Synergy is a beautiful thing. On Saturday night, international star, 26-year-old Bad Bunny, made his debut appearance on the long-running NBC hit sketch show, Saturday Night Live (SNL) as the musical guest. As Bad Bunny sat, performing his hit single, “Te Deseo lo Mejor” during his second set of the night, fans were quick to notice he did so with some hardware in tow.
No, it wasn’t one of his Latin Grammys or American Music Awards but rather, the WWE 24/7 Championship, which Bad Bunny won just under a week ago on Monday Night Raw. Thanks to Damian Priest, Bad Bunny was in the right place at the right time and was able to pin Akira Tozawa, who had just ended R Truth’s astonishing 48th reign with the championship.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPEwYnAQQOg&feature=emb_title
Bad Bunny debuted in WWE at the Royal Rumble, serving as a special musical guest and more. After performing “Booker T” and then declining to join the Miz, Miz destroyed Bunny’s DJ equipment prior to entering the Rumble match. Bunny however, wasn’t done for the night as later in the match, he came out to confront Miz and John Morrison. The distraction Bunny created was enough to allow his friend, Damian Priest, to be able eliminate both men, throwing them over the top rope. At that point, Bunny made his way into the ring and took to the skies, launching a dive from the top rope to take out the duo.
The interaction, as well as the following week on Raw, seemed to be the setup for Bad Bunny, a huge wrestling fan, to be the latest celebrity to step into the WrestleMania ring for a match. While nothing has been made official, it is widely believed that Bunny, who has been training at the Performance Center, will team with Priest in a tag team match against Miz and Morrison.
According to Triple H in a recent media call, “I can tell you I have not been more impressed with anyone sort of walking in the door with a, ‘Hey, I’d like to do this thing with you guys and king of engage with you,’ as Bad Bunny…he is phenomenal. So respectful to what we do, is the biggest fan, is living a dream right now. But in every way that you could possibly imagine, he’s respectful and loves what we are doing, and is so into it.”
Triple H went on to add that he sees Bunny “training all the time,” and that he, “really can’t say enough good stuff about him.”
But in between training, Bad Bunny’s music and perhaps, budding acting career, has continued. Currently nominated for two Grammy Awards and in possession of the first All-Spanish album, El Ultimo Tour del Mundo, to top the Billboard charts, Bunny made time for his SNL debut.
In doing so, he continued to marry the two worlds of NBC’s sketch show and its wrestling show, that last saw Weekend Update co-hosts, Colin Jost and Michael Che, get tangled up with Braun Strowman in the run-up of WrestleMania 35 and compete in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
With SNL already on Peacock, NBC’s newly-launched streaming service, and WWE heading there shortly, Bunny bringing the 24/7 Championship to the show was certainly a promotional opportunity for all involved. Already, Bunny is one of the top merch sellers on WWE.com and his stardom alone, has added more eyes to the product. Saturday’s performance only adds to that.
In typical WWE fashion though, Bunny showing up with the title likely made fans suspect he would lose it. That Truth, as he has on many shows in the past, would be lurking to take his baby back. That didn’t happen. Not to interfere with the performance, Bad Bunny made it out of SNL, unscathed, championship still in hand. We’ll see if he is fortunate enough to meet the same fate on Monday.
