If you’re still not sure about how far independent wrestling has permeated into modern pop culture, you should watch the video embedded below:
.@gkittle46 let me know when you hear it. #theELITE pic.twitter.com/XUr53Xx2zv
— Adam Rank (@adamrank) December 20, 2018
Adam Rank uploaded the video with the hashtag “#theELITE” attached. It wasn’t long before it began to gain attention from wrestling fans on Twitter. Its reach even extended to members of The Elite, including Matt Jackson and “Hangman” Adam Page.
Matt Jackson commented that “This is the greatest” whilst ‘Hangman’ playfully said, “This all sounds familiar but I can’t quite put my finger on it.”
https://twitter.com/MattJackson13/status/1075898373348020224
https://twitter.com/theAdamPage/status/1075899019803676672
The video is a nice piece of referential journalism, snuck through onto a broadcast that wouldn’t have raised any attention unless you were a wrestling fan.
To the uninitiated, it’s an analytical breakdown. But for those in the know, it probably wasn’t long until you resonated with every reference dropped. All within thirty-six seconds.
An Elite Influence
The Elite’s popularity is undeniable.
With their products readily available in Hot Topic, their reputation built across multiple international companies, and their name recognition ever growing since their disassociation from Bullet Club, The Elite are on a precipice of integrating wrestling into mainstream pop culture that probably hasn’t been seen since the hey-day of the New World Order and Degeneration X.
With All Elite Wrestling on the horizon, it could only be a matter of it, not when, that happens.