Before May 27th, 1996, WCW was doing OK but they strongly rehashing WWE’s storylines of the past with the older stars they acquired, especially Hulk Hogan and “Macho Man” Randy Savage. In fact for Hulk Hogan, WCW fans were booing him because it was the same old WWE red & yellow act. Meanwhile, other bad storylines and feuds involved the Dungeon of Doom, which was a total collection of misfits that the likes of a tired babyface Hulk Hogan had to feud with. While the Dungeon did provide a brand new young star with “The Giant” (Paul Wight, later Big Show), that stable was mostly a JOKE. If you watch Uncensored 1996, you’ll see a collection of BAD ideas coming together with the “Doomsday Cage” main event. That was the last we saw of the red & yellow babyface Hulk Hogan until he’d later resurface with the NWO in July…

While WCW Nitro was a great idea, the storylines and the older wrestlers pushed weren’t. So, Eric Bischoff took charge and wanted to incorporate “reality-based” storylines. Eric, through his partnership with New Japan Pro Wrestling, observed how they were drawing massive crowds and that was mainly due to the fans feeling a part of storylines that felt very real. New Japan also had a hostile takeover storyline that Eric enjoyed. This influence was massive and the gears began to turn in Eric’s head how to improve WCW after the disastrous Uncensored 1996 Pay Per View.

As luck would have it, two key WWE wrestlers were becoming Free Agents and just one week apart. Scott Hall, who played Razor Ramon in WWE, felt that his pay had plateaued and wanted more guaranteed money and higher percentages of merchandise sales. Vince McMahon refused, so Hall began discussing the idea of returning to WCW through his longtime friend Diamond Dallas Page. Through DDP as the intermediary, Hall received a verbal offer from Eric Bischoff which provided substantial amount of guaranteed money PLUS working much fewer dates than the rigorous WWE schedule. Hall’s buddy Kevin Nash, who was playing Diesel for the WWE, was also getting burned out from the WWE schedule, looked at Hall’s offer and was shocked… Nash then inquired what he could get, as his contract was set to expire 1 week after Hall’s.

Scott Hall signed with WCW and gave his 90 day notice. Nash didn’t want to leave for WCW, as he had fond memories of being “Oz” and “Vinnie Vegas”, among other bad gimmicks and storylines, but the “straw that broke the camel’s back” was Bret Hart being petty over a finish of a match before Wrestlemania 12. Nash immediately signed with WCW, too, and thus Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were set to return to WCW. On their way out, Nash put over Undertaker and Shawn Michaels while the WWE drug tested Scott Hall and the result made him miss Wrestlemania 12. Then, Hall and Nash wrestled their last matches at Madison Square Garden where the pair, plus their 2 other clique buddies Shawn Michaels and Triple H, saluted the crowd known as the “Curtain Call”.

After that MSG event, Hall was free to begin working with WCW and that was on May 27, 1996 in Macon, GA. Hall laughed, saying he went from working in MSG the night before to working in Macon, GA. However, the ironic thing is that both events created long impacts on the business forever. The “Curtain Call” salute broke script and caused someone like Triple H to get depushed, causing Steve Austin to win King of the Ring 1996 in his place and Austin unleashed with the “Austin 3:16” promo. Hall’s return to WCW, though, changed wrestling forever from a creative and business standpoint which every wrestler, today, needs to be thankful for.

”You know who I am, but you don’t know why I am here.”

Scott Hall’s return to WCW was genius on the 5/27/1996 edition of WCW Nitro. Steve Doll and the “Mauler” Mike Enos were having an undercard match. Then, from the crowd, Scott Hall was seen walking down the steps in the aisle way and the crowd seriously erupts. After all, in their minds, he was still working with WWE because nothing was officially announced by WCW that Hall had joined the company. Hall was dressed in blue jeans with a blue jean vest, nothing indicating that he was Razor Ramon. However, he didn’t call himself Scott Hall. He just grabbed a microphone and entered the ring to cut a promo without attacking the wrestlers.

And that’s the genius of Hall’s return… It’s the subtleties that made it perfect. According to Scott Hall, it was Larry Zbyszko, who was announcing at the time with WCW (also there ringside with Tony Shiavone as it happened) that advised Hall to not attack the wrestlers. Just grab a mic and start talking… This made it seem real and random, as both Doll and the Mauler were complete baffled as to why Scott Hall entered the ring and began talking. This SOLD the possibility of it being a “shoot”, as if a real WWE wrestler was invading WCW.

Then, Scott’s own words iced it… Here is exactly what he said on 5/27/96:

“Hey, you people, you know who I am. But you don’t know why I’m here. Where is Billionaire Ted? Where is the Nacho Man? That punk can’t even get in the building. Me? I go wherever I want, WHENEVER I want. And where oh where is Scheme Gene? ’cause I got a scoop for you. When that Ken Doll look-a-like, when that weatherman wannabe comes out here later tonight, I got a challenge for him, for Billionaire Ted, for the Nacho Man, and for anybody else in uh WCW, huh huh huh. You wanna go to war? You want a war? You’re gonna get one!”

That seems like a short promo, but Hall’s delivery and tone did more with these words than expected. He literally acted like he was a rogue agent of WWE and was invading WCW. That opening phrase of “you know who I am, but you don’t know why I am here” is perfectly said and sent chills down the spines of most wrestling fans. Why is this WWE wrestler here? And then by bring up the “Nacho Man”, “Scheme Gene”, and “Billionaire Ted”, it creates the impression that he’s here to get revenge on behalf of WWE. Making fun of Eric Bischoff, aka “Ken Doll look-a-like” and “weatherman wannabe” further ices that Hall is there to get revenge on behalf of the WWE.

From the start, though, Hall alludes to a “challenge”. “I got a challenge for him”, which Hall would later reiterate at the end of WCW Nitro on 5/27/96.

Wrestling fans in high schools, colleges, and the early elements of the internet were buzzing. “Wait, is the WWE invading WCW?!?”

