Greatest Athletes Who Became Famous Wrestlers

From The Rock to Ronda Rousey to The Undertaker, these athletes have taken atypical routes to becoming famous wrestlers.

Greatest Athletes Who Became Famous Wrestlers

Ever since the infancy of pro wrestling, the sport has recruited athletes from other sports that promotions think would translate to the ring. For many years, those other sports usually only consisted of football or amateur wrestling, but in recent years, promotions have used outside-the-box perspectives in looking at athletes from other sports who could be good fits for the squared circle.

These sports can range from rugby to Crossfit to mixed martial arts to even auto racing. If a promoter sees an athlete that they can make money off of, either through wrestling ability or a certain gimmick, then that promoter will exhaust every avenue to do that. Many of the most famous wrestlers in the world got their starts in a sport that had nothing to do with wrestling, showing that there are many roads to wrestling success.

Let's take a look at the most accomplished of those wrestlers as well as the ones with the most unique journeys to the ring. These are the greatest athletes-turned-wrestlers.

30. Lex Luger

Real name: Lawrence Pfohl

Former sport: Football

Career: 7 seasons (1979-85)

Wrestling debut: 1985

Luger played college football at two of the most prestigious programs in Penn State and the University of Miami. He transferred from PSU to The U but was kicked off the team after a series of off-the-field incidents. However, his football career would continue north of the border in the CFL, then a couple of training camp stints with the Packers in the NFL, before wrapping up in the USFL. While in the USFL, Luger was a teammate of Ron Simmons, and the two would later wrestle each other for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

Just three months after his football career came to a close, Luger debuted in the wrestling ring. He would go on to a 20-year career, primarily with NWA/WCW, and was the second Triple Crown winner in WCW history.

29. Braun Strowman

Real name: Adam Scherr

Former sport: Strongman

Career: 4 seasons (2010-13)

Wrestling debut: 2014

As his WWE surname suggests, Strowman has a background in Strongman. But his athletic career started when he played semi-pro football in North Carolina and participated at the 2007 NFL Combine. After not receiving any interest, he then began competing in Strongman and won several regional competitions as well as the 2012 Amateur Strongman Championship.

That then punched his ticket to the 2013 Arnold Strongman Classic, but Strowman finished last out of the 10 competitors. However, his unique look caught the eye of WWE, and he signed a developmental contract with them just days later. Strowman would spend eight years under the WWE umbrella and is a one-time Universal Champion.

28. Tito Santana

Real name: Merced Solis

Former sport: Football

Career: 1 season (1976)

Wrestling debut: 1977

The football program at West Texas State, now known as West Texas A&M, was a pipeline to the squared circle back in the day. Among those former football players who transitioned to wrestling are Dusty Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, Bruiser Brody, Tully Blanchard and Tito Santana.

Santana was one of the few who had somewhat of a pro career after leaving West Texas although he never made it to the NFL. He did, however, spend one season in the CFL with the BC Lions. After one year in Canada, Santana then gave up football, relocated to Florida and began his pro wrestling career. He is best known for his time in WWF, as he and Hulk Hogan were the only wrestlers to compete in each of the first nine WrestleMania events.

27. Riddle

Real name: Matthew Riddle

Former sport: Mixed Martial Arts

Career: 7 years (2008-14)

Wrestling debut: 2015

A high school wrestler, Riddle pinned future UFC champion Jon Jones while at Saratoga Springs in New York. But after losing his wrestling scholarship at East Stroudsburg, he began transitioning to MMA and appeared on The Ultimate Fighter in 2008. He competed in UFC for five years but was best known for having multiple matches overturned after he tested positive for marijuana.

At the end of his MMA run, he also began his pro wrestling career, and his WWE persona doesn’t stray far from his background. There have been various marijuana innuendoes weaved into his character, and he is also one of the few wrestlers to compete barefoot — just as he did in the octagon.

