WWE/AEW Wrestlers & Their Rapper Counterparts
I’ve mentioned this in columns before, but I’m about 99.4% sure that I was the first wrestling columnist anywhere to start connecting the worlds of pro wrestling and hip-hop. I’m also pretty sure I was at least one of the first, if not the first, wrestling podcasters to use rap music on shows and help to further connect the two worlds.
When I started writing, wrestling was dominated by the rock and metal musical genres. Don’t get me wrong… that isn’t necessarily a complaint. I love rock and metal music. In my weekly columns, I post a list of the songs I was listening to as I put that column together, and there are all sorts of rock and metal songs listed every single week.
However, I’m also a lover of rap music and the hip-hop culture as a whole, and I felt those worlds were being underserved in wrestling, and they damn sure were being underserved in the wrestling opinion game.
I started adding a hip-hop flavor to my columns, and it really helped me to stand out. Here we are, nearly two full decades later, and I’m still championing the cause.
The other night, I was searching through some of my old tweets, and I came across one from three years ago (almost to the day of this column going live, as a matter of fact) where I said a particular wrestler was pro wrestling’s version of a particular rapper. That made me start thinking about other “so-and-so wrestler is wrestling’s version of such-and-such rapper” comparisons, and after being able to come up with a few that made sense to me, it became the idea for this very column you’re reading now.
We’re just having fun here. There’s no need to angrily dissect a column that looks at who rap’s Randy Orton and wrestling’s Kendrick Lamar are, you know?
Sycho Sid Vicious & Project Pat: Here we go with the comparison that created this column in the first place.
If there is such a thing as a “guilty pleasure” wrestler, Sycho Sid is mine. From the first time I saw him, all the way back in 1989, I became a fan. He has always been someone that is incredibly entertaining to watch, but he’s also someone that has never been mistaken for a great technical wrestler that could put 20-minute classic matches together. Sometimes that kind of thing is very important, but other times, as is the case with Sid, it matters not.
The very first time I heard Project Pat rap was in 1997, when a friend’s older brother played Three 6 Mafia’s Chapter 2: World Domination album in the car as we were driving around. He only had four appearances on the album, but he stood out to me immediately, even if he wasn’t exactly delivering thought-provoking lyricism.
As the years went on, I found myself able to turn my brain off and enjoy whatever Sid and Pat were doing. Neither man is usually mentioned by the “cool kids” when you talk about the all-time greats in their respective fields, but they were both able to put in work for multiple decades (with Pat still making music today) and were pioneers in what they excelled at, which was entertaining at maximum capacity while knowing their own limitations.
Jay & Mark Briscoe & Jadakiss/Styles P: There have been a million tag teams in wrestling history that consisted of siblings. Many of those pairs were even twins. I’m lucky enough to have seen a ton of those teams, whether live as they wrestled or through archived footage after the fact. When it comes to tag teams that have an almost eerie ability to know what the other was thinking, and their ability to play off of each other for extra damage and destruction, I don’t think there is a better example than Jay and Mark Briscoe. The way they incorporated double-team offense so seamlessly into their matches was a thing of beauty.
When it comes to rap duos that are able to incorporate “double-team offense” seamlessly, you need not look any further than two-thirds of Yonkers group, The Lox, Jadakiss and Styles P. No offense to the other Lox member, Sheek Louch, but Jada and Styles are on a different level. They would often run a two-man fast break, of sorts, with one rapping a few bars, then the other chiming in with a few bars of his own, followed by the first one going for another few bars, and so on. It’s stuff that had been done before, and has been done since, but I don’t think anyone has ever done it as well as those two.
Bryan Danielson & Kendrick Lamar: It might seem like a weird comparison at first, but I like it. To start, both men are technical masters of their respective crafts, able to tell stories as good as anyone that has come before them or after them. They’re incredibly well respected by their fellow artists, who constantly praise their work and lavish all sorts of accolades on them for what they’ve been able to accomplish in their careers.
Both men have also refused to let a lack of size, physical stature, and an intimidation factor define them. Danielson became a worldwide megastar against the hopes and wishes of Vince McMahon, who wants his top talents to be giant, jacked up comic book characters. Kendrick looks unassuming, and in the wild world of rap music, he became a star without having to constantly talk about how he’s going to murder people, how much money he has in his pockets, how many women he has slept with, and all the other tropes that you hear from rappers.