See, I remember in the early days of the internet seeing scoops about Razor and Diesel leaving for WCW. Back in 1996, I would go to libraries, schools, or friend’s houses who had the early dial-up internets to pull insider stories. However, Scott Hall appearing randomly on WCW Nitro and being totally nameless created doubt, even in the “smart” fans’ minds. Why? Because Scott Hall was THAT DAMN GOOD and convincing. Hall set the tone for the first promo on 5/27/96 and said the perfect words, especially the “you know why I am here, but you don’t know why I am here” phrase. Then, Hall is intimidating towards Eric Bischoff and threatening towards him during those end-of-Nitro segments.

The following week, June 3, 1996, Hall didn’t appear at all during the show until the very end. At the end of Nitro, Hall appears again at the announcer’s table and is intimidating Eric Bischoff. This time, however, Eric had back-up in the form of Sting who actually slapped Scott Hall. Immediately, and this is key, the POLICE stormed the set and kept the two apart from fighting. Hall then promises a “BIG SURPRISE” for the following week.

On the following Nitro on June 10, 1996, Scott Hall didn’t appear until the very end, once again, and is there to confront Eric Bischoff (love Bobby Heenan running away and getting out of there). Eric tries to talk down Scott, asking “where is the big surprise” and Hall points behind him with a BIG smile on Hall’s face. All of the sudden, Kevin Nash appears. Surprise 100% delivered! Now, WCW has both Razor and Diesel “invading”. Holy cow! They reiterate the challenge and Kevin Nash questions things about the adjective of “play”. Eric states that he needs to stop by the Turner offices and work out the details for this 3 on 3 challenge and would have answers at the Great American Bash 1996 WCW Pay Per View on June 16, 1996. Eric invites both Hall and Nash to appear at such event.

At WCW Great American Bash 1996, Eric first asks the duo if they “still work for WWE?” to which both Hall and Nash answer “no”. But if you watch closely, they blow through the question and act like the question doesn’t matter. This is key to keep the fans believing, because after all, there’s a mystery 3rd man now hyped and it’s a fact that WCW is now enjoying Razor and Diesel in their promotion. In my opinion, though, what saved any doubt to the storyline was the third man… Bischoff then said he had 3 wrestlers for their match, but wouldn’t give away the names. That angered Hall and he punched Bischoff in the stomach and then Nash powerbombed Bischoff through the table platforms near the stage.

Folks, this was June of 1996… Unless you watched ECW, you didn’t see people getting thrown through tables back then. These days on RAW, Smackdown, Dynamite, or any PLE/PPVs, it’s actually uncommon for a wrestler to NOT get slammed through a table. Hence why anyone getting thrown through a table isn’t remembered or lacks impact. Back during June 1996, you never saw wrestlers going through tables, LET ALONE a freakin’ announcer or non-wrestler.

Look at the subtlety of the 4 weeks that we’ve described… Hall, alone, appears twice on the 5/27 Nitro. First time, he says “you know who I am but you don’t know why I am here” and then harasses Eric at the end of Nitro. He’s already alluding to a special challenge, too. Then on 6/3, Hall only appears at the very end to threaten Bischoff again, but Sting is there to confront and slap Hall. Hall promises “big surprise” and delivers that on the next week on 6/10 with Kevin Nash returning to WCW as Hall’s buddy. Then, just 6 days later at the Great American Bash, Hall and Nash attack Bischoff.

4 weeks of a slow build… And folks, it only gets better from there.

Now, we have the threat of the 3rd man while Hall & Nash are physical threats to the entire WCW roster. For example, there was one night when Hall and Nash stormed the ring with baseball bats and the wrestlers performing were protected by an entire police force ready to draw their own pistols. It was THAT intense!

Hall and Nash set the table for the great storyline, but the pressure was now on to secure a great reveal for the third man.

Throughout 1996, Eric Bischoff asked Hulk Hogan about possibly turning heel. Hogan’s response was usually “try to live a mile in my boots, brother” because he’s been a babyface for so long, did lots of charity work with kids, and was relied upon for appearing at corporate events. Plus, Hogan was trying to still make movies and TV shows. With Hogan initially not interested in being the third man, Sting was reportedly sought to be that guy. After all, Sting was the loyal WCW worker and he’s been a babyface since joining WCW during 1987 per the UWF merger with NWA Mid-Atlantic. It could have been shocking, BUT by having Hulk Hogan as the third man, it kept the “WWE invasion” feeling alive. Plus, like Sting, Hulk Hogan has been a babyface for a long time, too, so thus a heel turn would be shocking too.

As Hulk Hogan saw what Hall and Nash were doing weekly, his interest in turning heel grew. Then, he decided and became the third man at the July 7, 1996 WCW Bash at the Beach Pay Per View. WCW selected Macho Man Randy Savage, Sting, and Lex Luger to face Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and the 3rd man who didn’t appear with Hall & Nash when the match started. Immediately, that set the tone of MAYBE Sting, Macho, or Lex being the third man ESPECIALLY when Lex Luger got injured early in the match. Great storytelling, but it allowed the match to become 2 on 2 versus 3 on 2…

Back then, Hulk Hogan was suspected as being the third man, but many had doubts that WCW would do that because again, Hogan as a babyface was a gravy train of merchandise. Plus, we didn’t see Hogan since the WCW Uncensored 1996 PPV debacle that happened on March 24, 1996. Thus, it was still a mystery as to who the third man was and even the dirt sheets struggled to accurately predict who it could be. For example, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reported that Mabel (later Viscera) was “in discussions” with WCW to be “considered” to be the third man. While I’m not here to pile on Dave, I’m just using it as an example of how good WCW created doubt that it would be Hulk Hogan.

