WWE Wrestlemania: Ranking the Celebrity Matches Throughout the Event's History

WrestleMania is an extravaganza which combines wrestling with just about every other form of entertainment.

There is generally a big-name singer performing the national anthem, several official themes, some of which get performed at the event, and numerous celebrity appearances.

These celebrity appearances can range from guest timekeeper, manager and announcer to actually being in a match.

These matches are usually pretty bad in terms of the actual wrestling, but they serve the purpose of entertaining the crowd. Can you honestly tell me that Pete Rose being beaten up by Kane didn't make you laugh?

In this slideshow, I will rank the celebrity matches throughout the years at WrestleMania. The list will only include matches in which a celebrity actually wrestled, so matches like Donald Trump's battle of the billionaires or Mickey Rourke having a scuffle with Jericho will not be included.

Kitana Baker/Tanya Ballinger WM19

If you can even call this a match, then it is the worst in the bunch. A Fatal-4-Way pillow fight ensued among Tanya Ballinger, Kitana Baker, Torrie Wilson and Stacy Keibler.

While my preferences as a man make this something enjoyable to watch, my preferences as a wrestling fan made this a waste of time.

This was basically an excuse for WWE to involve some models in the show and have some sex appeal before the whole TV-PG revolution swept through WWE.

It was quick, which is the only positive thing I could say about the match, other than how great the women looked, of course.

Snooki WM27

While Snooki may have trained and gotten into decent shape for this match, I still think it belongs towards the bottom of the list.

Forgetting my own prejudice against anything associated with Jersey Shore, I have to say that she did a better job than I expected, but my expectations were lower than the ground itself, so she really had to do very little to impress me.

She had a couple of quick acrobatic moves, which showed that she was indeed training beforehand, but the main attraction of the match was Trish Stratus, and no one can really say otherwise. She brought some legitimacy to an otherwise awful match.

Akebono Tarō-Big Show Sumo WM21

While this match featured a legitimate legend in the world of sports in Akebono Tarō, it did little to impress.

It lasted less than a minute and saw the world champion Sumo wrestler push Show out of the circle relatively easily, considering Show's size.

This would have ranked higher had it been a longer bout with some excitement.

Floyd Mayweather WM24

The funniest thing about this match was that WWE had originally intended for Show to be the heel and Mayweather to be the face in the match.

When Mayweather first saved Rey Mysterio from a returning Big Show, it was clear that WWE wanted him to represent the underdogs in the world against Show, who represented the bullies of the world.

It turned out that Mayweather's ego was well-known in the wrestling world, and he was met with boos immediately. Eventually WWE saw this and decided to work with what it had.

The match ended up going the way everyone thought it would. Mayweather won, but had to resort to cheap tactics, making Big Show still look strong.

Had Show lost clean, then he would have been a wrestler who was beat by an outsider, and that would have done some damage to his rep at the time.

This match was exciting for a bit, but in the long run I do not think it will stand out as being among the best.

Lawrence Taylor/Bam Bam Bigelow WM11

This match holds some special memories for me because this was the first WrestleMania my parents let me purchase to watch live.

Up until this event, I had to rent them on WWE home video releases or wait for someone with a VHS recording to lend it to me.

LT and Bam Bam had a decent build-up heading into the match, but the match itself proved why a non-wrestler should never be involved in the closing match.

I give Taylor credit for doing a better job than anyone would have expected against the highly capable Bam Bam Bigelow.

When I think of this match, I have good memories, despite Taylor clearly being greener than grass.

Mr T/Hogan vs Piper/Orndorff WM1

WrestleMania's tradition of having celebrities involved dates back to the very beginning, when athlete-turned-actor Mr. T stepped in the ring to team up with Hulk Hogan to take on Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff.

This match was exciting, and it provided fans with something we do not get anymore: a main event match which did not focus on a title.

The fact that Hogan was not defending the WWF title in a one-on-one match at the biggest event in WWE history was surprising.

This would not be the last of Mr. T, as we would see him pop up in the ring again soon.

Mr T-Piper Boxing Match-WM2

Mr. T's next match happened one year later at WrestleMania 2 in a boxing match against Roddy Piper. Mr. T and Hogan had both appeared in Rocky 3, and having Mr. T box was obviously playing into his role as Clubber Lang.

This match was nothing special in terms of technical achievements, but it shined as a match in which Piper got to show his trademark attitude and T had the chance to prove he was not a one-off WWF fan and that he was really a supporter of the company.

Mr. T was accompanied by Joe Frazier, while Piper was accompanied by Cowboy Bob Orton, father of Randy Orton.

In the end, Piper was disqualified when he became frustrated and delivered a body slam to Mr. T.

NFL Players WM2 Battle Royal

Another bout from WrestleMania 2 makes the top entry in the list. This match featured way more than just one little celebrity; it featured several players from the NFL.

William Perry of the Chicago Bears stood out as the most dominating football player in the ring, but at the end of the night, when the bell rang, it was Andre the Giant who had his hand raised in victory.

One of the main reasons I love this match so much was that it was the very start of Bret Hart's push in WWE beyond being a tag wrestler.

He lasted until the very end, being the last person to be eliminated. This began a path of Bret breaking off from Jim Neidhart and going on to become one of the greatest of all time.

Thanks for Reading

If you feel that any of these matches were out of place in the list, then please feel free to share your thoughts below.

I also wanted to mention that this Sunday, I will be doing live coverage for WrestleMania 28, but it will not be the standard play-by play.

Many people are familiar with the recap lists I put together every week for Raw and SmackDown. Well, for the first time ever, I will be doing my recap list live.

So check back Sunday for The Doctor's live WrestleMania recap list.