#45 – Celebrities (Also Empty Arena Wrestling)

After a cold open talking about breaking WrestleMania news, Tyler and Andrew are joined by Ollie Corchado to talk about the good, bad, and ugly of celebrity involvement in pro wrestling. Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher Watch Olllie’s web series En Route and follow him on instagram Follow us/ leave us […]

After a cold open talking about breaking WrestleMania news, Tyler and Andrew are joined by Ollie Corchado to talk about the good, bad, and ugly of celebrity involvement in pro wrestling.

https://muchadowrestling.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/maw-celeb.mp3

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Andrew brings on Chelsea Rugg for a short cold open talking about Gronk’s announcement on WrestleMania being a two day affair this year. Chelsea tries to say “Tide Pod” just like Gronk does in those commercials (00:00).

Then, Tyler talks about an interesting indy show he attended, and we welcome actor and combat sport enthusiast Ollie Corchado onto the program. We all chat about what to expect in an empty-arena WrestleMania, and ponder what new WWE signee Rob Gronkowski brings to the table as a former athlete/celebrity (07:45).

Then it’s time for our Word of the Day, Celebrity. We go through the earliest promotions to feature celebs in the squared circle, including Andy Kaufman, Ali vs. Inoki, and why Andy Warhol was at WrestleMania. Then we distinguish the risks and rewards for trying to bring a crossover audience, and speculate what entertainers and athletes might make for good pro wrestlers. (39:00)

Finally, we take a big, long, look at the best and worst attempts to use celebrities in wrestling to boost ratings, buy rates, and dramatic storytelling. We cover a lot of ground, including Mike Tyson making Steve Austin, David Arquette as World Champion, Jay Leno putting the moves on Hulk Hogan, the current president of the United States looking directly into the camera, Malone and Rodman fresh off the 98′ NBA finals, Lawrence Taylor and Tyson Fury’s outfits, Mayweather and “his people,” and many, many more notable moments of bliss and confusion. (1:02:10)

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