To some, the stars of WWE, TNA, and the now defunct WCW are actors. They throw themselves around and pretend to be in pain for a living after-all. But why, when it comes to movies, do wrestlers (or sports-entertainers) rarely make the grade?
Since Hulk Hogan made his debut in ROCKY III (1982) and moved onto his first starring role in SUBURBAN COMMANDO (1991) Hollywood has been determined to cash in on wrestling’s biggest stars.
Hogan was a reasonable success, even having his own TV series THUNDER IN PARADISE (1994) in which Hogan played a former Navy Seal-turned-mercenary and later HOGAN KNOWS BEST (2005-present), which introduced us to his (rather wretched) family. Still running in the US, the show has been a huge success for Hogan financially but not personally, as it’s seen the dissolution of his marriage.
To have a career in film and TV span almost 30 years is a rarity. The fact Hogan has managed it is a tribute to his agent… sorry, talent. Other wrestlers haven’t faired so well.
2010 saw the release of WRONG SIDE OF TOWN, starring Rob Van Dam of WWE and TNA fame and Dave ‘Batista’ Bautista formerly of WWE. For those with no wrestling knowledge these two weren’t the most charismatic, with no help from the appalling script their performances are dire and the film is pretty much unwatchable.
Dave Bautista, however, gets a shot at redemption quite literally with the release of THE SCORPION KING 3: BATTLE FOR REDEMPTION (2012) on DVD and Blu-ray next week. He’ll be hoping for the kind of career kick-start afforded to Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson when he made his film debut in the same series: as Mathayus in THE SCORPION KING (2002).
Dwayne Johnson is a modern day phenomena in terms of making the transition from wrestling ring to silver screen. As the most charismatic wrestler to attempt the move since Hogan, Hollywood has taken him in with open arms. Helped by some smart career moves, say what you want but linking up with Disney gave him a whole new audience, Johnson has set a high mark and some predict he will even win an Oscar one day. Given recent history he will be alone in this…
WWE sadly now have an in-house film studio. For anyone who caught Triple H (Paul Levesque) in BLADE: TRINITY (2004), THE CHAPERONE (2011), with Levesque playing an ex-con on the run who chaperones a field trip to New Orleans as cover, gives him a starring role to show off his acting muscle. He fails and the film is actually worse than it sounds. John Cena has faired little better. Seen as a modern day Hulk Hogan by some, Cena has made the kind of films that take saccharine to whole new levels, in particular LEGENDARY (2010) as an ex-con who makes amends with his younger brother.
Fortunately not all WWE produced films are as bad as this. THE CONDEMNED, (2007) stars ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin as Jack Conrad, a man framed for a crime and now facing the death penalty. It has a BATTLE ROYALE (2000) style twist as Conrad and nine other convicts are shipped to an island for a battle to the death with the winner absolved of all crimes and freed. Much tougher than WWE releases since, THE CONDEMNED, rated 18 in the UK, gave some good action and if it wasn’t for Vinnie Jones ruining every scene he’s in the film would have been a success.
Austin has since gone onto be one of the best things in THE EXPENDABLES (2010), so it’s not all doom and gloom for wrestlers in the movies, but it is a tough transition.
You can see how Dave Bautista gets on in THE SCORPION KING 3: BATTLE FOR REDEMPTION by entering our competition here for a chance to win a copy of the film on Blu-Ray or DVD.
Check out the trailer below.
THE SCORPION KING 3: BATTLE FOR REDEMPTION is available on DVD February 27th