Towards the end of the Bash at the Beach 1996 main event, we had a moment where Macho/Sting appeared to get the upper hand but then Kevin Nash delivered a distracted nutshot to Randy Savage. At that very moment, Hulk Hogan arrived to a massive pop, with cheering fans thinking he would just be a substitute for the injured Lex Luger. Hogan was dressed in full red and yellow colors, too, though he didn’t have the trademark handlebar mustache, too which I felt was odd when I watched it live. Still, after seeing over 10 years of red & yellow Hulkamania, nobody believed the heel turn was coming.

And then, Hogan dropped the leg on Randy Savage. JAWS DROPPED. And then another legdrop. Hogan tosses out poor referee Randy Anderson to ice that heel turn and then drops another legdrop on Savage. Kevin Nash has advised that the referee was supposed to count Hogan pinning Macho, but in my opinion, Hogan tossing out the referee and having Scott Hall counting the 1, 2, 3 is the better heel move to taunt WCW and make Hogan look like a better newly turned heel.

And then Hogan KILLS IT with a heel promo that rips fans and WCW HARD. Best promo that Hulk Hogan ever cut and he got the fans so riled up that they began throwing trash and beverages into the ring (poor Mean Gene was busted open from it!). Eric Bischoff had Hogan say the phrase “New World Order”, which was a PERFECT stable name. After all, there were threats that top countries in the world would band together and create a large authority over everyone on the planet. People panicked when President George H.W. Bush was actually quoted talking about the “New World Order”.

So here we are through July 1996… Perfect slow build introducing Scott Hall, then revealing Kevin Nash, attacking Bischoff, posing a real physical threat to WCW wrestlers, and then revealing the 3rd WITH the perfect stable name of “New World Order” with an abbreviation that rolls perfectly off the tongue in “NWO” (which my Microsoft Word always autocorrects as “now”). Eric Bischoff worked with Disney’s graphic design staff to create the PERFECT New World Order logo and then pulled the PERFECT theme music from the Turner library from an artist named Frank Shelley. It’s literally different Jimi Hendrix songs merged together and works perfectly for NWO’s black & white commercial segments.

Hulk Hogan would defeat the Giant at WCW Road Wild 1996 for the WCW World Title and afterward, Hogan spraypainted “NWO” on the title. Perfection!

In the coming weeks and months, the NWO added a few more members. Ted Dibiase was a free agent and joined WCW. It was thought that he was the “money man” behind the NWO, which made perfect sense. Sean Waltman appeared and joined the NWO as “Syxx”, a play on Motley Crue’s bassist and being the 6th member. Waltman was 6th after Dibiase joined and The Giant (Paul Wight, later Big Show) turned and joined the NWO with the idea of “if you can’t beat them, join them”. Personally, I didn’t like the Giant addition to the NWO, BUT it created the fear that ANYBODY from the WCW roster could join. Plus, Giant turning was on WCW Nitro… Thus, keeping the allusion that Nitro was “must watch” and the fear that more WCW wrestlers would defect.

Then you had 2 of the wrestlers from that Bash at the Beach 1996 match, Sting and Macho Man Randy Savage. NWO, through Fall Brawl 1996, tried to make it like Sting joined the NWO but he didn’t… It was a bogus Sting and after Fall Brawl 1996, when many WCW wrestlers doubted Sting’s allegiance, he said the “thing about Sting these days is that nothing’s for sure”, and walked away from the NWO stable who wanted sting to join their group. For over 1 year, Sting would hang out in the rafters and become Crow Sting. PERFECT evolution for his character.

With Macho, he was the perfect foe for Hogan at WCW Halloween Havoc 1996 because you could do the REVERSE Mega Powers colliding story! Of course, Macho couldn’t win against the strength in numbers, but the fact that the story led into Macho vs. Hogan was perfection again. Macho also took the approach of “can’t beat them, join them” and he was the perfect foil for Diamond Dallas Page throughout 1997, a real Scott Hall and Kevin Nash buddy who turned them down to join their group. Those Macho vs. DDP matches were epic.

After Hogan defeated Macho at Halloween Havoc 1996, Hogan was celebrating when bagpipes played… HOLY COW, ”Rowdy” Roddy Piper just joined WCW to confront Hulk Hogan. Again, we have another great feud but in REVERSE with Hogan now as a heel and Roddy Piper as a babyface. “I’m the only one that you’ve never been able to beat” phrase crushed Hogan hard as a quote by Piper.

Through Halloween Havoc 1996, the rest of WCW was also cooking. You had a STACKED Tag Team division with peak Steiners and Harlem Heat. The Cruiserweight Division was LOADED Rey Mysterio, Dean Malenko, Chris Jericho, Ultimo Dragon, and many others. TV Title had many contenders and was well defended. U.S. Title had many contenders and was well defended. In addition to signing Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Roddy Piper, Eric Bischoff raided ECW, Mexico, and Japan for talent and added incredible depth of wrestlers. Those 2-hour WCW Nitro shows moved smoothly because the roster suddenly became great and the action was exciting.

In my opinion, Halloween Havoc 1996 is the PEAK of WCW. Yes, they’d go on to have a very successful 1997 year and keep business growing throughout 1998… But they crashed HARD after July of 1998 to become high in debt and ready to be sold by March 2001.

During November 1996, big mistake #1 was made. NWO was thought to be bankrolled by Ted Dibiase. Nope, Eric Bischoff was revealed to have joined the NWO and was using his access to Turner/Time Warner resources to bankroll them. Thus, that negated Ted Dibiase and his relevance to the group. Bischoff joining the NWO created long-term issues because as an NWO member, he had every personal incentive to keep the NWO strong. Hence why they were overbearing throughout 1997 and why Bischoff placated the career of Hulk Hogan even further. It was in Eric’s best interests as a television character to keep the NWO strong and he often did that by keeping Hulk Hogan strong. Hence the BOTCHED Starrcade 1997 finish, getting the title back around Hogan’s waist during the Spring of 1998, and then the title back around Hogan’s waist during January 1999. All the while, pushing the NWO group hard throughout 1998 and creating the supergroup NWO to start 1999.

