Ghostbusters References (Sports)

This is a collection of Ghostbusters Tributes, Spoofs, & References that have appeared in various media in the years since the release of Ghostbusters (from 1984 to the present). The items that appear below, while significant, do not warrant their own articles, hence why they appear here. This collection is but one of many here at the Ghostbusters Wiki. Please consult the main Ghostbusters Tributes, Spoofs, & References page for the full index of articles.

A concerted effort has been made to present the information in chronological order.

All data that has been verified will include images and/or a video clip link. If you wish to add a reference to this article, please provide an image or video (cued up to the reference, or with a timestamp notation) to back it up. An image uploaded to the Wiki is preferred due to the likelihood of video takedowns (especially on YouTube). Any reference without an image or video to verify may be removed from this article in the future. Items in need of an image, video, or some kind of reference have the "Citation Needed" notation.

Baseball

• DirecTV GOATbusters Marketing Campaign - A 2022 national ad campaign for DirecTV Stream in collaboration with Major League Baseball and Ghost Corps.

Football

• Peyton & Eli's Spooky Adventure (October 23, 2022 on ESPN+ and October 31, 2022 on ESPN2) - When two Irish football players see the ghost of Notre Dame's most legendary football player, George Gibbs, head coach Marcus Freeman calls in Peyton Manning and Eli Manning for a ghost busting Halloween adventure.

Wrestling

• Koko B. Ware (best known for his stint in the World Wrestling Federation in the late 1980's/early 1990's where he would come to the ring with a colorful bird named "Frankie") had a finishing move called the "Ghost Buster" (sometimes called the "Bird Buster"), which is described as follows: Brainbuster (Suplex): Put opponent in a Front Facelock, throw his right arm behind your neck, and grab his tights with your left hand; lift him straight up so he is inverted vertically above you, then fall straight down, driving him headfirst into the mat. Called the "Ghostbuster" by Koko B. Ware; also used as a finisher by the late "Captain Redneck" Dick Murdoch. In The Wrestlecrap Book of Lists!, on page 274, the move captured the #15 spot on the list of "The 15 Most Idiotically Named Wrestling Moves": The Ghost Buster: This move was actually a brain buster, performed by a guy dubbed The Birdman, who sang a song called "Piledriver." In fact, the video for "Piledriver" showed him performing the Ghost Buster, which means the name of the move makes even less sense than it did before.
• TNA Impact! (October 20, 2011) (Ep #703) - A Slimer plushie in seen in the crowd. Impact is taped at the "Impact Zone" arena on a soundstage at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, where they probably have crane games and carnival games stocked with the Ghostbusters plushies. That would explain why one of the spectators had one at the show.

• Matt Taven and Mike Bennett (known collectively as The Kingdom) perform a double team finishing move named "Proton Pack". The move is a backpack stunner by Bennett with a running single leg drop kick by Taven.
• TNA Impact! (October 27, 2020) - At the wedding of Rosemary and John E. Bravo, wedding party member Fallah Bahh wore an inflatable Stay Puft Marshmallow man costume. (Watch Video Clip - official upload)

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• Championship Wrestling From Hollywood (October 31, 2020, Season 10) - In Episode 492, Kevin Martenson told interviewer Clint Armstrong what he was going to do in order to train for his new career path as a singles wrestler, including that he will stop playing "Ghostbusters on PS2." (Watch free on Fite TV at 33:52 mark or on the Championship Wrestling YouTube at at 37:39 mark)
• WWE NXT (November 11, 2020) - Coming back from commercial break, an interviewer caught up with Cameron Grimes in the hallways, where he gloated about taking out Dexter Lumis earlier in the evening. The feud between the two included a taped "cinematic match" on the Halloween Havoc show two weeks earlier, which involved a "zombie referee" and assorted ghouls to aid Dexter Lumis. Cameron comments on this by saying, "I ain't afraid of no ghosts...or ghouls...or zombies." (Watch promo on WWE YouTube)
• WWE Friday Night Smackdown (January 15, 2021) - Big E sported the Middle of Beyond "Ghostbusters Cardigan Version 2." (Watch video clip or on the WWE YouTube)

