49) Ernest "The Cat" Miller
50) Nathan Jones
While The Colossus of Boggo Road didn't necessarily set the world on fire during his WWE run in the early 2000's, his unique has definitely come in handy on the silver screen. Among his film credits are the movies Troy, Jackie Chan's First Strike and The Condemned.
After his WCW (and brief WWE) stints came to a close, The Cat swapped his wrestling trunks for.... well, wrestling trunks, when he played The Ayatollah in the Academy Award-winning film The Wrestler. He also had a role in the 2009 movie Blood and Bone.
Back when he was known to the world as Mr. Kennedy (KEN-NE-DY!), Anderson had the starring role in the WWE Film Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia, the 2009 sequel to the Navy Seal franchise. He also had a role in the 2011 thriller Dogs Lie.
Even if her forays into XXX film aren't your thing (insert snide comments here), The Artist Formerly Known As Chyna has several acting credits to her name, including Relic Hunter, Illegal Aliens, Cougar Club and 3rd Rock From The Sun.
47) Mr. Anderson
48) Chyna
While Otunga carved out a niche for himself as WWE's Harvard-trained legal expert and the partner of actress Jennifer Hudson, he also appeared in the Halle Berry WWF Film The Call. In addition, Otunga was a regular on the VH1 television series I Love New York.
The Punjabi Playboy has appeared in a number of Bollywood films, including such classics (?) as Kushti, Ramaa: The Savior and HOUBA! On the Trail of the Marsupilami. Stateside, he's appeared in Get Smart, The Longest Yard, MacGruber and the TV show Outsourced.
While it's debatable whether El Gigante was a worse wrestler than he was an actor, Thee Giant had a range of acting roles to his credit on the small screen, including Baywatch, The Swamp Thing, Hercules In The Underworld and Hulk Hogan's Thunder In Paradise.
The Sarge was actually one of wrestling's first crossover stars, as he voiced the Sergeant Slaughter character in the G.I. Joe series, beginning with the 1985 cartoon Action Force: Arise, Serpentor, Arise! He also made a (barely-audible) cameo in the 1986 film Bad Guys.
43) David Otunga
44) The Great Khali
45) Giant Gonzales
46) Sgt. Slaughter
While her acting career isn't as varied as some people on this list, her main role in Hollywood was quite memorable. While filming a scene for the James Cameron television show Dark Angel in 2002, Lita injured her neck during a fight scene gone wrong.
Dead men can't act? Long before his WrestleMania streak began or ended, The Undertaker appeared as one of the bounty hunters attempting to take down Hulk Hogan's character in Suburban Commando. He also had a role in the 1999 television show Poltergeist: The Legacy.
The Hardcore Legend was given the role of "Cactus Sac" in the Insane Clown Posse-produced film Big Money Hustlas in 2000. In addition, Foley has made appearances on 30 Rock, Anamorph, Avatar: The Last Airbender and Squidbillies.
While Your Olympic Hero hasn't yet managed to transfer his considerable in-ring charisma into a major motion picture role, he's performed in films such as River Of Darkness (see review here), End Game, Death From Above, Warrior and Sharknado 2.
42) Lita
41) The Undertaker
40) Mick Foley
39) Kurt Angle
The Animal's break-out role on the silver screen was Ed Wood, the 1994 Tim Burton where he played actor Tor Johnson (himself a pro wrestler back in the day!). But the man who once could only say "How Now Brown Cow" has been in the films Blowfish, Small Town Conspiracy and South of Heaven.
No, he wasn't in a movie with his male gigolo cousin "Deuce" (get it?), but The Beast From The East did have some experience in film, including roles in the Damon Wayans movie Major Payne, Lorenzo Lamas' Snake Eater III and the 1996 flick Joe's Apartment.
The son of the Million Dollar Man (yes, we're referring to Ted DiBiase Jr.) has only one film role to his credit so far, but it was a pretty big one - his starring role as Joe Linwood in WWE Film The Marine 2.
Randy Savage's feature film debut was one of the biggest for a professional wrestler, battling Peter Parker in the 2002 version of Spiderman. The Macho Man has also done some significant voice-overs, appearing in Disney's Bolt and King of the Hill, among others.
38) George "The Animal" Steele
37) Bam Bam Bigelow
36) Ted DiBiase
35) "Macho Man" Randy Savage
Back when he was offering $10,000 for people to body slam him, Big John Studd was also appearing in films, such as the Dudley Moore movie Micki & Maude and the TV series Hunter. Upon retiring from the ring, Studd appeared in Harley Davidson & The Marlboro Man.
Although his wrestling career was less than memorable, teaming with Vinnie Vegas in WCW, Big Sky took off as an actor, being cast as Sabretooth in The X-Men and appearing in films such as Joe Dirt, Hercules and the Rob Zombie remake of Hallowe'en.
The King first appeared on the silver screen in the 1992 Michael J. Fox film Life With Mikey. But perhaps his most impressive role was playing himself (talk about typecasting!) in the 1999 Andy Kaufman biopic Man On The Moon, where he put the boots to Jim Carrey.
