Could We Accept a Celebrity to be a Royal Rumble Winner?

[AGS123]

I know that it's past the Royal Rumble season, but I just thought of this. Many of us are either iffy or hate the idea with Celeb's on WWE. But if it's one thing I know for sure, it's many of us in the IWC are not truly in love with the idea. However, if the right Celeb was chosen to win the Royal Rumble, would you accept it? I think many of us would no accept for the fallowing reasons.

1. This would diminish the hard work the wrestlers put on for us.
2. If the wrong man was chosen, we would shit on it like no tomorrow.
And 3...David Arquette.

However, if handled correctly it could be accepted for the other following reasons.

1. Interesting feuds.
2. Publicity for WWE and for the Celebrity by media.
3. Wresltemania is always filled with surprises, it could be fun.

So what do you think? I'm also asking for questions to be answered such as

-Which Celeb would you chose to win? (For me, Mike Tyson)
-What kind of feud would you book?
-Would this be good for WWE in the public eye and business wise?

(Thank you and I will not appreciate smart ass remarks on me just because I thought of this topic. I swear, I see a simple thread where the first post is some troll saying something like "you have no idea what your talking about, you idiot!" It gets EXTREAMLY annoying.)

 

[Chauncy Talon]

I think we cannot accept it. During the Monday Night Wars, the world criticize WCW for allowing David Arquette to wear the 16 pound of gold. WCW rating went down the map because they wanted to try to do something different. A lot of people did not accept any of the wrestlers that have booking power, these days, as the company Champion.

But back to the celebrity, that was considered a very dark day in professional wrestling, even if it was to promote Arquette movie, Ready to Rumble.

 

[snidercrs]

I think it could be accepted if it were the right celebrity (ex:not Arquette), it would need to be some sort of sports figure, in other words, someone who could actually have some decent matches within the confines of a feud. As for who, I like your Tyson suggestion, or maybe someone like Floyd Mayweather as we have seen him in the ring before.

 

[Sean Valjean]

Absolutely not. This would be a terrible idea. The Royal Rumble match is one of the biggest matches of the year. As you said, it would be a huge stain on the rumble's legacy; there are hall of famers that haven't won a rumble, but some celeb does? A lot of people hate having guest host; having a celeb win the rumble would probably make them swear off WWE forever.

However, I'll go along with this and say that if a celeb HAD to win, I'd pick The Rock. Obviously because he was a wrestler and if he wanted to make a return to the ring, this would be a huge way to do it.

Since everyone (including myself) has wanted to see The Rock feud with Cena, he'd have to be the champ going into 'Mania. If Cena was a heel champ, The Rock could say how he hates how Cena turned on the fans, that we need a real people's champ and that's he's going to take the belt back to the people or something. It'd be an epic encounter and great for business; you have a WWE legend/celebrity going up against the current top guy (who's pretty known in the media himself). I don't know anyone that wouldn't want to see that, so the WWE would get a ton of money/exposure out of this if it happened.

But as I said, a celeb winning the rumble is a bad idea. Having them participate once in a while (ex. Drew Carey) and not doing much is fine, but they should never EVER win one.

 

[The_Phoenix]

That would depend on the celebrity. Someone like David Arquette? Hell no. Floyd Mayweather, maybe. Honestly, and this is far beyond a stretch, but I could buy an MMA fighter winning if Vinnie could pull that sort of thing off. But it'd have to be a well known name with a flair for entertainment. Someone like a Rampage Jackson, that's the first name that comes to mind.

Outside the realm of contact sports, I really don't see many celebrities that could sell it and make us believe it's a legit win. Unless it's Dwayne Johnson....oh....wait.......

 

[codatious99]

I will have to say NO! McMahon won it once, thats enough of non wwe roster winners. The RR should be a place where a rising star gets the "chance of a life time" to main event the biggest show of em all. I also hated when Cena won and used his shot before WM.... bad move. To me the RR is my fav ppv, and doesn't need anything more than what it already has.

 

[Mr. TM]

Doesn't matter if they are an athlete, a rock star, or a movie star. WWE fans would tear apart anyone who won one of the biggest events of the year for the WWE. Heck, it is possible that it could happen, WWE has been putting celebrities in the main event of Raw weekly now, so what is to stop them? Maybe they don't want to run down that path again. They are alright with making Big Show job out, or Jericho look like a bitch to celebrities, but only at Mania.

