A Twitter post made headlines Tuesday thanks to Arrow star Stephen Amell and a reply by wrestler-actor Dave Bautista. The latter is taking a respite from movies to wrestle his rival Triple H one last time.
Amell, an avowed wrestling fan and sometimes an in-ring performer himself, tweeted about the upcoming WrestleMania match, voicing his concern of a celebrity angle — which goes hand-in-hand with WrestleMania — would “detract” from the rest of the show.
Just landed and found out about @DaveBautista v @TripleH — Really pumped for the match but also don’t want to see a celebrity angle detract from an awesome wrestling card. 😶
— Stephen Amell (@StephenAmell) March 12, 2019
Bautista, who rose to fame as a wrestler well before Hollywood, was tagged in the post and didn’t take long to respond. He sought to remind everyone of his toughness, championship accomplishments, and love for the business.
He punctuated his remarks with the assertion he “adds” to the card.
Considering that celebrity could actually fuck someone up, and that celebrity is a former 6x heavyweight champ, and that celebrity is there because he loves it, maybe it just adds to the card. Maybe. https://t.co/RGztvWphiQ
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) March 12, 2019
Both men have a point, Bautista isn’t known for keeping his thoughts to himself when it’s personal. He openly vilified Disney and “cybernazis” over the firing of James Gunn. Last week, he made waves contrasting his acting style with Dwayne Johnson’s.
Smart people with the right connections (say, a McMahon) might see a brewing Grudge Match here — and plenty of money to be made. Throw in The Rock and you can have a triple threat.
Stephen Amell, though not a seasoned veteran like The Animal, is no Stranger in Paradise when it comes to sports entertainment. He wrestled for super indie Ring of Honor, at WWE Summerslam and All In, an independent show promoted by his good friends, wrestlers Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks.
Amell was also made a member of New Japan’s Bullet Club faction when Cody and The Bucks were part of the group.
He has experience and natural athleticism and he wouldn’t have to train very long. And maybe Bautista has one more WrestleMania left in him. Who knows?
Unfortunately, Amell tried to cool things down admitting his original Tweet and the celebrity angle was in reference to himself. He even asks Bautista to not kill him!
Hey Dave — I went out of my way to introduce myself to you in Atlanta at a convention so I could tell you what a big fan of yours I am. You couldn't have been more pleasant. My tweet was meant to poke fun at me. It clearly wasn't funny. Please don't kill me. https://t.co/eCrMVdCi27
— Stephen Amell (@StephenAmell) March 12, 2019
WrestleMania has been a WWE tradition since 1985, attracting celebrities from all over and playing host to some of wrestling’s most historic moments. It airs this year on WWE’s streaming Network April 7th.