A Guide to Rap in Wrestling

This month sees the release of WWE’s 2K15 video game. Cutting-edge wrestling graphics are a definite selling point for this one, but another is that the game features a playlist by wrestler John Cena, which includes two of his original songs, both featuring Wiz Khalifa.

Cena first rose to prominence in the company by playing the role of an early-2000s battle rapper, and was so convincing he was invited to appear on tracks with E-40, Murs, Freddie Foxxx and the Perceptionists.

While he’s certainly the most credible, it’s not the first time that the worlds of rap and sports-entertainment collided. It is with hustle, loyalty, and respect we bring you a Guide to Rap in Wrestling.

We should note that while there have been plenty of wrestling gimmicks in all elements of the hip-hop culture (from WWF’s breakdancers Too Cool to WCW’s short-lived tag artist Jimmy Graffiti), we’re focusing on moments the talent rocked the mic in the squared circle.

The “Super Bowl Shuffle” was the first monster novelty rap single to shove hip-hop down professional sports’ throat. The Wrestling world wanted in. Minnesota-based promotion AWA attempted to latch on to the fad with “Wrestlerock Rumble.” Of the many names, it seems Nick Bockwinkle and Larry Zybszko are the only two who understood how rapping actually works.

Run-DMC were the first rap group to do a lot of things, including rapping on Wrestlemania. Live from Trump Plaza, the trio helped usher the company into the hip-hop era. It's worth watching if only to hear “Mean” Gene Okerlund say the words “Run-DMC.”

Realizing the growing popularity and power of rap music, WCW made an expository commercial for its Wrestle War ’90 event with an unseen studio rapper rhyming about their roster and inserting as many buzzwords (“homeboy,” “bust a move”) as possible.

After the "Wild Thing" promo, WCW decided it needed a rap gimmick of its own. It created a character named “Rapmaster” P.N. News, who was a Nebraska wrestler who had been formerly known as Cannonball Grizzly. Along with having him rap the commercials for the league's upcoming events (as seen here), WCW footed the bill to have him accompanied at special events by actual established rappers such as Salt-n-Pepa.

WWF’s first official rapping characters were Men on a Mission (or, M.O.M.). Managed by rapper Oscar, the tag-team of Mabel (who would go on to greater fame as Viscera) and Moe (who wouldn’t) appeared just as Oscar’s style of rapping was becoming quickly outdated by the burgeoning gangsta rap era. While the larger-than-life duo did manage to get crowds to chant “Whoop! There it Is,” their nearly two-year run wasn’t quite enough for a hip-hop crossover smash.

When Hulk Hogan left Vince McMahon’s WWF for Ted Turner’s WCW in the early 90s, it was thought Hogan would bring the company’s multimedia marketing potential to a new level. While the move was successful in most regards, Hogan’s 1995 rock/rap album Hulk Rules wasn’t a clear misstep. To be fair, for as many conscious rappers with a “message” who’ve existed over the years, Hogan’s the only one to ever proclaim “Always go swimming with a buddy.” Drop a gem on ‘em, Hulkster.

While WWF and WCW were dueling it out, Philadephia-based upstart ECW began establishing itself as an independent alternative brand with cutting-edge characters, including two charismatic rapping jokesters known as The Public Enemy.

No relation to Flav and Chuck, the duo would turn wrestling events into full-blown house parties. At one point they invited so many fans into the ring that it collapsed.

While not himself a rapper, ECW character New Jack was clearly heavily influenced by the intermingling of rap and wrestling. Originally one half of ECW tag-team Tha Gangstas, New Jack’s hyper-violent brawls were notable for being the only ones in wrestling where his entrance music—Ice Cube and Dr. Dre’s “Natural Born Killaz"—would play for the entire match’s duration.

The Insane Clown Posse have had a storied career in wrestling. Originally debuting in ECW in 1997, they would go on to have matches in WWF, WCW, Ring of Honor, TNA, and eventually start their own promotion JCW (Juggalo Championship Wrestling). JCW has grown to become one of the most genuinely respected promotion companies in the wrestling business. The group’s most memorable moment came when “The 70s Guy” Mike Awesome powerbombed ICP member Shaggy 2 Dope on the top of the Partridge Family bus.

The summer of 1999 saw WCW use as much of Ted Turner’s money as possible to latch onto as many celebrities as possible. That same summer saw appearances from KISS and Jean-Claude Van Damme, as well as a contract signing with Master P and the No Limit Soldiers.

The group went on to feud with the country-music-loving West Texas Rednecks, with crowds often split in terms of favoritism.

The absolute hottest periods for both the wrestling and music industries happened to coincide in the year 2000. Being both sides shared an interest in money, wrestling-music compilations were inevitable. In 2000, Priority Records put out WWF Aggression, a compilation of rappers remaking professional wrestling themes. Boasting everyone from Snoop Dogg to Method Man to C-Murder to RA the Rugged Man to Run-DMC, it became an industry-wide wrestling love fest. It also magically gave us an authentic once-in-a-life time collaboration between Kool Keith and Ol’ Dirty Bastard.

In 2000, the WWF signed hot Southern talent Ron “The Truth” Killings, attempting to market his rapping abilities by pairing him with former New Age Outlaw Road Dogg and rechristening him “K-Kwik.” When that failed to take off, he returned to the company eight years later as the unhinged, lovable, rapping psychopath R-Truth. Whether a good guy or bad guy, there’s something to be said for being able to rock a crowd of thousands whichever way he wants.

