Floyd is going to punch Big Show. One shot. When you're going up against a 7 foot 500 pounder, he's not in your weight class anymore.
There is something electric about the moment when scripted entertainment collides with realworld chaos. And in WWE, those moments happen more often than anyone on the outside would ever guess. You must understand the only way you could hurt me was on my knees.
We are talking about celebrities throwing punches that actually [music] connected. Gold records splitting skulls wide open. Boxers breaking noses on live television and one jackass star who got hit so hard he does not remember leaving the ring.
These are WWE wrestlers who got into real fights with celebrities. And some of these stories will make your jaw drop. Well, the rules are there are no rules.
It's anything goes here. Floyd Mayweather versus Big Show. The story of Floyd Mayweather and Big Show first colliding at No Way Out in February 2008 is one of the most legitimately insane things WWE has ever put together.
And it all started with a broken nose on purpose. Floyd Mayweather is in contention for being the greatest boxer of all time with an unmatched undefeated professional record of 50 and zero. [music] At the height of his fame, WWE called and Big Show answered the challenge with something extraordinary.
He told Mayweather to actually break his nose on live television. No special effects, no fake blood, just the world's best boxer throwing a real punch at a 7-ft giant. Big Show knew it would take something huge to get the audience to engage with their feud.
So he told Mayweather to take a brutal action against him, and it worked. Show suggested the boxer break his nose and run away before he came back to his senses. The result, blood pouring down the face of a 7-ft man on national television.
Dedication to the craft does not get more real than that. You must understand the only way you could hurt me was on my knees. The match was originally supposed to be a tag.
Floyd Mayweather and Big Show against Batista and Rey Mysterio, but both guys got hurt. So WWE asked Show if he would consider working Floyd in a singles match. At WrestleMania, absolutely.
At WrestleMania 24, Floyd Mayweather put his money where his mouth was, running his professional record to 40 and zero with a shocking knockout of the 441-lb Big Show. While he did not come through on his promise to break the mammoth's jaw, he did shock the Citrus Bowl record crowd of 74,635 WWE fans, the boxer gained the victory after landing multiple chair shots, finishing off the wrestler with brass knuckles. Commentator Jim Ross gave one of his most memorable sound bites as he screamed, "The taken it to the street," and the crowd absolutely lost their minds.
Two worlds collided. the biggest boxer on the planet versus the largest athlete in the world. And it genuinely delivered a broken nose for real.
A finish for the ages and a Wrestlemania moment nobody has forgotten. Rody Piper versus Mr T. Now here is one where the hate was very, very real.
When Rowdy Roddy Piper and Mr T squared off, it was not just two guys going through the motions. Piper despised the fact that a Hollywood actor had been handed a spot on the grandest stage in professional wrestling, [music] and he did not hide it. The main event of Wrestlemania 1 pitted Hulk Hogan teaming with [music] Mr T against Paul Ordorf and Rody Piper in one of the biggest bouts in the show's history.
While the match saw Mr T and Rody Piper engage in amazing back and forth action numerous times, many fans are unaware of the personal animosity between the two legendary stars in real life. Piper channeled his passion into [music] several promos insulting Mr T for being an outsider taking a marquee spot meant for wrestlers. My name's Hot Rod.
Of course you know who I am and I know who you are cuz your name's written on the back of the chair. This was not a character doing the talking. This was Rody Piper the human being.
Furious that someone with no wrestling training was sharing his ring. By Wrestlemania 2, on April 7th, 1986, it was time to settle it in a boxing match, and Piper decided he was not going to play nice. Round four looked like the pretense of a real boxing match was gone as both guys traded hooks to the head.
These were starting to look more like wrestling [music] punches and not boxing punches at all. And then Piper went completely off script. A corner clinch ended with Piper shoving the referee.
Then with the ref down, Piper scoop slammed Mr T order broke down and the match was ruled a disqualification. The match was said to originally go 10 rounds, but Piper called an audible and ended things way sooner. That is Rody Piper refusing to follow the plan because his pride would not let him.
Talk about a loose [music] cannon. But here is the twist. Years later, those two actually buried the hatchet.
Piper introduced Mr T into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2014, showing that even the deepest real life heat can eventually cool down. But from 1985 to 1986, these two were genuinely at war and every fan in that building could feel it. Steo and Umaga.
This one is legendary and it is the perfect example of what happens when someone walks [music] into the WWE machine without fully understanding the rules and gets absolutely destroyed for it. The duo of Steve O and Chris [music] Pontius stepped into a WWE ring on the October 16th edition of Monday Night Raw in 2006, coming [music] face tof face with the late Edward Fatu, known at the time as the Samoan Bulldozer Umaga. They were there to promote Jackass number two, which had just hit cinemas.
Guys, the movie's been very successful, but I understand you are huge wrestling fans. You've been WWE fans all your life. Simple enough, right?
Wrong. Chris Pontius [music] later explained that WWE came into town and the theme of that night was Hollywood, so they had different celebrities they invited. They were not originally set to go and wrestle.
