10 Wrestlers Turned Actors
Presenting the ultimate cinema smackdown...
By Matt MaytumJul 30th 2010
Macho Man Randy Savage
Signature Move: The Flying Elbow Drop
Fighting Form: Randy Savage was an early member of WWF (leaving before it changed to WWE), and he held the Championship title twice there. Best known for feuds with The Honky Tonk Man, Jake the Snake and Ric Flair, he also had a short lived partnership with Hulk Hogan as The Mega Powers (and they had a beef with moneybags duo The Mega Bucks).
He was also famous for being managed for some time by his real-life wife Miss Elizabeth (who he romantically married on air). Savage, heading in the opposite direction of most successful wrestlers left the WWE in 1994 for WCW, where he stayed for six years.
After a four year hiatus from the ring, Savage joined TNA for a year from 2004 to 2005, before finally hanging up the bandana for good due to health problems.
Cinema Champ? Savage had a small role in Spider-Man as Bone Saw McGraw, the wrestler on whom Peter Parker tests out his new-found powers. It's a small part, but the film is surely one of the best to feature the talents of a former mat monkey.
He also appeared as himself in Ready to Rumble: a wrestling comedy that featured cameos for numerous grapplers, and in return saw star David Arquette crowned real-life WCW champ. The rest of Savage's acting work is mostly voiceovers, putting his gravelly, blood vessel-straining tones to good use in the likes of Bolt and a Cars spin-off video game ("OOOHH YEAH!!").
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Comments
daveroper
Jul 30th 2010, 12:07
Should've included Kevin Nash as The Russian in The Punisher, maybe at the expense of Kane or Triple H. Thought Nash was excellent in an otherwise pretty inconsequential film, plus he has DOA, The Longest Yard and a few others on his roster
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higgins78
Jul 30th 2010, 14:45
Terrible "actors" being paid to vehicle some truly awful movies, the cameo credits rank even lower if that were possible.
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RWFBreen
Jul 30th 2010, 15:43
I can't believe that you have missed Jesse 'I ain't got time to bleed' Ventura.
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HMMurdock
Jul 30th 2010, 15:47
And to add to daveroper's comment: Kevin Nash also played Super Shredder in TMNT2.
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Ali1748
Jul 30th 2010, 18:24
Quinton Jackson is a mixed martial artist not a wrestler(although he did wrestle in college.)
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doenutts
Jul 30th 2010, 18:42
Ok a few that have not been mentioned thus far Bill Goldburg = The longest Yard (with Stone Cold Steve Austin & Kevin Nash), Santa's Slay & Universal Soldier The Return Mark Calaway (The Undertaker) = was a bounty hunter in Suburban Commando (with Hulk Hogan) Jesse Ventura = The Running Man, Major League 2 & Repossessed (Along with Mean Gene Okerlund) Terry Funk = Road House Mick Foley = Anamorph Thats all i can think of so far
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kurlykev
Jul 31st 2010, 18:37
Tito "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Ortiz in The Crow:Wicked Prayer? Not sure if it can be called 'acting' in a 'film' though...
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Hadouken76
Aug 1st 2010, 18:21
Dont forget the late Robert 'Jeep' Swenson, whos unfortunate swansong was Bane in Batman & Robin,
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Ichi1
Aug 1st 2010, 19:49
Call Quentin Jackson a wrestler makes you look stupid. Calling UFC and Pride fights "real" with the quotes, implying they are anything other than real, makes you look retarded.
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mingfilm
Aug 2nd 2010, 19:19
And then there's Macho Man Randy Savage snapping into a Slim Jim. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQjdHUX2T4c
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hulkwarriors
Aug 3rd 2010, 16:19
Jesse Ventura really should be in here... i dont mind the UFC fighters but it should have been expanded more.
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BoomStick
Aug 3rd 2010, 17:38
Poor list indeed. Now Jesse Venture for The Running Man and Predators and, of course, Andre The Giant for The Greatest Performance From A Wrestler Of All Time in 'The Princess Bride' For shame, Total Film
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stomachpop
Aug 3rd 2010, 23:17
Jesse Ventura should definetly be in there above Glen Jacobs!!! Rowdy Roddy Piper is a true legend, anyone else remember the character Goldust in the WWF and his love of Roddy Pipers movies leading to the incredible Hollywood Backlot Brawl match...?? One day in my miss-spent youth The Rowdy one appeared in my home town (extremely randomly) while filming a TV show and though me and my friend were far away we had to get a message through so we shouted "This is your best performance since Hell Comes To Frogtown!" and he turned and looked over at us banged his heart with his fist and pointed over at us in a great display of a big man being touched by the words of minors......
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