There’s a long history of pro wrestling, and particularly WWE, inviting celebrities into the fold to get more eyes on the product and grasp at mainstream credibility. There are times when these efforts have proven successful, but wrestling fans by and large roll their eyes at this style of booking for distracting from meaningful storylines and full-time talents who are good at their jobs.
While WWE using celebrities may remain controversial, it’s hard to deny that they’ve gotten better at it. Indeed this past weekend’s Fanatics Fest and Saturday Night’s Main Event highlighted some key elements of what WWE is getting right and what has improved in the modern era.
There Have Been Some Celebrity Highlights In Wrestling’s Past
In discussing celebrity involvement, it would be unfair to dismiss some of the positive contributions famous parties have extended in the past. Indeed, Mr. T working the main event of the original WrestleMania was a sensational piece of cross-promotion that helped The Showcase of the Immortals reach the masses and become a cornerstone of the WWE brand.
Similarly, if on a smaller scale, Lawrence Taylor main eventing WrestleMania 11 and Floyd Mayweather working WrestleMania 24 were each other prime examples of a reasonably credible celebrity getting very physical in the ring in ways that created legitimate buzz beyond normal wrestling circles.
All that’s not to mention the electricity and extra eyes Mike Tyson brought to the Road to WrestleMania 14, or the absurd but fun spectacle of Karl Malone and Dennis Rodman carrying their two-year NBA Finals rivalry into the squared circle in WCW. Add onto that the classic chicanery of the Andy Kauffman vs. Jerry Lawler feud in Memphis.
Indeed, it’s been proven time and again celebrities can be a lot of fun in pro wrestling. However, for every successful outing, there have been multiple flops. The guest host era of WWE Raw was a prime example, as WWE welcomed seemingly random assortments of different famous people to their weekly show.
Some Raw celebrity hosts seemed like legit wrestling fans or at least came across as game to give it their all. However, there were also guests like Jeremy Piven—a great actor who nonetheless called SummerSlam SummerFest, and others who simply seemed out of touch with WWE and more like they were wasting time—there because someone told them they had to be to promote a new movie or TV show—than adding to the product at hand.
Some Celebrities Are Big Enough WWE Fans To Go All In
Over time, WWE has shown progress in setting up celebrities for success. After all, Snooki from Jersey Shore worked a WrestleMania match and was booked around her strengths enough to come across as well.
But then there are cases like Maria Menounos working multiple high-profile tag team matches competently out of a sheer love of the game. She’s a genuine fan and it showed in how seriously she took her performances. From there, more recent outings by Bad Bunny and Jelly Roll have further highlighted that a famous party who works hard and has an organic passion for wrestling can put on a heck of a show.
Logan Paul may be the ultimate exemplar—a good athlete who took his training seriously, was put in positions to succeed, and has merged from shockingly good celebrity guest to a part of the full-time roster. Polarizing as he is for his real-life personality, The Maverick may well have blazed a trail for famous people like him who want to carve out a niche in sports entertainment.
Celebrities Who Don’t Wrestle Are Still Well Deployed In Modern WWE
Fanatics Fest saw WWE all over the place, with Superstars participating in other kinds of athletic exhibitions, besides interacting with athletes from other sports. Perhaps most notably, that include Tom Brady sitting down for an interview with Cody Rhodes and winding up getting physical with Logan Paul in ways that have set up some real buzz about Brady working a WWE match in the not too distant future.
The July 2026 Saturday Night’s Main Event also featured three noteworthy appearances from NBA players that highlighted the synergy between WWE and the modern celebrity landscape.
Set Ii Madison Square Garden, the home of the 2026 NBA Champion New York Knicks, SNME first saw Knicks starting center Karl Anthony Towns make a surprise appearance. The big man came to Danhausen’s aid, choke slamming members of Judgment Day. These spots took advantage of KAT’s physical size and his fanhood as he delivered these big-time moves beautifully, like someone who’d been practicing them on his friend for a lifetime.
Later in the show, Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson and key rival Tyrese Haliburton from the Indiana Pacers figured into the Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins angle. An injured Brunson didn’t have to get physical or even speak a word to electrify the New York City faithful and look just right standing beside The Tribal Chief, then blocking Rollins from attacking him.
Likewise, just by appearing with a steel chair and not doing a heck of a lot, Haliburton played the heel beautifully adding heat in ways that didn’t take anything away from the WWE talent, but did provide a Sports Center moment and engage folks who are more into basketball than wrestling.
In the end, there will always be limits to the utility of untrained celebrities in pro wrestling. Nonetheless, recruiting celebrities who are legitimately wrestling fans and excited to be there, not to mention ones who either have the physical tools coming in or a willingness to learn a bit of the craft can make them potent additions to the wrestling product.
