One thing that separates WrestleMania from every other wrestling show held every single year is the large presence of celebrities. Sure, you’ll see them pop up here and there intermittently, but most editions of WrestleMania have featured wall to wall celebrities intended to bring in outside fans. It started in 1985 with Mr. T, Muhammad Ali, Billy Martin, Liberace, Cyndi Lauper & the Rockettes, and continued on afterward. Bob Uecker would appear at multiple WrestleManias, continuing the baseball connection that Billy Martin had started.
Once we hit the 1990s, the level of celebrities appearing at WrestleMania started to drop off. We even had a couple of years where there was barely a celebrity to be found. The WWF didn’t have the crossover appeal it once did, and celebrities weren’t falling over themselves to be involved with it. Eventually that would change, and we saw the next wave of mainstream celebrity involvement at WrestleMania XIV in Boston. It was a clear sign that the WWF was back on top, and celebrities like Mike Tyson helped increase that perception.
There was also a baseball player involved. Martin & Uecker had done ring introductions at previous WrestleManias, and one of baseball’s most controversial figures was set to follow in their footsteps at WrestleMania XIV. Unfortunately for Pete Rose, things didn’t quite go off without a hitch.
I mean, it was one thing for Uecker to suffer through an Andre the Giant chokehold. He didn’t have to take a Tombstone from a deranged maniac! To be fair, Rose brought it on himself with his insults towards the Boston audience that didn’t exactly age well when the Red Sox started winning championships in the 2000s. (Not to mention the Patriots & Celtics.) Kane Tombstoning Rose was one of the highlights of a rather eventful night that set the WWF on the path to reclaiming its spot on top of the wrestling universe.
So why was it such a big deal that a young wrestler that worked his way through several awful gimmicks and was on the verge of wrestling dominance beat up an old baseball player that was mostly known by the general public for getting banned from his sport? Well, it’s all about who that old baseball player was…
Peter Edward Rose was born on April 14, 1941 in Cincinnati, Ohio. For most of those that lived in or around Cincinnati during the 20th century, that made him forever a hero no matter what. Cincinnati loves their own without question, no matter what they might get themselves into. What Pete got into early in his life was baseball. After playing in high school and the minor leagues Pete signed with the Cincinnati Reds, who happened to employ his uncle as a scout at the time.
From 1963 through 1978, Rose played for the Reds and became arguably their greatest star. I say “arguably” because the Reds had some amazing players during that time period. Johnny Bench is said by many to be the greatest catcher of all time. Joe Morgan won the National League MVP Award in 1975 & 1976, years where the Reds won the World Series. Tony Perez, George Foster, Ken Griffey, Davey Concepcion, Cesar Geronimo, they all are remembered in Cincinnati to this day. You’d be hard pressed to find many baseball teams in history more stacked than the Big Red Machine of the 1970s, a lineup people called the Great Eight without any sense of irony.
As great as they all were, Pete was always the city’s favorite because he was a West Side boy. He got the nickname “Charlie Hustle” early in his career because he was trying way too hard during a spring training game, and that was the kind of work ethic the people of Cincinnati expected from their sporting heroes. Pete tried way too hard in every game, whether it was spring training, regular season, postseason or an All-Star Game. To use a wrestling term, Pete was a big “workrate” guy. He was always trying to have that 5 star baseball game that few ever attain unless they’re Shohei Ohtani, or if they’re in the Tokyo Dome.
Rose would sign with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1979, and win another World Series with them in 1980. He’d move on to Montreal in 1984, and return to Cincinnati in the last month of that season when the Expos traded him to the Reds so he could be a player/manager in his hometown. While all of this was going on, Rose kept playing and kept getting hits. Eventually he would break Ty Cobb’s record for the most hits, and ended up with 4,256 hits upon his retirement in 1986. You don’t see 45 year olds on baseball rosters these days, so it’s a pretty safe bet that Rose’s hit record is safe.
Did I just write “bet”? Well, that brings us to the next part of Pete’s story. Rose was always a big gambler. Big horse track guy, big sports bettor in general. As somebody that currently works in the sports betting industry, my feelings about it may be different than yours. My feelings about it are certainly different from Major League Baseball’s before they got all that sweet sponsorship money and now they’re on my side. MLB has been consistent in insisting that players & other folks connected with franchises not bet on the game. It’s a fair thing to ask. Pete’s story about his gambling always changed. First he never bet on baseball, then he did. He always said he never bet against his team. Thing is, if he’s not betting on his team, those folks that he’s betting with know that it’s probably a good night to bet against his team. When you’re a manager, you just can’t get involved with that sort of thing. Rose did, which is why he got banned from baseball. Folks of a certain age in Cincinnati still don’t like it, but it was the right decision. Poor Bart Giamatti died less than a week after making that decision due to a heart attack, probably brought on by that decision in addition to other things in his medical history. MLB Commissioners since then have held it against Pete, among other issues, and I totally get it.
A weird thing about Pete Rose’s story is that he would have become another typical baseball legend if he never bet on the sport and never got banned. He would have gotten into the Hall of Fame easily and we would have rarely heard from him during the 21st century since his managerial career would have been long over by then. Getting banned increased his legend and made him a martyr in the eyes of many. As somebody that has worked in the Reds Team Store, I know that they are not allowed to customize jerseys with Pete’s name and number due to his MLB ban. I answered that question so many times it was ridiculous, and was waiting for a player to come along that would supersede the demand for Pete Rose jerseys. It took the emergence of Elly De La Cruz to make that happen.
WrestleMania XV took place in Philadelphia, which was the perfect place for Rose to get his revenge on Kane. He even dressed up as the San Diego Chicken. It didn’t work.
He came back a year later for WrestleMania 2000 and it didn’t go well. I feel like Pete missed his moment due to a lack of patience. WrestleMania X-Seven had a Hardcore title match pitting Kane against Big Show & Raven. It would have been the perfect time for the Hit King to get a Hardcore title reign, but he didn’t show up at the AstroDome.
Pete Rose was banned from the baseball Hall of Fame, so WWE made sure to induct him into their Hall of Fame the first chance they got. As far as the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame goes, he was certainly more deserving than most. Pete never worked a match, but he fit right in with wrestlers. When you think of the biggest stars in wrestling, guys like Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, Ric Flair & even Vince McMahon, they have a lot in common with Pete. They were great at their profession, but they ran into a ton of trouble outside of it. The qualities that made them great at their job didn’t translate to their personal lives. It’s hard for guys like that to hit the off switch and not be the person they are on camera, or not take advantage of their celebrity status. After all, their biggest fans will always forgive them, no matter what.
I met Pete one time, in a tunnel at Great American Ballpark. I wasn’t exactly expecting it, as I was going down to the warehouse and he was just doing whatever he was doing. When I saw him, my natural response was “What’s up, King?”, and the Hit King took it as a sign of respect, as he should have. Pete was always great with his fans, just like most pro wrestlers are. He may have been a scumbag, but he was Cincinnati’s scumbag. Just like MJF and countless other rasslers, Pete was always a hero in his hometown.
Pete Rose died this week at the age of 83. I used to think 83 was old, but these days that’s when a politician is entering their prime. Who knows, that may have been his next step, from baseball to wrestling to politics. Stranger things have happened, and it may not have even been the strangest event of his life. He’ll have to settle for being a baseball legend, a WWE Hall of Famer, and a tremendously controversial figure. He was always working the public.
