Wednesday, January 28, 2009

The Wrestler at Wrestlemania

Back in August, I wrote a somewhat scathing entry about how as an adult, I longed for the kind of fun wrestling I watched when I was a kid. But I started watching wrestling again after I started playing Fire Pro Wrestling Returns, and I have to admit that I may have been off base.

It was also in the Fire Pro Club forums that I had first heard about The Wrestler, a movie which many of the jaded fans of wrestling were looking forward to seeing because it was a more realistic fictionalized depiction of this form of entertainment.

And then it was recently announced that Mickey Rourke was booked for a match at Wrestlemania 25, which I have mixed feelings about.

On one hand, I think this booking basically killed any chance Rourke had of winning the Best Actor Oscar, much in the same way Norbit destroyed Eddie Murphy's chances of winning an award for Dreamgirls. In fact, it might hurt the entire movie at the ceremonies.

And if it hurts Mickey Rourke at the Oscars, it might also hurt his career after this. In the interviews surrounding this movie, one theme has become evident... Mickey Rourke doesn't want to be a sellout. Well, having a match at Wrestlemania is sort of a selling out of those very ideals he seems to be chasing, and perhaps undercutting the message of the movie as well.

However, since this is going to happen whether I like it or not, I guess I have to look at the positives on this deal.

I don't question Rourke's ability in the ring and I have a feeling he will do admirably in it and will sell it well. And if someone is going to be the professional in this situation and take care of actor in the ring, well, I think Chris Jericho is the right man for the job. He is a performer who has been around the block more than a few times and wrestled under a wide variety of circumstances, so he will work well in this situation. He will make the match pop without unduly endangering Rourke.

So in short, I think this match is a really bad idea, but in execution, it should probably work out fine.

2 comments:

poppedculture said...

Look like Rourke may have come to his senses and dropped out:

http://defamer.com/5141542/defamer-exclusive
-mickey-rourke-tags-out-of-wrestlemania

MC said...

I think that was a good idea... a really good idea.