WrestleMania 29: Top 15 Candidates to Be the Celebrity Guest Next Year

With WrestleMania 28 done, it is now time to start looking towards next year's WM 29, which takes place on April 7 and emanates from the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

There's a great deal to plan and promote of course, and reports indicate WWE intend to to announce the matches for next year's spectacular show on tonight's Raw.

One major factor will be who will get the celebrity slot on the PPV.

This year, we had The Rock and Extra host Maria Menounos to provide some mainstream appeal to the event. Both performed admirably in their roles at the event.

The charismatic Menounos teamed with Kelly Kelly to face Eve Torres and Beth Phoenix, managing to pin the Divas Champion with a shocking roll-up. The Rock, of course, took on and defeated John Cena in the thrilling main event of the show.

With this in mind, here are the top 15 celebrity choices to be the guest stars at next year's WrestleMania...

Tim Tebow

This one may be the most obvious.

As most sports fans will already know, Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow was traded to the New York Jets in the draft last month in a move that caused a considerable stir.

The headquarters of the Jets is in New Jersey—which is, of course, where WrestleMania 29 is taking place next year. So if there was ever an opportunity for Vince McMahon to snag Tebow's services, this would be it.

The hugely popular star—he is easily America's most famous quarterback—could be a tremendous asset to Vince McMahon and WWE, garnering WM 29 and the company itself colossal and unprecedented mainstream exposure and attention.

Of course, the NFL star almost certainly wouldn't come cheap, but we have a feeling he would be worth whatever WWE paid for bringing him in. No doubt his personal charm and affable demeanor would make him a hit with the wrestlers backstage too.

Paris Hilton

With the Hilton's once-glittering career on the wane (just do not bring this up to her!), it is entirely possible WWE could persuade the hotel heiress to sign with the company for an angle in the run up to—and at—WrestleMania 29 with one or more of the divas.

Ideally, Hilton would be working as as heel (who wouldn't loudly boo this woman?) and bitchily interacting Kelly Kelly or some other babyface female in the run up to the event, with the pay-off being an embarrassing loss for the pretty socialite at a single or tag team match the show.

Of course, Hilton has no wrestling experience whatsoever—and even several months of training probably wouldn't turn her into a competent performer—but if WWE can smartly work around her flaws, like they did with non-wrestler Maria Menounos for her match at WM 28—the Hilton/WWE relationship could prove to be extremely fruitful for all concerned.

Gina Carano

With Carano's once-promising MMA career in limbo—mainly due to a lack of good opponents and her flourishing Hollywood career—it is very possible WWE could snag the services of the Haywire star for next year's WrestleMania event. Interestingly, the company has reportedly had interest in Carano before, so she is on their radar.

Certainly with her looks and charisma, the Strikeforce beauty would be quite the catch for the wrestling promotion and could help revive interest in the company's struggling and stale women's division.

Tito Ortiz

With Ortiz set to retire this summer after his match with Forrest Griffin, it’s very possible the free agent could be persuaded by WWE to come in for an angle next year at WM and snag the main celebrity role on the card.

Interestingly, Ortiz, a real-life wrestling fan, worked with TNA in 2005, serving as a special guest referee for the Jeff Jarrett/AJ Styles at Hard Justice, and then later returning to serve as a special guest referee again for Jarrett’s bout with Kevin Nash at Bound for Glory.

Ortiz’s UFC contract likely prohibited him from doing anything too physical, hence his limited in role in TNA. Presumably, this would not be a barrier if WWE worked with Ortiz this year—ideally, Ortiz will be free of his UFC commitments entirely by the time WWE approach him—and the “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” could participate in an actual wrestling match if he wanted to. The prospect of Ortiz stepping inside the ring for a scrap would certainly be a must-see attraction on the card.

Shaquille O'Neal

The rumour mill strongly indicated that the NBA star would be making an appearance at this year’s WrestleMania—most likely taking on The Big Show. At the time, reports claimed it was practically a done deal. Even Shaq himself would declare in interviews that he was going to be a part of the event.   

Well, it looks like Shaq got his wires crossed, because WWE did not bring him in this year as expected.

Many speculated this was due to WWE realizing that Hollywood celebrity The Rock would be most of the mainstream star power they required for the event and snagging the services of Shaq would thus be a giant waste of money. 

That the WWE Network—which was due to launch on April 1—also got pushed back probably didn’t help either, as the company didn’t need several major celebrities on the card to help garner both WM and the network debut maximum publicity.    

Whatever the reason, we wouldn’t rule WWE choosing to use the athlete at next year’s event—although hopefully he waits until it’s a done deal because he gossips about it in interviews.

Stacy Keibler

We reckon there's a decent shot that Keibler, who worked for the company from 2001 and 2005, could be approached by WWE about possibly appearing at WrestleMania 29 in some capacity or other.

