How Long Does It Take WWE Stars To Break Away Once Hitting Hollywood?

Most professional wrestlers enter the sport for the love of the business and will spend their entire careers chasing glory inside the squared-circle. Others either see it as a stepping stone to greener pastures (read: LA), or find that once they've accomplished their sports entertainment goals, the glitz and glam of Hollywood become too hard to ignore.

But that transition isn't always easy. Many wrestlers pick up bit parts here-and-there without making a career of it (see HHH in Blade: Trinity). Some guys bounce around in TV or WWE Films roles without ever making it their mainline gig (also known as "Starring in THE MARINE franchise"). But It usually takes years of continued pursuit, small acting victories, and a few lucky breakout roles for veteran grapplers to find true silver screen success.

Let's look back at those who have made it, and what that might mean for current guys trying to capitalize on that crossover magic.

Hulk Hogan
While Hogan never made a sustained career of acting in place of wrestling – although I personally loved his run as The Dean in China, IL – it wasn't for trying. Everyone remembers his acting debut as Thunderlips in Rocky III (1982), which cast him onto the national stage. He eventually was cast as Rip in cult-classic/Vince McMahon fever dream No Holds Barred (1989), before landing leading roles in action-comedy fare like Suburban Commando (1991), Mr. Nanny (1993), 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain (1998). Eric Bischoff cast him in a few made-for-TNT SHADOW WARRIORS movies that probably played well with their NITRO lead-in audience, but not well enough to turn into a proper series. And since then, it's mostly been guest-appearances, reality television, and voice acting roles.

But here's the important thing Hogan did accomplish: his blueprint of transition from wrestler to guest-appearance star AS wrestler to leading comedy tough-guy is the same one future crossover mega-stars would eventually capitalize upon.

The Rock
Two of The Rock's earliest acting appearances in 1999 and 2000 came as bit parts that were little more than variations on his actual day job – the former saw him playing his own father on That 70s Show, while the latter was basically just "The Rock From Space" on Star Trek: Voyager. And while he made favorable appearances on SNL and entertainment awards show, his first feature role – totaling probably less than 10 minutes actual screen time – saw him playing an ancient warrior in summer blockbuster The Mummy Returns (2001).

But that minor appearance was enough. He was cast as the same character the following year, his first leading role (The Scorpion King, 2002), and which led him to passing the torch to up-and-coming mega-athlete Brock Lesnar at that year's SummerSlam event. Immediately after he would take his first official "break" from wrestling to pursue acting. And while The Rock would go on to make a few other headline appearances in WWE before his first retirement in 2004, his effective leading-man presence in The Rundown (2003) and hilarious, cast-type-defying role in Be Cool (2005) saw more offers come his way.

Since then, he's proven to be as close to a modern box-office guarantee as we've seen in years, revitalizing franchises like G.I. Joe and Fast & Furious, while simultaneously producing quieter hits such as Fighting with my Family and HBO dramedy Ballers via his Seven Bucks Productions company.

Years to Hollywood Transition: From first bit-part to full-time actor, The Rock took 5 years.

Dave Bautista
Brother Dave is an interesting one. Like all crossover stars, he made muscle-man appearances on TV (Smallville, 2006 and Chuck, 2010) before landing his first "real" acting role, starring along fellow veteran Rob Van Dam in the direct-to-DVD production Wrong Side of Town (2010). This allowed him to start getting some real offers. He followed in The Rock's footsteps by appearing in The Scoprion King 3 (2012), picked up supporting roles in The Man with the Iron Fists (2012) and Riddick (2013), before landing his breakout superstar role of Drax the Destoryer in Marvel Sci-Fi blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).

Drax proved to be a pivotal switch for Bautista. While before he played to his type – muscular, quiet, Bond villain-esque (and literally in Spectre, 2015), Drax proved that Bautista had excellent comedic timing, great charm, and decent acting chops.

Years to Hollywood Transition: Really, Dave left after only a handful of guest appearances and never looked back (well, except for his weird run as Bluetista in 2013-2014). But it took him about four years of grinding to find leading-man success.

John Cena
Here's a guy who promised to never leave the WWE. Which is why he's anxiously away the RAW/SmackDown draft on October 11th.

Wait.

Cena's a weird one because it really did feel like he was turning down Hollywood for years, determined to keep lacing up the boots and wearing the tights...er, jorts. In fact, he actually had his first leading role way back in 2006 with The Marine. Just a few years later, he was back in cineplexes again with action-thriller 12 Rounds (2009). And then he seemed content to ride out his main-event status while only doing bit parts, guest appearances, and WWE-produced DVD films.

But then Cena started getting a lot of positive buzz for his low-key comedy turn in Trainwreck (2015), which kicked down a few Tinseltown doors. Since then, he's turned in well-received performances in both Blockers (2018) and Transformers franchise spin-off Bumblebee (2018), opening up a number of opportunities including Fast & Furious 9 (2020) and recently announced The Suicide Squad (2021).

Years to Hollywood Transition: Well, this is a toughie considering the winding road Cena took to get here. Since WrestleMania 34 he's only wrestled a handful of times, so let's call that his current "Hollywood leave" date and say it took him about three years of committed effort.

Roman Reigns
Now here's a dude who seems like his following in his cousin's path. While he's had almost zero true acting experience, he made his big-screen debut earlier this year alongside The Rock in Hobbs & Shaw (2019). And while it seems like this is a one-and-done, Joe Anoia'i has both the physique and smoldering charisma to pick up more opportunities as they present themselves. Besides, Reigns is already the heir-apparent to Hogan/Rock/Cena – I'd expect WWE to find as many guest appearances and crossover opportunities as possible for the dude.

That doesn't necessarily mean he's going away anytime soon. He's only 34, and most of the other guys on this list took about 3-5 years of concentrated acting effort to fully make the transition. Considering Reigns is still very much the face of WWE right now, I'd be surprised if he's gone before 2025.

CM Punk
Yes, I know he's been gone from WWE for a surprisingly long time. But he just now – here in 2019 finally made his acting debut in The Girl on the Third Floor. He's earned a lot of positive press for this performance (and his follow-up Rabid is earning some early buzz), so I'd bet dimes-to-dollars that we're much more likely to see CM Punk show up in a Marvel movie than we are in a WWE ring within the next few years.