Jason Burgos
A new report claims WWE will induct another celebrity to its Hall of Fame next month, but this time around, it is a well-deserved honor.
Celebrities being involved in professional wrestling is nothing new, and during its over 40 years in existence, WWE has perfected the art of using them to benefit the company. Going back to Cyndi Lauper in the 1980s, Lawrence Taylor in the 1990s, and more recently, music stars like Bad Bunny and Jelly Roll, WWE loves having famous people from other industries on its content.
They appreciate them so much that they even have a celebrity wing in their Hall of Fame. However, that has always bothered more traditional wrestling fans. Especially since many of the inductees, such as Drew Carey, William Shatner, or Arnold Schwarznegger didn’t have a truly meaningful impact on the company and industry.
Well, it looks like the 2026 Hall of Fame ceremony will have a new celebrity inductee. But this person actually deserves the honor.
Dennis Rodman to be inducted in WWE Hall of Fame
On Friday morning, ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania surprisingly broke the news that Basketball Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman is expected to be immortalized in the WWE HOF before WrestleMania 42 next month.
For quite some time, WWE has made an effort to make its Hall of Fame a de facto hall for professional wrestling in general. They have inducted many legends from the industry who didn’t have a major impact on the brand or never even performed for the company. Rodman will be just the second celeb, along with Andy Kaufman, to join WWE’s HOF without actually appearing for the company.
As mentioned above, most celebrity inductions to the WWE HOF get an eye roll from a segment of fans, but Rodman had a huge impact on the industry in a short amount of time in the late 1990s. When WCW had gotten red hot, the NBA bad boy broke the mold for celebrity appearances by joining the villainous faction, the nWo.
It was a match made in heaven for the company and the group because it brought a massive amount of mainstream media attention and helped elevate WCW into being the top wrestling promotion in the world. Since the legendary forward was a top star on the best team in the NBA at the time, the Chicago Bulls.
Rodman would compete in three matches for WCW, including a highly successful crossover clash that saw him team with wrestling icon Hulk Hogan against Diamond Dallas Page and his NBA rival, Utah Jazz great Karl Malone. Of the various celebrities in the WWE HOF, Rodman arguably had the biggest impact on the industry.
