The Top 5 Greatest Celebrity Wrestling Angles

February 21, 2008

5. WCW Bash at the Beach 1998 – Dennis Rodman & Karl Malone: One of the few things WCW actually did right was their execution of the Rodman/Hogan vs. Malone/DDP angle. Both men had just met in the NBA Finals and when Bob Costas mentioned their upcoming bout in the middle of a Finals telecast you could hear Bischoff and co. celebrate all the way from Hotlanta.

4. Wrestlemania XI – Lawrence Taylor: I still have a hard time believing LT actually headlined a Wrestlemania but, just to make sure, I checked Wikipedia and it’s true – he did. I give him credit, though, of all the names on this list he certainly performed the best in the ring during his bout against Bam Bam Bigelow. Also, the genesis of this angle (when Bam Bam shoved LT ringside) was very Mayweather-Show ‘esque, wasn’t it?

3. Wrestlemania XIV – Mike Tyson: I’ve already made it known that Tyson-Austin was my favorite angle of the last decade. I mean, it was Mike frickin’ Tyson in there mixing it up with Stone Cold?!?! His appearances made such an impression on me that for the next five years or so, my friends and I would always imitate Tyson’s annoying (yet funny) way of flashing the DX sign. Gotta love Iron Mike.

2. Wrestlemania I (and II but that wasn’t as memorable) – Mr. T: Tyson was tremendous but Mr. T’s involvement in WM I really put this event on the map. Apparently he was a pain to deal with but looking back that really isn’t relevant. T gave Hogan and the rest of the WWF the rub and, for that reason, I am kind of shocked he has yet to be inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame. I know you must be shocked that Kevin Sullivan vs. Mr. T from WCW Starrcade ’94 didn’t make the cut.

1. Memphis wrestling – Andy Kaufman: We can watch wrestling for another 200 years and I am certain we’ll never see a better celebrity angle than Kaufman-Lawler. The women matches, the piledriver, the Letterman appearance – it was all so brilliant. Kaufman truly appreciated the art of getting thousands of people to hate him. If you’ve never seen it (and even if you have) do yourself a favor and watch the Letterman clip below. Just amazing.

11 Responses to “The Top 5 Greatest Celebrity Wrestling Angles”
I really can’t disagree with anything here although I would probably but Rodman/Malone lower on the list or is it higher? Something like #8.

That Letterman clip was amazing. Never saw the whole thing.

By EZ-E on Feb 21, 2008
Valid argument re: Rodman/Malone but you must remember these guys were coming off one of the best NBA Finals of the last few years (probably the best since Bulls-Suns in ’93) so they were very visible and very much in demand.

By AH on Feb 21, 2008
FYI (I did my research) – Pete Rose made it into 3 WMs and he is in the WWE Hall of Fame. I am not exactly sure if he’s top 10 material, it was just someone i came up with.

By Domingo on Feb 21, 2008
Good call on the 3 appearances. I forgot about the one in 2000.

Well, if you love Pete so much who would you take out from this list? I guess maybe the Fridge? However, Fridge’s appearance came at a time when he was one of the hottest players in the NFL so I am very happy with his place on the list.

By AH on Feb 21, 2008
no one will ever replace the # 1 spot.

ps. what the hell was mr t doing in wcw in 1994?

By Kevin on Feb 21, 2008
I agree. Kaufman’s got it locked down forever.

Speaking of which, what did you think of Man on the Moon? Contrary to popular opinion I actually liked it a lot.

Mr. T and WCW was another one of those strange storylines that never drew a dime for the company.

More importantly, what was up with his ring attire?

By AH on Feb 21, 2008
man on the moon was good.

i think, i really cant remember why i liked it ,i saw it in the movie theater and havent seen it since.

but i remember liking it.

yeah mr. t’s attire looks like he was the ref or he was drunk in “dangerous” danny davis’ locker.

but seriously, what the hell its 1994.

how did mr. t end up in wcw?

was it his oscar from 1993’s “Freaked”
as the bearded lady?

oh wait, i got this from wiki

Seven years later, Mr. T reappeared as a special referee for a Hogan-Ric Flair match, in October 1994, at Halloween Havoc, and then went on to wrestle again, defeating Kevin Sullivan at that year’s Starrcade.

so there it is.

1994 mr. t, a product of wcw money and hogan ego cashing in old wwf storylines.

see 1998 Warrior for further information lol.

By Kevin on Feb 22, 2008
Good work, Kevin.

I liked the Danny Davis reference too.

Yeah, WCW had some weird ones. Thankfully, no other wrestling promotion copy their mistakes. Oh wait…

By AH on Feb 22, 2008
There is a lot of the Lawler vs Andy Kaufman feud that was just seen on Memphis tv. I remember cannot waiting to see the local Memphis news to see the Lawler vs Kaufman feud.

By Gregory White on Feb 22, 2008
Wow, you are one lucky man to have been in Memphis during that era. Can’t imagine what it must have been like.

By AH on Feb 22, 2008