How you doing, Booker? How you doing? Boys? Really? All
right? All right? Look King's lady again. I don't know what to
do with this kid. I'm so sick of the ship plas. Once you
finish, the finish is gonna be uh kill pile Grivey get up on the
ropes, and that Corownie is gonna get the win. Whatever works for me,
I'll tell you, King, Okay, expe to see Alice came and
talk to him. I forget what I just told you. Remember I tell
you I take care of you. Yeah, all right, tonight you night,
tonight? All right? Works for me. Bro the Lapsed Fan presents
Under the Cinemat. Yeah, I love to talk film. I have come
here to chew bubble gum and kick ass. They break go. You're going
nowhere under the Cinemat, Get up, get I pick up guns. Bad
things happen to people I don't like. We have a movie to make.
Can we all pull together? Here? We make movies. We book long
term here at under the Cinemat, and payoffs often require waiting months and sometimes
years. We've traveled far and wide, and so many films have yet to
be dissected. And it's TLFX. It's ten years and we've reached a pinnacle
on one champion's journey, and only one question remains and jackets for you.
Are you ready to rumble under the cinemat? Oh? My god, are
you serious? I am serious? That is not the next movie. That
is the next movie. Oh fucking hell. We've been chronicling, mister Arquette.
Uh sim bone saw, No spider Man, that's spider Man. Okay,
Okay, now this is this is the one with every w C well
bone saws in it, I guess, you know, and you know,
Macho Man's in the movie. There are so many fucking wrestlers in this movie.
Have you seen this? I've you've got to seen this. I did
see it. Yes, oh man, you know, I'll tell you from
what I've learned and from what I know about it. This film much like
and we've we've talked about so many different things regarding w CW, and they're
and they're like they're licensing, you know, and from when this was pitched
and and approved, and then it's like WCW is still hot, you know,
in ninety eight, ninety nine, and then when it's released, WCW,
like the credit cards and the fucking cologne? Have you worn that yet?
I have? Did you really? I tried it? Did you?
How does it smell? This is all right, it's fine. It sounds
like nitro? What are you? What do you? Lowly? That's right?
What are your memories of? Ready to Run? I just I watched
it very passively, you know, because I was like, what is this?
Is this like something I'm obliged to watch a wrestling fan. Yes,
yeah, that was kind of my question, and it is. It kind
of is as a wrestling fan, you are obliged to suffer through this.
I did the exact same thing. I remember. I remember when it when
it was coming out, I remember seeing trailers for it. I remember not
wanting to see it because outside of Scream, I've never been a huge fan
of David Arquette as an actor. I mean, some things I've enjoyed him
in, but I was not. I did not like this at all,
and I haven't watched it since, Like I probably watched an HBO a bunch
of times, you know, just kind of in the background, and I
rewatched it and it is not good. Oh it is. No one's ever
said there's anything redeeming that's kind of what I mean. There's nothing about this
movie. I like, No holds bar but you also isn't good. There's
like four or five things that echo from that movie. Sure, you know,
things that were so camp be that they're at least memorable, and everybody
who saw the movie has that touchstone reffort. This movie has nothing of like
that. No, No, there's no like a line that people who suffered
through Ready to Rumble would say to each other to have a moment or to
commiserate. It's just it's just a well law, I mean, it makes
it makes people. It makes wrestling fans look like what everyone thinks wrestling fans
are, imagine morons. One of the biggest wrestling companies in the country to
be party to that too, you know what I mean, to help make
that a reality, a movie that portrays their own customers that way. You
know, as we'll get into it, it just had less to do with
that with actual thinking than it had to do with exposure. It's all about
exposure. Cool, Yeah, right, So the uh, I will try
to go back and figure out, you know, when when did this come
about. It's not because because Bischoff changes his story depending on what platform he's
using as a communicative device, and so there's just kind of a lot of
So the earliest discussion that I in terms of an actual publication that I suffer
a WCW feature film mentioned December twenty eighth, nineteen ninety eight in The Observer.
Meltzer mentions that some execs from Paramount had appeared backstage during the December fourteenth,
nineteen ninety eight Night episode in an attempt to sign quote intent to negotiate
deals regarding a potential movie. Intent to negotiate. That's protecting your rights.
We're not listening, and I would listen. I just want to say we're
not completely you know, we're not going forward with this just yet, but
we do intend to potentially negotiate with your talent right become negotiating. Don't pretend
that we didn't announce our intentions ahead of time. But if we don't negotiate,
we're putting out here right now intention negotiate. That's the deal we're signing
right now, not that we're going to negotiate, not that we're going to
go through with it, but we intend to. Okay, I intend to
not enjoy this movie. Well, Paramount didn't pan out, but the Hollywood
Reporter dropped a story headlined, oh God, suddenly wrestling picks have a hold
on Hollywood. I knew there was a pun coming pile drive. Oh this
is dated December thirtieth, so two days after the Observer issue of ninety eight.
Four years ago, Hollywood rediscovered the Western. Last year disaster movies were
the rage. Four years ago was ninety four. They rediscovered what the fuck
was in ninety I guess was that Tombstone that came ountain. I don't remember
there being a big Western craze, unforgiven that was ninety two, But that
didn't like start it again. Like what wrestling movies having a hold on Hollywood
in ninety eight? YEA, well that's for sure. Last year disaster movies
were the rage. And this year world War two movies two movies, by
the way, like two World War two movies came out, are all over
the screen actually doesn't ready to reumbele qualify as a disaster. I think it
does. I think it does. Next year moviegoers might be grappling with wrestling.
Strange as it sounds, Hollywood execs. Execs are turning. I love
I just I fucking love that does any other like in your experience, they
just call them execs. All right? Fine, yes, I guess maybe
adding Hollywood in front is really the annoying part Hollywood execs, Like, who
the fuck is that? Like? You know how many do you know how
many people in Hollywood have the fucking title executive in front of them? Are
you kidding me? Idiots? Vice president right food vending, right executive vice
president of toilet cleaning. Not only did I not have that job title,
I didn't want that job title exactly right. Hollywood execs are turning to wrestlers
for a whole host of projects. Mandally Pictures is exploring development of a wrestling
film. Yeah, twentieth Century Fox, do you know that Codan headed up
the Spanish division or a Lay Pictures. It's funny because you know they call
it man delay, But nobody laid down for many wrestlers for Hull Cocain,
at least no man was laid down for no Man. And of course the
Chinese expansion Mandarin, that's true, that's true. Twentieth Century Fox has an
idea for which it is about to hire a writer. That's a well written
sentence outlaw Productions has tapped Stephen Brill, screenwriter of the Mighty Ducks franchise,
to script a wrestling movie, and Barry Blaustein is directing Beyond the Mat,
a documentary about professional wrestling, for Imagine Entertainment. The turnaround comes at an
unusual time, given that seemingly similar boxing movies, a Hollywood staple that has
spawned classics from Body and Soul to Requiem for a Heavyweight to Rocky to Raging
Bull are out cold. Come on, boxing movies are out cold. Come
on, I mean, seriously, Jesus Christ. But as so often,
there are sound economic reasons why Hollywood thinks wrestling is in the Popularity of the
sport is at an all time high. Last television season six of the top
seven primetime original series on cable, We're professional wrestling programs. The matches draw
thirty five million, mostly young male viewers each week. That's the same target
they don't, I mean, I guess if you add up everything thing you
know, like, that's the same target audience that delighted in seeing Paul the
Giant White interact with Adam Sandler and the water Boy, helping helping propel the
film to its one hundred and forty six million gross. Nobody went to see
it for the fucking giant Okay, say no, I mean he's in it
for what like two seconds? Like, I don't know, man, it's
it's amazing. Is that coming to you under the cinemath the water boy?
Of course? Of course Big Show's in it, so it gets it's on
the list. Though wrestling has been around for decades decades, wrestling has been
around for decades. Barry Bloom, whose company reps professional wrestling, professional whose
company reps professional champion, not professional wrestler but professional champion, Bill Goldberg and
others. World Championship Wrestling pinpoints to its resurgence to the time when quote wrestling
came out of the closet as a staged event. Oh you mean like a
fucking decade and a half, right, if not forty years, say like
a century ago, you motherfucking clown. Instead of spending energy trying to figure
out if it's real or fake, people accepted it as a legitimate form of
entertainment and became more injury with a decidedly open caller, and became more interested
in the execution. They were finally able to get deeply involved in the characters
and storylines and found themselves and meshed in a sort of athletic soap opera.
Huh you like that? As I could SoundBite for you. Yeah great,
said Bloomstead, and the bloom set in the line at startups on a cell
phone. The wrestling momentum reached a crescendo when two cable shows went head to
head turn our own WCW's Monday Nitro on T and T and versus World Whistlingentertainments
Raw is War on USA. A ratings war began as both wrestling organizations aim
to outdo each other by featuring more outrageous characters, storylines and pyrotechnic production values.
That's what they were missing. That's what the adjective describing production values is.
Pyrotechnic. Pyrotechnic production values. Right. The result, triple wwees and
WCWS can bin an audience and shrank that of ABC's Monday Night Football. Did
it ever fucking shrink money night foot? There was no chance that. I
mean, I guess maybe again combined you know when, But I can't even
imagine that just because Monday Football's ratings went down the same season that wrestling's ratings
went up, does not mean that it's no no people watching wrestling that otherwise
would have watched football. Right, We've learned that there's there's I mean,
certainly when football starts it takes a hunk out of the wrestling audience, but
the wrestling audience is never going to have a visible impact on on the foot.
Rightly, it's it's low because it would have been low no matter what.
Right game, it's probably allows you, right, it was probably allows
you game or not or not a marketable game. You know, we're dom
I can't. I got it out of my Bishoff is. It's such a
the Bischoff thing is such a fine you know, it's so takes a long
time, you you know, and and since we stopped t and h I
can't. I haven't been immersed. I'm close to. It's not it's not
about how he said, because he didn't sell it much. He's just his
refrains and things he can't help but repeat without realizing he's repeating them. Because
that's the thing about these guys all get in these podcasts, man, Like
when you hear him talk for like two hundred hours, like you realize these
guys have a bag of tricks. And absolutely there's like, you know,
ten to eleven things that they say with different variations. Are you ready?
Are you ready for this fucking shit? Are you ready for him? Here
we go? You know, we're we're a dominating factor on television and Hollywood
is finally recognizing wrestling as a form of entertainment, not fake sports. It's
a direct quote, direct fucking quote. By the way he says fake sports.
He says it, and there are opportunities in there, and that there
are opportunities here. Today. Not a day goes by that I don't get
two or three phone calls from Hollywood producers or receive two to three scripts.
Are playing to call the return calls exactly, They're all return calls. And
you ask for scripts, you dumbass. Warner Brothers based Outlaw Productions, produced
sexalizing videotape and Three to Tango is working with Bischoff on a wrestling comedy and
has typed Brill to write it. You know what, with our deal at
Warner Brothers on the WW having a time Warner affiliation, we're in a unique
position to create a great wrestling movie. Outlaw President of Production Scott Strauss said,
but Outlaw Productions isn't the only company in which WHW is in business.
You know, we're talking to Mandally Pictures, Peter Gouber on two feet yours
that we're planning on doing. Peter, of course, I'm sure he did.
Fucking Peter Goober. You know, listen, listen, We've we've we've
had our fair share of Peter Goober. We don't need more of that ship.
