The day Andy Warhol accidentally became a part of the WWE
A character. An icon. An artist. Andy Warhol was a large personality who expressed much of himself in his artwork’s bright colours and bold nature. Of course, there were occasions when Andy Warhol found himself on the back foot slightly, as his fame often meant he was put in situations that were out of his comfort zone and made him feel awkward.
When he attended to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s wedding when he was marrying Maria Shiver, Warhol turned up with Grace Jones as Schwarzenegger specific that no guests were allowed to bring a date or a plus one unless it was someone already attending. Warhol was nervous and reserved during the run-up to meeting Jones and heading to the wedding. Unfortunately, there is no video footage of the two meeting or the subsequent wedding, so we cannot see what this awkwardness looked like. However, there are other examples of the artist’s shyness out there.
A man of many surprises, Andy Warhol was a huge wrestling fan and used to go to WWE matches quite a lot. This shouldn’t be that shocking for many people, as Warhol was a popular and often controversial artist. The fact that he was drawn to another form of entertainment that was also popular and often seen as controversial should be expected.
Wrestling can often be considered an art form in its own right. With its pure spectacle, whether that’s the choreography of the fight, the ring walks or outfits, a great deal of creativity goes into putting these exhibitions together. Of course, one of the most entertaining aspects of the wrestling world comes outside the ring, when wrestlers are bad-mouthing one another and calling out people they’d like to fight.
During different interviews in the WWF and WWE, we have been treat to some of the exciting lines that continue to live on in the hearts of millions. “Can you smell what the rock is cooking?” “That’s the bottom line, because Stone Cold said so,” and who could ever forget, “Erm, it’s the best I’ve ever seen in my whole entire life.”
The last line comes from a stunned Andy Warhol, who accidentally stumbled into an interview while attending a WWF match. When the announcer saw the famous artist, he brought him in for a chat, but it’s clear that the trash talk and flamboyant nature of wrestling wasn’t made for Warhol. While he holds his own during the interview, many of his responses consist of him talking about how amazing wrestling is and merely agreeing with whatever the announcer says; that being said, it’s incredibly entertaining to watch.
The story goes that Warhol and the German filmmaker Werner Herzog would often go to watch wrestling together; as Herzog put it in a few more words than Warhol, “It’s fascinating because something very crude, something very raw is emerging.”
