The 10 Best WWE Superstar Appearances in TV Shows 

It’s nothing new for pro wrestlers to make appearances on television shows outside of wrestling itself. Sometimes it’s a matter of serving as ambassadors of the business.

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Sometimes, it’s a legitimate acting opportunity for that wrestler to crossover into mainstream media. Regardless of the intention, or what show the performer made an appearance on, these moments did expose wrestling and its stars to a broader audience, if only for one TV episode.

Not all wrestlers on TV shows are created equally. Sometimes the appearances underscore the wrestler’s limited acting abilities and arguably set them and the business back. There are, however, those times when it does work out well in surprising ways, or work out so bad that they’re good—iconic for how silly the moment turns out to be.

This article takes a look back at a ten different times when wrestlers appeared on non-wrestling TV shows with memorable results that any hardcore fan ought to see at least one time.

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#10 The Rock on That 70s Show

The Rock played his own father on That '70s Show.

This was a pretty straightforward case of a wrestler getting exposure and lending some credibility for a show’s foray into wrestling.

It gets bonus points as an episode fan really ought to see if for no other reason than how surreal it is to see The Rock as just another wrestler. Sure, by the time this episode originally aired in 1999,

The Rock was already a main event talent, on his way to headlining his first WrestleMania not long after, but was hardly the star he would rise to become in WWE, let alone when his Hollywood career exploded in the years to follow.

Sometimes wrestlers on TV shows don’t venture too far from their established careers. In this case, The Rock actually played a wrestler on a wrestling show that the cast visits for this episode. (As a fun aside, it’s alluded that Rock is playing his actual father, Rocky Johnson, who wrestled in the 1970s.)

#9 Goldberg on The Goldbergs

Goldberg was a natural fit to guest star on The Goldbergs

While the sitcom may not have used Goldberg to his fullest potential, it was arguably more fun to see him completely out of his element, playing up his sibling rivalry with his brother, culminating in silly, arbitrary physical challenges as the two try to best one another as if they were still children.

The makers of the show have alluded that Goldberg may return for future episodes as well.With a show called The Goldbergs, it’s natural that the most famous wrestler with that surname would eventually make an appearance.

A loosely pro wrestling themed episode even hints at the wrestler showing up, or that one of the characters from this show set in the 1980s might have grown into him. Instead, however, Goldberg showed up in a context that had nothing to do with wrestling at all—playing the brother and rival to the show’s gym teacher character.

#8 Triple H on The Drew Carey Show

Triple H had a single episode arc run on The Drew Carey Show.

In the heat of the Attitude Era, Drew Carey made an infamous appearance in the Royal Rumble match. He quickly seemed to realize he was in over his head as he tried to pay off Kane not to hurt him, before eliminating himself to avoid getting mauled in the ring.

It tends to be forgotten that media crossover worked both ways. Not only was Carey a part of WWE programming, but WWE Superstar Triple H appeared on The Drew Carey Show.

The episode saw him get into a relationship with Kate, played by Christa Miller, with a particularly salacious hint at the two’s bedroom activities as she claimed to have pinned him for his title.

While far from momentous in broader pop culture history. Triple H nonetheless performed nicely for himself in the context, broadening his name value to non-wrestling fans and representing WWE nicely on the much-watched sitcom.

#7 King Kong Bundy on Married with Children

King Kong Bundy made two appearances on Married with Children.

After an early appearance on Married with Children in which King Kong Bundy played Peg Bundy’s brother, he returned to the show for a more proper wrestling themed episode.

The episode sees Bud try to earn partnership in his old man’s crew by getting his photo taken with King Kong at a wrestling show.

The kid chooses the convoluted route of disguising himself as a wrestler to get access, which ultimately leads him to an impromptu match with the super heavyweight.

It’s a silly episode of a not particularly smart show but nonetheless gives King Kong the opportunity to shine very much playing a monster heel analogous to the character wrestling fans have long known him for.

The episode came out in 1995, which was during Bundy’s largely forgettable last WWE run as part of Ted Dibiase’s Million Dollar Corporation stable.

For as nonsensical as this piece of TV history ultimately is, it does capture a hint of what wrestling means as an escape for so much of a predominantly male fan base.

#6 Shawn Michaels on Baywatch

Shawn Michaels was an odd casting choice on Baywatch.

When wrestling fans think of Shawn Michaels and Baywatch, the most immediate connection most wrestling fans make is Pamela Anderson interacting with him at the peak of her Baywatch fame, at the 1995 Royal Rumble and at WrestleMania 11, when she shunned HBK in favour of serving as the guest valet for his opponent, Diesel. Michaels and Anderson would interact again on Anderson’s home turf a year later.

