Nutley wrestler stars in Burger King commercial

IWF Wrestling Champion Kevin Knight, of Nutley, appears in the new Burger King TenderCrisp Chicken commercial airing nationwide.

Life-long Nutley resident and Independent Wrestling Federation Champion Kevin Knight recently participated in the filming of a new Burger King television commercial, which began airing nationwide the week of March 6.

Filmed in February in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Knight plays Burger King’s new TenderCrisp Chicken mascot.  Knight (real name Kevin Serio), is a 1991 Nutley High School graduate, attended William Paterson University, operates the Camp IWF Wrestling School in West Paterson, and performs periodically for World Wrestling Entertainment.

Knight auditioned for the part in New York in January, as the Hungryman Production Company sought a 6-foot 4-inch, 240-pound wrestler to don the chicken suit.  

Knight won the part and was flown to the legendary Stan Winston Studio in Los Angeles for a costume fitting, then traveled to Brazil for a week of shooting.

“It was 104-degrees the first day of shooting, we were in the middle of a sweltering valley in Rio and I was in a chicken suit that weighed 20 pounds and had a 4-foot 5-inch, 80-pound midget stuntman strapped on my back ... now that’s entertainment,” Knight said.

Here’s the commercial premise: On a chicken ranch, a group of cowboys are crowded around the fence of a rustic coral excitedly taking in some serious dust kicking action.  

Suddenly we see the commotion.

A rider flies out of the bucking chute, but he’s not aboard a bronco or a bull.  The rider is struggling to stay on something with feathers.  The baddest chicken anybody has ever seen.  The TenderCrisp Chicken leaps into the air and the action is wild as he attempts to shake his rider with a series of hilarious moves until finally the rider is thrown and lands on the cowboys.  That’s one big buckin’ chicken!  The only way to beat it, is to eat it!

“Working three, 12-hour days in a row in brutal heat, plus the rehearsal day, was grueling but the commercial is hysterical, I hope it will long be remembered,” Knight said.

Knight has appeared in several other television commercials, most notably the WWE’s Survivor Series wrestling commercial in 2003 and Bubba’s Place commercial in 2001.

Knight has owned the Camp IWF Wrestling School in West Paterson since 1999, training WWE hopefuls ages 16 and older four-days a week.  Knight also instructs a fun-filled youth summer wrestling clinic for kids 12 to 17 for three sessions this June, July and August.