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Celebrities have been a mainstay in WWE ever since the company went main stream. Familiar faces showing up in the crowd or in between the ropes have always been met with warm hands by the fans and WrestleMania is perhaps the stage which saw most number of such situations.The Super bowl of WWE will be back on March 29, and it has all the chances of boasting one or two celebrities. There is no scheduled celebrity appearance for WrestleMania 31 as things stand now, but it could change in the coming weeks.Before we add some new names in to the long list of celebrity appearances at WrestleMania, here is a look at some of the instances when celebrities invaded the legendary pay-per-view.
#10 Snooki (WrestleMania 27)
The WWE Universe might be split on seeing Snooki at WrestleMania but at the end of the day, it goes down in the list of celebrity invasions. The MTV Jersey Shore star actually had the chance of having a match at WrestleMania and it came in the 27th edition of the pay-per-view.
She had a mixed tag team match where she teamed up with John Morrison and Trish Stratus to face Laycool and Dolph Ziggler. Snooki had minimal physical action during the match but in between those limits, she did the best she could. The match went in favor of the celebrities and she apparently has one win more than Sting at WrestleMania.
#9 Muhammad Ali (WrestleMania I)
The man who floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee was one of the biggest attractions of first WrestleMania. He was the special guest enforcer in the main event match which saw Hulk Hogan and Mr. T facing off against Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff.
Ali was widely respected for his achievements and received a standing ovation from the wrestling fans. His refereeing or enforcing skills for that matter weren’t put to proper use on the day, but Ali definetly increased the star power of the pay-per-view. it marked a perfect start to the WrestleMania culture and Ali’s appearance was crucial for the same along with all the other names that showed up.
#8 Lawrence Taylor (WrestleMania XI)
Not every celebrity gets the chance to be in WrestleMania main event but Lawrence Taylor belonged to the ‘exceptions’ group. It was a risky move from the WWE to put a non- professional wrestler into such a big platform but for some reason or the other, WWE went ahead with the idea.
Taylor Faced off against Bam Bam Bigelow in the match and after nearly 12 minutes of below par action, he came out as the winner. For the fans, it was nothing special but it was a great moment in the Football hall of famer’s career and just like most of the other celebrities in the list, Lawrence Taylor is unbeaten at the pay-per-view.
#7 Cyndi Lauper (WrestleMania I)
Cyndi Lauper might not be a name that strikes a lot of bells but she was all over WrestleMania I. The American 80’s pop singer did a music video with former wrestling manager Lou Albano and became a part of professional wrestling in no time.
Heading up to the first WrestleMania, Cyndi was seen in most of the big wrestling shows in Madison Square Garden and soon found her way into a feud with Roddy Piper.
Apart from having friction with Piper, Cyndi also supported Wendi Richter. Wendi went on to win the women’s title at the event and the moment of Cyndi holding up Wendi’s hands in the air, is worth a million emotions.
#6 Pete Rose (WrestleMania XIV)
Pete Rose holds the record for most number of appearances by a celebrity in WrestleMania. The baseball star has appeared at the pay-per-view on four separate occasions and even though almost all of them were worthless comedy acts, Rose was inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004 for the same.
One trend that stood out in his appearances was the grudge with Kane. The big red machine laid out Rose back in WrestleMania 14 where Rose was a guest ring announcer. At next year’s WrestleMania, he came dressed up as a chicken and was again laid out by Kane. In the 2000 edition of Mania, he was stink faced by Rikishi and at the same time was laid out by Kane.
#5 Mickey Rourke (WrestleMania 25)
Mickey Rourke captured the attention of professional wrestling fans for his Randy "The Ram" Robinson character in the film ‘Wrestler’. The film looked deep into the dark side of the business and was critically acclaimed by both Hollywood and the wrestling business.
In an attempt to promote the film further, Mickey Rourke showed up at WrestleMania 25. The original plan was to make Rourke face Chris Jericho but the company later axed it and booked a handicap match with Ricky Steamboat, Jimmy Snuka and Roddy Piper facing Jericho.
After Jericho won the match he taunted Rourke. Rourke showed no hesitation in getting in between the ropes and laid out Jericho with a punch. It was not the best of celebrity appearances but Rourke deserves a mention for his performance in Wrestler.
#4 Donald Trump (WrestleMania 23)
Donald Trump and Vince McMahon, two business tycoons in a WrestleMania challenge with their hair on the line, the concept looked flawless on paper and just to make sure that nothing went wrong, WWE added Stone Cold Steve Austin as the Special guest referee.
Bobby Lashley represented Trump while the late Umaga was handpicked up Vince McMahon for the match. After an average matchup, Lashley came out winning and Trump soon got his WrestleMania moment in the post-match segment. He shaved off Vince’s head with some help from Austin and Lashley and made his path into the Hall of Fame a bit easier. Yes, Donald Trump is in the WWE Hall of Fame in case you were having doubts.
#3 Floyd Mayweather Jr. (WrestleMania 24)
The appearance of Floyd Mayweather Jr. is clearly not the best one in history but it was probably the best set up stage for a celebrity. He was booked in a one on one match against the world’s largest athlete Big Show and though Mayweather got carried away a bit, he grazed the squared circle in style.
The fans were not at all appreciating about what Mayweather did during the match and he was showered with jeers from the Florida crowd. But since the entire spotlight was shining bright on him, this does count as an instance where a celebrity invaded WrestleMania. And just for the record, Mayweather is unbeaten in WrestleMania.
#2 Mike Tyson (WrestleMania 14)
Mike Tyson’s appearance at WrestleMania was nothing less than iconic. Tyson made his WrestleMania appearance back in 1998 when professional wrestling was knocking on the doors of mainstream media with the Attitude Era. The transition was made easier thanks to Tyson’s appearance and the way WWE pulled it off gets full marks.
He was the special guest enforcer in the main event between Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin. In the buildup, WWE made Tyson look like an ally of Michaels and DX but it was only the platform for a swerve. Tyson turned on Michaels in between the main event and helped Austin get the win.
#1 Mr. T (WrestleMania I and II)
Mr. T was the one who started the entire flow of celebrities into professional wrestling. He was part of the first two WrestleMania main events and left a memorable mark in the history books. The whole WrestleMania concept was a bit hard to digest for fans back then, but seeing a name like Mr. T in the mix allowed them to connect.
The classic two year feud between Mr.T and Roddy Piper was the backbone of Mr.T’s two appearances and it is only a surprise why WWE delayed his Hall of Fame induction till last year. He has won over the new fans with his “Mother” speech as well and the fans wouldn’t mind seeing Mr. T every now and then in WWE programming.
