The Wrestler

Mike Bullard the Champ is still on top and beating all contenders but is getting on in years. The promoter/lead character in this film is looking for a replacement and hopes he has found him a young talent named Billy Taylor.

Interesting curio from the 70s...a kayfabe pro wrestling film! As a lifelong wrestling fan I was quite amused to see real wrestlers were used in this film in their well-known wrestling personas. Billy Robinson appears as Billy Taylor and legendary AWA wrestling champ Verne Gagne appears as Mike Bullard. To an oldtime/old school wrestling fan, the film is fun to watch just to spot all the grapplers and to these fans the story will resonate. However, most everyone else will notice that the majority of the wrestlers involved here really cannot act and will probably find the wrestling scenes a bore and lose interest.

It is impossible to give an exact picture of an endeavor such as Pro Wrestling. One has to experience it for oneself. THE WRESTLER does a pretty good job of telling the story.

Basically it is a semi-autobiographical story of starring wrestler, Verne Gagne.A Minnesota native,Gagne himself is and has been a great athlete for most of his life. He excelled in the Simon Pure amateur ranks of the mat sport and was an end on the Golden Gofer Football Team while attending University of Minnesota. That was followed by a stint in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II.

Following a brief fling in the World of Professional Football*, it was in about 1949 that he came to the Pro Grappling ranks.His ability,youth and good looks (remember, this was the beginning of the television age)catapulted him to the top, where he remained for years.

Okay, we know that there is a big show business component in the Pro Wrestling game. In most areas it is advertised as an exhibition.But don't make the mistake that the participants aren't a tough lot of performers. In varying degrees, there are some tremendous exponents of out and out hand to hand combat.There are some truly big men, with big egos to match.

And just how does this writer know this? Well, I was a Pro Wrestler. For about seven years, I spent some of my leisure time as a part time mat man. Basically referred to as a "Job Man" on the big circuits, the best matches for a guy like me were at small town events.

Anyway, back to THE WRESTLER.

It was shown quite a bit on the Drive-In circuit and at minor "neighborhood" movie houses. Oddly enough, it also had a run at the Monroe Theatre, right in the heart of downtown Chicago. That's where we saw it.

It is Verne Gagne's picture. He and the American Wrestling Association undoubtedly financed it. And it looks very good, what with the filming done mostly, if not all on location.While it is familiar to fans of the Pro Game, it gives enough background to serve those who are uninitiated in the viewing audience.

Simply put, the story is one of mortality in a business that (much like Hollywood) expects its participants to remain as young as they were in their first bout.The leading character, the Promoter,Frank Bass (Asner), knows that it is his job to keep the action at the top fresh and exciting. This must be done, even if it means putting his long time friendship for the Champ,Mike Bullard (Gagne) on the line.

Finally, the big match is made between Champion and the talented, but still inexperienced challenger,Billy Taylor (Billy Robinson). In the end, we all realize that what Mr. Shakespeare said so long ago is as still true today, especially in The Pro Mat Game. It is the play that is the most important thing, not any individual.

Viewing this film would be a good idea for anyone, wrestling fan or not. THE WRESTLER gives a rare glimpse into the phenomenon of Professional Wrestling. It is more than just a "sport". It is a genuine piece of Americana.

* Gagne was also chosen as a member of the 1949 College All Star Team as an end and played against the NFL Champs that year.

UPDATE!!! Feb. 06, 2006, Chicago, Illinois We just viewed the new DVD edition of THE WRESTLER, yesterday after THE SUPERBOWL. It really looks so much better than the previous VHS version. The VHS release looked kind of worn,as if it were made from a used 35mm print of the movie, which it probably was.

The look and feel of this is much better than previously recalled by this reporter. It is coherent, logical and treats its subject matter with respect, all without neglecting some humor and high spots (action.)

This may be an all time neglected sort of "minor masterpiece".

I wouldn't say this movie is great, nor the cinematography is good, but to see those wrestling legends of the former AWA at a time where wrestling was purely less artificial as it is today (even WWE's Vince McMahon late dad is there) is a treat. And Ed Asner really shooting in Minneapolis (instead of some Hollywood studio passing for this city's TV station...) is a change.

Most of the wrestling demonstrations here are interesting, reminescent of the old-style wrestling that most of us real wrestling fans miss today. Sad that the dramatic part and the script is poor, but the wrestling moves and seeing those old pros (majority is still alive today) are the only things saving this movie for being a total bore.

See it to realize that wrestling was even more fun on these days than all the superficial shows that are shown today. When Pro Wrestling was pro wrestling at its best !

...first off, if you were hoping for a RAGING BULL or REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT about pro wrestling, this picture doesn't even step towards the goal, let alone come close. Ed Asner and Elaine Giftos are fine comic actors, but they're better sampled respectively on any given "Mary Tyler Moore" episode or in GAS-S-S-S. No, this picture is strictly for fans of the Minneapolis-based American Wrestling Association of the late '60s and early '70s. That promotion was owned and largely starred Verne Gagne, who was one of the greatest ring acrobats of all time. Gagne apparently had a commitment in the 1960s from Minneapolis theater owner W.R. Frank to make a theatrical film, essentially using the wrestlers in the AWA (as well as announcers Marty O'Neill and Rod Tronguard) as the main cast. The thing wasn't pulled together until several years after Frank died, even though his name appears on the credits; it's likely that Gagne himself also produced and wrote this movie while only taking the screen credits as executive producer and actor...

...after the movie made the circuit of drive-ins and four-wall theaters in the Upper Midwest towns where the AWA held their house shows, Gagne started claiming he made this movie to prove that wrestlers couldn't act. That was strictly a kayfabe bit to try to keep the marks in the fold, as latter-day wrestlers like Roddy Piper and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson have proved some of them can act up a storm on a movie set. But THE WRESTLER doesn't even give Asner a whole lot to work with, let alone Billy Robinson or Superstar Billy Graham, just to mention two of the top wrestlers in the AWA at the time. But if, like me, you were a fan of the Saturday night mayhem Gagne committed to video screens in '74, all the old ring faces are themselves worth the hour and a half it takes to watch this one...

I saw a DVD copy of this movie in the cheap bin for $3 so I decided to buy a copy. I heard about it many years ago in wrestling magazines, and the general consensus was that it's considered to be a poor movie.

If the point of movies is to keep the audience entertained, then I think it succeeds. It is certainly better than the other kayfabe movies "No Holds Barred" and "Ready to Rumble" who seem to treat the subject matter with disrespect. I also liked it better than the other movies that break kayfabe, "Beyond the Mat" and "Wrestling with Shadows".

A lot of 1970s wrestling stars make appearances and cut pretty good promos, even though they are from well before my time: Dusty Rhodes and Superstar Billy Graham are the ones that stood out the most for me. I wish Ric Flair had a more prominent role, but in fairness, he was just a rookie then.