Celebrity involvement in WWE's major event Wrestlemania has been pretty steady and ridiculous over the years. You can credit Vince McMahon and his longtime desire to be great in something other than wrestling. He's tried boxing, football, and body building. He's tried singing and hosting a talk show. To him, Wrestlemania should have always been front page news.

Looking back, I blame the success of the "Rock n' Wrestling" gimmick of 1984-85. The pairing of Cyndi Lauper with Captain Lou Albano, and their feud with Roddy Piper, gained a lot of attention. This reached its peak at the very first Wrestlemania, but let's not forget the inaugural show's absurd featuring of guest ring announcer Billy Martin and guest timekeeper Liberace (joined by the Rockettes). Why does wrestling need a timekeeper, and why must it be Liberace? And the Rockettes?

But Wrestlemania 1 was pure genius compared to the rich and famous gathered for Wrestlemania 2, where a boxing match (A boxing match!) between Piper and Mr. T was "judged" by NBA star Darryl Dawkins, G. Gordon Liddy, and Cab Calloway. The corner men for this match were Lou Duva and Joe Frazier. Six NFL football players, including William "The Refrigerator" Perry, took part in a 20-man battle royal. Other celebs (Oh, yes, there were more!) included Susan St. James (commentating), Tommy Lasorda (ring announcer), Ozzy Osbourne (corner man), plus Burger King's Herb and Wendy's Clare Peller, both from popular television ads of the day, and both as "guest timekeepers."

Wrestlemanias that followed weren't quite as abundant with celebs, but did include interviews conducted by Bob Uecker, Mary Hart and Steve Allen; guest timekeeping by Vanna White, Jennie Garth, and Jonathan Taylor Thomas; ring announcing by Alex Trebek, Ray Combs, Burt Reynolds, and Donnie Wahlburg; instant replay sketches with Paul Maguire and George Steinbrenner; a World Title presentation by Robin Leach; plus an appearance by Morton Downey Jr., and performances by Run DMC, Robert Goulet, Willie Nelson, Reba McEntire, and Little Richard. Perhaps the worst was Hair Club for Men's Cy Sperling presenting a hairpiece to ring announcer Howard Finkel at Wrestlemania X.

A couple of the big ones were Lawrence Taylor, backed by Reggie White and other NFL stars, wrestling Bam Bam Bigelow at Wrestlemania XI, which also included Salt-N-Pepa performing "What a Man" for LT; and Mike Tyson as the "ringside enforcer" at Wrestlemania XIV. This Wrestlemania also featured an interview and some ring announcing from Gennifer Flowers.

Over the last ten years the celebrity appearances have diminished, as McMahon slowly realized that it was always the wrestlers that were the draw for most viewers. There have been mainstays such as Pete Rose and Donald Trump, both of whom have made numerous appearances through the years. Nowadays, you can be pretty certain that the equivalents of Herb and Liberace will not be appearing at wrestling events. At least not for WWE.

Learn more about this author, Michael Frissore.
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