Rodman was part of WCW's NWO run in the late 90s
By Brian Campbell Mar 20, 2026 at 1:18 pm ET • 1 min read 
Getty Images Nearly 30 years after he shocked the pro basketball world by moonlighting as a member of the pro wrestling stable (and phenomenon) the New World Order, Dennis Rodman will be inducted into the 2026 class of the WWE Hall of Fame.
Rodman, a five-time NBA champion who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, will enter pro wrestling immortality, WWE announced Friday, at the 2026 Hall of Fame Ceremony on April 17 in Las Vegas as part of WrestleMania 42 week.
At the peak of his own crossover stardom and popularity as a member of the defending NBA champion Chicago Bulls in 1997, Rodman appeared alongside nWo co-founder Hollywood Hulk Hogan on a March 10 episode of WCW's "Monday Nitro." Nicknamed "Rodzilla," the 6-foot-7 tattooed Rodman with his everchanging dyed hair went on to have his first match four months later during the NBA offseason at "Bash at the Beach," when he teamed with Hogan in a tag match against Lex Luger and The Giant.
Rodman further blurred the lines between pro wrestling and his day job as a pro basketball player in 1998 when he infamously skipped a Bulls' practice following Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz to appear on "Monday Nitro" with Hogan in a scripted attack on Diamond Dallas Page. That angle set up a tag team match the following month at "Bash at the Beach," where Hogan and Rodman faced off against Page and Jazz forward Karl Malone.
In 1999, Rodman returned to WCW once more in a feud with Randy Savage that concluded with a match at "Road Wild." Rodman would make sporadic appearances at pro wrestling events in the years that followed, including in 2023 with AEW.
Rodman will enter WWE's celebrity wing of the HOF, joining the likes of Muhammad Ali, Pete Rose, Arnold Schwarzenegger, president Donald Trump and Mike Tyson.
Nicknamed "The Worm" on the hardwood, Rodman played 14 seasons in the NBA and won two Defensive Player of the Year awards with the Detroit Pistons. A second-round draft pick by Detroit in 1986, Rodman retired following a 12-game stint with the Dallas Mavericks in 2000.
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