It’s easy to understand why WWE wrestlers so often try and make the jump to acting, as the life of a full-time WWE star is a grueling one. By comparison, even the most physically-demanding movie shoot can’t possibly be nearly as hard on the body– and it has the potential to pay a whole lot more for a lot less hours.
While maintaining a wrestling persona definitely takes some genuine talent as a performer, it isn’t quite the same skill set as being an actual actor. As such, of the literally dozens of WWE stars who have tried to cross over into acting, very few of the ones who actually try to act– and don’t just show up in movies as themselves or as some similar fictional wrestler– have found much legitimate, lasting success. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is easily the biggest success story among wrestlers-turned-actors so far, but even he has had his share of movie misfires.
That said, though most wrestlers’ acting resumés are nothing to brag about, there are some movie roles that WWE superstars surely must be downright ashamed of.
Here are 20 Embarrassing Movie Roles WWE Stars Want You To Forget.
John Cena – The Reunion
If any current WWE stars have the potential to be as big a movie star as Dwayne Johnson, it’s arguably John Cena. After a string of unremarkable action flicks– and appearances in all three Fred movies for some reason– Cena finally proved he could be a legitimate, charming on-screen presence via his breakthrough turn in the Amy Schumer comedy Trainwreck. Since then, things have only been looking up for Cena as a Hollywood star.
However, a few years before Trainwreck– and right in the middle of his Fred run– Cena’s career as a charismatic leading man was almost over before it started. In 2011, Cena starred alongside Amy Smart and Ethan Embry in the direct-to-video stinker The Reunion, earning a paltry 8% on Rotten Tomatoes.
It’s hard to believe this is the same guy that has gone on to star in Oscar-nominated animated movies and smash hit Will Ferrell comedies.
Hulk Hogan – Santa With Muscles
Okay, so nothing in Hulk Hogan’s acting career has been anything for the wrestling legend to be especially proud of. But Santa With Muscles is especially cringeworthy.
The movie was released years after the peak of Hogan’s popularity and involves a ridiculous plot where he plays a bodybuilder supplement salesman who gets amnesia and comes to believe he is the real Santa Claus. The film has made all kinds of dubious lists, including IMDb’s bottom 100 movies, Total Film’s 50 worst kids movies, and was third only to the Star Wars Christmas Special and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians on Atlantic City Weekly’s worst holiday movies.
The only bright spot is an early appearance by a young Mila Kunis.
Triple H – The Chaperone
The tradition of musclebound action heroes taking roles in lighthearted family comedies goes back a long time, and has served the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Bruce Willis quite well over the years. Even WWE stars have done it successfully– not all examples have been as dire as Santa With Muscles or Suburban Commando. Dwayne Johnson has starred in a number of successful comedies with little action.
So what happened when WWE’s Triple H tried that approach? A “hulk-with-a-heart-of-gold fable… with a vigor matched only by its lack of imagination,” according to Slant Magazine. It’s hard to believe that the dreadful The Chaperone shares the same director as classics like Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead– but of course, those came out a long, long time ago.
Eve Torres – The Scorpion King 4: Quest For Power
One of Dwayne Johnson’s breakthrough roles was in the Mummy spin-off movie The Scorpion King. The only problem is that Scorpion King isn’t actually a good movie. Johnson didn’t stick with the sub-par action/fantasy franchise for very long– a point that fellow WWE star Eve Torres obviously missed when she jumped into the series for its fourth installment.
Need proof that it’s not a great movie? Lou Ferrigno is in it– and unless he’s voicing the Incredible Hulk, his involvement with a movie is never a good sign.
Her only movie role since then was in a Jackie Chan/Johnny Knoxville buddy action comedy directed by Renny Harlin of Cutthroat Island “fame,” so clearly the Scorpion King franchise hasn’t done for her what it did for The Rock.
