Andy Warhol’s One Minute 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 80s. And here we have him appear­ing 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 1980s pro­fes­sion­al wrestling script, you know that Mean Gene Oker­lund con­duct­ed back­stage and ring­side inter­views with the wrestlers, giv­ing them the chance to pound their chests and gas off. When Oker­lund turned to Warhol and asked for his hot take on the Hogan/Piper match, 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.…

Relat­ed Con­tent

Andy Warhol Hosts Frank Zap­pa on His Cable TV Show, and Lat­er Recalls, “I Hat­ed Him More Than Ever” After the Show

Andy Warhol’s Art Explained: What Makes His Icon­ic Campbell’s Soup Cans & Mar­i­lyn Mon­roe Dip­tych Art?

When Andy Warhol Guest-Starred on The Love Boat (1985)

Andy Warhol Explains Why He Decid­ed to Give Up Paint­ing & Man­age the Vel­vet Under­ground Instead (1966)

Andy Warhol’s 15 Min­utes: Dis­cov­er the Post­mod­ern MTV Vari­ety Show That Made Warhol a Star in the Tele­vi­sion Age (1985–87)