26. Omos

Real name: Jordan Omogbehin

Former sport: Basketball

Career: 3 seasons (2012-15)

Wrestling debut: 2019

Despite standing 7-foot-3 and weighing 315 pounds, Omos never truly used his size to his advantage in college basketball. He played three seasons for USF and Morgan State but never scored more than six points in a game.

However, the world of professional wrestling has been able to take advantage of his size, and he’s become the WWE’s latest giant. He began training in the ring in early 2019 and made his debut a few months later. He was then thrust into a storyline as AJ Styles’ bodyguard, and he’s also bulked up quite a bit, getting his weight up to 400 pounds to help with the pounding in the ring.

25. Brian Pillman

Real name: Brian Pillman

Former sport: Football

Career: 3 seasons (1984-86)

Wrestling debut: 1986

At just 5-foot-10, Pillman was an undersized linebacker who latched onto his hometown Cincinnati Bengals after going undrafted in 1984. His entire career consisted of six games, and afterward, he went to the CFL to play for the Calgary Stampeders. After spending one year with the CFL, Pillman decided to stay in Calgary and trained under legendary Stu Hart, the patriarch of the Hart Family.

Pillman’s wrestling career was relatively brief, lasting just 11 years before his sudden death in 1997. But his career was certainly noteworthy, as he teamed with Steve Austin, was a member of both the Four Horsemen and the Hart Foundation, and developed his memorable Loose Cannon gimmick.

24. Baron Corbin

Real name: Thomas Pestock

Former sport: Boxing, Football

Career: 9 years (2003-11)

Wrestling debut: 2012

While playing football at a Division II school, Corbin also participated in amateur boxing. He was a two-time Golden Gloves regional champion and made it to the quarterfinals of the national championship. On the gridiron, Corbin was an offensive lineman who was able to attend a couple of NFL training camps but never played in a regular season game.

After contemplating his career path for a year, Corbin then decided to try to become a wrestler in 2012, and it’s been his most successful athletic endeavor. As a big man with quick feet, he’s just the type of athlete the WWE loves, and they’ve rewarded Corbin by having him win the U.S. Championship, the King of the Ring and the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.

23. Ridge Holland

Real name: Luke Menzies

Former sport: Rugby League

Career: 11 seasons (2007-17)

Wrestling debut: 2016

After spending a decade in the lower levels of rugby league, Holland began training in the ring. He tried out for WWE in 2016 but wasn’t experienced enough, so he then spent two years on the indie circuit before trying out again in 2018. The second time was the charm, and he made his NXT TV debut just three months after signing.

However, Holland’s wrestling career hasn’t been all peaches and cream, and he’s had a couple of incidents he’d rather forget. At the WWE Day 1 PPV on New Year’s Day 2022, Holland broke his nose mid-match and had to be prematurely removed from the match. Then, two months later, he poorly executed a belly-to-belly suplex on popular wrestler Big E and ended up landing on Big E's head and breaking his neck on the move.

22. JBL

Real name: John Layfield

Former sport: Football

Career: 2 seasons (1990-91)

Wrestling debut: 1992

An offensive lineman at Abilene Christian, JBL joined the Raiders in 1990 as an undrafted rookie free agent. The story goes that one day he left his cowboy boots in the Raiders locker room during training camp and then went to practice. When JBL returned to the locker room, his boots had been filled to the brim with urine! An unknown Raider peed in JBL’s boots, and the Raiders released him shortly thereafter.

He did spend a year in NFL Europe before starting his wrestling career in 1992. No word on if a fellow wrestler has ever filled up JBL’s cowboy boots like a football player once did.

21. Earthquake

Real name: John Tenta

Former sport: Sumo

Career: 2 years (1985-86)

Wrestling debut: 1987

Tenta dabbled in amateur wrestling and football while an undergrad at LSU, but he says competing overseas in sumo was the most arduous thing he’s ever done. At 423 pounds, he was a three-time sumo champion, but the toll the sport takes on one’s body led Tenta to retire after just eight months.