 

[ccotreau1]

Honestly I can see Jericho winning it...Granted hes a WWE wrestler, but he also has his band, so not only is he big in the wrestling world, hes known to the non-wrestling fans because of his music. Outside of Jericho, the only non-WWE person I would like to see win it would be someone like a Randy Couture. Great MMA fighter.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

No. This would be a terrible idea. The Royal Rumble is where the road to Wrestlemania starts, and who ever wins the Royal Rumble is usually in the main event at Wrestlemania. Winning the Rumble should be something reserved for a wrestler who has earned that spot or is going to build up as one of the future stars of WWE. Besides, I couldn't imagine a non wrestler main eventing Mania, it would be ridiculous. Does any one remember Lawrence Taylor VS Bam Bam Bigelow at Wrestlemania XI? IT was a horrible match.

Celebrities in wrestling aren't always a good thing. The DDP/Karl Malone VS Hogan/Rodman match gained tons of press, but the match was horrible. While WCW did gain some mainstream press and spotlight for a little while, it's not like this match is remembered as a classic or a moment that helped make wrestling become accepted by mainstream media, no, it's just become forgotten over the years. A celebrity winning the Rumble wouldn't help WWE with the media at all. They would just continue to mock and bash pro wrestling as they always do.

 

[The Doctor]

To put it simply: HELL NO.

I don't care if it's Mike Tyson, Shaquille O'Neal, or Mickey Rourke as Randy "The Ram" Robinson, anyone not named Dwayne Johnson would be despised like no tomorrow. The Rumble is one of the best events of the year, and having a celebrity win it would be just terrible.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind a celebrity IN the Rumble, especially if it's someone who can look credible, and I love me some celebrity involvement from time to time (I would love to see Shaq and Show faceoff), but something like this would be ridiculous.

There is no way anyone would "Accept" a celebrity winning. No way at all. The Rumble is supposed to solidify main eventers or make new stars, not be a cheap way to start a champion/celebrity feud where the celebrity will leave the company forever once the feud is over.

 

[Tainted Meat]

Yeah! I'd love to see it. I'm so sick of being able to point to who's going to win every year, down to 5 or 6 names. I'd love to see Shaq do it, or someone who's in shape and can make the win look believable, but Hell, I'd buy it with Seth Green if the proper story was written to explain it. There's no reason to shit all over the idea, especially since the winner of the Rumble could lose that shot the very next night. I'd truly love to see the WWE writers & bookers get more creative with the booking. The key is to not keep that Rumble winner dominant and better than the wrestlers in the post-Rumble aftermath...

 

[shafe_41]

Yeah, just like we accepted Master P and the "No Limit Crew" in WCW, just like David Arquette was an acceptable WCW Champion, and just like Jay Leno in WCW was acceptable. Also let me add just like Kevin Federline wrestling a match and beating John Cena CLEAN was acceptable. Are you actually ******ed? Do you want to see the WWE go into a plunge in the world's largest toilet? Are you wanting to see them out of business? Do you want all their fans to turn on them? I don't care if Jimi Hendrix, 2 Pac, Kurt Cobain, Michael Jackson, Walter Payton, Reggie White, or Sean Taylor all came back from the dead and were in the Rumble. That is the GD worst idea I've ever heard in the entire history of these boards. The magnitude of superfail is just spewing out of this god awful idea. You should seriously consider never posting again.

 

[Triple K]

No. For one, no celeb is believable enough that I can name off the top of my head. Also, it's just taking away a real wrestler's chance of being in the Main event of Mania. I'm not opposed to celebs being in the Rumble, but they shouldn't win. They wouldn't be around for the long run, so really, it would be stupid.

 

[mister_b1LL]

Celebrities should never win the Royal Rumble. I don't mind a celebrity IN the Rumble though. I thought it was funny to see Drew Carey in the Rumble that one year, especially when he tried to bribe Kane not to kick his ass. It helps add to the unpredictability factor and adds a lot more fun to the Rumble, not to say it isn't unpredictable or fun now.

I treat athletes and celebrities differently, and I say that professional athletes I actually am for winning the rumble. But it definitely has to be the right one. A guy like Randy Couture or Mike Tyson would be good. Shoot Barry Bonds could probably make his Rumble win look good.

If a Survivor Series type match will still be done in November, I would be all for a Survivor Series type match being won by a celebrity. But it has to be severely low on the card and not involve any main eventers.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Hell no. I haven't read any of the other posts on this thread yet so I don't know how much of this has already been said by others, I just had to respond quickly.

Having a celebrity win the Royal Rumble would be analagous to David Arquette winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. All it would succeed in accomplishing is make every single wrestler on the WWE roster look bad and cause the Royal Rumble to lose any and all meaning. The Royal Rumble is seen as the first step on the road to WrestleMania and winning the Rumble gives you a shot at a world championship at WM. From any standpoint I can think of, it has shitacular written all over it. Seriously, thinking about it right now is making my stomach churn like a Maytag on the rinse cycle.