• AEW Dynamite (October 27, 2021) - The main event is a Dark Order vs The Elite match, featuring The Elite dressed as Ghostbusters, complete with a parody entrance song (entitled "I Ain't Afraid Of No Budge!") composed by Mikey Rukus. They were wearing the 2021 Spirit Halloween Proton Packs. After the match, Hangman Adam Page surprise-attacked The Elite after he unmasked from an inflatable Stay Puft Marshmallow Man costume. (Watch Elite Entrance / Watch Match Ending / Watch Song and Entrance Video)
• Impact Wrestling (episode #903, November 4, 2021) - The women's tag champs IInspiration (Jessica McKay and Cassie Lee) talk with a backstage interviewer about the trouble they have been having with Decay (Rosemary and Havok). Cassie understands that Decay, a ghoulish group of gals, wants a rematch for the tag titles, but she's "not here to be a ghostbuster." The interviewer mentions the Undead Bridesmaids (Kimber Lee and Brandi Lauren), which gives Cassie the idea to have them fight Decay in their place because "you gotta fight ghosts with ghosts". (Watch Video Clip)
• WWE Monday Night Raw (December 27, 2021) - During the Cedric Alexander vs. Kevin Owens match, commentator Corey Graves asks guest commentator MVP how his client Bobby Lashley will fare against Kevin Owens in their match at the upcoming "Day 1" pay-per-view. MVP reiterates Lashley's statement that "he's gonna rip the wet, noodle-like arms off of Kevin Owens ectomorphic body". Corey then asks his commentating partner, Byron Saxton, if he knows what ectomorphic is. After not getting a response, he adds that "it has nothing to do with Ghostbusters." (Watch Video Clip)
• MLW Underground Wrestling: "Dumpster Diving" (April 11, 2023) (Season 1, Episode 19) - In his promo before the opening dumpster match, Mister Saint Laurent tries to play on the compassion of the crowd by mentioning that people would call him "Stay Puft" when he was younger because of his obesity.
• GCW Homecoming (August 19, 2023) - On Night One, Matt Cardona and Steph De Lander drove to the ring in Ecto-1 with the "Ghostbusters" song playing. They emerged in their own Ghostbusters outfits then declared they were the Deathmatch Busters.
• WWE NXT Halloween Havoc, Night 2 (October 31, 2023) - At the very start of the show, hosts Shotzi and Scarlett exited from the Orlando Ghostbusters' fan Ecto-1B while in sexy Ghostbusters outfits. Shotzi stated, "It's time for Halloween Havoc. Who you gonna call?" The NXT Halloween Havoc logo was placed over the No Ghost logo on the side of the car, and the logos on the ladies' outfits were changed for copyright reasons. As confirmed by the Orlando Ghostbusters, this 30-second segment was pre-taped on Tuesday October 24th at the WWE Performance Center in the Azalea Park area of Orlando, Florida, where NXT is broadcast live Tuesday evenings at 8:00 PM Eastern. (Watch Video Clip)

Behind the scenes (Credit: Shotzi & Scarlett)

• WWE Main Event (March 14, 2024) - Chelsea Green wore an outfit with a flightsuit name tag, dripping green ectoplasm, and caution striping in the WWE Main Event on Hulu.

• AEW Collision (July 31, 2025) - In a backstage segment, Shane Taylor says that Don Callis' "Vigo the Carpathian-looking ass better pay what you owe". (Watch Video Clip)
• AEW Dynamite (October 29, 2025) - On this Halloween-themed episode, right before the Young Bucks come out for their match, they see someone wearing an inflatable Stay Puft costume backstage. Later, that same guy is seen in the background when Kris Statlander and Mercedes Mone fight backstage. Finally, he's one of the costumed people who comes out at the end of the show for Samoa Joe's contract signing. Samoa Joe thinks that it might be Hangman Adam Page, since he wore the same costume on the October 27, 2021 episode of Dynamite (noted elsewhere on this page), but it is not. It is not stated who exactly was unmasked. (Watch Video Clip of Final Segment)

See Also

• Ghostbusters Tributes, Spoofs, & References
• Ghostbusters Cameos

External Links

• Spook Central: The Ghostbusters 'n' Wrestling Connection