Danielson was the lovable underdog as he battled Vince McMahon off-screen and The Authority on-screen, who only wanted him to reach a certain level of success. Kendrick was the lovable underdog as he battled Drake, who is one of the biggest superstars in all of music, no matter what you think of him personally or professionally.
This one makes a lot of sense to me.
Shawn Michaels & Eminem: The first comparison to make here is how both men are viewed within their own industries. There are multiple generations of pro wrestlers who grew up on Shawn Michaels, and they feel Shawn is the greatest wrestler to ever live. Eminem gets the same kind of love in rap, with multiple generations of rappers that respect the hell out of his dedication to the craft.
It goes deeper than that, though.
Both men have numerous issues in their past that were brought on by immaturity and drug abuse. The history of Shawn Michaels and his issues are well-known. His fellow wrestlers appreciated the in-ring work he did, but they almost always say that he was an asshole and was almost impossible to get along with backstage. Em’s drug use led to him lashing out in his songs, beefing (even if the beef was one-sided) with everyone from Ja Rule to Benzino to Britney Spears to Moby to Everlast to Christina Aguilera to Michael Jackson to Insane Clown Posse to Limp Bizkit to Canibus to Backstreet Boys to Mariah Carey, and seemingly half the music industry.
Both men were able to get clean as they got older, which moved them to different chapters in their lives. It wasn’t a 100% transformation… people like Shane Helms have said Michaels is still a “hypocrite” and isn’t the person WWE wants you to believe he is, and Eminem has still been beefing with people like Machine Gun Kelly and Joe Budden in recent years… but they’re still both viewed in “addiction” and “post-addiction” eras of their careers.
Now, they’re both respected veteran statesmen, and that is something that was impossible to picture for either of them at one point in time.
Triple H & Jay-Z: Naturally, the first comparison everyone would make here is the fact that both men married women that would cement themselves in becoming the biggest power couples in their respective industries.
Triple H was one of the top men in the sport of wrestling when he married Stephanie McMahon, who was making her way up the corporate ladder in WWE and was the person everyone assumed would take over for Vince McMahon as the “boss” whenever Vince passed away. Together, they would dominate the wrestling scene, on and off-screen, and that continues today, nearly 23 years after they were married.
Jay-Z had already sold millions of albums and won a ton of awards when he married Beyoncé, who was someone that also sold millions of albums and won a ton of awards, both as a solo act and as a member of Destiny’s Child before that. Together, they would build an empire, accumulating a combined estimated net worth of $3.5 billion, with both of them being listed as billionaires on their own.
After becoming all-time greats in their fields, both Triple H and Jay-Z would also go on to achieve success behind-the-scenes and built reputations as people who molded future stars. Through his work in NXT, Triple H built the brand up to one of the hottest “launching pads” in wrestling history, becoming a key leader in the women’s wrestling evolution and helping to give a major platform to stars from all over the world. Jay-Z would become the President and CEO of the Def Jam record label, helping to introduce acts like Rihanna and Kanye West to the world.
The fact that either man even reached the top of their industries was a bit of a surprise when you look at their humble beginnings.
Triple H didn’t find much success in his time with WCW, and he looked destined to be midcard-for-life as Hunter Hearst Helmsley in the WWF. Even when he and Shawn Michaels started Degeneration X, it was Michaels who was the main event star, while Hunter was viewed as his sidekick. It wasn’t until HBK’s first retirement that we would finally get to see Hunter make his way to the top.
Jay’s start in rap saw him as a hype man, of sorts, to Jaz-O and a rapper that would perform during intermissions at Big Daddy Kane shows. His first album, Reasonable Doubt, did decent enough numbers to be certified gold, but it wasn’t until The Notorious BIG was murdered in 1997 that people really began to place Jay on a higher pedestal. Biggie was viewed by many as the top star and the “King Of New York” when he was alive, and Jay took those crowns upon Biggie’s death.
Both men also made being “cerebral” great. Triple H is an obvious student of the game, studying the greats of previous eras and using that to define his own style and technical prowess. Jay-Z is another obvious student of the game that studied those who came before him, and he used that to define his own style and combination of storytelling and technical ability.
Another fun comparison between them is the number 14… that’s how many World Title reigns Triple H has, and it’s also how many #1 albums Jay-Z has.
Mercedes Moné & Nicki Minaj: First and foremost, these are two of the most decorated women in the history of their businesses, whether you like their work or not… and whether you like them as people or not. That last point is important here. Both women receive plenty of hate online, deserved or otherwise, but it’s impossible to ignore facts and statistics. Mercedes has won titles in WWE, AEW, New Japan, CMLL, Ring Of Honor, Revolution Pro, and many other promotions in several countries across the globe. Nicki, on the other hand, is the best-selling female rapper of all-time, with well over 100 million albums sold, over 50 million singles sold in the United States alone, and has won award after award to boot.