Say whatever you like about Vince McMahon. He's an egomaniac, he's an asshole, he's the devil incarnate, whatever but Vince McMahon would NEVER cheapen his product to such a degree as to have a celebrity win one of the single biggest matches the WWE has throughout its entire year.

 

[Davi323]

Unless that celebrity was Dwayne Johnson...that is the only celeb I think I would ever tolerate winning the Rumble, and only because he is a former wrestler, and only if he intended to return to wrestling full time. Under no circumstances would I accept a David Arquette type situation, certainly not with a Wrestlemania main event title match going to the winner. A celeb winning also affects wrestlemania, and messing with wrestlemania is just not cool.

 

[Schizophrenic]

No, no, no, no and.....no! As for all the reasons stated previously. Anyone winning it aside from a wrestler would be a bad idea. I do want to comment on people saying that Mayweather could be a possibility.....WHAT?! The guy is barely taller than Hornswoggle and weighs as much as Colin Delaney. Any of the guys could easily pick him up and just drop him over the rope. I'm still sore from that bs of a "match" he had with Big Show. Although I would still enjoy watching his "boys" getting their ass kicked again by the wrestlers. Like someone stated IF a celebrity HAD to win it, Rock hands down.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Well personally, I'd HATE to see that happen. This is the next thing to a random celebrity winning one of the top titles *cough*Arquette*cough*, and maybe not even close behind, considering that winning the rumble technically guarantees you a spot in the Main Event of Wrestlemania, which is, for most wrestlers, the be all-end all of their careers; pretty much everyone involved with wrestling in some capacity over the past 25 years has worked for pretty much little else than "headlining Wrestlemania".

Now agreed, Wrestlemania has always been about wrestlers interacting with more mainstream celebrities - that began with Wrestlemania 1, and has been like that until recent years. But the Royal Rumble aspect of Wrestlemania - ever since the Rumble was introduced as a "free ticket" to WM - has always been a focal point of the "purely wrestling" aspect of Wrestlemania, and less about the "mainstream entertainment" aspect. So I agree - Rumble winners should be wrestlers.

However, the only way I see that COULD be possible in order to have a celebrity win the Rumble would be a cenario of the like: A top face star - right now supposedly John Cena, as an example - is somehow injured shortly before his entry into the Rumble by a top heel. So we see a segment were the celebrity in question (who should be a tremendously, universally popular figure himself) - who should in the best case scenario at least be an athlete of some sort to make it seem at least a little possible - finds Cena backstage, only half-conscious after the assault. Then Cena asks him to make a deal: He will give him his Rumble ticket, if the celebrity enters on Cena's behalf - and if he wins, Cena will get his shot at WM. So the celebrity enters at number 30, most logically; somehow stays out of trouble while the big stars take care of each other (since they consider the celebrity not be be a real threat anyway), and then in the finishing moments, the celebrity somehow manages to upset the last participant(s), and wins the Rumble in Cena's stead, preserving his chance to go to WM to face the champion (who was most likely the heel that attacked him in the first place).

This is really the only cenario I could picture right now that might make it seem possible for a celebrity to win the Rumble, but hand to heart, I sure as hell wouldn't wanna see this, as I think there are tons of other possibilities to somehow involve celebrities in the Wrestlemania process without having to sacrifice the prestige of one of the biggest victories a wrestler can win over the course of his career in the form of the Royal Rumble victory (which, ultimately, is about as much as a testimony and "seal of approval" to a superstar that WWE will give, since a Rumble win basically states that "Yes, we see you as one of our top elite guys who can draw and will put asses in seats at Wrestlemania if he is in the main event, fighting for the gold"; it may even mean more than a more "random" title win throughout the year by a MITB cash-in or a title win at any other PPV, since Wrestlemania is just considered that one notch more above the rest). So I really hope WWE never goes this way.

On a side note, The Rock in the role of this celebrity would obviously work right now; either as a "placeholder" (in the cenario I depicted above), or of course as someone who would go to Wrestlemania himself, since people would of course buy into The Rock (who is still in a realistic age for a wrestler, and in very good shape) suddenly coming out of nowhere and winning it. And actually - that would be probably the single biggest markout moment the entire wrestling community could have right now. Of course it would have to be for a REALLY huge match - for example John Cena (c) vs The Rock at WM... but imagine Rumble entry #30, suddenly we hear "If you smeeeeell...", and then The Rock proceeds to win and return for "one more match" at Wrestlemania... Now THAT would of course work. But this is one of the least likely cenarios to happen unfortunately, so the remainder of the options for "celebrity winning the RR" is not nearly anywhere as attractive.

