Fans can catch Lee Moriarty wearing his trademark headphones as he heads to the ring of a big match and despite having his own entrance music, Moriarty is listening to a carefully curated playlist of his favorite tracks.
Moriarty has named his hybrid wrestling style “TAIGASTYLE”—a reference to Wu-Tang Clan’s “C.R.E.A.M.,” presented in all-caps in tribute to MF DOOM.
Speaking to Evan Minsker of Pitchfork, Moriarty explained why he listens to music as he heads to the ring.
“I really need to quiet out all of the sounds around me,” he said. “I have stage fright, so being around a lot of people makes me nervous. When I can just listen to music and chill, it helps a lot. It also helps to transform me into TAIGASTYLE Lee Moriarty as opposed to Lee Moriarty, the guy you see at a grocery store.”
Moriarty listed songs from Mac Miller, Lute, and $NOT as what he's currently listening to and named Denzel Curry as his current favorite artist.
"Hip-hop and professional wrestling work so perfectly together, but wrestling usually features rock music. Or if it’s hip-hop, it’s Pitbull or Flo Rida, which I get because it’s a party vibe. But there’s this whole other world that could bring in new wrestling fans. There’s people my age who don’t necessarily listen to this rock’n’roll stuff. What they gravitate to is Denzel Curry or Lil Uzi, and seeing these guys on a wrestling TV show might make them stop and become a wrestling fan. I’ve met people who became fans of me because of the MF DOOM, Denzel Curry, and Wu-Tang Clan references. There’s a place for that music in mainstream professional wrestling. I want to invite those fans to start watching," he said.
Westside Gunn is a known wrestling fan who has named tracked after wrestlers and recently helped Alexis Littlefoot pay off wrestling school.
Moriarty is hoping Westside will continue to incorporate wrestling into his music, saying, "The first time I heard a Westside Gunn song was because it had a wrestling-inspired title: “Lucha Bros.” I’m a big fan of the Lucha Bros, and that song came up on YouTube when I was looking for them. I like both of his new albums, but I like Side B a little more. I’ve been listening to it when I’m getting ready to do something; it’s like a warm-up for me. There’s one track that’s just talking about how you finish how you start, and it’s stories like that that make me think about what the music means to me personally. I’m hoping that his next album has the Arn Anderson glock promo, it would fit so perfectly."
Moriarty was in action on Wednesday's Dynamite, teaming with Matt Sydal in a loss to Dante Martin & Lio Rush.
If you missing anything from Wednesday's AEW Dynamite, check out Fightful's full report on the show by clicking here.
