5 Reasons why there should be more sports celebrities at WrestleMania

WrestleMania is always known to be an open ground for celebrities. The exposure at the granddaddy of them has never failed to attract celebrities into the mix and WrestleMania 31 will be no different. The pay-per-view is expected to be flooded with celebrities from everywhere and anywhere, but the question is: how many will make their mark at the show?Being at WrestleMania and being part of a moment at WrestleMania are miles apart. There have been many instances of people getting lost at this mile long journey and WWE will be probably looking for some answers.There are a lot of ways in which WWE could improve their celebrity management at WrestleMania and bringing in more sports celebrities is one among them. Here, we discuss why.

#5 History supports the cause

Muhammad Ali, Floyd Mayweather, Lawrence Taylor, Peter Rose and Mike Tyson are all sports celebrities who clicked the right buttons at WrestleMania. There are a handful of other examples as well, but the bottom line is: Sports celebrities always have good memories from WrestleMania.

It is never easy to make a decision with respect to the past but then again, numbers never lie. The history supports the cause of having sports celebrities at WrestleMania over the Hollywood ones who come to the show for reasons which even they are not aware of.

The lack of legitimacy soon starts to take over the WWE fans and they will know that it had the ability to end up being better segments if it was a celebrity from the sporting field.

#4 The respect factor

The WWE fans clearly know who to respect and when to respect. The amount of effort that a professional wrestler puts into the squared circle has never gone unnoticed by the WWE fans and it is similar in the case of any other sports person.

Being a celebrity is never a cake walk but when you are a sports celebrity, you are basically two persons at the same time. You should be a consistent performer in the field and should maintain a personality in the media. It is indeed a tough act to balance and even if WWE fans don’t appreciate the latter part, they are sure to appreciate the former.

Having a sports celebrity instantly raises the respect level among the fans as they are seeing a legitimate athlete instead of some C grade celebrities. Speaking of which…

#3 Replacing all those C Grade celebrities

WWE has a habit of bringing in celebrities that we haven’t even heard of. A majority of the WWE fans would have no idea on who there are seeing in between the ropes and the entire purpose would turn into an advertisement which no one wanted to see.

The place from which WWE gets all these celebrities is still a big mystery. No one in the WWE Universe cares about such celebrities while a sports person in the same position would be a whole different story.

The respect factor mentioned earlier will come into play in the sports person scenario and the whole segment would be given more importance. WWE would save some valuable money and time this way and the fans will be spared from the stupidity.

#2 Emphasising on Sports Entertainment

WWE is sports entertainment, period. Despite the decorative name, the PG era has managed to tone down the sports factor in the sports entertainment and has instead filled the product with some ridiculous over the top or below par angles.

When choosing celebrities, WWE always gives importance to the Entertainment part and try to bring in names from the all over the world so that they could sell their half cooked angles. This theory often falls flat on the ground and it is time that WWE relied more on the sports part of the tag.

Giving emphasis on sports would cost no dime to Vince McMahon and could earn him some money at the same time. It will also remind the fans about the whole sports entertainment thing and that too, at the grand stage of them all.

#1 The believability

Which story would you believe? Hugh Jackman knocking out John Cena or Shaquille O’Neal knocking out John Cena? Anyone with a half-brain would pick the Shaquille O’Neal one, because he is a legitimate sports person and not some VIP who will have hesitation to get his or her hand dirty.

The fans will find it easier to invest in a storyline where the celebrity is a sports personality as it adds a whole new level of originality. People will be more attracted to see an athlete challenge for a match instead of a random actor going at it.

There will be a handful of critics among the WWE Universe about the Sports celebrity appearances at WrestleMania but at least these critics wouldn’t be as bad as the one that will poke up when a C-grade celebrity screws up.