There are two things in abundance on the internet. Cats, and professional wrestling fans complaining about the business. With this in mind, it actually makes sense to have internet meme sensation Grumpy Cat serve as a guest host for Monday Night Raw, but the reasoning doesn’t go far beyond that idea.
Let me preface this by saying that I am a huge fan of both Grumpy Cat and WWE, so I was one of the few people excited about this one time team up, even if it makes little to no sense. It isn’t hard to see why it’s happening though. Grumpy Cat has a Lifetime movie debuting soon and WWE is happy to seemingly add any celebrity who will appear on the show.
Does this marriage of convenience make sense? To quote Grumpy Cat, “No”. However, it doesn’t mean that something fun can’t come out of it. Of course, if you’re a wrestling purist, you might as well just click the back button now because I guarantee none of the following ideas will appeal to you. If however you’re a sports entertainment enthusiast, read along, as we explore some of the ways Grumpy Cat could be used on Monday night.
Adam Rose & the Exotic Express or Bo Dallas try to cheer her up. One of the things WWE likes to do is pair off celebrities with a performer that has a contradictory personality, like the time Donald Trump met The Boogeyman. If WWE was to take that route then there are two superstars who would be perfect to interact with Grumpy Cat. The first is Adam Rose and the Exotic Express. His entire character is driven by the philosophy that life is a party. It’s easy to picture Rose telling Grumpy Cat “Don’t be a lemon, be a Rosebud!” That being said the Exotic Express tends to be a loud bunch and would likely frighten poor Tardar Sauce (Grumpy Cat’s real name for those of you that like to break the fourth wall) so I think Bo Dallas might actually be a better choice. Bo Dallas is Mr. Positivity and a speech from the young star would not be surprising. There’s even a built in joke about Grumpy Cat “Hangin’ In There Baby” if he just Bo-Lieves!
Daniel Bryan and Grumpy Cat get into an argument. Daniel Bryan’s catch phrase is “YES!”, Grumpy Cat’s catch Phrase is “NO!” so this isn’t rocket science. On paper this seems like it would be a no brainer for a segment, but WWE doesn’t seem that interested in reminding people that Daniel Bryan exists still, hopefully because they’re waiting to make his return a surprise or a big deal. If they were however to bring him in for Monday, this segment writes itself. Bryan talks about what the YES movement has done for him and the WWE Universe and encourages Grumpy Cat to try it herself, to no avail.
For more on sports injuries, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert
Lana & Rusev use Grumpy Cat to get heat. We know that Grumpy Cat will be at Raw to promote her new Lifetime movie Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever, and although Tardar Sauce can’t exactly vocalize about why the WWE Universe should go see it, they can show the movie’s trailer. This might be an opportune time for the Ravishing Russian Lana and United States champion Rusev to interrupt the festivities and get some heat by holding up Grumpy Cat as an example of how America has become a cultural wasteland, more concerned with the latest meme than any of the real problems they face. They always say the best heel promos have a little bit of truth to them, so as a heat generating segment it could work, unless the vocal majority of those in the crowd also happen to believe that, in which case it could backfire.
Michael Cole interviews Grumpy Cat. At first, Michael Cole’s weekly sit down interviews were seen as kind of hokey, but to WWE’s credit, they stuck with them and have used them to their advantage as a way to further story lines in the company. This may be a way to acknowledge that hokeyness in a playful way. Sure, this kind of thing has been done in the past with other new anchors trying to interview Grumpy Cat to no response, but I wouldn’t put it past WWE to try it for some cheap laughs. The only way I could see them spinning it differently would be to have Grumpy Cat “answer” the questions via sub titles ala her internet meme in humorous ways.
Zack Ryder and the Internet Championship. If there is one superstar on the WWE roster that is the perfect choice to interact with Grumpy Cat, its Zack Ryder. WWE’s own version of an internet meme, Ryder was able to get himself over by using the power of social media to gain popularity and even crown himself the WWE Internet champion. With another internet sensation on Raw, maybe Ryder would feel threatened by Grumpy Cat and could challenge her to a tweet off with the winner taking home Ryder’s custom made gold? We know WWE’s obsession with social media, and this might be a fun way to involve both WWE fans and Grumpy Cat fans in an interactive way. The only question is, who would win? With Ryder’s track record on Raw, I would put my money on Tarder Sauce taking home a new gold cat toy.
Wade Barrett has some bad news for Grumpy Cat. Of all the scenarios I could think of, this one put the biggest smile on my face. It would be easy to have Bad News Barrett confront Grumpy Cat with some bad news, and I could easily see things starting that way, but what if Bad News Barrett actually took a shine to Grumpy Cat, seeing as they have the same disposition? It’s not hard to imagine Barrett spending the rest of the night giving out bad news from a cushy office chair with Grumpy Cat in his lap, petting him and taunting the WWE Universe like some sort of maniacal James Bond villain. Bad News Barrett has an ironic cool factor and knows how to get an angle over. Of anyone on the roster, he has the biggest potential to stop Grumpy Cat from being a worst guest than Kathy Lee Gifford.
Choices for Monday Night Raw guest hosts, much like internet memes, are rarely well thought out, or particularly clever. They serve a purpose, but if you take them too seriously, then you run the risk of ruining whatever little value they had to begin with. So if the thought of Grumpy Cat on Raw fills you with dread, just take a deep breathe and remember that it’s all in good fun. If you just don’t think you can handle it, maybe surf the web while Grumpy Cat segments are on and see what Randy Orton is RKO-ing out of nowhere this week.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @AdamContant. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter –@LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Interested in writing for LWOS? We are looking for enthusiastic, talented writers to join our Pro Wrestling writing team. Visit our “Write for Us” page for very easy details in how you can get started today!
