The history of professional wrestlers in movies can be traced all the way back to the 1950s when Mexican wrestling legend El Santo first starred in Santo contra el cerebro del mal, which translates to the incredibly B-movie title, Santo vs. the Evil Brain. Since then, many a grappler has tried their hand at cinema.
The 1980s were filled with the likes of Hulk Hogan and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper gracing the silver screen with their larger than life personas. We’ve even seen the biggest stars of the Attitude Era, The Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin give acting a go. One of them had a bit more success than the other.
To this day, wrestlers are still trying to make that jump from niche entertainer to global phenomenon. WWE created their own production company, WWE Studios, to help their talent reach the next level.
We all know some of this year’s biggest blockbusters like Avengers: Infinity War and Rampage, feature former and current WWE superstars. That’s why this list is going to take a look at some movies you may not have known are coming out in 2018.
And now for our feature presentation, 15 Movies Starring WWE Stars You Didn’t Know Are Coming Out in 2018.
15 Avengers Of Justice: Farce Wars – Shawn Michaels
For as amazing as a performer inside the ring Shawn Michaels was, he sure seems to get the short end of the stick when it comes to movie roles. Recent additions to his resume are the oxy-moronic WWE Studios Christian film The Resurrection of Gavin Stone and their country music jamboree, Pure Country: Pure Heart.
Mr. WrestleMania seems to be continuing this trend of awful, schlock without WWE’s assistance in this year’s Avengers of Justice: Farce Wars. The movie is a one of those “throw every obvious joke at the wall and pray like hell that one sticks” parody flicks in the vein of Disaster Movie and the Scary Movie franchise.
This time, DC and Marvel movies are the targets. Oh, and also Star Wars, as Michaels is playing “Incredibly Master Yoga.” Get it? Because Yoda and yoga are spelled VERY similarly. Comedy!
14 Blockers – John Cena
We’re seriously excited about John Cena's upcoming comedy, Blockers. Like most of Cena’s comedy work, Blockers is far from the TV-PG stuff we see on Raw or Smackdown. The movie is about a group of parents who try and stop their daughters from losing their virginity on prom night.
Cena also has some great talent with him for Blockers. Not only are his costars This is 40’s Leslie Mann and The Mindy Project’s Ike Barinholtz, but it’s also directed by Kay Cannon, who wrote Pitch Perfect.
Big Match John’s always had better luck when it comes to comedies than action films. His work in Trainwreck and Sisters is a million times better than The Marine and 12 Rounds.
13 Skyscraper – The Rock
If you ever wished to see the Rock play a former FBI agent with one leg rescue people from a Chinese skyscraper in 3-D, you’ll have your chance in July! Also, you have extremely specific wishes.
Up until the Super Bowl, very little was said about the upcoming movie. All we saw was the image of Dwayne Johnson leaping from a crane into the window of a burning building. It was awesome and pretty much told us everything we needed to know.
Skyscraper once again sees the Great One team up with Rawson M. Thurber, who directed Johnson in the 2016 action-comedy mega-hit Central Intelligence. With Jumanji still cleaning up at the box office and Rampage set to premiere in April, it’s looking to be another banner year for the Most Electrifying Man in All of Entertainment.
12 Escape Plan 2: Hades – Batista
Batista is the second most successful wrestler-turned-actor working today, after Dwayne, of course. Ever since he was cast as “Drax” in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Big Dave has continued to be cast in blockbusters like Spectre and Blade Runner 2049.
Aside from Avengers: Infinity War, Batista’s next film is Escape Plan 2: Hades. The action-thriller, that is set to release two weeks after Avengers (in the Netherlands, at least), is a sequel to the 2013 Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger two-hander Escape Plan. Unfortunately, Arnie isn’t returning for a second stint, but the addition of Batista is a welcome change.
No matter how Hades does get ready for another one. The Animal has already signed on to reprise his role and once again team up with Stallone for Escape Plan 3.
