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Professional wrestlers are celebrities in their own way, but the wrestling industry has always had an obsession with those people so famous that the mere glimpse of them appearing at an event could generate a lot of buzz for any given promotion. After all, there’s a reason why a show like WrestleMania is so well known to those who don’t even watch wrestling, and that is the decades of celebrity involvement.
These little cameos that celebrities make at wrestling events can often lead to something bigger as they hear the roar of the crowd, the unmatched athleticism, and the performative aspect of everything that makes them think, «I would like to have a go at that.» More often than not, those celebrities will lace up a pair of boots and take a couple of bumps before realizing that they aren’t cut out for life as a pro wrestler, but then there are those who take a bump, embrace the pain, and get back up knowing full well that they have been bitten by the wrestling bug.
That’s what we’re here to talk about today, the stars of the screen, stage, and other sporting worlds who not only got involved in wrestling, but actually had a knack for it. So sit back, relax, and join us on a journey to the worlds of music, movies, and the NFL, as we list the 15 best celebrities to have ever wrestled.
Honorable mentions have to go to Jelly Roll for his respectable effort at SummerSlam 2025. «The Gronk» Rob Gronkowski, who had a two-month reign as the WWE 24/7 Champion in 2020, but since he technically never wrestled a match, he isn’t eligible for the list. However, he did have a baby rhino named after him at the Tampa Bay zoo, which is probably just as prestigious, if not more, than being the WWE 24/7 Champion. Also, WWE Hall of Famer Muhammed Ali deserves a mention for his fight with NJPW founder Antonio Inoki, which might not technically have been a wrestling match, but it made worldwide headlines and is often cited as one of the first examples of the sport that would eventually become known as Mixed Martial Arts.
15. Kaisei Takechi
16Soul
We’ve seen both K-Pop and J-Pop bands crossover into the worldwide mainstream in recent years, but for Kaisei Takechi he has made the transition from the stage to the ring.
Takechi is a member of «The Rampage from Exile Tribe,» a J-Pop group with a staggering 16 members and an even more staggering 25 top ten singles in the Japanese charts. To go with their musical success, the group has also had two TV shows, three radio shows, and three web shows made for them, so it’s no surprise that when Takechi transitioned over to wrestling, it made national headlines. Since February 2024, Takechi has wrestled sporadically for DDT Pro Wrestling, with his debut match drawing one of the largest crowds in the history of the legendary Korakuen Hall, and just to make the Japanese public even more jealous of him, he was just as good in the ring as he is on stage.
14. Shaquille O’Neal
AEW
For many years, the biggest celebrity match that could possibly be made was The Big Show taking on NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal. The match was even teased at WWE WrestleMania 32 when the two behemoths stood face-to-face in the annual Andre The Giant Memorial battle royal, but due to scheduling conflicts on Shaq’s side, and The Big Show’s in-ring career starting to reach its conclusion, that meeting never came to be.
However, it was AEW who managed to get Shaq in a ring for an official match as the NBA legend teamed up with the debuting Jade Cargill to take on the team of Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet. The match happened on «The Crossroads» edition of «AEW Dynamite» in March 2021, and Shaq was more than capable of holding his own, even paying tribute to the late Mr. Brodie Lee, and taking a bump off the apron through two tables. Shaq and Cargill won the match, but the basketball star mysteriously vanished after being placed in an ambulance, and hasn’t been seen since.
13. Dennis Rodman
Wwe/Getty Images
While WWE would always relish the opportunity to get some famous faces on their shows, WCW wasn’t opposed to it either, and of all the celebrity involvements that they had, the one that gained the most attention for all the right reasons was when Dennis Rodman was a member of the nWo.
Rodman was always a fan of wrestling, and after being drafted to the Chicago Bulls in 1995, he actually decided to take his hobby a little more seriously. His existing friendship with Hulk Hogan led to him joining WCW and the nWo as a result, with «The Worm» bringing a lot of eyes to the company. He headlined both the 1997 and 1998 Bash at the Beach pay-per-views alongside Hogan, with the 1998 event being particularly noteworthy as the match was against DDP and Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz, the team the Chicago Bulls beat in the NBA finals just a few months earlier. To prove that Rodman was serious about wrestling, he even had a feud with Randy Savage in 1999 and made a cameo appearance for AEW in 2023.
12. Lawrence Taylor
WWE
There are only a handful of people who can make the claim that they have headlined WWE’s marquee event, WrestleMania. Some of the greatest wrestlers in the world have still got a main event spot on WWE’s biggest stage on their bucket list, but someone who has ticked it off of their list is NFL icon Lawrence Taylor.
Having a background in football has been a major help for some of WWE’s most successful stars, such as Roman Reigns, The Rock, or even Bill Goldberg, so to have someone as accomplished as «L.T.,» a two-time Super Bowl winner and the NFL MVP of the 1986 season, seemed like a touchdown in its own right for WWE. Taylor would go on to wrestle Bam Bam Bigelow in the main event of WrestleMania 11 in 1995, a year that is widely considered to be one of the worst for WWE, but Taylor’s match with Bigelow brought the company some much needed mainstream exposure, and Taylor was even able to hold his own and produce a serviceable performance against one of the best big men in the business.
