SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
As the owner of Nerdstalgia, a physical media & pop culture collectibles store, I consider myself a bit of a pop culture expert. Also being a massive pro wrestling fan all my life, I love it when the crossover happens, even if it’s partially just me compensating by my nerdy love being recognized as cool for a moment. Today, I thought I’d give some love to five of the songs a wrestling fan should have in their playlist, that aren’t directly about professional wrestling.
Weezer was a band I adored in junior high. Their “Blue Album” was at the top of my list of CDs I wanted to own, but growing up with a bit of a controlling father, it was forbidden in our Christian-and-Country-Music-only household. A few years later, I picked up not only my coveted “Blue Album,” but I also checked out “Pinkerton.”
While underrated my critics and the masses, there was a fandom that saw that album for what it was, groundbreaking. This record eventually was the birth of what would come to be known as Emo. Within that record was a song called “El Scorcho.”
When trying to learn what this girl he is fascinated with finds to be cool, the singer of the song decides to read her diary.
“So I went to your room and read your diary
Watching Grunge leg-drop New Jack through a press table
And then my heart stopped listening to Cio-Cio San
Fall in love all over again”
In a home where Weezer wasn’t allowed, ECW was. It was all stupid, fake ‘Rasslin to my father, so no attention was paid! Hearing this band I loved with references to Johnny Grunge putting New Jack through a table was a cool insider line that I got, and I knew very few did.
While not a direct wrestling reference, R.E.M.’s song “Man on the Moon” has some clever pro wrestling references in the opening lyrics.
“Mott the Hoople and the Game of Life
Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah
Andy Kaufman in the wrestling match
Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah
Monopoly, 21 checkers, and chess
Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah
Mister Fred Blassie in a breakfast mess
Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah”
These are two icons that you need to learn about if you’re interested in the history of pro wrestling. Andy Kaufman was the first celebrity to become involved in a wrestling angle. He would wrestle women as a part of his comedy shows, and brought it to the Memphis territory, where it became an angle with national attention, in an era where wrestling was very much regionalized. A wrestling angle on Dave Letterman’s talk show that started at midnight may as well been Fozzy playing the Super Bowl Halftime Show. It just wasn’t possible!
In “Is This Guy For Real?,” an autobiography about Andy, his entire act of riling up an audience – anti-comedy that is more for those in on the joke, rather than the audience themselves – was inspired by the time he saw professional wrestling in Madison Square Garden. He would see people with the job to make people dislike them, and he said no one did it better than Freddie Blassie. They did a movie together called “My Breakfast with Blassie” that is worth watching if you’re a devoted fan, but there the Jim Carey movie of the same title as this song, that even contains this song on the soundtrack, that I believe should be watched by all. Andy was a one of a kind performer and deserves to be remembered.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
Check out the latest episode of “Wrestling Coast to Coast” with Chris Maitland and Justin McClelland, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “pwtorch” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
Method Man & Redman – “Blackout!”
Method Man has often been outspoken about being a wrestling fan. He’s made appearances for WWE and was featured in the underrated Def Jam Vendetta wrestling game. In the titular track from the first album he did with Redman, he rapped a description of himself.
“Now I′m the streettalkin’, dogwalkin′
Approach me with extreme caution, Oh now how you forcin’?
My hand that rock yo’ cradle often I′m hot-scorchin′,
but stone cold like Steve Austin
If you smell what Tical cookin’”
One will find more rap lyrics dedicated to wrestling than any other genre, but this song was the first time I heard them.
Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
This was the big one. Most people have heard this track. The song “Not Like Us” is the biggest diss track since 2Pac called out Biggie. Bigger than any of Eminem’s beefs. Hip hop in its purest form is a battle, and proving you’re the best. Often this takes aim and “calls out names,” which is where it becomes personal. This was the first time that type of purity in rap music has ever been featured on a stage as large as the 2025 Super Bowl. In the song, there are a couple of lines that I will edit around to make known his feelings about Drake that referenced wrestling.
“What′s up with these jabroni-ass ****** tryna see Compton?”
I’m sure this will be referenced again in a future article about wrestling phrases used in the mainstream. As most reading this article know, a jabroni was a slang term for enhancement talent. They were there to do the “job.” They were losers. The Rock popularized this phrase, calling all of his opponents jabronis, and now it has been used in an iconic rap song. But, not just once was there a mention, but also a reference to ending Drake in the same manner a Heart Break Kid in Shawn Michaels used to.
“Put the wrong label on me, I’ma get ′em dropped, ay
Sweet Chin Music, and I won’t pass the aux, ay”
Metro Boomin’ – “Ric Flair Drip”
As stated previously, many rap songs out there may reference a wrestler, a hold, or holding a championship, but only one song, not including theme songs, cemented for decades the iconic position of Ric Flair. The man was always known for his style, his money, and his enthusiasm for showing it all off. No lyrics really need to be added when it says it all in the title. Rap has often delved into the flashy lifestyle of success, and the money, cars, jewelry, clothes, and so much more come with that success. Ric Flair is a perfect embodiment of that.
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