Kane infamously starred in See No Evil & See No Evil 2. Goldberg starred in Santa’s Slay. And who could forget all of Roddy Piper’s contributions to the horror genre. But, what about the female wrestlers over at WWE & TNA? I did a little digging, and while the results were much smaller, I found a number of WWE Divas and TNA Knockouts who popped up in scary movies. Find the list below.
Debra Marshall/McMichael
Tenure: 1995 – 2002 (WWF)
Wrestling Accomplishment: 1x WWF Women’s Champion
Horror Appearance: She played a very small role as a cop at Bud’s Pizza in Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994).
Christy Hemme
Tenure: 2004 – 2005 (WWE), 2006 – 2016 (TNA)
Wrestling Accomplishment: 2004 WWE Diva Search Winner, 2006 TNA Knockout of the Year
Horror Appearance: She played a minor role as The Demon of Lust in straight-to-DVD flick Fallen Angels (2006).
Candice Michelle
Tenure: 2004 – 2009 (WWE)
Wrestling Accomplishment: 1x WWE Women’s Champion
Horror Appearance: She played a very small role as a character’s wife in television favorite Horrorween (2011).
Maryse Ouellet/Mizanin
Tenure: 2006 – 2011 (WWE), 2016 – Present (WWE)
Wrestling Accomplishment: 2x WWE Diva’s Champion
Horror Appearances: She played a minor role as Officer Davis in SyFy’s Sharknado 3 (2015) and was the female lead as Mikaela Usylvich in zombie flick Isle of the Dead (2016).
Maria Kanellis
Tenure: 2004 – 2010 (WWE), 2016 – 2017 (TNA), 2017 – Present (WWE)
Wrestling Accomplishment: 2009 WWE Diva of the Year, 1x TNA Knockouts Champion
Horror Appearances: She played the supporting role of Terry in reality gone wrong story Army of the Damned which stars Tony Todd and Michael Berryman. She also has a cameo in short film Penance (2014) and attempted her own horror hosting pilot.
Taryn Terrell
Tenure: 2007 – 2010 (WWE), 2012 – 2016 (TNA)
Wrestling Accomplishment: 1x TNA Knockouts Champion
Horror Appearances: She played a supporting role as Silvia in 2014’s hunting slasher Jake’s Road and was a cameo in Abattoir (2016).
Amy Weber
Tenure: 2004 – 2005 (WWE)
Wrestling Accomplishment: None
Horror Appearances: She played the villain, The Evil Queen, in Dangerous Seductress (1995), the second female lead in horror-thriller The Contract (1999), the lead character in Kolobos (1999), the female lead in indie hit The Pumpkin Karver and the female lead, Karina, in mockbuster Transmorphers (2007).
Shelly Martinez
Tenure: 2005 – 2007 (WWE), 2007 – 2008 (TNA)
Wrestling Accomplishment: 2016’s TNA Worst Match of the Year
Horror Appearances: She played a cameo in anthology Dead Things (2005), co-starred in short film Silent Night Bloody Night (2008), played the lead, Christy, in Porn Shoot Massacre (2009), and played a cameo in anthology The Scream (2009). She also came in 8th place in The Search for the Next Elvira, a reality show that aired on Fox Reality.
Katarina Leigh Waters
Tenure: 2008 – 2010 (WWE), 2010 – 2012 (TNA)
Accomplish: 2x TNA Knockouts Champion, 1x TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion
Horror Appearances: She played small roles in shorts Zombies in the Basement (2014) and John Constantine: Hellblazer (2015) and played lead roles in Karate Kill (2016) and Sickness (2016). She also attempted her own horror hosting pilot.
What’s really interesting here is that pretty much all of these movies were awful, but the wrestlers themselves weren’t really to blame for it. Seems wrestlers need better agents when they attempt to make the transition to acting. In fairness, Maria Kanellis’ horror host DVDs weren’t terrible, and the gig might have worked out with a longer run and better movies.