Westside Gunn Opens Up About What AEW Dynamite Appearance Meant To Him

AEW could use some feel good stories at the moment, and they got one on "AEW Dynamite" last Wednesday when Daniel Garcia won the ROH Pure Championship in his hometown of Buffalo, New York. That victory came after rapper Westside Gunn performed during Garcia's entrance. Pitchfork would speak to both Garcia and Gunn about the moment, and Garcia revealed this had been something he had been looking to make happen for a long, long time. "Since I became a wrestler, I always thought to myself if I ever do a big show in Buffalo, I want Westside Gunn to play me out," Garcia said.

The moment may have been even more special for Gunn, a life-long wrestling fan who has even looked at getting into the wrestling business recently with his own promotion. "I've been there since day one and that was always a dream of mine — just being a part of it," Gunn said. "And it's all about timing. I could've had the opportunity sooner, who knows, but it happening in Buffalo for Danny and him winning the belt? That's the story. It doesn't get any better than that." Gunn, who had been seen but not acknowledged in the crowd at past wrestling events, also commented on the disappointment some fans felt about him being snubbed.

"The fans would get madder than me," Gunn said. "I stopped being mad a long time ago that I wasn't getting the acknowledgement that I should. Every time I go to a show, I leave to a couple hundred tweets of 'why why why why why,' you know what I'm sayin'?" Perhaps no one however was more disappointed about Gunn not getting his due in wrestling than Garcia himself.

"I don't feel like the wrestling business owes anybody anything, but Gunn has the power to do so much for the culture of pro wrestling," he said. "He's probably introduced wrestling to a lot of different people and made people view wrestling in a different light. He's never asked for a free ticket — he just buys tickets and sits in the front row. Then a lot of rappers who maybe don't like wrestling at all are getting opportunities and they aren't even as popular as him. It's been time for him to get a little shine, so I'm glad we were able to put that shine on him and give him that moment."

With Gunn being so excited to be involved with wrestling, further appearances with AEW seem a likely fit. He isn't the only notable rapper to appear on "Dynamite" recently though, as Swerve Strickland used his music ties to bring in Kevin Gates in July.