34) Big John Studd
33) Big Sky
32) Sting
31) Jerry "The King" Lawler
Wrestling fans will best remember him as a 1980's-era WWF jobber, but Tiger's film career was far more successful, landing roles in Eddie Murphy's The Golden Child, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Red Heat, and the 1989 action films Blind Fury and Cage.
The former WWWF Tag Team Champion has made a variety of television and film appearances as the generic tough guy, including Little House on the Prarie, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, The A-Team, Shanghai Surprise, Darkman, Black Rain and The Last Action Hero.
30) Tosh Togo
29) Trish Stratus
28) Tiger Chung Lee
27) Prof. Toru Tanaka
The Whole F'N Show was able to parlay his unique look and skills into martial arts-related films including 1999's Bloodmoon and 2002's Black Mask 2: City Of Masks. RVD has also had roles on television shows such as The X-Files, VIP, Spy TV and 18 Wheels of Justice.
The Walking Condominium took a break from the mat wars in the late-1980's to play a gruff mover in the Richard Pryor film Moving. He also portrayed Uncle Irwin in the TV series Married... With Children, although you'd figure he could have played himself, given the show's family was already named Bundy!
While he gets full points for a lengthy career in Hollywood, the truth is that the actor Tiny Lister Jr. only (briefly) entered the world of wrestling through his role in No Holds Barred. Other credits include The Dark Knight, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Matlock, ER and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
The Hit Man started his acting career in 1995 with a recurring role on the television show Lonesome Dove and Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years. He later played The Genie in Aladdin: The Magical Family Musical and lent his voice to animated TV series The Simpsons ("This place has got old man stink!") and Jacob Two-Two.
While he was an actor long before a manager in NWA Championship Wrestling From Hollywood, CBW's good friend Stu has a varied acting resume, including film roles in Donnie Darko, The Boys Club and Roadkill and on television's Babar, The Magic School Bus and Jamie Kennedy's Blowin' Up.
While The Apex Predator is better known for his run as the 12-time World Champion, he's also had feature roles in two WWE Films - 2011's That's What I Am, opposite Ed Harris, and 2013's 12 Rounds 2: Reloaded, the sequel to a part originally played by Orton's frequent rival, John Cena.
From the moment he began appearing in Cyndi Lauper music videos, "The Guiding Light" was destined to be out of the ring and on the screen. He appeared in the films Body Slam and Wise Guys, the television show 227 and was the title character in the Super Mario Brothers Super Show.
Keibler has made numerous appearances on television in between being a WWE Diva and dating George Clooney, including Psych, George Lopez, Blue Mountain State, Men At Work, In The Motherhood, What About Brian and, most notably, as a hot bartender on How I Met Your Mother.
Big Sexy has been appearing in films since 1991, when he was cast as Super Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II. He's since had roles in The Longest Yard, The Punisher, Rock of Ages, Grandma's Boy and most recently, Tarzan in the film Magic Mike.
While Goldberg was on top of the wrestling world in 1999, he appeared in the Jean-Claude Damme film Universal Soldier: The Return. Since then, he's been in the films Looney Tunes: Back In Action, Half Past Dead 2, Santa's Slay and The Longest Yard.
During his WCW days, The Big Show had smaller roles in Jingle All The Way and Adam Sandler's The Waterboy. Since then, he took the lead role in WWE Film Knucklehead and has made appearances on Royal Pains, Psych, Burn Notice and Star Trek: Enterprise.
The Rated R Superstar began his acting career in the Rated R film Highlander: Endgame in 2000. Since then, he's appeared in the television series Haven as regular character Dwight Henderson, and a starring role in WWE Film Bending The Rules opposite Jamie Kennedy.
Unlike in wrestling, The Big Red Machine has fared better than his storyline brother (see # 41). Kane appeared as the fearsome Dr. Jacob Goodnight in the WWE Film See No Evil and its recent sequel See No Evil 2. He's also made an appearance on TV's Smallville.
The Funker has been part of Hollywood since 1978, when he was cast as a wrestler in the Sylvester Stallone film Paradise Alley. He's had several other roles since then, including Stallone's Over The Top, Patrick Swayze's Roadhouse, and TV roles including Quantum Leap.
The Best In The World At What He Does.... although his acting exploits aren't quite as well-known as what he's done in the ring. Still, Y2J's acting credits include a key role in the film Android Apocalypse and roles on television reality and game shows such as Dancing With The Stars, Celebrity Duets and Downfall.
Before he was a wrestler, Miz dreamed of becoming one in television programs such as MTV's Road Rules and WWE's Tough Enough. And while he's appeared on everything from Fear Factor to Dinner: Impossible since then, his current "Hollywood" gimmick is based on film roles in The Marine 3 and Christmas Bounty.
