This isn’t so much a definitive list of films based on quality or success as it is ‘my’ personal favorites. This is strictly opinion, but since it’s mine it’s as close as you’re gonna get to perfection.
Notes: 1) The only requirements to be included was a professional wrestler had to at least appear in the movie. Time on screen, the amount of dialogue and plot design are irrelevant.
2) This was inspired by seeing Seth Rollins in Sharknado 4: The Fourth Awakens this week.
3) I know I forgot some. Shut up.
Kurt Angle – Warrior (2011)
Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton starred in a movie about Mixed Martial Arts and how it brought 2 estranged brothers together by pitting them against each other. Nick Nolte kills it as their father, too. Kurt Angle had a small, dialogue-free part as a scary as hell MMA fighter.
He wasn’t in the movie for long, but Warrior made me cry really, really hard and that’s tough to do for me with a straight up drama. I mean, I’ll cry at almost any given Happy Madison production because since I don’t pay much attention to the quality and sort of lose myself in the story. Straight up drama I generally just pay attention to the mechanics of the storytelling, not the soul. But not with Warrior. I cried as much as Angle didn’t talk.
The Big Show – The Waterboy (1998)
Oh hey, look! An Adam Sandler movie! Maybe not the best out of his entire career (I’m looking at you, Bulletproof), but it’s easily my favorite. That’s mostly due to Fairuza Balk’s fiesty turn as love interested Vicki Vallencourt, but Big Show mocking Bobby Boucher through the TV as the wonderfully named Captain Insano certainly didn’t hurt.
And I popped for all the wrestling moves-as-tackles with joy and pride in my heart, zero shames.
Andre The Giant – The Princess Bride (1987)
An American classic, Andre played Fezzik, a giant and sidekick to Shawn Wallace’s fast talking Vizzini before joining our heroes to help save the day. Andre was perfect, if not drunk to the nines during filming, and showed the world his heart was as big as...well, probably his actual heart but still, what a wonderful movie.
Rob Reiner is a legendary director, putting out some of my favorites of all time, like Stand By Me and This Is Spinal Tap. Pairing him with a wrestling legend was an unbeatable combo.
The Rock – The Rundown (2003)
- I know most people would say something like Fast 5ive, I’m partial to this early gem. Dwayne Johnson has proved he can excell at action (Hercules), comedy (The Other Guys), and just plain weird (Southland Tales). The Rundown follows many of the cliches that action movies usually slip into like the beautiful but scrappy love interest, the wisecracking sidekick, and the mean bad guy who wants money and power.
- But instead of falling victim to these over-used tropes the movie uses them skillfully and playfully. Seann William Scott and Rosario Dawson are fresh takes on their characters but the true success lies with Rock playing the part of Beck to cool, muscley perfection and Christopher Walken doing what he does best: being a jerk.
Predator – Jesse “The Body” Ventura (1985)
Future governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura had a roll in the Arnold Schwarzenegger vehichle, and while he didn’t last long before getting Predator-ed to death, he dropped some of the movie’s best lines while he was around. He refered to himself as a “sexual Tyrannosaurus,” and when a team member pointed out that he was hit and losing blood he responded “I ain’t got time to bleed.”
He named his M134 minigun Ol’ Painless, talks about ticks (the bug) from southern states, and basically seems to live the end of his life in “Payback Time.” How cool is that? And even after he’s put aside the correct allotment of time to bleed, the movie continues on to become one of the best 80s action films my 8 year old brain could handle.
John Cena – Trainwreck (2015)
Last year Judd Apatow directed this comedy with fire-hot stand up comedian Amy Schumer writing and starring. As a total stand up geek, this movie checked off a lot of my movie loving boxes. Lots of comedy greats in supporting roles like Colin Quinn, Dave Attell, Dan Soder, Mike Birbiglia, Bridget Everett and Jim Norton, and a suprisingly funny turn from basketball guy LeBron James.
Cena played Steven, a possibly sexually confused/definitely regularly confused boyfriend of Amy. The reaction to his performance landed him future comedic roles and sorta shook the wrestling world. This wasn’t a WWE produced action film to be later passed on to other wrestlers, this was Big John solidifying himself as an actual actor who can actually act.
Comedy is not easy, but neither is pro wrestling so it shouldn’t be a huge surprise that he wasn’t just a winky cameo but a memorable part in a solid ensemble of professionals.
Roddy Piper – They Live (1988)
John Carpenter makes a lot of great movies. They Live is easily his most well-known that stars a pro wrestler as the bubble gum deficient, sunglasses afficianado. It’s a great social commentary on fascist propaganda hiding in plane sight.
It’s horror and sci-fi blended deftly by Carpenter, and the visuals will stick with you pretty much for the rest of your life. Plus, you know, it’s the best heel of all time. Obey.
Batista – Gaurdians Of The Galaxy (2014)
Batista has (had? Probably had) a weird uneven career in WWE, with his last run spurring “Boo-tista” and, hilariously, “Blue-tista” chants, even while he was quickly gaining back momentum right before he jumped ship. It was a good move, with his first major role as Drax The Destroyer in Marvel’s Gaurdians Of The Galaxy.
GOTG was a huge success world-wide, which was sort of a shock. It was meant to be a fun off-shoot of the major Marvel titles like Iron Man and The Avengers, cast with relatively unknown, untested, or completely hidden actors as the leads. As the completely literal thinking space warrior, hellbent on revenge, he was a standout character in a outstanding comic book movie. That full body makeup was pretty badass, too.
Pretty much everyone in WCW at the time – Ready To Rumble (2000)
OK, Ready To Rumble wasn’t a particularly good movie, director Brian Robbins hit perfection with Varsity Blues a year prior. But I love it for the sheer amount of wrestlers that were in it. I’m not even gonna try to sell you on it, because if this list doesn’t make you want to at least see it even once, I can’t help ya.
Asya, Bam Bam Bigelow, Goldberg, Billy Kidman, Booker T, Curt Hennig, Diamond Dallas Page, Disco Inferno, Gorgeous George, Juventud Guerrera, Konnan, Perry Saturn, Rey Mysterio jr., Randy Savage, Sid Vicious, Stevie Ray, Sting, Van Hammer and a handful of refs, announcers and Nitro Girls with funny names. Chris Kanyon and Shane Helms were stunt-doubles for a couple of the leads and John Cena was in a scene before he was even signed to WWE development.
So yeah, while the movie is not a masterpiece by any means, the fun lies in spotting as many wrestlers as possible.
Nathan Jones – Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
This is maybe my favorite movie of all time, with the possible exception of Fantastic Mr. Fox. So I basically got lucky that a legit Australian ex-con who had a short-lived WWE career had a medium sized part as Rictus Erectus, one of the sons of Immorten Joe.
Joe was not a good guy, enslaving women and being really ugly, too. A feminist run at an incredible action film, much like the Alien series, it proved that strong characters aren’t necessarily male. In fact, if you think females can’t be just as tough, cool, and smart as dudes, you’re wrong. Also, I’m super glad they finally found fuel in Max’s world.
