10 Underrated Movies Starring Wrestlers
There's more than just Jumanji and Guardians of the Galaxy out there.
Even if you don't believe that wrestling is a sport (which is wrong by the way), you can't deny that it shares elements with the craft of theatre. Wrestlers follow a script, have characters to play, and are forced to deal with the ever-changing nature of a live crowd.
It makes perfect sense that many pro wrestlers have tried to make the jump to acting. Some have failed, with their efforts banished the world of direct-to-DVD, but some actually break through and become legitimate movie stars.
And yes, by that we mean The Rock, Batista, and John Cena.
You probably know them for their appearances in the Fast movies, Dune, and Suicide Squad. These are all huge films that raked in huge amounts of money, transforming these brawlers into mainstream celebrities overnight.
But that's not what we're here to discuss.
We're here to look at some of the lesser-known movies starring wrestlers. Whilst your classic big names are here, we've also got grapplers you may not have even realised were wannabe thespians.
All these movies definitely deserve more attention than they got and are enjoyable even for those not versed in the world of the squared circle.
10. The Rundown
Let's kick things off with the ultimate wrestler-to-actor example, Black Adam himself, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
But we're not talking about Black Adam. No chance.
In only his second leading role, The Rock was the main attraction for The Rundown, a buddy cop movie from the director of Patriots Day and Lone Survivor. He also directed Battleship, but the less said about that the better.
Known internationally as Welcome to the Jungle (which is weird, considering that's what the Jumanji sequel is called), the movie has Rocky playing a bounty hunter on one last mission.
He shares the screen with Rosario Dawson, Christopher Walken, and none other than Stifler from American Pie, Seann William Scott. Don't mention pie around The Rock though. You'll set him off.
The Rundown got good reviews and Johnson was praised for his on-screen chemistry with Scott. Unfortunately, The Rock wasn't quite the money magnet he would become and the film flopped at the box office.
Whilst not on the same level as some of his later action romps, The Rundown offers a fascinating preview of the man who would go onto electrify the world of Hollywood.