Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Adam Copeland and Andre the Giant Scott Garfield/Universal Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection; Jonathan Hession/History Channel/Courtesy Everett Collection; 20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy Everett Collection Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on Reddit Post a Comment Share on Whats App Share on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn Print the Article Share on Tumblr In the past decade, a wrestling-ring-to-Hollywood pipeline has emerged as a viable career path. The most obvious examples of leveraging WWE as one grand TV and film audition are Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and John Cena, but there are plenty of other examples - and a whole bunch of predecessors. Without Hulk Hogan, there would have probably been no The Rock, let alone Dwayne Johnson as a household name. Hogan (real name Terry Bollea) carried the professional wrestling industry on his 24-inch biceps (they were really 22 inches) for the entire 1980s. While Hollywood proved a bust (multiple times) for Hollywood Hogan, it opened the door to the transition. The Hollywood Reporter has ranked the top 10 wrestlers turned actors - a number of notable names missed the cut. So shoutout here to a group of honorable mentions, including Stacy Kiebler (some sitcoms here and there), Randy Orton, CM Punk, Mike "The Miz" Mizanin, MJF (in Happy Gilmore 2!), "Macho Man" Randy Savage (Spider-man!), Sasha Banks aka Mercedes Moné (she saved Baby Yoda in The Mandalorian), "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Bill Goldberg, "Diamond" Dallas Page, Paul "Triple H" Levesque, Becky Lynch, Chris Jericho and more. Why so many? Well, for starters, The Expendables call sheet alone reads like an old WWE roster. And wrestlers often make for good camera-ready cameos - when you need a big guy for your situation comedy, call WWE HQ in Stamford, Connecticut. WWE Studios produces more non-wrestling content than you might think, though much of it goes straight to home video (today, WWE Network). Dave Bautista Image Credit: Courtesy of Lionsgate It felt like Bautista (Batista in WWE) would be just fine as Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy - he had the build, and the makeup department could take care of the rest - but as it turns out, he's actually a fine and fairly versatile actor. Bautista is as busy in Hollywood these days as Batista was in WWE in 2006, which is to say, he's heavily booked. Bautista did something very smart that helps him stand out here. The former "The Animal Batista" was built like - well, like an animal. Bautista is 6'4" (WWE exaggerated to 6'6") and now a very trim 240 pounds; he was billed as 290 lbs. as a wrestler, and that was probably about right. Though actors usually need to bulk up for certain roles, Bautista has slimmed down to fit in. That sort of reverse body transformation has really helped the suspension of disbelief aspect that Hollywood, like WWE, demands. When you're built like "Batista" (and Drax), you're probably not going to get many everyman roles. Dwayne Johnson Image Credit: Everett Johnson is undoubtedly the most successful actor on this list - and that has to count for something here - but he's not the best. He's made a lot of money for a lot of people, sure - including himself - but critical acclaim has thus far eluded Johnson. Maybe A24's The Smashing Machine will change that. (Black Adam certainly did not.) The Rock has a few things going for him. He has a killer work ethic, is an all-time great talker, and he knows his market. That's probably why almost every Dwayne Johnson vehicle and performance looks and feels the same. How popular is Johnson? It wasn't that long ago there was a pretty serious call for the one-time Rocky Maivia to run for president ... of the United States of America. He's an impressive man - but not (yet?) a particularly impressive thespian. John Cena Image Credit: Courtesy of Katie Yu/ HBO Max Cena's acting chops are a bit of a polarizing topic. At the very least, Cena has entered his second act - acting - fearlessly, and is always willing to take the piss out of himself. Though Dwayne Johnson has made a bigger splash in the broader entertainment business (beyond just sports entertainment), he also had a first-mover advantage here. Though it's close, Cena has had the bigger WWE career - arguably the biggest on this list. There's an argument to place Cena ahead of Johnson here, but theater owners (and Johnson's Seven Bucks Productions) would take some serious exception with that - and they'd have a real case to do so. Consider this feud from their WWE days - they're 1-1 against each other at WrestleManias - to be ongoing. The ultimate winner (and champion) of this long-term rivalry, now spanning multiple industries, remains TBD. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper Image Credit: Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection Piper might not be a Mt. Rushmore wrestler (not that he's super far-off), but They Live is enough to assign him the final Mt. Rushmore-head spot on this