If you’re looking for another connection, you have to look at their fan bases. Both women are absolutely, positively notorious for having some of the craziest fan bases you’ll ever see in the entirety of celebritydom. Don’t believe me? Go ahead and hop on social media right now and post something negative about either Nicki or Mercedes, but make sure you tag them, or at least mention them by name… and then sit back and wait. Before too long, you’ll have complete strangers with words like “Mercedes” or “Banks” or “Boss” or “Moné” or “CEO” or “Nicki” or “Minaj” or “Barbz” (the name for Nicki’s fans) or “Onika” (Nicki’s real first name) or something related to the women smack dab in your mentions calling you 12 different types of slurs because of what you said. It doesn’t have to be anything harsh like wishing Mercedes would break her neck in a match or that Nicki would die in a plane crash. Just say anything even remotely negative… Bayley is a better wrestler than Mercedes, Megan Thee Stallion is a better rapper than Nicki… and watch that hate roll in.
If you’re a fan of rap music… or at least know enough about rap to understand what was said in this column… what do you think of my comparisons? Do you have any comparisons of your own? As someone who posts weekly columns, I’m constantly looking for more content to write about. The beauty of this topic is that I can revisit it down the road. I have other rap comparisons that I didn’t include, but I could even expand it to other genres of music, as well. Hell, celebrities, in general. As always, feel free to hit me up in the comments section below, on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), or on Bluesky (@aaronhyden.bsky.social), and let me know what’s on your mind.
Now, let’s switch it over to my Weekly Power Rankings before I close it out with the list of songs I was listening to as I put this column together.
Weekly Power Rankings
Kazuchika Okada vs Konosuke Takeshita: This was a great follow-up to their match at World’s End back in December, and the natural continuation of the story being told between the two. I like that Kyle Fletcher made his return to set up the next chapter in the story, feuding with his former friend, Takeshita, who is now a face once again. Works for me.
Bandido vs Swerve Strickland: A great clash of styles between the two, and it’s yet another year where AEW wrestlers look like they’re wrestling a little harder in things like the Owen Hart Cup and the Continental Classic. Little things like that go a long way, and they help to make these annual tournaments feel bigger and more special.
Will Ospreay vs Samoa Joe: Another really entertaining Owen Hart Cup match in what will end up being a string of such matches. Ospreay needs to be built up for a main event World Title shot at All In(nit), and this is the first step in doing just that.
Stadium Stampede: Wild. Chaotic. Impossible to cover. This was everything you would expect out of a Stadium Stampede match that featured 14 wrestlers (plus MVP at ringside).
Jon Moxley vs Kyle O’Reilly (Double Or Nothing): A lot slower paced than just about anything else that happened at Double Or Nothing, but that was because both men were looking to drop the heaviest shots possible on each other. Hard to complain too much about that.
FTR vs Adam Copeland & Christian Cage: As soon as the “Copeland and Christian can’t team up anymore if they lose” stipulation was added, you could see the outcome from a mile away, but the journey to that outcome was fun.
Darby Allin vs MJF: The champion nearly saw his career, and damn near his life, come to an end mere seconds in, but we were able to get beyond that. It was another match that saw the outcome be very obvious once the stipulation was announced, but it’s also another instance where that isn’t a bad thing. Darby had no business being the AEW World Champion, so it’s good that MJF has the title on him once again.
Will Ospreay vs Katsuyori Shibata: It was their first time facing each other in over two years, and only the third time they’ve faced off in singles competition. A fun New Japan style bout between two veterans of the New Japan grind.
Penta vs “All Ego” Ethan Page: Can I just say how weird a card Saturday Night’s Main Event had? With the ridiculous ticket prices that we’ve seen for WWE shows, it’s crazy to me that WWE put this together with no Cody Rhodes, no CM Punk, no Roman Reigns, no Seth Rollins, no Oba Femi, no Liv Morgan, no Drew McIntyre, no Gunther, no Randy Orton, no Danhausen, no Trick Williams, and so on. There was such an old school feel to this, with the two biggest matches on the show being an Intercontinental Title bout and a World Tag Team Title contest. It’s not like there’s much of anything else to do in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but my point remains.