John Peters and Peter Gouber can go fuck themselves. They're there, They're
fucking there. Their their toxicity level is is unprecedented. Lunch with them,
beer with them, I called Peter Goober. I have a beer with them.
You know, got a Cody Wyoming beer too long, Michael. You
know, Yeah, we went out hunting, you know, out four in
the morning, out hunting that fresh air, walking down the fresh air,
you know, just walking. You know, we just walked in the backyard
up through the forest, you know, through the trees. You know,
we got ourselves a couple of couple of deer. You know, we got
home, got back to the house. We came back to the house.
You know, we just started cutting it up. You know, had dinner
that night. It was great drink, sat on the deck, had some
had some red wine, smoked cigars and our fire pit going right next to
Mount Freeman. Did Peter gouber on two features were employment, you know,
not straight to video b movies, but large scale, substantial films with substantial
budgets. Bishovs already working closely with Jason Hervey and David Salzburg the principles of
mandal a sports video production closely with Jason Hervey since the REGA administer. He's
working closely with Jason, but it is Jason working closely with him that would
be the question. To create original home video programming for WCW. The five
month old company is also developing a wrestling action feature for TNT starring w CW
star Sting gotta find that one. The WWE has elicited the help of the
William Morris Agency to represent it as William Morris endeavor endeavor. Yes, thank
you. See it's planted this American war. Our mission is to expand and
diversify the WWE business and to move it into features, TV movies, mini
series, animated series and comic books, said Mark it Gain, Senior VP
and head of television syndication packaging at WMA feature film Wise, there are three
major scripts that we're looking at right now. An impendent producer, Michael don't
call me David Meltzer is prepping Crunch the Wrestling Movie for early for production in
early nineteen ninety nine. No, that never came out. Written by Thomas
Chapman and David O'Malley, who will direct, who will also direct. Crunch
stars Extreme Championship Wrestling's Rob van dam as a laid off auto factory worker who
becomes an unexpected here when he defeats a hated wrestling villain w CW's Raven in
a bar brawl and the two become rivals. Now listen, I wish to
fucking god that had been made. Yeah, that sounds intriguing that that would
be. That would be, That's like fucking It's like Roadhouse with Rob Van
Damen Raven. For Fox's sake, we went through the whole Roadhouse under the
cinemat And forgive me if we mentioned it. There's another one coming out.
Yes there is, Yep, there is, God, there is there is.
There was a sequel as well. I don't know if I mentioned that,
but because it didn't really matter, but also, yeah, there's a
with a Jake Gillenhall I think is in the sequel. Goldberg has joined the
cast of the sci fi adventure Universal Soldier Too, playing an indestructible soldier and
adversary to Jean Claude Van Dam's Devereux character from the original nineteen ninety two Columbia
movie. H casting casting a wrestler power to or a project manager, Bloom
said, it's the same mentality is casting a star from a hit TV show
to be in your film, right, right, because wrestling is a hit
TV show. But as so often happens, there could be a downside for
Hollywood. Competing films on the same subject often cancel each other out at the
box office, and few television stars have gone on to deliver a significant movie
audience. Witness Jerry Springer, whose TV audience is precisely that which many wrestling
movie producers wish to capture. His feature Ringmaster, has taken in only eight
point five million for artists and entertainment, though the picture would cost only about
three million, so that's not too bad. Still, most wrestling movies in
the works are trying to expand their audience, adding to diehard fans by casting
wrestlers in unusual ways. Our aim is to take the wrestling genre and put
it in a different environment. It can said it's a fish out of water
idea taking a wrestler and pairing him opposite another talent from a different genre and
creating a buddy comedy for example. Very simple. If that works, wrestling
may become the next Hollywood gold mine until it's proved. Otherwise, Showbiz will
continue to chase after it, and wrestling's at a popularity surgeon. Hollywood chases
the popular, says Craig Baumgarden, a producer and universal soldier. Too.
This is the greatest me too town in the world. So if wrestling stays
hot, Hollywood will keep it going after it. You damn right it second,
damn right, it's the greatest me too town in the world. He
just fucking say that. He did? He did? I mean, how
does that happen? You know? I was gonna cut that last sentence because
I was like, we didn't get to talk to this, but then no,
but then I saw it, like you know, I saw it,
and I was like, oh shit, I can't not say that, Like
absolutely, you know, I was like, fuck it, because I mean,
it's like Jesus, the greatest me too town in the world. To
Jesus, dude, you have this is fucking nineteen ninety eight. You have
no fucking idea, man, No idea, no fucking idea. So Bischoff
further describe the development of the movie on his podcast There eighty three eighty three
weeks and here he is with Conrad. The idea of doing the movie and
all of the pre production, the conception of it and so forth was something
that I initiated, probably in the summer of ninety nine, maybe the spring
of ninety nine, is when I had a meeting with a gentleman by the
name of Leonardo Debonaventura, who has since you know, going on to become
one of the top by that's Lorenzo di Bonaventura Bischoff, not Leonardo, but
keep going producers in Hollywood. To this day, he's kind of a big
deal at Warner Films. But his career Leonardo at that point, he was
new in his career and I don't honestly remember if they approached me or if
I approach them. I'm pretty certain they approached me when I say they.
I mean, Warner no approached me about the possibility of doing VI. And
keep in mind, you know, in the summer of ninety nine, there
was still a lot of residual high in the mainstream media, meaning you know,
Hollywood in general. The mainstream media in general wasn't paying as close attention
to the weekly ratings and the competition between WWE and in WCW at that time.
So from a perception perspective, we're talking about in Hollywood especially, what
was it fucking talking about with the ratings? Like people were all about the
ratings in the late nineties, right, I mean, I guess what he's
trying to say is people didn't appreciate that they were the hottest thing on television
in Hollywood, Like Hollywood didn't care that they were on cable. All right,
Well, I guess, all right, anyway, in the mainstream media
who weren't paying close attention, we're still looking at WCW as the juggernaut that
it had become in ninety six, ninety seven, and ninety eight. There's
a kind of a delayed I guess effect when it comes to perception. So
they reached out, and of course this was a time when you know,
Time Order had a stake in Turner Broadcasting, therefore a stake in WCW.
One of my goals, you know, before I left WCW in September of
ninety nine, when I say left meeting, sent home, paid, or
played. As we discussed last week, one of my goals was to kind
of broaden the brand of WCW and extended into other forms of media and entertainment.
That was a goal of mine before Time Warner i'll say acquired Turner Broadcasting
or maybe is more appropriate, but even prior to that time, in ninety
six and ninety seven, one of my goals was to explore not a goal,
but I was exploring animation as I was exploring other forms of television.
If you know, anybody wants to do their research. I was able to
get guys like Randy Savage and others into some pretty high profile television scripted television
opportunities. I myself took part in a show called Rless on HBO, did
some stuff with Jeff Foxworthy. So there was there was an effort on my
part, on WCW's part, supported by Turner Broadcasting, to not only try
to grow the wc W brand within the world of professional wrestling and within the
world of our genre, if you will, but also to leverage our characters
and leverage our success in other forms of entertainment, much like WWE has done
successfully over the last decade or more so. That was, you know,
the idea for Ready to Rumble started. I'm gonna I'm gonna call it late
spring of ninety nine. Worked on it throughout the summer with the writers who
I just can't remember their names any longer. But I had had several meetings
in LA and I wasn't directly involved with the script. I was more of
a consulting producer, I think would be the best way to say it.
But that whole process started in like I said, late spring probably of ninety
nine. And then of course I was like, oh, in September,
Yes, he took meetings in La. Oh, yeah, it took.
It took meetings in LA and I didn't want to per se, but I
just felt it was right for business. Consulting producer, consulting producer. I'm
sure he loves that fucking title. I'm sure it's loved. To consultingly produce
a bunch of things. This was pre Zoom it's pre zoom. That's in
how hard he would consultingly produce this, Oh god, he'd be he would
have he would have like four zoom calls going to the same time the control
center. Yeah you know, I'm really yeah, you know, And let
me just take a moment to talk about what we see. Where are we
going with this? Yeah, that's a great question, Eric, that is
what I've been wondering ever since this call started. Read my mind. Oh
god. So also, the first of all, I mean, even for
even though I know he's talking about things that are we're talking about twenty years
ago, I don't care. You know, damn well, you cannot just
fucking sign on to a movie in the spring of ninety nine and have it
be shooting in the fall. It does not happen because it's waving. It's
not enough time. Come on, not on talking any time. Warner synergies
here. And also he in his book he says it completely different. In
his book, he says, quote, here we go, we'll turn to
controversy creates cash right now in the summer of nineteen ninety eight, that makes
more sense or thereabouts. Well, the article you just read it from ninety
eight yeah, and they're talking about the movie. Then, Yeah, he
just messed up the year. He does that all the time. He's just
a fucking idiot. But to me, those kinds of mistakes they're not acceptable.
Like, you can't make that kind of mistake. I mean, you
also can't make a mistake of fucking Colin Lorenzo Debonaventura, Leonardo Debonaventura. Fucking
idiots? Was it Raphael or Donald Tell? I mean, listen, a
guy who wants to fucking make waves in entertainment as a producer, a production
entity. Bischoff Moron, Well, I've heard him. I've heard him Butcher
the name even worse. I remember one time he called him Leonardo Bona Jesse
Ventura. I heard him call him. Actually he called him Leonard died Boning
Ventura. The Leonard died doing what he loved. Uh, controversy creates cash.
In the summer of nineteen ninety eight or thereabouts, or they're abouts,
they gotta put that in there. I can't just say summer of ninety eight.
Well, you know, you can't. You have to be unsure.
You're so busy. Yeah, there's probably you know, Look, I'm so
cynical about these books like in nineties. Probably a reason, yeah, like
he expects to be there's probably a reason that he doesn't want to be more
prescriptive than that. He puts that word in there in case people question it,
and it's like, I don't know, there's probably for some reason.
You got to think of it as the summer not the fall. Yeah,
I know. I was approached by Jeffrey Silver and Robert new Meyer from Outlaw
Productions, which had a deal with Warner Brothers to do a movie. Because
of the synergy within Time Warner and the popularity of WCW at the time.
Bobby and jeff suggested we come up with an idea for a wrestling themed film.
We met over a period of a couple of months and discussed some ideas.
They had some ideas, and I had some ideas, and for a
couple of months we just bounced them back and forth. WCW's concern was that
the movie was fun and funny but didn't necessarily make fun of our business.
So they didn't want it to make fun of the business, or they felt
that it should make more fun of it. It should be fun and funny,
but not make fun of the business. Okay, well fail it's funny
because they actually got the first two they got it all wrong, right,
they got it all backwards. It's not fun or funny and it totally makes
fun of the business. And it really does. It does. And by
the way, there's no way that Eric at this particular point in WCW's history
wasn't spending ninety five percent of his energy. I'm trying to get this movie,
of course, or a movie exactly close to WWSS. Totally. I
mean, what does he say in the uh I mean in that article he
talks about I mean they even mentioned like there's a ton of shit that he's
trying to do. Yeah, totally. It always makes it seem like they're
coming to him. I know, no, no, I mean I remember
if I came to them or yeah, you can't and maybe and you know,
listen, maybe per se he didn't like seek these guys out from a
law productions. But you know, someone at at fucking Turner, you know,
got a call from someone at Warner or you know, like dude it,
you know, like or he can put a call and like please get
me somebody make a movie. All right, all right, let' see what
we can do. All these guys want to do and want us to meet
with them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, let meet you meet with them.
