Top 10 performances by a wrestler in a movie

	Hulk Hogan's first film was 'Rocky III.' He went on to star in classics such as 'No Holds Barred,' 'Suburban Commando' and 'Mr. Nanny.' Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images

This Friday purports to begin a new era in entertainment, when the movie See No Evil opens in theaters. See No Evil is the first-ever release from the WWE film division. It stars Kane, who showed up at the premiere wearing no shirt and only his black-and-red wrestling trunks.

He looked like an idiot.

More WWE movies are on the way. John Cena will star as The Marine, scheduled for release on Sept. 8, and Steve Austin headlines The Condemned, which began preproduction in April.

But while the WWE's film division is new, professional wrestlers have been acting in movies for decades. Here's my list of the 10 best Hollywood performances by a wrestler. Choices are limited to the modern era, which I define as beginning after my bar mitzvah.

10. George "the Animal" Steele, Ed Wood: The Animal played Tor Johnson in Tim Burton's 1994 film. Steele's wrestling shtick included wagging his dyed-green tongue, so you have to question the wisdom of casting him in a black-and-white movie. The role gives the Animal art-house cred, but this movie was overrated and he was much more entertaining in the ring.

9. Jesse Ventura, Predator: A blah performance in a big-time but generic action movie. At least he got to say the line "I ain't got time to bleed," which he would later use as the title of his book.

8. The Rock, his entire career: The former Miami Hurricanes defensive lineman is the most successful wrestler turned actor ever, and the reason the WWE film division exists. But he gets a low rank as punishment for taking the low-hanging fruit of generic action movies when, as his Saturday Night Live guest host stints have shown, the Rock was meant for comedy. He should have been taking the scripts rejected by Martin Lawrence instead of the ones rejected by Jean-Claude Van Damme.

7. Jerry "the King" Lawler, Man on the Moon: Yes, Lawler was playing himself in the Andy Kaufman biopic. But a good movie, and Lawler was in some of its better parts.

6. David Arquette, the Scream trilogy: Wait, you say. David Arquette isn't a wrestler. Well, he held the heavyweight title of a national organization, World Championship Wrestling, for about two weeks back in 2000. Half the wrestlers on this list can't say that. Which not only explains why Arquette can be considered a wrestler, but also why the once-popular WCW went out of business. Would be rated higher if he were a better actor.