5 Odd Times Geek Culture and Pro Wrestling Collided
There has always been a sturdy if not undeniable crossover between fans of all things geek and fans of pro wrestling. Wrestlers are now a staple among celebrity guests at comic cons, and stars like Hulk Hogan, Dwayne Johnson, and Dave Bautista have had exposure in geeky films throughout the years. Occasionally, non-wrestling celebrities will appear on wrestling programs to promote their brand, and over the years several geek icons have graced the squared circle. While some were very good (Mr. T), this list is comprised of some of the more hilarious ones and a couple missteps taken taken over the years.
Stephen Amell Calls Out StarDust
The most recent appearance on the list, and while not incredibly awkward, a huge misstep in the way of WWE promoting it. Arrow star Stephen Amell has been on a campaign for the past year for WWE to make him a guest host on Monday Night RAW. Fans have made signs, it's trended on Twitter many times, and it finally took Amell buying a ticket and sitting in the audience to get any sort of attention from the biggest brand in wrestling.
So as the video showed, Stardust (Kayfabe life and real life brother of WWE Legend GoldDust) is walking through the crowd and spots Amell out of the crowd. The two exchange and tease a further feud and the crowd goes...absolutely silent.
There's a couple reasons this could have happened. As you can see from the video, the Titantron is showing Stardust's entrance video, which means a majority of the crowd in attendance could not see Stardust was actually addressing Amell. This crowd also cannot hear the at home commentators, who honestly did a shitty job of making the event seem like anything whatsoever. On top of all that, RAW already had a celebrity guest host that night with the entire cast of Entourage, so the event was even further buried by what was a largely forgettable appearance by the Entourage crew...save a Johnny Drama crowd chant during a John Cena match.
Luckily the exchange was covered in the post show, and this will likely not be Amell's last appearance on Monday Night RAW.
Hugh Jackman Takes On "Magneto"
Let it be known right here and now that Hugh Jackman is one of the WWE's darlings when it comes to celebrity guests. He's had many appearances, all exponentially better than his most recent, which in all honesty was an embarrassment for both parties. WWE writing had run dry on ideas for one of their formerly big wrestlers Damien Sandow, so they did what they always do when faced with a challenge and created a stupid gimmick. Week after week the former "intellectual savior to us all" came out dressed in a costume claiming to be some historical/fictional/celebrity figure in some sort of comedy sketch and then got his ass kicked.
Was it alright for a comedic bit for kids? Totally, and for what it's worth, Sandow's career did have a bit of an uptick in a "stuntman" gimmick for WWE Superstar The Miz (Who was also in The Marine 3...forgot to mention him in the movie stars section.)
Here's another clip of Jackman in action a couple years earlier landing a punch on then villain Dolph Ziggler.
Robocop Teams Up With Sting In WCW
Sometimes wrestling can be stupid because it's wrestling, and other times wrestling can be stupid because it's stupid. WCW did many things right in it's run, but towards the end there was some really...reallly stupid things they did for money that not only pissed off fans, but ultimately killed the brand. Case in point: hero of WCW Sting tag teaming with Robocop to take on the 4 Horsemen. This event is a textbook example of the complicated world wrestling exists in.
So we all know Robocop is not real, and we all know that while the injuries and hits wrestlers take can be very real, the end result is scripted. However, even though we as fans know wrestling isn't an actual sport, the immersion of the show requires you to at least acknowledge that these are people grounded in reality participating in a sport. Having a movie character come in and tear the bars apart in a show that tries to maintain a sense of realism really destroys that illusion. Almost as much as having a living cursed doll call out one of your wrestlers...
David Arquette Becomes The WCW World Champion
Many credit the outright death of WCW to a geek celebrity appearance. Who can blame them when you make David Arquette your world champion? Yes, that David Arquette. 8 Legged Freaks, Scream, formerly married to Courtney Cox David Arquette. In a truly confusing move, a wrestling company decided to put their most prestigious title on a man who had a very basic knowledge of the world of wrestling...and couldn't wrestle.
It was the year 2000...you could've gone with Vin Diesel, Jason Statham, or literally anyone besides David Arquette. It's a move he himself would come to question down the road.
Pee Wee Herman On RAW
Perhaps the weirdest guest host to to be on RAW and possibly the best celebrity appearance they've had. Who can not like Pee Wee? I feel his appearance worked so well as his gimmick is essentially the same gimmick wrestlers live day in and day out. Behind closed doors and on rare public occasions he is Paul Reubens, but as soon as the cameras roll he is full on Pee Wee. Wrestlers live their gimmicks day in and day out with fans, so I feel the two had a great understanding of each other going in, and things went really well.
