WHAT THESE MOVIES & TV SHOWS GOT RIGHT ABOUT WRESTLING

The breakthrough success of The Rock, Batista, and John Cena in Hollywood has caused a lot of old school fallacies about wrestlers, actors, and the wrestling industry to be put to bed. For decades, whenever wrestling or wrestlers were depicted in movies and TV shows, a lot of lame stereotypes came to light.

But over the years, the perception has changed from time to time when dedicated wrestling fans take over and make great media. These are the fans that know a little more about the business and refuse to adhere to the silly Hollywood stereotypes. Those are times when movies and TV shows get a lot of right about the wrestling business.

That '70s Show Predicted The Rocks Glory

As Predicted By The Brahma Bull Playing The Soulman

• That 70s Show depicted life in The Disco Decade for 8 Years.
• The series launched the careers of Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis.
• Ken Shamrock and The Hardys guest starred in this episode too.

During the latter-half of the nineties, both The Attitude Era and That 70s Show were both taking off. The two forces collided for the 15th episode of the first season - “That Wrestling Show.” The episode features the cast heading to the WWWF show to see superstars like The Soul Man Rocky Johnson in action. While Ken Shamrock and The Hardys donned 70s wigs for their cameos, The Rock donned one as well to play his father. He correctly predicted just how electrifying his son would become one day.

The Wrestler Depicted Life For Struggling Old-Timers

Mickey Rourkes Portrayal Brings Fans & Wrestlers To Tears

• The Wrestler came out in 2008.
• The film featured a ton of Ring Of Honor cameos.
• Mickey Rourkes career was revitalized by this role.

There have been several movies made about the glitz and glamour of the wrestling business. But seldom few have been made about a wrestler’s fall from grace. Mickey Rourke’s tour-de-force performance as Randy The Ram Robinson is nothing short of phenomenal to see.

Darren Aronofsky directed Rourke in a film that hit really close to home to wrestlers like Rowdy Piper - who had seen a lot of his friends fall the same way Randy had in the movie.

Heels Showed Life For A Family-Owned Indy Fed

Stephen Amell Channeled His Inner-Cody For The Role

• Heels ran for two seasons and is hoping to get at least a third on Netflix.
• Stephen Amell is a huge wrestling fan.
• The former Green Arrow has wrestled at SummerSlam and All In.

Recently picked up by Netflix, there might be hopes for a third season of the struggling, fledgling show about a struggling, fledgling promotion. Wrestling fan, Stephen Amell plays Jack Spade on the show and tries to balance raising a family, keeping his ornery brother in line, and maintaining his father’s legacy and promotion intact. While the story isn’t exactly like a certain American Nightmare, Amell did draw inspiration from his friend’s story.

Spider-Man Showed How Promoters Can Stiff You

The Stiff That Created A Superhero

• Spidey thought surviving a wrestling match could earn him fast cash.
• Raven wrote a short story about that wrestler, Crusher Hogan.
• Randy Savage played Bonesaw McGraw in the original Spider-Man adventure.

From the moment Spider-Man first got bit by a radioactive spider, he first tried to use his powers to become a professional wrestler instead of New York’s favorite superhero. In the first flick, back in 2002, Tobey Maguire’s webhead had to survive the onslaught of Bonesaw McGraw.

The promoter would give him enough money to purchase a car and impress Mary Jane. But after knocking out Bonesaw in record time, the promoter stiffed him on the payout.

The Goldbergs Showed Fandom In The 80s

Are You Telling Me That The Iron Sheik Isnt Fighting To Protect His Oil Interests?

• The Goldbergs is loosely based off creator Adam F. Goldbergs childhood.
• Yes, Bill Goldberg eventually does join the cast for several episodes.
• The familys middle child, Barry, tried out for the wrestling team.

For a lot of wrestling fans born in the eighties, there was still a unique innocence to the sport of kings. The Human Game Of Chess was one-hundred percent real, or so fans believed. Fans got to relive that magic ever so slightly on The Goldbergs. The show was sort of like “The Wonder Years,” set in the decade of decadence. In one episode, middle son Barry wants to try out for the wrestling team. But instead of realizing it’s the Amateur Style, he starts practicing moves on an old-school wrestling buddy. It was the first time the series showcased the 80's boom, but it definitely wasn't the last.

Big Van Vader Was Frankys Dad On Boy Meets World

Wrestlers Are Just Regular Peeps With Families And Troubles

• Vader appearing on Boy Meets World was a huge crossover event.
• Bruce Prichard has spoken about the experience on his show and others.
• Over the past few years, Ethan Suplee (who played Vaders son) thinned out and bulked up.

As an imposing larger-than-life figure, Vader was one of the most ferocious competitors in the ring. Behind the scenes though, The Mastodon was just like any other working-class hero. He went to work, he came home to his wife and son. Life imitated art for the big man when he guest starred in the seminal 90s sitcom, Boy Meets World. The big man played Francis Stecchino Sr., father to Cory’s bullies.

GLOW Shined A Spotlight On Womens Wrestling

The Series Showed How Far Womens Wrestling Has Come

• The Original GLOW promotion introduced fans to Ivory - then Tina Ferrari.
• Both Mando and Chavo Guerrero helped train the GLOW girls.
• Awesome Kong was part of the Netflix series cast.

In the late eighties, as the wrestling boom was taking shape, the girls jumped into the ring too. The GLOW promotion was born. The memorable series gave birth to superstars like The Farmer’s Daughter, Big Bag Momma, and Mountain Fiji. While the ladies weren’t nearly as trained as the superstars of today, it did show there’s definitely a market out there for good-looking ladies who want to wrestle. Over thirty years later, as the Women’s Evolution was happening in WWE, GLOW resurfaced as a popular Netflix series.

The Monster Factory Showcased How Hard Training Is

Anyone Can Step In The Ring, Not Everyone Can Stay There

• The Monster Factory opened in 1983.
• The schools first student was Bam Bam Bigelow.
• Now the school is owned by Danny Cage.

Existing before most wrestling fans even knew you could go to a wrestling school, The Monster Factory has been going strong since 1983.

Its latest iteration has recently been featured in a docu-series on Apple TV. The series takes a great look at what life is like for struggling wrestlers honing their craft at a not-so-state-of-the-art facility like the WWE’s PC.

Rocky 3 Shows A Bit Of Kayfabe

Thunderlips Slipped In And Out Of Character

• Sylvester Stallone personally picked Hulk to play Thunderlips.
• Hulk was fired by Vince Sr. for making the movie.
• Obviously, Vince Jr. hired him back to begin the National Expansion.

Years before Rocky, Sylvester Stallone showed his wrestling fandom in the film, Paradise Alley. Once he created the iconic boxer, he got to do something even more special. He cast the up-and-coming Hulk Hogan to play Thunderlips in Rocky 3. The then-future megastar was able to ham it up as a heel, utterly destroy Rocky for a few minutes and then break Kayfabe to take some publicity pics - all in the span of one scene.

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