The Eighth Wonder Of The World is best known outside of wrestling for his role as Fezzik in the iconic 1987 film The Princess Bride. But before that, Andre appeared whenever someone needed a 7 foot giant on television shows including BJ & The Bear, The Six Million Dollar Man and Zorro.
The Game first showed his acting chops (quite literally) in the vampire film Blade: Trinity opposite Wesley Snipes. However, he's also had the lead roles in two WWE Films thus far - The Chaperone and Inside Out, both of which pretty much went straight to video in 2011.
While the Oddity member was never overly impressive during his wrestling career, his Hollywood career has been extremely impressive. He's had choice roles in films such as Sherlock Holmes, 300, Hercules and Pacific Rim, while also appearing on television series such as The Strain and Haven.
Fun fact: WWE's franchise player had a "blink and you miss it" cameo in the 2000 WCW film Ready To Rumble. But since becoming a major success in WWE, he's had lead roles in WWE Films The Marine, 12 Rounds, Legendary and The Reunion - not a bad showing for someone who would rather be a wrestler.
Most will point to The Animal's career-making turn in this summer's Guardians of the Galaxy as his only acting opportunity. However, Batista was also in the films House Of The Rising Sun and The Man With The Iron Fists, not to mention television appearances including Smallville and Chuck.
When he stepped away from the announcing booth in the late-1980's, The Body tag-teamed with Arnold Schwarzenneger with key roles in the films Predator and The Running Man. He's also made appearances in Batman & Robin, Demolition Man, Ricochet and Abraxas: Guardian Of The Universe before becoming the Governor.
If Stone Cold had begun his acting career a few years earlier, who knows how big he would become. Still, action film roles such as The Condemned, Hunt To Kill, Damage, Recoil, Maximum Conviction and The Expendables are nothing to sneeze at, nor are his comedic appearances such as in Grown Ups 2.
It stands to reason that someone nicknamed "Hollywood" would have some experience in the genre, and The Hulkster definitely does. Film roles include No Holds Barred, Suburban Commando, Mr. Nanny and Three Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain, not to mention his own television series Thunder In Paradise.
25) King Kong Bundy
26) Rob Van Dam
23) Bret "Hit Man" Hart
24) Zeus
21) Randy Orton
22) Stu Stone
19) Stacy Keibler
20) Captain Lou Albano
17) Bill Goldberg
18) Kevin Nash
15) The Big Show
16) Edge
13) Terry Funk
14) Kane
11) The Miz
12) Chris Jericho
9) Triple H
10) Andre The Giant
7) John Cena
8) Kurrgan
5) Jesse "The Body" Ventura
6) Batista
4) "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
3) Hulk Hogan
Piper ranked ahead of Hogan?!? The simple truth is that ever since his career-making role in 1988's They Live, Hot Rod has steadily been cast in roles on film and television because he's proven to be a capable and versatile actor. Roddy's rowdy roles on film include Hell Comes To Frogtown and Immortal Combat and on TV, Superboy and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Whether you call him The Rock or Dwayne Johnson, there's no doubt he's one of the most in-demand actors today. Ever since moving to Hollywood more than a decade ago, his film roles include top characters in Hercules, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, The Scorpion King, Be Cool, Pain and Gain, The Tooth Fairy, Gridiron Gang and many, many more.
2) "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
1) The Rock
While we're highly unlikely to see the Oscars invent a "Best Performance By A Sports Entertainer" category any time soon (though that would be awesome), you can't deny that wrestlers have appeared in a wide variety of television shows and movies over the years.
For this week's Top 50 list, Canadian Bulldog's World has scoured the Interwebs and jogged our own memories to which grapplers have had the most success on a sound stage (and no, participants in the AWA Team Challenge Series don't count!).
This was a tougher list to generate than others because there's no official way to quantify it. So I looked at (a) wrestlers whom I've seen act before (b) whether they have been able to parlay their success into a variety of different roles (those who had more than one IMDB credit to their name that wasn't "WWE Raw" or "Great American Bash 86" tended to score higher than those who stumbled into a brief acting opportunity) and (c) whether they were any good in their roles.
One caveat: If a wrestler's only acting credit is a documentary (eg Beyond The Mat or Wrestling With Shadows), they probably didn't register on this list.
Ready? Here we go!
Any names missing or misplaced? Leave your feedback in the Comments section below...
At the height of his popularity in 1998, The Stinger branched out into film, starring in the romantic comedy The Real Reason (Men Commit Crimes). He's also appeared on Thunder In Paradise, Walker: Texas Ranger and the Revelation Road series of films
Although he wasn't a top name wrestler in the ring (he'd wrestled in the NWA and Canada in the 1950's and 1960's), Togo (real name: Harold Sakata) landed the role of a lifetime as Oddjob, the bodyguard with a deadly bowler hat, in the James Bond film Goldfinger.
Following her in-ring retirement, Stratus was cast in the lead role in the 2011 action adventure film Bounty Hunters. She's also shown her comedic side with roles on television's MadTV, Da Kink In My Hair and the sketch comedy series Royal Canadian Air Farce.