From wrestling superstar to Hollywood action tough guy: Dwayne Johnson reached the top, Dave Bautista & John Cena successfully transformed.
The sci-fi giant “Dune” is currently in theaters. The film opened in North America last weekend and won US$40.1 million.
A few days ago, “Dune” officially announced a sequel, and Villeneuve continued to direct.
“Dune” gathered a lot of Hollywood casts.
Among them, the former WWE player, Dave Bautista, who is well-known as the “Destroyer” in Guardians of the Galaxy.
This time, he and director Denis Villeneuve have collaborated again after “Blade Runner 2049”.
Prior to WWE, Bautista was nicknamed “The Beast”.
This time in “Dune” he played the leading general of the Harkonnen family and the number one thug of the villain-“Laban the Beast”.
Although he doesn’t have many roles, his role is crucial.
The sequel to “Dune” scheduled for 2023, Bautista may have more performance if he returns.
Attentive movie fans must be aware that nowadays WWE superstars like Dave Bautista often appear in movies or dramas.
From WWE to Hollywood, from wrestling arena to big screen or screen for cross-border performances.
Among them, they successfully transformed into well-known movie fans, such as Dwayne Johnson, John Cena, and Dave Bautista.
These wrestlers who have achieved certain achievements in the film and television industry today are inseparable from the previous experience of WWE.
Strictly speaking, WWE is not a formal fighting competition, but entertainment-oriented variety shows with story scripts, plot designs, and choreography.
It is full of fun and ornamental, and sometimes requires some improvisation.
So it has certain requirements for the performance of the players.
In 2019, Dwayne Johnson produced and guest starred in a sports biopic “Fighting with My Family”, which unreservedly showed how WWE really works.
As one of the film producers, WWE has frankly unveiled the mystery of professional wrestling to the audience.
In addition, WWE also has its own film production company (WWE Studios).
WWE Studio was founded in 2002 and it invested in a series of films.
Such as “The Marine” series, “12 Rounds” series, “The Condemned” series, “Vendetta” and so on.
Most of them are B-level action movies, each of which is starred by WWE Wrestling Superstars.
Wrestlers who can really fight don’t necessarily become stars, they just do.
Therefore, to become a WWE superstar, you must have superb acting skills.
It is also to be performed, and the vast world of Hollywood has become a “cross-border resort” for their transformation.
As long as they are given a stage and a good script, they will conquer the audience with their sturdy bodies and hard-core explosive power.
However, due to limitations in appearance, WWE players tend to be narrow in their play, and most of them can only act as supporting roles, making cameo appearances as some special actors.
Few of them can choose the leading role as the leading role.
This article selects some of the big guys who have been transferred from WWE wrestlers to their careers, and sorts out their acting experience.
Some of them have a foothold in Hollywood, and some have played some special roles as green leaves.
The muscular hunk is coming!
Dave Bautista
Dave Bautista is well known by the audience, thanks to the “Destroyer” character in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014.
This movie not only changed Dave Bautista’s career, it also changed his life.
What’s interesting is that Dave Bautista, who was previously shown as a wild and violent image in WWE, has become a dull and funny ratio and funny role lacking two ribs in the Marvel universe.
As early as 2010, his contract with WWE officially ended.
Dave Bautista plans to focus on acting. He has starred in “Wrong Side of Town”, “Riddick: Rule the Dark”, “The Scorpion King 3 Battle for Redemption” and other action movies.
But Dave Bautista hasn’t made a big breakthrough, tepid.
Dave Bautista even went bankrupt for a while due to the lack of film appointments.
In the middle, he returned to WWE several times, until he starred in “Guardians of the Galaxy”, Dave Bautista’s career path was only bright.
Since then, relying on Marvel’s accumulated popularity, Dave Bautista subsequently starred in “Spectre”, “Guardians of the Galaxy 2”, “Escape Plan 2: Hades”, “Blade Runner 2049” and other major productions.
In “Blade Runner 2049,” he plays a low-key copy who doesn’t want to cause trouble.
Although Dave Bautista didn’t have many roles, he made a good impression on the director Denis Villeneuve.