Yeah, you know, in those elevator conversations and those moments he has
to rub elbows with the higher ups. Listen, I have no doubt that
he asked for this, but at the same time didn't actually formally hunting.
Yeah, exactly, exactly, tried to make others, make sure others had
the idea. Yeah, when the time came, and it was really good
at that, that's why, totally, that's really how Eric became the real
boss of WCWS. He unlike all these other wrestling clowns that they interviewed for
the job. When he got it ninety three, he knew how to relate
to the C suite, turner broadcasting. He knew how to play the game
of like, set circumstances up so if anything succeeds, you can take credit
for it. If anything fails, you know, it's really your problem.
Yep, yep. In Hollywood, poking fun of the audience is a very
easy thing to do. While that may be very funny to people outside the
industry, fans and those inside the industry don't find it that entertaining. My
role was not so much to come up with a great idea for a movie.
My role was to help them find ways to have fun with the content
without making fun of wrestling fans and wrestling in general. We collaborated for a
few months and came up with a really interesting idea. Yeah, okay.
So in addition, you know that again kind of solidifying everything is being in
that era, that summer of ninety eight. You know, remember the we've
talked about the Entertainment Weekly issue, that the famous one with Goldberg and Hogan
and Austin on the cover. So they mentioned in the article itself that WSW
had a film in the works with Warner Brothers. And so you know,
again, I know what you're saying. I know that you're saying that he
just made an error in the timelines. But nonetheless, a film is not
in the works in nineteen ninety nine if it has not yet been pitched and
or sold. So Eric, get your fucking dates right, pal. So
you know the story, There's a Jimmy King, he's the champ, and
the promoter screws him out of the title, and then we get the two
fans who try to help him come back, and Jimmy King, Oliver Platt,
Oliver Platt plays like gentlemen. Oh yes, Oliver Platt. So Jimmy
King like Jerry the King. Hmm, I would think like Larry King.
I didn't know, not Larry King, Don King. Sorry, yeah,
uh well, nonetheless, there has been a lot of you know, connection
there is it is he Jerry the King. But here's what uh, here's
what he had to say. This is Lawler on his uh Dinner with the
King podcast talking about if it is based on him? Was Jimmy King the
main character and ready to rumble a parody of Jerry the King? Lawler?
Have anybody has anybody told you that at all? Or do you know firsthand
if that's the case. I do not know firsthand if that's the case or
not. I've I've had a lot of people ask me that I really don't
know the answer to that. I felt at the time that, you know,
I personally felt that it was I don't not a maybe a takeoff,
because I don't think I don't think they I don't think they did it as
a you know, I mean, he was he was the main character.
He was the lead guy and everything, So it wasn't something that they would
be doing to try to, you know, be disparaging towards me about And
also at the time of the movie, I wasn't I wasn't like considered a
main you know, a main top guy with with WWE that that they would
say, oh, let's do this and be it, have it be a
takeoff on Hulk Hogan or having it be a takeoff on Stone Cold or anybody
like that. So I don't know, and I actually I had forgotten this.
I actually got the interview on the phone one time. I don't even
know why how this came about, but I had a phone interview with David
Arquette on some show or something that WW lined up this interview with David Arquette
and we we did, I think, discuss that a little bit. And
I don't even remember. I don't think that it was that it was supposed
to be aimed at me or anything that that way. At least David Arkeette
didn't remember it that way. That's good, that's good. I always wonder
that. But myself, but then I thought, why why would they pick
yeah, yeah, exactly, pick you. I didn't get it. I
did not get my hands on that other interview sadly, so I couldn't confirm
the conversation that he had, but you know, I guess we'll leave it
at that, though a lot of people still think that it's uh based on
Jerry Lawler. That's what I haven't heard before. That's interesting. And he
is he is you know, he's got this southern accent too, you know,
so it's it's possible. I mean, such a stupid name too,
like Jimmy King, like it's fuck it. Also the fact that he wears
I mean, listen, I get it. You know, you get Oliver
Platte. You know, he's not the fucking most in shape gentleman in the
world, so you know he's not gonna want to wear He's not you know,
he's not as uh uh, you know, as confident per se as
as Dusty Rhodes would be, you know, wearing no fucking shirt. But
I mean he wears like full on, like medieval clothing. It's so ridiculous.
I would never I think of him as like a night Yeah, he
just for the King's knights, I mean, like all the like. It's
probably one of the things that I can't stand the most about the movie is
that they didn't actually have a wrestler play wrestler, Like you needed to get
an actor. You've already got your two, your two Hollywood guys, you
know, to kind of save to bring in, uh, the crowd.
You know, David Arquette will talk about he was hot after at that point,
hot is it? You know, that's that's kind of yeah, you're
nailing it. Like that's kind of what I was saying, like, is
this actually a movie that wrestling fans need to see? Like in terms of
like it doesn't really the movie's about wrestling, and it's tangentially related to WCW,
but it's not like the premier movie of a wrestler. It's not like
someone trying their hand at being an actor. Because if it was, you
know, if if Goldberg was the main star of this film, we're staying
with anybody. I'm sure a lot more wrestling fans would have talked about it,
checked it out, and formed an opinion on it. But it was
like, whatver this is just this is like a movie that has some guys
in the background that really is about David Arquette. Yeah, yeah, And
I mean, you know they do get I mean, DDP gets a lot
of screen time, but he's pretty good. Actually, all things considered,
he's pretty good. And I I'm like, why didn't they just make it
about him? Like, why don't they make about DDP? I would like
to see the guy, you know, DDP in a lead role. Sure,
if it's about a wrestler, like I could see I think he wore
it kind of thing that he could do well, or he could, you
know, he could at least do you know he could be like, uh,
you know, the old manager guy, you know, like the thing
that they fucking do in this movie, you know, these days, he
could do like the Martin Landau part in this fucking movie. They don't forget
Martin Landau's in this fucking movie. Academy Award winner Martin Landau, all right,
who plays basically a Stu Hart type character. Okay, like Martin hard
Landau, yeah right, and then the other you know, what about the
what about the uh you know, older world champion gets screwed out of the
by the promoter in a shoot montreal ish you know, melt Meltzer. Meltzer
seemed to think so, but and in doing so, drove mister Bischoff completely
off the rails. Eric Bischoff was the star on the in the movie as
something of a Vince McMahon character in a terribly scripted story, was reading Meltzer
based on what happened to Brett Hart. Nothing is further from the truth.
Nothing, And if Dave Meltzer was even pretending to be a journalist or precluding
to have a modicum of credibility, it would have been very easy for him
to find out what that movie script was about. He was too fucking lazy
to pick up the phone and do the work, so instead he went with
the narrative that Eric Bishop, because he wanted to be a Hollywood guy,
has got a Warner Brothers to do a movie script about what happened to Brett
Hart, profoundly telling about Dave Meltzer's credibility. Not only then, but now
we'll just let it goat that. Here. Now we get through a freaked
episode without having to get into this ship. And I leaned into it.
I did. It's my fault. It's my bad. I could have I
could have leaned out of this. We could have gotten by this so easily.
But but it just still it drives me crazy how people so many people
believe the horseship that these people write because they have their own little personal you
know, for their own insecurities. They've got their own agendas, and they
you know, they have a platform and they put this stupid shit out there,
and unfortunately people read it and they believe it. But you did lean
into it yourself. And I'm sorry, you're gonna tell me that wasn't fucking
Bret scenario. It's completely breat scenario. There's almost like there's almost like a
game you can play where like the more vehemently something yeah, oh yeah,
more grain of truth it is. He's trying to extinguish, you know,
he's trying to like stamp it out periphery he can find fault with. Well,
you know, you know, there was a thing that happened. You
know, he's talking to the fucking producer. There wasn't thing that happened,
you know up in New York. What happened in New York? Well,
actually it was in Montreal. Well we're talking about New York. That what
do you mean? Well, you know, wwe Well why didn't you say
w Well it's New York, Eric, I don't know what the fuck you're
talking about. That's pretty funny. Actually, just call it New York and
confuse the shit other people that would, you know, only say new York
if they meant New York, citing that's what the normal person says. Well,
what's interesting is that I could be wrong. I don't know the episode
of the eighty three week show, but presumably he's reading a contemporaneous observer.
He's reading an observer from ninety eight, ninety nine when the movie had come
out. No, it was, it was in the midst of it.
I found I did find it. I didn't use it because he quoted it,
but it was. It was back. Yeah, it was like during
the when they were in regular communication, back when Meltzer would have him on
Observer Live all the time, and back on the IATA Show. And when
I say he tweeted this week that he actually helped Bishoff prep for an off
the record appearance in ninety eight attendance and ratings figures. And now that's like,
and he's accusing Dave of having this leg it's hard on to make a
case against him and frame him. Is desperately trying to get in Hollywood.
But it's like that one. No one said that about Eric bish I mean,
I'm sure people in the business said that about Eric at the time,
but that hasn't been his reputation until recently. That's like, right, unless
I'm wrong, I could be wrong, but maybe people were saying that about
him back then because it was evident that that's probably what was happening. But
I don't know, it's weird to put that in Dave's you know, Dave's
mind as his enemies way way back then. I don't even think, you
know, I didn't take that away from the article that it was like this
Bischoff like you know, trying to you know, make it in Hollywood.
It was just like, you know, they're obviously you know, it's it's
just like it's just a bad script about you know, you know, ripped
out of the Brett Hart saying he's My thesis is he's spending a lot more
time trying to figure out if this could be something than he is trying to
make the wrestling show watchable. Right. He does know how to fix that,
right, And if you're on the wrestling side of things and are watching
everything precipitously decline year over year, you would kind of appreciate the brain power
to go towards experimenting with things that might turn the wrestling show around, right,
instead of latching your efforts onto something that even per Bishof's own sort of
admission, there was hanging slinging to the fumes, unwittingly of when the promotion
was hot, not realizing that by the time they got these initiatives and these
synergies in motion, the company was already you know, ice cold, yep,
yep. So uh. There was someone else though, who apparently was
also part of the developmental process, and that is Chris Kanyon. Kanyon was
there and at the time, he was on his way to Los Angeles to
work with NBC on the Jesse Ventura story. Right, so we turned to
wrestling reality. Not long after I arrived in California, I got a call
on my cell phone. Hey, buddy, this is Eric. Hi,
Eric, I have another task for you. Oh boy, HBO has a
show called Arless. I'm sure he fucking loved Arles. I'm sure Bischoff fucking
ate Arles up. It's about a sports agent and they're doing an episode in
wrestling. I mean to meet with them and listen to what they have to
say. Uh, Okay. He gave me a name and an address,
which I wrote down. Just wait for a call from them. Sure,
okay, thanks. I hung up the phone, and I was already feeling
a little panicked. I had to meet with one wrestler about the Jesse movie,
but then I had to meet with these other people about the TV show.
Okay, I figured I could do all this. Then my phone rang
again. Hi, buddy, it's Eric again. Oh God, Hi,
Yeah, I need you to take care of one more thing for me while
you're out there. What's that? I was to the point of freaking out.