After moving on from sumo, Tenta stayed in Japan and took up Japanese pro wrestling, known as puroresu. He then transitioned to American pro wrestling where he was one of the most recognizable heels of the 1990s.

20. Dana Brooke

Real name: Ashley Sebera

Former sport: Bodybuilding

Career: 7 years (2011-17)

Wrestling debut: 2014

It took Dana Brooke eight years to win her first championship in WWE, but it took her just one year to earn her pro card in bodybuilding. She grew up participating in gymnastics and diving, but injuries led her to give up those sports and transition to fitness competitions. She began competing in amateur shows in 2011, and the following year, she earned her IFBB Pro Card as a fitness competitor.

She would join WWE shortly thereafter but has still participated in bodybuilding contests from time to time, including being a three-time competitor in the Arnold Classic, which is held in her home state of Ohio.

19. Paul Diamond

Real name: Thomas Boric

Former sport: Soccer

Career: 4 seasons (1980-84)

Wrestling debut: 1985

Known under many names during his wrestling career from Paul Diamond to Max Moon to Kato as part of the Orient Express, Thomas Boric would likely have never gotten into wrestling had the soccer league he played in not folded. He played collegiately at Old Dominion before being drafted sixth overall in the 1981 NASL draft. He initially played for the Calgary Boomers before moving onto the Tampa Bay Rowdies, but the league folded in 1984.

There was no MLS or any other major U.S.-based soccer league at the time, so Boric stayed in Tampa and began training in wrestling instead, where he’d go on to have a 23-year career in the sport.

18. Ron Simmons

Real name: Ron Simmons

Former sport: Football

Career: 5 years (1981-85)

Wrestling debut: 1986

In terms of amateur accomplishments, Simmons may be the greatest football player-turned-wrestler in history. He was a two-time All-American at Florida State, received Heisman votes as a nose tackle and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. However, Simmons’ pro career never materialized, as he was a sixth-round NFL draft pick but never played a regular season game in the league. But he did play a few years in the USFL, where he was a teammate of future ring opponent Lex Luger.

He then joined the wrestling ranks right after retiring from football, and in 1992, he became the second African American to win a world heavyweight title when he won WCW’s World Championship. Simmons spent eight years with NWA/WCW and then another eight with WWE before retiring.

17. Ken Patera

Real name: Kenneth Patera

Former sport: Track and Field, Weightlifting, Strongman

Career: 14 years (1964-77)

Wrestling debut: 1972

Even though his two brothers played in the NFL, Patera may have been the best all-around athlete in his family. He was a discus thrower at BYU and even took part in the 1968 Olympic trials in the event. But after not performing up to his own standards, Patera moved onto weightlifting and became the first American to clean and jerk over 500 pounds. He won a gold medal at the Pan American Games but experienced more Olympic disappointment in this sport at the 1972 Games.

So, he quit that sport and moved on to a Strongman career. He finished third in the inaugural World’s Strongest Man contest in 1977 and would later perform many feats of strength in his pro wrestling career. His greatest claim to fame inside the wrestling ring came with the WWF. He was the second-ever WWF Intercontinental Champion after defeating the inaugural champion, Pat Patterson, in 1980.

16. Ernest ‘The Cat’ Miller

Real name: Ernest Miller

Former sport: Karate, Kickboxing, Football

Career: 29 seasons (1974-97, 2011-17)

Wrestling debut: 1997

Miller grew up in Atlanta and played football at Savannah State University. But his biggest athletic achievements came in karate and kickboxing, as he claims he was a champion in both disciplines. In the mid-90s, Miller was a karate instructor in Atlanta when WCW president Eric Bischoff began bringing his son to train under Miller’s tutelage.

