5 Other WWE Wrestlers Whose Lives Would Make Great Movies

Unless you live in a shack in the middle of the woods with no internet connection (think The Wyatt Compound, but less on fire), you’ve probably already heard the news that The Rock’s production company is making a movie dramatising the life of former WWE Diva’s Champion, Paige.

If you’re like me and you enjoy both films and wrestling in equal measure, you’ve probably spent the last few weeks wondering which other wrestling personalities have lived lives that would translate well to the big screen. Well, I’m a lot like me and so that’s exactly what I’ve been doing.

I’ve also taken the time to choose the perfect directors for these films and, while I harbour no serious hope that any of the filmmaker’s I’ve selected would be interested, it sure is fun to dream.

 

CM Punk – directed by F. Gary Gray

CM Punk
Image Source:
foxsports.com

From his troubled upbringing to his first forays into the independent wrestling circuit to his eventual superstardom, CM Punk has a story that is worth telling.

Always a controversial figure in the industry, the self-proclaimed Voice of The Voiceless has provided many iconic moments which would translate perfectly to film. Appropriately, F. Gary Gray has shown with Straight Outta Compton that he can recreate iconic moments in pop-culture while also telling a compelling story. Look at his recreation of the events leading up to the Detroit riot and you’ll see what I mean. Now imagine Punk’s infamous pipe-bomb promo getting the same treatment.

Gray has also shown with his earlier work, like Friday, that he can convey the frustration and the angst of characters who want more from life than the hand they have been dealt. I have no doubt he could capture both the grittiness of Punk’s early life in Chicago and the glamour of his time in the WWE. Most importantly, Gray has shown that he can tell stories with a sense of candour that I feel would be important when telling the story of such a polarizing individual as Punk.

 

Mick Foley – directed by The Coen Brothers

Mick Foley
Image Source:
Youtube

This was probably the easiest choice on the list for me. I was a huge fan of Foley’s first autobiography, Have A Nice Day, and I think that book should be used as the foundation for this film.

The film could tell Mick’s story in a series of snapshots. His humble beginnings. His Brutal death-matches. His relationships with his family and friends. His eventual fame and achievement of legendary status. I imagine the film like a visual photo album. The Coen Brothers would be especially well-suited to this. Their films often feel like an intimate look into the lives of others. They’re often bizarre, violent, shocking, and filled with unusual but memorable characters. They can have you gripped by tension one minute and falling over laughing the next. It might seem like an odd choice at first glance but seriously, give it some thought. Their style fits Foley like an old sock.

 

Ric Flair – directed by Shane Black

Ric Flair
Image Source:
WWE

Flair is undoubtedly one of the all-time greats and accounts of his exploits have become wrestling myth. I would love to see a movie about The Nature Boy in his absolute prime. I’m talking sex, drugs, stylin’, profilin’, limousine riding, jet flying…you get the picture.

Shane Black has proven time and again in his writing that he enjoys larger-than-life characters – and honestly, who fits that bill better than Ric Flair? Black also has a knack for combining gripping action with intricate plot and throwing in a healthy dose of comedy for good measure. And after seeing his most recent directorial outing, The Nice Guys where he showed that he can recreate a bygone era with a real sense of charm and authenticity, there is no doubt in my mind that he would be the perfect choice.

 

Vince McMahon – directed by Martin Scorsese

Vince McMahon, inventor of Sports Entertainment
Image Source:
thesportster.com

Okay, now we really are in dream territory, but for one of the biggest personalities in the world of entertainment, we need to bring out the big guns.

Scorsese is an absolute master of the biopic. He consistently takes real life stories and spins them into cinematic gold – Goodfellas, Raging Bull, and The Wolf Of Wall Street, just to name a few.

Of course, there would be no shortage of material to draw upon. From Vince’s takeover of Capitol Wrestling and subsequent dismantling of the old territory system to the Monday night wars, right through to the modern day WWE, a veritable empire in its own right that Vince sits proudly atop.

I also have a really clear image in my mind of one of Scorsese’s trademark tracking shots following Vince all the way through the backstage area while he briefly interacts with a host of recognisable characters before stepping out onto the stage to address a rampant crowd.

 

Kurt Angle – directed by Darren Aronofsky

Kurt Angle
Source: WWE

This one really could be great. Kurt Angle is a living legend in the wrestling world. With an Olympic Gold medal to his name and one of the most stellar careers the pro-wrestling world has ever seen, this is a man who deserves more than anyone to be immortalised on the silver screen, and Darren Aronofsky is the man to do it.

Aronofsky has already ventured into the realm of pro-wrestling with his excellent film The Wrestler, but that isn’t the main reason I think he would be perfect for this. When you look at his filmography, one major theme that keeps recurring in his films time after time is obsession. Pi follows a mathematician obsessed with unlocking the secrets of the universe; Requiem For A Dream follows a junkie’s obsession with his drug and his mother’s obsession with rising above her ordinary life by appearing on her favourite television show; Black Swan shows a ballerina’s obsession with becoming a prima donna of her company and winning a prized role. And if one word can sum up Kurt Angle’s story, it is obsession.

Angle has an obvious obsession with being the best. Throughout his career that obsession has enabled him to hit dizzying heights that few can even dream of; but it has also taken him to dark places, his oft-publicized drug problems and stints in rehab, for example.

This year, Kurt Angle is being inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame. A well-deserved accolade to top off a remarkable career. I’d watch that movie.

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