WWE Superstars The Miz and Seth Rollins were asked by NFL teams to help reveal their 2023 schedules.
It’s no secret that Rollins is a huge Chicago Bears fan, whereas The Miz is a huge Cleveland Browns fan. Both Superstars frequently attend games, tweet about their teams, and, when appropriate, incorporate their fandom into WWE TV promos. The Bears and Browns have now recruited The Architect and The A-Lister to create creative videos announcing their 2023 NFL regular season schedules.
The Browns created a pro wrestling-style video with Miz and Nathan Zegura, the Browns’ sideline reporter and three-time Super Bowl champion, as seen below. The animated video depicts a DPW Rumble hosted by Dawg Pound Wrestling, with Browns mascot Brownie The Elf competing in the ring against mascots or characters representing all of this year’s opponents, while Miz and Zegura provide wrestling-style ringside commentary. Brownie celebrates with running back Nick Chubb and defensive end Myles Garrett at the end of the DPW Rumble.
Chicago went Hollywood for the release of their schedule. Rollins appears in the video with quarterback Justin Fields, wide receiver Darnell Mooney, running back Khalil Herbert, cornerback Kyler Gordon, offensive tackle Braxton Jones, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, linebacker TJ Edwards, and linebacker Jack Sanborn, as well as two former Bears, cornerback Charles Tillman and defensive tackle Anthony “Spice” Adams. Dyon Brooks, a stand-up comedian and actor, is also featured, as is NFL personality Annie Agar and Bears reporter Lauren Screeden.
The Bears video is a parody of “The Bear,” an FX comedy-drama that debuted on Hulu last summer, about a young chef who leaves a high-end restaurant in New York City to return home to Chicago to run his family’s Italian beef sandwich shop after his brother dies. The series is based on the Mr. Beef restaurant on Orleans Street in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, and some scenes from the Bears schedule video and TV show were shot there.
Rollins is taking orders in the sandwich shop when the video begins. He told ChicagoBears.com that he flew into town just to film the video, and that he had a good time posing for photos and chatting with players like Adams, Edmunds, Edwards, and Sanborn when the cameras weren’t rolling.
“It was a blast,” Rollins said. “The setting was very Chicago. The cast, crew, the production was super easy and fun and I got to hang out with the Bears. As a lifelong fan, it’s always cool to hang out with the players. I think we’re kind of rock stars to each other a little bit. I’m like, ‘I wish I could play for the Bears,’ and I think they’re like, ‘Man, it would be so cool to get hit with a chair.’ It was just fun being fans of each other and getting to know those guys.”
The new schedule release videos from Chicago and Cleveland are part of a recent NFL trend in which team content and social media departments create entertaining videos to announce games. Both videos are available below:
#BearDown https://t.co/C0RUH0uW3C
— Seth Rollins (@WWERollins) May 12, 2023
— The Miz (@mikethemiz) May 12, 2023