YouTube star and internet remora Logan Paul returns to Wrestlemania this week. That’s not surprising.
The fact he can put together one hell of a match? That is.
There’s a longstanding tradition of celebrity involvement in WWE’s
“showcase of the immortals,” ranging across the near 40 years since the event’s inception. There’s always a handful of athletes, actors and miscellaneous riffraff hanging around the event, either in the crowd or in a temporary role for the company. But some go above and beyond audience cameos or guest ring announcer duties.
Wrestlemania has featured matches from NFL Hall of Famers, Grammy winning recording artists and, uh, Snooki from Jersey Shore. Some show up with their worker boots on. Others just show up.
There have been 14 matches including celebrities at Wrestlemania — in this case, official, advertised bouts between professional wrestlers and people who were famously not that. Ronda Rousey’s foray into the field and subsequent titles kept her from being included. Paul made the cut, though he’s a few matches away from being too much of a grappler to qualify.
Here’s how I ranked all 14, from the stupid (… sumo?) to the sublime.
14
Wrestlemania 21: Akebono
Match: vs. Big Show in a sumo match
Dave Meltzer’s Star Rating (a five-star system cultivated by longtime wrestling scribe Dave Meltzer): DUD/5 stars
What? Why? Who asked for this?
13
Wrestlemania 35: Colin Jost and Michael Che
Match: Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Rating: 1.5/5 stars
Jost and Che hid under the ring for a while and generally put forth a “just here for the paycheck” effort. Which hey, fair play.
12
Wrestlemania 28: Maria Menounos
Match: with Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix and Eve Torres
Rating: 1.25/5 stars
Menounos wore white pants, started her in ring debut by teaming with Kelly to rub their butts in Torres’ face, then spent the rest of the match with a bronzer stain that made it look like she Paul Pierce’d herself. That more or less sums it up.
11
Wrestlemania 32: Shaquille O'Neal
Match: Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Rating: 1.5 /5 stars
Oh hey, it’s Shaq. Wait, why is Shaq here? Oh now he’s facing off with the Big Show, nea– ah now he’s eliminated. Nevertheless.
10
Wrestlemania 27: Snooki
Match: with John Morrison and Trish Stratus vs. Dolph Ziggler and LayCool in a six-person mixed tag match
Rating: 1/5 stars
This match came in an era when WWE wasn’t quite ready to let their female wrestlers be wrestlers, instead defaulting to a low impact style. That’s how you pass off a 4-foot-10 Jersey Shore star’s back-handsprings as a viable threat. Hey, she tried — even if she was the least likely female cast member to get in an actual fistfight on the show (in order: J-Woww, Sammi, Angelina).
9
Wrestlemania 2: Mr. T
Match: vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper in a boxing match
Rating: negative-5/5 stars
T put his Rocky III skills to work in a slow-paced “boxing” affair punctuated by Susan St. James’ “ooohs” and “oh!s” on commentary. It was a different time back then. A very stupid time.
8
Wrestlemania 2: Various NFL stars
Match: Battle royal
Rating: 4/5 stars
Most of the NFL vets — Jimbo Covert, Harvey Martin, Ernie Holmes, Bill Fralic, Russ Francis and William “Refrigerator” Perry — were content to lumber around the ring, throwing clubbing forearms and being large. Perry was the star among them even if everything moved at a snail’s pace inside an overstuffed ring.
Whatever, battles royal are fun and we get to see Andre the Giant.
7
Wrestlemania 11: Lawrence Taylor
Match: vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
Rating: 2.75/5 stars
This was a weak headliner but a valiant effort from Taylor, who put in enough work to make the match look good in highlight reel form. Plus it got guys like Reggie White, Steve McMichael and Ken Norton Jr. involved.
6
Wrestlemania 1: Mr. T
Match: with Hulk Hogan vs. Paul Orndorff and Roddy Piper
Rating: n/a /5 stars
Vince McMahon needed a big name celebrity willing to play along with his grand wrestling experiment. Mr. T fit the bill, talked the talk leading up to the match (and did all the requisite media opportunities) and wasn’t hot garbage in the ring. He wasn’t good, but he *was* Mr. T.
5
Wrestlemania 24: Floyd Mayweather
Match: vs. Big Show
Rating: 3/5 stars
Mayweather, competing in what can only be described as “boxing JNCOs,” didn’t do much outside his comfort zone. Still, he took a few bumps, played to the crowd and generally exceeded expectations in a fun match that runs a little long.
4
Wrestlemania 38: Logan Paul
Match: with the Miz vs. Rey and Dominik Mysterio
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Paul acquitted himself so well he worked his way into a title shot (at a semi non-canonical Saudi show) and then a singles match at this year’s showcase. Dude’s a mess, but he understands wrestling.
3
Wrestlemania 38: Pat McAfee
Match: vs. Austin Theory, then vs. Vince McMahon
Rating: 3.75/5 stars
It wasn’t a surprise to see McAfee stand out — the NFL veteran put on some bangers in NXT before making his Wrestlemania debut. His athleticism and bombast were a perfect fit for the biggest spectacle in wrestling. Theory was a willing partner and McAfee gave that right back against McMahon, making the septuagenarian look … well, not good, but dastardly, at least.
2
Wrestlemania 37: Bad Bunny
Match: with Damian Priest vs. The Miz and John Morrison
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Bunny loves wrestling, so he showed up and showed out when given the chance to take over Wrestlemania. Not content to play celebrity and unleash a barrage of basic Day 1 moves, he hit the top rope multiple times to give the big night an extra sheen of authenticism. This was a match that meant a lot to Bad Bunny. It shows.
1
Wrestlemania 38: Johnny Knoxville
Match: vs. Sami Zayn in an Anything Goes match
Rating: n/a /5 stars
An absolutely perfect spectacle that played to the strengths of Knoxville and Zayn. It’s thoroughly silly and stupid and glorious. It’s everything professional wrestling can be, wrapped up in a 20 minute package.
