Mickey Rourke's eye-opening portrayal of fallen wrestling idol Randy 'The Ram' Robinson in 2008's The Wrestler drew new eyes and fresh acclaim for the former Hollywood heartthrob, but an inadvertent tease that he may work an angle with Chris Jericho at the next WrestleMania created a worst case scenario knock-on effect for everybody involved.
WWE's old stink with Academy fuddy-duddies allegedly ruled Rourke out of winning an Oscar, whilst the actor himself subsequently distanced himself from the entire project.
What remained was the multi-man tragedy that befell Chris Jericho. Though one of the legends shone under the WrestleMania spotlight (and more on him later), 'Y2J's flippant wins over decrepit Hall-Of-Famers Roddy Piper and jimmy Snuka was depressing in the extreme. A post-match shadow box with Rourke was presented as making the best of a sh*tty situation, but even an in-form Rourke didn't have the acting chops to pull that performance off.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