Later, he was chosen by the director as “Glossu Rabban” in “Dune”, and he has the second collaboration now.
In April 2019, Dave Bautista announced his official retirement from the sports and entertainment industry.
Dave Bautista revealed in an interview that it was precisely because of the role of Glossu Rabban in “Dune” that he decided to end his wrestling career and devote himself to acting.
In recent years, Dave Bautista’s acting career has become more and more smooth.
This year he starred in “Army Of The Dead”, the current hit “Dune”, and the Apple TV+ American drama “See Season 2”.
Next year, he will have “Thor 4” and “Knives Out‎ 2”, and “Guardians of the Galaxy 3” the next year, almost all major productions.
Although most of the roles that Dave Bautista played in belonged to the role of Green Leaf, his popularity has not yet reached the first line.
But Dave Bautista is definitely another successful person who has moved from WWE to the big screen in recent years.
After all, the box office record set by his “Avengers 4” is beyond the reach of other WWE wrestlers.
Even the soaring popularity of Dwayne Johnson.
Dwayne Johnson
The most successful example of transitioning from WWE to an actor and breaking into Hollywood is none other than Dwayne Johnson.
From Wrestling King to The Scorpion King, to Hollywood’s hottest tough guy hero, Dwayne Johnson has successfully transformed and ranked among the top-tier in Hollywood.
Except for Dwayne Johnson’s own advantages, he cannot do without his persistence and grasp of opportunities.
Since his grandfather and father are both famous wrestlers in the history of WWE, Dwayne Johnson has an amazing athletic talent since childhood.
In 2001, he entered Hollywood and his first film “The Mummy 2” was widely acclaimed.
Although it took less than 10 minutes to show up, the producer liked Dwayne Johnson very much.
Subsequently, Universal launched the “The Mummy” derivative action-adventure film “The Scorpion King” tailored for him.
This is also the first time Dwayne Johnson has played the leading role.
Since then, the name Dwayne Johnson has become well-known in the film industry.
After that, Dwayne Johnson floated in Hollywood for several years without causing much splash.
It wasn’t until 2011 that he starred in “Fast and Furious 5” that helped him gather his popularity.
The FBI detective played by Dwayne Johnson and the “Dominic Toretto” played by Vin Diesel, a strong confrontation between a policeman and a bandit, contributed the most to the film.
His performance is four, plus a biography.
During the period, with the opening of the drama road, Dwayne Johnson has starred in “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island”, “G.I.Joe: Retaliation”, “Jumanji” series and “Rampage” “Skyscraper” and other commercial blockbusters.
Dwayne Johnson gradually established his position as a first-line actor, and he became a Hollywood box office guarantee.
Last year, Dwayne Johnson ranked No. 1 on the Forbes list of the world’s highest-paid actor with an income of $87.5 million.
And this is not the first time he has been named the best actor of the year.
Since Dwayne Johnson left WWE, he has become bald and stronger.
Now his path to acting seems to be open, and blockbuster movies are softened.
This year he starred in Disney’s “Jungle Cruise”, Netflix blockbuster “Red Notice”, and next year, there will be DC’s “Black Adam”.
The announced works include: “San Andreas2”, “Doc Savage”, the restart version of “Big Trouble in Little China” and other films.
Outside of his acting career, it is no secret that Dwayne Johnson wants to run for President of the United States.
Lywood has always had a tradition of acting and performing well in politics.
However, a “big man” presidential candidate like Dwayne Johnson must have never been in history.
John Cena
John Cena, who has attracted countless fans in the WWE arena with integrity, is another wrestler who has successfully transformed into Hollywood actors in addition to Johnson and Bautista.
As early as 2006, John Cena played the leading role in the film “The Marine” produced by WWE, completing the first screen show.
Subsequently, John Cena guest starred in the American drama “Parks and Recreation”, and he completed a large-scale nude show in the movie “Trainwreck” starring Amy Schumer.
Since 2009, John Cena has participated in more and more movies, and he has appeared in “12 Rounds” and other movies one after another.
Later, in the cartoon “Ferdinand”, John Cena showed the audience his super dubbing performance.
