Clairo Films Music Video at Wrestling Open

The indie pop icon is also an indie wrestling fan

Indie wrestling is the heartbeat of the industry.

And indie pop star Clairo agrees.

Clairo was present at the Wrestling Open show in Worcester, Massachusetts on Thursday, July 25. The week prior, a fan at Wrestling Open made a TikTok using a song by Clairo.

The video was fan footage from Wrestling Open set to the songJuna, showing “Fancy” Ryan Clancy and Brad Baylor in the ring–and it exploded across social media.

Hi @clairo !

I’m the Fancy Man in the Black Trunks. I want you to know, I love you & I’m at @WrestlingOpen every Thursday in Worcester, Ma 🥂https://t.co/9t4JJFP9Oz#Fancy 🥂 pic.twitter.com/pAnAmD2HgG

— “Fancy” Ryan Clancy (@FancyRyanClancy) July 20, 2024

Clairo shared the TikTok to her Instagram, hinting that she’d appear at a Wrestling Open show.

“I saw that TikTok by @hottemess and instantly loved it,” Clairo told Sports Illustrated. “Especially in slow motion, wrestling is so beautiful. It looks and feels like ballet. I knew at that point that we had to make it over to Worcester and film them ourselves.”

The White Eagle in Worcester does not typically attract Billboard Top 10 artists, but that changed the moment Clairo arrived. Along with watching the show, she joined forces with a number of the wrestlers to film a new music video for Juna.

Wrestling Open is an “open mic night” for indie wrestlers where the athletes sign up to wrestle on Thursday each week at the White Eagle. The platform, which allows inexperienced competitors the opportunity to get meaningful reps in a structured environment, has built a loyal following.

Drew Cordeiro, who is the founder of indie promotion Beyond Wrestling, oversees Wrestling Open–and he is honored that Clairo made time to work with his promotion.

“Time will tell, but I truly believe working with a singer-songwriter the caliber of Clairo will bring independent wrestling into the mainstream in a way we haven’t seen since Darren Aronofsky’s 2008 film The Wrestler,” said Cordeiro. “Being able to collaborate on a music video for a track that is currently number-one on the Billboard TikTok Top 50 is unfathomable. Clairo and her team were awesome to work with–she has such an appreciation for our craft and her enthusiasm grew as the longer she was there. 2024 has been the biggest and best year in Beyond Wrestling history, and that is due to the countless opportunities that have come since we introduced the Wrestling Open program, which runs every Thursday at White Eagle in Worcester.

Cordeiro, Clairo, and ring announcer Rich Palladino / Jon Washer

“In a way, Clairo and Beyond Wrestling have taken parallel paths, self-distributing our works of art utilizing emerging social media platforms to reach a worldwide audience. We wish her much success on her North American tour.”

As for Amanda Hotte, who created the TikTok that created this euphoria, she is still in a state of disbelief.

“Shocked is an understatement,” said Hotte. “The past few weeks have felt like a dream. I’ve been a huge fan of Clairo since 2017, so the fact that the video I posted had the ability to bring about something so fully realized was seriously incredible.”

Clairo and Wrestling Open combined to make a formidable tag team / Jon Washer

While Clairo isn’t likely to make her wrestling debut any time soon, she spoke extremely highly of her Wrestling Open experience.

“Everyone was so kind and so full of life,” said Clairo. “I was intimidated by everyone at first. Once I got to stand in the ring and talk to them, I loved them. They made me laugh a lot. I was hooked.”