The Godfather of heavy metal, Ozzy Osbourne, has sadly passed away, just weeks after his final performance. The show, “Back to the Beginning,” reunited Black Sabbath and raised $190 million for charity. Although he suffered from numerous health issues at the time of his passing, including Parkinson’s, he powered through until the very end, proving why he’s the greatest of all time. It was also the perfect cap on his career with a fairytale ending he deserved.
Throughout his storied career as a musical icon, his solo ventures and those of Black Sabbath, he left no stone unturned. In honor of The Prince of Darkness, we’ve compiled his many WWE appearances here to remember him by. All aboard…
Ozzy Osbourne Appears At WrestleMania 2
His first appearance in a WWE ring was at WrestleMania 2 where he managed British icons The British Bulldogs with Captain Lou Albano. The match was Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith challenging for the Tag Team Championships with Ozzy in their corner. According to the Dynamite Kid’s family in an interview with Wrestling Life with Ben Veal, it was Ozzy who reached out to Vince McMahon to work with them.
Chris Jericho Meets Ozzy Osbourne
Not only is Jericho a wrestling legend, he’s a frontman in the band Fozzy, and it’s well documented how big a fan of Ozzy he is. So when Ozzy hosted an episode of Monday Night Raw with Sharon, he had to come face-to-face with Y2J. In an interview with Inside The Ropes, Jericho recalled the backstage segment where Ozzy turned down a pitch from McMahon.
“So [Vince] put me in a backstage vignette with Ozzy,” Jericho said. “And the idea was that I would be yelling at Ozzy and insult him. Then he would go, ‘You’re nothing but a stupid wanker.’ And so Vince is explaining this to Ozzy, and Ozzy’s like, ‘Wanker? I can’t call him a wanker, man. What do you mean?’ He was like, ‘Wanker is like tossing off, man. It’s like jacking off, man. You can’t say that on TV.’”
“You know things are bad when Ozzy Osbourne is the voice of reason of what you can and can’t say on TV,” Jericho joked.
Survivor Series: WarGames Cold Open
In 2022, WWE brought back the WarGames stipulation for Survivor Series. To celebrate the occasion, Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” was a huge part of the event. Although Ozzy was not able to perform, he did the official WarGames opening, which was a delightful surprise. It was used for the men’s WarGames match. “Parasite” from his 2022 solo album Patient Number 9 was the official theme song. According to Paul “Triple H” Levesque, he made the call to Ozzy.
Ozzy Osbourne Performs on SmackDown
WWE has had many musicians perform over the years. In 2007, Ozzy, joined by Zakk Wylde, performed “I Don’t Wanna Stop” from his album Black Rain. While it felt random to shove it on a random episode of WWE SmackDown, it was the go-home episode to the Judgment Day pay-per-view, and “I Don’t Wanna Stop” was the official theme.
Ozzy’s WWE Hall of Fame Induction
Ozzy is a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, having been inducted in 2006 with Black Sabbath and 2024 on his own accord. His accolades extend outside of music, though, because he’s also a WWE Hall of Famer. Ozzy joined the 2021 class headlined by Kane, Rob Van Dam, Molly Holly, The Great Khali, Eric Bischoff, and Rich Hering.
Ozzy is part of the celebrity wing, which features Arnold Schwarzanneger, Mike Tyson, Snoop Dogg, Shad Gaspard, William Shatner, and more. While he was unable to accept the award in person due to COVID-19 restrictions, he sent a digital acceptance speech.
“Thank you so much WWE Universe for this award. I don’t deserve it, but thank you anyway. It’s all about the fans, really,” he said in his acceptance speech. “Our fans are what keep us alive really. It’s all about them. I want to thank Vince McMahon and Triple H. Thank you very much. God bless you.”
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