As film director Martin Scorsese once let the world know, any film or production related to professional wrestling is true cinema.
“Cinema is about revelation — aesthetic, emotional and spiritual revelation. It is about characters — the complexity of people and their contradictory and sometimes paradoxical natures, the way they can hurt one another and love one another and suddenly come face to face with themselves. It is about confronting the unexpected on the screen and in life, it’s dramatized and interpreted, and enlarging the sense of what is possible in the art form.” – Scorsese for the New York Times.
When thinking of the emotional journey the WWE has provided over the last three years with Cody Rhodes “finishing the story,” or looking back to a very real storyline-to-life bout between Bret “The Hit Man” Hart and Shawn Michaels in Montreal in 1997– it has always been about conquering obstacles and the consequences of achieving dreams.
Time and time again the greatest sports films prove dreams have a cost. The debt paid is often leaving family behind, the physical toll, or even squashing another's dream. It’s not about a world title belt, it’s about the brass ring.
Kevin Von Erich's character in 2023' The Iron Claw captures the sentiment best.
“You move up in any industry based on your performances right? Based on how audiences or clients respond to you. A belt is a job promotion. The promoters keep moving you up and up and if you reach the top, you become world champ as an award. Because you are the best based on your ability. It’s like an actor winning an Oscar. No one says that’s fake.”
That said – there are an array of films about, or set in the world of pro wrestling and the ever-familiar tale of being the best in the business. Here are one man's opinions about their current pecking order, unless someone out there makes a biopic about The Shockmaster.
5. Nacho Libre (2006)
Coming off (the top rope!) with one of the most successful independent films of all time, Napoleon Dynamite writer and director Jared Hess had the keys to the comedy kingdom unlocking his next project.
After grossing over $42 million on a mere $400k budget with Dynamite, Hess quickly signed on comedian, musician and actor Jack Black for an untitled comedy wrestling project. They easily could’ve phoned it in with a slapstick, Dodgeball-esque, underdog story that would’ve made distributors Paramount and Nickelodeon perfectly happy. Instead, he set it in the world of Luchador wrestling that gave the film depth, heart, and its iconic charm with some of the best one-liners in comedy movie history.
References can still be found on Instagram, TikTok, or uttered by your insufferable co-worker near the coffee maker to this day. It is certainly funnier than Ready to Rumble (2000) but doesn’t quite edge out another comedy on this list…
3.5 out of 5 stars
Nacho Libre is available on VOD (Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV)
4. Beyond the Mat (1999)
It’s insane how this deep-dive documentary even came to exist.
Executive producer Ron Howard (yes, of Happy Days fame) and producer Barry W. Blaustein conned former WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon into thinking this was to be a non-commercial, independent film meant for converted hat factory theatres in Lower Manhattan that screen Andrei Tarkovski films. NAH NAH! (LA Knight expletive!)
Instead they spent a small fortune on marketing and publicity with pre-Hollywood Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson front and center despite only about two minutes of actual screen time only to document the tormented lives of the likes of Mick Foley and Terry Funk as they struggled to walk upright for two hours.
It also has one of the funniest moments in wrestling where a mild-mannered McMahon is egging on wrestler Darren “Droz” Drozdov to “PUUUKE!” on command in his office.
It premiered in theaters October 1999 to the disgust of many parents taking their chubby eight-year-olds in Brahma Bull t-shirts. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper described this film as “the best documentary ever made on professional wrestling.” So yeah, it’s good.
4 out of 5 stars
Beyond the Mat is available on VOD (Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV)
3. Fighting with My Family (2019)
Fighting with My Family is Saraya’s biopic, directed by The Office (U.K.) co-creator Stephen Merchant, executive produced by The Rock, and distributed by WWE Studios. It's some good ol’ WWE propaganda based on an actual documentary about the Knight Family of the same name.
That said, it is a wonderful heartfelt family comedy that happens to feature elbow drops and receipts, the kind paid for in the ring. I was smiling the entire time watching superstar actress Florence Pugh absolutely body (slam) this performance with comedic relief Vince Vaughn delivering the goods.
A flawless cast (Nick Frost, Lena Headey, Jack Lowden) makes this desert of a movie sweet with just enough icing. It has no right to be as good as it is. The Rock sure does know how to entertain, doesn’t he?
4 out of 5 stars
Fighting with My Family is available on Amazon Prime Video
2. The Iron Claw (2023)
Fellow North Texans must accept this could be a certain bias when it comes to Sean Durkin’s The Iron Claw, which is based on the true, incredibly sad, story of one of wrestling’s royal families; The Von Erichs.
Actors Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, and Holt McCallany headline a very brutal film about four brothers entering the squared circle to become the best while trying to earn their father’s love and respect.
The cinematography, in-ring choreography, and needle drops are on point. It feels like the 80s without the need to set dress the entire film in pastels.
The reason this movie doesn’t earn the top spot is because they chose to include wrestler Ric Flair – and I can’t fault the actor for not doing an impression of The Nature Boy but this was far from good… it was quite distracting and overall impacted my viewing experience.
Still hard to imagine that the real story is sadder than the film, and hits home if you have siblings. A hard chop straight to the chest. Woo.
4 out of 5 stars
The Iron Claw is available on Max
1. The Wrestler (2008)
This is the best film about wrestling, period.
Writer and director Darren Aronofsky is known for classic films such as Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, and The Fountain – so when he decided to tackle spear professional wrestling, cinephiles the world around knew they were in for a wild ride.
Supplemented by a career-defining performance by Mickey Rourke, rising from the actor’s grave like John Travolta in Pulp Fiction (1994), comes the tale of Randy “The Ram” Robinson, an aging wrestler forced to retire and find a new path in life or put it all on the line for one more match.
Goosebumps.
Aronofsky was inspired by the real-life story of Terry Funk in the aforementioned Beyond the Mat. The Wrestler would be nominated for two Academy Awards; Best Actor (Mickey Rourke) and Best Supporting Actress (Marisa Tomei), although neither won the title.
Pound for pound, there is no besting the tremendous ups and downs this film takes the watcher on and it just so happens to have one of the best endings in cinema history. If you haven’t seen it - watch it right now, jabroni.
5 out of 5 stars
The Wrestler is available on VOD (Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV)