{"id":92217,"date":"2021-05-22T10:00:03","date_gmt":"2021-05-22T14:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=92217"},"modified":"2021-05-21T22:48:59","modified_gmt":"2021-05-22T02:48:59","slug":"hit-row-records-nxt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/05\/22\/hit-row-records-nxt\/","title":{"rendered":"Just Different: A Look at NXT’s Hit Row Records Unit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ever since hip-hop and rap took over the radio waves in the 1980s, professional wrestling has sought to include its culture into its pantheon. In 1991, PN News<\/strong> debuted in WCW<\/strong> (his name a take on popular group PM Dawn), while in the United States Wrestling Association (USWA)<\/strong>, Jamie Dundee<\/strong> turned on his dad (USWA\/Memphis legend Bill Dundee<\/strong>) to become JC Ice<\/strong>, a young rapper. JC Ice would eventually form the duo PG-13<\/strong> with Wolfie D<\/strong> and head to the WWF<\/strong> where they were the rappers who led the original incarnation of Nation of Domination<\/strong> to the ring. They would also have stints in ECW and WCW. In 1993, WWF debuted Men on a Mission (M.O.M.)<\/strong> featuring Mo<\/strong> and Mabel<\/strong> (later Viscera<\/strong>), with a rapping manager named Oscar<\/strong> leading their charge. Over the years, more wrestlers came in with rapper gimmicks, like K-Krush\/K-Kwik<\/strong> (better known as R-Truth<\/strong><\/a>), through to John Cena<\/strong>‘s Doctor of Thuganomics. Even TNA\/IMPACT Wrestling<\/strong> got in on the action with 3Live Kru<\/strong>, a rap trio that featured Ron (R-Truth) Killings, Konnan<\/strong>, and BG James<\/strong> (WWE’s Road Dogg<\/strong>). Rappers even endorsed pro wrestlers – in 1999, WCW revealed the No Limit Soldiers<\/strong>, a Master P<\/strong>-led stable that featured Konnan<\/strong>, Rey Mysterio Jr.<\/strong>, BA<\/strong> (Brad Armstrong<\/strong>), and others. But outside of No Limits Soldiers, pro wrestling never fully seemed to properly portray the hip-hop culture (at least on a national TV level). But this month, NXT<\/strong> moved a step in the right direction with the revelation of “Swerve” Isaiah Scott<\/strong>‘s new stable, Hit Row Records<\/strong>, making its debut and immediately making a statement.<\/p>\n