With news that WWE will be holding their first stadium show in the UK in over 30 years, let’s take a look at which celebrities could be appearing at the event!
WWE and celebrities have gone hand-in-hand for decades, so much so that the stars of stage and screen that grace the company have their own wing in the Hall of Fame. But what stars from outside the wrestling biz might WWE have on hand when they invade the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales on September 3.
Catherine Jenkins
Wrestling fans know how much Vince McMahon loves to open WrestleMania with a rousing rendition of America The Beautiful, so could the chairman be looking for a Welsh equivalent in September?
Katherine Jenkins is a mezzo-soprano opera singer who is undoubtedly the best-known operatic talent in all of Britain, let alone Wales. Having performed for the Queen and Pope John Paul II, Jenkins frequently sang the Welsh national anthem ‘Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau’ – translated as ‘Land of my Fathers’ – ahead of Wales international rugby matches.
A performance by Jenkins would certainly give the event the rousing start that Vince McMahon is sure to be hoping for, and there should be no dry eyes at Principality Stadium when Katherine Jenkins is done.
Gareth Bale
Never mind a dry eye, there may not be a dry seat in the house when Wales football hero Gareth Bale returns to the Principality Stadium, where he enjoys some of his finest moments in a Welsh shirt.
Undoubtedly Wales’ most celebrated footballer of all time, Bale played a pivotal role in Wales’ national team reaching the 2016 European Championship semi-finals and has brought them to the brink of qualifying for their first World Cup since their only appearance in the competition in 1958 .
Bale’s footballing future is uncertain as the star is set to leave Real Madrid in the summer and rumors have been circulating that he could retire from the sport altogether should he represent his beloved country at the World Cup later in 2022.
The former Spurs player could be the perfect person to step up to the likes of Kevin Owens should Owens decide to tear down Wales the same way Texas did in the build-up to WrestleMania 38. Bale might not be able to open a can, cheers for Owens, but he could bend a 35-yard mother-of-pearl straight from Owen’s dome — that’s if you can get the golf course soccer star to attend the WWE event .
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
Why not?! The Duke (pictured above left) and Duchess of Cambridge have three young children and who says they don’t spend hours at Windsor Castle practicing our Sharpshooters and Swantons like the rest of us?
This may be a stretch, but an event of this magnitude doesn’t happen every day in Wales and is sure to draw a lot of attention. A frequent visitor to football and rugby matches, Prince William would be no stranger to the stadium where Wales play their home games.
The Duke of Cambridge will, after all, become the Prince of Wales when his father Charles becomes king, so he could very well seize the opportunity to sit in the royal box when WWE invades the principality. After all, he has three young children at home, so he’s probably grateful to get out as much as possible.
Vinnie Jones
Vinnie Jones is no stranger to WWE and the archetypal Cockney geezer, who made his name in London, could be the perfect person to have on hand in Cardiff – after all, Jones is actually Welsh, at least in the footballing sense.
No one who has witnessed his performances in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels or Snatch, or seen what he once did to Gazza’s crown jewels on a football field, might think that Jones represents the land of glens and choral singing, but that’s exactly what it is it what he has done exactly nine times in his football career. Jones hasn’t been on the winning side on either of those occasions, but the Wales national team was a different matter in the mid-1990s than it was under Gareth Bale and co.
But what is his connection to WWE? You only have to go back to the UK for the Capital Carnage pay-per-view, held at the London Arena in December 1998. Jones was assigned as a special enforcer for the Fatal Four-Way main event between Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mankind, Kane and The Undertaker, but was red-carded early by Vince McMahon’s henchman Gerald Brisco and sent to the back.
After Steve Austin once again foiled McMahon’s underhanded plans and won the match, Vinnie Jones reappeared to deliver a quick kick to the Big Boss Man, allowing Steve Austin to deliver a stunner that took McMahon’s hired guard all the way back after Cobb County Sent, Georgia.
Tyson Fury
Tyson Fury took Vinnie Jones a step further when he actually took on Braun Strowman in a WWE ring at Crown Jewel in 2019. The reigning WBC and The Ring heavyweight champion was expected to compete again for WWE before the COVID-19 pandemic wrecked live events and esports for some time.
Speaking to Behind The Gloves in March 2021, Tyson Fury revealed he was slated to be part of SummerSlam and WrestleMania, saying that a WWE UK pay-per-view was slated well before fall 2022:
“I was supposed to go to SummerSlam last year and I was supposed to go to WrestleMania last year and then I was also supposed to fight Drew McIntyre at a PPV event in the UK but thanks to COVID none of that happened.
“So COVID cost me SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, PPV with Drew McIntyre [Deontay] Wild rematch and the [Anthony] fight Joshua. So thanks COVID [laughs].” (h/t talkSPORT)
Now that WWE is coming to the UK, that match with Drew McIntyre could be back on the table, and many wrestling fans are excited to see what The Scottish Warrior can do to defeat The Gypsy King.
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