Roddy Piper – Buy & Cell
The late Roddy Piper starred in one of the coolest movies that any WWE wrestler has ever starred in: the 1988 John Carpenter cult classic They Live. He could’ve made 20 awful movies and it still wouldn’t hurt his acting legacy, since he got to deliver the iconic line, “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick a**…and I’m all out of bubblegum.”
That makes it all the more embarrassing that his very next movie after They Live was the absolutely awful Buy & Cell, where he plays a supporting role in one of David Carradine’s failed attempts to have a leading man career outside of the Revenge of the Nerds series.
While Buy & Cell doesn’t strike They Live from the record, it still may have done some damage.
Piper never made another truly great movie again after this terrible prison comedy.
Hornswoggle – Leprechaun: Origins
Dylan Postl has never shied away from taking offensive stereotypes about his size full-on. When he joined WWE, he took on a leprechaun-esque persona as Hornswoggle, and had a storyline where he was supposedly Vince McMahon’s illegitimate son.
Given all this, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Postl’s acting career would follow a similar path. Sure enough, he starred in a WWE Studios-led reboot of the Leprechaun comedy/horror franchise, called Leprechaun: Origins. While the original Leprechaun movies were never technically “good,” they had a certain schlocky B-movie charm that earned them a fair share of fans– which the joyless, soul-less Origins completely lacked.
And let’s face it: Dylan Postl is no Warwick Davis. But then, who is?
Edge – Bending the Rules
That picture says it all, doesn’t it? Jamie Kennedy was a respectable actor for a (very) brief time, but that time was 15 years before action comedy Bending the Rules, co-starring wrestler Edge. The WWE veteran even went by his real name– Adam Copeland– in the credits for the movie as a bid for some legitimacy, but that name is still next to Jamie Kennedy.
Edge is a New Orleans cop on trial for corruption. Kennedy is the D.A. who is supposed to bring him in. When this unlikely duo have to team up to stop a criminal, the only thing that ensues is banality.
It’s a trope that has been done hundreds of times, by hundreds of people who did it hundreds of times better. Not even the always-great Jessica Walter (Arrested Development, Archer) could do anything to make this completely dull and unnecessary movie worth the trouble.
Sting – Shutterspeed
It’s easy to feel bad for Sting. Once described as the WCW’s Hulk Hogan, Sting was the unfortunate victim of business power plays when the WWE absorbed the WCW in 2001 and Sting opted not to come along, effectively ending his time in major mainstream wrestling. Sting stubbornly refused to join the WWE for years, and only finally got on board in 2014, retiring two years later– presumably just so he could be a part of the company’s Hall of Fame.
It’s also easy to feel bad for how his attempt at a movie star vehicle, Shutterspeed, was treated.
It was planned for a theatrical release but quietly dumped on TV with little fanfare.
Of course, the Daisy Fuentes co-starring action flick wasn’t even remotely good, and probably didn’t deserve a much better release than it got. In retrospect, Sting probably isn’t too heartbroken over how few people have seen it.
Gail Kim – Ninja’s Creed
Talk about a stunning debut. Not wasting any time with pesky dues-paying, Gail Kim went ahead and won the WWE Women’s Championship in her very first match for the promotion– the first Diva in history to do so. Kim then went on to make history in another wrestling company, being TNA Wrestling’s first-ever female Hall of Fame inductee.
Kim’s acting career, how ever, has been anything but history-making.
Despite co-starring with two Oscar-nominated actors– Eric Roberts and Pat Morita– Kim’s action flick, called Ninja’s Creed for the DVD release, was described by critics as an “utter failure” and “deliriously bad filmmaking.” It would be Pat Morita’s final role due to his passing shortly after. It has so far been Kim’s final theatrical movie role as well, but for very different reasons.
Santino Marella – Jingle All The Way 2
One of the lazy ways that WWE Studios has been getting content for its films is to snatch up the sequel rights to existing franchises. Sometimes, the studio doesn’t even bother putting a wrestler into the starring role, instead opting to have the movie led by an established actor. Other times, they get Larry the Cable Guy.
