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Two prominent members of the Pittsburgh Steelers offense appeared at All Elite Wrestling on Wednesday. Najee Harris and Pat Freiermuth, the Steelers' first two draft picks from last year, accompanied hometown favorite Britt Baker to the ring in her homecoming match.
Baker is a proud Steelers fan after growing up in the city. She received the loudest ovation from the crowd of any wrestler. As Friermuth and Harris emerged, the crowd's reaction doubled.
Harris is a wrestling fan who used to watch it with his friends when he was younger. When he was interviewed by ESPN reporter Brooke Pryor on Thursday, he revealed how he and Friermuth got booked to be on AEW's flagship show, Dynamite. Harris said:
“I was upstairs talking to a couple coaches about some guys in the draft, and then I ran into her. We were talking, and I was like, ‘When do y’all have a match?’ She said 'tomorrow,' and I was like, shoot, let me pull up. And then I went. We were just thinking up stuff on the fly after that. I was like, ‘Shoot, let me grab this flag right here, then. Let me walk out and I’ll walk behind you like you’re the champion."
A comedic moment followed after Baker won her match. Harris and Friermuth entered the ring to celebrate with the former women's champion. As Baker exited, Harris grabbed a microphone to start speaking. Unfortunately, his mic audio was cut off before he got to say anything. Harris told Pryor:
“They were smart enough to cut the mic off, that’s what happened. I was gonna say some s---. I grabbed it because she was walking away, and I took it out of her hand. I started saying stuff. But they did the right thing and turned off the mic.”
The Pittsburgh Steelers are no strangers to being in a wrestling ring
The Steelers franchise has seen players cross over into professional wrestling before. The most memorable appearance was in 2009 when Super Bowl champion Ben Roethlisberger was a special guest host during an episode of WWE's flagship show, Monday Night Raw.
Roethlisberger has interacted with some of the biggest legends in the industry's history, including Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho.
Given Baker's star power in AEW and love for Pittsburgh, it wouldn't be surprising to see more appearances from Steelers players in the future.
