Top 5 celebrity angles in pro wrestling
Celebrities have been showing up in pro wrestling for ages, from Mr. T at the first WrestleMania all the way to Bad Bunny in WWE today. Celebrities have been used in managerial roles, guest referee roles, and even competed in matches. With Mike Tyson making a small stint in AEW with Chris Jericho, Shaquille O'Neal wrestling Cody Rhodes, and Bad Bunny being a manager-type for Damian Priest, celebrities in pro wrestling are seemingly showing up in many different ways.
We've even seen what can happen when certain celebrity appearances turn into gold like Pat McAfee, who wrestled two matches for NXT and ended up taking home the Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Rookie of the Year Award. So we're going to look back and rank the top five celebrity angles in pro wrestling history. We will be looking at actual angles in which celebrities showed up in more than one appearance.
5. Celebrity in Pro Wrestling - David Arquette (WCW)
Looking back on it, having David Arquette win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship was kind of ridiculous. But when you look at other celebrity appearances in pro wrestling, none have accomplished what David Arquette did in 2000.
After starring in the wrestling cult classic Ready to Rumble, Arquette began appearing on WCW television and immediately entered into an angle with Eric Bischoff, aligning himself with Chris Kanyon and Diamond Dallas Page. After holding the WCW Championship, Arquette defended the title against Jeff Jarrett and DDP, where he turned on Page and handed Jarrett the victory. He made his last appearance for WCW after the New Blood Rising PPV.
It wouldn't be the last time we saw Arquette use his celebrity in pro wrestling. Arquette appeared on Monday Night Raw in 2010, teaming with Alex Riley in a losing effort against Randy Orton. He also made a brief appearance on Being the Elite, getting superkicked by The Young Bucks.
It seems like every pro wrestling fan is still against Arquette winning the title. With Arquette himself saying he was against the win, looking at celebrity appearances in wrestling history, none of them have possibly been as kayfabe successful as David Arquette.