10 Wrestlers Turned Actors
Presenting the ultimate cinema smackdown...
By Matt MaytumJul 30th 2010
'Rowdy' Roddy Piper
Signature Move: The Sleeper Hold
Fighting Form: 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper's body must have been through an awful lot, considering his wrestling career has spanned over 30 years. He made his name in various associations (American Wrestling Association, National Wrestling Alliance, Mid-Atlantic) before finding mainstream fame in the WWF (he even had his own segment, 'Piper's Pit').
Piper has had a couple of dalliances with alternative wrestling outfits (WCW and TNA), but to this day he still makes appearances on WWE. His family heritage was exploited to make him one of the only characters in wrestling history to be ostensibly Scottish, kilt and all.
Cinema Champ? In 1988, Piper secured his place in cinema history with roles in two cult classics. The first, John Carpenter's They Live, saw him donning a pair of special sunglasses that allow him to see that aliens have taken over the American corporate class. He also got to have an infamously long fist fight with Keith David, and deliver the immortal line: "I came here to kick ass and chew bubblegum… and I'm all out of bubblegum!"
The second, Hell Comes to Frogtown saw him as Sam Hell, a virile man in a post-apocalyptic future who has to breed with any fertile women. The government fit him with an explosive cod-piece to ensure he doesn't go off brief.
Piper has a decent spread of acting credits, including some TV (Zorro, Highlander, RoboCop), and quite a number of movies that are in post-production (although they do all sound distinctly naff).
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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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