PEOPLE KNOWN FOR: wrestling

Charlotte Flair is an American professional wrestler with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), known for her athleticism and regal persona as well as for holding the record for most women’s world championships...

Hulk Hogan is one of the most famous performers in the history of professional wrestling. His huge popularity in the 1980s sparked “Hulkamania” and contributed to the rise of the World Wrestling Federation...

Dwayne Johnson is an American professional wrestler and actor whose charisma and athleticism made him a success in both fields. His popular films include several installments of The Fast and the Furious...

Cody Rhodes is an American professional wrestler known for his extensive history in various professional wrestling promotions, his tenacity as a competitor, his persona, and his ability to win over a crowd....

Dave Bautista is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Known for his imposing physique, he made a name for himself as World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) Batista and transitioned easily...

Mr. T is an actor and professional wrestler known for his tough appearance and his iconic roles in television and film, including that of Sgt. B.A. Baracus in the TV action series The A-Team (1983–87)....

John Cena is an American professional wrestler, actor, and author who first gained fame with the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) organization and later had success in movies and books. His notable...

Rhea Ripley is an Australian professional wrestler with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE; 2017– ) known for her distinctive metalhead aesthetic and her physical strength in the ring. Her signature move...

Akebono was an American-born Japanese sumo wrestler, who, in January 1993, became the first non-Japanese person to be elevated to yokozuna (grand champion) status, the highest rank in professional sumo....

Jesse Ventura is a professional wrestler known as Jesse “the Body” Ventura and later entered politics, serving as governor of Minnesota (1999–2003). Ventura joined the U.S. Navy after high school, becoming...

Aleksandr Karelin is a Russian politician and a former Greco-Roman wrestler revered for his extraordinary strength and unprecedented success in international competition. Karelin is widely considered the...

Dan Gable is a former American freestyle wrestler and coach who is often considered to be the greatest amateur wrestler in American history. Gable was undefeated in high school competition and won three...

Mijaín López is a Cuban Greco-Roman wrestler who was considered one of the sport’s greatest athletes. He was the first male wrestler to win four Olympic gold medals. López began wrestling when he was 10...

Bruce Baumgartner is a former American wrestler who won four Olympic medals and was one of the most successful American super-heavyweights of all time. Baumgartner competed in high school wrestling but...

Aleksandr Medved is a Ukrainian-born former Soviet wrestler who is considered one of the greatest freestyle wrestlers of all time. He was the first wrestler to win gold medals in three consecutive Olympics...

Sergey Beloglazov is a Soviet freestyle wrestler who won two Olympic gold medals. At the age of 21, Beloglazov became a member of the Soviet national team. That same year, his twin brother, Anatoly, won...

John Smith is an American freestyle wrestler who won six consecutive world championships (1987–92) and won two Olympic gold medals in the featherweight class. Smith, whose three brothers were all accomplished...

Watanabe Osamu is a Japanese freestyle featherweight wrestler who was the undefeated world champion in 1962 and 1963 and an Olympic gold medalist in 1964. He competed in more than 300 matches and never...

George Hackenschmidt was a professional wrestler who ranked with Tom Jenkins and Frank Gotch among the greatest in the history of freestyle, or catch-as-catch-can, wrestling. He also held several weight-lifting...

William Muldoon was an American wrestling champion and boxing trainer. (Read Gene Tunney’s 1929 Britannica essay on boxing.) Muldoon was a policeman from 1876 to 1882, won the New York Police heavyweight...

Frank Gotch was an American professional freestyle, or catch-as-catch-can, wrestler, considered one of the greatest in the history of the sport. Gotch won the world championship from Tom Jenkins in 1905,...