 

[bioshock]

No No and NO. You forget in the outside words it doesn't amount to a hill of beans that a Celeb wins the Rumble or just shows up on Raw, to the TMZ and the rest of the hollywood world it doesn't mean anything.

You think it would be any different if Brad Pitt was on Raw in a match or if he won the Royal Rumble? Would be no difference nor any more press given or any more media attention. The Royal Rumble as big as it is in wrestling is not like the NFL playoffs, Superbowl or something like Idol watched by millions on top of millions.

So no, it would only hurt wrestling, and they wouldn't get any more press from it as they would from being a host on Raw.

But like your question goes.. Who would I pick? I wouldn't pick any current celeb because I don't think they could sell it, due to their being no Arnold/Stallone type well built actors in body building, I'd just go with a sports star. My best pick would be Terrell Owens, he has a perfect build to be a wrestler, has his own tv show, hes very athletic, good on the mic, and a real smart guy, in fact I think he would make a great wrestler if he wanted to. Plus he could bring alot of attention to it. But if I didn't pick him, I;d take Shaq hands down. Everyone knows he could make a good wrestler (Big Show wise).

 

[razerp]

A few years back Wesley Snipes mighta been a feasible Celeb Rumble winner.. fairly big name star, and he is a trained martial artist, in some mma kinda styles.
Purely for the perpetuation of the joke Chuck Norris

Now, aside from Shaq and the Rock and Tyson (really outside) the biggest celeb i can think of that MAY be a viable option is will Smith.. the guy is a huge star, is a decent size, funny as hell.. who wouldnt wanna see Will n the Rock/Jericho mouthing off at each other.

The most realistic "celeb" RR winner would have to be a MMA guy though.

 

[Dan E. Inferno]

No, it just wouldn't work and wouldn't be accepted by the vast majority of WWE fans. I don't mind the occassional celebrity appearing in the WWE, especially if it's an athlete like Mayweather or Shaquille O'Neal , but winning the Royal Rumble would be too much. The Royal Rumble is an important tool in the built to Wrestlemania, more specifically the Wrestlemania main event, and a celebrity winning would hinder that. Even if some story was created that prevented the celebrity from main eventing Wrestlemania, it would have taken the opportunity away from another wrestler.

As we are seeing with Edge at the moment and as we've seen several times over the past few years, the decision of what championship the Royal Rumble winner challenges for is a big part of the Wrestlemania build up. A celebrity winning the Rumble takes this away. On the other hand, a celebrity taking part in the Rumble could be quite good. For example, Shaq eliminating Big Show or something like that, but a celebrity should never win the Rumble.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Purely for the perpetuation of the joke Chuck Norris

"Chuck Norris enters the Royal Rumble... at #31."

Sorry, couldn't resist...

On a more serious note though, I think someone mentioned above that the Rumble really only means so much to wrestling fans, but not to the "outside world"; I think that's exactly the point why a celebrity winning it would not any more sense than including that celebrity in some other form or fashion in a storyline (even one surrounding the top title) for Wrestlemania.

For wrestling fans, the Royal Rumble is a very important event, and a win of the RR is, as said, one of the most prestigious ones any wrestler can achieve. But for someone who will watch the Rumble (or the ensuing Wrestlemania) only because some celebrity he likes is involved will never be able to fully appreciate the significance a Rumble win would have for a "true" wrestling fan.

For us, this means that the guy we're seeing could be considered the future top star of the entire business (since WWE simply IS the measuring stick of the entire wrestling business), but to the occasional watcher who is drawn in by the appearance of some actor or musician he likes will just think: "Oh, nice... he won a match. Good for him."

I guess that's really the problem we as wrestling fans would have with a celebrity winning the Rumble, or winning a title - in the secluded para-reality that is pro wrestling, such victories really mean a lot to the people who care to watch the product on a longer basis. But for everyone else, it would never mean that much; it's like some team winning a championship in a sport that you don't care about at all; you will probably acknowledge it, especially if it's some "underdog" team winning surprisingly, but you'll never waste a second thought on it - with the sole difference that in wrestling, the victories are predetermined, and thus even such an "upset" victory, if it was one, is not genuinely possible.

 

[SickJames]

I'm not against it IF it's the right guy.

