The MadTV star says that getting “booed out of the building” on Raw went way beyond getting heat!
Comedian Will Sasso has made a number of appearances in professional wrestling, famously wrestling Bret Hart on Nitro in 1999 and impersonating Stone Cold Steve Austin in a segment with Chris Jericho in February of 2002.
However, his 2012 appearance on Raw as part of a promotional tie-in with the movie Three Stooges stands out to the actor as the crowd vehemently booed him and his co-stars. After Chris Diamantopulos as Moe and Sean Hayes as Larry made their way to the ring, the sounds of Real American hit, and Will Sasso entered, portraying Curly doing an impersonation of Hulk Hogan.
The segment ended when Kane delivered a chokeslam to Sasso, and the crowd in attendance made it clear they weren’t receptive to the idea of the Three Stooges taking over Raw.
Speaking on Casual Conversations, the comedian recalled anticipating a negative reaction from the crowd.
“We got booed out of the building. That was not heat. The wrestling fans were like, ‘Yo, f-ck you! This isn’t part of our fun thing like, get out of here.’ And I get it. Like, I was telling the guys, my pals, Chris and Sean [Hayes] in the film, I was like, ‘We’re going to go down the aisle and we’re gonna do this stuff and it’s going to be pretty gnarly.’”
Continuing, Will Sasso marveled at the ability of wrestlers to read the crowd and know how to handle themselves when things turn hostile.
“My mouth went awful dry, and you get tunnel vision out there and people are screaming and yelling. For professional wrestlers to be able to slow that s–t down, just pace themselves through it, hear something way the f-ck in the back, read the audience, read the crowd, know when to stop, and then all the technical aspects of it — I can appreciate the guys that are so good at it, and it’s unbelievable.
“You watch now like, a guy — he’s been shoved down our throats forever but like, Roman Reigns is a 10/10.”
h/t WrestlingInc