Having been friends with people that actively watched wrestling-from WWE, WCW and even ECW-the very mention of David Arquette's name was not especially relevant. To my friends, there were far worse things than David Arquette winning a title. There was the mystery of Owen Hart, the Montreal Screw Job, Randy Savage turning his back on Hulk Hogan, Chris Benoit, and even a wide assortment of terrible costumes and ideas. There was even a one legged wrestler named Zach Gowan who took more punishment than any other fighter in history. "God" even headlined a match once. They even had a stereotyped handicap wrestler named Eugene. David Arquette was bad in the eyes of wrestling fans, but c'mon. Brock Lesnar threw a one-legged wrestler down a flight of stairs and even knocked over his stretcher once....in front of the wrestler's mom. Jay Leno won a fight for crying out loud.
For me, the absolute anger caused by Arquette was palpable. Who wouldn't want to be heavyweight champion? Anyway, the grudge carried by wrestling fans was real, so real that Arquette took it upon himself to bring pride and honor to his name....even if no one really witnessed the journey.
The documentary starts off weird enough. Arquette is a typical dad bod with multiple kids, including a daughter that is embarrassed by everything he does within a metric kilometer from her. An epiphany hits Arquette after getting beat up at a backyard wrestling "event." The road paved with fluorescent tube shards and push pins would have to be traversed, with or without shoes.
Arquette trains in Mexico, Virginia and even sets up a ring in his back yard (much to the chagrin of his wife) to prove this is for real. He goes through the motions, winning, losing and even nearly losing his life (which that entire part was eye popping). In the end, he is named one of the 500 best wrestlers in the world, earns respect from those that chastises him and even gets to live out a fetish fantasy.
Now the first half of the film is bizarre. It felt like this was a joke being played out for fun but when we see Arquette cry over a signed mask from a luchador fighter-which is an honor-we fully understand this is for real. Of course, the instant Harvey Levin shows up in TMZ clips, you know this is real life.
The second half of the film has some really deep life affirming stuff, and I will not ruin it for the reader. But be ready, for you will be surprised and saddened. I'm sure David Arquette thought this film would be just a fun idea and an interesting look into his own soul. Instead, it became a fascinating character study shaped in real life. Bravo Mr. Arquette...bravo.