WWE just wanted them to go in the ring and plug [music] some stuff. And then Vince McMahon was out there saying, "You're going to get these guys in the ring and not have them wrestle. Vintage [music] Vince, chaos's ratings.
" So Umaga came out. The plan was simple. Take some moves, sell them, [music] stay down.
Steo even attempted a backflip to show off. Umaga came into the ring and Steo performed a [music] backflip, landing it perfectly. He later called it one of the best backflips he had ever done in his life.
"That's one of the best back flips I think I ever did in my life. " But then the planned spots happened and Steo forgot the most [music] important instruction. Stay down, Steo recalled.
I felt like he was just hitting me so hard and then the [music] last move that we discussed happens and it's supposed to be over, but he is still hitting me. I didn't know [music] that he was hitting me because I wasn't playing dead and I didn't know I was supposed to play dead. Um, being a professional, handled it the old-fashioned way.
He hit Steo with a finishing elbow that [music] actually knocked him into a blackout, knocked him unconscious on live television. Steo later admitted, "I actually don't remember. " Yeah, I don't remember leaving the ring at all.
When they went backstage to guerilla position, Vince McMahon was thrilled [music] with how things turned out. Because of course he was. That is exactly what happens when Hollywood crashes into the WWE machine without reading the manual.
[music] Brutal, chaotic, and utterly unforgettable. Hugh Jackman versus Dolph Ziggler. Here is one where the punch was planned, but the consequences absolutely were not.
On September 19th, 2011, Hugh Jackman appeared on Monday Night Raw to promote his film Real Steel. WWE could not have scripted his guest appearance [music] any better. He was brought on to help pop a bigger rating while giving him the chance to promote his upcoming movie.
You're gonna love the ground and pound action in my new movie, Real Steel, the robots. Jackman got into a row with notoriously antagonistic wrestler Dolph Ziggler, who insulted Jackman by calling him the wrong superhero name, Batman. I didn't come on the set of Batman and interrupt you when you're berating some sound guy.
Wolverine being called Batman. The nerve. They scripted a spot for the match where Jackman would punch Ziggler, leading to Zack Ryder hitting his finisher to pick up the pin and the victory, clean and simple, except Dolph Ziggler had other ideas entirely.
Before they went out, Ziggler pulled Jackman aside and got very direct. Ziggler told him, "If you don't punch me in the face as hard as you can, I'm going to get fired and I'm coming after you. " Then he followed it up with, "Listen, man.
If you're going to halfway do it or miss, let's switch this right now because I need you to punch me in the face with my hands down. " and Jackman responded, "I promise you I won't let you down. " And cracked him in the face pretty damn hard.
"It was great," Ziggler said. "Great might be an understatement. " Soon after the show, Ziggler revealed that Jackman's right hook actually caused a hairline mandibular fracture in his jaw, leading to him wearing a mouthguard for a short while.
Now, some outlets reported the whole fracture story was a work, Dave [music] Meltzer included, but Ziggler himself maintained it was real. Either way, Jackman packed enough of a punch to [music] make it completely believable. Dolph took to Twitter and worked the internet by fooling major media outlets into believing he legitimately injured his jaw during the punch.
The story went viral. NBC's Early Today covered it like it was breaking news. Whether the fracture was fully real or partially worked, one thing was certain.
Hugh Jackman, the man who played Wolverine for over a decade, actually knows how to throw a punch. And Dolph Ziggler had the jaw to prove it. Lawrence Taylor versus Bam Bam Bigalow.
Let us take things back to 1995 because [music] this one started with a real shove and escalated into Wrestlemania's main event. It began at the Royal Rumble and nobody planned the moment that set it all in motion. At the Royal Rumble 1995 event, Bam Bam Bigalow and Tatanka lost their match to the 123 Kid and Bob Holly who were crowned new WWF World [music] Tag Team Champions.
After the match, Bigalow was walking outside the ring when he saw Lawrence Taylor laughing at him for losing. Instead of walking away, [music] Bigs was not a planned angle. This was a professional wrestler embarrassed in front of thousands of fans, snah demanded that Bigalow issue an apology for his actions.
And [music] Bigalow did so on the January 30th edition of Raw. However, the apology quickly turned into Bigalow [music] saying he wished he had shoved Taylor harder and then he issued a challenge to wrestle LT in the ring. Incredible.
[music] According to the New York Times, Taylor's payment was reportedly around $1 million. When asked about the fee, Taylor replied, "We're not going to talk about money. All I do is sign the checks.
" Love it. WWE told the story of Taylor training with then WWF Champion [music] Diesel to give Big Daddy Cool the celebrity rub and to offer a reason why the football star might advance quickly as a wrestler. Taylor and Bigalow put on one of the best celebrity matches in WWE history, far exceeding expectations.
The beloved NFL star won the bout, defeating the heel Bigalow. Fans went home happy. [music] One unplanned shove, one incandescent Hall of Fame linebacker, one of the most talked about Wrestlemania main events ever.
You genuinely could not write it. Mickey Ror versus Chris Jericho. This one should have been a full match at Wrestlemania 25.
