10 Most Outrageous Pro Wrestling Entrances

Wrestling is as much about showmanship and spectacle as it is about simulated combat.

The first opportunity for theatrics presents itself before the bell has sounded when pro wrestlers make their entrances. A lot of entrances are, in their own way, somewhat over the top, but the following are extravagant even within the flexible parameters of sports entertainment.

Whether dangerous, elaborate, politically controversial or unintentionally hilarious, they prove that there really are no limits when it comes to creativity (or stupidity) in this wonderful and wacky world.

These are the 10 most outrageous pro wrestling entrances.

10. Big Josh - WCW SuperBrawl I

There is a long history of using bears in professional wrestling.

While the practice of wrestlers actually ‘wrestling’ bears – which was a big attraction in promotions like, for example, Stu Hart’s Stampede – was pretty much gone by the early 1990s, WCW decided to bring two of the large and very unpredictable animals into the mix for an unconventional entrance.

Accompanying fun-loving lumberjack Big Josh for his bout with Black Bart at SuperBrawl I, the bears were muzzled and closely tailed by their handler, but them just being in an arena full of people (not to mention loud music and pyrotechnics) was just asking for trouble.

They ended up urinating all the way down the ramp.

The brainchild of Dusty Rhodes – who wanted to do something unique to get his buddy over – it was obviously impractical and they only ever did it the one time.

Incredibly, this wasn’t even the weirdest entrance at SuperBrawl I.

9. Oz - WCW SuperBrawl I

Up there with the absolutely most inane ideas from WCW in the 1990s was the character of Oz, inspired by the great and powerful wizard.

The rights to the movie version of The Wizard of Oz were owned by WCW parent company Turner Broadcasting, presenting a glorious opportunity for a bit of cross-promotional corporate synergy.

The unlucky Kevin Nash – who was probably looking back longingly at his days as Master Blaster Steel – was chosen to portray the silver-haired Oz, making his grand debut in the guise at the first SuperBrawl.

Accompanied by The Grand Wizard (AKA Kevin Sullivan in a dodgy mask and wig), Oz came out of a ‘castle’ and garbled something that seemed to scare away Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow as two weak sparklers, some green lighting and a puff of smoke heralded his arrival.

The presentation would probably get a bad review from your local newspaper if it took place in a primary school play. Nash then unmasked to round off the humiliation.

8. Brock Lesnar - WWE SummerSlam 2022

WWE superstars have driven a wide variety of vehicles to the ring in the past.

We’ve had motorcycles, low riders, lawnmowers, golf carts, limousines and Zamboni’s take wrestlers from the locker room to ringside. But only one man has gotten behind the wheel of a goddam tractor.

Brock Lesnar grew up on a dairy farm in Webster, South Dakota, so he’s no stranger to operating heavy machinery. Even now as a world-famous and exceptionally wealthy multi-sport athlete, the Beast Incarnate owns and operates his own farm in Saskatchewan.

’Cowboy Brock’ drove his big red tractor to the ring for his Last Man Standing showdown with Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns at SummerSlam 2022.

Not only did he manage to navigate the narrow, winding entrance way with precision, but he used the tractor during the course of the match, first leaping off it to get a jumpstart on his opponent, then using the front-loader to drop The Tribal Chief into the ring before, finally, attempting to flip the ring over.

7. The Great Muta - HUSTLE Aid 2007

HUSTLE was certainly a bonkers promotion with bonkers shows, such as their 2007 HUSTLE Aid show, for example, which featured a tag team called the Super Flying Vampires, the infamous Razor Ramon Hard Gay and a saucy lady called Yingling the Erotic Terrorist.

Yingling teamed up with Tajiri to take on a bloke called RG (which stands for ‘Real Gay’) and The Great Muta, who was being held captive in a lamp.

Muta wouldn’t be bottled up for too long, as RG threw the lamp into a hole in the entranceway, setting off much smoke and green lightning. When it settled back down, Keiji Muto’s alter-ego stood there, primed and ready for battle.

An absolutely ridiculous – and ridiculously good – entrance from one of the strangest companies that ever existed.

6. Ric Flair & Charlotte Flair - WCW Great American Bash 1985 & 1986 + WrestleMania 35

It’s fair to say that the professional wrestling entrance has evolved significantly since the mid-1980’s, when the best you could ask for was a pulsating guitar riff and enough flashbulbs to blind an owl.

Long before the ‘special’ entrance became a regular occurrence, NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair styled and profiled his way to the ring at the 1985 and 1986 Great American Bashes.

Prior to his title defences against Nikkita Koloff and Ricky Morton at the American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Nature Boy boarded a helicopter and asked the pilot to take him to the ring. It was a spectacular entrance that totally fit his character and was certainly novel for the time.