And then signing any older WWE wrestler to the WCW roster to join the NWO and to further keep the group strong. The Curt Hennig signing was the worst, as he was a PERFECT person to wrestle and be respected within the Four Horsemen group. Then, Hennig turned and joined the NWO… But what did that group actually do for him and his career? Many of the wrestlers within the NWO signed massive extensions to remain prominent with the group, as did many in opposition to the NWO (Sting, Luger).

The expenses kept growing from there… Adding WCW Thunder and giving it an expensive set. The Tonight Show parody set, I’m told, was very expensive. The new 1999 WCW logo and set were massive expenses incurred.

The effective manager that Eric Bischoff was through 1996 was dissolved as he became personally impaired by an inflated ego and desire to be a TV star as a member of the NWO. Fewer eggs were placed in the managerial basket, while more eggs were placed in the creative of HIS character and keeping Hogan/NWO strong. Suddenly, things that were carefully looked at during 1996 weren’t watch over thanks to an impaired manager of the company. Storylines were done on the fly, new wrestlers were constantly brought in, and everything was too pro-NWO and pro-Hogan. The creative was so impaired that it rushed a very green Bill Goldberg to the top but then had nothing for him to do afterward. Then, wrestlers could join the creative team and that muddied things up.

Blows my mind that the same man who gave us 1996 WCW could also give us botched Starrcade 1997, all of the crap in 1998, and the fingerpoke and terrible NWO reunion of 1999. What happened to this guy? No matter who followed what happened in WCW during 1998 through mid-1999, WCW was destined to fail due to the high expenses and the upcoming AOL/Time Warner merger that needed cash and NOT expenses to immediately crumble throughout the 21st Century. You can blame Vince Russo all you want, but WCW was “dead already” through mid-1999 thanks to LOSING the fans’s trust and from EXPENSIVE WCW contracts in place with guaranteed money.

Go rewatch WCW from late May 1996 through late October 1996. It’s PERFECTION, all started by the tone and words that Scott Hall said 30 years ago from this day.

I don’t want to bash Bischoff too much here… After all, what he did during 1996 that kept momentum going during 1997-1998 caused MUCH NEEDED CHANGE in the industry. WWE got a much needed kick in the arse and creatively overhauled their entire company while empowering new people to add their ideas to improve WWE (Russo, Ross, and Cornette). Wrestlers were getting paid much better than ever and with guaranteed money versus having to earn every single penny (killed lots of wrestlers working injured and being on pills). The Monday Night Wars drew more corporate money and merchandise opportunities into the fold. PERMANENT changes that pushed more money into the promotions.

Trust me, the WWE that you see today wasn’t the WWE that existed 30 years ago. WWE during May 1996 SUCKED with Shawn Michaels as the WWE babyface champion. WCW came along, shocked the world with the NWO storyline, and caused WWE to re-think what they were doing and EVOLVE.

And it all started when Scott Hall returned to WCW and made his Nitro debut by saying “you know who I am, but you don’t know why I am here”. What a great time!

RIP Scott Hall… And thank you to DDP for not only helping Hall join WCW, but for keeping him alive for another 10 years for all of us to enjoy the “bad guy”. Hey yo!

Watch this great Scott Hall moment, 30 years ago on 5/27/96, for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TcAfnVxEYo

Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ

The post On This Day in Pro Wrestling History… 30 Years Ago on 5/27/96, Scott Hall Returns to WCW to Begin the New World Order (NWO) Storyline appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“I remember we were in Halifax and we actually first time we saw each other was about two weeks before WrestleMania. And we were always buddy buddy, but we sat down in this restaurant and I remember he goes, ‘So, what do you want to do?’ And I said, ‘I got some ideas and stuff, but I—’ I remember I said, ‘Well, what do you want to do?’ And I remember in that moment I was like, ‘What if he tells me a lousy idea? Do I have the guts to say, that idea sucks?’ I remember he said, ‘You tell me what you want to do.’

The post Bret Hart says Hulk Hogan and Jake Roberts were “two of the biggest pieces of sh*t in wrestling” unlike Roddy Piper appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

But then we get to season 2 of the Peacemaker… Damn!

I started having these thoughts throughout Season 2 of Peacemaker, but then I saw the ending of the 7th episode… I’m not going to spoil it, as I STRONGLY RECOMMEND checking out Peacemaker, but John Cena has a moment in Season 2, Episode 7 that I seriously think may put him into contention for an Emmy.

That’s right, a wrestler turned actor is getting better and better as an actor.

That somewhat contrasts with the many professional wrestlers who have tried to act. Many just cannot break out of their comfort zone, often being the same exact wrestling character that got them over in big arenas. Yet, that’s not what producers and directors fully want… They want someone with flexibility, willing to take risks, and someone who actually listens to coaching.

If you listen to podcasts or interviews from the Peacemaker cast members or production team, they’ll tell you that John Cena is eager to learn, putting in the hard work to get better, and is completely humble to receive feedback or criticism. That is 100% in contrast with how other wrestlers-turned-actors have been perceived on set. If you watch with each additional movie or television show that Cena does, he gets better and better. Furthermore, he’s not afraid to poke fun at himself or get placed in compromised positions.

It’s almost a shame that the “acting bug” didn’t bite John Cena earlier so that we could get more years of his physical prime on camera. Of course, years ago, Cena thumbed his nose at leaving the WWE for Hollywood opportunities, an admission that Cena would later apologize for when Hollywood began calling him. In the WWE, you have to work hard, as the very top star, to earn maybe one-fourth of what a leading man in Hollywood earns per film. PER FILM.

Gee, why is Roman Reigns suddenly seeking Hollywood opportunities? Yeah, the WWE should have let Rock vs. Roman Reigns happen during 2024 because that opportunity has been squandered and won’t be as effective when these two part-timers try it in Saudi Arabia at Wrestlemania 43.

Cena’s Peacemaker character has to present a variety of emotions. For one, he’s a complete hypocrite and has to deal with that… A guy who claims to want peace, but is completely OK with murdering many people to achieve it. Peacemaker grew up with an abusive father, one of which favors a certain political movement from 1930s and 1940s Germany (if you know what I mean), along with the guilt of accidentally killing his own brother in a fistfight as a child. Cena has to portray a character who has a ton of guilt swirling in his own head, while trying to build relationships with those within the organization who hired Peacemaker for various services after springing him from prison. With the cards dealt to him, John Cena is KILLING IT and is showing an acting range that other wrestlers haven’t showed, let alone other actors in Hollywood.

John Cena has the real potential to make Peacemaker films and television shows for YEARS, but he’s showing great improvements in his acting and range that will land him many other roles. He won’t get typecasted as just being Peacemaker because again, he’s willing to learn, takes coaching well, and isn’t afraid of how a role would bruise his ego.

Contrast that with other wrestlers who have tried to become actors.

The late and great Hulk Hogan saw most of his characters look like Hulk Hogan. Same hair (or lack thereof), same horseshoe mustache, and all acting like the same macho like character. Later, when he’d try to change his look for certain roles, he was still in his Hulk Hogan character. Thus, he wasn’t a marketable Hollywood star because he was too stuck in wrestling mode.

The Rock is the same way… Same muscular jacked-up guy for most of his films. Lucky for the Rock, the action film genre is always in demand and mostly draws at the box office. Thus, whether that is racing cars around, jumping between exploding buildings, or dealing with massive natural disasters, the Rock has been successful because he’s filling that Arnold, Sly, or Bruce mold and fits in perfectly because those guys simply got older. Yet, unlike Arnold, Sly, or Bruce, the Rock doesn’t have any memorable characters or tentpole franchises. He tried so hard with Hercules, which bombed, and then with the DC Comics Black Adam film, but nothing stuck. Hence why the Rock gets lambasted for playing the same character for most of his roles.

That said, I believe that the Rock made a WISE decision with The Smashing Machine which I think may land him in some Oscar contention for Best Actor. Why? Because he took a chance on a completely different kind of role for him, changed his look, and is working in a different genre than before. Yes, there will be fight scenes in the Smashing Machine, but it’s really a drama portraying the difficult life of UFC fighter Mark Kerr. After taking many safe action movie opportunities, the Rock appears to now be in the mode of being taken seriously as an actor.

That, or he sees his fellow wrestling peer John Cena absolutely killing it and has upped his game. In fact, the Rock’s unavailability since the RAW after Wrestlemania 40 has been due to the Rock taking on an increased amount of film projects. He’s busy rebuilding his acting career which took some damage during the early 2020s.

But let’s look at John Cena before the Peacemaker role… If you’ve watched his movies closely, you’ll see that John Cena was getting prepared to excel when handed a great role.

His first film was The Marine, which was a WWE Films produced movie. It’s OK, but overall good for a first film attempt. Personally, I like it better than the Scorpion King… For Cena’s starring debut, it’s basically his wrestling character playing the hero in a good popcorn film. However, this was just Cena trying things out and he wouldn’t make another film until 3 years later. For 3 straight years, he had smaller films with 12 Rounds, Legendary, and The Reunion. Nothing to crow about, but John Cena was a wrestler first and then an actor later.

By 2014, things were changing in the WWE, as they had Brock Lesnar back and Vince McMahon really wanted to push Roman Reigns. It was the perfect opportunity for John Cena to really jump into the acting deep-end.

While it wasn’t a starring role, Cena’s role in Trainwreck starring Amy Schumer stands out as he was Amy’s boyfriend or at least F buddy. Completely hilarious, as Cena completely goofs on himself and lets himself be placed in crazy predicaments. Cena would continue to try the comedic roles, as he appeared in Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s Sisters film as a weird drug dealer character but in the brief moments, he stands out. Common theme is starting to happen here… Whenever Cena appears, the planets seem to orbit towards him. That commanding presence that led him to become a top wrestling draw is also translating to film with his charisma and magnetism. BUT the biggest thing is that he’s willing to be goofed on and try new things beyond his leading role in the WWE.

Cena always being open to doing supporting roles is important, too… When you’re not on the very top of the pecking order, you have to honor those at the top and let them be stars. For example, John Cena is in Daddy’s Home 1 and 2 as a supporting character. Both films, especially the second, are loaded with stars and yet Cena is only there to complement them rather than steal their spotlight. Again, there is that flexibility and ability to be humble again.

Personally, I liked what John Cena did during 2018. First, he was co-starring in the comedy Blockers, which centers around parents who are terrified that their daughters get de-flowered at prom. Cena’s character is in a mixed race marriage, too, which adds some complexity to his role as a dad but he nails it. I’m not saying Blockers is an all-time great comedy, but it made money in the box office and didn’t need a massive budget to just feature the personalities of Cena, Leslie Mann, and Ike Barinholtz. They just had to sell the comedy, and they did. Then, Cena was featured in the Transformers prequel Bumblebee as the villain. The movie made money and kept the Transformers franchise going, but I always think that Cena’s success in this big budget film allowed him to walk into the next big franchise.

The Rock’s star as an actor grew when he joined the Fast and the Furious franchise, and so John Cena followed him. Ironically, The Rock walked away from the Fast franchise after some internal heat between him and Vin Diesel and that created a great opportunity for John Cena to portray himself as the villain, once again, as the estranged brother of Vin Diesel’s character. Notice the pattern here? Cena is NOT the hero starring in an action film… For two major action film opportunities, John Cena plays the villain which requires more as an actor to portray themselves being evil or vindictive rather than someone everybody likes. It worked and F9 smashed it at the box office.

Which brings us full circle to The Suicide Squad and Cena’s role as Peacemaker. Yes, The Suicide Squad didn’t make money at the box office, but it was release simultaneously on HBO MAX with limited theatrical releases due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since this 2021 release, cult following has grown significantly and helped Warner Brothers Discovery sign James Gunn, the director that film, to become the new President of the DC Universe films. Thanks to The Suicide Squad experience, James Gunn became so obsessed with John Cena’s performance as the Peacemaker character that he wrote an entire TV series for HBO MAX based on that character. And since then and combined with Season 2, James Gunn has said on various interviews that the Peacemaker show is the BEST thing that he has ever made. THINK ABOUT THAT!

