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It has been said that Vince McMahon does not consider himself to be in the pro wrestling business. Going as far as to re-brand WWE as “sports entertainment”, Mr. McMahon has made several attempts to branch out from wrestling since those years. When the WWE Network was launched in 2014, fans were promised that in addition to live PPVs and WWE’s extensive back catalog, there would also be a lot of original content from outside the ring.
Reactions were mixed, to say the least, as WWE’s track record of producing non-wrestling-related content has been spotty at best. However, subscribers were pleasantly surprised as WWE managed to produce enjoyable content such as Legend’s House and Table for Three. The recent docuseries, Undertaker: The Last Ride, was well-received as well.
One show that garnered a lot of interested eyes upon its reveal was an adult aimed cartoon co-produced by Seth Green’s "Stoopid Buddy Stoodios" as well as Film Roman, a Watermen Entertainment company. The show in question was Camp WWE. While many of the characters were voiced by professional voice actors, some wrestlers provided their voices, including Vince McMahon himself.
While the show appeared to be a novel concept at the time, that is not to say that WWE stars have not branched out into non-wrestling work prior to the launch of the WWE Network. For as long as wrestling has existed, stars have cross-promoted themselves in other forms of entertainment such as El Santo in comics & movies, Hulk Hogan in Hollywood, and modern stars such as Edge who has appeared in hit TV shows such as Vikings on the History Channel.
In fact, Camp WWE was not even the first time wrestlers had lent their voice to the world of animation as several recognizable stars have voiced characters in various TV shows and movies over the years. With this in mind, here are five times WWE Superstars voiced animated characters.
#5: Bret Hart as himself - The Simpsons
With Disney+ recently fixing the frame ratio controversy surrounding their upload of classic episodes of long-running cultural sensation The Simpsons, now is the perfect time to relive the glorious moment when WWE legend Bret Hart appeared on the hit 90s show. The then 5-time WWE world champion made a cameo, looking to purchase the mansion belonging to Springfield's resident rich menace Mr. Burns who had fallen into financial hardship.
The episode in question was the twenty-first episode of season 8 premiering in 1997. It aired at a time when WWE, “The Hitman” and The Simpsons were at the peak of their respective tenures in the pop culture lexicon. Bret Hart was coming off his legendary submissions match against “Stone Cold” Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13 one month prior. The Simpsons meanwhile were drawing their highest viewing figures in three years averaging 9.1 million viewers for the season.
The episode itself drew 8.1 million viewers according to Nielsen ratings and would go on to receive the 1997 Environmental Media award in the category of “Episodic TV Comedy”.
#4: Matt Hardy as Awang/Ben Hargreaves - The 99
Matt Hardy will go down as one of the most innovative wrestlers in WWE history for his creative concepts and commitment to the characters he has portrayed. Outside of WWE, his revolutionary “Broken” gimmick proved to be a ratings hit for Impact in 2016, sparking a career renaissance for the Attitude Era legend. The impact of the gimmick is still felt to this day as it would help inspire WWE cinematic matches such as The Boneyard Match and The Firefly Fun House, both of which trended highly on social media following WrestleMania 36 earlier this year.
Matt Hardy currently displays his acting ability in All Elite Wrestling each Wednesday night as he flips back and forth between his various personas while inhabiting a thousand-year-old spirit named Damascus. Were it was not for his commitment to pro wrestling, the former WWE United States Champion could well be making a killing writing in Hollywood.
But that’s not to say the veteran hasn’t dabbled in small screen performances over the years. Between 2011 and 2012, Matt voiced the character of Awang/Ben Hargreaves in the animated TV Show "The 99" directed by Dave Osborne and based on the comic book of the same name.
The future WWE Hall of Fame inductee portrayed Awang in all 52 episodes of the show. The animation was due to air on TV channel The Hub but never made it to air as a result of controversy surrounding the show’s usage of Islamic symbols. Despite this, The 99 was praised in some circles.
Despite his rocky start in the world of voice acting, perhaps the former WWE Superstar will one day return to Hollywood and try again once he has officially retired from the world of wrestling.
#3: Mick Foley as The Boulder - Avatar: The Last Airbender
In life, two things are certain to happen every year. The first is that WWE will begin the Road to WrestleMania at the Royal Rumble. The second is that Netflix will re-release the cult classic animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender causing the internet to lose its collective mind.
Regarding the latter, die-hard fans argue constantly at what episode is the best and a strong contender in every debate is Season 2 Episode 6: “The Blind Bandit". Fans were introduced to Toph, the blind child earth bender born to a rich family and masquerading as the world champion of an Earth Bending based wrestling promotion. This episode also features a kayfabe rival of Toph named “The Boulder”. It was rumored at the time that Nickelodeon wanted WWE megastar The Rock to play this role. However, this never came to pass.
Instead, the producers cast hardcore legend and WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley, who nailed his performance. Adopting a Randy Savage style raspy growl and delivering all of his lines like a 1980s cliche, Mrs. Foley’s Baby Boy's portrayal of the character was so well-received that he reappeared at the end of Season 3 in the final ever episode entitled ”Sozin’s Comet Part 4: Avatar Aang”.
#2: John Cena as Baron Draxum - Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
John Cena has long been divisive among WWE fans due to his decade-plus run on top of the sports entertainment juggernaut. Cena began his career as a nondescript babyface with little personality before turning into a rapper stylized after Vanilla Ice. It would be this character combined with his edgy Ruthless Aggression era promo style that would propel Cena to the very top of the WWE card in 2005. A position he would remain in until the end of his full-time run in the company.
As the character evolved to become more PG friendly, fans would grow to resent Cena for his juvenile humor, child-friendly image and Superman persona. It is ironic that these same traits that turned WWE fans on the one time "Doctor of Thuganomics" would be instrumental to endearing the 16-time former world champion in the hearts of mainstream audiences. Cena has scored critical and box office success for his appearances in movies such as C*** Blockers & in the Amy Schumer driven comedy, Trainwreck.
In one of his more recent roles, the WWE legend has returned to his kid-friendly roots by voicing Baron Draxum in the latest relaunch of classic 80s TV Show, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The show was called Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and aired between 2018 and 2019. Cena’s character was the central villain in season 1 and played a regularly recurring role in season 2.
Bonus fun fact: Cena also voices Robo in YouTube premium series Dallas & Robo.
#1 The Rock as Maui - Moana
It is almost impossible to discuss WWE Superstars and acting in any capacity without talking about Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The highest-paid actor in Hollywood from 2018 to 2019, The Rock appeared in at least 49 movies and TV shows making his animated feature debut with the poorly received science-fiction comedy Planet 51 in 2009. In this role, The Rock played Charles “Chuck” Baker, who lands on an alien planet reminiscent of the United States circa the 1950s.
Seven years later the WWE legend and future Hall of Fame inductee would return to animation. This time appearing in Disney smash hit Moana. In this role, the 7-time WWE World Champion would voice Maui, a demigod who was abandoned by his human parents as a baby. According to legend, the gods took pity on Maui and instilled in him the ability to shapeshift thanks to a magical fishhook. Maui fabled to have stolen the heart of Te Fiti is then forced to assist the titular protagonist Moana in her quest to reunite Te Fiti with her missing heart.
The film turned out to be a critical and commercial triumph, grossing over $690 million at the box office in addition to being nominated for two Academy Awards, one for Best Animated Feature and for Best Original Song for “How Far Will I Go?”. The movie’s success would also help tsolidify The Rock's legacy as WWE's most successful export.
Teddy Long snaps when Swerve Strickland's race is brought up HERE
