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In 1985, Vince McMahon bet the future of his entire promotion on the success of the first WrestleMania. The show would end up being a smash hit and would catapult WWE into a new stratosphere. Although the first WrestleMania had an exciting card, the secret behind WrestleMania’s success was the abundance of celebrities attached to the show.
Going forward, WWE would apply that same strategy whenever possible. Today, there’s nothing WWE values more than a celebrity who wants to work with them in some shape or form. Over the years, countless celebrities have appeared in WWE. Many were on major pay-per-views. Although, not all those appearances are remembered by fans.
10 Chuck Norris: Survivor Series 1994
The 90s were a very cartoonish time in WWE. During the New Generation era, it seemed as though every performer had some sort of occupational gimmick. Still, buried under all their silliness were some great performers like The Undertaker and Yokozuna. At Royal Rumble 1994, The Undertaker lost a Casket Match to Yokozuna and “ascended to the heavens.”
Although Yokozuna did pick up the win, it required a lot of outside interference. When the pair ran it back at Survivor Series 1994, Chuck Norris was brought in as the Special Enforcer to make sure nobody interfered. In the end, Norris would prevent Jeff Jarrett from interfering by roundhouse kicking him. This allowed The Undertaker to earn the victory that night.
9 Pamela Anderson: WrestleMania 11
In the mid-90s, there was perhaps no bigger global sex symbol than Pamela Anderson. Anderson was the star of the hit show Baywatch and was a bonafide pop culture icon. This made WWE covet the blonde bombshell as a possible celebrity to work with.
In 1995, Anderson would appear on two WWE pay-per-views. The first was Royal Rumble 1995 where it was announced that she would accompany the winner of the Royal Rumble Match to WrestleMania. However, at WrestleMania 11, Anderson would accompany WWE Champion, Diesel to the ring, not the Royal Rumble winner Shawn Michaels.
8 Gladys Knight: WrestleMania 4
Vince McMahon has proven over the years to be very patriotic. Interestingly enough though, McMahon isn’t enamored with “The Star-Spangled Banner”. Instead, McMahon has always preferred “America The Beautiful”. This is why “America The Beautiful” is performed at WrestleMania every year.
At WrestleMania 4, the show was kicked off by a beautiful rendition of “America The Beautiful”, performed by “The Empress Of Soul” Gladys Knight. In hindsight, landing Knight at the time was a huge win for WWE considering that WrestleMania was still in its infancy then.
7 Drew Carey: Royal Rumble 2001
In the ’80s, WWE used celebrity involvement to help them break into the pop culture bubble. In the ’90s, WWE continued to work with some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment. By 2001, the relationship between WWE and celebrities would shift a bit in the company’s favor.
By 2001, WWE’s popularity had gone mainstream. This made WWE a desirable partner to work with. At Royal Rumble 2001, Drew Carey tried to piggyback off WWE’s popularity to promote his upcoming special. Carey even competed in that night’s Royal Rumble Match briefly before being eliminated by Kane.
6 Joan Jett: WrestleMania 35
Lover her or hate her, there’s no denying just how big of a star Ronda Rousey is. Rousey’s popularity and track record for selling pay-per-views made her an obvious target for WWE when she wrapped up her UFC career in 2017. She’d officially join the company in 2018. It wouldn’t take her long to make a big splash.
WrestleMania 35 would feature the first-ever all-women WrestleMania main event. Rousey would square off in a Triple Threat Match against Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch for the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships. As a special surprise, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts performed Rousey’s entrance song “Bad Reputation” live as she walked down to the ring.
5 Raven Symone: WrestleMania 24
Being in the public spotlight is nothing new to Raven Symone. After all, Raven entered the public consciousness at a very young age. She landed a role on the insanely popular Cosby Show as a child and would eventually have a popular program on Disney Channel.
Despite all that, Raven was a very interesting choice to appear at a WWE pay-per-view, as she had no previous ties to pro wrestling. Regardless, at WrestleMania 24, Raven was a special guest announcer, there on the behalf of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. It would be her lone WWE appearance.
4 Alex Trebek: WrestleMania 7
Every industry has its legends. In the game show industry, there’s perhaps never been a more legendary host than Alex Trebek. Trebek was the host of one of the staples of American television, Jeopardy, for 36 years. Trebek also hosted many other shows including The Wizard Of Odds and Double Dare.
In 1991, Trebek would work with WWE on the biggest show of the year. At WrestleMania 7, Trebek pulled double duty. First, he served as a backstage interviewer. Later on, in the show, Trebek would also be the special guest ring announcer for the main event between Hulk Hogan and Sgt. Slaughter.
3 Kim Kardashian: WrestleMania 24
At the turn of the century, people’s tastes in television began to change. The 90s featured several popular reality tv shows. However, that was nothing compared to the reality tv boom of the new millennium. Almost overnight, regular people were becoming famous for simply living their lives. Kim Kardashian is the greatest example of this.
In 2007, Keeping Up With The Kardashians debuted, making Kim Kardashian, and her entire family, stars. WWE hoped to attract some of Kardashian’s fans when they brought her in to be the hostess of WrestleMania 24 and introduce the Money In The Bank Ladder Match. Many of Kardashian’s fans have publicly wondered if she would ever host WrestleMania again. Only time will tell.
2 Joan Rivers: WrestleMania 2
Some performers have the unfortunate luck of being born in the wrong era. This extends to all types of performers, including stand-up comics. In the ’80s, Joan Rivers was one of the best stand-up comedians in the country. Unfortunately, Rivers was a woman in a male-dominated world and had to fight an uphill battle to achieve success.
By 1986 though, Rivers had made herself a household name. This led WWE to lock in on Rivers as a celebrity target. At WrestleMania 2, Rivers served as the special guest ring announcer for the boxing match between Mr. T and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. Rivers shined in her lone WrestleManiaappearance.
1 Tommy Lasorda: WrestleMania 2
In 1976, Tommy Lasorda became the Manager of one of Major League Baseball’s most storied franchises, The Los Angeles Dodgers. In 1981, Lasorda entered the pantheon of great Dodger Managers when he led the team to a World Series victory. By 1986, Lasorda was a big name, especially in the L.A. market.
This led to WWE bringing Lasorda in to participate in the WrestleMania 2 festivities in Los Angeles. At the event, Lasorda would serve as the special guest ring announcer for the main event clash between Hulk Hogan and King Kong Bundy. Lasorda wouldn’t take part in any more WrestleManias,but he’d lead his Dodgers to another World Series win in 1988.
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