We’re only scratching the surface on where John Cena could go from here. I think that Peacemaker, Season 2, is going to get serious Emmy contention thanks to its amazing storytelling and acting. While it may seem CRAZY to think that Cena could receive a “Best Actor” from a TV series nomination let alone a win, I really think that it’s possible. Cena is THAT good as an actor in Peacemaker and I’m not blowing smoke up your arses as a wrestling mark. He is KILLING IT in that series and James Gunn is putting Cena in the strongest light to succeed.

Having a great coach or boss matters, but being willing to LISTEN and IMPROVE from good coaching also matters.

That’s why I think Cena, and to another degree Batista, are succeeding in Hollywood. Cena and Batista are more willing to work as a team and elevate others. Guys like the Rock and the late Hulk Hogan want to be the top stars and have creative input on the film. I CRINGE when I hear reported stories of what went down on the sets of Black Adam and Red One for the Rock, as I was always under the impression that he was a likeable guy. Yet, everything was about what he wanted and how he wanted it.

If you haven’t seen Peacemaker on HBO MAX, do yourself a favor and watch it… Season 1 is out there fully, while Season 2’s season finale is this Thursday. You could easily binge this series and catch-up to join all of us believers in Cena’s acting.

With that said, let’s talk about the impacts of wrestlers to actors… There have been many that tried, with many having some degrees of success or others who have failed. In my opinion, here are the best wrestlers to ever make it in Hollywood.

#10 – Stone Cold Steve Austin
Lots of direct-to-video output, a few feature length appearances, and several television roles. Falls into the same category of mostly looking and acting the same in each role.

#9 – Hulk Hogan
He tried and tried to become a movie star, but all of his starring roles were OK at best. Lots of weak box office returns and straight-to video. Hogan has a big library of films, but nothing that jumps off the page. Sorry, but “No Holds Barred” is absolutely terrible and I think that got his film career off to a bad start. That and Hogan’s early unwillingness to try changing up his look or acting ability.

#8 – Macho Man Randy Savage
Come on, he was Bonesaw in the MASSIVE first Spider-Man film! While he essentially plays himself, he did exceptionally well and I get a tad emotional seeing him live and well in this film.

#7 – Jesse “the Body” Ventura
Could be higher, as much of Ventura’s film career is attributed to Arnold liking him and placing him in Predator and The Running Man. But it’s not like Jesse was there just for being liked by Arnold, as Jesse excelled in both of those roles and then in later roles until hanging up the acting tights to become Governor. “No time to bleed” quote is remembered for life.

#6 – Andre the Giant
Come on, “The Princess Bride”. One of the best films ever made. Watching it now, it brings tears to your eyes because we lost Andre so early but the entire cast on that film had nothing but love for Andre.

#5 – Kevin Nash
Nash doesn’t get love for his roles… He was in freakin’ Magic Mike, which might not be a film for you, but was MASSIVE for the female crowd. He was Super Shredder in freakin’ Ninja Turtles 2, which blows my mind to this day. Great job in the Punisher, too, as the Russian and he took a serious beating in that film!

#4 – Rowdy Roddy Piper
If you have never seen John Carpenter’s “They Live”, make it a point to seek that film out. Seriously, it’s one of the BEST films ever made and one of the most ballsy films ever made, too. Carpenter took a chance on putting Piper in the film and Piper took a chance by leaving the WWE after the massive Wrestlemania 3 to star in this film. Otherwise, I always have a soft spot for “Body Slam”.

#3 – The Rock
Box office numbers, yes, the Rock is CLEARLY #1. Not going to dispute that… But Rock has a “quantity over quality” issue, as he’s thrown many films at the wall in hopes that something would stick and took on many safe action roles. For me, he just doesn’t have that defining role that Cena and Batista now have, let alone the many defining roles that Bruce, Sly, and Arnold each had even as action stars. That said, the Rock can still climb this chart if the Smashing Machine does well and if his live-action Moana performance does incredible which I think it will. Take chances, Dwayne, and then your newer risks will be added on top of your existing resume.

#2 – Batista
Drax the Destroyer, need I say more? 3 Guardians of the Galaxy films, 2 Avengers films, and a hilarious Christmas special that I’ll watch annually moving forward. Had Peacemaker not been so incredible, Batista would be #1 alone for his work as Drax. Period.

#1 – John Cena
Call it premature, but Peacemaker is THAT GOOD. He’s the best character that any wrestler has ever portrayed and he’s just in the infancy of playing this character. Lots of runway to go… Because of simply that, he’s the best. Plus, his comedies are hilarious and his action roles in Bumble Bee, Fast and the Furious, and The Suicide Squad were all well done performances and had different degrees of characters.

John Cena’s star is only going to get bigger thanks to an amazing output of film and television and his WWE run.

Many rip the WWE’s creative surrounding his heel turn and then turning him back to babyface, but I’d argue that John Cena’s retirement tour has been very successful BECAUSE of that heel turn. Wrestlemania 41 was looking subpar until Cena turned heel in a shocking fashion at Elimination Chamber 2025 and having John Cena in the main event again has been entertaining for me.

The issue with Cena is that he’s just too popular to turn into a heel. The Cena haters of the early 2010s respect him because what has came since his SummerSlam 2014 demolishing, such as overpushing an inexperienced Roman Reigns from 2014 to early 2020 or trying people like Kofi Kingston as champion, has been subpar. But I also believe John Cena doing great in Hollywood has also boosted his relevance, and I think arenas have been packed throughout 2025 for the WWE because of Cena’s rising Hollywood star. His final few shows are getting serious demand-push inflation on ticket prices right now.

And then when Cena is gone, I predict that attendance will drop, just like it dropped during 2015 when Cena was limited and throughout 2016 when he wasn’t there much.

