Posted in: The Classroom The Classroom - History Of: Wrestling Movies Part 1
By Sean Taylor
Jun 10, 2009 - 1:43:44 AM
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back . . . FINALLY . . . to The Classroom. I’ve been away for a while dealing with real life shit but I’m back and ready to begin another series examining a aspect of the world of professional wrestling. But first, to those who read my last column and weren’t impressed, understand that a) I was stated an exaggerated version of my opinion, b) it was meant to be a parody or joke of itself, and c) despite what Mavsman says, Jeff Hardy doesn’t care about what I write.
Let’s get on to the topic at hand. While debating, belabouring, and finally selecting the topic for the next History Of series, I came across an epiphany. What other industry is exactly like professional wrestling? Hollywood. Everyone enjoys a movie. Whether it be an action flick, a suspense thriller, a romantic comedy, or a tear-inducing drama, we all sit down at home or at the theatre and allow ourselves to fully engross ourselves in a make believe world. It’s the same as watching a wrestling show on television or live in an arena. Heroes, plots, emotional investment, villains, and a happy ending – it’s the stuff we all crave.
And sometimes, the two worlds that we all love combine. Sometimes that combination works out for the best and sometimes it creates cinematic WrestleCrap. But the one thing remains true throughout all of it, we all watch. We want to know if what is presented is a true representation of the wrestling industry or whether the “Hollywood suits” are poking fun at our favourite pastime. Over the course of this series, we’ll take a look at the some of the memorable – and not so memorable – silver screen movies that deal with wrestling. After that, we’ll take a look at the cinematic ventures of those who stepped out of the squared circle and into the bright lights of Tinsel Town. As word of warning, in order to discuss these movies the proper way, I may have to include some spoilers. So if you haven’t seen the movie before,
But that’s enough of an intro. Let’s go back to the first big wrestling movie. To do that, we have to go all the way back to 1974.
The Wrestler
Release Date: March 28, 1974
Cast: Ed Asner, Verne Gagne, Billy Robinson, “Superstar” Billy Graham, Dick Murdoch, Dusty Rhodes, Lord James Blears
Director: James A. Westman
Produced by: W.R. Frank & Verne Gagne
Plot Synopsis
The main story of the film features wrestling promoter Frank Bass (Asner) wanting to get the title off of the current champion – the veteran hero, Mike Bullard (Gagne). Bass wants the title of his promotion around the waist of the younger wrestler named Billy Taylor (Robinson) for his upcoming supercard called “Superbowl of Wrestling”. Bass schedules a title match for Taylor to challenge Bullard prior to the supercard but Bullard claims to have injured himself while training and ducks out of the match. Bass then pulls a power play on Bullard, calling him a coward, and goads him into a match at “Superbowl of Wrestling” against Taylor.
In addition to trying to build the biggest match in the country, Bass also contends with mobsters, gamblers, rogue wrestlers, and corrupt promoters who want to take over his business. Bass is an old-school promoter who believes that wrestling should remain an athletic contest between two talented men. The outsiders want to reformat the entire business and pre-plan the matches’ outcomes so that they could dominate the top levels in the business thus make the most money.
During the build up to “Superbowl of Wrestling” one of Bass’ wrestlers accidentally dies in the ring. Bass calls a press conference but only three newspaper reporters show up. One reporter calls professional wrestling “nonsense” and nothing more than “theatrics”. Bass launches into a angry tirade defending his business saying that the man who died like the others that suffered the same fate did so because they believed in competition. He says it’s sickening how if any other man dies, it would be on the front page but if it is a wrestler, he barely gets a mention in the lower left-hand corner of the sports section. The reporter scoffs and leaves vowing not to print his story leaving Bass to further fight a seemingly never-ending battle.
In the end, after fending off all challengers, the climatic final scene of the film centers around the long-awaited showdown between Bullard and Taylor. The match battles back and forth as the crowd cheers on. Bullard finally sets up Taylor for his finishing move – the flying dropkick. If he lands it, he will have successfully defended his title. As the bottom of Bullard’s boot nears the camera, the movie ends abruptly. Did Bullard land the kick and win the match or did Taylor somehow sidestep and go on to become the new champion? The audience is left to decide and argue the true ending as the credits roll.
