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World Wrestling Entertainment doesn’t exactly seem like a prime destination for a political leader. While wrestling—and particularly WWE—has a substantial audience, it’s still a relatively small subsection of larger society. Add onto that the negative connotations some folks attach to WWE for perceptions of glorifying violence and checkered past when it comes to sexism, and politicians generally want to keep their distance from the product.
Over the years, however, there have been a fair number of politicians who did cross the line and appeared on WWE television. Some made brief, pre-taped comments. Others stopped in for a one-off live appearance at an event or participated in one or more angles that ran for a period of weeks. Still, others were even a homegrown WWE talent who later went into politics, you might be surprised by the volume of people who have had significant roles in politics and also appeared for WWE at one time or another.
#5 Jesse Ventura
While Jesse “The Body” Ventura was a famous pro wrestler and a successful colour commentator in both WCW and WWE, he very arguably wound up more famous for his career to follow wrestling. Ventura became the mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. From there, he transitioned to being elected to the position of governor of Minnesota.
Though Ventura would spend four years leading the state, he wasn’t entirely done with wrestling. Ventura made a one night return to WWE to serve as the guest referee for the main event of SummerSlam 1999. The match saw Steve Austin defend his world title against Triple H and Mankind.
Ventura called it down the middle, and Mankind picked up the upset win. From there, Ventura would be back again for a guest appearance hosting an episode of Monday Night Raw in 2009. That night, his most memorably kayfabe imposed that Vince McMahon had to work the broadcast table with him for the main event like they had twenty years before.
#4 Barack Obama
Trump is not the only president to have appeared on WWE television. Barack Obama never showed up in the live arena or participated in a wrestling angle per se. He did, however, appear in a pre-taped segment when WWE was running a voter drive campaign in preparation for the 2008 presidential election. Obama went so far as to cap his comments by delivering the fan-friendly, “If you smell what Barack is cooking” line.
Obama wasn’t the only presidential candidate that campaign season to appear for WWE. Hillary Clinton and John McCain also each pre-recorded statements specifically tailored to the WWE audience. These brief segments included McCain appealing to his “McCainiacs” and Clinton saying fans could refer to her as Hill-Rod in honour of their wrestling fanhood.
While none of these individuals came across as legitimate, full on wrestling fans, it nonetheless demonstrated both their willingness to step outside their comfort zone, and that WWE had grown mainstream enough to seem like a viable platform through which to campaign.
#3 Arnold Schwarzenegger
With his literary Herculean physique, it’s little wonder that Arnold Schwarzenegger would find his way into the world of professional wrestling. He’s reported to have been friendly with both Andre the Giant and Bruno Sammartino in his younger years, but never actually worked a wrestling match, focusing instead on bodybuilding and then his acting career. The eventual governor did, however, appear on an episode of SmackDown in 1999 where he physically engaged with Triple H.
After serving as governor of California from 2003 to 2011, Schwarzenegger would return to the WWE fold for WrestleMania 31 weekend. He accepted an induction into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame that weekend. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, The Austrian Oak also filmed a brief video that was instrumental in Triple H’s WrestleMania Terminator-themed entrance. While the entrance would have been OK without Schwarzenegger’s input, just a few seconds of his time kicked up to the next level as a truly iconic piece of business.
#2 Donald Trump
The current US president is nothing if not controversial, and certainly defies another of expectations we might traditionally apply to a government leader. As such, it may be little surprise that he has not only appeared for WWE, but for a guy who was never a wrestler, regular manager, or broadcaster, has appeared with WWE a lot.
Trump first appeared for WWE when his properties played host to WrestleMania 4 and 5 in Atlantic City. He stepped up his on-air involvement nearly twenty years later when he played a key role in the build to WrestleMania 23 Battle of the Billionaires. Trump backed Bobby Lashley against Vince McMahon’s representative, Umaga, in a match for which the losing billionaire would have his head shaved.
Trump went so far as to get physically involved, attacking McMahon mid-match, and even agreed to take a Stone Cold Stunner in the aftermath of the match. Years later, he’d participate in an angle in which he kayfabe bought the Monday Night War brand—a vehicle to not only get people talking but introduce the celebrity guest host concept for the show.
After all of that, it’s wild to think that Trump would end up in the White House.
#1 Al Sharpton
Fall 2009 saw The Reverend Al Sharpton step up to guest host an episode of Monday Night Raw. A lot of the celebrity guest hosts for Raw weren’t so great, demonstrating a lack of familiarity with the WWE product, if not a disinterest in being there. Sharpton was an awkward fit. He ostensibly agreed to appear in order to promote the cause of educational reform to the WWE audience. However, Sharpton didn’t seem have much sense of how to connect to the audience. Meanwhile, WWE seemed uncertain of how to use Sharpton—a complete outsider to the wrestling world, but a man of greater political clout than they were accustomed to having appear on the show.
It was probably for the best that Sharpton’s role was kept to a minimum. He delivered a mostly non wrestling related promo early in the show, then was kept scarce for the remainder of the broadcast.
