Claudio Castagnoli explains why influencers in wrestling are part of the business
Celebrities have often been a part of pro wrestling, and AEW’s Claudio Castagnoli recently explained why they are required by the business.
While fans have often criticized WWE for their influx of celebrities and influencers in their shows, their competition, AEW, has also frequently used and presented celebrities in their TV programs. However, AEW’s usage of celebrities still falls far behind WWE, although Castagnoli believes the addition of celebrities brings more audience to wrestling.
“This is not a brand new thing. There was always maybe celebrities or maybe football, like in the past was more like football players, for example, or bodybuilders or stuff like that,” Castagnoli said while speaking to Sky Sports.
“Now it’s influencers because of how everything evolved. As much as that is part of the business because it brings a new audience in and it keeps things, I guess, interesting, I feel the core of the wrestling business is still wrestling, and you shouldn’t lose that,” he finished.
While WWE recently used Jelly Roll, Travis Scott, Ryan Garcia, and a few other names in their programming, AEW’s recent usage of celebrities includes pro-wrestlers and TikTok stars A.J. & Big Justice, and The Rizzler.
Shounak Chakrabarti is an experienced sports journalist with a lifelong passion for athletics and storytelling. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Journalism from the University of Leeds and joined F4WOnline in 2025.
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