The WWE Hall of Fame was first created in 1993 and while the focus is obviously on the wrestlers, there is a WWE Hall of Fame celebrity wing. While there are still some surprising omissions from the WWE’s Hall of Fame ranks, the vast majority of top wrestling stars have gone in over the last nearly 30 years. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Hulk “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Trish Stratus Shawn Michaels, Bret “The Hitman” Hart, and more have all entered the WWE Hall of Fame, and all deserve to be there. Beyond traditional wrestlers though, celebrities are a big part of wrestling history.
While these celebrities aren’t all known for how well they performed in the ring, they were part of memorable moments or historic bits of wrestling history. Some are fellow athletes, some are great actors, and some are musicians, but all of them have made at least some kind of impact on the wrestling world. From boxer and movie cameo star Mike Tyson to to rap icon Snoop Dogg to legendary baseball player Pete Rose, the WWE Hall of Fame celebrity wing has some true greats.
Pete Rose is a legendary professional baseball player and manager for the Cincinnati Reds. Sadly, Rose’s legacy was marred by his decision to make bets on games involving his own team, for which he got caught. Rose has been barred from the Baseball Hall of Fame, though that is a case disputed by many of his longtime fans. It’s not the Baseball Hall of Fame but Rose is at least in WWE’s.
He was inducted in 2004 as the first celebrity honoree for a hilarious bit. Between 1998 and 2000, Rose appeared at three straight WrestleMania events, where he got repeatedly brutalized by future See No Evil star Kane (aka Glen Jacobs). There was even a point where Rose tried to trick Kane by dressing up as a chicken. It was one of the most random yet memorable wrestling feuds ever.
Football and pro wrestling have kind of gone together well throughout history. There was even a time when NFL icon Lawrence Taylor competed in the main event of WrestleMania XI. However, long before that, a handful of NFL athletes took part in the festivities at WrestleMania 2 in 1986, with William “The Refrigerator” Perry among them.
Perry played professional football for the NFL’s Chicago Bears for 10 seasons. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006 thanks to a memorable run in a battle royal at WrestleMania 2. The match featured several other NFL players but Perry stood out for his effort and because it was in front of a Chicago crowd that loved him for his on-the-field competitive fire. The battle royal was ultimately won by Andre the Giant, who was actually the first-ever inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Of all of the celebrities in the WWE Hall of Fame, Bob Uecker may have had the least amount of screen time at a wrestling event. Uecker is most known for his work as a sportscaster to the point where he earned the nickname “Mr. Baseball.” The former baseball player even landed a hilarious role in the fun Major League baseball movies as the commentator for the team where he delivered hilarious lines.
Bob Uecker was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2010 for his appearances at both WrestleMania 3 and WrestleMania 4. While most of that time was largely forgettable, his most lasting image in WWE saw Uecker get throttled in a comical manner by Andre the Giant during an interview segment. It was a small moment but it finds its way into plenty of video packages that WWE still plays several decades later.
Now the long-running host of game show The Price Is Right, Drew Carey first became famous as an actor and comedian. That included him starring for nine seasons on The Drew Carey Show sitcom. His star had risen to the point where he led a special pay-per-view event in 2001 for all stars of improv comedy. To help promote the show, Carey appeared at the 2001 Royal Rumble.
The plan was just to get some tips from Vince McMahon on how to promote the show but the villainous McMahon character talked him into actually getting into the ring. Hours later, Drew Carey entered the Royal Rumble match. The ring was empty when he got there but then the giant Kane joined the fray. A terrified Carey hilarious offered him money before eliminating himself to avoid harm. For his work, Carey was inducted in 2011.
Mike Tyson is a legendary professional boxer, but also a highly controversial figure, due to some of his wild behavior in the ring like biting an opponent’s ear, as well as his much more serious sexual assault conviction. However, back in 1998, it was tough to find a bigger name in sports than Tyson. Putting him opposite WWE’s biggest star, Stone Cold Steve Austin, was a genius move.
After a much-hyped face-to-face confrontation with Steve Austin, Tyson went from a fan of the man to his foe as he joined D-Generation X, who were Austin’s rivals at the time. Tyson acted as the special enforcer in the main event of WrestleMania XIV, an event that many say helped save WWE from financial struggles. Tyson eventually helped Austin overcome the odds and knocked out Shawn Michaels. He was inducted in 2012.
In hindsight, Donald Trump is the most controversial celebrity to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, due to his time as President of the United States. When he was inducted in 2013 though, it was less of a big deal, as Trump is a long-time friend of WWE boss Vince McMahon, and had taken part in several WWE storylines over the years. He also helped host WrestleMania 4 and 5 as they took place at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City.
Most notable though was 2007’s Battle of the Billionaires at WrestleMania23, which saw wrestlers representing Trump and McMahon to see which business mogul would get shaved bald. Trump’s representative won, leading to Vince getting his head shaved. Trump was heavily booed by the Madison Square Garden crowd throughout his WWE Hall of Fame induction speech.
Moving to a choice that drew no controversy whatsoever, WWE inducted actor and pop culture icon Mr. T into its Hall of Fame in 2014. Mr. T, best known for his work as B.A. Baracus on The A-Team and as the villainous Clubber Lang in Rocky III,played major roles in the first two WrestleManias. It started at the inaugural event as he teamed with Hulk Hogan against Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff in the main event of the first show.
His star power was a huge reason why the show was a hit and without it, the event may have never taken off the way it did. Mr. T also competed a year later at WrstleMania 2, fighting Roddy Piper in a boxing match. Hilariously though, Mr. T’s induction speech in 2014 is perhaps most well-known for the star referencing his own mother more than 70 times.
Legendary action movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger took his place in the WWE Hall of Fame’s celebrity wing in 2015. Schwarzenegger has made a handful of WWE appearances over the years due to both his star power and for being a good friend of both Paul “Triple H” Levesque and Vince McMahon. On top of that, Schwarzenegger is a long-time fan of wrestling who also worked with former WWE wrestler Jesse “The Body” Ventura in several 1980s movies.
The legendary actor appeared on an episode of Smackdown in 1999 where he gifted a replica of the WWE Title, which was rare for the time. His Terminator character and the man himself both were playable characters in WWE 2K16, Triple H had an entrance at WrestleMania 31 referencing him, and his Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio was the sight of a notable NXT event in 2015.
Superstar rapper Snoop Dogg might seem like an incredibly odd choice for the WWE Hall of Fame, but he’s really not, as he’s a noted fan of wrestling. He’s also the cousin of former WWE wrestler and Mandalorian star Sasha Banks, also known as Mercedes Moné (real name Mercedes Vernado). Like Schwarzenegger, Snoop Dogg also made several TV appearances for WWE over the years leading up to his 2016 induction.
That includes serving as one of Raw’s celebrity guest hosts in 2009, hosting the Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjill match at WrestleMania XXIV, and rapping Banks to the ring at WrestleMania 32. Even though his cousin has left WWE, Snoop Dogg remains a big part of the company, carrying around a title gifted to him for other celebrities to take photos with, and appearing at WrestleMania in both 2023 and 2024.