You see, Keibler's profile has rocketed in the entertainment industry after she started dating Hollywood heartthrob George Clooney. Garnering a huge amount of tabloid space and TV time on various entertainment shows like Extra and Showbiz Tonight, Hollywood has become smitten with Clooney's girlfriend to the point she's practically become a star in her own right.

In recent times, WWE have sought to capitalize on their former diva's success, writing various articles on their website about her outings with Clooney (including her trip with him to the most recent Academy Awards ceremony). No doubt they would like very much to work with Keibler again, which may place her on their list of go-to celebrities for next year's WM in New Jersey.

Sarah Michelle Gellar

Yes, believe or or not, Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar has a wrestling connection: Her husband is Freddie Prinze, Jr., who has served on/off with WWE's creative team over the years. Prinze, Jr., a major wrestling fan, also guest-hosted Raw in 2009.

This may mean there's a decent chance his wife could show up on WWE television at some point in the future for a potential angle—certainly the fame-hungry and opportunistic WWE cannot have been blind to the possibility. And with Gellar's most recent project, CW's noir drama Ringer, dealing with floundering ratings and facing likely cancellation at the end of the series, now may be the best time possible to approach her about a role at next year's WrestleMania.

James Roday

Roday, star of the USA Network’s hit cop show Psych, guest-hosted Raw last month to help promote The Miz’s appearance on the programme, even giving one the most hilarious in-ring introductions ever as he introduced the former WWE champion for his match with CM Punk.

The funny, charismatic Roday is also a big and enthusiastic fan of the WWE in real life and could surely be persuaded to come in for an angle at next year’s WrestleMania in New Jersey if the company decided to use him in such a manner. 

Kim Kardashian

The actress/singer/television personality/businesswoman/fashion designer/whatever served as WWE’s guest-host for WrestleMania 24, and a return to the organization for WM 29 doesn’t seem entirely out of the question.

While the controversial Kardashian may not be the most popular of people right now—especially after the Kris Humphries wedding debacle—the promotion could greatly benefit from Kardashian’s celebrity to help garner the stagnant WWE product some much-needed publicity in whatever role she played on the show.

Chris Brown

The controversial rap star got into a very public—and heated—war of words last month with WWE Champion CM Punk, culminating in Punk challenging Brown to a real fight. Punk vehemently denied this was some sort of angle, although WWE brass are probably itching to capitalize on Brown's fame and turn it into one.

CM Punk vs. Chris Brown at WrestleMania 29? Hey, stranger things have happened.

Chad Ochocinco

The NFL player previously guest-hosted Raw and displayed an impressive amount of charisma, enthusiasm and energy on the programme. Considering his ties to the company, it wouldn't shock us if WWE, desperate for a major name for WM 29, turned to the popular Ochocinco and asked him to participate in some manner.

Jennifer Love Hewitt

Believe it or not, the I Know What You Did Last Summer actress is a big WWE fan, even attending last year's SummerSlam kickoff party in Los Angeles.

With her looks, charisma and solid fanbase, the stunning young actress would be a huge asset to WrestleMania 29 in whatever manner WWE chose to use her in.

David Hasselhoff

Oh, come on, who doesn't love this guy? As the star of hammy—but beloved—shows like Baywatch and Knight Rider, Hasslehoff is firmly ingrained in American culture.

He also has ties to WWE; he guest-hosted Raw back in 2009 and seemed to be having a great time. With this in mind, an appearance at WrestleMania as a host or special guest referee in a comedy match on the under-card doesn't seem out of the question.

Rima Fakih

The 2010 Miss USA has strong ties with the professional wrestling industry: She guest-hosted Raw in late 2010,  served as ring announcer for the Tribute to the Troops show two months later and competed in the revamped season of Tough Enough last year in a bid to win a WWE contract (although her wrestling performances on the show were largely panned and most fans were generally relieved she didn’t get too far in the contest).

With her recently hanging up her tiara, the Michigan beauty now has some spare time on her hands. And she claims to still be enthusiastic about wrestling, so who knows? Maybe at next year’s WrestleMania 29, she could adopt a Maria Menounos-type role and participate in divas tag match or something similar.

Jennifer Hudson

This is an interesting one. 

As most will know, the singer has been in a relationship with current WWE superstar David Otunga (the two are engaged and have one son together).

Indeed, Otunga’s connection to Hudson—a genuine celebrity—has been (probably correctly) speculated by most to be the reason the former NXT rookie has been pushed so hard by the company despite his rather, eh, dubious in-ring skills. (Although in fairness to Otunga, after floundering as a wrestler for most of his run, his career has recently been rejuvenated by his stint as John Laurinaitis’s smug, know-it-all personal lawyer and sidekick.)

The prospect of Hudson coming into work an angle with Otunga has often been bandied about, and the company would almost certainly love to have her. But would Hudson’s people, no doubt weary of the Academy Award winner getting involved with something perceived as low-brow and crass as wrestling, allow her to do such a thing? Well, that is the question.