Celebrities appear in WWE are a very common occurrence since the company has been available to wrestling fans across the country. Ever since the rock n’ wrestling affiliation of the 1980s, WWE hasn’t been shy about adding celebrities to their programming to bring more exposure to their product, and it’s been a very successful formula. While not every celebrity involvement is critically acclaimed, it continues to be a smart business decision.
Some celebrities are very matter-of-fact about their appearances, where they show their faces in front of the camera and then exit without much fanfare. Others, however, like to get their hands dirty when performing for WWE. Having a celebrity name not only step into the ring but also get their hands on a WWE Superstar is a surefire way to generate excitement, and some even step into the ring to compete.
10 Jon Stewart
Of all the celebrities who have made small appearances on WWE television, former Daily Show host Jon Stewart has arguably had one of the biggest impacts. Although Stewart had little to do with professional wrestling in the past, he had a direct impact on the WWE Championship match at SummerSlam 2015.
During a minor feud with Seth Rollins that led to SummerSlam, Stewart, who led into the event, not only low-blows Rollins, but also attacks John Cena at the end of the Winner Takes All match, allowing Rollins to win Cena’s United States Championship could. Stewart made the statement that he wanted to preserve Ric Flair’s legendary championship record and hit Cena with a chair, costing him the match and the titles.
9 Arnold Schwarzenegger
As a member of the WWE Hall of Fame, Arnold Schwarzenegger has always been a strong supporter of WWE programming. Dating back to his friendship with Bruno Sammartino, the Terminator has made several appearances on WWE television.
Arnold’s first appearance was on an early airing of WWE SmackDown in 1999, where he held up the WWE Championship during an in-ring segment. After Arnold interfered in a match in favor of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin to even his chances against Triple H, Hunter appeared to confront Arnold. Unfortunately for The Game, Arnold fought back and put him in the ring with one punch.
8th snooki
Celebrity appearances during the WrestleMania season are nothing new, but few fans saw Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi’s appearance ahead of WrestleMania 27 coming. Having no affiliation with wrestling prior to her appearance on Monday Night RAW in 2011, her performance was a head scratcher for all viewers.
After Snooki was insulted by Vickie Guerrero, she sold and slapped her during a backstage segment. She was also involved in the attack on LayCool during a Jersey Shore segment. Ultimately, this led to Snooki’s only wrestling match, in which she was victorious at WrestleMania 27 alongside John Morrison and Trish Stratus against Dolph Ziggler and LayCool.
7 Johnny Knoxville
Because of his years of punishment for doing stunts in Jackass, Johnny Knoxville was incredibly well suited to a stint as a professional wrestler. In fact, his feud with Sami Zayn that led to WrestleMania 38 was one of the best parts of the entire show.
The feud between the two arose from Knoxville’s entry into the Royal Rumble that year and his subsequent elimination by Sami. To add salt to the wound, Sami showed up at the Jackass Forever film premiere to confront Knoxville, who ended up attacking him with a cattle prod, leading to their WrestleMania match.
6 Mickey Rourke
In 2008, Mickey Rourke made headlines for his career resurgence in the film The Wrestler, which Chris Jericho began referencing in the lead up to WrestleMania 25. All signs pointed to Rourke facing Jericho at the event, but a number of circumstances prevented this.
Thankfully, Rourke showed up at the event to confront Jericho after his scheduled match. After months of bad-mouthing Jericho Rourke, he finally got his comeuppance after the former gold-gloved boxer hit him in the face with a left hook to send fans home happy.
5 Lawrence Taylor
Many football players and celebrities have appeared at WrestleMania competitions, but few can say that they hosted the biggest WWE show of the year as their main event. Ten years after Mr. T headlined the first WrestleMania, so did former New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor.
At the 1995 Royal Rumble, Bam Bam Bigelow lost his match and was harassed by the crowd, including Taylor who was in attendance. Bigelow took offense at this and shoved Taylor, who retaliated with punches, ultimately leading to their infamous WrestleMania 11 Main Event match.
4 Shaquille O’Neal
After a long NBA career, Shaquille O’Neal began pursuing interests outside of basketball. A longtime wrestling fan, O’Neal has appeared in numerous promotions including WCW and WWE. However, his first physical in ring appearance was when he appeared in WWE.
During Shaq’s special guest hosting stint on Monday Night RAW in 2009, he made himself the special guest enforcer for a match with The Big Show that night. To even the odds, Shaq grabbed The Big Show by the shoulder outside of the ring, even leading to a battle royal appearance at WrestleMania 32 years later.
3 Hugh Jackman
Like many other RAW guest presenters, Hugh Jackman was there to promote an upcoming film. However, unlike other guest presenters during this period, Jackman not only sported the usual celebrity swagger, but also made a major impact on the show that night.
After Jackman confirmed Zack Ryder as the ultimate underdog and made a match between him and Dolph Ziggler, he was insulted by Ziggler. This would result in Jackman cracking Ziggler with a punch to the jaw that allegedly rightfully injured Ziggler, making his performance even more impactful.
2 stephen amell
A huge professional wrestling fan, Stephen Amell fought hard at various parts of his career to appear in WWE. Luckily it could happen and not only is he one of the celebrities to step into the ring, he’s one of the few who were able to have an incredible match.
Before SummerSlam 2015, Amell began an argument with Cody Rhodes (then Stardust), who attacked him while he was watching a show in the audience. Amell did not accept this and attacked Rhodes the following week. Ultimately this led to several games for Amell in various promotions including Ring of Honor, the first AEW event, All In.
1 mike tyson
In a moment that helped catapult WWE’s Attitude Era into the mainstream, Mike Tyson made his first professional wrestling appearance that led to WrestleMania 14. An in-ring confrontation against Tyson and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin made headlines and was a big moment for the company.
During an in-ring segment where Vince McMahon was introducing Tyson to the live crowd, Austin interrupted him and verbally attacked Tyson. Not one to put things down, Tyson was the first to get physical and push Austin back, prompting security to separate them. While Austin’s WrestleMania 14 match against Shawn Michaels was at stake for the WWE Championship, fans were much more excited to see Austin and Tyson interact again.
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