11. Floyd Mayweather
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
There are very few celebrities who have embraced the role of a heel in wrestling, but Floyd «Money» Mayweather did it better than most.
WWE originally wanted Mayweather to be a babyface when he appeared at the 2008 No Way Out pay-per-view to stop The Big Show from dismantling Rey Mysterio, but after breaking The Big Show’s nose and from his years of getting under the skin of every opponent he ever faced inside a boxing ring, Mayweather became a heel and faced The Big Show at WrestleMania 24 in 2008. Mayweather would go as far as to use brass knuckles to put the «World’s Largest Athlete» down, and while WWE reportedly had to pay Mayweather around $20 million for the match, WrestleMania 24 had over one million pay-per-view buys, generating somewhere in the region of $23 million. Mayweather would remain undefeated for the rest of his career, with The Big Show being his biggest scalp.
10. David Arquette
Getty Images/Getty Images
While Dennis Rodman and Karl Malone brought eyes to WCW for all the right reasons, David Arquette did it for all the wrong reasons, and the worst part about that is even Arquette himself knew that what WCW had in store for him was a bad idea.
To help promote the 2000 movie «Ready to Rumble,» WCW brought Arquette onto their TV shows to gain some of that sweet mainstream exposure, but head writer Vince Russo thought that, because of how famous Arquette was, why not go all in and do something extreme with the actor? What followed is one of the single biggest missteps in wrestling history, as David Arquette, a non-wrestler who was just happy to help promote his movie, won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. If anyone brings up the question of «what/who killed WCW?» Arquette will always get a mention.
However, years after the WCW disaster, Arquette would give back to the wrestling business by performing on a regular basis at various indie shows, with the most famous match being a gruesome deathmatch in GCW against Nick Gage.
9. Paul Walter Hauser
ROH/Ricky Havlik
Paul Walter Hauser is a Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy Award winning actor who has featured in some of the biggest movies and TV shows in recent years, but when he’s not mixing it up with Hollywood’s elite, he is getting his hands dirty in the wrestling ring.
Unlike those famous faces who make one-off appearances and head back to their natural habitat, Hauser, a lifelong wrestling fan with actual training, has actually wrestled all over the world in recent years. He originally debuted for Sami Callihan’s Wrestling REVOLVER promotion in November 2023, before going on to sign a contract with MLW to make him a full-time member of the roster. Hauser would also travel overseas to PROGRESS in the United Kingdom, where he would win the PROGRESS Proteus Championship (which he still holds to this day), and as recently as August 2025, Hauser has made a number of appearances for AEW and Ring of Honor, even wrestling QT Marshall in a «Fight Without Honor» at the Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view.
8. Mr. T
Wwe/Getty Images
It would be hard to do a list of the greatest celebrity wrestlers of all time and not include the man who went on to be one quarter of the first-ever WrestleMania main event.
An icon of the 1980s thanks to his portrayal of B.A. Baracus in «The A-Team,» as well as his role Clubber Lang in Rocky III, a movie that also featured WWE’s Hulk Hogan in a minor role. Hogan and T became friends on set, and when Vince McMahon needed a star attraction for the first WrestleMania event in 1985, Hogan knew exactly who would fit the mould.
T and Hogan would team up to defeat Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff, with Muhammad Ali of all people acting as one of the special guest referees (the other was Pat Patterson). While modern fans might not see the appeal in the match, T put in an excellent performance for a non-wrestler, earning the respect of the WWE locker room, and even sticking around for WrestleMania 2, where he faced Piper in a boxing match that, if it were T’s only WWE appearance, he wouldn’t have made it on this list.
7. Pat McAfee
Wwe/Getty Images
Perhaps the only celebrity in history to have taken the traditional WWE route of starting in «WWE NXT» before moving up to the main roster.
Once Pat McAfee’s days as a punter for the Indianapolis Colts in the NFL were over, McAfee transitioned into the world of punditry and analysis for both football and wrestling, as he began making appearances on the kick-off shows for «NXT TakeOver» events in 2018. However, throughout all of his appearances on the black and gold brand, he had one major foe: Adam Cole. The former NXT Champion despised McAfee to the point where the two men would wrestle at NXT TakeOver XXX in 2020, leading to McAfee forming his own stable to take on The Undisputed Era at that year’s NXT TakeOver: WarGames event that same year.
Since then, McAfee has been a color commentator on «WWE Raw» and on the company’s major Premium Live Events, but has managed to remain active in the ring with high profile matches against the likes of Austin Theory, The Miz, and Gunther, with the latter coming at the Backlash 2025 PLE in what was arguably the best celebrity performance of the year.
6. Logan Paul
Wwe/Getty Images
It’s been over three years since Logan Paul’s first official match for WWE, and considering that he has held the WWE United States Champion, main evented Premium Live Events, and feuded with some of the biggest names in the industry, you could argue that he is more of a WWE Superstar and less of a celebrity attraction in 2025. However, his first taste of the wrestling business came because of his fame, so he has to get included.
