WWE: 10 Non-Wrestling Projects Vince McMahon Poured Money Into

9. No Holds Barred

Every wrestling fan knows the story of how Hulk Hogan's success transferred to WWE as a whole in the mid-80s €“ he won the WWE Championship and became a worldwide phenomenon, his notoriety helping fuel the "Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection" (wherein WWE and music entities such as MTV and Cyndi Lauper cross-promoted to reach the same demographics) and WrestleMania I. Even a few years later, when Hogan's popularity had cooled a bit, he was still a moneymaker. Naturally charismatic and media-friendly, it made sense (to someone, at least), to have Hogan star in his own WWE-produced feature film. In 1989, No Holds Barred was released. In the film (which, according to legend, was completely rewritten by McMahon and Hogan during a 72-hour hotel stay), Hulk Hogan, apparently the greatest method actor of all time, plays World Wrestling Entertainment Champion Rip. When the honorable Rip turns down an offer to wrestle for a rival television network, the spurned network president, Brell (Kurt Fuller), forms his own rough-and-tumble promotion, headlined by the evil Zeus (Tom "Tiny" Lister). Naturally, a showdown between Rip and Zeus brews. The movie was panned by critics, and its box office performance wasn't much better (though it did debut the same weekend as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, hurting it with audiences who were forced to choose between Harrison Ford and Hulk Hogan). Still, the distribution fees Vince McMahon received helped the movie break even. Here's the thing, though: it's a great movie. On the surface, it seems like a lowbrow piece of inanity, but it's got heart, a "big-match" feel toward the end, and enough pure ridiculousness that it's impossible to be bored by it. I love this movie non-ironically (and ironically, too), and I'll always be indebted to McMahon and Hogan for helping create it. Final Tally: Even, and a great piece of art was produced