Vince McMahon – Stand Back
Yes, this man’s connection with wrestling in 2020 is extremely dodgy but he is a genuinely complete talent. He has brilliant business sense, as you can tell from keeping WWE afloat since he took over from his father. He knows how to get people to hate him, go watch anything he did with Stone Cold in the Attitude Era. And, he can sing and dance!
In December 1987, WWF at would host their 37th annual Slammy Awards, but it wasn’t the 37th annual show, they just called it that. It wasn’t like the Slammy Awards us millennial fans know, it was a proper glitz and glamour award show, similar to the BAFTA’s for our UK fans. Various musical performances were aired but none were as good as watching Vince McMahon strut around a stage and sing Stand Back, with hilarious cameos from various stars ‘playing’ instruments. Those included Hulk Hogan on bass, as well as Macho Man, Jake Roberts and Brutus Beefcake playing the trumpets.
This clip literally defines the 1980’s for wrestling, over the top and in hindsight, absolutely hilarious and bat poo crazy. Vince was also accompanied by various dancers in dresses which varied in colour, mainly for him to ogle at. For someone with the voice as deep as Vinny Mac’s, he can actually sing and makes for a real entertainer.
Once in a Lifetime.
I tried my absolute hardest to not include Wrestlemania performances, but I had to include this one for multiple reasons; it holds a special place in my heart as it’s the first Wrestlemania I watched live but it’s also two icons going ahead and having class musical performances prior to their entrances.
John Cena vs The Rock was hyped up for an entire year through various methods and the buzz created around this match escalated when it was announced Wrestlemania would come from The Rock’s home state of Florida. John Cena would be played to the ring by the relatively unknown, at the time, Machine Gun Kelly, who would perform his single, Invincible.
The Rock would be played out by Flo Rida who would perform Good Feelings and Wild Ones. Looking back on it, it was symbolic to have these two men perform; the lesser-known for John Cena who was the ‘underdog’ in the feud with The Rock having the megastar in Flo Rida, showing that The Rock is the global star he is. Usually, we get Wrestlemania performances and the fans don’t really react, they just watch but Flo Rida did get the fans up and dancing and why wouldn’t he? He was a hometown boy as well.
Jeff Jarrett & The Roadie Reunite – WWE Hall of Fame 2018
To the shock of many WWE fans, Jeff Jarrett was announced as one of the entrants into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2018, the shock comes from how he would leave WWE and start a competitor company in TNA. In Jarrett’s first run in WWF, he would have the gimmick as a country and western singer, with his sidekick, The Roadie. Together, they would actually release a song entitled ‘With my Baby Tonight’ but would only be performed once on WWF TV at In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks before leaving the company due to a contractual dispute. It would later come out that The Roadie would sing the song and Double J would lip sync.
During Jarrett’s Hall of Fame induction, The Roadie, we all know him as Road Dogg, came out and performed the song together. It was absolutely hilarious because Jarrett did not know the words despite them being displayed on the titantron and Road Dogg saying to the crowd that they are there. It was what we all expected from it, a lovely nostalgia spot for the viewers watching at home and for all the fans and superstars to join in who were in attendance. Road Dogg did make a reference to the lip syncing from 1995 by saying ‘is it me lip syncing, or you?’ on the stage.
Musical Chairs – RAW July 5th 2004
On a night where his ‘uncle’ Eric Bischoff was away, Eugene got left in charge of Monday Night RAW. He gathers Chris Jericho, Tyson Tomko, Ric Flair, Tajiri, Jonathan Coachman, Jerry Lawler and Stacy Keibler in the ring and informs them that they can earn a title opportunity later in the night. He informs them to earn the shot, they must win a game of musical chairs. Originally, all are hesitant except for Keibler but Lawler eventually joins in with the other looking on with confused looks on their faces.
The buzzer goes, and they all rush in, with Tajiri being knocked out, who mists Coachman for laughing. Naitch is the star of the show as he struts around the chairs behind Stacy before pushing her over to get sat down. His strutting is his downfall as the music cuts out when he bounces against the ropes and is eliminated, leaving Jericho and Tomko as the final two. Tomko goes to sit down but Jericho pulls the chair out from under him, hits him in the mid-section with it and sits down, winning the opportunity.
A very WWE ending to a very stupid WWE segment, a segment that did give the fans some laughs. Jericho would go on and challenge Randy Orton for the Intercontinental Championship but was unsuccessful. Eugene was a dodgy gimmick for Nick Dinsmore to portray but it did give us some laughs.
John Cena Vs. Fozzy: Battle of the Brands – RAW, July 25th 2005
After being drafted to RAW from Smackdown in 2005, John Cena refused to take part in the ‘war’ against ECW which prompted RAW General Manager, Eric Bischoff, to make his life a living hell. Bischoff would hand pick Chris Jericho to dethrone John Cena, who took the WWE Championship with him to RAW. Between Jericho being picked and their match at SummerSlam, Cena and Jericho would have a ‘Battle of the Bands’ which basically was used to hype up John Cena’s new album.
Cena, along with Tha Trademarc, performed Bad, Bad Man in Cleveland and those fans absolutely loved it. Cena would have a huge version of his logo above his head rigged with LED’s and with pyro and would have a stage set up to the side of the entrance ramp. After the performance, Jericho would come out, say the song sucked and refused to allow Fozzy to play.
He would state that the fans in Cleveland didn’t deserve to hear them but let’s be honest, Fozzy’s music wasn’t fantastic in 2005. After Jericho would leave, Cena would perfom his theme song, You Can’t See Me, for the fans. This was a bit of a pointless segment but did get Cena over more and did sow the seeds of Jericho’s pompous Rockstar persona.