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Brandon Bishop reviews "The Wrestler"

Posted: Feb 17th 2009 By: mikeiles

The following movie review of "The Wrestler" is from Brandon Bishop, taken from his My Space blog. The opinions and views in this review is that of Brandon Bishop only and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of any member of the Oklafan staff.

Of course I had to go see it, as every wrestler from the top of the game on down had to go see it.

I heard that it was good, I heard that it was a must see, I heard that it depicted what we do very well, and I had heard that it was rather depressing, and after seeing it finally I have to agree with all of that, and pass those opinions down to you if you hadn't seen it.

First off, as far as the whole "It's Exposing the business" banter that many of the old schoolers have constantly spewed out lately, get over it! Our business has been exposed a million times over, with every reality Tough Enough show, with every autobiography, and with every shoot interview... Quit insulting our fans intelligence, and concentrate on during your job by suspending their disbelief DURING events between bells.

Danger Dean and I caught "The Wrestler" at The Pikes Peak Theater Downtown here in Colorado Springs. They serve beer and food, nice tiny theaters that attracted an adult crowd, which was suitable for me because I truly HATE movie theaters, mainly due to kids and ignorant fuckers talking on cell phones and releasing their inner Douche throughout a place I paid to be in. There was nothing much in the way of "talkers" or "Loud eaters" and I was happy about that... Outside of Dean I think I was the youngest guy in the place, and I thought that was odd at the ripe age of 35, sitting at a movie called "The Wrestler."

The soundtrack for the flick was amazing to me... Cinderella, Quiet Riot, GnR, Ratt, Firehouse, etc etc etc... The movie was filled with sounds that often escape my speakers... Loved it! Carnage and I need to see this movie together and rock out! The scene where The Ram and his stripper chic (Played by the incredibly hot Marissa Tormei) in the bar where they were singing "Round and Round" by RATT had me Horse Laughing!

I loved watching this old crowd in front of me (As Dean and I sat in the very back in the MAKE OUT row) react to the actual wrestling in the movie. I knew that most of them were there because of the movies acclaim, more so than because they were wrestling fans, but during the matches they reacted like true wrestling fans. They laughed at the comedy spots, they cringed during the hardcore spots, and they watched in amazement. Even though I wasn't anywhere near the screen, I felt as though they all began to respect what I did.
Marissa Tormei is naked throughout the flick, and I put my sweater jacket on my lap to conceal my boner. They tried to make her older and uglier, but that's impossible with Marissa, she's just too hot.

Zane Morris pointed out the fact that all of the Indy promotions he Ram worked for in the movie had medics backstage... No... that's about the only thing in the movie that isn't true. Some of them do, but 99% of US do not... I have access to people in the field that come backstage in the case of emergencies, but other than that, there are no Medical staffers backstage to treat the injuries that occur, and YES the shit that you saw happen in the movie, truly hapens backstage in ACW, and every promotion I've ever worked for.

Whenever I get injured I make sure to head out into the crowd and show every last fan that has stuck around. I think that helps our cause, and it's a lot more respectable than crying about it. With the exception of the Heart Attack scene, everything that Mickey Rourke's character went through, we've all been through, and we all put ourselves in the position to go through, it's what we do,a nd we do it. It's not a matter of "IF" we're going to get hurt, it's a matter of "How Badly" we're going to get hurt.

The locker room scenes in the movie were DEAD ON, and looked just like ACW, and every other place i've worked. The director must have done an amazing amount of research, it was spot on.

Necro Butcher is still an asshole... ha ha... but congrat on getting such a great spot on such a greatly popular movie, I truly wish him further success and profits stemming from his role.... Even though he's still an asshole... Never met him.. but I hate his gimmick... I used to do that shit before I learned how to work a crowd and wrestle...

Great to see CZW and ROH get such exposure, hopefully they can also profit from it and maintain their status as upper tier Indy promotions.. a place I've always wanted ACW to be... and hope that we will someday get to...

Outside of the wrestling aspect of the movie, I would have still been touched by this story due to the relationship between him and his daughter. I'm afraid that I'm heading down the same road with my kids, mostly due to their mothers, and distance. I don't want to be that old broken down guy still trying his best to hold onto his spot in a shitty Indy fed, whether it's ACW or not, and trying to build impossible ties with my kids. As I watched that movie I saw my daughter JoEllen yelling at me and saying those same things, and it hurt. Simple enough, it fucking hurt to watch.

Sure I never had the success his character had, I'm not hooked on Steroids and drugs, I'm hardly a sought after commoditiy, and hopefully I'm not going to have a heart attack anytime soon, but either way the story wasn't all that different than my own, and that freaks me out a little bit.

I could very easily become that character in 15 years... hell even in 10 years... Of course I won't have a tattoo of Jesus on my back, but I have plenty of others...

I tought the movie ended a little cheesy and predictable, but sometimes that's the way to go. It almost had a Soprano's ending, with the black screen, no questions answered, and thoughts left in my head... I don't think he was having a Heart Attack again, I think he took a few months away from the ring and Just got BLOWED UP! It happens... I know.. I've worked Michael Barry in Colorado.. It's funny shit...

All in all I truly believe this movie was inspired by BEYOND THE MAT more than anything... Watching this movie quickly made me think of The Terry Funk, and the Jake Roberts segments of BEYOND THE MAT. watch them both back to back when The Wrestler comes out on DVD, you'll see a lot of similarities...

I apperciate the director for giving the image and name of wrestling a huge kick in the ass (In a good way!). It's nice to walk up to a packed theater and see the words "THE WRESTLER" in huge letters and lights... It's awesome to see The Wrestler winning Golden Globes, and receiving nominations for Oscars... Nothing negative can come of this... I want to show this movie before ACW events, maybe the fans would apprecfiate what they see just a LITLLE BIT more...

Outside of Religulous, this will be the only other DVD I actually buy as soon as it comes out... Can't wait for the extras...

If you haven't seen it, GO FUCKING SEE IT!... If you have seen it, let me know and we'll go see it again...

I think I'm going to start filming my own movie called "The Promoter" ... I think it would win the same awards, and be equally depressing for sure...

BB

Tags: Brandon Bishop, Carnage, Zane Morris, ACW, Michael Barry, Jake Roberts