By the time Ric’s daughter Charlotte was due to make history as one third of the first all-female main event in WrestleMania history, it had been a while since anyone had took a helicopter ride to a stadium.

It wasn’t her idea to recreate it and she only found out about it days beforehand, but it was a fitting tribute to her father and suitably grandiose for the Grandest Stage of Them All

5. Triple H & Stephanie McMahon - WWE WrestleMania 33

When it comes to outrageous entrances at the Showcase of the Immortals, Triple H is hard to beat. Hunter has made a habit of coming out for his matches in offbeat ways, from his Thor-inspired entrance at WrestleMania 22 to his King of Kings emergence at ‘Mania 30.

The most outrageous of the bunch, however, is the entrance he and his wife Stephanie made for his grudge match with Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 33. Trailing a police escort, the corporate power couple came out riding a frankly ludicrous trike and decked out in leather.

The whole charade was like a married pair’s midlife crisis come to life. We know wrestling is all about suspending disbelief and all that, but the way they played it all straight and without a hint or irony was just a little too much for us.

4. Scott Steiner - WCW Nitro

While early 1990s WCW was full of rubbish ideas, the company in 2000 was full of positively unsafe ones. Like letting Scott Steiner, himself acting a bit like a wild animal at the time, make his entrance for the October 23 episode of Nitro with an actual tiger.

As Tony Schiavone mentioned on commentary, the big cat really didn’t want to be there. Which was bad news, since it was accompanied by a sole handler and a rather flimsy-looking leash.

So…why did Big Poppa Pump randomly come to the ring with a tiger that one time with no explanation? Besides it being, you know, really cool and stuff?

According to the man himself, the feline and his trainer once visited a WCW house show and Steiner became besotted with the animal. He asked WCW management if he could do the entrance and, since everyone backstage was genuinely terrified of him, they didn’t say ‘no’.

Steiner later revealed that a zebra-print-wearing Rey Mysterio almost became the tiger’s dinner when he crouched down to the animal’s eye level, freaking out its handler.

3. Cody Rhodes - AEW Double Or Nothing 2019

At Double or Nothing 2019, Cody Rhodes and his brother Dustin stole AEW’s first-ever pay-per-view with a blood-soaked instant classic.

It was vindication for the Rhodes brothers, having had a WrestleMania dream match snatched away from them four years earlier, after (as Stardust and Goldust) they’d had a stinker at Fastlane.

Perhaps some of that lingering resentment crept into The American Nightmare’s grand entrance here.

In an obvious shot at WWE executive Triple H, Cody took a sledgehammer to a throne styled after the ones the Cerebral Assassin had previously used.

Rhodes later explained that the idea literally came to him in a dream and wasn’t just a shot at Hunter, but also a signal that he – as a then-AEW EVP – was focused on being a wrestler first and foremost.

Anyway, Cody’s big display raised quite a few eyebrows and seemed to signal the start of a rivalry between the two promotions.

2. The Undertaker - WWE Survivor Series 2005

There aren’t many wrestlers in history who have ever had a flare for the theatrical quite like The Undertaker.

The man has rode to the ring on chariots, been accompanied by torch-bearing druids, has glided from the ceiling like a bat, along with various other ways of getting from A to B besides walking very slowly.

The best and most outrageous of the bunch, however, was the entrance he made for his surprise return at the end of the 2005 Survivor Series.

The Phenom was brought out in a casket, which was promptly struck by ‘lightning’, setting it on fire before an angry ‘Taker punched his way out of it en route to beating up the entire SmackDown roster.

He’d been trapped in a casket, which was then set on fire, by Randy Orton and his father ‘Cowboy’ Bob at the previous month’s No Mercy, so he had every right to be a bit miffed.

This was a great cliffhanger to end a pay-per-view on and the sort of barmy special effects show that WWE’s production people excel at.

1. Antonio Inoki - Dream/IGF Fight For Japan 2011

We don't think we're far off when we say that the late Antonio Inoki had a few ‘out there’ ideas in his time.

Fighting Muhammad Ali, promoting shows in North Korea, negotiating for hostages with Iraq, buying one of Fidel Castro’s islands after he became convinced there was buried treasure there, we could go on and on but one of the weirdest moments in Inoki’s on-camera career came at the Dream/IGF Fight for Japan show on New Year’s Eve 2011.

Following a (worked) bout between Josh Barnett and Hideki Suzuki, Inoki was carried from the entrance ramp to the ring on a cross.

He was let down, entered the ring and used a bucket of paint to draw a symbol (while simultaneously cutting a promo), before being interrupted by Tiger Jeet and Tiger Ali Singh, who proceeded to smack him with a kendo stick, only to then stop the beating, apologise, raise Inoki’s hand and give him a kendo stick before leaving the ring.