Why Are Wrestlers Appearing In Sharknado? Because Of Course They Are!
Marilee Gallagher looks at the strange relationship between professional wrestling and Sharknado.

When the first Sharknado premiered on July 11, 2013, the film gained almost an instant cult following because of just how ridiculous and cheesy it was. Syfy’s answer to Discovery Channel’s highly popular “Shark Week,” featured Tara Reid and Ian Zierling fighting cyclones made up of sharks, which were appropriately named, sharknadoes.
Four years and four sequels later and this husband and wife duo are still fighting sharknadoes in even more ludicrous and insane fashion than before. The films have become parodies of themselves with more self-referencing gags than one may have thought possible, but the fans don’t seem to care because like a trainwreck, for whatever reason, you just can’t look away.
The series of films is “so bad its good” and for that reason its hard to believe that the creators ever thought there would be a second and a third and most recently, a fifth installment in the Sharknado saga. Not to mention a spin-off, video game, and social media presence that rivals even the biggest box office films today.
As it turns out, people seem to really like the four things that make these movies so horrible and yet so fantastic at the same time: sharks, natural disasters, sharks inside of natural disasters, and of course, an obscene amount of celebrity cameos.
Dating back to Sharknado 2: The Second One, there have been close to 30 or more celebrity appearances in each of the Sharknado films. And they run the gamut. B-List celebrities, TV personalities, Hollywood actors and actresses both past and present, musicians, and more, have appeared in these movies. Many of them have met their fates at the hands of the sharknadoes, proving no one, not even George R.R. Martin or Lou Ferrigno, are safe from the shark-based phenomena.
Interestingly enough, there has also been another group of celebrities that have made their mark known in these films: the professional wrestlers.
Starting with Kurt Angle in The Second One, Chris Jericho and Maryse in Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!, Seth Rollins in Sharknado: The 4th Awakens and John Morrison (now Johnny Mundo) most recently in, Sharknado 5: Global Swarming, at least one former or current WWE wrestler has appeared in each of the last four films.
There doesn’t seem to be any logical reason why professional wrestler cameos have become staples of the Sharknado series. An argument could be made for the fact that the movies are produced by NBC-Universal, which owns the SyFy network, and the USA Network, which has aired Monday Night Raw since its inception. However, at the time of his cameo, Angle was with TNA, Jericho and Maryse were semi-retired and Morrison was working for AAA/Lucha Underground. Only Rollins was an active member of the WWE when he helped save America from the sharks.
Maybe it’s just a coincidence that each of the last four films have featured at least one professional wrestler. But even so, it’s a coincidence that has seemingly become a tradition and you can bet that this time next year, fans will be talking about the (insert wrestler name here; perhaps Braun Strowman if WWE’s recent poll comes to reality), whose cameo stole both the screens and their hearts.
Kurt Angle — Sharknado 2: The Second One
Kurt Angle’s cameo as the unnamed chief of the New York City Fire Department, was brief and unfortunately did not feature the Olympic wrestler getting to fight off any sharks. He was however there to look on in awe at the movie’s climactic end, which saw Fin (Ian Zierling) climb to the top of the Empire State Building and cut a shark in half. Yep, it’s true, it’s damn true.
Chris Jericho — Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!
More often than not, the celebrities making cameos in these films are there to do one thing: spend a few brief moments on screen before dying a glorious and hilarious death. This is exactly the role that Chris Jericho played and played to perfection in his turn as roller coaster operator, Bruce.
Unable to convince Fin and April (Tara Reid) to make their way to safety, Jericho was attacked by a shark as it landed on the roller coaster tracks. Both Fin and April made it out alive but Bruce wasn’t so lucky. That being said, his was one of the better deaths of the movie as Jericho sold it in a way that would have made Shawn Michaels proud.
Maryse — Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!
Among the cameos of her male colleagues, Maryse is spotted briefly in the third Sharknado, working as a police guard at the White House. Unwilling to let Fin get through at first, Maryse pulls a gun and almost shoots the movie’s hero, before White House Chief of Staff, Gary Martin Hayes, played by Bill Engvall, tells the guards to let the man through.
Seth Rollins — Sharknado: The 4th Awakens
As AstroTech Lopez (get it, get it?), Seth Rollins works for the company that has created the formula to stop sharknadoes. In his scene, there is a sharknado headed for Mount Rushmore and while he disappointingly does not actually “superkick that storm into the dark ages,” as he promises, the formula that Rollins places in one of the AstroTech machines does stop the sharknado from destroying George Washington’s head.
John Morrison/Johnny Mundo — Sharknado 5: Global Swarming

While Jericho undoubtedly had the best death scene of the wrestlers, John Morrison had the best cameo, because he is the first one who has actually gotten to fight a shark.
Credited as Rodolfo, Morrison pops up when Fin and April find themselves transported to Brazil. He takes a selfie with the fighting heroes before telling them he was sent by their friend Nova (Cassie Scerbo). Morrison’s best scene however comes a bit later when he is seen flipping over a shark and punching another one, before bodyslamming it to the ground. Morrison kips up and then asks, “Who else wants to go to Slamtown?” before he is presumably killed by three other sharks.
Sound off in the comments. Which professional wrestler, past or present, would you like to see appear in the next Sharknado?