Eventually, Bischoff convinced Miller to give pro wrestling a try, and he would be able to incorporate his martial arts expertise into his gimmick. He became known as Ernest “The Cat” Miller and became somewhat of a cult hero as much for his personality as his in-ring skills. Miller also spent a few years in WWE and would compete in martial arts competitions even in his 50s.

15. The Big Show

Real name: Paul Wight

Former sport: Basketball

Career: 3 seasons (1990-93)

Wrestling debut: 1994

Wrestling promotions are known for exaggerating the size of its performers, but Paul Wight measured in at 7-foot-1 and 325 pounds in his lone year at Wichita State. Even with that size advantage, he averaged just 2.0 points and 2.3 rebounds across 22 games. He had more success playing in JUCOs and in Division II but had no pro prospects once his college career ended.

During an informal basketball game in which several WCW personnel were in attendance as part of a promotional event, Wight caught the eye of Hulk Hogan, who then recommended him to WCW’s brass. Twenty-three championships later, Paul “The Big Show” Wight has cemented himself as one of the best big men in pro wrestling history.

14. Hardcore Holly

Real name: Robert Howard

Former sport: Auto Racing

Career: 2 seasons (1992-93)

Wrestling debut: 1987

Holly’s first big break in the wrestling business came as Bob “Spark Plug” Holly in WWF. He had the gimmick of a NASCAR driver, and it turns out, Holly actually had a background in the sport. For many years he worked as a car mechanic, and in 1992, he actually competed in a semi-pro circuit in Alabama. He drove a 1974 Chevy Malibu and placed fifth in the 1992 season before winning the 1993 season.

Holly was also wrestling in smaller promotions at the time, so it was Vince McMahon who tried to pair his real-life wrestling skills with his authentic driving background into Spark Plug Holly.

13. Paul Roma

Real name: Paul Centopani

Former sport: Boxing

Career: 2 years (1991-92)

Wrestling debut: 1984

Perhaps the most inconspicuous member to ever be a part of the Four Horsemen, Roma was known as a tag team wrestler for most of his career. He teamed with Jim Powers in the Young Stallions, then Hercules in Power and Glory, before finally linking up with Paul Orndorff in Pretty Wonderful.

But Roma also had singles competition both in the wrestling ring and the boxing ring. After leaving WWE in 1991, he took part in three matches, winning two and losing one. But the two he won were against novice boxers that never took part in any other matches besides their defeats to Roma. After his short-lived boxing career, Roma then headed to WCW in 1993 where he joined the Four Horsemen to the dismay of many fans and pro wrestling historians.

12. Giant Gonzalez

Real name: Jorge Gonzalez

Former sport: Basketball

Career: 6 seasons (1982-88)

Wrestling debut: 1989

Billed at 8-feet tall in the wrestling world, Gonzalez was actually 7-foot-6, which still makes him the tallest wrestler in pro wrestling history. Given his size, he naturally played basketball in his native Argentina and would be drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the 1988 NBA Draft. He never took part in a regular season game; however, his presence in Atlanta did catch the attention of Hawks owner Ted Turner, who thought his company, WCW, could use someone of Gonzalez’s stature.

He was billed as El Gigante in WCW and then later moved to WWF where he was known as Giant Gonzalez. He had one memorable wrestling feud with the iconic Undertaker, as Gonzalez was one of the early victims of the Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak. Known for having, perhaps, the worst ring gear of all time in WWF, Jorge Gonzalez died from complications from diabetes in 2010.

11. Roman Reigns

Real name: Joe Anoa’i

Former sport: Football

Career: 2 seasons (2007-08)

Wrestling debut: 2010

A three-year defensive line starter at Georgia Tech, Reigns made the 2006 All-ACC First Team alongside players like Calvin Johnson, Matt Ryan and Chris Long. But while those three went onto illustrious NFL careers, Reigns went undrafted and never made it to a regular season NFL roster. He did play a season in the CFL but traded in his cleats for a pair of wrestling boots in 2010.