Jingle All The Way seems to have its fans, though much of that has to be out of a sense of irony. It certainly didn’t need a sequel, especially not one starring Mr. Git-R-Done.
Santino Marella apparently drew the short straw to be the obligatory WWE wrestler in this lump of coal of a movie.
There admittedly was a certain charm to the interactions between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad in the original movie. That is completely absent from the sequel– and so is anything resembling a passably entertaining film.
Goldberg – Santa’s Slay
In many of his “as himself” appearances in movies and TV shows, Bill Goldberg has proven himself a funny, affable on-camera presence. It’s when he tries to “act” that things usually don’t go well for him. And while such examples are usually in forgettable but mildly entertaining action movies, this “comedy” horror film is as impossible to forget as it is to find anything remotely entertaining about it.
There is an inexplicably long-running tradition of intentionally cheesy horror films based around holidays, generally where the normally friendly icon of said holiday becomes a murderous psychopath. None of those movies are good, and most aren’t even so-bad-they’re-good, but Santa’s Slay might very well be the worst of them all. The movie’s only passable joke is its opening scene, where various known Jewish actors are having Christmas dinner. It’s the only thing even approaching clever that this dud can muster.
Maria Kanellis – A Bet’s a Bet
A Bet’s a Bet has some real talent on its cast, including Kristen Chenoweth, Keenan Thompson, and Mena Suvari. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t any on-screen chemistry among the actors– not that the bland writing and empty jokes gave them much to work with, anyway.
None of that is why WWE Diva Maria Kanellis should be embarrassed of this movie.
Even the fact that she has a revealing scene isn’t the reason why she won’t be bringing up this movie at dinner parties any time soon. Kanellis was probably hoping this movie would disappear as quickly as her clothes did in the movie because her character is literally only referred to as “Hot Mess”.
Sure, a lot of attractive women have to unfortunately settle for movie roles like “hot girl at party” and “bikini beach babe,” but Hot Mess? Some roles just aren’t worth the exposure, so to speak.
Steve Austin – The Condemned
Without question, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin will always be one of the biggest wrestlers in WWE history. Few entertainers in any field get to enjoy as big and as long of a reign at the top as Austin did during his peak as the WWE’s biggest draw. He probably thought he was destined for a movie career on par with Dwayne Johnson’s. Slthough that hasn’t come anywhere close to happening, he still has a fairly decent resumé that includes roles in box office hits like The Expendables and Grown Ups 2.
Things started out a bit dicey for Austin as an actor, though.
His first headlining role– The Condemned– ended up being a major box office flop, losing nearly $16 million for the then-fledgling WWE Films. Among the chorus of devastatingly bad reviews was a zero star rating from the New York Post. Talk about a stone cold stunner.
Paige – Santa’s Little Helper
Why does the WWE insist on ruining Christmas? Continuing its baffling line of holiday movies comes 2015’s Santa’s Little Helper, a direct-to-cable movie where WWE Diva Paige plays Santa Claus’ daughter, who is hoping to take over when her dad retires but is annoyed to find that he wants the job should to go to a “human” instead. Or something like that.
It’s a stupid premise for a stupid movie, and one that also stars WWE’s The Miz in his second Christmas movie.
In her wrestling career, Paige has been another trailblazer, becoming the youngest-ever winner of the Divas Championship at only 21-years-old. Because she’s still young (26), she has the potential to turn her thus far unfortunate acting career around– but she likely won’t be trumpeting her role in Helper as proof of her potential star power when she does it.
Jesse Ventura – Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe
Jesse Ventura probably has the best debut movie of any WWE wrestler ever. His first film role was in the 1987 sci-fi classic Predator. He’s also had one of the most surprising careers of any WWE wrestler, not only being an actor but also an elected politician. He first served as a mayor before eventually becoming the 38th governor of the state of Minnesota.
While Ventura has always been very outspoken and is responsible for a number of extremely controversial soundbites, it can be argued that the one thing in his career he should be most ashamed of is starring in one of the worst sci-fi movies of all time: Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe.
