10 Wrestling Movies That Should Be Made
How difficult could outdoing No Holds Barred possibly be?
While professional wrestling's penchant for drama gives the sport more than a few things in common with the movie industry, the two worlds don't tend to mesh well. You need only look at the long list of cinematic atrocities that have escaped WWE Studios over the years to understand this, or any film Hulk Hogan has ever been attached to, for that matter.
Sometimes it works. 2008's The Wrestler is a tough, gritty portrayal of life beyond the squared circle, and The Rock and Batista's Hollywood success shows the two worlds can be bridged, albeit under exceptional circumstances. The results aren't always pretty, but as long as there's money to be made, the wrestling and film industries will continue to collide.
With films on Vince McMahon's life, the Chris Benoit tragedy, and Paige's family of wrestlers in the works, it could be a busy couple of years for wrestling movies. The sport is peppered with great stories ready to be told on the big screen, and while many would hold limited appeal outside WWE's existing fanbase, each could make a seamless transition if handled correctly, and given the same level of care and attention as The Wrestler...
10. Mikey Whipwreck's Life Story
Though Mikey Whipwreck’s wrestling career doesn’t always get the shine it deserves, his story already reads like a movie script. It may just be the greatest underdog story the sport has ever seen, and while Whipwreck was never built for long-term success in a company like WCW or WWE, his is a classic tale of zero to hero.
Whipwreck wasn’t even trained as a wrestler when he joined ECW in 1993. He started working as an unpaid member of the ring crew, and in exchange for their graft, Heyman let Mikey and his colleagues mess around in the ring before and after the show. Whipwreck’s aerial abilities eventually caught Joey Styles’ eye, and Heyman soon asked him to wrestle: Mikey accepted, and started training under Mick Foley.
His early days were understandably rough, and Whipwreck would routinely lose without mounting any offence. His fortunes gradually improved, however, and when the rookie finally defeated Gary Wolfe for the ECW Television Title, his career took off. Having entered the business with absolutely no prior experience, Mikey’s journey peaked when he became ECW Champion in 1995, which would be the perfect conclusion for our scruffy underdog movie.