11 The 27 Club – John Morrison
When Johnny Nitro was rebranded John Morrison, it was due to his more than passing resemblance to Jim Morrison. This makes his casting as the deceased Doors singer in the upcoming film the 27 Club a brilliant choice.
For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of the 27 Club, it’s way less of an actual club, like your Bullets and Balors, and more of a collection of famous musicians, actors, and celebrities who passed away at the age of 27. Notable entries in this group are Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, and of course, Jim Morrison.
The horror movie posits that there is a dark, underlying secret behind admittance to the cursed club.
10 The Peanut Butter Falcon – Mick Foley And Jake Roberts
Here we have another movie about wrestling, at least in part. The interestingly titled Peanut Butter Falcon is about a young man with Down syndrome who escapes from a nursing home to live his dream of becoming a professional wrestler. The movie is inspired by the works of Mark Twain and looks to be filled with adventure.
The film stars some big names like Shai LaBeouf, Dakota Johnson, and Bruce Dern was able to nab two wrestling legends as well by casting Mick Foley and Jake “The Snake” Roberts. According to the movie’s website, Foley plays Jacob who is, “passionate about backyard wrestling.” Roberts plays Samson who, “never quite made it to “professional” wrestler but backyard Sunday matches are still the place he feels most alive.”
9 100 Acres Of Hell – Snitsky
After deciding to leave WWE in 2008, Snitsky has been able to carve out a nice career for himself. He’s consistently booked on the independent scene, has been a spokesman for cooking products, and currently has five films in some stage of production. The bulk of these films are horror movies, which shouldn’t be surprising as the hulking Snitsky is one of the most terrifying men to ever set foot inside a wrestling ring.
100 Acres of Hell continues this spooky trend and is Snitsky’s first starring role. He’s playing Buck Severs (great name), an ex-professional wrestler who must defend his friends and do battle against a murderous mutant. Here’s hoping that he uses some of his squared circle abilities and punts monsters into a crowd.
8 Con Man – Goldberg
According to Teaser Trailer, Con Man is, “The story of Barry Minkow, a young charismatic businessman who becomes a wealthy CEO by lying, cheating and stealing his way to the top.” It’s truly a travesty that the late Eddie Guerrero isn’t alive to be a part of this movie. As seen in the trailer, the movie contains a drastic switch in tone. It starts out as a happy-go-lucky comedy about a man faking his way to the top before it turns into a dramatic redemption tale.
Despite not being included on the poster, Goldberg plays an important role. He plays “Sax,” the loan shark who gives Barry the first chunk of change that gets Barry’s illegal operation started. Goldberg’s in good company too, the movie also stars the likes of Mark Hamill, James, Caan, and Ving Rhames.
7 Mohawk – Luke Harper
In a total missed opportunity, this movie isn’t 92 minutes of Sheamus sculpting his trademark hairstyle. Instead, Mohawk is a brutal and bloody tale about a young Mohawk tribeswoman getting her revenge on a group of American soldiers during the War of 1812.
The Wyatt Family’s prodigal son plays a big part in Mohawk as one of the American’s in the woods who’s about to get their comeuppance. This could be big for Harper, as he is one of WWE’s most underrated talkers when he’s not forced to put on a fake bayou accent.
In 2017, the film was selected for a bunch of gory festivals including Fantasia, Grimmfest, and the Morbido Film Fest. Most recently, Mohawk played as part of the 2018 Brooklyn Horror Fest at Williamsburg’s Nitehawk Cinema.
6 Bumblebee: The Movie - John Cena
John Cena is all set to star in the upcoming Transformers spinoff, Bumblebee, hopefully playing a robot that Mark Wahlberg turns into. Kidding aside, Cena will be starring in the prequel set in 1987, playing a character named Burns, an agent of Sector 7. We can only assume he's going to be some big, jacked military dude to complement Hailee Steinfeld's teenage character, who finds the not-so-ordinary Volkswagen Beetle.
