Article content
Dennis Rodman will be inducted into the 2026 class of the WWE Hall of Fame.
Article content
The Worm will be inducted alongside AJ Styles, Stephanie McMahon and Demolition. The ceremony will take place on April 17 at Dolby Live at Park MGM in Las Vegas, Nev., the night before WrestleMania 42.
Article content
News of the NBA legend’s induction was first reported by ESPN’S NBA insider Shams Charania on Friday.
Celebrity turned wrestler
While most celebrities only make cameo appearances in professional wrestling, Rodman took the extra step and stepped inside the ring for action.
At the height of his fame while playing with the Chicago Bulls in 1997, Rodman appeared in World Championship Wrestling, joining the New World Order faction captained by Hollywood Hulk Hogan. Rodman used his fame as a crossover star to gain mainstream attention during what’s considered one of the hottest periods in wrestling.
The 6-foot-7, 210-pound Rodman made his in-ring debut at WCW’s Bash at the Beach in July 1997, where he teamed with Hogan in a loss to Lex Luger and The Giant.
Article content
That same year, Rodman appeared at the Road Wild pay-per-view, disguising himself as Impostor Sting to attack Luger with a baseball bat and help Hogan capture the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
WCW Bash at the Beach
Dennis (Rodzilla) Rodman (right) takes on Diamond Dallas Page during the WCW Bash at the Beach at the Cox Arena in San Diego, California. Photo by Elsa Hasch /Getty Images/Allsport
In 1998, Rodman competed again at Bash at the Beach, teaming with Hogan to take on fellow basketball star Karl Malone and Diamond Dallas Page in a celebrity tag team match that garnered mainstream coverage after an appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Rodman and Hogan won that match.
At this time, Rodman famously skipped Bulls team practice for the 1998 NBA Finals to appear on WCW Monday Nitro. He was fined for missing practice, eventually returning to perform well in Game 4, People reported at the time.
In 1999, Rodman feuded with Macho Man Randy Savage, which culminated in a match at Road Wild where he lost.
Rodman continued his pro wrestling ventures in 2000, wrestling a series of matches for i-Generation Wrestling in Australia.
Over the years, he made several more wrestling appearances, including Hulk Hogan’s Celebrity Championship Wrestling, and in All Elite Wrestling in 2023 appearing on an episode of Collision and at the All Out pay-per-view in Chicago, per Post Wrestling.
Rodman a member of two Hall of Fames
Outside of professional wrestling, Rodman’s basketball career is well-storied.
He won back-to-back NBA titles with the Detroit Pistons in 1989-1990, and three more championships with the Chicago Bulls in 1996, 1997 and 1998.
Rodman will likely be part of the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame. He is also the first basketball player to be in both the WWE Hall of Fame and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, in which he was inducted in 2011.
WWE’s WrestleMania 42 takes place April 18-19 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Loading...
We apologize, but this video has failed to load.
Play Video
Share this article in your social network