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Throughout history, the WWE has put on some freak matches that contained anything from celebrities to elite athletes.
There is a fine line however, between bringing these stars in and making it work or having it turn into a complete flop. Fortunately, there are examples when WWE has managed to put on some entertaining matches involving celebrities.
The boxers, actors, football players or comedians involved with WWE can’t and shouldn't be made to perform a full-scale match. They are best used when they are booked more in a more believable manner.
You won't find any five-star matches here, but they'll be well-hyped and entertaining.
So here are 5 “freak show” matches that have happened in the squared circle in the past.
#5 Bam Bam Bigelow vs Lawrence Taylor
The only real problem with this match was that it was the main event of Wrestlemania 11.
Had this not been booked as a WrestleMania main event, fans would look back on it a lot more fondly.
Taylor's performance was admirable considering his lack of experience. Lawrence Taylor proved again that if you are going to bring in a celebrity, it's far better if they’re an actual athlete.
Lawrence was a Linebacker and making the transition to wrestling for this match was made a little easier for him.
Though the match was far too slowly paced, the underdog angle was played up well and featured some palpable tension.
What was also admirable about this match was that Taylor was also one of the few celebrities in history willing to take a few good bumps during a match.
#4 Big Show vs Akebono
Tipping the scales at 485 pounds, Big Show has never had any problem throwing his weight around as one of the largest performers the company has seen throughout history.
The World's Largest Athlete met his match at WrestleMania 21 though, in the form of Akebono; a championship sumo wrestler who weighed more than 500 pounds.
The massive Hawaiian challenged Big Show to his signature bout on The Grandest Stage of Them All.
While the sumo rules and unique traditions were somewhat lost on the fans in attendance, who would have never seen a sumo match before, you can only presume that the image of Big Show in a thong is something everyone would like to forget.
#3 Mayweather vs The Big Show
Pitting Mayweather against Big Show instead of someone closer to his stature was a bit of a stretch to say the least, but the build-up of this WrestleMania match had more than a few fans energized.
Fans wondered just how this would play out. The match was actually booked to almost perfection. The result was believable in how it came about. Mayweather needed a steel chair and a ton of help from his entourage to gain the upper hand.
The only gripe with this one was that Mayweather didn’t take any real bumps during the match which really would have added to the decent match that was put on by these two superstars.
#2 Muhammad Ali vs Inoki
The match makes this list as it was an important landmark, using celebrity/athlete crossover to generate massive interest.
The match itself, unfortunately, was awful. The match had resembled a messy MMA fight where Inoki spent the majority of his time on the ground, kicking at Ali’s leg and Ali only threw a handful of punches throughout the match himself.
This led to the crowd chanting “money back” and tossed garbage into the ring and all over the venue.
On an interesting note, Jim Ross lost money as he invested heavily in the event that flopped and had to take out another loan to secure his house.
#1 Mr. T & Hulk Hogan vs Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff
This match lands the number one spot in large part because it helped launch WrestleMania and changed the pro wrestling landscape forever. Mr. T was an extremely hot celebrity at the time which brought huge star power to the event.
The star-studded event also included Liberace at the ring bell and Muhammad Ali as a second referee.
When Hogan and Mr. T entered, the audience went into a rabid frenzy. The actual match was mostly chaotic and not to mention Mr. T's wrestling was pretty sloppy, but he wasn't overused.
The great buzz throughout and the star power involved combined for a highly memorable event.