With his dream match against The Undertaker right around the corner at this year's WrestleMania, look for Cena to take another extended break away from the ring following the event, continuing to pursue his career in Hollywood. Looks like he did follow in The Rock's footsteps after all...
5 Vengeance – Wade Barrett
Any fans of Wade Barrett out there? Then I’ve got some GOOD news for you. The former King of Bad News is starring in the British action flick Vengeance. Going by his real name Stu Bennett, the 5-time Intercontinental Champion plays a mercenary whose best friend has been murdered. Now the heavily armed tough guy is out for…vengeance.
Since taking a hiatus from wrestling in 2015, Barrett has chosen to focus on acting and has racked up quite a few roles during this time, but this is his first role as a leading man.
Vengeance is set to release on February 24, 2018, in Japan before expanding worldwide later this year. Let’s hope the movie is a hit for Barrett and doesn’t wind up in the Wastelands of the Walmart’s $5 bin.
4 Atone – Sheamus
Those of us who saw it can all agree that Sheamus low key crushed it in 2016’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. The Celtic Warrior was meant to play a street punk turned rhinoceros henchman. He’s also had turns voicing himself in the WWE/Hanna-Barbera crossovers The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania! And Scooby-Doo! And WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon.
Sheamus’ next feature doesn’t appear to be as family-friendly as the rest of his catalog. This year, he’ll be playing a heavy simply named “Black” in the upcoming “Die Hard in a church,” Atone.
Atone isn’t the only upcoming film Sheamus is a part of, he also has parts in two upcoming WWE Studios movies. If rumors of his career-threatening injury are indeed true, the acting world seems like a perfect, and much safer place for the Irishman to spend his days.
3 Anders Manor – Kevin Nash
Throughout his acting career, Kevin Nash has played a bunch of different types of characters. We’ve seen him play assassins, a prison guard, a stripper, and Super Shredder. One role we’d never think Big Sexy would be cast as is a man of the cloth, but that’s exactly what he will be playing in Anders Manor. If you ever wanted to watch Nash play a cult leader oozing positivity, you’ll soon have your chance.
The haunted house horror story, which will be released on May 5, 2018, takes inspirations from a real-life New England massacre and injects a healthy dose of ghosts and gore. Aside from Dexter’s Christina Robinson, Nash is the biggest name in the no-budget tale that also includes Godsmack frontman, Sully Erna.
2 Final Score – Batista
One of the easiest ways to sell a film is to take the plot of Die Hard and swap out Nakatomi Plaza for literally any other location. It worked for Olympus Has Fallen, Passenger 57, and the aforementioned Atone. Get ready to swap out a big ol’ building for a football stadium when Final Score hits theaters this year.
The movie sees Batista playing the John McClane-esque Michael Knox (not sure how the ex-WWE superstar will feel about this) trying to save an arena filled with fans as terrorist are holding them all hostage for ransom.
Real talk, I have to point out how dope of a title Final Score is for an action flick set inside a sports arena. Between the literal score, a ransom, and having a “score” to settle, the title is a beautifully layered gift that keeps on giving.
1 Fighting With My Family – The Rock, Sheamus, Big Show, And Zelina Vega
In what appears to be WWE Studios’ biggest swing at legitimacy, they’ve teamed up with Dwayne John’s Seven Bucks Productions to produce the upcoming Fighting with My Family. The film, a biopic of current superstar Paige, is based on the 2012 documentary The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family. It tells the story of Paige, who has been wrestling since she was 13, and her family of wrestlers.
Fighting with My Family, set to release in September. The movie is written and directed by British comedian Stephen Merchant and stars Florence Pugh as Paige and Len Headey and Nick Frost as her grappling parents. It also includes a bunch of WWE superstars like The Rock, Sheamus, and Big show, who all play themselves. Most interesting is that current NXT wrestler Zelina Vega is playing the part of AJ Lee, who Paige famously defeated for the Diva’s Championship her first night on Raw.