Professional wrestling, brought to you by pop culture and the make believe world of mass media.
Medium: Film
Title: The Naked Man
Bio: The Naked Man will go down in cinematic wrestling history for going off-script and legitimately hurting the entire locker room of wrestlers before cutting one of the most heartfelt, confusing promos. Was rumored to be Slim Goodbody’s evil twin brother.
Signature Move: Cracking backs.
With wrestling and cinema going head-to-head this Sunday, when WWE’s Fastlane goes up against the 87th annual Academy Awards, I figured it’d be best to provide you with the definitive ranking of the best fictional wrestlers in movie history. I tried to hold back on this list until Luis Guzman’s Aztec Warrior was finally released, as I’m sure he would’ve provided with a memorable interpretation of a luchador, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen any time soon. First, a few honorable mentions.
First off, props to Miller Lite for acknowledging that pro wrestling not only appeals to small children but also grown men. Skeptical dads, please be aware that if your child drags you to a wrestling show you’ll at least be able to drown your frustrations in a 20 oz. cup of beer. Shitty beer, but beer nonetheless.
Having recently learned that Troma Entertainment picked up Pro Wrestlers vs. Zombies for distribution, this month’s Ringside Cinema focuses on a forgotten gem of a wrestling movie that can be seen as a Troma-lite attempt at kitsch and camp: The Naked Man. Co-written by Ethan Coen. Yes, as in one-half of the brother team that’s co-written and directed The Big Lebowski, Fargo, No Country for Old Men, etc. Proving that Joel Coen is the more talented one of the two, and that Michael Rapaport is a strange choice to play a wrestler on film, but still not as strange a choice as Oliver Platt.
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