What’s the story?
WWE Superstar The Miz was a part of WWE’s recent press conference in Singapore. During the press conference, he was asked about his thoughts on celebrity appearances in the WWE as well as the LaVar Ball segment on RAW.
In case you didn’t know...
Former basketball player LaVar Ball appeared on the 26th June 2017 episode of Monday Night RAW at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. LaVar was accompanied by his basketball playing sons Lonzo Ball and LaMelo Ball.
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Lonzo was recently drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers and it was his first appearance in his new home stadium of Staples Center since he joined the NBA team.
The Ball family was at RAW to promote their sporting accessories and apparel company “Big Baller Brand” and appeared on the Miz TV segment, hosted by The Miz and his wife Maryse. The segment was said to have been a “train wreck” in the eyes of backstage officials and further derailed after LaMelo Ball used racist slurs on the microphone.
The heart of the matter
The Miz talked about the RAW segment with LaVar Ball and stated that the segment had directed a lot of mainstream attention towards the WWE. He then stated that celebrities are often unpredictable as they sometimes don’t “follow the script”.
He added that Monday Night RAW and Miz TV being Lonzo Ball’s first appearance at the Staples Center since joining the LA Lakers was “really cool” and that the segment generated a lot of talk about Miz TV.
The Miz then said that bringing in celebrities like LaVar and Lonzo Ball from the basketball world brought many new eyes to the WWE product. He was quoted as saying:
“We want more people to love WWE and to love our product so we bring, you know, outside celebrities in to help generate that because maybe they might not be diehard fans of LaVar Ball but there might be LaVar Ball fans out there who want to see what he’s going to do and now with all the attention we generated.
Maybe next week we’ll have more fans because of the people that were like, ‘Wow, you know what. I like that, I’m going to keep watching it now.’ So that’s kind of what it’s all about in my opinion.”
Also read: The most famous celebrities who showed up at WrestleMania
Miz finished by saying that there was no one more talented than him.
What’s next?
With the WWE issuing a statement on LaMelo Ball’s racist remarks during Monday Night RAW, it is currently unclear whether the Ball family will be featuring in any further WWE segments.
The Miz is the current WWE Intercontinental Champion and will probably be facing off against Dean Ambrose at WWE’s Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view on 9th July 2017 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The match is expected to be confirmed on the 3rd July 2017 edition of RAW.
Author’s take
The celebrities need WWE exposure just as much as the WWE needs them. These celebrity appearances always happen to benefit both sides of the deal and it’s good to see that the WWE is committed to bringing more fans to the product.
The Ball family segment might not have lived up to the expectations, but several celebrities have made decent cameos in the WWE in the past and it doesn't look like the trend of celebs coming to the WWE is going to stop anytime soon.
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