Popular musician picks Becky Lynch and Edge in her Mount Rushmore of WWE Superstars from 2016-2021 (Exclusive)
She may not be from the wrestling world, but guitarist Nita Strauss is a well-known WWE fan whose music has been featured by the company in the recent past.
She was a special guest on the latest episode of Sportskeeda Wrestling's UnSKripted. The popular musician was asked about her Mount Rushmore of wrestling from the talent that competed in the WWE between the years 2010 and 2021.
Sid Pullar III (SP3) filled in for Dr. Chris Featherstone on the most recent UnSKripted. Strauss revealed that she wasn't introduced to professional wrestling until 2016, and SP3 altered the question to accommodate WWE wrestlers from just the past five years.
Alice Cooper's touring guitarist felt Becky Lynch's name was a no-brainer as The Man has been one of the most recognizable faces in the entire promotion.
Nita Strauss also revealed that she was a big fan of WWE NXT wrestlers and specifically singled out Finn Balor, adding the former WWE Universal Champion to her Mount Rushmore.
"Okay, well, Becky has got to be on there because she has done so much amazing stuff. You know, I love a lot of the NXT wrestlers, even though, like, Finn has gone up and come down. Finn, for sure, would be on mine because he is such an exciting performer and such a great talker. Always has such great stories."
Strauss rounded up her list with Charlotte Flair and Edge. The musician understands that Edge wasn't an active performer until he returned to the WWE Royal Rumble 2020 event. Still, she highlighted that the Rated-R Superstar's successful WWE comeback warranted his inclusion in her Mount Rushmore.
Strauss added that choosing a Mount Rushmore from the current crop of WWE talent was quite a difficult task as there were several performers that she loved:
"Charlotte, for sure. I'm giving equal opportunity here to girls and guys. Charlotte, for sure, and then can I pick Edge because of how amazing his comeback has been? (laughs) Even though he is technically not a wrestler from now, more of like back then. Edge's comeback has just been so incredible. So, it's hard to pick a Mount Rushmore of people who are not finished with their career yet. You know, I love what Rhea is doing, I love what Bianca is doing, I love, of course, what Sasha's doing. You know, there is so much great talent out there. It's a good time."
Nita Strauss talks about attending her first WWE WrestleMania and how she became a wrestling fan
Nita Strauss delved deeper into her roots as a wrestling fan and was honest in admitting that she was unaware of the business until 2016.
Strauss started following wrestling after she began dating Josh Villalta. Strauss explained that she grew up in a house without television and was oblivious to various trends, including the WWE:
"Oh, 2010 to 2021. You know, you're calling me out on some years that I'm not too familiar with. I'm going to be completely honest because I only started watching wrestling in 2016, and the reason for that, I do have a good reason. Don't turn the feed off (laughs). I grew up in a house without TV, so I didn't have any access to any wrestling growing up. You know, I started touring really young, and I never really got to tune into anything popular like that."
Strauss picked up wrestling from her boyfriend, and she recalled the experience of attending her first WWE WrestleMania event back in 2016. The 34-year-old guitarist took some time to warm up to pro wrestling as she didn't initially get the hype surrounding the entire sports entertainment schtick.
Strauss's boyfriend gave her a thorough interpretation of wrestling, and she decided to check out iconic footage on the WWE Network. Strauss watched the Attitude Era documentary on the WWE Network and explained that she had to learn about wrestling history to grasp the current product:
"I never really got into the, you know, trending stuff that was happening on TV, and it was only when Josh and I started dating, and he was a huge wrestling fan, grew up watching wrestling, that he showed me my first WrestleMania that was 2016, and that was my first exposure to watching any wrestling event at all. You know, honestly, my first WrestleMania watching, I didn't get it. I completely did not get it, and I was like, what's cool about this? What do you like about this? And he kind of explained to me really to get it, you have to watch the older stuff. You have to see that stuff in order to understand why this new stuff is so special."
Strauss said she still has a lot of catching up to do in regards to her pro wrestling know-how:
"Back then, we had the WWE Network, and now we don't anymore, but you know, back in the good old days of 2016, you know, he put on the Network, and he put on the Monday Night Wars special. They had this great; I think it's an 8-part series about Monday Night Wars. That was my introduction to wrestling, and then, you know, he is a purist. So we're watching all, you know, the Attitude Era, the 80s, and 90s and stuff. So, I have so much to catch up on, still, from the 2000s and mid-2000s era that I can't give you a good definitive answer of who I would pick in the last ten years."
Nita Strauss has been involved with the WWE since 2018. She performed at WWE WrestleMania 34 and most recently at WWE NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver, where she played the American National Anthem.
If any quotes are used from this article, please add a H/T to SK Wrestling.