Not only that, it's actually really not something that people can legitimately complain about as far as the match goes because anyone truly can eliminate anyone so the argument that it's unbelievable goes out the window as long as Verne Troyer or someone his size isnt the winner

but really if Floyd Mayweather really wanted to come to WWE as he once said for a fulltime run I'd see him winning and facing Triple H or someone maybe someone who has a boxing or some fighting background, maybe CM Punk


Everyone will have their own opinions on who that should be, but if I had to pick one celebrity of all the ones we have right now to win a Royal Rumble it would be:


Mark Wahlberg, maybe in his movie gimmick from Max Payne, I liked that. But in general I like this guy in action movies.


The kind of feud I'd book would be a cocky celebrity as a heel coming in spitting on wrestling and disrespecting it as a whole that even heel wrestlers hate him vs the face wrestler who has the crowd behind him to shut the celebrity up, infact they could even take it to the point of having the celeb talk about wrestling how the IWC does or something but they'd figure something out




Yes it would be a good thing it'd bring lots more attention to WrestleMania and the fans of that celebrity would tune in


Though on a side note, I have personally always wanted to see 50 Cent come in and have a match with someone, HHH, John Cena, anyone big.

And for some reason I'd like to see Will Smith step into the ring against The Rock. I just do.


So maybe I could have one of them two winning a Royal Rumble if it meant a return to the ring and a square off between celebrity & legend

and on a final note Adam Sandler would be funny, almost makes me push toward either a comic cause they have charisma to work the mic or a action flick badass



The last person I can think of as a good choice is Steven Seagal, he's always kickin ass


so there ya have it



(for everyone who said The Rock, I'd like to see it too but since he's a former wrestler and legend FIRST it's not the same imo as what the OP is referring to. It simply isnt the same and to be honest wrestlers are celebrities really so for the record I think we should stick to non-wrestling celebs, so no one who's been involved as a wrestler before)

 

[Twanfusco]

Provisionally I'd say it wouldn't work, that being said, all this crap about how it should be used to push young stars is just silly. Creative have 52 weeks in a year every year to push someone so they could do that easy enough anytime if they would just put the long term work in. Many posters say it wouldn't work and they make good points but I think if it was the payoff to a long storyline where maybe a celebrity becomes permanent gm, has vickie heat and does a vince and wins by cheating, it could work, they wouldn't have to go onto wrestlemania and they could be involved in a storyline with 2 other superstars, helping push them to wrestlemania, again like vince did with the rock and Austin. It would have to be someone who can act, show emotion, have a real connection with the fans and know how to tell a story, and also maybe be disliked to start with anyway. I confess I can't think of anyone but my point is, anything could work if you gave it a chance. If vickie G was male and could go a little bit, imagine if she/he made themselves number 30 at the peak of her time in wwe and won it, place would go nuts and the storyline before and following the rumble would be very interesting. Of course vickie ain't a celeb but for a non wrestler she gained heat very fast, they could do the same with a celeb if they really wanted to, long term.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Sorry but I have to say NO! The guest host concept is bad enough. We watch wrestling to see wrestlers, not some random celebrity trying to promote their own product. The wrestlers are out their trying to put on a show for us, they deserve to win it, not a celebrity. The winner of the Royal Rumble goes on to main event Wrestlemania. Think about what that would mean. "WWE Champion VS Random Celebrity" OMG that would be the worst main event in Wrestlemania history. Even the WWE shareholders, as Sidious calls them, would be ashamed of watching that. I'd rather see Braden Walker VS Hornswoggle main event Wrestlemania before seeing an annoying celebrity who has nothing to do with wrestling main eventing it.

Publicity shouldn't be an issue. So what if celebrity involvement gets them a little publicity? Is that worth tarnishing the legacy of the most important time of the year for WWE? I will use the same argument against publicity here that I do against the guest hosts' publicity argument. WWE wouldn't NEED publicity if they built up their own stars more, the celebrities make things WORSE. Non-wrestlers should NEVER main event Wrestlemania. Remember the main event of Wrestlemania 11? Exactly. That's why celebrity involvement should be limited to an undercard match, preferably no match at all.... and they absolutely should not be in the Rumble, unless it's The Rock, and even then he shouldn't win it because the wrestlers should always win at THEIR show.

If I absolutely HAD to pick a celebrity to win then it would be The Rock because then he could breifly come back to do a dream feud against Cena at Wrestlemania, that would be good publicity and someone who used to be a wrestler would be winning it rather than an annoying celebrity.... However, I'd rather Cena win and The Rock just happened to BE THERE rather than win the Rumble itself, then we'd still get the feud and no celebrity would win the Rumble. I still think that this is a bad idea though and I would riot if a celebrity ever won the Royal Rumble, luckily the chances of that happening are extremely low.