Why Are So Many Wrestlers Featured in Movies

Professional wrestling is a form of entertainment that has conquered pretty much every corner of the globe. Wrestling has ramifications in many other branches of the entertainment industry, serving as an inspiration for movies, video games, even slot machines you can try at Spin Casino online. Truth to be told, Mexican wrestling is more popular among slot developers – probably because of the highly recognizable masks featured in the Lucha Legends slot machine. Still, wrestling is there – and it’s hard to miss.

Even those who don’t follow American wrestling are familiar with several professional wrestlers from the silver screen. There are many of them who have left behind their career in the ring for movies – and many of them are very successful. Just think of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson or Dave “Batista” Bautista who have proven themselves beyond playing the role of silent muscle. It makes you wonder: how come wrestlers are so prominently featured in Hollywood movies and MMA fighters or boxers are not?

Talent

Unlike MMA fighters and boxers, professional wrestlers require more than just force and reflexes to be successful: they also need a knack for acting. Without belittling the performance of the athletes, we must point out that American wrestling is, in its essence, a performance designed to entertain rather than a competitive sport. To make things believable both inside and outside the ring, to be authentic in their personas, wrestlers need to have a talent for acting.

This background makes them a perfect choice for action films. Wrestlers have been featured in a variety of movies over the decades, from “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and André the Giant to Goldberg and John Cena today.

Opportunity

Did you know that the WWE has its own movie studio? Perhaps unsurprisingly called “WWE Studios” (previously known as WWE Films and Shane Distribution Company at its very beginnings). The WWE has been active in the movie business since the late 1980s, with Hulk Hogan’s “No Holds Barred” being its first movie. Featuring Hulk Hogan and Tommy “Tiny” Lister, it was not a great movie (the critics bashed it into the ground) but it did make history. Lister, a beloved character actor, even turned professional wrestler to promote it, taking on the “Zeus” persona in the ring.

Since the early 2000s, WWE Studios has produced and released dozens of movies that prominently feature professional wrestlers, including “The Rundown / Welcome to the Jungle” that was one of The Rock’s early successes, “The Marine” series, “See No Evil”, “The Condemned” series, featuring wrestlers like Kane, Steve Austin, John Cena, Triple H, and many others. The studio was involved in everything from action and horror movies to documentaries, game shows, and everything in between.

Wrestlers who turned into successful actors

The combination of talent and opportunity has given many wrestlers a second career as actors. We all know The Rock and Dave Bautista, both of them high-class movie stars. But there’s also John Cena who, as it turns out, is a talented comedian, Goldberg, who has repeatedly proven that he has a true talent for acting, Edge aka Adam Copeland who stood out as Kjetill Flatnose in the historical drama series “Vikings”, or Kurt Angle, who will be prominently featured in the upcoming procedural series “Emergency L.A” as Sgt. Gabe Mandell.