WWE signs Slim Jim to wrestling’s biggest-ever sponsorship deal

Slim Jim, the meaty snack food owned by Conagra Brands Inc., is signing a multievent deal with World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. that will make it wrestling’s biggest sponsor.

As part of the agreement, Slim Jim will advertise across WWE’s platforms, including several live events over the next year, in stores and on social channels, the companies are set to announce Thursday. Financial terms weren’t available.

The tie-up debuts Aug. 5 at WWE’s SummerSlam event in Detroit, with a Slim Jim-branded battle royal. The brand will also appear at three additional shows, including WWE’s marquee weekend-long WrestleMania event set for April 2024.

In recent years, WWE has brought several interested sponsors into its scripted storylines, promoting things such as PepsiCo Inc.’s Mountain Dew drinks and Netflix Inc.’s “Army of the Dead.”

Slim Jim has a long history with pro wrestling. Its ads spanned MTV, ESPN and the Disney Channel throughout the 1990s, featuring the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage as its pitchman. Wearing flamboyant red-and-yellow outfits, the wrestler yelled the tagline “Snap into a Slim Jim,” followed by his signature catchphrase “Ohhh yeah!” 

Savage, whose real name was Randy Poffo, died in 2011 of a sudden heart attack. He was inducted into WWE’s Hall of Fame posthumously in 2015. Slim Jim now sells a triple-sized Savage version of its meat sticks that it promises will “put a flying elbow drop on your hunger.”