Jon Stewart to Host WWE Wrestling Event at Barclays Center
Jon Stewart may have retired from critiquing the news on a nightly basis, but only two weeks after his Daily Show exit, the comedian is primed to trade in rhetorical jabs for some actual ones as the host of the WWE’s SummerSlam this Sunday at Barclays Center.
It’s a bizarre turn of events, one would think, but Stewart has long been a fan of professional wrestling. Stewart appeared last March on the WWE’s Monday Night Raw, where he perpetuated a joke-feud with professional wrestler Seth Rollins. During their encounter, Stewart kneed the spandex-clad Rollins in the groin before scampering offstage. Stewart, who wore a black suit and tie, employed a similar vibe to that of WWE mogul Vince McMahon with some gritty trash talk.
It seems as though Stewart is aiming for even more levity after commanding the helm of late night news for sixteen years. Even though the man played a big part in the way current events have become accessed and digested–especially for younger people–over the course of his Daily Show stint, comedy will always be his MO. His silly role as the host of WWE SummerSlam reminds us that he was once the mystified stoner in the 1990s comedy Half-Baked who couldn’t stop looking at dollar bills while “on weed.”
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