Andy Warhol’s Brief Moment of Professional Wrestling Fame (1985)

Andy Warhol did for art what the World Wrestling Fed­er­a­tion (WWF) did for wrestling. He made it a spec­ta­cle. He made it some­thing the “every­man” could enjoy. He infused it with celebri­ty. And, some would say, he cheap­ened it too.

Look­ing back, it makes per­fect sense that Warhol fre­quent­ed wrestling shows at Madi­son Square Gar­den dur­ing the 1970s. And here we have him appear­ing on on cam­era at The War to Set­tle the Score, a WWF event that aired on MTV in 1985. Hulk Hogan bat­tled “Row­dy” Rod­dy Piper in the main event. But, the sideshow includ­ed (let’s get in the Hot Tub Time Machine) the likes of Cyn­di Lau­per, Mr. T., and Andy too.

If you’re famil­iar with the pro­fes­sion­al wrestling script, you know that the inter­view with Mean Gene Oker­lund gave wrestlers the chance to pound their chests and gas off. But Warhol could­n’t muster very much. “I’m speech­less.” “I just don’t know what to say.” And, before you know it, his one minute of pro­fes­sion­al wrestling fame was over. Just like that.…

via the always great Bib­liokelpt

Relat­ed Con­tent:

Andy Warhol Dig­i­tal­ly Paints Deb­bie Har­ry with the Ami­ga 1000 Com­put­er (1985)

Andy Warhol Quits Paint­ing, Man­ages The Vel­vet Under­ground (1965)

Warhol’s Screen Tests: Lou Reed, Den­nis Hop­per, Nico, and More

Three “Anti-Films” by Andy Warhol: Sleep, Eat & Kiss


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  • Great clip– but where did you get that he fre­quent­ed wrestling shows dur­ing the ’70s? I had under­stood that the came rather late to this par­ty, in the ’80s.

    (your quote: “Look­ing back, it makes per­fect sense that Warhol fre­quent­ed wrestling shows at Madi­son Square Gar­den dur­ing the 1970s.”)

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