Celebrities & Other Famous People Who Wrestled

                   Below, you'll find a list of famous people who wrestled.  Some you may have known of like the Baldwin brothers - who were instrumental in bringing back wrestling to SUNY Binghamton, but others even surprised me.  They come from Hollywood, the Military, Washington and even Rap music, but they all share a common thread with you... THEY WRESTLED...

Famous People Who Wrestled

U.S. Presidents : 

Chester Arthur, Calvin Coolidge, Dwight Eisenhower, Ulysses S Grant, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Zachary Taylor, John Tyler, George Washington

U.S. Senate : 

The late John Chafee (former senator Rhode Island), Chuck Hagel (former senator Nebraska), John McCain (Arizona), The Late Paul Wellstone (Minnesota), Al Franken (current senator Minnesota)

U.S. House of Representatives : 

The Late Carl Albert (former Speaker of the House), Dennis Hastert (former Speaker of the House), Greg Ganske (former Congressman from Iowa), Jim Leach (former Congressman from Iowa), Jim Nussle (former Congressman from Iowa)

Secretary of Defense : 

Donald Rumsfeld, Frank Carlucci

White House Staff : 

Ari Fleischer, George Stephanopoulos

Other Politicians : 

Lincoln Chafee (current governor of Rhode Island), Arne Carlson (former governor of Minnesota), Steven Friedman (chief economic advisor under the G.W. Bush administration), Jim Jordan

Actors / Comedians : 

William Baldwin, The Late John Belushi, Steve Buscemi, The Late James Cagney, Tom Cruise, Tony Danza, Kirk Douglas, The Late Chris Farley, Al Franken, The Late Victor French, (TV show Highway to Heaven), PeeWee Herman (Paul Ruebens in HS in Florida), Breck Jamison (formerly of As The World Turns), Harvey Keitel, Ashton Kutcher (That 70s Show), Jay Leno, Mario Lopez, Bill Maher, Howie Mandel, Jay Mohr, The Late Nat Pendleton (1920s Olympic wrestler, 1930s movie actor), Tom Sullivan, Mr. T. (Laurence Turead), Tab Thacker, Vince Vaughn, Tim Van Patten, Robin Williams

Wrestling Commentators : 

Ken Chertow, Dan Gable, Jim Gibbons, Jeff Blatnick, Russ Hellickson, Ken Kraft, Tim Johnson

Adventurers : 

Don Briggs (former University of Northern Iowa assistant coach, now base camp manager at Mt. Everest)

TV Newscasters / Personalities : 

Geraldo Rivera, Andy Rooney

American Heroes : 

Jeremy Glick (aboard United flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001), Charles Moose (Montgomery County Maryland Police Chief – led investigation in Washington DC area sniper shootings October 2002), Tommy Norris (Medal of Honor winner for actions in Vietnam) Prisoner of war in Iraq Pfc. Patrick Miller (wrestled in HS in Park City, Kansas)

American Heroes who Died in service to our Country in the Iraq war : 

Marine Lance Corporal, Brian E. Anderson (wrestled in HS in Durham, NC), Army Corporal Nicholas Arvanitis (Salem HS, New Hampshire), Marine Major Jay Thomas Aubin (killed in a British helicopter crash in Kuwait – wrestled in HS in Skowhegen, Maine), Marine Lance Corporal, Andrew Aviles (wrestled in HS in Tampa), Marine Lance Corporal, Brian Rory Buesing (wrestled in HS in Charlotte County, Florida), Army Captain Douglas Dicenzo (Plymouth HS, New Hampshire, applied to only one college - West Point), Marine Captain Travis Ford (wrestled in HS in Ogalalla, Nebraska), Marine Lance Corporal Dimitrios Gavriel (Timberlane HS, New Hampshire - 1993 NH State Champ, also wrestled for Brown), Army Sgt. Daniel Gionet (Pelhm HS, New Hampshire - multiple award recipient for sportsmanship from coaches and school), 1st Lieutenant Noah Harris (1999 Georgia AAA 189 # State Champion) of Gilmer High School, Ellijay, Georgia, Travis Manion (Doylestown, PA), Marine Sgt. Brian McGinnis (wrestled in HS in St. Georges, Delaware), Marine Lance Corporal Robert Moscillo (Salem HS, New Hampshire), Marine Major Kevin Nave (wrestled in HS in White Lake Township, Mich.), Marine Lance Corporal, Patrick O’Day (wrestled in HS at Santa Rosa, California), Sgt. 1st Class Randy Rehn (wrestled in HS in Longmont, Colorado), Marine Corporal, Randal Kent Rosaker (wrestled in HS in Alamosa, Colorado), Lance Cpl. James Brown (Wrestled at Gibson Southern High School, Fort Branch, Indiana. Killed by sniper fire in Iraq) , SGT Keith Klin

Astronauts / NASA : 

Joe Allen (Astronaut), Michael Collins (Astronaut), Jim Voss (Astronaut), Ronald Dittemore (NASA space shuttle program manager), William Kerslake (NASA scientist)

