“I would play the entire song up until that point. Then I would turn it off, because that guy scared me,” admitted Maria.

That’s not the only influence the song – or the album – had on Raw’s beautiful Diva, or several other WWE Superstars. From Michael “P.S.” Hayes’ in-ring moonwalk, to WWE Tag Team Champion The Miz’s fedora, to Maria oftentimes sporting a single glove, Jackson’s Thriller has held a place in sports-entertainment lore for the past quarter-century – a milestone which the greatest selling album in music history celebrates this week with the release of Thriller 25.

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With thanks to Brandon Campbell at WWE