10 Wrestlers Who Proved That Funny DID Draw Money
The art of comedy during combat: featuring Santino Marella, Mick Foley, R-Truth, and more...
Professional wrestling, as sports entertainment, is in a unique position that allows it to implement intentional comedy like no other sport can. The two biggest draws in entertainment are comedy and tragedy – wrestling has a lot of the latter; therefore, it greatly benefits from the former.
Of course, wrestling is also big business. Likewise, so is comedy. The success of a comedian is underpinned by their relatability to an audience. For this reason, we rarely think of the lavish lives lived by our favourite funny people, and they don’t exactly encourage us to do so. Yet, humour has the potential to make many rich. No one is a better example of this than Jerry Seinfeld. From his sitcom to getting coffee with fellow comedians, Seinfeld has a reported net worth of $950 million.
Humour can also benefit wrestlers on a personal and financial level. No one better exemplifies this than crossover megastar Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, who used humour to win over wrestling fans and beyond. He is the highest paid actor in Hollywood and is believed to have a net worth of $320 million.
While Vince McMahon’s net worth is stated as $1.8 billion as of 2021, the boss welcomes all revenues, and comedy certainly presents the opportunity to pull fan’s cash from their jeans pockets.
10. Eddie Guerrero
One aspect of Eddie Guerrero’s legacy that is often overlooked, understandably considering his plethora of masterful matches, is the humour he brought to the business. It was the glimmer of mischievousness in his eyes and grin that truly magnified his charisma.
Guerrero was an expert at playing the sneaky and devious villain you couldn’t help but love. One of his best comedy tools was his willingness to throw himself around and get physical with slapstick. His signature schtick (from Lie, Cheat, and Steal 101) was to throw a chair into his opponent’s arms, and slam himself to the mat. The distracted ref would then give Guerrero the win via disqualification. Guerrero punctuated his cheating with a cheeky wink to camera.
Eddie wasn’t afraid to poke fun at the sacred, from the tradition of professional wrestling to his heritage and family legacy. He had a great comedy partnership with his nephew Chavo. Their strong bond enabled the hilarity to flow with ease.
Guerrero proved a smaller guy could be a draw and paved the way for a generation of superstars who didn’t fit the typical McMahon mould that essentially graded humans against the physique of a fully Hulked Bruce Banner. His humour was a huge asset.