Many WWE Superstars are multi-talented. While some of them can sing and dance, others showcase their different talents on their own YouTube shows.
YouTube is a platform where you can create a channel and produce your own show. Five WWE Superstars have launched non-wrestling YouTube shows in the past few years.
Their in-ring success followed them to the video-sharing website as they managed to get thousands of followers. The shows are about cooking, gaming, food reviewing, and working out, among other things.
Here are five WWE Superstars who have non-wrestling YouTube shows.
New Champs in WWE! More RIGHT HERE
#5 WWE's Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville - Damandyz Donutz
Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville broadcast a donut-tasting show on YouTube called Damandyz Donutz. They launched it in August 2018 on their personal YouTube channels. The two WWE Superstars later created an official channel for the series, where they have over 57 thousand subscribers.
Deville spoke about the idea of the show in an interview with FanSided.
"It’s our baby, myself and Mandy Rose. We’ve been best friends since we started in WWE together five years ago. And we would always go to Krispy Kreme when the light was on and the donuts were hot. And we would post it on our Instagram story, not thinking anything of it. We’re both food lovers and we just love donuts. We started getting a lot of messages and people’s minds were blown by the fact that we eat donuts, I guess because we’re athletes and we work out a lot, we’re in good shape. They couldn’t believe that we ate donuts and we were like, you know, we’re people too. Life’s all about balance.
“So we would make these videos. One time we were dancing with the donuts and we had Krispy Kreme hats on and our fans were just loving it. I think it’s because it was a more relatable side to us than what they see on TV or in the ring. I think they liked seeing a goofier side of Sonya/Daria. So we planted that seed five years ago and when we got called up to Monday Night Raw, we knew it was the perfect time to do a YouTube series.”
The series has over 45 episodes, but their last post came nearly eight months ago when Rose presented an episode by herself. Rose and Deville hosted many WWE Superstars on their series. Liv Morgan's episode is the most watched with over 400 thousand views.
#4 WWE's Sheamus - Celtic Warrior Workouts
Sheamus is another WWE Superstar who has a YouTube series - Celtic Warrior Workouts. He broadcast his first episode in November 2017. Sheamus, alongside WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle and WWE Superstar Cesaro, visited Manchester City's stadium and trained with the team's producer Alex Cuschieri.
Since then, Sheamus has hosted many WWE Superstars on his YouTube episodes. The idea of his series is to host a guest who would present their exercise routine to Sheamus and the viewers. The Irish superstar has to follow his guests' lead and try their workout routines.
The Celtic Warrior has hosted John Cena, Edge, Drew McIntyre, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair, and many other WWE Superstars.
The former WWE Champion revealed to TalkSport that his dream guest is WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.
"The guy’s a machine, mate. I’ve heard stories of him squatting nearly 700 pounds, which I can’t do. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to squat 700 pounds. He’s insane in the gym, he’ll train sometimes at two o’clock in the morning. Of course, he’s someone I think I would love to have as my 100th episode of Celtic Warrior Workouts."
Perhaps one for the future...
#3 WWE's Xavier Woods - UpUpDownDown Gaming
WWE RAW Tag Team Champion Xavier Woods has a successful YouTube series. He is the host of a gaming show called UpUpDownDown, which has over 2.2 million subscribers.
The show's Twitter account introduces it by stating that it offers viewers a "cheat code for the best gaming content around starring Austin Creed a.k.a WWE Superstar Xavier Woods."
Woods told the story behind the launch of his YouTube series in an interview with Esports Observer.
“So I actually didn’t want to create a YouTube channel. I had zero intentions of doing that – it wasn’t even like a thought on the radar. I wanted to create a show that was like a Travel Channel-type show [where] you go to different cities and try different things…because as we were traveling for WWE what I would do most nights is find an arcade bar in whatever town we were in, go check it out, play the games, you know, play with people."
At the same time, WWE was thinking about creating YouTube content. Woods and "someone from the office" came up with the idea of creating a show featuring WWE Superstars playing video games.
Negotiations with WWE executives took nearly another year before UpUpDownDown saw the light.
"Wrestling obviously didn’t use to be as open as it is now. It’s one of those industries that people have a lot of questions about and we never really want to ruin the magic, we want people to still have their child-like awe when they see the show.
“From my end, I really wanted to make sure that everyone was able to be their genuine selves in this space so we don’t have to worry about good and bad guys, and what happened last week on RAW, SmackDown, and NXT. Someplace where we can all enjoy video games and talk about our experiences with them and just have fun."
UpUpDownDown has been a breath of fresh air for a lot of WWE fans.
#2 WWE's Natalya and her sister Jenni - The Neidharts
Former WWE SmackDown Women's Champion Natalya hosts a show called The Neidharts, alongside her sister Jenni, on YouTube. Natalya and her sister introduced the idea of the show in a video.
"Jenni and I are going to let you in on a little journey with The Neidharts, and we are here with Mr. 2Paws. 2Paws really wants to talk food, fashion, fitness, and travel."
Jenni added that they would also discuss "a little bit of insanity and a little bit of heartbreak" away from WWE.
Natalya highlighted in her introduction that they would tackle wrestling topics, too, since she is a female wrestler.
The YouTube channel has gained over 65,000 subscribers since starting in January 2020. They regularly post different kinds of challenges like What's in My Mouth, Pajama Party Pillow Fight, and Pumpkin Pie Wars. They also post tutorials and some comedy material.
The Neidharts' most-watched YouTube episode was a little wrestling-related. In that episode, Natalya had to show her sister how to do a Sharpshooter. The episode got over 900,000 views.
#1 WWE's Asuka - Kana Chan TV
Asuka is one of the most successful WWE Superstars in recent history. She is currently the RAW Women's Champion but seems to be equally talented in the kitchen, as it appears on her YouTube channel.
The RAW Women's Champion has her own channel on YouTube called KanaChanTV.
Asuka's channel has nearly 450,000 subscribers. The Japanese superstar broadcasts different kinds of material, while her stand-out show is the cooking one ASMR.
Although Asuka rarely speaks in her cooking videos, these episodes get tens, if not hundreds of thousands, of views.
The Empress of Tomorrow also broadcasts gaming videos. Her first ever episode on her channel was a gaming one, which was published in September 2019 and featured her playing Super Mario Maker 2.
The episode got nearly 300,000 views. The RAW Women's Champion occasionally posts workout videos, too, among other material.
Asuka is one of the most successful WWE Superstars on YouTube. The Empress of Tomorrow now has to focus on her wrestling career when she puts her title on the line against Rhea Ripley at WWE WrestleMania 37.