There’s a reason why a film of this scope has been almost completely forgotten, and why this is probably the first time anyone has talked about it in 17 years. Ventura likely prefers it that way.
The Undertaker – Suburban Commando
When the disaster that was No Holds Barred failed to make Hulk Hogan the AAA movie star that he no doubt felt he deserved to be, he decided to switch gears a bit and try family-friendly fare. Unfortunately– and not surprisingly– neither Suburban Commando nor Mr. Nanny were able to help Hulkomania spread through Hollywood.
Seeing as how Hulk Hogan seems to think he’s the greatest thing ever and everything he does is the greatest thing ever, he probably isn’t here for anyone’s criticisms of his movie work. However, he dragged a fellow WWE Superstar– The Undertaker– along for the doomed ride that was Suburban Commando, who probably still wishes Hogan wouldn’t have bothered.
In his sole movie appearance where he doesn’t play himself, Undertaker plays a hapless, goofy henchman named Hutch– hardly a role befitting one of the darkest, most macabre wrestlers in WWE history.
Sable – Corky Romano
It might not be fair to pick on Sable– real name Rena Mero– for her participation in one of Chris Kattan’s string of failed star vehicles, Corky Romano. Some of her fellow WWE stars also appear in the movie, and so do a lot of other really talented people: Peter Falk, Zach Galifinakis, Peter Berg, Fred Ward - the list goes on.
But Sable was willing to show up for this DOA movie just to be objectified. Though the WWE had treated her similarly for years, the fact that she carried this through to her attempt at a film career is seriously regrettable. The fact that it remains her sole theatrical movie credit also doesn’t help matters– if you’re only going to do one movie, you should really, really hope that one movie isn’t Corky Romano.
Big Show – Knucklehead
This past February, Big Show’s 19-year WWE career came to an end when his contract expired and wasn’t renewed due to a what ended up being a career-ending injury. It would’ve been nice if Big Show had a respectable acting career to fall back on– but given how his first movie in a lead role turned out, casting agents haven’t exactly been beating down his door.
While WWE Studios generally doesn’t produce content of stellar quality, most of their movies are far better than the atrocious 2010 comedy Knucklehead.
Big Show deserved much better than his potential star vehicle being a comedy that seemed designed to make him look like an absolute fool– and the laugh at kind, not laugh with– in each and every scene. It felt like the kind of movie someone would be forced to make after losing a bet.
Kurt Angle – End Game
Kurt Angle is extremely lucky that most people either forgot about– or outright missed– his debut film role, because that’s the only reason he was even given a second chance to be an actor.
In 2009’s End Game, Angle plays a killer who offs his female victims mid-coitus (yes, we said mid). The result is some of the most difficult to watch “love scenes” in the history of film, and that doesn’t even include the part where he starts the process of taking the life of his unlucky bed mate. Seeing Angle’s “o-face” isn’t something that anyone who has had the misfortune of seeing End Game is ever going to forget. It’s true, it’s true.
Angle has retained a steady acting career since, and he needs to keep that up– every movie that pushes End Game deeper into his resumé, the better. For everyone’s sake.
Dwayne Johnson – Tooth Fairy
Dawyne Johnson has starred in his share of box office flops and critical disappointments– but none of them can compare to his turn in Tooth Fairy. No, it isn’t a clever title for a movie about a tough guy who knocks out the teeth of criminals or anything quite so cool. In Tooth Fairy, Johnson plays the literal tooth fairy, fluffy wings and all.
What’s perhaps the worst part about Tooth Fairy is that Johnson is actually an excellent comic actor– look no further than last year’s extremely fun Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle for proof of that. So it’s not as though he can’t do comedy, and has to settle for getting laughs out of simply looking ridiculous and out of his element. Tooth Fairy just makes him look ridiculous, period, without the decency to even be funny about it.
Did we miss any embarrassing WWE movie roles? Let us know in the comments!
