Top 5 WWE superstars turned movie stars
For many WWE superstars, the industry has proved to be a shortcut to Hollywood. The shortcut isn’t easy to find nor is it easy to navigate through. The WWE has its own film studio named the WWE Studios and the studio has cast its wrestlers with renowned actors and actresses in lead roles to produce movies at a cheaper cost.
The first movie the studio was involved in was The Scorpion King released in 2002. Since then, the studio has been involved in numerous movies with at least one wrestler cast in almost all the movies. However, their movies aren’t well known and most of them are released straight to video.
Many wrestlers have successfully worked in Hollywood outside of WWE Studios including Andre the Giant, Stone Cold, Goldberg, Hulk Hogan, Jesse Ventura and Nathan Jones among many others. However, no wrestler has found more success in the film industry than the following five superstars.
#5. Kevin Nash
Kevin Nash made his acting debut in the 1991 movie ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze’ as Super Shredder - a genetically enhanced version of the villain Shredder.
He was the first choice to play the character of Victor Creed/Sabretooth in the 2000 X-Men movie but the role went to his former tag-team partner Tyler Mane due to Nash’s scheduling conflicts. However, Nash received a small role another Marvel Comic movie in 2004 when he played the character of ‘The Russian’ in The Punisher.
Nash would appear in a few Television shows and movies before featuring in brief cameo roles in three hit movies in the 2010s. In 2012, he played the role of Tarzan/Ernest, a male stripper, in the Channing Tatum movie Magic Mike and reprised the role in the sequel, Magic Mike XXL, released in 2015. He also appeared in the superhit movie John Wick in 2014.
Nash was also one of many WWE superstars that featured in the 2005 movie ‘The Longest Yard’.