WrestleMania 28: Ranking the All-Time Worst Celebrity Matches at the Event

Whether you hate it or love it, celebrities are always going to be a part of WrestleMania.

The very basis of wrestling's grandest event derives from celebrity involvement as the Rock 'N Wrestling Connection with Cyndi Lauper was at its height and Mr. T was in the main event of WrestleMania I.

Celebrities have had some tie-in to every WrestleMania since and this year is no different. Extra host Maria Menounos has participated in some WWE matches in the past and she will team with Kelly Kelly against Eve and Divas Champion Beth Phoenix at WrestleMania XXVIII.

While this most definitely won't be the best of matches, it will have to be pretty bad to be considered one of the worst celebrity matches in WrestleMania history. A few celebrities have performed well at wrestling's Super Bowl, but others have been massive flops.

Here are the three worst celebrity matches in WrestleMania history.

Akebono vs. Big Show

Few wrestlers have been made to look worse at WrestleMania over the years than Big Show.

His match at WrestleMania 21 was a prime example of that, as he was forced to take on sumo legend Akebono in a traditional sumo match. There wasn't much reason for this other than to embarrass Big Show, it seems. He was made to wear the usual sumo garb, exposing his ample rear end. If that weren't enough, Akebono threw him out of the ring in just over a minute.

I suppose Vince McMahon was looking to appeal to the Japanese audience with this match, but it was an absolute disaster. It may not have lasted long, but when you consider how long it took to set up, it wasted valuable time on an otherwise-excellent pay-per-view.

At least Big Show has a real match this year with intercontinental champion Cody Rhodes, but none of us will ever forget his bout with Akebono, no matter how hard we try.

Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

In terms of in-ring performances by celebrities at WrestleMania, Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor may have been the best at WrestleMania XI.

The circumstances surrounding the match, however, were terrible.

Taylor started feuding with Bam Bam Bigelow at the 1995 Royal Rumble after Bigelow was pinned in a tag-team match. The two got into it as LT was in the crowd and it ultimately led to a match at WrestleMania.

Taylor acquitted himself pretty well, which isn't a huge surprise since he was a natural athlete and Bigelow was one of the most talented big men in the business. The match should have never been the main event, though, as Bigelow was only used as a midcarder throughout his career.

Also, the notion of allowing Taylor to embarrass Bigelow really made wrestlers as a whole look weak. The match itself wasn't awful, but the fact that it closed the show was.

Snooki, Trish Stratus and John Morrison vs. LayCool and Dolph Ziggler

With Maria Menounos competing this year, it would appear as though divas matches are beginning to become a wasteland for celebrity involvement at WrestleMania. Last year, at WrestleMania XVII, there was a six-person tag match that featured the team of Jersey Shore's Snooki, Trish Stratus and John Morrison against Michelle McCool, Layla and Dolph Ziggler.

Not surprisingly, this match was a disaster in every sense of the word.

Snooki wasn't in the match for long, but of course she got the pinfall as he did a stupid handspring move followed by an equally-terrible cartwheel splash of some kind. Having established wrestlers lose to celebrities is bad enough, but letting McCool get pinned by somebody like Snooki was ridiculous.

Perhaps the only interesting part of the match was when Morrison snubbed Trish during the celebration afterward.