AEW is Lucky to Have the Costco Guys, and Wrestling Fans Who Want the Company to Succeed Should Know That
They bring The BOOM! And, despite the opinion of many wrestling fans, ‘The Coscto Guys’ bring the eyes, as well. That is, they’re bringing eyes to All Elite Wrestling that might not normally be there.
And, while some wrestling fans are absolutely enraged by the innocent appearance of social media celebrities on the pre-show of a wrestling pay per view, other fans understand that that their presence is actually a very, very good thing for AEW…and its not without precedent.
Celebrities appearing on professional wrestling shows is nothing new. In fact, celebrity appearances were kind of the entire basis for the inaugural WrestleMania. WrestleMania, the “granddaddy of them all,” had no less than five celebrities, ranging from Muhammad Ali, to Liberace, to Cindy Lauper, Mr. T., Billy Martin, and more.
That tradition continued throughout the ensuing years, as the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) continually rotated through an ever-growing list of actors, athletes, adult film stars, the fucking Muppets, and a whole slew of other entertainers that either had something to promote, were genuinely fans or, better yet, both!
Mr. T, the famed action star from The A-Team television show, and the film Rocky III, was in the tag team main event of WrestleMania 1 alongside Hulk Hogan, and the co-main event of WrestleMania II, where he took on Rowdy Roddy Piper in a boxing-cum-wrestling match. (‘cum,’ in this context, means combined with; also used to describe things with a dual nature or function…don’t be weird). He later appeared in WCW alongside Hulk Hogan, as well. Shaquille O’Neal would be a part of the Hogan/T/Jimmy Hart entourage as well.
Pete Rose, the infamous Boston Red Sox baseball player who was a born wrestling character, appeared in no less than three WrestleMania’s, where he antagonized, and was later murdered by, The Big Red Machine, Kane.
Jennifer Flowers conducted an interview with The Rock at WrestleMania 14. Pamela Anderson cucked Shawn Michaels with Diesel at WrestleMania 11.
Snooki. The Snooki. From Jersey Shore. was in a tag team match with Trish Stratus, John Morrison, and Dolph Ziggler. At WrestleMania.
WCW featured athletes like Dennis Rodman and Karl Malone, as well as people like Jay Leno, the greatest band in the world, Kiss, and the cast of Howard Stern (resulting in the funniest Jeff Jarrett guitar shot of all time).
Remember when Raw’s ratings were plummeting, and Vince McMahon took a break from giving millions of dollars to the women he slept with to give millions of dollars to the fans for watching the show? During that same time, Raw was in the midst of its guest host era, and it featured more celebrities — some who were well known, others who were Jeremy Piven — than pro wrestling had ever seen before. Celebrities like Bob Barker, Richard Simmons, PeeWee Herman, the aforementioned mother fucking Muppets, and Wolverine/P.T. Barnum himself, Hugh Jackman, all participated in the show to various levels of success.
JON STEWART COST JOHN CENE THE WWE CHAMPIONSHIP AT SUMMERSLAM.
All of these “guest hosts,” had something to promote, to be sure. But they also contributed in semi-meaningful ways to the show. Some skits were awful. Jeremy Piven sucks. But Bob Barker’s segment with Chris Jericho was hilarious. PeeWee Herman arguing with The Miz will never not be funny. Hugh Jackman knocked out Dolph Ziggler way before he donned the X-Men cowl in Deadpool.
The point is, celebrities in professional wrestling are nothing new.
The reason wrestling fans are so mad at the Costco guys is because they either don’t know who they are, or they don’t prefer the brand of content that Big Boom A.J., Big Justice, and The Rizzler put out.
Get over it.
This writer doesn’t understand their content, either. It’s not my type of…humor? But I cannot argue with their success. I can’t argue that even though their content isn’t for me, it is, for millions upon millions of other people.
And their presence at AEW is a win — for them, and for the company itself.
So far, A.J. and Big Justice have appeared on The Tonight Show, Fox News, Sirius XM radio, and more to talk about their own brand, sure. But they also talked about working with AEW. And despite what we, wrestling fans, want to believe, the general populace has no idea who or what AEW is.
People who haven’t heard about AEW before The Costco Guys now have. Thanks to The Costco Guys.
Similarly, on TikTok, which has become the number-one social media app in the country, AEW has 1.1 million followers. The Costco Guys have 2.3 million followers.
In every interview he does, A.J. mentions All Elite Wrestling. Tony Khan, himself, has gone on record saying that The Costco Guys, and A.J. in particular, have taught him how to market and promote himself better which, if we’re being honest, is something that AEW could be better at.
But here’s the important thing. Even with all of that aside, Andrew Befumo (A.J.) is a fan of professional wrestling. Not only that, Befumo actually was a professional wrestler.
Befumo began wrestling professionally when he was in college, back in the ’90s. He continued to wrestle on the independent scene through the ’90s and early ’00s. While he saw a modicum of success, he never quite “made it,” IE. competed in WWE or WCW. Eventually, like countless other independent wrestlers, he had to make the decision to continue to support his dream, or to support his family. He chose his family.
Befumo started working “real jobs,” and, in 2022 was the regional manager for a mortgage business (Conrad Thompson is one phone call away from bringing The Boom to his own mortgage company, I guarantee it). He grew his family. He worked hard. He started dabbling in something that interested him — content creation — and turns out, he was really good at it. He and his son, Eric, started posting videos to YouTube and TikTok and they went viral. Then, they kept going viral. While their brand of content isn’t for everybody, it is for a lot of people, and they became very, very famous. They even signed with a talent management company. And when the opportunity came up to work with AEW, A.J. jumped at the chance.
For A.J. Befumo, working with AEW and competing in a match against QT Marshall at Full Gear this weekend, isn’t just an opportunity to promote his brand. It’s not just a chance to show wrestling fans how to bring The Boom (full disclosure: I still don’t know what the fuck that means). It’s not even a chance to “be on T.V.,” as opposed to phone screens. For A.J., this is a culmination of a lot of things. It’s a recognition that his hard work over the last 20 years has paid off. It’s validation. It’s fun!
It’s a dream, that’s all; a dream that is shared by countless professional wrestlers who never quite “make it.” It’s a dream that is shared by millions of fans who grew up watching professional wrestling on television and wanted so badly to try to do it themselves. It’s a dream of a former wrestler, of a current content creator, of a man who, just one time, wants to compete on a big stage, for a big company, so that one day, when the years pass and he’s old and gray, he can point to a picture of himself power-bombing QT Marshall and he can tell his children and his grandchildren, “That was me, I did that.”
What is probably most special about this match is that Befumo will get to have his son, his perennial tag team partner, right next to him. Eric Befumo, “Big Justice,” will get to do what we all wish we could do at some point in our lives — he gets to see his dad be a superhero, if only for one night.
For AEW, this match is an easy way to get more eyes on their product. For fans, it’s a harmless segment that will take about ten minutes out of a four-hour pay-per-view. But for A.J. and Eric Befumo, and their family, it’s a chance to achieve a dream and to celebrate their guy. AEW is helping that happen and, for that, they should be applauded. And if some fans don’t like it, in the words of Stephen King, tough titty said the kitty. You just don’t understand the business.
Plus, The Rizzler will be there. And The Rizzler is better than your favorite wrestler.
Follow Nick on Twitter/X at @WesternRebel and on BlueSky at @westernrebel.bsky.social.
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