do it to prove he's better than Kevin Federline. Obviously, there's not a whole lot that Kanye would have to do to prove that he'd be better than Federline at just about anything, but Federline did have one of the more memorable guest spots in the history of "Raw," the WWE's Monday night prime time cable staple. Back in 2006, he came in to promote his hip-hop album by challenging then-champion Cena, costing him a match at a pay-per-view and beating him in a match on New Year's Day 2007. Federline actually talked very well and very much added to the feud, making for great television. Think about it: West could interrupt a victory speech, and the feud could get started. He could even donate any money he makes to charity if he really wanted to, as WWE is involved in a number of philanthropic pursuits (including the Make A Wish Foundation).
So think about it, Kanye. You won't have to put on tights or even get hit if you don't want to. The WWE will pair you up with somebody (Randy Orton, perhaps?) and you can pretend to knock dudes out on television for a few weeks. It'd be a great way to step away from "The Truman Show" and let your id run wild for a time. If Master P was good at it, then you'd have to be great, right?
Yeah, I'm really about to hit him over the head with this steel chair I'm sitting on. Ooooooh, I'm really gonna do it. I hate his guts. No, I don't think I'm going to do it. Matter of fact, I'm definitely not going to do it. This dude is too much fun.
WWE superstar Edge had me on an emotional roller coaster last night when I attended the WWE's Great American Bash pay-per-view show at Long Island's Nassau Coliseum. Edge was in the main event facing off against Triple H. One minute I cheered the "Rated R Superstar," the next I booed. He's great for laughs and gasps.
The best match of the night had to be John Cena vs. JBL. The two had a New York City Parking Lot Brawl," meaning they fought in the back, surrounded by cars instead of in the ring. The match ended with JBL practically throwing Cena through the windshield of a vehicle from 10 feet in the air. Amazing.
Sports, and sports entertainment — one of the few times you'll see me getting geeked up!
