The 7 (& 1/2) Best WWE Wrestlers Turned Actors

These WWE Wrestlers Put Hollywood in a Figure Four Leg Lock!

Over the years a lot of WWE wrestlers have traded in the wrestling ring for the silver screen. However, few proved to be as good at acting as they were at bodyslamming. There are a few though who have managed to make lasting impressions like Hulk Hogan and Kane, but they weren’t exactly “good” impressions. So, in honor of all you wrestling fans out there I’ve decided to honor those WWE wrestlers who went on to become actors after conquering the ring. Unfortunately, there were a ton who managed to make the transition successfully. Still, that only means the few that did make the cut really deserve a shout out. So, here’s to the 7 (and a half) wrestlers that brought their charisma and physicality to the big screen in the best possible ways.  

Jesse “The Body” Ventura

Best Movie: Predator

Jesse Venture is kind of a weird guy. He’s faced a ton of controversy over the years since he gave up being a wrestler. Even weirder were some of the roles he took on when he transitioned to being an actor. He’s made a quite a few memorable appearances in a number of iconic films and it was a tough call trying to decide between his cameo in The Running Man and Predator. In the end, though he won me over with such memorable lines as “I ain’t got time to bleed” and “This stuff will make you a god damned sexual Tyrannosaurus, just like me” in Predator. Jesse might not have had what it took to be a leading man, but he always brought an enjoyable amount of absurdity to the roles he did take on.

Rowdy Roddy Piper

Best Movie: They Live

John Carpenter made a lot of weird movies back in the 80s that went on to become full-blown cult classics. Most of the time he found himself working alongside Kurt Russell, but for They Live he teamed up with Rowdy Roddy Piper (aka Rodrick Toomes). He proved to be an incredible choice to play a blue collar worker who discovers an alien invasion that’s been underway for years. Legend has it that Piper and Keith David choreographed the alleyway fight without letting Carpenter in on it and once they started the director let the camera continue rolling in order to capture it in all its greatness. His roles since then might not have been as well known, but he always brought a little extra something to them all.

Kevin Nash

Best Movie: John Wick

Fans of WWE wrestlers might not recognize Kevin Nash, but they’ve seen him appear in tons of great movies over the years. Maybe you’ll remember him as The Russian from The Punisher or as Tarzan from Magic Mike. For my money though, it’s his few seconds on screen as Francis the doorman who really got how deadly of an assassin John Wick really was and gladly took his chance to walk away from it all (and was thus the only Russian to survive his massacre) that made a lasting impression on me. The point is that Nash is an actor who disappears into the roles he takes. He might not always get the best lines or most screen time, but he’s a guy who always leaves an impression, which is why he’s one of my favorite WWE wrestlers to appear on the big screen.

André “The Giant” Roussimoff

Best Movie: The Princess Bride

Let me be clear that this is not a list of WWE wrestlers who turned out to be great thespians. After all, André wasn’t exactly a guy known for his emotional performances. However, that doesn’t make him any less memorable, especially when it comes to his role in one of the greatest movies of all time, The Princess Bride. WWE wrestlers are known for slightly exaggerating their stats to play up their physiques. However, Andre was a real-life giant. There are legends when it comes to his feats of strength and gluttony over the years, which is why he was such a perfect choice for the role of Fezzik. Despite his enormous size, he’s a man who had a heart of gold. It just so happened to be the size of a catcher’s mitt, but it was a heart of gold none the less.