So, Tyson Fury rocked up to Monday Night Raw last night. As you do.
While the lure of these big names is usually a setup for an upcoming pay-per-view, they always seem to attract headlines.
WWE has a rich history with celebrity-laden storylines, with the company’s flagship event Wrestlemania originally being conceived as a celebrity-fuelled bonanza, surrounded by wrestling and that blend is only going to continue as we go forward.
We’re here to rank the top 10 celebrity appearances in the history of the business – and that’s the bottom line, ‘cause…’ you know the rest.
10 – Shaq
Shaq just about makes this list, because he was passed off into a storyline with Big Show because – well – giants.
It was Wrestlemania 32, it was the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royale, he double-chokeslammed Kane with Big Show. Everyone had a good time. Next.
9 – Motorhead
I might be cheating with this one slightly, but both Lemmy and the band are worthy of a mention on this list for a number of reasons.
Not only did their long association with the WWE result in some of the best theme songs ever – think Evolution – their appearance at a Wrestlemania to give Triple H a big pop and always made his matches feel even bigger than they were.
8 – Lawrence Taylor
‘LT’, the single greatest defensive player in the history of the NFL, featured at, you guessed it – Wrestlemania.
The scene was Hartford, Connecticut. It was LT billed to fight the ‘undroppable’ Bam Bam Bigelow.
Much to everyone’s surprise, due to severe lack of training, Taylor held his own and actually turned the mock-up into a semi-decent spectacle.
But, given the heights of Wrestlemania X, this seemed a real drop-off and it’s generally considered the worst Wrestlemania of all-time.
7 – Rob Gronkowski
There’s a trend here, but Rob Gronkowski might be the best-known NFL player, well, ex-NFL player on the planet for his exploits.
Again, WWE didn’t oversell this one, and just slotted him into an interference role in the Andre the Giant Battle Royale – again.
He’s an athlete who has express desire to feature in the industry, but his fratboy New England-shtick has been done by John Cena already.
Sorry, Gronk.
6 – Mr. T
I pity da fool… who had to sit through this after paying extortionate rates to see it.
The worst was, after his tag match with Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania I, they actually kept him on to fight Roddy Piper at Wrestlemania 2.
It’s just unfortunate then, that on this occasion, he actually did get on a plane though.
5 – Pete Rose
Pete Rose will absolutely be the least-known celebrity on this list.
For context, he was a baseball player and manager.
But for whatever reason, he developed a storyline with Kane and the repeated interaction with him led to so many comedic moments, especially when he dressed up as a big chicken at Wrestlemania XV and got tombstoned to hell.
Amazing scenes.
4 – David Arquette
Remember Scream? He’s in that. He was also married to Courteney Cox that helps!
Post that slasher, I’m not sure anyone remembers his work, but he was quite a big star in the late 90s/early 2000s.
But, one big fan of his was a man called Vince Russo. If you don’t know who Vince Russo is, he was a booker/writer for WWE before going back to WCW.
And, in an attempt to outdo WWE during the Monday Night Wars, Russo actually booked David Arquette to win the WCW title.
There was a proverbial shark jumped that night.
3 – Floyd Mayweather
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eemg3TdDIvg
Floyd Mayweather boxed Big Show. He actually flat out decked him in the nose and broke it.
There isn’t a whole lot to add to this, bar the fact that Big Show seems to be the butt of most of these jokes and it’s not entirely fair.
2 – Donald Trump
Ah, before he came the most powerful man in the world, he was entering a storyline with Vince McMahon about cutting the other’s hair.
It was billed as the ‘Battle of the Billionaires’ and Trump was actually the fan favourite back then. If only they knew what would transpire.
Trump backed Bobby Lashley to beat Umaga in a wise move that saw the WWE owner getting his haircut on live television.
In retrospect, I’m really not so sure why this was a big deal. But, The Donald did get Stunned by Stone Cold at the end of it all.
1 – Mike Tyson
No celebrity involvement will ever be as good as this ever again.
Tyson’s association with DX lasted nearly a year before he would eventually turn on HBK at Wrestlemania XIV, counting Stone Cold Steve Austin to beat Michaels for the WWF title.
Patience is a virtue and often under-utilised in professional wrestling. If you ever get a spare week, sit back and watch this entire thing take shape.
It was epic!
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