I want you to meet with some Warner Brothers executives. Okay, they're
thinking about do you want me to wear a leather jacket a chance? To
Jesus, they're thinking about doing a wrestling movie, and I just want you
to, uh to talk with them feel them out. Well okay, great,
Thanks, and he hung up. So, you know, skip ahead
here because he meet it's all about the mill. Phone rings again. Hello,
brother, brother? What do you do in Hollywood? Dude? Are
you making deals with me? Brother? He immediately he has, you know,
he basically has Bischoff's phone like hooked up to where he can tell who
he's calling. He hasn't tapped, you know, he has fucking Eric Bischoff's
phone tapped. Yo, Chris kenyons and hey hey ken yizzl. Brother,
what's going on? Hey? Who you busy? Brother? You brother?
You out in? You out in a movie? Lizzle? Brother? Can
you talk, dude? I mean it seems like you've been talking quite a
bit, brother, Brother, you're talking to Bischoff. Dude, you're talking
with easy Brother. What what did uh? What did you guys talk about?
Dude? Uh? Uh uh uh? Well how can he he?
Brother? You call me terry? Dude. You and I are just you
know, you're like we're on the same path. Brother, Okay, start
kissing? Is gonna put him in a movie? That? Oh wow,
that's really great for you, dude. I'm excited. I hope that that
sounds like you're really swimming with a big shot wide. Don't say anything about
I mean, so do you? So you're out there and you're out there
in La La land? Brother? So what's uh? You know, what's
the what's the scuttle butt? Dude? What's the skizzle? Brother? I
don't even know what I was trying to say with schizle. Actually that's his
scuttle, But what's your skizzle? At least he talks like a normal human
beings. That's one thing you can't take away from the Hulkster. Well,
uh, Terry, I just got here. I just flew in and I've
already got three assignments from from Eric story. Brother? Do you all right?
Dude? I'm taking that to you? So what do you know?
Where you you know? What what are you doing? Brother? What are
the three things that you're doing for Eric? Brother? Well, I'm I'm
I'm helping out with the Eventura movie. Brother, it's a well, well,
I'm helping out with the with the Jesse vent Tura movie. Brother.
What what you're saying that that the body's got a movie? Brother? What's
going on? Dude? Well yeah, yeah, he's you know, he
came the governor and everything, so the governor, Well, brother, I'm
gonna become president. Dude? Why making a movie about me? Are you
gonna go for the world title? Dude? Did you already talk about that?
I mean? Did? Did? Did? Did you know? Did?
Is he talking about world title stuff? Brother? With you? Or
he's just saying, you know, hey, you know Kenyon Brother, We're
gonna give you that big push, do you know to take wild? You
know, I just want to you know, brother, I'm like, you
know, if that's the case, you know I can help with that,
brother. You know, I can kind of get on you know and kind
of like, you know, guide you to that to that next level.
Dude, if you know what I'm talking about? Uh what he just got
three three assignments that completely rocked this world. He's you know, he's we
as we know, Kenyon had a lot of issues with anxiety, and so
he is a tail spin and then whole calls and starts asking these cryptic questions
about whether he's getting put from the world title. I mean, what's the
big product out there? Exactly? What's big thing? Brother? Well?
I get you know, Eric, I guess the Warner is doing a movie
about wrestling and and and oh he has you out for that. Brother.
Oh dude, I know all about that. That's the Hull Cogan movie.
Brother. Okay, why aren't you out here? Then? Well, do
you know what, brother, I don't like to be in charge. I
like to kind of like take a back you know, to get on the
back burner. Those things do kind of like stay back kind of like observe
from from a far brother. So what I want you to do for me?
Dude? I want you when you go in to that meeting. Brother,
you have a tape recorder? Dude. Uh no, I'll tell you
what. Why don't you get one? Brother? Are you gonna pay me
back? Well, dude, I'm telling this is for you. Brother.
I'm doing this for you. They're cheap at radio. Why don't you go
to radio shizz act? Brother? I'll tell you they got him real cheap
there, dude. And I'll tell you what. So you record the conversation,
all right, you take care of that conversizzle, dude, and you
just kind of like let it, you know, and you give me that
taper of it because I'm supposed to actually be a part of that. Eric
didn't mention that tape. Eric didn't mention anything about you. Well, I
knowed you because it's kind of like you know, my oldly talk about it
right now, so you know, you know, we're trying to kind of
like dial me back in dude right now, brother, so that we can
kind of, you know, do kind of a big thing with this,
with this, with this w CW movie, we're talking like we're talking like
why glide Brother? And in conclusion, Monday at Nitro, at the meeting
is on a Saturday, Terry gets the tape FedEx overnight Monday at Nitro.
He's sitting in his private dressing room with you know those those mirrors that have
the big lamps on both sides, and the two TV monitors behind him.
You can watch their elbows on his knees, hands folded in the Hollywood gear.
Yo, easy, come on in, brother, how you doing?
Hey, take a seat, dude. Bischoff sits down. What's up?
Terry? And Hogan reaches his index finger, extends it moves at a snail's
pace, and then it presses play on a boom box, and the tape
of Chris Kenyon having this meeting is playing, and Hogan's just looking Eric in
the eye while the audio plays. What's the dizzle? Brother? You don't
think I got eyes in the ear? Dude? You're to catch me not
prepared for a Canyon Puss. We're talking. Not only are you pushing Canyon
Brother to world title status number two? You know what? Ever? Confirmed
that he yes, six ways from Sunday that was the case number two,
Dude, you know you have him going to Hollywood. Brother, I'm Hollywood
Hulk Hogan. I heard, dude that you wanted him to go over to
Hollywood. If you take the two out of that sentence, we've got a
problem. Brother. You had him go to you over to Hollywood, brother,
But if you take out that too, you want him to go over
Hollywood. Brother. What's the dizzl? Dude? That's and that's not contractually
kosher. Brother. You know, if you look at my contract, brother,
I know that you have We're talking complete creative control. Dude. So
I didn't approve Canyon going over, Hulk Hogan. What do you have to
say for yourself's gonna book? Like k is gonnak. I also heard.
I also heard that you want him to just basically give me a clothes line
and roll me up from behind, brother, for a three count like basically
a two second match. What's the dizzl? Brother, that's a portrayal of
our friendship. I mean, dude, you know I also heard you know,
are you gonna you're gonna have him hit me over the head with a
chair to You're gonna have him steal the belt and put Canyon on the belt.
Brother, you know, you know, legally speaking, you know,
I don't want to get legal on you. Dude. We're talking about,
you know, some breach of my contract. Brother, you're breaching my contract.
Uh oh, I's just to begin because it's all it's like, because
it's all faulty premise and fake like in imagining. But he does have a
tape of Canyon in this meeting. How did he get that? You know
what I mean, like a kid just totally dismissed this. There's there are
some things I need to keep him on the hook here on the line to
get an answer for No. You know, here's the thing, brother,
I don't I don't trust you until you come clean with this shit exactly because
he's like he's like the algorithm at Facebook. He's like, you know,
just because you haven't said it yet, Like I know enough about how chess
pieces move that this is eventually where you're going to end up. Like if
you haven't thought about putting Canyon over me yet for the world title, I
can tell by your actions and moves that that's where you're going to end up.
So I'm just I'm just you know, jumping ahead, dude. If
the algorithm knows like, yeah, you wouldn't buy this product today, but
you're taking the kind of actions that tell them that in two years you will
buy this product. Indeed. So I'm like, and so what is the
plan? Brother? You know what product are you going with? You're going
with the new Jersey Canyon Dude, We're going with Hollywoodhulk Hogan, Cania Brother.
I mean, are you talking? We're talking? Are we talking Canyon
Mania dude? Kenyania? Brother? Who better than Canyon Mania? Dude?
What's going on? Brother? A grand I'm a grand Canyon dude? Are
we talking about Grand Slam Champion Canada? Brother? Yo? Do I've trusted
you? And I'm you don't gang to go to these meetings? And it
is a complete betrayal of the relationships. I love He's I love how Hogan's
the fourth call in ten minutes. Yo, Chris kiseled. What's going on?
Dude? Yeah, it's so fun, so self dealing, so self
served that I've never gotten a call from Hault Cogan ever before ever. Alright,
we could leave that there. I just thought that was highly necessary totally
and also too, I love the idea that that Hogan's like, you know,
it's basically the Salem Witch trials, like you have to confess your sins
in order to get out of this exactly until he's tfking to let you out
of this room, until he thinks you're leveling with him. He's not going
to think you're leveling with him until you accept his premise. It's right,
exactly, Oh, Terry Brother, all right to the book, as we
get out of the Ring, and I passed. This is the so he
works with Mills Allen and the Jesse Ventura guys, and he says, as
we get out of the Ring. I passed my recommendation along to the movie
representatives. I got another phone call. I was late for my meeting with
the people from Rles. I'm sorry, I told him on the phone.
I was actually out here working on a movie we rescheduled for the following day.
I was already a Hollywood big shot, but I didn't feel like it
at all. I felt unorganized, slightly afraid, nervous, and unprepared.
I wanted to go home. I checked into my hotel, a nice place
near the beach and water, and I took a cap full of renutrient before
going to bed. I needed to pass out The next day, I felt
refreshed and a little better. I have the address for the set of ur
lists. When when I arrived, my wrestler actor was waiting for me.
However, there was no script, no one to tell me what the show
was about, and I had no idea what I was supposed to do.
Uh, you know, I think you're supposed to teach me some moves.
My wrestler actor said, okay. For two hours I worked with him and
we developed a few simple moves for him to use in what I learned would
be a small part of the show. After the session, I felt good
about what would be what we'd done. Then the phone rang. It was
Eric, Why aren't you at Warner Brothers, He asked, I am.
I just did the I just got done showing this kid how to do his
moves for Arlest. No. Arliss is HBO, not Warner Brothers. My
head was swimming, I had. I had to then reschedule with Warner Brothers
for the next day. I still had no idea why why I was meeting
with him, this poor guy. You have to understand, Kenyon nine of
life is taking meetings right exactly what you know this is? This is the
business. We take meetings. We don't know. We don't give them.
We don't have them. We take them. We have very flat bread,
right, catered. We have listen, we have bagels. All right,
we have bagels and all these things, all these carbs. But nobody eats
them when it goes my diet, he says sart. No, no,
no, you don't actually eat them. You just watch them. They're just
there. You had to have yogurt before you came in, all right,
all right, okay, the ways of Hollywood, I know, wander and
by this mission too, you know, like this four fucking guy. Uh.
I also didn't know when I was supposed to leave for Toronto. I
think they had nitro in Toronto. Plus I was still on Eastern time,
and my head felt foggy. I went back to the hotel, took a
shot of reneutrient and fell down on the bed. The next day at Warner
Brothers, I realized we were there to brainstorm ideas about a new movie,
one that would be released in two thousand as Ready to Rumble, a wrestling
comedy about two fans who want to restore credibility to their fallen hero. At
first, though, there was only a rough idea and one request. We
really want John Goodman to star's lead role. One suit told me, can
you imagine John Goodman? Oh? I didn't know if John Goodman fit as
a down on his luck former wrestler, but I guess it could work.
But I still didn't know what to say. Yes, definitely, I said,
I think we in the company, I think I think we in the
company would be thrilled to work with you on this. I shook hands with
a lot of people and feeling more out of place than ever made my getaway.
Can you imagine? Like, but they're throwing this idea at you.
He doesn't know what he's supposed to say or what he's supposed to listen to.
I love this idea. We will be happy to work with you.