Cena’s 2025 return and retirement tour has proved why he’s only behind Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin as WWE’s top draws and he’s outdrawing Roman Reigns this year because somehow John Cena has made more WWE appearances and wrestled more matches than Roman Reigns during 2025. History will show that Roman peaked through 2023 and has been coasting on fumes since that period of time, while his opportunity to wrestle the Rock was blown. Cena has wrestled in 13 matches while Roman has only wrestled on 5, while Cena has been on television way more. Best ability is availability and even with filming Peacemaker, which is an 8-episode series, Cena has made himself more available than Roman Reigns has in a non-staring role of a 2 hour movie.

John Cena is a bigger WWE superstar than the Rock and soon, everyone will realize that he’s overtaken the Rock in Hollywood too.

Go watch the Peacemaker HBO MAX series, please… You won’t regret it. Some of the best TV ever made!

And watch Roddy Piper’s “They Live”. You won’t regret watching that masterpiece, either, especially when you’re all out of bubblegum!

Follow me on Blue Sky!

Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ

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“About 5 years ago, my phone’s history was wiped and I lost all my text messages with my dad. Today, I discovered there is a glitch with the iOS26 update and it automatically recovered a ton of old messages including the ones from my dad over 10 years ago!

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“I’m trying to explain to my friends that the reason why they’ve never seen my dad before is because he’s doing WrestleMania with Hulk Hogan. Everybody is like, ‘Shut the f*ck up, Erica.’ Those were the teachers.”

“This one weekend, I went to this WrestleMania event with my dad and he was partners with Hulk Hogan. It was my first time I was seeing wrestling live. My dad is like, ‘Don’t worry about it, it’s fake.’ He’s in this wrestling match with a guy named Rowdy Roddy Piper. My dad gets into the ring and immediately Roddy Piper flips my dad in a way, and he cracks my dad’s ribs. My dad has to go to the emergency room. Me and my sister are crying, they take my dad to the ER. He comes back to the hotel room all bandaged up. Hulk Hogan is in our hotel room and Hulk Hogan is doing lines of cocaine. He still has the yellow shorts on. He’s like, ‘T, I’m gonna f*ck em up when I see em. I swear to God I’m gonna f*ck them up.’ My dad is like, ‘Oh God, my ribs hurt so badly.’ There is a knock at the door and it was Roddy Piper. He goes, ‘Hey T, I’m real sorry about what happened.’ Hulk Hogan is like, ‘F*ck that,’ and grabs Roddy Piper, brings him into the hotel room, throws him against the wall, smashes the mirror. He’s beating him, my dad is trying to break it up. Hulk Hogan’s wife Linda is there and she’s like, ‘Terry, stop.’ I’m like, ‘Wow, I didn’t know that was his name.’ My mom is trying to make my dad stop. All this stuff is flipped over and sh*t. Me and sister are crying. We get on a plane, we come back to Chicago, we’re sitting in class, we’re sitting in the sharing circle and the teacher is, ‘What did you do this weekend?’ I was like, ‘Not a f*cking thing.’” (quotes courtesy of Jeremy Lambert)

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Warrior attracted his fair share of controversy, but when his time came, people were more inclined to talk about the good.

Nevertheless, Hogan will continue to be seen as the one who lifted the WWF into the global spotlight and broke tradition doing it. The Attitude Era, Ruthless Aggression, all the feel-good moments, and especially WrestleMania couldn’t have happened without him and Vince McMahon tipping over the first dominoes.

Look at his drawing power alone. There’s NBC’s The Main Event specials and Saturday Night’s Main Event. Big ratings overall. As my fellow columnist just said, it was Andre vs. Hogan that filled the seats in the Superd…I mean Silverdome. That feud kept on making money. There was also Randy Savage, Roddy Piper, Ted DiBiase, Ultimate Warrior, and the Iron Sheik. The man could rake in the millions, and he didn’t quite do it alone.

One of my earliest memories of Hulk was this old NES game. Can’t remember how I got it, maybe my mom found it in a used game store? I played the hell out of it for a few months. I remember beating it showed a graphic of the Hogan ‘86 title. 

We were excited at the thought of Hogan, Hall, and Nash returning in 2002. When The Rock hit the ring after No Way Out, the match was made. It practically wrote itself, but there was a hitch. The WCW faithful were happy to pelt him with trash at Bash at the Beach ’96. He’d gotten stale. It wasn’t like that anymore.

It was a bit surreal. Seeing him and the Great One in the middle of Skydome doing the spiritual sequel to WrestleMania VI’s main event. Cheering the Immortal One was one thing, but hearing The Rock get booed? The irony. 

When Hogan broke out the red and yellow on the 4/4/02 Smackdown, even Triple H smiled a bit.

Look at the rest of the year. Hogan put over The Rock, Undertaker, Kurt Angle, AND Brock Lesnar? At the time, seeing the Hulkster get destroyed by Lesnar was heartrending. 

It says a lot that he could make new stars as good as he did, yet his unwillingness to do it more is well documented. Many of us will know one of his biggest success stories was Goldberg. Being the “third man” two years before saved the business and kick-started the Monday Night Wars into overdrive.

If we’re being honest, Terry Bollea didn’t stand alone at playing the political game backstage. Also, WCW just didn’t do enough to rein in all those egos during the Monday Night Wars. 

He had a family. Hogan and Brooke had a falling out. Imagine how she must be feeling. Cool it with the jokes.

The business lost a legend, and the WWE lost a good friend. The Ozzman himself. A true legend in the world of music. No doubt the Hulkster will dominate Smackdown, but they’ve gotta mention Ozzy Osbourne too.

RIP.

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“In the wrestling business for 25 years we couldn’t stand each other, we were at each other’s throats. I know it is predetermined and all that but he did not like me and I did not like him. That’s just how it was. Once we got older and we had some conversations we started talking. He started asking about my spirituality, he didn’t connect but he was very curious. He wouldn’t surrender. All of a sudden he passes away.