It was not until the commercial blockbuster “Bumblebee” in 2018 that John Cena began to enter the field of vision of Chinese movie fans.
He plays a soldier full of justice and responsibility in the film.
This year, John Cena starred in the global action giant “Fast and Furious 9”, filling the vacancy of the big tough guy.
In the film, he and his brother Tang became deadly enemies and started a battle between good and evil.
Prior to this, John Cena played mostly positive images, but this time he challenged the super villain.
In addition, this year he also starred in the DC movie “The Suicide Squad”, playing the role of Peacemaker.
Next year, “Peacemaker” will usher in its own drama, Cena will continue to star.
At the same time, next year John Cena will also have a comedy action film “Project X-traction” co-starred with Jackie Chan.
Hulk Hogan
The conversion of WWE players to Hollywood actors is not new in recent years.
As early as 1982, Hulk Hogan made a cameo appearance in “Rocky III” written and directed by Stallone.
In the film, he played “Thunder Kiss”, a wrestler who played an exhibition match with Rocky. Hulk Hogan, a guest star, once made Stallone suffer.
Because of his size resembling a reduced version of Hulk, Hulk Hogan has the nickname “Hulk”.
Hulk Hogan, born in 1953, has a long wrestling career.
From 1977 to 2012, Hulk Hogan also played against Dwayne Johnson and John Cena later in his career.
He is a superhero legend in the WWE event.
In the 1990s, Hulk Hogan starred in the world-famous American drama “Thunder in Paradise Season 1” series, and the movie “Assault on Devil’s Island” and other action-adventure films.
He has continued to be active on Hollywood screens and screens.
In 2019, foreign media reported that Chris Hemsworth will co-star in “Untitled Hulk Hogan Biopic” with “Joker” director Todd Phillips.
Chris Hemsworth will play Hulk Hogan and plans to wear his iconic beard.
He will even show his bald head to interpret the legendary life of the WWE superstar.
Nathan Jones
The Australian player Nathan Jones in the WWE ring is nicknamed “The Colossus of Borg Road.”
This title refers to the time he spent in Borg Road Prison.
Nathan Jones was jailed for 7 years for robbery and became a Hercules after being released from prison.
Nathan Jones won the world championship after entering WWE in 2002. His life is full of legends.
Nathan Jones is well known by audiences in mainland China for his role as the Russian Hercules in the 2006 movie “Fearless” starring Jet Li.
In the same year, Nathan Jones also participated in the Kung Fu movie “The Protector” and became a major villain professional.
In fact, as early as 1996, Nathan Jones was selected by Jackie Chan as the villain actor of “Police Story 4: First Strike” because of his amazing physique.
In 2004, Nathan Jones participated in the Warner epic blockbuster “Troy”, after which he starred in “Conan the Barbarian” and “Mad Max 4” and other action blockbusters.
In the 2016 fighting action film “Never Back Down 3”, Nathan Jones showed his ring strength.
This year, he has a live action movie “MK3: Domination” adapted from a game.
Paul Wight
Paul Wight is 2.13 meters tall and weighs nearly 400 kg.
Paul Wight suffers from minor gigantism, and he will be the focus no matter where he appears.
In WWE, no wrestler’s height and weight exceed Paul Wight at the same time.
Such a huge figure cross-border as an actor, is destined to only play some special roles.
In 2010, Paul Wight starred in the comedy movie “Knucklehead”, playing a dumb orphan.
In the same year, Paul Wight also starred in a comedy action film “MacGruber”.
In 2015, Paul Wight played a total villain in the B-rated action film “Vendetta” starring in him.
Steve Austin
Steve Austin has won a rare triple crown in the Royal War in the history of WWE.
In 2009 he was elected to the World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame.
Steve Austin is well-known to the audience, since he participated in “The Expendables” written and directed by Stallone in 2010.
Steve Austin’s screen debut was “The Condemned” starring in 2007.
He plays a death row prisoner in the film, fighting with nine other death row prisoners on an isolated island.
His other masterpieces include action films such as “Hunt to Kill”, “Recoil”, “Tactical Force” and “The Package”.