I was hyper, and I felt like I was ready to jump out of
my skin. Later on, I learned Oliver Platt was chosen to play the
lead character in the movie. I had no say in the matter. Apparently
I wasn't as important as everyone thought. So they brought in, as mentioned
in the article there before, Stephen Brill to be the to write the script
and his they said, there he did mighty duck he did all the Mighty
Duck movies. Actually he wrote all the Mighty Duck movies, and he wrote
and directed Adam Sandler and a bunch of stuff including Little Nikki and Mister Deed's
And not surprisingly, you know, he's done a lot of podcast and YouTube
interviews and stuff he has never asked about, nor does he offer any information
about. Ready to Rumble, nozab Bryce. And you know we're casting The
Sport of Kings a movie about the sport of Kings rather and you know you
got to bring in some talent. The list is massive. You get announcers
Michael Buffer, Ingene Oakland, Tony Shavanni, Mike Today. There are nitro
girls, chay Fire, spice Storm, how were they fucking X men here?
I know or or or or the the the elements that make Captain planet
right and Tigris. You got gorgeous George and a very brief She's one of
those, isn't she? Is she Tigris or from Charmel? Her name?
I thought her name was Charmel is a Nitro girl, but you're right,
it wasn't. I don't think so. Booker t future wife, of course,
And it's funny he doesn't mention the fucking movie in his book at all.
It's very interesting who mentioned the movie and who didn't mention the movie in
their books. Yeah, you know, oh yeah whatever. And then you
got the talent, which include Goldberg, Storm, She's Storm Okay, I
said Storm, so Goldberg, Diamond, Dallas, Page, Sting, Booker,
t Macho Man, Randy Savage, Bam Bam Bigelow, Sid Vicious,
Couventude Guerrera, Kurt Hennig, The Disco Inferno, Billy Kidman, Conan Perry,
Saturn, Prince Iya, Kea Van Hammer, Shane Helms, and John
Cena what yeah, are you serious? John Sena makes a very very brief,
uncredited cameo. I had no idea. Yeah, and there's a there's
a scene I'll point him out. I mean he's in his uh his uh
uh you know, what do you call prototype face. You know, he's
got his blonde hair and stuff. But there's a scene where they go to
the gym to meet up with Goldberg and he's right behind him. He's right
behind Goldberg for like a split second. And uh, obviously Kenyon is involved
from a stunt perspective. And Ray Mysterio, who we will hear from a
little bit later. And you know, while there are a million things that
qualify this movie for under the ciniment, we're here really because we have been
on the journey with one man, and that is David Arkt. And when
we last left mister Arquette, he was getting married to Courtney Cox, wrapping
up filming on Scream three. And here this is the Hollywood Reporter from July
twenty sixth, nineteen ninety nine. David Arquette and Rose McGowan are tackling an
untitled wrestling picture for Warner Brothers, Outlaw Productions and World Championship Wrestling, now
shooting Miramax's Scream three. Arquette will star in the film about two guys who
are wrestling fanatics. When their hero, the current pro wrestling champ, is
banished from the league, they embark on a quest to resurrect him. McGowan
will play a will portray a saucy cheerleader a quote nitro girl in the comedy
in which several w CW wrestlers will appear. Outlaws Robert Neumeyer and Jeffrey Silva
will produce. WW President Eric Bischoff is handling executive producing duties. Oh you
know, he fucking loved that ship. I want to be an executive producer.
Oh God, does he ever? Please? Please? I want to
be an executive producer on the film. He says, please, please,
for God's sake, I need this. He knows it. He knows w
CW circling the drain. I need this please. And here's something that I
found interesting too. So oh, also to the the kind of overseeing executive
of at Warner Brothers is a guy named Basil Iwonic dazl Iwonic. He the
overseer. Now I found this. There was so there was a talent roster
that was stated WW twent roster dated August twenty seventh, nineteen ninety nine.
Okay, And on it it lists the wrestlers like who are either available or
can be part of the movie, their fee, whether or not they've confirmed,
and notes. Do you want me to go through the list here for
you? Sure? Sure? Buff Bagwell yeah, his fee FOI he will
not be paid. He's not paid for being in this movie in the MOVIEEP
confirmed Bam bam, bigelow FOI confirmed, Rick Flair under fee, dash under
con firmed dash notes on extended leave Goldberg his Fee Premium. Yeah, that's
that. Perry Blue Magic, Scott Hall question Mark confirmed, blank notes,
Berry Bloom Client, Brett Hart Fee question Mark confirmed, blank notes one hundred
thousand dollars or less as alternative to Goldberg or part of rescue posse to be
scripted, Wow, Kurt Hennig question Mark, Hulk Hogan Premium confirmed, blank
notes, no cameo possibility, Horace Hogan question Mark and blanks, Disco Inferno
FOI confirmed, Chris Canyon FOI confirmed, Kidman question Mark, Conan FOI confirmed,
Lex Luger question Mark, Meng FOI confirmed. Not currently in script Ray
Mysterio Junior confirmed to be scripted. Kevin Nash Fee blank confirmed, blank notes
no longer required. Wow. You know what I I I will say I
put in a cameo re question. He's not getting back to me though.
I Actually I was curious. You know, there's not much out there,
like why was I'm thinking about thinking to myself. You know, it's just
like if you look at it, it's just like the Invasion Angle. It's
all these other guys, you know, like where's Hogan, Hall and Nash?
Right, why aren't they in the movie? Like why isn't Hulk Cogan
all over this movie because he knew it was going to be a fucking disaster.
Probably Sonny Oo for Sunny Beach confirmed, Diamond Dallas Page Premium Yeah confirmed.
One hundred k or less as Nash as quote unquote Nash. So,
I think this was going to be Nash's role if Nash did the movie.
But now Ddp's playing the role. That's fascinating. Yeah, And then the
idea is gold Like, that's why Brett Hart. Brett Hart was going to
be an alt if Goldberg didn't do the movie something Psychosis confirmed. Raven blank
blank notes no longer with WCW WOW Saturn confirmed. Randy Savage question mark no
in notes opening scene only seven eleven with slim gym Rick Steiner Broler, Rick
Steiner blank blank not available. Scott Steiner confirmed. Sting Premium confirmed lives pronounce
that again. Sting c h T I n G Sing Premium confirmed lives in
LA tn T movie through ten fifteen. Possible shooting date earlier. Sid Vicious
confirm possible altern alternate to Nash if DDP plays Goldberg. My god, it's
not like they're interchangeable or anything like DDP or Brett Hart could play the Goldberg
part Vincent question mark blink blank, Yep. He wasn't with them by then?
Was he doesn't say it wasn't. Oh yeah, no he was.
Yeah, he wasn't he in the West Texas Rednecks. Oh yeah, yeah
he was. He was Gene Oakland question mark blank confirmed notes Berry Bloom client
Diana Myers will Approach Okerland. Contract with WW expires ten thirty nine days count
against WSW contract days. What was it, dynam Myers piece say it again,
Diana Myers from WW will Approach Oakland. She was like the lead council.
She was the one that was sending those those letters to Hogan in two
thousand and one, WW was folding up. You didn't appear your getting paid
at at the Greed show and stuff and uh so days count against WCW contract
days at twenty two one hundred dollars per day. Uh. Tony Shavanni for
confirmed, Mike Janey for confirmed uh and then Nitro girls all please inquire Kimberly
Page for confirmed coordinating with other girls, and then Charles Robinson for confirmed excellent
so fucking crazy. These are all exhibits in the Sonny owner racial discrimination.
Oh are they really? They came very cool. I found them. I
found them online. Somebody didn't know the person. That's why we have all
that payroll information by WW and that's why we had Hogan's contract first. Love
it. I love it. Thank you, thank you, son thank you
Sonyono. Absolutely the best thing you ever did in the business. So uh
uhh yeah, seriously, it's a so obviously, so it's a weird,
you know, a situation when it comes to David Arquette, because obviously we're
going to talk about it, but we know what happens during the promotion of
the movie, and that's what all I want to everyone ever talks about only
people like whenever they talk about Ready to Rumble, they just talk about the
the w CW television stuff. It's not like no one discusses, you know,
what happened during the making of the film. You know what, why
did our ket do the film? Yeah, so I decided to ask him,
what's your faith? Scary Ravenous? You're not scared? Are you?
Uh? Hey, how are you? JP? David arcat Here, thank
you so much for being a fan of the Scream movies and Ravenous but you
have some I'm not a fan of Rabinists, but I put that in there
as a funny joke to myself. Ravens. He hate Braveness too. I
hate Ravenus and Ravenists. But anyway, here we go questions about Ready to
Rumble. I love that film. I loved wrestling as a kid, and
when I read the script, it was shortly after Scream, and once you
have a successful film in Hollywood, it's kind of easy to You get offered
things so you don't have to audition, and so this was one of those.
So I started reading and I got to the part with Macho Man Randy
Savage. I was like, is Macho Man Randy Savage going to be in
this? And they said yes, and I was like, I'll do it.
And then I don't think I had even finished the script, but uh,
I was. I love the script. I've been friends with Scott con
for years, so that was cool. In the scene with Oliver Platt,
Oliver Platt accidentally hit Macho Man punched, not too hard, but he's got
all freaked out about it. It's in the outtakes. We'll see it at
the end of the movie. Freaked out. Yeah, yeah, well all
are Platt did because he decks. He actually decks savage. It's fucking hilarious
when you I mean, I think they use the actual you know, they
use that that because they always use when they were an accident happens, they
always use it. But it's funny to see Oliver Platt react because at the
end credits they show all these bloopers and stuff and it's really funny. But
you know, here we go. That's I remember talking about man and he
was like, oh, I was like, I couldn't believe you really talked
like that. It's like, where do you live? I live down in
Tampa. Oh my god, because it's so best. But it was amazing,
regular Saint Holmes him living down in Tampa. They're kind of doing things,
getting it done down in Tampa, running the gym, you know,
and here we are shooting a movie. W W. I like it.
I like it, I dig it. I like where we're going with it.
David, that's just that on his face is funny because it is.
It is the fact that he said damp. He's laughing it. Sorry,
mister savagery of oh, you know, I'm living down in Tampa. Tampa
Florida. Love it Love. Imagine how long it took to talk Savage off
the ledge in his paranoia that someone put all of her plat up to it.
Mm hmmm. I'm gonna stay calm. I'm gonna stay calm right now.
I just want to get something off my right. You know what.
Nobody leave the room, Nobody get off set. Right now. We're locking
it down, locking it down, one, two, three, Oliver Platt,
I'm looking at you right in the eye. I hear you, I
see you. I don't know what happened. I don't want to know what
happened. I don't All I know is that I get something coming across my
face and it came from your body. But we're gonna leave it at that,
all right. You know what, I got no disrespect for you.
What. I want to know what I'm asking who put him up to it?
Hmm. I want to know who it was here that put him up
to it, because I don't think that mister, uh, mister Oliver Plant
would have uh, would be able to do that kind of thing on his
own. I think he's a professional, and I'm a professional. We're all
professionals here. We all know exactly what we're doing, what's going on.
