Wrestling fans are very passionate and loyal. However, even the wrestling fans will admit that wrestling is all about acting despite some dangerous moves. So when a prominent wrestler joins Hollywood, it comes with no surprise. And some of the wrestlers are going with the acting business pretty well. Acting and Hollywood is the second viable career option for the wrestlers after retiring from the ring.
Some pro wrestlers are doing great in the film business, while others do not do well with their acting skills. In this article, we tried to list some of those wrestlers who did well in their respective roles.
“Rowdy” Roddy Piper: They Live
Roderick George Toombs (ring name “Rowdy” Roddy Piper) is a professional wrestler and amateur boxer.
He passed away in 2015, but the professional wrestler known as “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, who always entered the ring in a kilt while playing bagpipes, branched out into acting after enjoying a successful career in the ring.
He appeared in dozens of B movies throughout his career and most recently had a surprising cameo on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. But his defining role was in a little 1988 sci-fi movie called They Live. Directed by John Carpenter, the movie wasn’t a huge box office success, yet it somehow made Piper a cult icon.
“Macho Man” Randy Savage: Spider-Man
The “Macho Man” himself, Savage, real name Randy Poffo, is considered among the best professional wrestlers ever, thanks to his flamboyant style and deep voice, both qualities that could translate to an acting career as well.
The first movie he appeared in was as himself in Ready to Rumble. But his defining on-screen role was as Bonesaw McGraw, a fictional wrestler, in Spider-Man, which starred Tobey Maguire as the teen superhero. McGraw was based on the comic book character Crusher Hogan.
Hulk Hogan: Hogan Knows Best
On the acting front, he appeared in movies and TV series both during the time he was wrestling and after, starting with Rocky III up to that puzzling comedy Mr. Nanny that saw him don a pink tutu. And he had some terrible acting roles along the way, like in 3 Ninjas: High Noon At Mega Mountain. But his reality show Hogan Knows Best gave Bollea the most recognition on television. Sure, he wasn’t necessarily playing a character, but the show aired for four seasons back in 2005 and even spawned a spin-off centered around his daughter called Brooke Knows Best, ranks it as his best.
Kevin Nash: Magic Mike XXL
Going by a variety of names in the ring, including his own and Master Blaster Steel and Vinnie Vegas, Nash was one of the founding members of the New World Order (nWo) in wrestling, along with Hogan and Scott Hall.
Now retired, he went on to explore acting and has racked up a resume of movies that date back to his role as Super Shredder in the live-action film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze and even a cameo in the 2004 movie The Punisher. On television, he has appeared in episodes of shows like Swamp Thing: The Series, Nikki, and Living the Dream. His most significant and hilarious role, however, was probably that stint on Magic Mike XXL in 2015, where he played a stripper named Tarzan.
Jesse “The Body” Ventura: Predator
He has since moved on to working in politics, including stints as mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, and governor of Minnesota. But Ventura has also dabbled in acting, even starring in his own TruTV show about conspiracy theories called Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura, which aired from 2009-2012.
But for the man known simply as “The Body,” Ventura’s best role remains his very first one as Blain Cooper in Predator back in 1987, right after his wrestling career began winding down. He continued to appear in small roles in movies through the ’90s and 2000s.
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