WWE WrestleMania 38: How WWE has utilised celebrities at the biggest show of the year

When it comes to WWE, there are no brighter lights than those of WrestleMania. 

The Grandest Stage of Them All, The Show of Shows, The Showcase of the Immortals, it’s a brand that has become almost as big as WWE itself. It’s a spectacle that could only be compared to that of Hollywood and all the grandeur that comes with it, so it’s no coincidence that the two industries merge when WrestleMania comes rolling around. 

The relationship between WWE and celebrity is a hallmark of WrestleMania and will continue this weekend when both Jackass star Johnny Knoxville, and social media influencer Logan Paul compete in matches as part of the event’s festivities. It’s a relationship that started at the very infancy of the show, when Vince McMahon sort to sprinkle some well-known household names to his new ‘wrasslin’ event, WrestleMania. 

The year is 1985 and in a bid bring wrestling to the mainstream and introduce the world to ‘sports entertainment’ Vince McMahon and his WWE (or WWF as it was at the time) hosted an event called WrestleMania. McMahon had taken over the company from his father, and slowly swallowed-up all the old-school wrestling territories to create one market leader, where the only real competition came from Jim Crockett promotions – later known as WCW. 

As a way of putting it to his competition, who had had established ‘Starrcade’ as their premier event, McMahon created WrestleMania as a bigger, bolder alternative and his plans included bursting out of the wrestling bubble. Vince would team-up with MTV to cross-promote WWE and it led to two specials broadcast on the channel, The Brawl to End It All in 1984 and The War to Settle the Score a year later. Both of which saw big names from the music world involved in