Shaheem Reid Imagine being Fat Joe, a fan of wrestling since boyhood. You used to watch the likes of Mil Mascaras, Chief Jay Strongbow and your absolute favorite, Don Muraco, on WWF programming with your grandfather every week on TV.
You grew up to become a hip-hop star — and before you know it, WWF has invited you to be their guest at the sport’s biggest event of the year, WrestleMania.
Joe and his best friend and fellow rap icon, the late Big Pun, took part in the festivities back in 1999, when they drove from New York to Philadelphia to watch WrestleMania 15.
Joe remembers entering the VIP entrance at the First Union Center and nearly finding himself in an unsanctioned Mania match when Bob Backlund, a hero from Joe’s youth, put him in his dreaded finishing maneuver. “We go to WrestleMania, me and Big Pun — we were so hype,” Joe recalled with a laugh on Monday. “As I’m walking in, I see the living legend, Bob Backlund.
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