Finn Balor vs JD McDonagh: There’s so much in-ring chemistry between these two, which makes sense considering how long they’ve known each other. It would be nice to see Finn move on to something else soon, though.
Mark Briscoe vs Tommaso Ciampa: A really fun brawl here between two of the more grizzled veterans on the AEW roster.
Jon Moxley vs Kyle O’Reilly (Dynamite): While it wasn’t as good as their Double Or Nothing match, it was a nice and logical match that created the need for the DON bout in the first place.
Cody Rhodes vs Sami Zayn: We know these two can have fun matches, and this was no different, but the thing that will be remembered most is Gunther attacking Cody after the match, and then Sami refusing to help Cody and just leaving instead.
Darby Allin vs “Speedball” Mike Bailey: Another layer to the onion of Darby wearing himself down with title defense after title defense in a short period of time. There wasn’t a chance in hell that Speedball was going to win the title here, but at least he looked solid in defeat.
Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss vs Jade Cargill, Michin & B-Fab: This might have been Michin’s best match in WWE. It was damn sure B-Fab’s best match in WWE. Yet another match with a very obvious outcome, though, which is becoming a bit of an unfortunate trend in WWE and AEW television.
Brock Lesnar: A lot of people assumed Brock would return, and that his “retirement” at WrestleMania wasn’t going to stick, but I don’t think anyone predicted Brock’s return happening this quickly. That level of surprise made this return segment what it was, and now, we’re getting a rematch between Brock and Oba Femi. I’m down with that, even though I’m a little concerned that Oba will be taking the loss at Clash In Italy.
FTR vs Orange Cassidy & Roderick Strong: Say it with me… the outcome here was never in question, but at least the match was fun. Hooray!
Logan Paul & Austin Theory vs The Street Profits: I have completely given up on WWE doing right by Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins ever again, and I just don’t understand how we’ve reached that point.
Tatum Paxley vs Lizzy Rain: Lizzy has gotten over quickly with NXT crowds, but I’m glad that Tatum won this, as she deserves to have a lengthy reign as the NXT Women’s North American Champion after her three-week reign as the NXT Women’s Champion last year.
Trick Williams vs Carmelo Hayes: It was really fun to see these two tangle again after their very memorable journey together in NXT.
Chris Jericho & The Young Bucks vs Ricochet, Andrade El Idolo & Mark Davis: It didn’t matter much, but it was something of an amuse-bouche before all six men were involved in Stadium Stampede a few days later.
This Week’s Playlist: “What’s It Like To Be Happy?” by Of Virtue… “The Art Of Love” by Of Virtue… “I. The Anchor” by The Crimson Armada… “II. The Maelstrom” by The Crimson Armada… “III. The Leviathan” by The Crimson Armada… “Velcro” by Stand Atlantic… “Memory Lane” by Tokio Hotel… “Theme From Rocky XIII” by Weird Al Yankovic… “Melanie” by Weird Al Yankovic… “The White Stuff” by Weird Al Yankovic… “Jurassic Park” by Weird Al Yankovic… “Bedrock Anthem” by Weird Al Yankovic… “Frank’s 2000 Inch TV” by Weird Al Yankovic… “Achy Breaky Song” by Weird Al Yankovic… “It’s All About The Pentiums” by Weird Al Yankovic… “Couch Potato” by Weird Al Yankovic… “A Complicated Song” by Weird Al Yankovic… “Out There” by Project Pat… “Niggas Got Me Fucked Up” by Project Pat… “Up There” by Project Pat & Krayzie Bone… “We’re Gonna Rumble” by Project Pat… “Gold Shine” by Project Pat & Three 6 Mafia… “Stabbers” by Project Pat & Crucial Conflict… “Chickenhead” by Project Pat, Three 6 Mafia & La Chat… “Cheese and Dope” by Project Pat… “Don’t Save Her” by Project Pat & Crunchy Black… “Gorilla Pimp” by Project Pat & Namond Lumpkin… “Break Da Law 2001” by Project Pat & Three 6 Mafia… “Life We Live” by Project Pat, Namond Lumpkin & Edgar Fletcher… “Y’all Niggaz Ain’t No Killaz, Y’all Niggaz Some Hoes” by Project Pat & La Chat… “Fuckin With The Best” by Project Pat & Hypnotize Camp Posse… “Choose U” by Project Pat… “Take Da Charge” by Project Pat… “Tell Tell Tell (Stop Snitchin)” by Project Pat, Young Jeezy, Lyfe Jennings & Mr. Bigg… “Crack A Head” by Project Pat