If you recently started following wrestling, it may be tough to envision WWE's golden child, John Cena, as "Doctor of Thuganomics." But that's exactly who he purported to be back in the early 2000s. Just as SMACK DVDs were at the peak of their popularity and battle rappers like Murda Mook and Serious Jones were making names for themselves, Cena decided to take cues and diss opponents with battle raps before each match. The persona worked so well, WWE had no choice but to turn him into a good guy.

In the summer of 2002 Busta Rhymes and the Rock happened to cross paths in the happiest place on Earth: Atlantic City, N.J. To promote his film Halloween Resurrection, Busta and the Rock sang (not rapped, mind you, but sang) their own rendition of “Under the Boardwalk.”

Let’s say you’re popular video game developers EA Sports. You have the rights to not only the engine for Japan’s most popular wrestling video game, but you have the license of Def Jam’s top rappers’ music and likenesses. What do you do? Make a spectacular hip-hop wrestling video game that’s far better than it should be. While later Def Jam games focused on the fighting, Vendetta somehow gave us a perfect wrestling game starring rappers.

We touched on John Cena’s bad guy rapper persona earlier, but just as memorable was his first high-profile feud with Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle. Being that Angle medaled in…wait for it…“Freestyle,” part of their feud saw a segment where Angle and John Cena rap battled. The segment proved to be so popular that Angle recorded a rap version of his own theme music, “I Don’t Suck.”

In his time away from the major wrestling companies, “Macho Man” Randy Savage decided to take an entirely unexpected avenue and record a full-length rap album. Most known for its title track, “Be A Man,” a scathing diss to Hulk Hogan, our favorite cut is the DJ Kool-assisted “Hit the Floor,” a legit party banger if there ever was one.

The National Wrestling Alliance’s NWA Wildside promotion wasn’t afraid to jump on the Eminem hoopla of the early 2000s with their wrestler and Marshall Mathers’ look-alike, Slim J. The promotion’s stand-in Slim Shady continues to use the rap gimmick today, only now letting his more Southern flow shine when battling opponents.

IWS’ (International Wrestling Syndicate) short-lived T-Unit (as they explain, short for Thug Unit) was a nod to the G-Unit fashion being ubiquitous across the media. Why not let it fly in the squared circle? Most notable about this team is how member Big Larry went on to WWE nine years later and is now tearing up their NXT developmental brand as Sami Zayn.

Word about John Cena’s rap persona—boasting not only his rhymes but his Hieroglyphics skullies and shout-outs to Canibus and real-life cousin Esoteric—traveled fast in the hip-hop community. Soon he was jumping on tracks with Murs, E-40, Mr. Lif, Akrobatik, and more. The WWE decided to take advantage and had John record his debut album, You Can’t See Me, which includes production from Jake One and appearances from Freedie Foxxx. The album went platinum and to this day remains the most successful rap album ever released by a wrestler.

Chicago’s Colt Cabana has been the top name in independent wrestling for several years now. His diverse talents have seen him shine in matches where he’s grappled, brawled, flew through the air, made audiences laugh, and even rapped. The start of his outrageously bloody 2006 Ring of Honor feud with Homicide featured Cabana comically dishing out a battle rap. Things would quickly escalate, eventually bringing in a “ghetto fork” and Draino.

The start of the decade saw the East Coast-based Urban Wrestling Federation attempt to find a foothold in the competitive indie wrestling market. A big part was including established rappers like Uncle Murda and hip-hop legend Melle Mel. Mel, who faired far better here than in his boxing match with the Geto Boys’ Willie D, got into a scuffle with indie wrestling favorites Homicide and Eddie Kingston.

Who doesn’t love an award show? Well, quite a few people probably, but perhaps television’s numerous gold statue presentations could take a cue from the WWE’s annual Slammy Awards and raise the stakes by making the nominees compete live. One such memorable instance was when feuding commentators Jim Ross and Michael Cole rap battled for Announcer of the Year. In a not-so-uncommon battle rap instance, JR got a little tripped up when he had to rap over a beat, but still emerged the winner.

The WWE really wanted to hype up the first meeting between John Cena and the Rock as a larger-than-life collision of two very different worlds. Thus, to heighten the tension, they brought Flo Rida and Machine Gun Kelly to introduce each superstar separately, adding a battle of the bands element. Given the match’s location in Florida, and Machine Gun Kelly’s ill-received description of John Cena as “an underdog,” it’s fairly obvious Flo Rida won this round. Flo Rida would return later that year to perform for the WWE’s Tribute to the Troops.

Indie wrestling promotion $5 Wrestling is home to some of the more eccentric misfits of the wrestling world. One of which is Baltimore rapper/wrestler Prince Charming Chazz. Not merely a gimmick, there’s footage of Chazz rapping on YouTube going back over a decade. The “Charm City Superman” is one of a kind, often inspiring reactions of “That just happened?”

WWE’s embracing of their online capabilities has seen them create an impressive amount of online-only content with their superstars. One memorable endeavor was their roster-wide talent competition. Daniel Bryan, who has gone on to become one of the biggest stars in the company, first entered the competition doing magic and bear-wrestling, but he eventually decided to dominate the world of rap as well. Yes, that’s Kane in a Kangol beatboxing. You’re welcome.

It had been almost a decade since we’d seen John Cena rap, so in the lead up to his main event match at this past August’s Summerslam against Brock Lesnar, Lesnar’s advocate Paul Heyman took it upon himself to get into Cena’s head by performing a battle rap of his own. As the surprised crowd’s response indicates, Heyman’s performance was convincing, making many in the WWE Universe hold out hope that a full-length Heyman rap album isn’t entirely out of the question.