Dennis Rodman is the latest addition to the WWE’s Hall of Fame class as part of next month’s WrestleMania weekend in Las Vegas.
Rodman, who crossed over for several major matches in WCW, was announced as part of the class by ESPN’s NBA insider Shams Charania.
During the height of his popularity with the Chicago Bulls in 1997, Rodman was contacted by the WWF regarding an appearance at that year’s WrestleMania in Chicago. Rodman’s representation went to WCW and struck a deal with the promotion, and appeared on the March 10 edition of Monday Nitro and the subsequent Uncensored pay-per-view that month. In Marc Raimondi’s book Say Hello to the Bad Guys, he reported that Rodman was offered $500,000 by the WWF, with WCW countering with a $750,000 offer plus a cut of pay-per-view revenues after it reached a certain threshold.
It led to Rodman’s first match, teaming with Hollywood Hogan against Lex Luger & The Giant at Bash at the Beach in July.
In 1998, it became national news when Rodman skipped practice with the Bulls in the middle of the NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz, appearing on Monday Nitro instead. Before the end of the series, it had been announced that Rodman and Karl Malone would be on opposite sides at Bash at the Beach in a massive coup for WCW. The series included a moment where Rodman and Malone wrestled on the floor, and Bob Costas made a flippant remark about their upcoming wrestling match.
Bash at the Beach in July 1998 was one of the company’s biggest pay-per-views ever, drawing approximately 580,000 buys to see Hogan & Rodman beat Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone.
Rodman returned in 1999 for the Road Wild pay-per-view for a match with Randy Savage, but it was diminishing returns as the novelty had worn off, and WCW had seen a precipitous drop in popularity since his last appearance. The show drew 235,000 buys, featuring a retirement match between Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash in the main event.
Rodman returned to pro wrestling in 2000 for a series of matches in Australia, promoted by i-Generation Wrestling, and wrestled Curt Hennig on the tour.
The former basketball star made several appearances over the years, including Hulk Hogan’s Celebrity Championship Wrestling on CMT, and with AEW on an episode of Collision in 2023 and the All Out pay-per-view in Chicago.
Rodman will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on April 17 alongside Stephanie McMahon-Levesque, AJ Styles, and Demolition.
