10 Best Wrestler Vs. Celebrity Feuds Of All-Time
It's not all Snooki and Flo Rida...
Professional wrestling and celebrities don’t often mix well. While WWE have long marketed themselves as an “entertainment” company rather than a wrestling promotion, exciting in-ring action remains their backbone. The business demands showmanship and pageantry, but its top performers have been in and around wrestling rings for most of their lives, and beside them, celebrity guests stick-out like a sore thumb.
From David Arquette’s disastrous WCW Title run to Kevin Federline’s 2006 run-in with John Cena, wrestling history is littered with celebrity runs that have done nothing but drag the business down. The practice is far from dead either: Puff Daddy appeared briefly as Raw’s guest host this week, and who could forget Flo Rida’s embarrassing rap battle loss to Bo Dallas at the turn of the year?
For better or worse, WWE continue interjecting celebrities into their storylines, often at the expense of the wrestlers themselves. When someone spends a lifetime shedding blood, sweat, and tears to make it to WWE, do they really deserve to get beaten-up by Snooki (Michelle McCool) or knocked-out by Mickey Rourke (Chris Jericho)?
Nonetheless, there are several examples where a celebrity’s profile has actually been put to great use in wrestling, without making the fans want to jump off a bridge. Here are the 10 best wrestler vs. celebrity feuds of all-time.
10. Hulk Hogan Vs. Tiny Lister
Hulk Hogan vs. Tiny Lister came around shortly after the 1989 wrestling movie No Holds Barred. Billed as 'Zeus: The Human Wrecking Machine', Lister played the film’s intimidating monster heel antagonist who was ultimately defeated by Hogan’s “Rip Thomas” character by the movie’s end.
Lister reprised his Zeus character in WWE towards the end of the year, and while he had as much professional wrestling acumen as a stale cucumber, Lister was a relatively menacing presence, and a capable foil for Hogan. After a handful of no-sell fests against lesser opponents, Zeus sought revenge on Hogan for defeating him in the film, and proclaimed his desire to defeat the Hulkster in real-life.
Things didn’t quite go to plan. Aligning with Randy Savage, Lister faced-off with Hogan and his tag partner Brutus Beefcake at SummerSlam 1989, but Hogan and Beefcake walked-out winners when Hogan hit the Leg Drop on Zeus. The rivalry rumbled-on through Survivor Series and beyond, and ended with a steel cage match at the No Holds Barred PPV at the end of the year. Hogan and Beefcake were again victorious, and that was that; Lister’s WWE run was over after headlining two PPVs alongside some of the biggest wrestling stars of all-time… and Brutus Beefcake.