While professional wrestling and sports entertainment competitors have a reputation of being overgrown muscleheads that you wouldn’t expect to find on the deans’ list, the exact opposite often rings true.
Most competitors are rather intelligent and are very opinionated in local, national and world affairs. So much so, that some even decided to stop commenting from the sidelines and throw their hats into the political arena.
Honorable Mention – Linda McMahon US Senate (Connecticut) 2010, 2012
While not a wrestler per se, it would be remiss to not include her in a list of this nature. While her two runs for US Senator in 2010 and 2012 were unsuccessful, they are cited by many fans as the reason for the shift in WWE’s programming starting from early 2000’s to continuing to the early 2010’s.
Also read: Kane dismisses rumours of him running for political office
McMahon, a Republican, was defeated by double-digit percentage margins in both races.
#5 Jerry “The King” Lawler – Mayor of Memphis, TN 1999
While Jerry Lawler is the undisputed King of Wrestling in Memphis, he had his sights set on the mayoral crown of the city in 1999, making himself one amongst 15 candidates for the position. His campaign platforms were the classic everyman promises of better education, less traffic and crime, more parks and lower taxes.
Lawler finished third in the election, but it was a distant third as he managed to garner a meagre 11-percent of the vote.
#4 Antonio Inoki – House of Councilors (Japan) 1989-95, 2013-current
Antonio Inoki’s notoriety and status in Japan are nearly unparalleled. As a legend in wrestling, Inoki’s popularity in Japan could be compared to Mohammad Ali, both in terms of sporting significance as well as his place in history.
As a member of the House of Councilors, Inoki negotiated with Saddam Hussein to release 41 Japanese national hostages before the onset of the Persian Gulf War. He has also visited North Korea nearly 30 times, a staggering figure.
He has even gone as far as having hosted one of the highest attended wrestling events in history in Pyongyang, North Korea to harbour peace in 1994.The event was main evented by Ric Flair and Inoki in competition for what would be the first and only time they wrestled each other.
Inoki was re-elected to the house in 2013 and has continued to work towards peace through diplomacy.
#3 Rhyno – State Representative (Michigan)
The current WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champion spent a good portion of 2016 campaigning throughout Dearborn, MI in hopes of becoming that district’s representative, coming up short in the elections.
Gerin ran as a Republican in a historically Democratic district and had gained the endorsement of The Detroit News en route to winning the primary election in August leading up to this week’s general election.
#2 Bob Backlund – US Congress (Connecticut)
Bob Backlund, who had campaigned for president as part of an angle in 1995, started campaigning in Connecticut’s first Congressional district for the 2000 election in early 1999.
Backlund, a long-time republican focused his campaign on smaller government and having more city and town taxes go back to those cities and towns rather than going to the federal government. He also tried to uphold family values and promised to reward families that stayed together.
Vince McMahon even allowed Backlund sell t-shirts at live events. Backlund claims to have sold 8000 of such shirts. He failed in his 2000 congressional bid but has left the possibility for future political endeavours open.
#1 Jesse Ventura – Mayor (Brooklyn Park, Minnesota) 1991-1995, Governor (Minnesota) 1999-2003
‘The Body’ is regarded by many as the Godfather of politicians in professional wrestling.
Ventura started his political career by becoming mayor of his hometown Brooklyn Park in 1991, defeating an opponent who was in office for 25 years prior to the election. He would also regularly provide colour commentary on WCW broadcasts during his time as mayor.
After his term, he began his efforts to become governor in the 1998 election, managing to win the election while spending a mere $300,000 on his campaign and relying on grassroots movements and the internet. Ventura is considered a pioneer in his using the internet as a campaign tool.
Much like his time as Brooklyn Park’s mayor, Ventura managed to make several appearances, this time for WWE leading up to SummerSlam 1999 in Minneapolis.
The media coverage of the governor took its toll on Ventura’s family life and he claims it as the reason why he didn’t run for re-election in 2002.
With no party support to rely on (Ventura was independent), he found it hard to have his policies turned into bills to be voted on by state senators and representatives. Although, he was quite effective in vetoing bills put before him, few of which were overturned.
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