But I don't know what's going on behind the scenes. I don't know who
it is. Uh. I told mister Oliver Plant that he could punch me
right in the face and get a WII with it. Come up, now,
legenda? Does this serve? I want to know exactly who's agenda of
this service? I am the matio main, Randy Savage. I come from
Tampa. In case you were wondering, I live out in Florida. I
understand how things go, how things kind of progress. Now I'm in the
shark tank right now when there's little agendas here creeping invisibly over. This one
came to a head, and we're gonna find out who's behind it. I
look around and I look, and I see agenda's agenda's agendas. I see
the guy holding the microphone. I asked myself, what's his agenda? I
see the camera guy. I say, what the fuck is his agenda?
Who's trying to get a slim gym from the macho man. I look at
gorgeous George, I say, what the fuck is her agenda? David Arquette,
I don't know you from my mom. Who the fuck are you.
What are you doing? Where are we? What is your agenda? I
don't know, I don't care. All I know is that I got an
agenda in the face. Then I want to know why it happened. And
I will not take accident as an excuse. Who did it? Who fucking
did it? How break you? And I will wrap your arms out of
their sockets to get an answer, Randy, Lady, huh, I got
a call Randy to come to set, said there was a problem. What
are you doing here now, you suspect lady. I'm gonna listen. I
don't mean any disrespect, all right. I want to know exactly who called
you. I want to know one other thing, all right? What's your
agenda here? Randy? I have no agenda except to help you. You're
my brother. We we played together as children, we played together as a
else. You've come down to Ecuador and you've sat on my bed and we've
watched TV from the ceiling. We enjoy our time together. Like that's something
you have to remind him of, Like he's in Alzheimer's patient, Like he
doesn't remember. You've come down to Ecuador and we've laid in bed together watching
television from the ceiling, and in conclusion, we've enjoyed our time together.
I don't remember any of that anyway. Thank you for that. Thank You're
back to our kids, Gammia, we're still in the middle of that ship.
That's and Chris Kanyon. They both have such incredible senses of humor.
Shane Elms is just hilarious. The guy is just so funny. And one
of my big regrets is I didn't do that move with Macho Man. I
Uh, Shane did that one. I did a lot of my own stunts
in the but Shane did that because it was a proper wrestling move. I
was with him and I was like, uh, I had tried it before.
But I was like, no, but I do regret it because I
would have essentially wrestled with Macho Man. I don't know what I was thinking.
But miss Chris Kanyon. He was just such a great guy. He
was so knowledgeable, so ready to help any like wrestlers in general, just
with moves and with ideas and with He loved constructing the stories. You know,
he would explain, you know, just the I don't know the truth
behind the wrestling. There you go when people say wrestling's sake, But there's
like so much truth you need to know to wrestle properly and to pull the
moves off. And he was just so generous. You missed the guy,
and it's just really an incredible experience doing that move. We ate like Korean
barbecue almost every day because Los Angeles has a big Korean population and a really
amazing area Koreatown, where they have incredible food, and Korean barbecue is just
amazing. But Oliver Platt and all of us got just super into it.
Oliver would order it for all We all pitch it, but he was he
was always going to order from the place because he knew all big bests.
All right, I hope you are doing great, JP. Thank you for
your time. Sorry, I'm grateful for everything. He said. I have
a hard time believing that Oliver Platt like Korean barbecue. Oh I think.
I mean, listen, it's food. I think all of her plot likes.
It's it's strange credulity that this guy would run point on the lunch order.
All right, what are we getting for lunch? Guys? It's like,
yeah, can we listen, can we order lunch before we start for
the day. He needs it. He's one of those. He watches the
door dash through the he he knows listen, he watches through the blinds Oliver
plot, like he's peeking through like he's a fucking spy, you know,
like using his middle finger and his index finger to open up the blinds,
all right, And he's watching and he knows the exact step that the delivery
person gets to in order for him to time it perfectly so that he can
get to the door without it being wrung. Yes, rarely is he is.
He caught never never misses, never misses. And we're talking full feast.
Oh yeah, three hundred dollars. Absolutely absolutely. I had Korean barbecue
once in Koreatown and it was magnificent, was it? Yes? Oh god,
it was so good. I mean it's like, you know, what
they do is too at least this restaurant is. It's kind of like half
the fun though, So I'm like he's talking about Korean barbecue, I'm like,
that's great, it does good, but like takeout, like because part
of the fun is that you have this you have basically a round. It's
it's it's like a it's like a grill, it's like a it's a heat.
Have you done before. Yes, I've been to a restaurant that was
like Asian everything including that, not really, but I know exactly. And
they get like this kind of like almost you know, like a hot pot,
like a haibachi. It's like everything cookie show. Yeah, well yeah,
right right right, but it's like it's just a unique thing because it's
this round mountain in the center of your table and you just throw this very
very thin slide. Actually had the meat in Japan, now that I think
about it, Okay, yeah, I was like, you could have been
Korean barbecue in Japan, but that's exactly what it was, because you put
the little thin strips over this latticed kind of grill. Well, we didn't
have that. We had this again. We had this kind of this metal
ball wow, you know, and so it was like it was more like
a griddle than an actual like like a grill type thing, and it just
like you just kind of layered your meat on there and kind of like switching
around. It was so fucking good. It was so good. White rice
bang bang, little scallion yep, oh forget it, saucage yep, yep,
yep, motherfucker. So yeah, so he did do. He didn't
do the suplex and the savage fight, as we'll see, but he did
do some of his stunts, and uh Canyon trained him. And we're gonna
turn back to Canyon's book here to talk about that and get some insight on
that. And then the Canyon also got some fun out of how fully you
are Are you with Kenyon's book? Fairly? Yeah? Really? Okay?
All right? No, no, no, no, no, no.
I know, I know there are other people who aren't, but I wasn't
curious. I was I wasn't sure how familiar are with his It's such a
great book. I mean, I haven't read the whole thing, but all
the things that I've gathered from it, it's just it's so it's excellent.
It's such a great agreed it's it's I enjoy his personality in it because I
thought he was such a idiot as a wrestler. But he's got some very
good I don't know, he's got some good insight. Uh So wrestling Reality,
David Arquette wanted to do some of the wrestling himself, so we trained
him too. We used tons of wrestlers, so I acted as a liaison
between the film and w CW. On the second day I was there,
I got a call from the star. I heard that you got they got
a ring, and you mind if we go down and there and I try
it out. It was like he was a movie star version of me.
We went down to our ring. Arquette was happy just to be on the
ropes. He was smiling and you could tell that he loved it. He
was an absolute fan. After a few hours of showing him the basics,
we walked out of the gym together. Him meant, do you have any
Do you have any plans me? I said, dude, I'm in Hollywood
and I don't know anybody. I have no plans. Why don't you come
with me to a party with me and my wife tonight? He asked.
We just wrapped this movie. I've been working on a Scream three. You
want me to come to the Scream three rap party? He nodded, okay,
Look, come over to mine in Courtney's place and you can follow us.
Okay. After one day of working Hollywood, I was already getting invited
to my first big party. On my way over to the Arquet's house,
I thought about David. He was funny but also Nutty at the same time.
Other than wrestling, I wasn't sure what we had in common or what
we could talk about. Then I met his wife, Courtney Cox Arquette,
and she was so wonderful. Courtney got her break when she was featured in
the music video for Bruce Springsteen's Dancing in the Dark, then landed a recurring
role on the show Family Ties. He doesn't mention Masters of the fucking Universe.
Hello, Jesus Christ. That's it. That's why I know, and
cogs from from like to me. She did nothing in between Masters of the
Universe with Dolph Lundgren and Friends. I guess he's Ventura as well. Did
I lose you? No, he's a Ventura. He's an ast Ventura.
She is, Yeah, not David Friends too, wasn't he. Yeah?
He did some guest spots on Friends, of course. Courtney was. Yeah,
she was. She played with the love interest there, the love interest.
Yeah, I'm thinking of I think I think of a part two?
Is she in part two? I don't think so, I get the that's
the problem now. She was the she worked with the dolphins there, that's
right. Of course. She later went on to Superstar. I'm on Friends
but she is the most normal, friendly person. Some people, especially famous
people, are intimidating. Not her. Courtney draws you in and makes you
feel comfortable. She and David make a very genuine couple. Even years later,
I would still receive Christmas cards from them. So what did I think
of my first real, big Hollywood party? It was lame as fuck.
It was just held to some producer's house, which was not even very big,
and I didn't even recognize many, very many folks. Not too long
after we got there, I felt awkward. I'm just gonna walk around and
see what's going on, I told Courtney. I came across a lineup which
I thought was a line to go to the bathroom. Wrong, people were
waiting to doh yep. I watched a couple of people stagger out. I
knew it wasn't my scene. Eventually, I told the Arquettes I was tired,
I needed to go, And that's it. That's his story. I
love that, And we got more later on when during the actual production of
the movie, So here we have an actor going into the world of wrestling.
In an LA Times interview, Arquette shared which wrestlers he should have been
in Hollywood quote. Oh man, everyone, oh Man, The Nasty Boys.
Those two guys's characters in films would be incredible. Booker t DDP should
do more acting. Stone Cole, Steve Austin, and Rick Flair are just
like duh. Kurt Angle should have a whole acting career. No, no,
no, no, thank you. We've seen him, We've seen him
in enough. He should be the next Leslie Nielsen. I can see that.
I'd love to see Brett Hart play a Ray Donovan type character. All
these guys would be incredible actors. They understand the subtleties of what a close
up can bring. I don't think wrestlers understand subtleties at all. What what
does that mean? I know I don't understand. I didn't need to do
I I don't know what the fuck he's talking about. So I had to
make a tough choice here, sure, because you know, it's obviously an
important episode, and to keep it focused, I decided to not talk about
any other actors or the director. It was hard. I was ready to
do a whole fucking thing on Joe Pantleiano, all right, because I love
him and I'm sure we'll find him down the line. And then Joe penaltyano
is is they an actor Joey pants? Oh, I'm sorry. The director
is nobody. Really he's that's what I thought he's he's I forget what he
did. He did a couple of things, but just you know, there's
not much to him. He's not like an interesting person. And it just
wasn't worth It wasn't really worth it to go on. What's his name here?
Oh, Brian Robbins, Brian Robbins. He did, Yeah, I
mean like a bunch of bigger, fatter liar like he did. Is that
about duel the Joe. He was a producer and Bigger Federalize, The Perfect
Score, The Nightmare Room, Hardball. Now, he did Varsity Blues.
I guess people like that movie. I've never seen it. I didn't really
care. I think Varsity Blues is probably the only movie, only big movie.
I guess. He did The Shaggy Dog. I think this one with
Tim Allen. But he did a Meet Dave with with but yeah, like
I don't know, there was just nothing. Really, he didn't. I
didn't want to go into him. So I apologize, but not at all.
I do want to say one thing about Joey Pants because Joey Pants is
brought in. I was like, I was reading, I was skimming through
his biography, and I was like, Oh, if I do this guy,
We're going to be here till Tuesday, all right. Like it's it's
crazy what his story is like. But he's the guy they bring into play
the promoter. But he wasn't supposed to be the promoter in the movie.
Do you know who was supposed to be the promoter? I don't Eric Bischoff.
