Yes, celebrities and professional wrestling are not always a good mix. Anyone who watched Raw during the guest General Manager era knows that for a fact. WWE often goes overboard with their shameless admiration for movie and TV stars, but it can't be denied that their participation has helped sell pay-per-views and bring in mainstream exposure in the past. Mr. T was integral to the success of the first WrestleMania, Donald Trump was at least partly responsible for the record breaking (at the time) buyrate of WrestleMania XXIII, Mike Tyson helped Steve Austin become a megastar, and who could forget the classic Mania showdowns between Pete Rose and Kane? This year...well there's no one famous scheduled to show up. Not even a Snooki to speak of. And we just got Arnold Schwarzenegger and Scooby Doo for free! You would think for such a marquee event that WWE would try to bring in a few big names for some publicity. Part of the problem is that we've been spoiled the past three years with The Rock at WrestleMania. Not only is he the biggest action star on the planet, but he's a celebrity who can actually wrestle. This year he isn't on WWE TV in any form. The Great One has left a great hole in our WrestleMania hearts. While celebrities don't always enhance the overall entertainment aspect of WrestleMania, their participation does make it feel a little more prestigious. In the end, it just feels a little odd that not a single one is promoted to show up this year.
As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at."
Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week.
Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com
