There is a long tradition of wrestlers migrating from the squared circle to the silver screen. From "The Immortal" Hulk Hogan to The Rock to current WWE poster boy John Cena, there have been numerous films starring and featuring wrestlers. The WWE even created their own film studio in 2002 and have begun producing their own original films. However most of these movies starring wrestlers have pretty bad raps to them. Wrestlers can't act, right?
There have been a lot of pretty bad movies starring wrestlers, I do have to admit. But I'm going to open your eyes to five gems! Here are the absolute best ones!
The Rundown (2003)
Okay, The Rundown isn't for everyone, but I think it's a pretty cool action movie. It stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as a man who is tasked to bring home a mobster's son from the Amazon. While there, he becomes entangled in a search for a mysterious treasure. The Rundown also stars Seann William Scott, Rosario Dawson, and Christopher Walken. This marks The Rock's first role since his debut in The Mummy Returns and the Scorpion King. In this movie The Rock proved that he could be really funny yet kick some serious ass as well. The Rundown is equally hilarious as it is awesome, with some really great action set pieces and shootouts. While The Rock started with movies like this, he soon ventured into a TON of Disney family films. I'm sure they paid well, but they really weren't for me. He eventually would go back to his action roots with...
Fast Five (2011)
Yeah, another movie starring The Rock. I think The Rock may be the best overall wrestler turned movie star, but this is the last Rock movie on this list, I promise. Fast Five may not even be my favorite entry in the series, but in this movie, The Rock proved he's the ultimate badass action star. Fast Five is pretty similar to the other movies in the Fast and the Furious series, except this time The Rock stars as the "villain" Luke Hobbs, a cop on the trail of the characters played by Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. The intense, knock out brawl between The Rock and Vin Diesel in this movie is worth watching alone. The Rock brings an intensity to that villain role that previous Fast and Furious movies were really lacking. With Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, and guys from that age soon nearing action movie retirement, the world is looking for its next action superstar. And I think that person could be The Rock.
They Live (1988)
This movie has to be one of the most underrated cheesy sci-fi horror movies of all time. I live for B-movie sci-fi and They Live is one of the kings of that genre. It stars "Rowdy" Roddy Piper as a man who discovers sunglasses that allow him to see aliens that are planning on taking over the Earth. It's equally parts funny as it is absolutely insane. There's really not much to say besides that this movie is a really good time and won't disappoint. Keep an eye out for an extended fight scene between Roddy Piper and actor Keith David. And by extended, I mean this fist fight lasts a good fifteen minutes. They Live also features one of my favorite lines of all time: "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...and I'm all out of gum."
The Wrestler (2008)
Okay, this one's cheating a little bit. It doesn't necessarily star a wrestler, because as far as I know, Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei haven't laced up their boots yet. But many of the supporting cast members are all real wrestlers from independent wrestling company Ring of Honor. All of the wrestlers that Mickey Rourke's character "The Ram" faces in the ring are in fact all Ring of Honor regulars. Current WWE wrestlers R-Truth and Antonio Cesaro make cameos as well. For those that have never seen The Wrestler, it stars Mickey Rourke as Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a professional wrestler who struggles with his life both in and out of the ring. It was nominated for 2 Oscars back in 2009 and if I had to guess, I'd say it's probably the only wrestling related movie to have Oscar nominations. It's also really, really good and you really don't need to know anything about wrestling to enjoy this movie.
The Princess Bride (1987)
You probably forgot about this one, right? Well The Princess Bride is one of my favorite movies of all time, so of course it's ranked #1 on this list. In case you may have missed him, that 7 foot tall gentleman on the right is Andre the Giant, who is one of the most popular wrestlers of all time. The Princess Bride is a modern take on the classic fairy tale and sees the courageous Westley trying to save the love of his life from the evil Prince Humperdinck. Andre plays Fezzik- the giant with a heart of gold. I don't want to imagine that some people haven't seen The Princess Bride (my teachers actually showed it to us in middle school!), but if you haven't, I can't recommend it highly enough. It's directed by Rob Reiner, who also directed Stand by Me, This Is Spinal Tap, and other awesome movies. So stop reading this blog (well finish the last paragraph) and go out and watch this movie!!
Those are my Top 5 favorite movies starring wrestlers. Sure, there have been at least six times as many flops as there have been hits. But I have faith that we will continue to see wrestlers transition to movies and there will still be some good ones put out there! And if you ain't down with that, I got two words for ya!
Which of your favorite ones didn't make the list? Who do you guys think is the best wrestler turned actor? Hit up the comments section below to sound off on your opinions!
Jared
