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WWE legends Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Bret Hart, Stone Cold Steve Austin and more ranked by appearances

One thing that wrestling loves is mixing with the mainstream media.
WWE have managed this successfully on multiple occasions, starting with WrestleMania.

One random quirk wrestlers have had over the past decades is their penchant for turning up in adult cartoons.

While celebrity portrayals are frequent in that medium, having the actual person do their own voice has resulted in gold.

Here, talkSPORT ranks the superstars by their appearances in The Simpsons, Family Guy and American Dad because, well, we wanted to watch them again!

7. Sgt. Slaughter - G.I. Joe

It's often forgotten how mainstream Sgt. Slaughter was in the 1980s because Hulk Hogan was the main attraction.

However, Slaughter, whose gimmick was that of a former U.S. Marine who fought in the Vietnam War, was a hero and a villain in WWE, but in the world of G.I. Joe, he was a hero.

Slaughter was very popular fending off Cobra Commandos, so much so that he went on to have one of hottest selling toys in Hasbro's GI Joe series.

6. The Rock - Family Guy

In at number six is everyone's favourite, The Rock. Dwayne Johnson became one of the biggest babyfaces in wrestling history in and around 2000 at the apex of his WWE run.

Since then, The Great One has gone on to become a huge Hollywood star with his successful films making him the highest paid actor in the world twice in recent years.

He has also appeared in Family Guy a couple of times. Once in person simulating how two dolls of Peter and Lois Griffin would have sex and the other showed a narrator speculating his heritage, both to hilarious effect. Family Guy is one of the most popular shows in the world, so Rock made a good call partnering up with them.

5. Ric Flair - The Cleveland Show

Next up is The Nature boy himself, whom Hulk Hogan recently told talkSPORT is the greatest of all time. Flair is one of the most transcendent stars in recent memory and he has continued to do that even in retirement with songs and celebrations performed in his honour.

During The Cleveland Show's solo attempt, Flair appeared as himself when Cleveland Brown went on a camping trip with his friends.

He suplexed a canoe, lived it up with a handful of women and generally nailed woos around the woods. It's so ridiculous, but that's what makes it funny. Flair even tries to pass his woo off when saying canoe, which doesn't work at all, but it's still very funny.

4. Hulk Hogan - American Dad

Number four, Brother, brother! The WWE great isn't quite The Rock when it comes to his Hollywood endeavours, but he did make several films and starred as Thunderlips in Rocky III.

His cartoon incarnation came in American Dad where Stan Smith was trying to teach his son, Steve, how to be a real man.

Once Stan is seduced by the easy life, who better to show Steve the way than the Real American? Hogan and Stan team up at the end of the show to beat up some privileged club members complete with Hogan's textbook shirt-ripping and flexing. This ranks so high because it's just the perfect use of Hogan and one of the rare occasions where the Hulkster was self-aware enough to have some fun.

 

3. Steve Austin - Dilbert

Number three is the Texas Rattlesnake! Dilbert certainly doesn't hold the same esteem as the other cartoons on this list, but when they bagged a Stone Cold Steve Austin appearance in 1999, they snagged one of the hottest stars on the planet.

For some reason, Austin was a judge in the show, but he still acted exactly the same way he did in the WWE.

That means he was flipping the bird, handing out stunners and raising general hell the entire time he was on screen. He's probably more well known for his stint on Celebrity Deathmatch, but Dilbert is definitely a leftfield one. Austin is used well on this show, but Dilbert? Out of all the things WWE could of had their prize asset do at this time, it's still insanely random.

2. Macho Man Randy Savage - King of the Hill

Ohhhhhh yeeeeeeah - dig it! The Macho Man is hard done by not to be number one because this is one of the best appearances of a wrestler who isn't actually playing themselves.

Macho Man Randy Savage has an unmistakeable voice and personality inside the wrestling business and that made him a mainstream star in the early 90's, too.

His appearance on King of the Hill in 2007 is excellent. Savage plays the part of Gorilla, one of three crazed bodybuilders who take over the local gym, but it really is just Savage himself! From his look to intense personality, it's an identical match and it's a great watch.

1. Bret Hart - The Simpsons

Bret Hart has to be number one for a handful of reasons.
In 1997, he was the hottest thing in wrestling and had been on top for a number of years. At the same time, The Simpsons was a global phenomenon. Certainly just a shade above Dilbert...

Prior to the Montreal Screwjob that would obviously change everything for Hart, the Canadian made an appearance on The Simpsons, easily the biggest show of its generation.

Hart played a Russian wrestler named 'Hitman' - a nod to his moniker in WWE - who was shown Mr Burns' mansion by a realtor after Burns lost all his fortune by making bad investments. It was confusing because although it was actually Hart voicing him and he was animated to look exactly like him, he sounded wildly different. What a great partnership, though, despite the weird, weird execution.

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