Ever since the first WrestleMania, WWE has loved celebrity involvement. The tinge of endorsement from Hollywood A-listers has always given wrestling more eyes and intrigue from casual viewers, but for fans, it's a mixed bag — especially when the celebrity wrestles. In fact, more often than not, most wrestling enthusiasts tune into these matches just to see how bad they can be.
That isn't to say it's always bad. In fact, some celebrity matches, especially those involving other athletes. So, we want to look at both ends of the spectrum — the surprisingly entertaining, and the so bad it's cringy.
10 Awesome: Mr. T vs Rowdy Roddy Piper
With the success of Rocky III, Mr. T became synonymous with boxing with his portrayal of the vicious fighter, Clubber Lang. So, a few years later, at WrestleMania II, the actor took on Rowdy Roddy Piper in a full-on boxing match, when their real-life dislike for each other surfaced. Believe it or not, it was fantastic. Taking the more dramatic approach of the Rocky movies, Piper went toe to toe with Mr. T, trading blows in what looked like a knock-down-drag-out fight.
The battle ended via disqualification when the Wiley Piper bodyslammed Mr. T, and while many fans may think that's a poor way to end things, it was the perfect result given Piper's character.
9 Sucked: Akebono Vs. Big Show
WrestleMania 21 is one of the best of the Ruthless Aggression era. Taking place in the Staple's Center in Los Angeles California, WWE made sure the show lived up to it's "Big Time" tagline with Undertaker defeating "The Legend Killer" Randy Orton, John Cena winning his first-ever WWE Championship against John Bradshaw Layfield, Batista defeating Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship, and Edge winning the first-ever Money In The Bank Ladder Match.
Nestled in this stacked card, however, was Akebono vs. Big Show in a sumo match. Only lasting two seconds over a minute, this match was weird as The World's Largest athlete donned the traditional Sumo thong and slapped around a professional before being shoved out of the circle. The match was weird to watch and pretty boring, especially on a show that was otherwise fantastic.
8 Awesome: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Lawrence Taylor
For one reason or another Bam Bam Bigelow gets forgotten in the history of WWE despite being one of the best big-man wrestlers to ever step foot in the ring. Much like his time in WWE, the Hall of Famer's classic WrestleMania XI against NFL Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor was something special.
As a match between two giants, Taylor surprised Bigelow, and the fans, with a burst of power, tossing the wrestler from the ring early. As the match waged on, the two titans traded blows, until Taylor hit Bigelow with a forearm dive from the second rope, connecting with Bigelow's chin, allowing the NFL star to pin the wrestler as the arena erupted.
7 Sucked: Snooki & Trish Stratus & John Morrison vs Dolph Ziggler & Lay-Cool
As far as celebrity matches go, this isn't the worst, but it's definitely not an all-time great. Somehow, Snooki of Jersey Shore fame ended up at WrestleMania alongside John Morrison and a returning Trish Stratus. Taking on Dolph Ziggler alongside Lay-Cool (Layla and Michelle McCool), the match had enough talent to make for a watchable match, it was incredibly inconsequential, and it was clear Snooki's limited experience in the ring couldn't be hidden completely.
6 Awesome: Mr. T & Hulk Hogan vs. Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff
In terms of importance, it's hard to find a match with more significance than the main event of the very first WrestleMania. In this bout, the dastardly duo of Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorf took on Hulk Hogan along with actor Mr. T. While not as flashy as the matches of today, this star-studded bout is technically impressive with Mr. T more than holding his own. In fact, he even started the match! Picking up Piper for a slam early on, the actor-turned-wrestler proved he was worthy of a big-time match. Eventually devolving into pure chaos, Hogan and T managed to pick up the victory after interference by Cowboy Bob Orton went sideways. For historical purposes, every WWE fan should watch this.
5 Sucked: Drew Carey In The Royal Rumble
The Royal Rumble is the most exciting time of the year for WWE fans. The match sets the promotion's plans for the future of WrestleMania, feuds are either created, rekindled, or continued in the match, and there's no telling who can make an appearance. One such surprise entrant was Drew Carey at number five in the 2001 Royal Rumble. Lasting a whole two minutes and 54 seconds, the comedian ended up eliminating himself after a brief run-in with Kane.
The frustrating thing about his involvement is that it distracts from an otherwise great match. Kane set a record at the time for most eliminations in a single Royal Rumble match with 11, and Stone Cold Steve Austin won after eliminating what appeared to be an unstoppable monster.
4 Awesome: Neville & Stephen Amell vs Stardust & Wade Barrett
Heading into SummerSlam 2015, the only thing fans were looking forward to regarding Neville and Stephen Amell vs Stardust and Wade Barrett was the comic book action they were about to witness. With that said, no one expected the match to be this good. While the superhero duo of the Green Arrow and Neville dazzled audiences with high-flying moves, the Cosmic Kings put on a hard-hitting performance to boot.
Most impressive in the entire ordeal was definitely Amell. Clearly in shape and ready to wrestle, this may be the most prepared we've ever seen a celebrity for a match. Taking to the skies for a top rope dive to the outside, Amell left nothing on the table in a match that surprised everyone. Seriously, this was great.
3 Sucked: Mike Tyson & Chris Jericho vs DX
There was a time when Mike Tyson teaming with Chris Jericho to take down DX sounded like a 1990s dream, but by 2010, it was a nightmare. Years removed from his prime, Tyson could barely wrestle at all. His involvement for the most part just featured him grappling with Shawn Michaels and Triple H, only to shove them as commentary played up his insane power.
The whole ordeal ended with Hornswaggle coming to the ring dressed like a boxer, which distracted Jericho enough for Tyson to pull off his t-shirt, revealing some DX merch underneath. When Y2J turned around, he ate a knuckle sandwich for his trouble.
2 Awesome: Big Show Vs Floyd Mayweather
When it comes to celebrity matches in WWE there are a few things to consider. The first is how big the name involved is and in 2008, there wasn't a more noteworthy boxer than Floyd Mayweather. The next is the setting. There isn't a bigger place for a match than WrestleMania. Then, there's how serious the celebrity treats the match and the lead-up. Mayweather treated his match with Big Show like it was the most important fight of his life. Finally, there's how well both the wrestler and the celebrity perform in the ring. They delivered.
With a No Holds Barred stipulation, the match started with the larger, stronger Big Show attempting to land some serious power moves on the smaller, faster Mayweather. Unable to catch the boxer, Big Show was met with fists. Before too long, the match turned to utter chaos as Show landed more power moves. Eventually, it ended when Mayweather was able to get the giant to his knees, land a chair shot to the head, and land a KO punch with brass knuckles.
1 Sucked: Kevin Federline vs John Cena
Kevin Federline, awful rapper and the ex-husband of Britney Spears, pinned John Cena in the middle of a WWE ring on an episode of Raw. While technically a match, the number of stops and interferences, makes it especially hard to watch.
Credit where credit is due, John Cena, along with John Morrison, and Umaga — who helped propel K-fed to victory — did their part to help Federline look passible, but the three moves he tried to apply on Cena all looked terrible. Thankfully, the actual match only lasted a few minutes, but this was just embarrassing.