Rourke to Fight for Realsies?
I loved Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler, and I was a big fan of the WWE and WCW when I was a kid, and the movie brought back a lot of memories. I particularly remember some of the novelty matches when non-wrestlers would have ‘arguments’ with some of the stars and become part of the action at the next pay-per-view event. Dennis Rodman, Karl Malone, Jay Leno and Lawrence Taylor were a few that I remember specifically.
Now it looks as if Randy ‘The Ram’ may be the next to enter the pay per view world as Mickey Rourke seems to be taking his personae into the WWE. Rumors have persisted for the last few weeks that the WWE may be looking to capitalize on Rourke’s success by bringing his character into the storylines leading up to WrestleMania - certainly The Wrestler would naturally share a huge fanbase with the WWE and vice versa.
On Larry King Live last night one of the WWE Superstars, Chris Jericho, “called out” Rourke, further implying that a match may be imminent.
I am all about viral advertising and I know how rabid WWE fans can be, so I think this could be a huge partnership for the WWE as well The Wrestler, which I consider to be solidly in the top three films of the year.
January 28th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
It seems like this would be a totally plausible fight, given Chris Jericho’s current turn as a heel (bad guy), and Randy “the Ram’s” complete face persona. Plus, the whole “old school” vs. “new school” wrestling motif has been used in the past w/ a lot of success by the WWE, as seen by the fact that “Nature Boy” Ric Flair just barely retired (Flair will turn 60 this year, which is well older than most wrestlers make it, and has been wrestling since the ’70s).