At nearly 30 years old, I’m old enough to remember when Nashville, Tennessee was not a place that you wanted to frequent. That is, of course, unless you were eager to buy drugs, get stabbed, or purchase the services of a hooker. Maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it certainly wasn’t what the city is today.
Bachelorette parties, cowboy boots, live music, glitz, glam, and all of the wonders of the South’s “it city.” Sorry, Atlanta. All of that is relatively new. But, it’s not just the flashing lights on Broadway that have made the Music City the destination that it is. It’s the emergence of East Nashville – a neighborhood that has become a mecca of music, beer, non-country music entertainment, and hipsters. It’s the construction of The Gulch – a few blocks just outside of downtown that feature some of the city’s finest restaurants and trendiest bars. Germantown, 12 South, SoBro (not us, the neighborhood), Clay Travis, David Price, Puckett’s, Rebar in Midtown, hot chicken, and Pedal Tavern are all hugely successful “New Nashville” products. I actually don’t know where Pedal Tavern started, just to be fair…but I’m including them on this list because reasons.
It’s an established base of jobs in the medical field. It’s a growing presence in the tech field. It’s the popularity of the Nashville Predators, a beautiful new ball park for our beloved Nashville Sounds, and wallowing in the shared trauma that is being a Tennessee Titans fan. It’s a lot of things – but most importantly, it’s change.
People aren’t just coming to Nashville, guitar in hand, with the hope of becoming a famous country singer anymore. That’s soooooooo 1990s.
Who better to exemplify that change than WWE superstar Rusev?
Born Miroslav Barnyashev, he actually is from Bulgaria. In an industry that requires you to live your character, “The Bulgarian Brute” is very real. Nonetheless, he’s not a Nashville native. He merely chose this city because (I can only completely assume) he visited this newborn land of opportunity and knew he was destined to call it home and build a new life here.
Believe me – we, the citizens of Nashville, are lucky to have such a strong figurehead.
Look at Rusev’s accomplishments in the ring – he was undefeated for nearly an entire year before the mighty John Cena finally vanquished him at Wrestlemania 31. During that year, Rusev had one of the greatest United States Championship reigns in WWE history, becoming one of the biggest heels on the show in the process.
Did I mention he won a medal?
How about that time he drove a tank out to the ring at Wrestlemania?
But, you think this stallion is some one trick pony? No way – Rusev can deliver on the mic, too. Who can forget his ‘it’s a fish’ promo?
Outside of the ring, he and Queen Lana are card-carrying members of Smashville…
And, even had the honor of being the hype crew for the Preds during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Nashville and pro wrestling are on parallel resurgences. Both seem to becoming a hip, new part of pop culture. Much like it’s becoming cool to watch wrestling again, the growth of Nashville is becoming cool to be apart of.
Laugh all you want – I’m dead serious. I will now only refer to Rusev as the King of New Nashville.
Stoney Keeley is the editor of the SoBros Network, Tennessee Titans Featured Analyst for Pro Football Spot, and covers the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley,@PFSpot, @WrestlingNewsCo
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