I signed off my recent Those Damn Crows interview with Ronnie Huxford with a promise to all wrestling fans in the MetalTalk Universe. With enough pestering, I said, I might convince our dear editor to let me publish the after-chat. After much grappling and playful smack talk, Steve finally submitted, allowing me to indulge my second passion: wrestling. And so, here it is—the Ronnie & Rhys wrestling piece.
While researching my interview with Ronnie Huxford, I discovered he was not just a brilliant drumming rock star but also a fellow wrestling fanatic. Naturally, I could not resist weaving the topic into our conversation.
You might remember I gave a snippet in the interview, including Ronnie’s thoughts on John Cena turning heel. From there, we expanded into the broader wrestling landscape, discussing how the current climate has made the sport more entertaining than ever.
“The storytelling and the Triple H/Netflix era are superb,” Ronnie said. “I could do hours talking about this. I listen to every podcast, Jim Cornette, Busted Open. I just love it. I absolutely love it.”
Ronnie Huxford let me know how he had been waiting to see what Triple H would be capable of and enthused his excitement for Wrestlemania season. “I think it’s gonna be a fun couple of months with the lead-up to Mania itself and the aftermath.”
I listened in as best as I could, but I was getting excited, my mind racing with the thought of the two of us making our own wrestling talk show. “Like the CM Punk stuff,” Ronnie says. “It’s just amazing, everywhere you look. There’s an amazing long-term storyline, and the payoffs are just magnificent. Have you seen the little things going around the internet at the moment where The Rock holds Cody Rhodes last year when he beat him down, and there’s a photo of John Cena there in the background?” This was a reference to the pictures on the side of one of the WWE trucks back in March ’24.
I jumped in, mentioning the finger gestures The Rock had been doing, first showing three and now two and likely soon, one finger. My thoughts are that if he gets to one, it would be one more reveal. With someone like Becky Lynch, as she’s been gone ages, it would be a shock return, and a female wrestler entering the storyline adds a new layer.
Ronnie popped for this idea, “That’s class,” he said. “Just the fact of you saying that, wow! I did think it was CM Punk the other day, just because of Paul Heyman. There was a bit of this is what I mean. So much a geek. There was a bit of a Paul Hayman and The Rock moment ages ago, as well.” Ronnie carried on, confessing, “Yeah, I am a mega, mega fan!”
We discussed how we had both been fortunate enough to enjoy the huge shows that had been coming to the UK over the recent few years. Ronnie Huxford had been to Clash At The Castle in Cardiff. I had been to the Money In The Bank show in London.
We both managed to get to AEWAll In at Wembley Stadium. “AEW in Wembley was spectacular when Punk was there,” he smiled. “It was an amazing day. They’re doing really well. It’s so hard to compete with WWE at the moment. WWE is just absolutely killing it. And now you’ve got TNA as well. It’s so much content, bro.”
I mentioned how I had caught the Toni Storm vs. Mariah May match at AEW Revolution and thought it was a highlight, exclaiming it to be pure cinema. Ronnie had enjoyed how the characters had developed and how amazing Storm had been doing since joining the company.
Ronnie Huxford recounted the good fortune he had. “I’ve been lucky over the years and hooked up with Chris Jericho a couple of times,” he said. “He is class. He actually supported TDC on the last record. He put out a tweet, amongst other things.”
With the conversation in free flow, like two mates down the pub who had known each other for years, I threw out this peach of a question. If Those Damn Crows got to be at Wrestlemania and perform entrance music, which Wrestler would it be for?
Ronnie was stunned by the question, “Oh, you’re killing me!” Thinking for a moment, he went for CM Punk. “I’m a massive CM Punk fan,” he said. “Even when he left the company and then returned, I’m still a massive CM Punk guy.”
I confirmed my thoughts to Ronnie: Those Damn Crows, at Cardiff Stadium, for Wrestlemania, playing the entrance for CM Punk. Hearing it out loud, Ronnie thought again. “That’s kind of the dream,” he said “It would be, but it’s hard because ‘The Cult Of Personality’ is such a good song. I would probably have to pick a newer wrestler.”
Ricky Starks, AKA Ricky Saint, was a good shout from Ronnie. We thought about NXT stars with a rockier vibe and felt a female wrestler would be brilliant to do the music for. We ruled out those well-established with big entrances, like Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns.
We mentioned how artists like Phil Campbell, Code Orange and Motionless In White, amongst many others, had featured in wrestling.
That’s when Ronnie had the genius idea. “Just putting it out there to the wrestling gods and anyone who’s listening to this, I think No Surrender could be an amazing Premium Live Event (PPV for the older fans) soundtrack. I think it’s a good name for the PLE as well.”
The cogs had really started to turn and Ronnie added in match ideas. “We could have a really good 60-minute Ironman match,” he said. “That would define no surrender.”
With such an epic plan in place, it felt like a good time to pause. Ronnie Huxford was over schedule, and I did not want any Crows blaming me for a late start.
We wished each other well, and after having such a great conversation, we were both genuinely keen to pick back up on the topic somewhere down the line. Watch this space. You never know. Maybe, just maybe, we can cover the Wrestlemania fall out.
