WWE’s Seth Rollins To Cameo In ‘Sharknado 4’

Former WWE World champion Seth Rollins has been announced to have a cameo in SyFy’s cult movie series franchise Sharknado.

Rollins, whose real name is Colby Lopez, will follow up his acting debut in the 2016 Wesley Snipes film Temple with an appearance in the fourth incarnation of the film: Sharknado 4: The Fourth Awakens.

WWE.com confirmed the news last night that Seth Rollins will follow in the steps of his professional wrestling colleague Chris Jericho in the fourth Sharknado installment, which is set to air on SyFy on July 31 at 8 p.m..

Rollins will join dozens of other celebrities who will make cameos in the film — the randomness of star one-off appearances having become a hallmark aspect of the series — including Tara Reid (American Pie), Gary Busey (Lethal Weapon, Predator 2), David Hasselhoff (Baywatch, Knight Rider), Gilbert Godfried (Aladdin), Steve Guttenberg (Police Academy, Short Circuit), and Paul Shaffer (Late Show with David Letterman), with more actors and actresses expected to be announced.

“Just chalk this up to yet another accomplishment in the career of the former two-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion,” said Fansided’s Jack Jorgensen. “Rollins has done nothing since he broke away from The Shield but make himself a star, and this is yet another example of that.”

Appearing in a Sharknado film, however, hardly qualifies anyone as a standout actor, Jorgensen noted.

“Now the only question is whether or not [Seth Rollins] can put in the type of performance worthy of being in a Sharknado movie — which basically entails not being all that good at acting at all.”

Regardless of the performance that Rollins turns in for this film, however, the longtime professional wrestling veteran is no doubt a star on the rise for WWE. Rollins’ selection could be regarded by many as recognition that his name value has come into its own and is on par with other past and present WWE performers such as Hulk Hogan, The Rock, and John Cena.

Just last year, in fact, Rollins’ fellow WWE star Chris Jericho appeared with a cameo in Sharknado 3.

Seth Rollins, who broke into wrestling by making a name for himself in a number of midwestern U.S. independent wrestling territories, first burst onto the national wrestling scene with Ring of Honor wrestling, where he regularly competed as Tyler Black. Although he succeeded in becoming a headliner in ROH with a Heavyweight title run there and a headlining role in the promotion’s ROH on HDNet TV tapings, his fame did not really take off until he signed a longterm contract to become part of WWE in 2010.

Renamed Seth Rollins, Lopez made an instant impact among WWE fans for his role as “The Architect” within the popular on-air faction known as The Shield, alongside other popular WWE stars Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose.

In 2015, Rollins was named the No. 1 wrestler in the world by Pro Wrestling Illustrated in its annual “PWI 500” ranking. This announcement, of course, seemed cemented months earlier in the standout year that the in-ring competitor had for WWE.

Thanks @OfficialPWI for the number 1 spot. But let's be honest here…was there really ever a second option? Mwuhahahaha!!

— Seth Rollins (@WWERollins) September 3, 2015

Rollins’ career with WWE shot upward almost immediately in 2015, as the former Shield member parlayed his No. 1 contender status and Money in the Bank briefcase to win his first WWE World Heavyweight title, pinning his former tag partner Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 31.

From there, Rollins would continue to grow the prominence of his role within the company throughout the rest of the year, successfully defending his title against top contenders such as Randy Orton, Cena, Sting, and Kane prior to sustaining a serious knee injury late last year, thus forcing him to vacate his championship. Upon returning to WWE television this year, he won his second WWE World title earlier this month at WWE’s Money in the Bank show, again pinning Reigns before ultimately losing the title to Ambrose.

While his in-ring prowess has long been beyond debate by those who follow his wrestling career, there are still those in the entertainment industry who feel that Rollins’ star could be even more bright on a mainstream stage.

Could Rollins’ upcoming appearance for Sharknado 4: The Fourth Awakens prove to be just what he needs to get there? We could all get a better indication come July 31.

[Image by Joern Pollex/Getty Images]