Hoping to follow in the footsteps of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Dave Bautista, better known to WWE fans as Batista, is currently flexing his acting muscles on the big screen in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. But the former WWE champ is just the latest in a long line of wrestlers who have made the leap from the ring to movie theatres. Alongside Batista, here’s our pick of 10 wrestler movie appearances you need to watch out for.

Dave Bautista guardians of the galaxyBatista stars in Guardians of the Galaxy as Drax

Dave ‘Batista’ Bautista -Guardians of the Galaxy 
After a few direct to video movie appearances, Batista first properly hit the big screen in The Man with the Iron Fists alongside Russell Crowe. However his big break has come with the role of Drax the Destroyer in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. His next starring role will be in a remake of 1989 martial arts movie Kickboxer, originally starring Jean Claude Van Damme.

More: Critics Say 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' Is Great, But Does Anyone Disagree?

Randy ‘Macho Man’ Savage -Spider-man 
Who better to wrestle Spider-Man than the most flamboyant wrestler of them all, Randy ‘Macho Man’ Savage? Savage appeared in 2002’s Spider-Man as Bonesaw McGraw a wrestler who fights Peter Parker while wearing his worst Spider-Man costume. Apart from his Spider-Man role Savage also appeared as himself in tv shows such as 'Baywatch' and 'Mad About You', while also voicing a character in 2008 animation Bolt.

George ‘The Animal’ Steele -Ed Wood
Knowing to wrestling fans for his wild man persona, George ‘The Animal’ Steele made his only movie appearance inTim Burton’s 1994 biopic Ed Wood. In the film, Steele starred as Tor Johnson a Swedish wrestler turned actor whom he had actually been mistaken for many times in the past.

Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler -Man on the Moon
Memphis wrestling legend Jerry Lawler appeared as himself in the 1999 biopic of comedian Andy Kauffman starring Jim Carey. In the early 1980s Lawler had worked a high profile feud with Kauffman where the two even appeared on 'Late Night with David Letterman' together. In the film Lawler’s then broadcasting partner Jim Ross also makes an appearance as an announcer during his match with Kauffman.

‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper -They Live
Since making his film debut in 1986’s Body Slams, the kilt wearing bagpipe wielding Rowdy’ Roddy Piper has starred in over 40 movies. However his best performance came in 1988’s They Live, directed by John Carpenter. In the sci-fi satire Piper starred as Nada a drifter who discovers the ruling classes are in fact aliens. A great mix of sci-fi and satire They Live is well worth a watch even if you’ve never seen Hot Rod wrestle a match.