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Logan Paul is set to face Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at Crown Jewel, in what will cap a meteoric rise in the business for the YouTuber-turned-Boxer-turned-wrestler.
Paul has shocked fans and wrestlers alike with his quick adaptation to the sport. He had wrestled in High School but professional wrestling is a different league, particularly in WWE, where more than just technical ability is required.
His first outing came alongside The Miz at WrestleMania 38 in a tag match with Rey and Dominik Mysterio, while his second was opposite “The A-Lister” at Summerslam. In both, he performed like someone who had been in the industry for years.
Having emerged victorious on both occasions, and seizing on his mainstream appeal, Triple H has decided to utilise him in the main event of the Saudi Arabian premium live event.
While he might be the talk of WWE currently, he is not the first celebrity wrestler. GiveMeSport takes you through 10 other celebrities to work a match in WWE…
10. Kevin Federline
The artist known as K-Fed or Britney Spear’s ex-husband made his WWE debut in October 2006, promoting his debut album “Playing with Fire.” He immediately had beef with WWE Champion John Cena, which was only amplified when he cost him the World Heavyweight Title at Survivor Series.
This led to a match being booked between the pair for the New Year’s Day episode of Raw, which K-Fed shockingly won with the help of his friend Johnny Nitro and Umaga, who was set to face Cena for the title.
Federline’s performances both on the ring and in the mic were largely well received, as was his attitude and demeanour backstage. The same could not be said for his album, which was universally panned and sold just 16,000 copies.
9. Lawrence Taylor
Widely regarded as one of the greatest NFL players of all time, LT found himself in the main event of WrestleMania 11 against Bam Bam Bigelow of all wrestlers following a confrontation at the 1995 Royal Rumble.
Taylor was brought in to bring mainstream attention back to wrestling during a fallow period following the end of the 1980s boom and prior to the Attitude Era. The build up to the main event saw LT train with WWE Champion Diesel (Kevin Nash) and he generally performed well.
While his performance was well received, the overall show was not and eventually led to Vince McMahon completely altering his product to regain market appeal.
8. Mr. T
The A-Team was one of the biggest celebrities on the planet in his 1980s pomp and as such was sought for the first ever WrestleMania, with Vince McMahon looking to grab further mainstream attention for the Madison Square Garden showpiece.
The main event pitted Mr. T and WWE Champion Hulk Hogan (who had co-hosted Saturday Night Live the day prior) against Roddy Piper and Paul Orndoff, who had Cowboy Bob Orton in their corner.
Adding to the glitz and glamour of the inaugural event, Muhammed Ali acted as a special guest enforcer for the contest
The match won Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s first ever Match of the Year award, and its success saw Mr. T take on Piper in a boxing match at WrestleMania 2.
7. Snooki
At the absolute height of her Jersey Shore fame, Snooki made her debut at WrestleMania in a six-person tag team match. Herself, Trish Stratus and John Morrison took on the team of Dolph Ziggler, Layla and Michelle McCool.
Well used to catfights on the Jersey boardwalk, Snooki transitioned well into the ring, shocking fans with her athleticism which included several cartwheel and flips. She secured the win for her team over McCool, which said a lot about women’s wrestling prior to its recent revolution.
6. Shaquille O’Neal
Shaq is a lifelong wrestling fan and had previously guest-hosted Raw in 2009 where he got into a physical altercation with his fellow 7-footer The Big Show. This came either side of appearances in WCW and TNA, both alongside Hulk Hogan.
His long-awaited WWE in-ring debut came at WrestleMania where he once again confronted Show in the Andre the Giant Battle Royale rather fittingly. Shaq eliminated Damien Sandow before being thrown out by most of the other wrestlers.
O’Neal later completed the set for major US wrestling promotions by debuting in AEW in 2020, where he teamed with Jade Cargill to take on Red Velvet and Cody Rhodes. Will this rivalry ever be revisited in WWE?
5. Stephen Amell
The Arrow star is another to have a tag match with Cody, only this time Rhodes was in his Stardust character. Their Summerslam match came as a result of a series of confrontations between the pair starting with Amell’s debut on the May 25th episode of Raw.
Teaming with Neville (AEW’s now-Pac), Amell defeated Stardust and his partner Wade Barrett. In the match, Amell performed a dive onto Stardust that won him the “Celebrity Moment of the Year” Slammy. His performance was also widely praised backstage.
In the process of the feud, Amell and Cody became friends which led to Rhodes having a seven-episode arc on Arrow from 2016 to 2018.
4. Mike Tyson
Iron Mike’s time with WWE is undoubtedly best remembered for his role as special guest enforcer at WrestleMania 14 and his skirmishes with Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels. However, 12 years later in 2010 he finally made his official in-ring WWE debut.
As guest host of Raw, Tyson was booked into a tag match with Chris Jericho against his old nemesis D-Generation X. During the match, he turned on Y2J who had been berating him all match, revealing a DX t-shirt and knocking him out.
The Baddest Man on the Planet’s wrestling career has extended to AEW in recent years, interacting once again largely with Jericho.
3. Floyd Mayweather
“Money” Mayweather’s WrestleMania 24 No Disqualification match with The Big Show came as a result of events at the previous pay per view, No Way Out. The world’s largest athlete had just returned from an 18-month hiatus and threatened to attack a prone Rey Mysterio.
An apparent close friend of Mysterio, Mayweather confronted The Big Show, eventually leaving the giant with a broken nose. This set the scene for a little vs large match for the ages.
Mayweather, who had reverted back to a more natural heel character following resistance from fans, emerged victorious from the contest with a brass-knuckle assisted knockout of The Big Show.
He later returned to WWE as a guest host of Raw, again confronting Show, and has been praised by Triple H over the years. The Game even formed part of his ring walk entourage for his fight with Michael Cotto in 2012.
2. Bad Bunny
The Puerto Rican rapper’s WWE career kicked off at the Royal Rumble 2021 when he performed his “Booker T” song, being joined by the Hall of Famer on stage. He then started appearing on Raw, allying with compatriot Damian Priest and even winning the 24/7 Championship.
This eventually led to a tag team match pitting Bunny and Priest against The Miz and John Morrison at WrestleMania 37, where the rapper stunned fans with his incredible performance. His arsenal of offense included a cross body, a falcon arrow and a Canadian destroyer, and led to a win.
Pat McAfee called for his Hall of Fame induction while Triple H commended him for his daily workouts at the performance centre, citing him as an example to anyone who wanted to enter their world.
He appeared again at this year’s Royal Rumble, making it to the final five before being eliminated by Brock Lesnar. It is widely expected that he will make more future appearances in the squared circle.
1. Pat McAfee
The ex-NFL placekicker and podcast host extraordinaire has become a beloved part of the WWE family in recent years for his work in the ring, on the mic and commentary, as well as his general passion and enthusiasm for the industry.
McAfee has competed in several highly acclaimed matches, perhaps none better than his bouts with Adam Cole and the Undisputed Era in NXT, which saw him come up short in a singles match with Cole and later a WarGames showdown.
He has since beaten Austin Theory at WrestleMania and Happy Corbin at Summerslam, both in which he exhibited his insane athleticism, agility and in-ring awareness which has included sentons from the top of cages amongst other things.
He also lost a brief match to Vince McMahon at the same Mania and later took a stunner from Stone Cold Steve Austin, which must have been a dream for the lifelong wrestling fan.
Pat has recently temporarily stepped away from the Smackdown commentary booth to cover NFL on ESPN, but the mutual love and respect between him and WWE is sure to see him return to the ring in the coming years.
Read More: WWE: Ronda Rousey’s savage fan interaction caught on camera
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