The world of professional wrestling has given us many a muscle-bound star over the decades and its always a thrill to see them crop up in shows outside of the ring, either as themselves or portraying a character.
Throughout the years we have seen grapplers battle star-fleet, rumble against superheroes and teach Drew Carrey's buddies important health and safety lessons. As the years have gone by we can also see the change of societal and network perspective for our lycra bound heroes. In more recent years they have portrayed deeper and more complex characters, rather than just dopey meatheads. Here are ten random wrestler cameos on TV shows.
The Rock: Star Trek Voyager (2000)
Dwayne Johnson has managed to transcend wrestling and became the most electrifying man in ALL of entertainment, but that journey started with guest spots on numerous TV shows such as Star Trek: Voyager episode “Tsunkatse.” Seven Of Nine is abducted and forced to fight in an arena competition.
That is where we find The People’s Champion, playing the role of a Pendari fighter. Rock basically plays an intergalactic version of his in-ring self, raising the people’s eyebrow during his entrance and even busting out his Rock Bottom finishing move.
Vader: Boy Meets World (1995)
Vader appeared in Boy Meets World, confusingly both as himself and as a fictional character, at the same time.
To clarify, Vader, real name Leon White, appeared as a wrestler who had the same ring name and attire as his real-life alter ego, but was actually a character named Frankie Stechino Sr. under the mask, father of Frankie Stechino jr. Vader wasn’t the only pro wrestler to appear on the show, but we’re saving the other for the next entry on the list.
Mankind: 30 Rock (2012)
What’s crazy is that Mick Foley had retired from full-time in-ring action for 12 years at this point, and the intermittent matches he had since then he either wrestled as himself or as his slightly more brutal alter ego, Cactus Jack.
But as a fan vote proved during the WWE PPV Taboo Tuesday in 2005, Mankind is probably his most beloved gimmick, so the masked man and his sidekick Mr. Stocko stopped by 30 Rock in the episode “The Balled Of Kenneth Parcell.”
Triple H: The Drew Carrey Show (1999)
In the 1999 episode of The Drew Carrey Show titled "Rats, Kate’s Dating A Wrestler", we see Kate date a wrestler, believe it or not. That wrestler is The Disciplinarian, a grappler of morals, played by non-other than Hunter Hurst Helmsley.
The gang hires The Disciplinarian as the new spokesperson for their Buzz Beer brand, but things go wrong when the grappler starts to enjoy the product a little too much. Carrey himself would go on to be an entrant in the 2001 Royal Rumble.
Stardust: Arrow (2016)
AEW executive vice president and current TNT champion Cody Rhodes is a big comic book fan and relished to chance to appear as villain Dereck Sampson in the season 5 Arrow episode
A "Matter Of Trust." He would continue as a recurring guest star for the rest of the shows run. Stardust is the name used for this list entry title because that was the character Cody was portraying at the time, and the guise he used when battling Arrow star Stephen Amell at the Summerslam PPV that same year!
Edge: The Flash (2015)
One year before Cody battled The Arrow, Edge, real name Adam Copeland, had his own ruckus with fellow CW hero The Flash. Copeland played Al Rothstein and his Earth-2 counterpart The Atom Smasher in the episode “The Man Who Saved Central City.”
At the time Edge was retired from the wrestling world and gaining momentum with more and more acting roles, before returning to the ring at Wrestlemania this year to face Randy Orton.
Shawn Michaels: Baywatch (1996)
Yes, a lot of wrestlers have appeared in Baywatch, including half the WCW roster, but HBK gets the nod here for his performance in the episode “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner” because it’s bizarre seeing Shawn Michaels in anything outside of the WWE banner, especially during the mid-nineties.
What’s stranger is rather than playing something resembling his loud mouth, charismatic self, Michaels was actually cast as a quiet gangster henchman, chewing tobacco and looking menacingly through binoculars as he harasses CJ’s mum, who broke the heart of his mobster boss.
Roman Reigns: Cousins For Life (2019)
The newest entry on the list is from Roman Reigns on the Nickelodeon children's comedy “Cousins For Life." Reigns played neighbor and Millie’s father Rodney. rather than portray a mean tough guy like most entries on this list, Rodney is a tomato farmer, dog show trainer, and beauty pageant enthusiast.
Reigns filmed the part during a six-month hiatus with the WWE whilst he was battling against cancer.
Bret Hart: The Simpsons (1997)
One of the most famous wrestling cameos of all time is Bret Hart on The Simpsons episode “The Old Man And The Lisa. When Mr. Burns loses everything, The Hitman buys his mansion, famously calling the evil old miser a “PITIFUL PENCIL NECKED GEEK!” on his way out.
Apparently Bret was supposed to voice a generic wrestler, but when the producers realized how famous Bret was they changed it up in post. Bart Simpson would pose alongside Bret in conjunction with the episode on the legendary cover for WWF Magazine Issue 1.
Roddy Piper: It's Always Sunny In Philidelphia (2009)
Our final entry on the list is Rowdy Roddy Piper as The Maniac in It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. When the gang decides to host a wrestling show for the troops, they enlist The Maniac as their trainer before he is arrested by the police. It turns out The Maniac is indeed, a legit maniac. The hilarious turn proved so popular that Piper would return as the character in a later episode before sadly ing away in 2015.