Sai Hemanth
Movies, Television and Sports are among the most followed fields in the world. While World Wrestling Entertainment, or simply, WWE, has been a prominent part of Television for years. WWE Wrestlers have enjoyed superstardom on Television, and have often tried their hand in acting. Hollywood, has rightly so, welcomed these Wrestlers, acknowledging their following among various sections of the audience, and giving them a platform to exhibit their acting prowess. Very few WWE Wrestlers like Dwayne Johnson, John Cena and most recently, Dave Bautista have tasted success and enhanced their stardom through Cinema.
In this article, I scan through all movies which have a WWE Wrestler in a prominent role, barring brief cameos, and give you the best of the lot. So naturally, there will be multiple movies featuring one single WWE Wrestler. Here is the list of top movies ever with WWE Wrestlers. You can also watch some of these best WWE movies on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime.
12. Rampage (2018)
Every single cliche of an action/horror/adventure flick rolled up into one. The charisma of the two big guys he WWE Wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and George carry the entire movie. This movie is not going to change your life, but it will keep you mildly amused. For people saying they hated it, I have to question their reasoning for spending money on a movie that is clearly laid out by the trailer and premise alone.
11. The Hercules (2014)
Social media went frenzy over Dwayne Johnson’s diet for helping him shape up to play one of the strongest man “The Hercules”. Challenging action sequences and powerful acting skills showcased by the actor makes this movie an engaging experience. Visual effects play a major role in facilitating the director to tell the story and perfectly fits into the movie. Dwayne Johnson undertook brutal training for over 8 months to flesh out the demigod in perfection. The grandeur backdrop and adrenaline pumping persona of Dwyane Johnson make “The Hercules” a gigantic cinematic endeavour.
10. Legendary (2010)
‘Legendary’ is much better than the typical action-flicks that WWE wrestlers usually end up including many movies featuring John Cena himself. The movie is about a family trying to reunite after a painful loss and the wrestling aspect is just the vehicle that drives them. Patricia Clarkson is stellar and will have you reaching for a tissue in some scenes. Madeleine Martin is adorable and Devon Graye will have you cheering for him.
9. The Scorpion King (2002)
Dwayne Johnson’s first appearance as “The Scorpion King” in the movie “Mummy Returns” was memorable for every fantasy movie lover. A pinch of history and an enormous amount of action made Dwayne Johnson’s debut in a title role an exhilarating cinematic experience. “The Scorpion King’ is set 5ooo years before the time period in ‘The Mummy Returns” and tells the story of the rise of Mathayus to the Scorpion King. Mathayus is hired by King Pheron along with his brothers to kill Memnon’s sorcerer for twenty blood rubies. This deal upsets King Pheron’s son Taket as it involves a huge sum of money. The brothers are ambushed by Memnon’s guards and they realise that they have been betrayed by someone. Memnon lets Mathayus live for a night due to an interference from Cassandra but only by burying him to his neck in the desert. The adventurous escape of Mathayus and his fight against Memnon forms the rest of the story.
8. Welcome to the Jungle (2003)
WWE wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is very good in his second feature film starring vehicle. He plays a person who collects gambling debts. Now he must go to Brazil to hunt down his boss’s son. The son does not want to go willingly. Also, the evil Christopher Walkien wants to keep the son there for other reasons, though. There are some good action scenes and the fight in the climax of the movie is especially well staged.
7. The Call (2013)
WWE wrestler David Otunga plays a supporting role to Halle Berry in her thriller ‘The Call’. The thrilling quotient is, of course very high but it disappoints with the same old depiction of kidnapping by a psycho. Despite being a tad implicit (which might not necessarily be a problem though), the plot, the screenplay manages to keep us hooked whatsoever for 90 minutes. I recommended not because of its shallow plot, but because it entertains for sure.
6. Walking Tall (2004)
The storyline of the movie is pretty simple, it is about an army guy who comes back to his town after 8 years and he finds that things have changed. There is not much of a story involved in the movie and there are no unwanted scenes which are not part of the movie either. The screenplay of the movie is pretty compact. It concentrates only on one thing which is the basic plot of the movie and this makes the movie interesting.
5. That’s What I Am (2011)
The film touches very deep and suggestive materials that some might find no suitable. Not a problem for me, but as seeing how people can get a little strict about that stuff, just calling it out there. The acting is very good and very real and they took as I can see a long time trying to capture the emotions. And even to add on to that, this is a WWE production, featuring wrestler Randy Orton, which is a big step up for them and if they could continue making movies like this.
4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
WWE wrestler Dave Bautista ventured into acting by playing Drax, a part of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This is his second appearance as Drax after the first volume and would go on to play the part in ‘Avenger: Infinity Wars’ as well, which we will discuss later. This part of the ‘Guardians’ deals with the past of Star-Lord and explores his relationship with Gamora and the rest of the Guardians. The film is a typical MCU entertainer.
3. Fast and Furious 7 (2015)
One more Dwayne Johnson movie makes into the list, as he continues playing Hobbs on the ‘Furious’ series. Vin Diesel and “The Rock” certainly stand out. In some ways, Diesel is the centerpiece of the film. However, since Walker has been in all of the ‘Furious’ movies except for number three, and the fact that Johnson seems to sit most of this film out, with his character being consigned to a hospital bed, the movie just doesn’t feel like a ‘Furious’ film, yet, it delivers.
2. Guardians of Galaxy (2004)
We usually do not watch these types of movies, however, we were pleasantly surprised with Guardians of the Galaxy. Not only are the special effects outstanding, so is the acting, which is becoming a rarity these days. The screenwriters do a great job with this production. The film is fun for all the family, easy to watch with something for everyone and there shouldn’t be many complaints.
1. Avengers: Infinity Wars (2018)
The film is a culmination of an empire of superhero storytelling which gets seriously bogged down by its overcrowded palette of characters. The film essentially follows none of these heroes but rather, to my pleasant surprise, mainly follow the antagonist and villain, Thanos. In many ways, he feels like the hero of the story due to how much attention the story gives him to convince the audience that this could be one of the best-written villains in a superhero film ever written.