Blurring The Line
The Wrestler was the first movie to properly capture the wrestling business and relate it into a motion picture. Verne Gagne made this film for two reasons. First, he wanted to raise awareness of professional wrestling and also to draw in new fans. The film did exactly that. The story was told in a way that treated the wrestling industry as serious as any other form of sport. The characters weren’t over-blown, larger-than-life versions of their wrestling characters. They were real people trying to make a living doing the only thing they knew how to do. The characters, story, and emotions were real. The day-to-day lives and real life situations of being a professional wrestler were spotlighted throughout the film.
In one particular scene, The West Texas Outlaws (“Dirty” Dick Murdoch and Dusty Rhodes) walk into a bar after a show and just want to sit and relax. A local loudmouthed drunk at the end of the bar starts to call them out saying that wrestling isn’t real and they are just actors. Murdoch and Rhodes shrug it off and go sit on the other side of the bar and ignore him. Soon, the roughneck pair is confronted by a Japanese assassin hired by the mobsters to take out two of Bass’ star performers. Murdoch and Rhodes try turn the other cheek and not cause a scene but the assassin (played by Harold Sakata who also played “Oddjob” in 1964’s James Bond film, Goldfinger) continues to goad the two by breaking their tables and spilling their beer. Finally, the two have had enough and a brawl breaks out. In a bar fight that would make the APA tip their hats, The Outlaws clear the room and then embarrass the original loudmouth and celebrate with a cold one.
The second task of this movie was to further the belief of the day that wrestling was a legitimate sport. The NWA and the professional wrestling industry as a whole still thrived that fans could believe that the wrestlers were larger than life personalities. That’s why Gagne stacked the cast with wrestlers from the AWA territory. The matches featured in the movie were actual matches from non-televised AWA shows in front of real AWA fans. Because they were real matches, the audience could feel the reality of them. It was easier to get caught up in the story because the wrestler’s real life passion for the sport shone through.
Aside from the wrestlers, there were future stars and high-ranking wrestling industry personalities who made cameos in the film. In addition to names like Danny Hodge, Don Muraco, The Brusier, The Crusher, Wahoo McDaniel, Nick Bockwinkel, and Ray Stevens, there was a brief appearance by and up-and-coming wrestler by the name of Ric Flair (credited as Rick Flair). In a scene where Bass meets up with other promoters, the promoters are played by the actual heads of the NWA territories including Vince McMahon Sr., owner of the WWWF. Seeing the real stars of professional wrestling lent credibility to the film that Hollywood actors couldn’t bring.
Everything a wrestling promoter does is designed to do one thing: make money. The Wrestler was no exception. However, the box office return left much to be desired. Wrestling wasn’t seen as something that would translate well into a movie. Most of the theatre-goers were wrestling fans but the goal of drawing non-fans didn’t quite work out as well as planned. But, a residual effect did happen. Because of the realness of the film, more fans were seduced into attending live AWA shows. People may have seen past the fabricated story of the movie, but they couldn’t resist buying a ticket and watching these characters do battle in real life. The Wrestler was instrumental in the AWA’s success in the late 1970s and was the was the first baby-step towards the wrestling industry’s evolution into sports-entertainment.
That evolution into sports-entertainment would later be solidified when a bleached blonde, six foot five inch, 310 pound champion had wrestling fans chanting for one name . . .
. . . Rip!
That about wraps up Part 1 of this series. I hope you’re as pumped and excited about this journey as I am. It’s been a while but I’m happy to be back writing a History Of series. As always you can send me an email here or if you’re a member of the Columns Forum, you can post here.
Pop Quiz We’re going to change up the Pop Quiz segment a bit. I want to determine the best wrestling movie and the best movie starring wrestlers. So here’s your homework assignment: In addition to the great feedback you readers always provide, I’d like to hear your votes for Best Wrestling Themed Movie and Best Movie Starring A Wrestler or Wrestlers. Your nominations will be tallied and in future Pop Quizzes, your votes will determine the winner of a single elimination tournament. Sounds like fun? Sure does.
