Wrestling Personalities Who Entered The World Of Politics

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There are plenty of folks who believe that the worlds of professional wrestling and politics aren’t that far apart. You glad-hand a lot of people, act as fake as you can for appearances’ sake (or at least critics think you act fake), and the opponents constantly blur the lines of kayfabe while the people in the ring or the political arena are cordial to one another behind the scenes.

Every so often, wrestlers or personalities in the wrestling industry have dabbled in the world of politics to varying degrees. Some have ascended to the highest levels while others strived to get elected and then headed back to the ring.

Matt Morgan - Former Gladiator, Wrestler, Mayor

The Blueprint For Florida Politics

• Morgan was part of the second season of Tough Enough, but he left early because of an injury
• Matt went to OVW and was trained by Al Snow
• He is a former two-time TNA tag team champion

At seven feet tall, anyone immediately cuts an impressive visage when walking around in the world. Then you take a guy like Matt Morgan, who has an impressive physique to match, and you get what Gorilla Monsoon might have referred to as an impressive physical specimen. The Blueprint spent several years in the business before trying his hand at politics . In 2017, he became the City Commissioner of Longwood, Florida. He also served as mayor of the town from 2019 to 2020.

Kane - The Mayoral Red Machine

Even As Mayor, Kane Has Worked Some Matches

• The Big Red Machine was trained by Ray Candy and The Malenkos.
• Kane got his start as Unabomb in SMW.
• Was inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 2021.

The thought of The Big Red Machine running around as the demonic mayor of Knox County, Tennessee is a comical one.

Thankfully, he doesn’t actually run around City Hall in full regalia. Clearly, he looks more like Corporate Kane, making decisions that he believes would benefit his citizens. He has been the mayor since 2018. He was reelected in 2022, so by all accounts those citizens clearly think he’s doing a good job.

Rhyno Tried His Hand At Michigan Politics

The Manbeast Wanted To Help Motown

• Rhyno is the last ECW Champion.
• The Manbeast came up in the Indies with Edge and Christian.
• Inducted into the 2024 Hall Of Fame.

He might be seen as a stocky beast of a human, but like most superstars, backstage there’s a lot more to Rhyno than meets the eye. The Detroit native wanted to do something good for his city and in 2016 tried his hand at running for a seat in the Michigan House Of Representatives . Vince McMahon gave him the approval to take the time off for campaigning. The Manbeast gored his way through primaries but lost the general election.

Booker T Wanted To Be The Mayor Of Houston

King Bookah Would’ve Run In 2020

• Sid Vicious helped get Harlem Heat into WCW.
• Booker and his brother were trained by Ivan Putski.
• The Harlem Heat are ten-time WCW tag team champions.

In one of wrestling’s truly great rags-to-riches stories, Booker T made some mistakes growing up, paid for them, got in the wrestling business and became one of the greatest to ever do it. In 2016, he announced his candidacy to become mayor of Houston. He aimed to impart the wisdom he learned over the years to try and help his city’s less fortunate as he was once helped. His goal was to run in 2020. But for whatever reason, come ballot season 2019, his name was not on any ballot.

Jerry The King Lawler Wanted To Rule Memphis

He Finished Twelfth Out Of Fifteen In The Running

• Jerry never won a single title in WWE.
• Inducted with broadcast partner Jim Ross in 2007.
• Had an infamous Empty Arena match with Terry Funk.

Memphis has long been a city of kings. The King Of Rock N Roll, Elvis Presley, the king of Blues, B.B. King, and, of course, the king of wrestling, Jerry Lawler. Our favorite King tried to expand his kingdom into politics when he ran for the Mayor Of Memphis in 1999. He wanted to help improve traffic, create more parks, and fix the education system.

His friend Jim Ross has long joked that Lawler would be taking a pay cut if he had won and the media would want to reveal any and all sordid details about why it’s good to be the king. Luckily for Jerry, he lost out to the then-mayor who won re-election.

Linda McMahon Left WWE To Get Into Politics

The Current Head Of The US Department Of Education

• Linda McMahon met Vince when she was 13 and he was 16.
• The McMahons helped finance Evel Knievel’s Snake River Jump.
• The family purchased the Cape Cod Coliseum in 1980.

Even before she declared that she was leaving WWE for a run at being a Senator for Connecticut, it was clear that Linda McMahon knew a thing or two about being a politician. After all, she was the WWE’s CEO for nearly two decades. Having to navigate the lives of WWE superstars, regular employees, and all of the other on-goings of a multi-million dollar business conglomerate is surely filled with nothing but politics! She was unfortunately successful in her bid for Senate in 2012. She has, however, found success, working in both of Donald Trump’s Cabinets.

Antonio Inoki Was A Legend In Both Japanese Wrestling And Politics

Part Of Japanese Politics Since 1989

• Inoki and Mohammad Ali had the first ever MMA bout.
• Antonio Inoki helped broker the deal for Collision In Korea.
• He was trained by Rikidōzan.

As far as wrestling as a whole goes - the only way to really understand the legacy of Antonio Inoki is that he was essentially for Japanese wrestling what McMahon was for American wrestling. The legend is the founder of New Japan, among several other ventures throughout his life , including serving two different stints in Japanese politics and arranging several meetings and events over the years with all sorts of despots to try and better Japan’s future and in hopes of them reforming some of their ways.

Jesse The Body Ventura Broke Down The Politics Wall

The Governor Of Minnesota Showed Wrestlers Can Enter Office

• The Body is a former Navy Seal.
• He made a cameo in several Arnold Schwarzenegger films.
• Ventura is one of the few to successfully sue the WWE.

Plenty of folks in the wrestling business held some sort of political office before Jesse Ventura did. Depending on what you believe, even Abraham Lincoln was an ex-wrestler before getting into the political ring. But Jesse took the media world and the political arena by storm when he first ran for office in 1991.

He became the mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota and held office until 1995. Several years later, he asked the citizens of all of Minnesota not to vote for politics as usual and elected him governor. They listened and he won in a major upset.

Donald J. Trump Is The 45th And 47th US President

Donald Hosted WrestleManias 4 And 5

• Trump was born in Queens, New York City.
• Atlantic City is still the only place to host back-to-back WrestleManias.
• First President since Grover Cleveland to serve two terms separated by four years.

Yes, he is easily the most divisive politician in U.S. history, but Donald Trump certainly took what he learned from his time being a guest of WWE and parlayed it into becoming President. Trump was always boisterous and braggadocios. He was a ready-made WWE character, being a guest of the company at WrestleManias 4,5, and 7, as well as several Raws, and was, of course, a huge part of WrestleMania 23 with the Battle Of The Billionaires.