Posted by Metallifreak on 20.04.2014 at21:49:
Over the past year or so, while gathering photos for various Metallica stories, we’ve noticed something rather odd: nearly every member of the group has a pro wrestling look-alike.
Granted, sometimes you have to find a pair of photos that show each half of these superstar doppelgangers in exactly the right light or angle — and yes, we should probably find something more productive to do with our time. But with Wrestlemania 30 fast approaching, why not have a little fun and check out these photos of pro wrestlers who look like Metallica?
Roman Reigns
Looks Like: Robert Trujillo
We'll start with the wrestler who looks most like a member of Metallica. Coincidentally, Roman Reigns and the group's current bassist, Robert Trujillo, also both rank very high on our "people we'd never mess with" list. Reigns comes from a long line of professional grapplers -- he's even related to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. He's become one of the WWE's breakout stars since his Nov. 2012 arrival as a member of the Shield, a three-man wrecking crew who've tasked themselves with policing the wrestling world according to their own shifting set of rules.
Sheamus
Looks Like: James Hetfield
Lock Metallica frontman James Hetfield in a sunless weight room for a couple of months, then hand him some serious hair product and a gigantic metal cross and what do you get? A dead ringer for Sheamus, the Irish bad guy turned family-friendly fighting machine who has already held championship gold in the WWE two different times in his young career.
Paul Heyman
Looks Like: Lars Ulrich
OK, you're gonna think that we're picking on Lars Ulrich just because he's got a big forehead and sometimes sports a bit of a mullet. But true wrestling fans know that anybody should be honored to be compared to the greatest talker in the pro wrestling game right now, Brock Lesnar's devious and dangerous manager Paul Heyman. Besides, Ulrich has demonstrated his ability to cut a pretty terrific "heel" promo (that means bad guy speech) himself -- remember that whole Napster mess?
Sean 'X-Pac' Waltman
Looks Like: Kirk Hammett
We botched this spot at first, we'll admit it! We had Hall of Famer Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka booked as our wrestling look-alike for Metallica's lead guitarist. Luckily, rock and wrestling star Chris Jericho was there to set us straight by suggesting we put Sean 'X-Pac' Waltman over instead. Waltman, a member of both the D-Generation X and nWo WolfPac stables, is a fan favorite who has held tag team and singles gold in both WCW and WWE.
Raven
Looks Like: Jason Newsted
Much like former Flotsam and Jetsam, Voivod and Metallica bassist Jason Newsted, the professional wrestler named Raven has held a variety of jobs during his career. He's won titles in wrestling organizations including the ECW, WCW, TNA, and NWA. He's probably most famous, of course, as the 27-time holder of the coveted WWE Hardcore Championship belt.
Heath Slater
Looks Like: Dave Mustaine
If you were going to make a movie about the early days of Metallica, and cast it exclusively with WWE superstars, there's no better choice to play former lead guitarist (and current Megadeth mainman) Dave Mustaine than Heath Slater. Although, if you want to get a little closer to the mark, you might want to genetically splice in just a dash of 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan.
CM Punk
Looks Like: Cliff Burton
Of course, we saved our biggest stretch in terms of a pro wrestling / Metallica look-alike for last. We considered current Wyatt Family star Luke Harper to represent the band's dearly departed founding bassist at first -- after all, he's the WWE guy most likely to sport Burton's beloved bell bottom jeans. But it's just impossible to tell what's going on under Harper's grizzly beard. So instead we've chosen the ultra-popular (and currently self-exiled) CM Punk as Burton's spirit animal.
