Legendary artist Kid Rock, known for his electrifying musical craft and unique rendition of rock, county, and hip hop, kicks off the PBR World Finals at AT&T Stadium with the 2nd annual Rock N Rodeo to be held on May 16, 2025. The event was dubbed “The Ultimate Rodeo Showdown” due to its electrifying mix of rodeo athletes, coaches, and event structure – not to mention the event’s name’s sake and concert front liner, Mr. Kid Rock himself. Six rodeo legends will lead six teams of professional athletes in a head-to-head match over three rounds, with the winning team walking away with the title. Each team was inspired by classic rock and hit R&B artist Kid Rock and his nameworthy tracts: Team Convoy, headed by the six-time world champion tie-down roper and 2001 All-Around Champion Cody Ohl. The Jokers, Co-Head-Coach Joe Beaver, a five-time world champion tie-down roper and twenty-two-time NFR qualifier, backed up by Co-Head Coach Sid Steiner, the 2002 World Champion Steer Wrestler and 4th generation member of the Steiner Rodeo Company. The Free Riders, Head Coach Bobby Mote, fifteen-time NFR qualifier, and four-time world champion bareback rider and all-around cowboy competing in both the rough stock and timed events. The Low Riders, Head Coach Trevor Brazil, also known as the “King of the Cowboys” and arguably the greatest all-around cowboy with 31 trips to the NFR and 26 world championship titles. Misty Mountain Hop, Head Coach Charmayne James, eleven-time WPRA world champion barrel racer and nineteen-time NFR qualifier, most notably known for her equine partner Scamper. Finally, the Sledge Hammers, coached by Fred Whitfield, is a seven-time world champion tie-down roper with an all-around title and numerous NFR average championships.
These six teams, headed by historical rodeo legends, will face off in a bracket-tournament-style rodeo for a share of the purse. Each team will face off head-to-head to earn medals through three rounds of competition, with each bracket facing a starting-light competition style. Gone are the days of calling for your cattle or the start of the ride; rather, contestants will face a traffic light countdown and compete simultaneously for the medal. The winning team of each bracket will earn one gold medal, with the two teams who accumulated the most medals facing off in the championship match. This head-to-head competition across all seven rodeo disciplines determines the winner and which team will ultimately claim the 2025 Rock N Rodeo title. The defending 2024 champions, the Free Riders, do not plan to shy away from the task at hand. Head coach Bobby Mote is headed into the Rock N Rodeo with the mindset that his team is already “on a roll” after competing at the World Champions Rodeo Alliance (WCRA) event in Corpus Christi under the same rodeo conditions and format. The head-to-head format and stop-light sequence addition to the rodeo will make the event’s competition both unique and exhilarating for the contestants and spectators. The winners of the WCRA Corpus Christi on team Free Riders will have the advantage of already competing under those conditions and the bonus of being seasoned to the rodeo format. According to Motes, his team will have already “won under similar conditions” and be more prepared for the event. When asked how the competitor’s competitive nature and drive for success plays into the team aspect of the Rock N Rodeo, Motes stated, “It doesn’t matter what the individual does, it matters what the team [accomplishes],” continuing with the ideology of how each athlete plays a role and the “unselfish way they carry themselves” in favor of the team they represent. As a former world champion and athlete of both the rough stock and timed events, Mote stated, “We feel like we’re competing” alongside our athletes. The energy at AT&T stadium is unparalleled and is an “amazing environment.” Given the event format, competitors simply must “hope they’re faster than the person [beside them],” and coaches must consider their lineup based on strengths, stock draw, and overall team decisiveness. Aspects of the competition add an element of suspense that is expected to be crowd favorites and exhilarating for spectators in attendance. All elements aid in the theme “unleash the beat with Kid Rock” and the revolutionary take on the sport of rodeo.
Cowboys and cowgirls expected to compete at the Rock N Rodeo include many nameworthy NFR athletes such as professional breakaway roper Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, calf roper Riley Webb, and steer wrestler Dirk Tavenner, representing team Convoy. Crowd favorites such as bareback riders Rocker Steiner and Jess Pope, barrel racer Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, and calf roper Tuf Cooper are expected to compete alongside household rodeo names like Sherry Cervi, Tyler Waguespack, and Junior Nogueira, to name a few. According to the five-time steer wrestling world champion and ten-time NFR qualifier, Tyler Waguespack, this rodeo is beyond unique and exhilarating. When asked how this event differed from typical PRCA rodeos, Waguespack stated, “We normally go to the regular rodeo, and we’re just focusing on our event and our job.” However, this event had Waguespack helping teammates in the bucking horse events and pushing cattle for the other timed events. Fans of rodeo “won’t be pulling for one particular person; they need the entire team to do good to win.” He continued with the idea that the addition of the traffic light starting sequence would be “great for the fan base” by adding energy to each rodeo discipline and making the rodeo fast-paced and exciting. Waguespack concluded that he truly enjoyed the event’s inaugural year and that he felt as though “it was a great thing for the rodeo as far as building new fans and bringing new attention to the sport.”
The 2nd annual Kid Rock Rock N Rodeo is scheduled for May 16, 2025, at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and is expected to be a surreal and memorable event for both the fans of rodeo and the competitors that eat, sleep, and breath for the competition. Athletes, coaches, and spectators can all agree that the event will be a show-stopper and one for the books in terms of talent, grit, and above all teamwork. The unique take on the sport of rodeo in terms of its team structure and event bracket format can only pay tribute to the event’s living inspiration, Kid Rock, and his undeniable reputation as one of music’s most dynamic and enduring superstars. A legacy that each legendary coach carries into their teams and their unquenchable need to succeed. It will be a night worth taking stock of and one that the true fans of rodeo won’t want to miss.