Eric Bischoff was supposed to play himself as the evil promoter, as he
shares here with Conrad. We've heard that the character that quote unquote Joey Pants
played was loosely based on you, and they even have him wear some some
garb like you might see people sporting in Wyoming. Talk to me a little
bit about the movie and how that all came to be. Yeah, before
I get into that Joe pantalone, I think that was the Joe Pentliano association
of his name. I was originally supposed to play myself in that movie,
and and and then of course I was let go in in September. By
that point, Warner Films had committed to the project and it continued its development
without me, and obviously I was no longer going to play the role that
Joey Pants played and play myself in the movie. And ultimately, you know,
Joey came in, and you know, there were some high profile actors
at the time, Oliver Platt, who was probably at the apex of his
career at that point. It was a pretty hot commodity. He had signed
on to do the movie, as well as a few others. But I
was reading about it on the sidelines in September. That's that's how it kind
of all came about. So imagine I wish he had been in it.
Honestly, it would have been so that would have been interesting to see him
do this. Oh, I would have loved that. Yeah, it would
added a whole bit of credibility. People wild talk about it forever he was
it. Yeah, because as much as I love Joey Pants, and I
do he's such a great actor, he just does not you know, he's
not a wrestling fan, and you can tell, and you can tell he's
not also a guy who doesn't work in the business, so you can tell
he doesn't really you know, it's not really his thing. There yep.
Yeah, so we're going to go to it here. Principal photography began September
twenty eighth, nineteen ninety nine, and continued through December ninth, nineteen ninety
nine. The film was primarily shot in LA with some stuff filmed in Manhattan.
And if you listen to the directors or not the director's commentary, the
actor's commentary between David Arquette and Scott Kahn and a guy who plays the fucking
seven to eleven owner at the beginning of the movie, you would realize that
none of them knew what part was real New York and what part was LA
as New York. It's maybe the worst commentary track I've ever heard. Wow.
There's a couple things that I found from it that I thought were interesting,
but for the most part, it is just I mean, it's just
David Rqutt and Scott con just busting balls the whole time. Not that I
think that that's bad. I think sometimes those gonna be great listens. I
enjoy. I used to enjoy listening to the The The Ocean eleven's commentary track
with Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Andy Garcia. That was That's a lot
of fun. That's a really good commentary track. But this, no,
this was bad. This was very very bad. So to get you know,
the talent obviously needed to be available for the movie, so there was
a There was supposed to be a tour, a WCW tour in Germany that
was scheduled, but they canceled because so many wrestlers would be filming in mid
October and including including scenes at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. They filmed
all the wrestling scenes at the Olympic Auditorium in La Yep, ye know that,
and it made the La Times. This is dated October thirty first,
nineteen ninety nine, in a city where most movie shoots are elite, off
limits affairs overseen by uniformed cop uniformed cops, this one was a regular free
for all, featuring those big muscled kings of publicity, the harry chested he
man in black leotards from the World Championship Wrestling Organization. I don't know,
they're such a small I can count on one hand how many wrestlers have a
hairy chest, right, I know, it's like actually not a common feature
at all, but yet by the nineties. Yeah, and like four thousand
other wild eyed wrestling fans. Oh no, and like four thousand other wild
eyed wrestling fans turned unpaid extras, unpaid who filled the Grand Olympic Auditorium in
downtown Los Angeles Saturday. Steve Shapiro was in Headlock Heaven Headlock Heaven, wearing
a shiny a king's crown with phony plastic jewels. You right now, you
make sure you put the word fucking phony. You put phony in every other
fucking word. These fucking idiots are gonna come into my town and they're gonna
film a fucking movie. They're making fun of the great business of Los Angeles.
You fucking nail these pricks. Yeah. I don't want nail these motherfuckers.
I don't want me able to come back to LA. I will fuck
them so hard. I will destroy those motherfuckers, and I'll destroy you if
you don't do what I fucking say say. This movie is bullshit. This
movie shouldn't exist. This movie is against the law. You write that shit,
or I'll fucking kill you. That ain't again, that ain't against the
law. Fucking prick. The phony pass provided by event promoters. Shapiro joined
fellow wrestling fanatics in a staged screech, hoot and hollering session. I'll say
that one again, a staged screech, coot and hollering session again during the
shooting. During the shooting of a movie based on their favorite sport, producers
for the film Ready to Rumble couldn't have been happier. Although they could have
shot scenes for the movie in Toronto or Las Vegas, where the fight sequence
film Saturday supposedly takes place. They said, La fans captured the multi ethnic
roots of the sports fandom. Quote on most shoots the actress we attracted just
average folks, not ready made fans, said Jeffrey Silver, a producer for
Outlaw Productions. But these people are just crazy. You know, when the
wrestlers take a bump, they knew exactly when to cheer. They don't need
any coaching. Fans like Shapiro didn't need much enticing either. The twenty six
year old works the graveyard shift at a unokel must be a unicow gas station
in the San Fernando Valley, but is real reason for living body slams,
spine numbing throwdowns and those high flying pile driver maneuvers that can turn a mat
opponent's mind to mushaby. Please give me a high flying pile driver maneuver.
Please, Shapiro doesn't even work. They didn't even know. Shapiro calls himself
professional wrestling's most rabid fan. He travels the country looking for more outrageous wrestling
rumbles at home with his satellite dish and pay per view TV menu. There
isn't one finger stabbing wrestling event he misses. I just love professional wrestling,
he said. I know people must think there's something wrong with me. Oh
my god. Honestly, I can't get enough of this stuff. On Saturday,
the fans came offering offering homage to their heroes. Despite free parking and
pizza and giveaways that included a new pickup, wrestling gift packs and computers loaded
with wrestling games software. The faithful who outside the arena early Saturday didn't come
for any door prizes. They came to scream their brains out for mostly large
men with long hair and stage names such as Inferno, no Disco, Inferno,
just Inferno, Sid that sounds like one of the characters on a exposed
exactly, Sid Vicious, and Bam Bam Bigelow. To attract fans, organizers
spread the word on various wrestling related sites on the Internet. They placed ads
in wrestling magazines and made announcements at other professional professional wrestling events. But you
know what, we probably didn't have to give away one prize to attract these
people, said promotions direct to Tina director Tina Kerr. And we could have
charged these people to get in here, and we still would have had a
line that stretched twice around the block. We could have charged them. We're
sure they're not going to pay them famous last words, we could have charge
them with murder. Yeah, charge them with what? Yeah, exactly,
charging with what? Tina. The fan turnout Saturday was described by organizers as
quote a lot of little boys and men who are still little boys. Sounds
like to me. Wrestling fans can be described as a lot of little boys
and men who are still little boys, with prizes offered for raunchist costume,
raunchiest costume. The crowd. That's right, raunchiest costume. This is two
thousand, after all. The crowd resembled a Halloween nightmare come one day early,
or perhaps a segment of quote let's make a deal film that the world's
biggest monster truck show. There were men with shaved heads, women with exposed
bellies, and the occasional legitimate mask. What's an illegitimate mask? I don't
get what that means. I don't know if that means at all. One
fan, Anthony Dalton of Ontario, I imagine Ontario, California, not Canada,
tried to explain the attraction of a sport in which most moves are choreographed.
Why do you have to explain the traction in the in this piece,
this piece with that absolutely is it absolutely is? This is why are people
here? Why are people, you know, donating their free time to go
to this fucking bullshit? This is store bullshit. It's choreographed, it's it's
function. It's a dance, all right, It's modern dance, is what
this ship is. It's choreographed bullshit. These people are assholes and they're frauds,
and there they don't deserve to be alive. Right. He started talking
about pro wrestlers as role models, but each time he began a sentence,
he'd see one of his Matt Idols, Diamond Dallas Page and the screamed,
Dallas Dallas, woooo her eyes glued to the ring. Laura Segura had another
reason for coming those bodies. She said that I already came twice fuck holding
up a banner celebrating her two favorite wrestlers, Sting and a man and a
character who bills himself as big sexy. Right, they don't say Kevin Nash,
just big sexy. Now, this is entertainment. Just to come out
here and see this guy sweat And did I mention those bodies? Oh my
god? Oh but before you go away, mister reporter, this is entertainment.
But I just wanted to add one more thing. The hazards are real.
Not all fans known Rick for twenty five years. What's your point?
Not all the fans cheered themselves horse. Some were present as favors to wives,
husbands, or boyfriends. One some were present as favors to wives,
husbands, or boyfriends. One twenty something man said his girlfriend made him do
it, even though she refused to accompany him to the shooting of a kiss
video, wincing in distaste. Some called the wrestling scene the Cirque de solet
for the blue collar class. Okay, oh my god, a screaming circle
for the blue collar class. I love it. Oh wait, here we
go, we can you gotta print up shirts like that? I know seriously
that it just says that there's no design. So just yes words, just
a way for the blue collar class. Uh. Some people call the wrestling
scene a screaming cry for help. I'll say, no shit, Perhaps professional
therapy, yeah, said thirty year old James Murr of Montebello, the soap
opera for men. You know, you get the same backstab and and outrageous
storylines, and it's naughty and subversive. Let me tell you you're not gonna
see this stuff on the Lifetime channel, all right. Yeah. Producers for
Ready to Rumble acknowledge the sports pedestrian appeal. The film involves two loser buddies
who empty septic tanks for a living and happen to be huge wrestling fans.
Oh well, you know, yeah, as long as we're as long as
it's a fiction, you know, that's all that matters. They spend all
day meganture things are empty of ship, and then they run full steam to
play some highest content. They gotta full of shit. They gotta put the
ship someplace, I guess, so, man. The pair travel cross country
to return to glory, a felled wrestling idol they believe has been raw his
rightful crown. Uh. You know, wrestling maybe considered a lower rung on
the artistic letter, but it's also the widest rung silver, the producer said.
People live for this stuff. They live for their sport. Like six
year old Brendan from Palmdale, who spotted his hero, a wrestler known as
Goldberg, back near the makeup van. Quote. Hey Goldie, what hey?
Goldie calls him Goldie? Hey, Goldie calls him Goldie, he yelled,
extending a paper to be autographed. Hey, little man, cood Goldberg
bending his head down to near knee level to face the boy, memento in
hand. The boy washed his hero walk away and admitted that he didn't know
the name of any of the wrestler's moves inside the ring, but I'll bet
they hurt, he said, wide eyed. Oh give me surprise, young
man. You might feel an impact, but I don't know about it.
So fucking so ud, Oh god, pe so glad that's written me too?
Oh god? So what's the name of the movie Ready to Rumble?
Who says that phrase? Michael Buffer, who owns that phrase Michael Buffer.
So w CW had to pay Michael Buffer not only to be in the film,
but to use the name Ready to Rumble, how much, doubtly negotiating
through his brother. You have seen announcer Bruce Buffer, who probably did quite
a bit of litigious moves back then to protect the Ready to Rumble ip.
How much you think he got one hundred and forty five thousand dollars? Oh
man, you are way off. Five hundred thousand dollars fucking kidding me?
Are you serious? I'm dead serious. Five hundred thousand dollars to be in
the movie and to pay for the rights to use the fucking name. I'm
sure I would estimate that four hundred and eighty five thousand of that came from
using the name Ready to Rumble. That hard to just call it something else.
Honestly, we'll pay. No, it's fine. Listen, listen.
Wrestling is a hot that's a synergy. Wrestling is a hot thing right now,
all right, listen, it's gonna be easy money, all right,
five hundred k We're gonna shit that after opening day, after the premiere,
all right, then, don't even fucking worry about this. Is this ship
is in the bag. Give him his five hundred k. Who fucking cares,
you know what, Give him five hundred k, Give him a glass
of my piss and tell him to sip on it. Right. In a
related note, Yeah, so, I I you know, he doesn't talk
about ready to rumble, at least not in any place that I could find.
