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Professional football and wrestling have a long, intertwined history that goes back generations. In the early days of the National Football League, many players moonlighted as professional wrestlers during the off-season to supplement their salary. Others whose football careers wound down (or never really took off) found their way into the squared circle as a new vocation.
The landscape of modern wrestling is littered with wrestlers who tried their hand at professional football, such as Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Ron Simmons, Lex Luger, Brian Pillman, Goldberg, Ernie Ladd and many others. Even today, there are several WWE and Nxt stars who gave it a go on the gridiron before switching to wrestling: Mojo Rawley, Baron Corbin and even Roman Reigns.
But there is a very select group of men who have reached the pinnacle of both sports. Only a handful of athletes have played in the NFL’s Super Bowl and competed at WrestleMania.
Professional football and wrestling have a long, intertwined history that goes back generations. In the early days of the National Football League, many players moonlighted as professional wrestlers during the off-season to supplement their salary. Others whose football careers wound down (or never really took off) found their way into the squared circle as a new vocation.
The landscape of modern wrestling is littered with wrestlers who tried their hand at professional football, such as Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Ron Simmons, Lex Luger, Brian Pillman, Goldberg, Ernie Ladd and many others. Even today, there are several WWE and Nxt stars who gave it a go on the gridiron before switching to wrestling: Mojo Rawley, Baron Corbin and even Roman Reigns.
But there is a very select group of men who have reached the pinnacle of both sports. Only a handful of athletes have played in the NFL’s Super Bowl and competed at WrestleMania.
- 2/7/2016
- by Scott Carlson
- Obsessed with Film
Michael Cole began this week’s Raw with a sentence something like “we are only 50 days away, on this Road to WrestleMania”. 50 days. That’s a decent amount of time for WWE to put the hype machine behind the entire roster in order to assemble a fantastic card for their annual extravaganza. We have all heard the rumours of matches that WWE may have planned, but there is only one confirmed as we head into this episode of Raw, being the main event between Brock Lesnar and Royal Rumble winner, Roman Reigns, for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. With Triple H hyping a “huge announcement” for tonight, the question is… will things take a swerve on the road to the grand-daddy of them all.
Raw opens with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon heading to the ring, jovial and smiling. They talk about the Superbowl a little, and discuss the conteroversy that ended the Royal Rumble,...
Raw opens with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon heading to the ring, jovial and smiling. They talk about the Superbowl a little, and discuss the conteroversy that ended the Royal Rumble,...
- 2/3/2015
- by Chris Cummings
- Nerdly
You don’t have to be a fan of WWE for too long before you notice that they tend to like their superstars to be larger than life. Some of them aren’t just large in attitude but also have the appearance of being huge monsters, often towering over other superstars and using their height and strength to dominate matches. With WWE: True Giants we take a look at some of the larger behemoths.
Featuring some superstars you would expect, and lacking a few that should really be there the main documentary is a good look at some of the wrestlers from the past and present that we’ve come to love (or love to hate). Some of them have been “faces” often others were “heels” but they still had their place in the history of the squared circle and have also many made their way into the Hall of Face.
Featuring some superstars you would expect, and lacking a few that should really be there the main documentary is a good look at some of the wrestlers from the past and present that we’ve come to love (or love to hate). Some of them have been “faces” often others were “heels” but they still had their place in the history of the squared circle and have also many made their way into the Hall of Face.
- 12/1/2014
- by Paul Metcalf
- Nerdly
Williams Street
There are a lot of memorable guest shots from wrestlers on a number of classic and not so classic television shows. The Rock playing his father, Rocky Johnson (flanked by Ernie Ladd of all people as his manager) on That ’70s Show was an inspired bit of casting and is a well-remembered episode of the show. He wasn’t a polished actor yet, to say the least Vader becoming a recurring character on Boy Meets World as a fictionalized version of himself has become a lasting part of his legacy, a cleverly written and cast part that allowed him to laugh at himself.
Some wrestlers, like Edge (well, he prefers Adam Copeland now) have found second careers, as he’s developed a nice recurring spot on Haven. Bret Hart had what looked like a promising acting career until the ’90s version of Lonesome Dove was cancelled. And of...
