Jelly Roll made his in-ring debut last night, teaming up with Randy Orton to battle Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul at Night 1 of WWE‘s SummerSlam 2025.
The first night of the two-night spectacle, which is being hosted by Cardi B, saw the country rapper introduce tag partner Orton by singing a line of his entrance theme ‘Voices’ before they made their way to the ring.
The lifelong wrestling fan went into the bout the underdog, having broken a finger while training for his first time in the ring.
Fans at the MetLife Stadium cheered when he kicked off the match, delivering some early offence and weathering a flurry of strikes. A standout moment came when internet personality Paul sent the ‘Only‘ artist crashing through the announcer’s table with a frog splash.
Jelly Roll went on to return the favour, rallying after being carried out by medical staff to clothesline Paul twice before chokeslamming him in the middle of the ring. However, McIntyre and Paul were victorious, with the latter landing another splash on Jelly Roll for the win.
Jelly Roll’s involvement in the show comes at a time when fans are divided about celebrity appearances in wrestling, which he addressed when talking to WWE broadcaster Jackie Redmond earlier this week.
“This is about belief — believing in myself — and wanting to selfishly be a part of a beautiful moment,” he said (via Billboard). “I love this business. I just wanna bring value. I’m not here to take nothing away. I’m not here to take nobody’s spot. I want to bring value. I think this is one of the greatest ages of storytelling I’ve seen in wrestling this decade.”
Besides Cardi B being tapped to host this weekend’s, rapper Travis Scott, quite controversially, played a pivotal role in the WWE earlier this year. He and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson teamed to help John Cena turn into a bad guy, and Scott helped Cena win his record-breaking 17th championship at WrestleMania.
Scott’s involvement in the main-event scene went down poorly with fans, with some writing on social media: “He had no connection to this company until 6 months ago. And he’s the catalyst for Cena breaking the record? It’s as bad as it gets” and “Yes, let’s have Travis Scott be the focus of John Cena’s final WrestleMania. Fucking horrible…”
It was later revealed that Scott had accidentally left veteran wrestler Cody Rhodes with a broken eardrum after delivering an open-handed slap at Elimination Chamber.
I’ll give Jelly Roll this: he got in the ring in front of a shitload of people, took the bumps & held his own…respect 👏🏼 #SummerSlam pic.twitter.com/SdTWGpSjBX
— ✰ 𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟 ✰ (@itsJustinRitch) August 3, 2025
More musicians, influencers and actors have been showcasing their interest in the WWE in recent years. In 2023, Bad Bunny main-evented the Backlash event, having made his debut in 2021.
Speaking to NME recently, wrestler Charlotte Flair – daughter of Ric Flair – said of Bad Bunny’s career: “He has been incredible anytime he’s made an appearance. You can really tell his love for the industry and [how] he respects it and puts in the work. So kudos to him.”
Sexyy Red also revealed she could have wrestled in WWE if she had more time to train. She, instead, had segments on NXT and hosted Battleground – a premium live event exclusive to the yellow brand.
Meanwhile, several WWE stars including The Miz and Flair have spoken to NME about some of their own celebrity wishlists and scripted brawls. Flair, for instance, would love to see Megan Thee Stallion in the WWE, while The Miz told us about being “sucked-punched” by Snoop Dogg at WrestleMania two years ago.