Instead, it turned into something even better. A single punch that nobody in the building saw coming with full force. It started at the SAG Awards in January 2009.
Mickey Ror had just received universal praise for his role in the wrestler. And on the red carpet, completely unprompted, he called out Chris Jericho. Jericho received a text from his cousin asking, "Why is Mickey Ror calling you out at the SAG Awards red carpet?
" Jericho thought, "What? Mickey Ror? What are you talking about?
" Vince McMahon called Jericho into his office and said, "You're going to have a match with Mickey Ror at WrestleMania. " Jericho thought he could have a great match with the guy because Ror knew the concept of wrestling. But then because he called Jericho out at the SAG Awards, his agents flipped out.
We were uh Vince had worked a deal with Mickey to do something at Wrestlemania, possibly a match against me. His agents told Ror that he was not going to win an Oscar if he was involved with the WWE and that he had to pull out. And Vince was furious because he was not going to announce the match until after the Oscars.
But Ror got excited and announced it himself. Vince was livid. Jericho said he knew as soon as Ror announced it that the match was off.
So, the plan changed. At WrestleMania 25, Jericho battled Ricky Steamboat, Rody Piper, and Jimmy Snooka. And Ror, a former boxer, swung a slew of heavy fists at his tormentor, finishing with a punch that dropped Jericho and his pride to the mat.
Jericho later revealed that Mickey Ror had an entourage of UFC fighters with him in case Jericho tried to double cross him. because of comments Jericho had made on Larry King around the time of the event. Now that is paranoia and that is how real the tension was behind the scenes.
One punch, one knockout. Hollywood and wrestling collided in Houston, Texas and nobody who was there will ever forget it. Cindy Looper versus Heath Slater.
Some fights you never see coming and nobody in the building that night expected an 80s pop icon to crack a record over a wrestler's skull hard enough to cut him open. But that is exactly what happened in June 2012. Cindy Looper, Wendy Richter, and Rody Piper reunited as part of the buildup to the 1,000th episode of WWE Raw.
The whole segment was pure nostalgia, a celebration of the rock and wrestling connection that helped launch Wrestlemania back in 1985. As Piper presented Looper with a framed gold record, a modern wrestler by the name of Heath Slater looked on. And Slater being Slater, he could not leave well enough alone.
He stepped forward, got [music] mouthy, and started denigrating Looper, Piper, and RTOR, telling legends their time was up cuz it cut him. She signed the record for him and gave it to him. She signed it.
She felt so guilty about splitting him open that she autographed the murder weapon and handed it back to the guy she just assaulted. That later later said it was a privilege working with all of them, and Cindy Looper, who busted the record over his head. No hard feelings apparently, but that cut was very real and Slater wore it like a badge of honor because when an 80s icon wants to make a statement, she does not hold back.
Steven Aml versus Stardust. Most celebrities who it began on May 25th, 2015 at the final [music] Raw at Nassau Coliseum. Lifelong WWE fan Steven Al, the star of the hit show Arrow, was sitting at ringside as a fan.
Although he was only in attendance as a fan, that did not stop Stardust from getting in his face. Stardust is a dangerous man. Kick his ass.
We retaliated against Stardust. Security immediately pulled a ML away as King Barrett and Stardust retreated. That leap over the barricade was unscripted energy.
A real athlete reacting with real instincts. During a SummerSlam kickoff interview, Al was well aware of the risk involved and his inexperience inside the squared circle. Even though he often performs his own stunts on Arrow, he put in serious work.
He trained. He did not take shortcuts. And when SummerSlam 2015 arrived on August 23rd in Brooklyn, it showed the long-running feud between Al and Stardust finally [music] reached its boiling point as the Aerostar and Neville defeated Stardust and King Barrett in a tag team match.
And not bad for a guy whose day job involves shooting arrows on a television set. Al genuinely earned the respect of the locker room that night, and that is not something celebrity guests accomplish very often. Bad Bunny versus The Miz.
And then there is Bad Bunny, the Grammyinning Puerto Rican rapper who walked into WWE and shocked absolutely everyone, including The Miz himself. Bad Bunny put in months of training at the WWE Performance Center for his Wrestlemania 37 tag team match alongside Damen Priest against The Miz and John Morrison. This was not a cameo.
This was a commitment. And The Miz revealed that the first time he got in the ring with Bad Bunny, he did not call anything. He literally just got in, locked up, and started having a match with him to see where he was.
And Bunny had been training so hard. The Miz probably put some heat on him. And then he thought, "Oh, this guy is going to be able to do something.
" That is Miz essentially admitting he went in there to rough up a rapper to see if he would crumble. And Bad Bunny did not crumble. His performance in his tag team match at Wrestlemania 37 will likely go down as one of, if not the most impressive showing by a celebrity in the ring.
He spent most of the match absorbing consistent damage from Bad Bunny did not just participate. He stole the show. He trained harder than most firstear students at the performance center, absorbed real punishment from The Miz behind the scenes, and then performed on the grandest stage in professional wrestling.
That is not a celebrity appearance. That is a wrestler who happens to sell out stadiums for a living.
