[MUSIC] THE SAVAGE ANIMAL "Music Videos Featuring Wrestlers"
03.28.12
BY MIKEY MIGO
Who could forget moments like Austin and The Rock signing their rendition of Jimmy Buffet’s “Margaritaville”? How about Master P and the No Limit Soldiers? “Rap is Crap”? It goes on and on. Professional Wrestling has had music-related moments since the 80’s boom.
Today I wanted to get a little specific with that topic. I wanted to put together this huge awesome list of music videos that feature wrestlers. I came up with a few and then got stuck. It was one of those ideas that I was sure going to flourish tons of “Oh shit! I haven’t thought about THAT in forever!” thoughts and videos for the list.
It just didn’t pan out. The list we’re getting is the “Best of what I can remember”. If there are any that I’m missing then for the love of all that is holy please share, discuss, and don’t be too harsh on my list-making shortcomings.
For the most part, I don’t even like these songs…
::::: | NUMBER NINE | ::::: ::::: | SONG: ”Ur Girl (Til the End of the World)” by Lilian Garcia
::::: | WRESTLER: Lilian Garcia
Other folks in wrestling have music projects too. I could and should do a column on that topic down the line. I wanted to include this one because it surprised me. I think I’ve heard like ten seconds of a Lilian Garcia song before. I’ve heard her do the Anthem plenty of times and that’s always beautiful. It’s just I didn’t expect such a decent pop song to come from her. The video is edgy, she’s sexy, and to be honest the song is pretty good. It’s not my cup of tea, but I’m impressed. ::::: | NUMBER EIGHT | ::::: ::::: | SONG: ”Something to Do With Your Hands” by Sarah Darling
::::: | WRESTLER: AJ Styles
I’ve never heard of Sarah Darling until today. I’m not a big country fan, but I can’t deny her fun awkward charm. The video is quirky cute and the song is perfectly passable for the pop country genre. As for crossovers between wrestling and music, it’s just sort of there. AJ Styles shows up at “Mr. Handy”. I don’t watch TNA as much as I’d like, but I have to imagine someone getting in a “Mr. Handy” jab at him. I’m surprised this isn’t a bigger success. ::::: | NUMBER SEVEN | ::::: ::::: | SONG: ”Throw It On Me” by Timbaland ft. The Hives
::::: | WRESTLER: WWE Divas Circa 2007
This abomination is sorta recent. Remember the cross promotion and the TV appearances. I remember all the hype that went into this. The video actually looks cool. The visuals, editing, and design of the video is seriously cool. The problem is that the song sucks. There is nothing catchy about it. I can typically get into The Hives and at east put up with Timbaland. Not so much here. And the end says “To Be Continued…” Why?! ::::: | NUMBER SIX | ::::: ::::: | SONG: ”Rising” by Stuck Mojo
::::: | WRESTLER: Diamond Dallas Page, Raven, and The Flock
Remember this gem? It was 1998 and WCW was riding high. One of the random cross over promotions they had was with the band Stuck Mojo. The band rocks out in the ring with rap/metal music. It’s a fun video for the time period. The band would have other connections to wrestling (i.e. Chris Jericho), but nothing this as blatant. I’m not too into the song at all, but I really like the energy they got from the crowd at ringside. And really… any music video that features like a half dozen Diamond Cutters is cool with me. I miss Diamond Cutters. Generic rap/metal? Not at all. ::::: | NUMBER FIVE | ::::: ::::: | SONG: ”Crush ‘Em” by Megadeth
::::: | WRESTLER: Bill Goldberb
This was one of the first songs that came to mind. I remember I was really getting into Megadeth at the time and this song pretty much single handedly turned me off from them. “Sweating Bullets” was a fluke. The video features Goldberg looking intimidating and beating people up with footage of the band casually performing the song. I don’t know why the performance portion sucked so bad. I saw Megadeth perform around 2000-2001 and it was fun. This is not. ::::: | NUMBER FOUR | ::::: ::::: | SONG: ”The Real McCoy” by Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly
::::: | WRESTLERS: Alex Shelley and Austin Aries
This is another situation where I’m being exposed to a band and video for the first time. The band Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly is new to me. Their song isn’t that bad at all. It’s a great cross over in terms of an artistic project. The video is what’s really cool here. First off, I love the way it’s shot. The tight close ups, the black and white, the emotion and intensity is all bad ass. I want to praise Shelly and Aries because I’m a fan of both guys, but what did they really do? They did their thing. They worked a match, got ready for a match, and just pretty much “let us in”. TNA should have featured this video more. Check it out on your own. ::::: | NUMBER THREE | ::::: ::::: | SONG: ”Owata” by The Smashing Pumpkins
::::: | WRESTLERS: Cheerleader Melissa, Shelly Martinez and Raven
I remember when this video was shot. I’ve been in this building for AAW shows years ago when it branched off from PCW. I recognize people in the crowd and I’m pretty sure someone I know appears as a valet for a split second towards the beginning. The song is decent. It’s one of the better Pumpkin songs I’ve heard in recent years. The video features Cheerleader Melissa, Shelly Martinez, and Raven. Raven plays a trashy guy who is with a female wrestler. They go to work a show where he turns on her, but in the end they embrace because it was all as show. Is THAT the narrative here? I’m not sure. The focus seems to be theme and technology here. In all the press for the video I read stuff about how the used some really “high def” type of camera. It looks good, but not so much noteworthy. Still, it’s still full of awesome shots and fun performances, but it doesn’t really feel as clear as it could be. I’m still bias. ::::: | NUMBER TWO | ::::: ::::: | SONG: ”It Doesn’t Matter” by Wyclef Jean
::::: | WRESTLER: The Rock
I can’t be the only person who remembers this gem. Wyclef has had plenty more success over the years. For some reason this track was under appreciated. The video was fun and the song was catchy. The Rock was really at his wrestling peak at this point. Wyclef’s entire chorus was based off one of The Rock’s most famous lines. That’s cool. I even sort of like the song. The swanky bluesy jazz break beat is easy to get into. I know it was a gimmick and all, but I could have gone for even MORE Rock in this video. It’s so lame that it’s great. ::::: | NUMBER ONE | ::::: ::::: | SONG: ”Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper
::::: | WRESTLER: "Captain" Lou Albano
I went with this one because of what it represented. This came out in 1983. I was born that year, but I still fondly remember this video. Growing up with MTV in the house and fun parents I got exposed to tons of pop culture. Cyndi Lauper is part of that 80’s pop culture. At the same time, professional wrestling… especially WWF blew up. The two worlds crossed paths many times over the years, but this was huge. Captain Lou only seemed to have two or three scenes in this very popular video, but his personality and interaction with Lauper really sort of put him on the map. The idea of putting a music video with a manager showing up in a pop song seems strange. It was fun and turned out to be huge. Cyndi would include Captain Lou in more videos and showed up on quite a few wrestling cards at the time mainly working with Albano and Wendi Richter. Many credit Cyndi Lauper’s involvement in wrestling part of the reason for the first Wrestlemania’s massive success. Sure there were other factors, but it’s hard to argue Cyndi Lauper didn’t give WWF a “hipper” credibility. They’ve tried to bring in other celebrities and musicians over the years to various successes, but none matched the impact of this one.
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