Lets get into the list.
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Lawrence Taylor – WrestleMania 11
The 1995 Royal Rumble had various storylines going on throughout the match, most notably with Shawn Michaels winning and outlasting 29 other Superstars after entering in at number one, being the first wrestler to achieve such a feat.
Besides that however, one of the biggest highlights was the finals for the vacant WWF Tag Team Championships, pitting 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly against Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka, who seemed to be the odds on favorites to win. 1-2-3 Kid would go on to pin Bigelow, the crowd heckling him afterwards, thus causing Bigelow to push a fan, but not just any fan, former NFL player Lawrence Taylor.
These actions would then thrust the two into a feud that culminated at WrestleMania, and for some reason was also the main event, overshadowing Shawn Michaels defeating Diesel for the WWF Championship.
The reason that this starts off our list as opposed to the following match is due to the fact that Taylor not only looked like a million bucks but because Bam Bam Bigelow ensured that he did, doing more than just his part, further cementing himself as one of the best big men to ever lace up a pair of boots.
While the outcome of the match should never see a celebrity defeat a legitimate professional wrestler, as well as the match overstaying its welcome by just a few minutes as the pacing slowed down a bit where it should’ve picked up, this undoubtedly gave WWE a mass amount of exposure at a time when the business was still keeping kayfabe alive and never relied that heavily on a celebrity before.
Floyd Mayweather vs. Big Show – WrestleMania 24
Despite how he may carry himself in real-life in regards to his attitude and personality, Big Show and Floyd Mayweather managed to put on a rather entertaining match-up from start to finish at WrestleMania 24.
The Florida crowd that night was firmly behind Big Show, every bit of offense or pomp and stance from Mayweather was met with a chorus of boo’s, and rightfully so. They don’t call the undefeated boxer Floyd “Money” Mayweather for nothing, as he took every chance he could get to flaunt his cash along with his entourage, and the very thought of a man who stands at 5’8 and 150 pounds defeating Big Show, a man billed at 7 feet and 400 pounds seemed asinine.
That’s exactly what happened, however, as whatever amount of offence Big Show threw at Floyd was no match against interference at ringside from his crew, a few steel chair shots, and lastly, a knockout blow via a pair of brass knuckles.
It should’ve been obvious that the undefeated Mayweather was not going to take a loss that night, and as upsetting as it was that Big Show took said loss, it was an entertaining bout nonetheless that didn’t overstay its welcome.
Kelly Kelly and Maria Menounos vs Eve Torres and Beth Phoenix – WrestleMania 28
TV Personality Maria Menounos defeating the then reigning Divas Champion “The Glamazon” Beth Phoenix in a tag match at WrestleMania via a School Boy pin attempt seems like an April Fools joke, but alas, that wasn’t the case here at that years’ ‘Showcase of the Immortals.’
With that being said though, kudos must be given towards Menounos, as she came into the match with two cracked ribs in which she suffered whilst practising during her run on Dancing With The Stars, showing signs of tenacity that a WWE Superstar would which isn’t much of a surprise as Menounos is a legit fan of the WWE.
Maria was in the match for a relatively decent amount of time, taking most of the offence from the team of Eve and Beth, looking short of breath and clutching at her side for the most part as well.
The Florida crowd seemed very much into the match though, which is all that matters at the end of the day as Kelly Kelly and Maria Menounos emerged victorious that night, besting the team of female athletes that definitely deserved more than what they were given.
Mr. T vs. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper – Boxing Match at WrestleMania 2
Boxing is boxing, as is wrestling is just strictly what it is, and it should remain such.
The level at which sports entertainment is in comparison to boxing is wholly different, which is why having Rocky 3 star Mr T slated to fight Roddy Piper at WrestleMania 2 was such a bizarre concept.
The lines were blurred as many people tuned in to see the fight, or match, whichever you’d like to call it, as the presentation was given a serious big fight feel but by the end of it, chicanery would be had as Mr T and Piper would throw fatigue ridden bombs towards one another, with Piper finally having had enough and slamming Mr T to the ground, thus ending everything in disqualification and handing the latter man the win.
There’s not much to dissect here unfortunately, it was what it was, just an attempt to gain as much publicity for the company and show as possible which is a method that is still used to this day, however, it didn’t offer much in this viewers eyes in terms of quality.
Shaq and Big Show Face-Off, Again – WrestleMania 32
Much like his guest host appearance on Monday Night Raw on July 27th, 2009, which saw the former NBA Legend getting in a physical altercation with The Big Show via choking and pushing, not much else happened here besides eliminating Damian Sandow as Shaq made his entry into that years’ Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
Lasting no more than two minutes and getting eliminated along with The Big Show by a majority of the locker room already in the ring, not much else was to be had.
Perhaps some amount of respect is to be given, as we know that O’Neal is a fan of pro-wrestling even going so far as to going through a table recently in a televised match on AEW, his number three entry perhaps could’ve been saved for a Superstar or Legend more deserving, although, it seems as though they had already met their quota by then.
WrestleMania is Snooki – WrestleMania 27
Last on this list has to go to an absolute abomination of a celebrity match at WrestleMania 27, right next to the massacre of Bart Gunn via Butterbean at WrestleMania 15 (it had to get mentioned somehow), as MTV’s Jersey Shore personality Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi made her WWE in-ring debut, at WrestleMania of all places.
WrestleMania 27 is often regarded as one of the weakest instalments of the pay-per-view in recent memory, with Undertaker vs Triple H being the only saving grace amongst most fans.
Another thing that that years’ Mania was remembered for was the backstage heat that stemmed from Trish Stratus and John Morrison and the ‘cold shoulder’ incident, in which evidently Morrison felt Stratus had taken a spot away from Melina, a former WWE Superstar whom he was dating at the time.
If that should be of any indication, it’s essential that nobody cared for Snooki’s performance or her backflip spot during the six-person mixed tag team match, but the fact that a Superstar on the active roster had pretty much got himself in hot water by disrespecting a WWE Legend. Not the best way to start off a WWE career should’ve just stayed put on the Jersey Shore.
There you have it, folks, six celebrity WrestleMania matches ranked from best to worst, do you agree with this list? Feel free to sound off in the Twitter comments suggesting where you’d rank these matches, or Tweet me if you felt like something should’ve been added.
As always, enjoy the read, and let’s wait and see what other celebrities wish to follow Bad Bunny in his upcoming match and others for future WrestleMania’s to come.