What do election politics and professional wrestling have in common? Apparently, more than you think. Both feature over-the-top personalities 'cutting promos' (or giving speeches, depending on the arena), both have a tendency to stretch the truth in order to advance their own agendas, and both feature a healthy amount of trash talking directed at the competition.
This election season, wrestling and politics collide, as the race for the oval office features the first ever WWE hall-of-famer in Donald Trump, a man once referred to as 'a WrestleMania Institution' by WWE founder Vince McMahon, perhaps due to Trump's twice-successful campaigning to host the WWE's annual WrestleMania event at the now-defunct Trump Plaza Hotel in Atlantic City.
Political commentator, unabashed pro wrestling fan, and Outspeaker Steve Shives weighs in on the matter in his recent video, titled '10 WWE Hall of Famers Who'd Make a Better President Than Donald Trump'. From the Nature Boy Ric Flair to Hulk Hogan, Shives makes a compelling case for why each respective wrestler brings more to the presidential table than 'The Donald'. An odd aside: both Trump and Hogan have made headlines recently for publicly discussing the size of their respective "VP's".
Steve's list is a great start, but the Outspeak team has a few other suggestions for wrestlers past and present that deserve a run for POTUS. In no particular order:
Mick Foley
The wrestling equivalent of Bernie Sanders (from an endearing dishevelment perspective), Mick would truly be a man of the people.
Rey Mysterio
And you thought Hilary had the Hispanic vote on lock?
Booker T
The second prospective African-American president arguably has more charisma than the first, and definitely a better scissor kick.
John Bradshaw Layfield
A candidate for the conservative everyman, JBL channels both Bush Jr. and Sr. with his longhorn limousine and Texan swagger. He's already got his campaign slogan.
Stone Cold Steve Austin
Sometimes, global crises present a compelling case for the need to open up a can of whoop-ass.
The Big Show
Big shoes to fill, big man to fill them.
Kurt Angle
Who better to represent the USA on the global stage than a man who bleeds red, white, and blue?
, a politician does make, as
Hailing from Sharpsburg, Maryland, Steve Shives is a self-professed liberal atheist with a focus on discussing such topics as social justice, trending advancements in science, and yes, the WWE. Catch more of his tongue-in-cheek commentary in his ongoing YouTube series 'And Now The Good News', and 'Five Stupid Things About'.
Find Steve on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.
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