Zac Efron, Keanu Reeves and 3 other celebrities that need to make WWE appearances
Ah, famous people. Who doesn’t love ‘em? WWE sure does.
Since the moment Vince McMahon bought the then-World Wrestling Federation, celebrities have been a vital part of the promotion’s business model. Even the very first WrestleMania was built on celebrity involvement. The A-Team star Mr. T. was getting in the ring and mixing it up well before Bad Bunny or Pat McAfee were even born.
Over the years, fans have seen numerous famous folks appear on WWE programming. Not as competitors necessarily, although there’s been plenty who have. They’ve been guest ring announcers, commentators, backstage interviewers, and even guest General Managers. Actually, there’s been a lot of that last one.
However, there have been plenty who haven’t. We understand why, of course. Most are super busy. It’s also a case of being associated with pro wrestling doesn’t provide any benefit to their careers. Some simply aren’t interested - which is fair.
But, there’s a bunch of famous folks that, whether they’re interested or not, we simply really want to see on WWE TV - even if it’s just a cameo. We’ve come up with a list of five celebs that we feel there’s even the hint of possibility they might show up on Raw or even WrestleMania someday.
#5. WWE welcomes... Astrophysicist and host of Cosmos Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson
Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson is a renowned astrophysicist and head of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. He’s also the host of two popular science-based programs on the Fox Network, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey and Cosmos: Possible Worlds.
During his time in both high school and college (Harvard University), Dr. Tyson was active in his schools’ amateur wrestling programs.
Frankly, this idea came up in the Sportskeeda Wrestling offices about nine years, back when Cody Rhodes was still in WWE and toiling away as Stardust. This writer then shared the idea on the subreddit /r/SquaredCircle.
Obviously (very obviously), Cody is going nowhere near the Stardust gimmick (although, come on - there’s no way he doesn’t do it as a gag on, like, a Halloween edition of Raw or something), but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t be part of a funny segment with the scientist.
Lets even put on a small prospective segment:
[Dr. Tyson is holding a lecture backstage with several superstars]
Dr. Tyson: And this is why Black Holes actually emit Hawking Radiation, and…
[Cody Rhodes walks in]
Dr. Tyson: Hey, Cody. You know a lot about astronomy. Maybe you could dust off some of that knowledge about stars and…
Cody: [pause] Shut up, Neil.
[Cody walks out.]
#4. Star of the movie The Iron Claw, Zac Efron
The Iron Claw is the first movie since Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler to depict the world of pro wrestling in a serious light (you know, if you don’t count Ready To Rumble.) It might even be the first major film to dramatize actual events from the wrestling world. The film even managed to bring together WWE legend John Cena and current AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman.
(MJF also has a small role in the film.)
Zac Efron, who got his start in Disney’s High School Musical series, portrays real-life WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Von Eric - and his performance, like the movie itself, is getting some serious award show buzz. It’ll be the second time Efron has played a real person in a film, after portraying serial killer Ted Bundy in Netflix’s Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.
So, he basically went from one cheerful real-world story to another, it seems.
Efron himself, as well as his Iron Claw co-star Jeremy Allen White, has stated he’d be willing to actually get in the ring if he had enough time to prepare. Considering the actors involved were trained by wrestling legend Chavo Guerrero Jr., that could be an interesting prospect.
WWE attempted the same thing back when The Wrestler was released with that film’s star Mickey Rourke. That… didn’t turn out so well. But there’s no reason they couldn’t give it another shot.
#3. John Wick star Keanu Reeves
Frankly, we don’t have any real justification for this. Keanu Reeves has no real connection to pro wrestling outside of it’s possible he may have had lunch with John Cena at some point? We don’t have any evidence of that, but we just kind of assume everybody in Hollywood has had lunch with each other at some point at least once.
Then again, neither did X-Men star Hugh Jackman, and not only did he show up on Raw, he even punched out Dolph Ziggler.
So, why couldn’t Ted “Theodore” Logan himself pop up on Raw one of these days? He’s already proven he’s the nicest guy in show business and, based on his enthusiasm at promotion of Cyberpunk 2077, it’s possible if WWE presented a fun enough situation, Reeves could be down for it.
Plus, we’d love to see Keanu go all “John Wick” on The Judgement Day. Well, sort of. Just without the whole murder part.
#2. Guardians of the Galaxy and Doctor Who star Karen Gillan
If you only know Karen Gillan from her role as Nebula in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy series, you’re missing out. Not only has she been featured in some fun projects like Gunpowder Milkshake, the Jumanji films (which she appeared alongside The Rock) - as well as her breakthrough role as Amy Pond on the BBC’s Doctor Who - but she also has one very blatant characteristic that WWE fans should take particular notice of…
She looks a lot like WWE legend Becky Lynch. Like, a lot.
Lynch, herself, is no stranger to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In 2021, she was reported to have had a role in a post-credits scene for Eternals - one that Marvel was apparently very happy with. In fact, the only reason it was it was cut was, according to reports, Disney executives considered the scene “too depressing.”
With The Man more than likely set to join the MCU alongside Gillan and her husband Seth Rollins (who has been confirmed to have a small role in the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World), it would be amazing to have a WWE appearance by the star of ABC’s Selfie alongside Lynch around the same time.
Maybe even Drax could show up, too.
#1. Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa
Speaking of Doctor Who, this one is just a total pipe dream from an office full of nerds.
Ncuti Gatwa, who previously appeared in The Barbie Movie and starred in Netflix’s S*x Education, is the latest actor to portray the time travelling, two-hearted alien Time Lord named The Doctor. He’s also the first Black and queer actor to take the role.
While Doctor Who is a BBC production, it’s also currently being made in partnership with Disney, who are streaming new episodes on their Disney+ platform. The House of Mouse is clearly putting some serious money into the show, as evident by the amazing production values seen in the Christmas special “The Church on Ruby Road.”
Disney was also a potential suitor to buy WWE back before the company merged with Endeavor to form TKO. Even at this very moment, they’re shopping around the broadcasting rights to Monday Night Raw - streaming services included.
Imagine Disney scooping up the rights to Raw, and then cross promoting the show with their many other properties. And that’s when we could possibly see Gatwa’s Doctor zoom onto the show in his TARDIS to, if only for one night, help good defeat evil.
Any other celebrities you’d like to see appear in WWE? Let us know down there in the comments section below.