Musicians : 

The Late Kurt Cobain (Nirvana), Glen Danzig (wrestled as Glen Anzalone), The Late Shannon Hoon (Blind Melon), Maynard James Keenan (Tool), Ludacris, The Late Layne Staley (Alice in Chains), Robin Zander (Cheap Trick), Garth Brooks

Authors : 

Terry Davis (Vision Quest), John Irving (The World According to Garp), The Late Ken Kesey (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), Ron Kovic (Born of the Fourth of July)

Military leaders : 

Denny Benchoff (3-star general), The Late Greg “Pappy” Boyington, General Charles C. Krulak, Rear Admiral, William J. McDaniel, George Patton, Al Rushotz, Retired Gen. Norman Schwartzkopf

Business Leaders : 

Rocky Aoki (Benihana Restaurants), Scott Beck (Boston Market), James Bigger (Nestle), Ben Bishop (Bethlehem Steel), Dan Cathy (Chick-fil-a), John Filer (Aetna), Stephen Friedman (Goldman Sachs), Robert Hannan (Thrift Drug), Henry Kravis (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.), James Macalear (SMS Corp.), Ron McGruder (Olive Garden), Art Martori (Production Farm Management), David Pottruck (Charles Schwab), Edward Rust (State Farm), Arthur Rutzen (Wells Fargo), John Vaughan (Alco Standard)

National Football League : 

Tim Krumrie, Ernie Ladd, Jess Lewis, Ray Lewis, Ronnie Lott, Kirk Loudermilk, Joel Mackovica, Steve Martin, Mickey Marvin, Napoleon McCallum, Mark McDonald, Chris McIntosh, Greg Meisner, Jim Nance, Lorenzo Neal, Stephen Neal, Jeremy Newberry, Chuck Noll, Leo Nomellini, Chuke Nwokoric, Jonathan Ogden, Irv Pankey, David Patten, Bob Pickens, Jim Plunkett, Dave Porter, Mike Pyle, Mike Reid, Eric Rhett, Brad St. Louis, Cory Schlesinger, Tony Siragusa, Fred Smerlas, Dave Szott, Kyle Turley, Rick Turnbull, Tommy Vardell, John Ward, Fred Weary, Charles White, Ricky Williams, Greg Wojochowski, Alex Karras

Olympic Athletes in Other Sports Who Once Wrestled : 

Mark Lenzi (Diving), Sugar Ray Leonard (Boxing), Jason Morris (Judo), Jimmy Pedro (Judo), Brian Shimer (Bobsled), Jim Thorpe (Early 20th century decathlete)

Religious Denomination Founder : 

Joseph Smith (founder, Church of the Latter-Day Saints) (Mormon)

Science : 

Dr. Norman Borlaug (Nobel prize winner), William Kerslake (NASA scientist)

Professional Football Players (NFL)

Coy Wire, Art Baker, Ronde Barber, Tiki Barber, Walter Barnes, Harris Barton, Brad Benson, Bob Bruenig, Tom Cousineau, Tom Covert, Roger Craig, Curley Culp, Larry Czonka, Dan Dierdorff, Ron Essink, Jim Everett, Demarco Farr, Terrell Fletcher, Bill Fralic, Doug “Bubba” France, Bill George, Charlie Getty, Kevin Glover, LeRoi Glover, Bob Golic, Mike Golic, Darrien Gordon, Scottie Graham, Tim Green, Kelly Gregg, Archie Griffin, Nick Greisen, John Hannah, Carlton Haselrig, Ron Heller, Chad Hennings, Jay Hilgenberg, Bo Jackson, Mario Johnson, Henry Jordan, Dave Joyner, John Jurkovich, Randy Grossman, Marlon Greenwood, James Mungro, Jon Hartunian, Mark Schlereth

Profesional Athletes (other than NFL)

Brett Butler (baseball), Pat Day (horse racing), Kevin Harvick (NASCAR), Larry Holmes (boxing), Glenn Hubbard (baseball), Jeremy Rose (horse racing), Bill Shoemaker (horse racing), Spud Webb (basketball)

No Holds Barred (UFC/Octagon) competitors : 

Mark Coleman, Randy Couture, Kevin Jackson, Kevin Randleman, Dan Severn, Ken Shamrock

Sports Broadcasting : 

The Late Roone Arledge, Jim Lampley, Bill Macatee

Sports Entertainment (pro rasslers who were amateur wrestlers) : 

Iron Sheik (Khosrow Vazin), Brock Lesnar, Earl McCready, Randy Orton, Nat Pendleton, Brad Rheingans, Bob Roop, Joe Scarpello, Ruffy Silverstein, The Steiner Brothers, The Late Chris Taylor, The Late Mr. Wrestling/Tim Woods, Kurt Angle, Bob Backlund, George Bollas, Jack Brisco, Mike DiBiase, Dory Funk, Verne Gagne, Ray Gunkel , Dan Hodge, Dick Hutton, Bob Roop, Joe Scarpello, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Rick Flair, Terry Gerrin