Since then, he’s become the face of WWE, similarly to his cousin, The Rock, a generation earlier. He is the longest-reigning Universal Champion in company history and has overcome multiple battles with leukemia along the way.

10. Kevin Nash

Real name: Kevin Nash

Former sport: Basketball

Career: 4 seasons (1977-81)

Wrestling debut: 1990

Standing 6-foot-10, Nash naturally gravitated toward basketball in his youth, and he even played in the SEC for three years. He was the starting center for the Tennessee Volunteers team that won a couple of NCAA Tournament games, but he didn’t have many NBA prospects with career averages of 5.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. After college, he briefly played professionally in Europe before enlisting in the Army.

After being stationed in West Germany, Nash returned to the States and decided to give wrestling a try in the late 1980s. Professional wrestling loves size just as much as basketball coaches do, and Nash became one of the greatest big men in history over the following 20 years. He was part of one of the most famous angles and factions in pro wrestling history with the nWo and its invasion storyline. Nash has also dabbled in acting, appearing in films such as "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II," "The Punisher" and the "Magic Mike" franchise.

9. Mark Henry

Real name: Mark Henry

Former sport: Powerlifting, Weightlifting, Strongman

Career: 9 seasons (1990-97, 2002)

Wrestling debut: 1996

The moniker of “World’s Strongest Man” wasn’t just a nickname, as it was 100 percent accurate. Henry set raw world records in both the squat and deadlift, was a two-time U.S. National Champion and competed at the Olympics (1992, 1996). Those accolades got him the attention of the WWF, which signed him to a landmark 10-year contract before he even wrestled his first match.

He had moderate success initially but took time off in 2002 to compete in the inaugural Arnold Strongman Competition. The event, named after Arnold Schwarzenegger, was won by Henry, and when he returned to WWE afterward, he became an even bigger star. He ended up spending 25 years with WWE and became the fourth African American world champion in promotion history.

8. Ernie Ladd

Real name: Ernest Ladd

Former sport: Football

Career: 8 seasons (1961-68)

Wrestling debut: 1961

Ladd’s wrestling career began at the same time he was drafted by both the NFL and the AFL. He chose the latter league where he was a four-time AFL All-Star, all while being a part-time wrestler in the offseason. By the late 1960s, his knees had deteriorated to the point where he could no longer compete in football, but that just meant he could become a full-time wrestler.

Ladd was one of the most hated heels of the 1970s and wrestled all over the country as well as in Puerto Rico. He won over 30 championships and was inducted into both the WWE and WCW Halls of Fame.

7. Randy Savage

Real name: Randy Poffo

Former sport: Baseball

Career: 4 seasons (1971-74)

Wrestling debut: 1973

One of the most charismatic and distinctive wrestlers of all time, Randy “Macho Man” Savage began his athletic career as a baseball player. He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals and spent four years in the minor league system for both the Cards and the Cincinnati Reds. He never got above Single-A ball and hit .254 during his minor league career with 16 home runs and nine RBI.

At the same time he was playing baseball, Savage would wrestle in his father’s local promotions during the baseball offseasons. Part-time wrestling eventually became his full-time job, and after a dozen years in smaller territories, Savage got his big break in 1985 and joined WWF. Savage had what many consider to be the greatest match of all time versus Ricky Steamboat at WrestleMania III, and he would become one of the sport’s biggest stars in the 1980s and ’90s.

6. Bianca Belair

Real name: Bianca Crawford

Former sport: Track and Field, Powerlifting, CrossFit

Career: 9 seasons (2007-15)

Wrestling debut: 2016

Belair had a six-year college career that saw her attend three different universities, all in the SEC. She was a sprinter who specialized in hurdles and then embarked on a CrossFit career after college. WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry noticed her profile on the CrossFit website and invited her to try out for wrestling even though she had no serious plans to get into the business.

However, she quickly fell in love with pro wrestling and signed a contract after two tryouts with WWE. She picked up the business much faster than anyone expected. She would main event WrestleMania 37, which came just one year after making her main roster debut.

