15 Years Ago: ‘Jersey Shore’ Star Hits a Handspring Elbow in WWE WrestleMania Debut
Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi hitting a handspring elbow in a WWE ring sounds like something out of a fever dream, but it actually happened at WrestleMania 27 .
15 years ago, the Jersey Shore star marked her in-ring debut in a six-person mixed tag match alongside WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus and former Intercontinental Champion John Morrison, with Michelle McCool, Layla, and Dolph Ziggler standing opposite them on the grand stage. Stratus kicked off the action for her team, later fending off both members of LayCool. With Layla then accidentally knocked down by a boot from McCool and Ziggler wiped out by a Starship Pain from Morrison, Stratus tagged in Snooki to finish their opponents off.
Snooki showed off her athletic abilities when she charged toward McCool with a corner handspring elbow. After absorbing the crowd's reaction for a moment, she followed with a splash to gain the pinfall on the former WWE Divas Champion.
Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi performs for WrestleMania XXVII at Georgia Dome on April 3, 2011, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by George Napolitano/FilmMagic)
From bell to bell, this WrestleMania match spanned only about three minutes. Still, Snooki managed to leave a positive impression on the pros working with her.
"I wish we could have done what we had planned, because people would have had a lot more respect for Snooki," Layla told "Insight With Chris Van Vliet" in a 2026 interview. "Snooki, she was good and was going to do really well. She was athletic at that time, so it was fun. And at that moment, I was such a Jersey Shore fan. I loved it. 'I'm working with Snooki!' I was kind of like a fan for her. She had fun. She was very nice. She was professional. I just wish we could have had the match that we were supposed to have."
The reality TV star has not wrestled since the April 2011 event. She has, however, expressed interest in doing it again sometime in the future.
Related: WWE Champion Auditioned for 'Baywatch' Reboot
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Sep 4, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