There really isn’t anything that Paul hasn’t done in his career. He started as a social media influencer and vlogger, gaining a massive following on both Vine and YouTube before using his athletic background to enter the world of boxing. While his career has been known for being controversial, especially after his infamous trip to Japan in late 2017, his WWE career has been a huge success, and after embracing the fact that he isn’t exactly the most likeable person to the common fan, Paul has become one of the top heels in the company who has genuine world title aspirations for the future.
5. Big Boom AJ
AEW/Lee South
Bringing the boom to the top five is none other than everyone’s favorite Costco hype man, Andrew Befumo Jr., better known as Big Boom AJ. Both he and his son, Big Justice, rose to fame via TikTok in 2023 for their regular trips to Costco, being dubbed «The Costco Guys» in the process, and in the wild world of social media, where literally anything can catch fire overnight, AJ and his entire family became internet celebrities instantly.
With that said, the reason why AJ ranks too high on this list is due to his background as a professional wrestler. Long before the days of double chocolate chip cookies, AJ worked as Eric Justice on the New Jersey independent scene, which was brought up many times during his 2024 feud with QT Marshall. Much like riding a bike, AJ hadn’t missed a step when he made his AEW debut against Marshall in his home state at Full Gear 2024, and thanks to his strong bond with AEW, he has featured on some of their biggest events ever, with Big Justice and his good friend The Rizzler also getting in on the action.
4. Johnny Knoxville
WWE
3. Stephen Amell
WWE
When a celebrity is brought into wrestling for any reason, more often than not, you can tell whether that celebrity is a fan of wrestling. In the case of Stephen Amell, he’s not only a fan but could have had a successful wrestling career if he applied himself.
After campaigning to make a guest appearance for WWE back in 2015, he went on to wrestle Cody «Stardust» Rhodes and Wade Barrett at SummerSlam 2015 alongside Neville, earning a lot of respect backstage for how well he carried himself in the ring. This match would be the beginning of a close friendship between Amell and Rhodes, with the «American Nightmare» even featuring in an episode of «Arrow» alongside Amell as a result. The friendship with Rhodes continued after he departed from WWE in 2016, with Amell making guest appearances in Ring of Honor as an honorary member of the Bullet Club, and Amell would even get a spot on the inaugural All In card in 2018 against Christopher Daniels.
Since then, Amell has been the main star in the «Heels» TV show on Starz, which featured cameos from CM Punk, AJ Lee, and Mick Foley, and Amell is still an avid viewer of both WWE and AEW to this day.
2. Bad Bunny
WWE
Perhaps the most famous celebrity to crossover from the mainstream into professional wrestling, but that was easy to predict just by looking at some of Bad Bunny’s lyrics over the years. After all, his first appearance in WWE back in 2021 saw him perform a song that was literally called «Booker T.»
Bunny has been a lifelong wrestling fan and trained hard to get himself into ring shape for a match at WrestleMania 37, where he and fellow Puerto Rican Damian Priest defeated John Morrison and The Miz in a match that made some fans think that Bunny should trade a microphone for a pair of wrestling boots. Just under a year later, he made a surprise appearance in the 2022 Royal Rumble match, but it was his work in 2023 that put him as one of the best celebrities to have ever wrestled.
After getting involved in The Judgment Day’s business, Bunny went from being the host of the 2023 Backlash PLE in his hometown of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to facing Priest in a street fight that was seen as one of the best matches of the year. His entrance from the event went viral, and while he hasn’t been back in the ring since, he is eager to return to WWE, and judging by how happy he was during his match with Priest, it’s easy to see why.
1. Andy Kaufman
Wwe/Getty Images
When Andy Kaufman was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2023, younger fans were very confused as to who Kaufman was and what his connection to wrestling actually was. Little did they know that without the late comedian, celebrity involvement in wrestling wouldn’t be what it is today.
Due to the fact that Kaufman was one of the most high profile individuals to know about kayfabe, he would travel around independent shows as the «Inter-Gender Wrestling Champion of the World,» challenging any woman to wrestle him for a $1,000 cash prize if they could win. Of course, the woman who would challenge him was pre-determined, and Kaufman gained a reputation for wrestling women in the process. After being knocked back by Vince McMahon Sr. about working with WWE, Kaufman was introduced to Jerry «The King» Lawler through famous wrestling photographer Bill Apter.
Kaufman and Lawler would have a feud in 1982 that received mainstream attention as Kaufman had his neck broken by Lawler in Kaufman’s first match wrestling a man, which was then followed up with a fight on «Late Night with David Letterman.» It was a feud so well done that it wasn’t until 1995, 10 years after Kaufman had passed away, that people learned that both men were actually friends, and they had worked the entire world. The feud also became a main focal point of the 1999 movie «Man on the Moon» about Kaufman’s life, where Jim Carrey (who played Kaufman) got to recreate the feud with Lawler, who played himself.
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