There are a lot of memorable guest shots from wrestlers on a number of classic and not so classic television shows. The Rock playing his father, Rocky Johnson (flanked by Ernie Ladd of all people as his manager) on That ’70s Show was an inspired bit of casting and is a well-remembered episode of the show. He wasn’t a polished actor yet, to say the least Vader becoming a recurring character on Boy Meets World as a fictionalized version of himself has become a lasting part of his legacy, a cleverly written and cast part that allowed him to laugh at himself.
Some wrestlers, like Edge (well, he prefers Adam Copeland now) have found second careers, as he’s developed a nice recurring spot on Haven. Bret Hart had what looked like a promising acting career until the ’90s version of Lonesome Dove was cancelled. And of...
- 10/3/2014
- by David Bixenspan
- Obsessed with Film
Copyright: WWE Legends Of Mid-South Wrestling Blu-ray
When most wrestling fans think of New Orleans these days, they think of WrestleMania 30, coming up on April 6 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
What many younger fans may not realize is that New Orleans was one of the hottest cities in the old Mid-South territory back in the early ’80s, with Ted Dibiase, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, Junkyard Dog, King Kong Bundy, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Kamala, Steve “Dr. Death” Williams, and announcer Jim Ross being among the prominent names who left an indelible mark on professional wrestling.
With athletic, bruising matches orchestrated by no-nonsense promoter “Cowboy” Bill Watt, Mid-South garnered national attention for its evocative storytelling and Superdome Extravaganzas, featuring the Road Warriors, the Midnight Express, the Von Erichs, Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, and Andre the Giant.
In recent years, WWE purchased the Mid-South Wrestling video library — more than 1,200 hours of TV programming from...
When most wrestling fans think of New Orleans these days, they think of WrestleMania 30, coming up on April 6 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
What many younger fans may not realize is that New Orleans was one of the hottest cities in the old Mid-South territory back in the early ’80s, with Ted Dibiase, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, Junkyard Dog, King Kong Bundy, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Kamala, Steve “Dr. Death” Williams, and announcer Jim Ross being among the prominent names who left an indelible mark on professional wrestling.
With athletic, bruising matches orchestrated by no-nonsense promoter “Cowboy” Bill Watt, Mid-South garnered national attention for its evocative storytelling and Superdome Extravaganzas, featuring the Road Warriors, the Midnight Express, the Von Erichs, Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, and Andre the Giant.
In recent years, WWE purchased the Mid-South Wrestling video library — more than 1,200 hours of TV programming from...
- 2/11/2014
- by Marshall Ward
- Obsessed with Film
Copyright: WWE Royal Rumble 2010 Blu-ray
The month of February is Black History Month and like usual, World Wrestling Entertainment will honor their performers throughout the month. We saw on Raw that they honored WWE Hall of Famer Ernie Ladd, who was a star in the NFL before his WWE career.
There are many great black wrestlers in the history of wrestling and more specifically WWE, who helped pave the way for the stars of today.
The current WWE roster has a lot of talented black performers like Big E Langston, Kofi Kingston, Titus O’Neil, Darren Young and more that look up to the men on this list and hope to one day follow in their Hall of Fame footsteps.
What’s great about the wrestling business is the diversity that exists that has seen talents of every race ascend to the top of the business. Wrestling fans are accepting...
The month of February is Black History Month and like usual, World Wrestling Entertainment will honor their performers throughout the month. We saw on Raw that they honored WWE Hall of Famer Ernie Ladd, who was a star in the NFL before his WWE career.
There are many great black wrestlers in the history of wrestling and more specifically WWE, who helped pave the way for the stars of today.
The current WWE roster has a lot of talented black performers like Big E Langston, Kofi Kingston, Titus O’Neil, Darren Young and more that look up to the men on this list and hope to one day follow in their Hall of Fame footsteps.
What’s great about the wrestling business is the diversity that exists that has seen talents of every race ascend to the top of the business. Wrestling fans are accepting...
- 2/5/2014
- by John Canton
- Obsessed with Film
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