Michaels guest starred on Baywatch, playing the bodyguard for a villainous mobster. It was a largely dopey role, as Michaels’ character was there to get thwarted again and again by series regulars.

It was also a bit of a strange casting call, given that, for a big-time pro wrestler, Michaels didn’t exactly have the imposing stature one would associate with a bodyguard. Nonetheless, he played his part adequately for the level of acting necessary on a show like Baywatch.

#5 Big Van Vader on Boy Meets World

Vader's work on Boy Meets World was a surprising and successful turn.

Boy Meets World was a popular family sitcom in the 1990s, particularly geared toward kids. When it came time to cast big bully character Frankie’s dad, the show opted for a big man in his own right—one of wrestling’s all-time great super heavyweights, Big Van Vader.

Vader’s character played a loving dad who moonlighted as a heel wrestler. To go all in on the concept, the show not only cast Vader, but struck a deal with WWE film scenes at a WWE house show in and around the ring to achieve realism and appeal to Vader’s fans from the wrestling world.

Vader’s role on the show is remembered fondly particularly because it was so at odds with his monster persona on camera and stiff reputation as a worker for him to have gotten mixed up with a warm hearted show like this.

#4 Ronda Rousey on Blindspot

Ronda Rousey guest starred as an inmate on Blindspot.

NBC’s Blindspot has proven a reasonable success for the network as an oddball crime drama centred around a mysterious woman’s tattoos offering clues to solve cases.

The show offered an unlikely platform for Ronda Rousey to flex her acting muscles with a memorable guest starring role as Devon Penberthy, a convict behind bars.

This part came to Rousey after her most recent UFC fight to Bantamweight Champion Amanda Nunes.

This was a real flux period when it was unclear where her career was headed—if she’d fight in MMA again, go full tilt into acting, or recede from the public eye.

While her pursuit of movies, not to mention her WWE career have kept her from returning to the show, her appearance on it made good use of her real-life fighting skills and was generally well received by all parties involved. Rousey commented in interviews that she’d be interested in reprising her role with the series down the road.

#3 The Undertaker on The Tonight Show

The Undertaker made a surprise appearance on The Tonight Show.

For as long and as celebrated as The Undertaker’s career in sports entertainment has been, he has proven notoriously reticent to break character or do work outside the immediate context of WWE events.

Beholden to tradition, The Dead Man has largely stuck to his gimmick whenever he’s in the public eye, and as such it’s little surprise that he wouldn’t be a regular on the talk show circuit.

A November 2015 episode of Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show saw a rare case when The Phenom bent his roles, not only appearing on the show but doing so in largely comedic fashion.

A fan pitched that The Undertaker Tombstone a turkey to celebrate Thanksgiving. Lo and behold, the star who’d most recently been seen duking it out with Brock Lesnar inside Hell in a Cell made an unadvertised appearance to deliver a Tombstone to a guy in a turkey suit.

#2 Bret Hart on The Simpsons

Bret Hart was animated for The Simpsons.

By 1996, Bret Hart was not only a WWE veteran but a multiple time WWE Champion, entrenched as one of the company’s definitive top stars. So, it made sense enough that when The Simpsons looked to collaborate and bring in a WWE star to voice a part and be animated, they’d select The Hitman.

Ironically, Hart reported later in interviews that the show’s makers wanted him to play a more generic wrestling character and put on a different voice, and only changed their minds to capture Hart more true to life after they realized how big of a star he was.

Hart appeared on the show as a potential buyer for the Mr Burns character’s mansion, underscoring that with his wrestling success he had become a wealthy man who could afford such a property. It was an oddball spot for the straight-laced Hart, in a sense.

However, the guest spot also fit Hart’s well-documented passion for cartooning himself, as he was finally rendered into one of the most famous cartoons of his generation himself.

#1 The Rock on Saturday Night Live

The Rock's first time hosting SNL was a big success.

The Rock has become one of the biggest stars in Hollywood and has now guest-hosted Saturday Night Live multiple times. In 2000, though, he got his first shot at the gig, and was cast not based on his work as an actor, but firmly because of his place as WWE’s top star.

Just two weeks ahead of challenging Triple H for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 2000, The Great One dazzled viewers in that first SNL appearance.

That he got booked at all was a testament to WWE’s popularity peaking at that point in time, and Rock’s gift for gab convincing the show to take a chance on him.

The fact that The People’s Champion thrived in the role was a terrific look for WWE, and arguably a springboard for Rock’s acting career that would take off in earnest over the years to follow.