Sept. 25, 2023

WWE Stars have Taken on the Movies, and Won

With wrestlers making a name for themselves in Hollywood, they have garnered attention and popularity from fans along the way. They have also impacted the film culture, by achieving exceptional success in their movies as seen in their high viewership and revenue. By: Dylan Low

Hollywood movie acting, much like professional wrestling, are similar styles of entertainment in many ways that it fascinates viewers. In the world of wrestling, it involves entertainment elements in the form of choreographed moves and spontaneous promotion. It would be natural for WWE stars to consider making a transition to movie acting. Johnson’s success has paved the way for other wrestlers to enter Hollywood. Some notable examples include John Cena and Dave Bautista, who have both found success in the movie industry. Cena has already appeared alongside Johnson in Hobbs & Shaw, and Bautista has made a name for himself with roles in films like Guardians of the Galaxy and Blade Runner 2049.

Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has undoubtedly made waves in the movie industry, paving the way for fellow professional wrestlers looking to have a career in acting. Known as the most successful wrestler in Hollywood, he is the number one actor on the 2020 Forbe’s list, reported to have made more than $20 million per movie excluding his businesses and side projects. Many of his movies are iconic, namely the Fast & Furious series, Central Intelligence featuring alongside Kevin Hart and Moana, a groundbreaking animated movie. Despite his successful acting career, The Rock has no plans of permanently leaving the WWE and ending his wrestling career, having just made a surprise return to WWE Smackdown last week and making his first appearance in four years. 

John Cena

In 2006, John Cena first got into acting during his peak wrestling years, starring in popular films such as The Marine and 12 rounds. With him currently not as active in the wrestling scene, he now holds the opportunity to pursue a reputation in acting. A few of his roles involve comedy as. he took up a minor role in Amy Schumer’s movie Trainwreck. His noteworthy performance in the film granted him additional co-starring roles in movies such as Blockers, Family Friends and Daddy’s Home 2. To this day, Cena is still making occasional appearances on WWE, performing on a part-time basis. However, it is possible that he plans to leave the wrestling ring to pursue film acting. He has hinted at a possible last match and retirement, stating “the last one is not tonight, but I know it's soon”.

Dave Bautista

Bautista’s Marvel stint as Drax the Destroyer in Guardians Of The Galaxy saw himself achieve record breaking box-office success, garnering attention from movie fans and making around US 15-20 million in total salary acting in the MCU. His personality was custom-made for Hollywood, noted by Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn for having originality in making the Drax character his own and a good sense of humour, deeming him perfect for the role. He has starred in many other successful films such as Dune, My Spy and Knock at My Cabin, where his popularity as a movie star has elevated and can be argued to even outshine his wrestling career.

With these famous WWE stars achieving incredible success in the acting field, it can be expected that many other WWE talents will follow suit, bringing entertainment to Hollywood and creating blockbuster movies.

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