5. Goldberg

Real name: Bill Goldberg

Former sport: Football

Career: 6 seasons (1990-95)

Wrestling debut: 1996

Goldberg was an 11th-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Rams in 1990, but he didn’t make his NFL debut until two years later. He spent his first couple of years floating between NFL practice squads and CFL/NFL Europe teams before finally making his debut with the Falcons in 1992. He would play 14 games over the next three games and not make much of an impact. After his football career ended with the Carolina Panthers’ offseason squad in 1995, Goldberg returned to Atlanta, which happened to be the headquarters of WCW. There, he was convinced to transition to wrestling — and the rest is history.

Goldberg had immensely more success in the squared circle than on the gridiron, and his legendary win streak of 173 consecutive victories propelled him into superstardom. Goldberg still wrestles a couple of times a year, even in his mid-50s, and has also made various acting appearances.

4. The Undertaker

Real name: Mark Calaway

Former sport: Basketball

Career: 3 seasons (1983-86)

Wrestling debut: 1987

Throughout his legendary WWE career, the Undertaker was billed as being “6-10-and-a-half” when in reality he stood 6-foot-8. If he had those extra 2.5 inches, then chances are his basketball career would have lasted longer than it did.

The Undertaker played at a Texas JUCO and then at Texas Wesleyan University, which was a Division II school. There aren’t many athletes who make the jump from Division II to the NBA, so after briefly considering going overseas to play professionally, Undertaker decided to switch to wrestling instead. Three years after making his wrestling debut, Mark Calaway joined WWE and became The Undertaker.

3. Ronda Rousey

Real name: Ronda Rousey

Former sport: Judo, Mixed Martial Arts

Career: 12 years (2004-16)

Wrestling debut: 2018

Many people forget that Rousey’s athletic career actually began in judo. She competed in the sport at two Olympic Games, winning a bronze medal in 2008. She then made her first transition, which was to MMA, and she became arguably the most popular UFC fighter in the world at one point. She was the promotion’s first female champion and would later become UFC’s first female Hall of Fame inductee.

But after two losses in the octagon, Rousey lost the desire to compete in MMA and transitioned into pro wrestling. She was a quick learner and immediately shot up to headliner status in WWE, just as she did in UFC. She won the Raw Women’s Title, Women’s Royal Rumble and was part of the first all-female main event match in WrestleMania history.

2. The Rock

Real name: Dwayne Johnson

Former sport: Football

Career: 1 season (1995)

Wrestling debut: 1996

Before he became one of the world’s highest-paid actors and before he became The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was a fringe football player. He won a national championship as a defensive tackle at the University of Miami, but he then tried converting to linebacker in the pros, and that didn’t work out. He couldn’t latch on with an NFL team, so he joined a CFL team’s practice squad, where he was cut two months into the season, thus ending his pro football dream.

Football’s loss was wrestling’s gain, and The Rock became the first third-generation wrestler in WWF/WWE history. He was the first African American world champion in WWF history, which is among his 17 wrestling titles. He also headlined the most-purchased PPV in wrestling history and was voted the Most Charismatic Wrestler a record six times.

1. Kurt Angle

Real name: Kurt Angle

Former sport: Amateur Wrestling

Career: 10 years (1987-96)

Wrestling debut: 1998

Wrestlers transitioning from the amateur/freestyle variety to pro wrestling is becoming more commonplace, but that wasn’t the case in the 1990s. Angle is a two-time NCAA champion and won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics — with a broken neck — before embarking on a career in sports entertainment.

He carried over many of his amateur wrestling techniques to pro wrestling despite initially thinking that professional wrestling was “beneath” him after his accomplishments on the mat. Angle picked up the sports entertainment business quickly and earned praise from his contemporaries, with John Cena calling him “the most gifted all-around performer we have ever had step into a ring.”