There was an A&E special about Roddy Piper. When they go to credits, there is a message. It was not a text message, it was a voice message. But this text message came in two days after he died and the message goes ‘I’m just loving you, my brother. Just walkin’ with Jesus. Walkin’ with Jesus and loving you, my brother,’ I was like, ‘He would have never said that when he was here. It is amazing how things work.” (quotes courtesy of ITRWrestling.com

Hulk Hogan said that he received a voice message from Roddy Piper 2 days after he died.

"It was a voice message that came in 2 days after he died and it goes 'I'm just loving you, my brother. Just walkin' with Jesus. Walkin' with Jesus and loving you, my brother"

LMFAOOO WTF pic.twitter.com/eBx805wupz

— EliteRockerz 𝕏 (@EliteClubS0B) May 1, 2024

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Taking Andy Kaufman’s feud with Jerry Lawler out of the equation and only focusing on WWE for now, Wrestlemania has always been a mesh of celebrities and wrestling. During Wrestlemania 1, Mr. T, Liberace, Cyndi Lauper, and Muhammad Ali all had some involvement. However, the only one to wrestle was Mr. T. This was the very first Wrestlemania and the main event was won by a celebrity and his tag team partner. Mr. T was able to do just enough in the ring to make it look convincing but some of the credit falls on Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff for making him look so good during the match.

Without going through every year and every match involving a celebrity, a few honorable mentions should be made before the “Host of Monday Night Raw” era is discussed. At Wrestlemania 2, there was a follow-up to the Mr. T versus Roddy Piper story where Piper and Mr. T would face each other in a boxing match. Also on the card for Wrestlemania 2, there was a battle royal that had WWF wrestlers and NFL players as participants. The use of football players in the battle royal was a brilliant idea because WWE was able to hide the negatives and accentuate the positives with what they were able to do in the ring.

Multi-person matches have always been a great way to showcase celebrities in the wrestling ring. Fast forward to Wrestlemania 27, Nicole Polizzi (Snookie) teamed with Trish Stratus and John Morrison to face off against LayCool (Layla and Michelle McCool) and Dolph Ziggler. Even though Snookie scored the win for her team, fans could see how inexperienced she was in the ring. Her inexperience was overshadowed by the amount of fun the crowd was having with the various interactions between all of the competitors in the match. The following year at Wrestlemania 28, a similar formula would be used for another celebrity wrestling match. Maria Menounos teamed with Kelly Kelly to defeat Beth Phoenix and Eve Torres in a tag match. Once again, the crowd could see the inexperience but the match was still enjoyable.

Not all celebrity interactions and matches have taken place at Wrestlemania though. There have been numerous celebrity appearances during the Royal Rumble over the years. Names such as Pete Rose, Drew Carey, Johnny Knoxville, and even Bad Bunny have competed in the Royal Rumble. Pete Rose had many encounters with Kane over the years and Johnny Knoxville and Bad Bunny have had the opportunity to compete in singles action outside of the multi-person matches they were involved in. At Payback in 2023, Bad Bunny had one of the best matches of the year, not just celebrity-wise but in general. Both Bad Bunny and Logan Paul have recently changed the caliber of what is expected from celebrities when they step into a wrestling ring.

It was not all fun and entertaining with celebrities and their involvement with wrestling. There was a period of time in WWE where each week Raw would have a guest host. There were many guest hosts throughout this era of television and a lot of them were either forgettable or remembered for being terrible. One of the biggest examples of a lackluster appearance was the night that Jeremy Piven hosted Raw in 2009. Piven seemed to be happy to be there but fans could tell that he was not interested in the product, stating that Miz would be banned from “SummerFest”. Of course, Piven meant the WWE event SummerSlam, and John Cena quickly corrected Piven’s mistake but this has been seen as a reason not to bring in celebrities.

Another reason fans do not want to see celebrities come into the ring is the feeling that they are taking away time from the talent that is on the roster. When Bad Bunny and Logan Paul were first introduced to have matches, many fans felt that other wrestlers could have been booked in their place. It was not until after their respective matches that fans gave them the benefit of the doubt for the work they were able to do in the ring. But it has not always just been a WWE project to include celebrities in their product. Even though Stephen Amell had a SummerSlam match, teaming with Neville (PAC) to take on Stardust (Cody Rhodes) and King Barrett (Wade Berrett), Amell has also performed in a match against Christopher Daniels at the first All In event. All In would be the event that helped launch AEW. 

Also in AEW, former TBS Champion Jade Cargill had her first match where she teamed with Shaquille O’Neal to face Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet. This big marquee match launched the career of Jade Cargill but having Shaq in the match helped bring more eyes to the event. Even though there have not been many matches in AEW that have involved celebrities, there have been many occasions where celebrities have made appearances on AEW television. Rick Ross has made a few appearances on AEW programming, where he was involved with Swerve and Keith Lee. Also, there have been a few more notable names such as Rosario Dawson, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Steve-O, and a brief video of Bow Wow, that have made appearances in AEW.

The biggest question with regards to celebrities making appearances in a wrestling ring is “Why?”. The obvious and most likely answer is to bring in viewership. It is believed backstage that when a celebrity is announced for an appearance, wrestling companies expect to increase their viewership. This does not always seem to be the case. Even though Bad Bunny is one of the top recording artists in history, there has always only been a slight increase from the regular viewership. With the rise of social media over the past two decades, there have been massive increases in views on videos involving celebrities. Hopefully, fans will be able to see more celebrities perform at the level of Bad Bunny, Stephen Amell, Logan Paul, and even Shaq whenever there are any celebrity integrations in the future.

Which celebrity would you like to see make an in-ring appearance? What company would you like to see them in and with whom should they have a program?

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Bill Maher mocks pro wrestling, but Roddy Piper isn't standing for it in classic Roddy style. pic.twitter.com/Jn5nzS8soE

— Allan (@allan_cheapshot) April 17, 2022

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