But I was curious. I did see that he did talk about the
origin of the phrase. Did you know have you have you ever heard him
talk about that? You're familiar with that? Now? Yeah, this is
a he did Courtside Club and interview with them I found on YouTube. He
didn't, you know, not about the movie, but he did talk about
his I believe you can call it intellectual property. Where did the catchphrase let's
get right? That is your phrase? Yeah? I mean, I don't
even know if I can say it without getting well, you can't. And
you know, I'm just so. What what happened was back in the eighty
two, eighty three, eighty four when I started the ring announcers were in
They were all like sort of like pals with the commissioners. You had a
guy in California, you had a guy in New York, and they were
all part of the local commission, so they would introduce the entire boxing commission
this, you know, for the state. Now, just imagine going to
an NFL game and before the game, somebody introduces the entire front office of
the the NFL. You know, you just killed the crowd. So in
boxing, we're in that electronic era where the fighters come with the music and
it's exciting and it's the main event and everybody in the fans are that's who
good they've been waiting for. And then the ring announcer introduces this ballot sanctioned
by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, Boxing Commissioner, chairman, four
board members. Oh my god, I mean you're just three doctors, four
doctors and timekeeper, three judges. You see where I'm going. You've wiped
out all that atmosphere. So I want this is between the walkout and them
fighters come into the ring, the music stops and ring that was if you
just killed. So I wanted that that that feeling you get at the Indy
five hundred when that little old lady that actually I did the opening introduction for
the Indy five hundred once and then for that line, gentlemen start your engines,
where everybody that's that's the line, that's the moment, but they have
at that time, it was like, oh, I guess she's probably my
age. You know. A little old lady came out and she actually had
a written down gentlemen, start your engines and gentlemen, start your engines.
But still everybody went crazy because it's what they want to hear. It means
the race is going to start. So I wanted gentlemen to start your engines,
that that type of catchphrase, and I tried. And now ladies and
gentlemen, fasten your seat belts in nothing's happening. Man, your battlestate' I
wasn't gonna work. And the greatest of all times, the greatest of all
times, Muhammad Ali. And you can see this on YouTube and everything where
before the fight or way in and he would just say, I'm so pretty,
I'm running up and down mounts, I'm chopping wood. Let's get you
know, I'm ready to rumble. Rumble, young man, rumble. So
I started saying, let's get ready to rumble. And it wasn't anything like
you hear today. It was, you know, I would say, let's
get ready to rumble ten rounds of boxing, and I just because I wasn't
actually I wasn't trying to bring attention to myself, but I was trying to
do something to let people know where we're going to. It's the main event.
And I stayed with it. And I think that was a smarmp And
you trademarked that, Yes, who advised you to do that? Or was
that just you being like listen, I made this phrase and none of y'all
are taking it that. That's the way I felt about it when it was
because it started a car dealers let's get ready to rumble knock out deals and
you know, like I don't thinking, wait a minute, they're you know,
they're using my phrase. And it became popular and fans are enjoying.
So I started contacting attorneys that consider themselves to be you know, IP intellectual
property attorneys. Took four or five before I found one that knew what he
was doing and got a trademark. It's a pretty smart business decision, I
would say, Yeah, I think so that's a good story. Yeah,
yeah, it's not all young man. Rumble is a very famous line from
Ali. Oh yeah totally, But I think so, Uh, yeah,
I was like that, that was interesting. I like to know when he
came up with that ship. So the the UH associated press shot video behind
the scenes. They filmed them behind the scenes footage. Would you like to
watch it? Sure? All right, it's me gets ready here? Do
you have my screen? Yes? Yes, I do? All right,
here we go. This is all ap footage. Marty, Is that martyay
d Platt ed ed that kind of cool? Yep, that's not Marty.
It's kind of funny. Is this? I play as a character playing who
is a extremely at the time of the movie, extremely popular wrestler, but
who's seen better days and who has been kind of abusing his status, so
to speak. And the night that these that these two I'm gonna pause,
I should say. So what they were doing. There's a scene in the
movie and if you if you watch it along unless you'll see it where Oliver
Platt has d DP from behind and he's kind of like he's choking him and
swinging around. And what they did was they put the two of them on
a kind of like a like a like a flatbed dolly type thing, a
big flatbed dolly, and just they had guys pushing it in circles, and
so you create that that. You know, it looks like they're running around,
but you know, obviously they're moving a lot smoother than they actually would
be. So but back to Oliver Platt. Two gallant young fans show up
to watch me wrestle as an idea of being taken down, and none of
us know it. I don't know it, They don't know I don't even
know them. But it happens in a particularly it's ugly and decisive fashion.
Catch your face up, all of that, and they're watching. Now we're
watching the scene. This is the scene, them doing it. They're covering
the ap cameras are filming the monitors. There's a director there. Yeah,
cut it all right, cut it out, borrow, I think that's the
director. It's athletics theater, you know, it's like athletic soap opera,
and people are are addicted to the storylines and the characters, just like you
would any sort of serial live programming, except this is big guys who beat
the hell out of each other. So it's it's sort of addicting. Oh,
there's sort of addicted. Yea athletics theater. That one on purpose.
He's a lower jacket. Great standard with Kenyon, who's one of the probably
the greatest John Lenny's glasses wrestler's out there today. But all of them did
a lot of stuff and uh, you know it's way out of his uh
reperence walk and he did good. You can't because he's joey pants. Robin,
I have the conversation anything rather walk away? Okay, coup of walk.
I'm gonna say that. That's the script supervisors. So she's covering continuity
the course of the day. It's just amazing. And they walk up,
you know, they get in the morning, you're going to make up trailer
with them, and they're just like to get in a chair. It's like
very painful. And the smell of Ben Gay. It's like, I love
the smell of Ben Gay in the morning. But this is like this movie
is kind of like Dumb and Dumber makes the w c W. Really,
I think it's really smart. Came how about you, but it's not such
you give me what you aren't you can't. We went and watched the Vegas
James con Son for We went and it's just like Monday night and keep him
in the loop, I believe, you know the hardest part about it the
movie like this is make look at his Look how fucking long his head is.
His head is so fucking like we're not necessary. It's like it's so
oval shaped. It's bizarre. You know, I'm actually there's realism behind it.
Okay, sure there is your energy, you need it. You can't
so bad when you see it from this perspective. She took a bunch of
people taking off, like just joking around. That's really good. Yeah,
okay, that's fun. That's a fun I mean, I feel bad for
the I feel bad for the ap guys who had to fucking go film this
ship. I pretend it was news Jesus Christ. But you don't like that
guy? What's that? Yeah? Seriously, exactly what is he doing?
Imagine the fucking steak and cheese he had for the fuck? Yeah, he
probably you know what he did. What he did was this that night,
he took some of that Korean barbecue and he made like a Korean steak and
cheese at home stop off at Ralph to get a to get some bread and
cheese and stuff, and you know, or maybe maybe a maybe a Vaughan's
or whatever grocery store. Yeah, Ralph, Ralph, Vaughns, and Albertsons
are the pedestrian Albertsons. Yeah, yeah, Ralph's, Ralph's, Vaughan's and
Albertsons. And then you've got I don't remember the fancy ones but anyway,
And on the DVD there's a there's oh god, this is this. You
know, I'm sorry to make you suffer through this. This is bad,
but we got to watch it. It's uh. They they filmed a this
is a special feature on the arquette on the on the DVD with our cat
and Scott Cohn and uh, I mean it's special all right, And I'll
just say that I'm gonna share my screen again. Do you have the screen?
Yeah? Yeah, that's all good. That's good. What did you
just say to Sean on you and whatever? You're writing a book and your
cop? What do you mean you are now? Really? What do you
just say to what? I know it's about me? What did he say?
What are you talking about? What do you say your words coming out
of your mouth? Wait? I just I just I want to know why
it is. You have to know why you were in red brother, because
I think you were talking about me. But what difference does it make it's
something that about No, no, no, I'm not saying I was talking
about you. I'm saying that if I said something to him, it's on
your business. What are you worried about? You know, I don't know
if I can work with him anymore. Really. Oh, it's a fight's
breaking out. He's got a sleeperholding Scott Con. You're going to that's right?
Scott CON's laughing because you know it's so stupid. It's such a loose
sleeper. They take their microphones offs, like your fight. It's like,
what the fuck is this? Wa you go way to talk that? Who
do they look at this ship? This is standard attempt. They decided to
put this in the fucking features heard the marine? Now are such idiots?
Flex go over for it? Wow he did nice David, nice job.
That's a good one. O cat off the rose. No cell, he
doesn't know how to wear the rose. Scott sucks hitting the ropes. Huh
power slam, nice power slam. Who's selling it all to the next spot?
Oh a big clothesline, Scott Scott, Oh so awesome. I don't
know what that was, Scott Con. Folks, Scott Con taking bumps about
that kid. I mean, now I know he's James Conn's son. Yeah,
oh yeah, he's He's been in a bunch of stuff. He's in
the Oceans movies and uh, he was on Entourage as well for a while.
He's James con son. Is he also way behind on a bunch of
stuff. I'm gonna have I'm gonna have dinner memory. Hey, he's got
a lot to go over. Don't come. Don't tell my kid what to
do. James Cott this bullshit like Manhattan job five in the morning till nine
thirty at night. He's gonna have to wait. It is gonna actually so
uh yeah. They also and in other features in the in the in the
the the DVD. They you know, they get the book. Obviously tons
of wrestlers shared the books and stuff. But oh this is Tony to SHIMANEI
first. Actually Tony Shamani also shared about that they did a He and Conrad
did a watch along from what Happened When, and Tony talks about the waiting
that occurs during filming and then a funny story that occurred with the with the
director. Here there it is working on movie is a long, laborious type,
boring type piece of ship, and we all had our own ice trailers.
I had a little trailer to stay into. Okay, I would stay
there. I would get there like we'd get their crew call was like four
in the morning. We'd get there five of the morning. I would literally
stay some nights till six pm and do nothing, nothing all day. So
I wrote in the WCW magazine about how, okay, Hollywood could be cool,
but you know, doing a movie can be a very boring pain in
the ass. And I wrote a tongue in cheek, you know, I
said, after day two, I wanted to carve a bar soap into a
gun to escape. I remember one time my cell phone had died and I
asked one of the pas. I said, I know there's a payphone across
the way. I had to call the office and I said, I want
to go over and go to a payphone. And she says, we can't
let you off the lot. As long as you're here with us. You
have to stay on this lot. If you need to barrow somebody's cell phone,
we'll get And I'm thinking I'm being kept. I'm in prison. I
can't get out of this place, and I need to make a call.
So I wrote a very funny on WCW magazin, and Brian Robbins, who
was the director, came to me in the after movie after premiere party and
he confronted me. He said, I saw that that article that you wrote,
and I'm very upset about it. I said, what he said some
very uncanne things about us. I said, Brian, it was tongue in
cheek. I was being funny. He said, well, I didn't like
it. And he said, and if if I were you, I'd worry
more about my business, which is going down the shitter, then I would
be worrying about what we do in the movies. He said. He just
looked out yep, and as he turned away, and I said, well,
fuck you, is what I said. And so and I never did
like Varsity Blues anyway, which was another movie that he did, so fuck
him. So that's the words we had because he was upset because I wrote
a tongue in cheek article about the movie business in w CW magazine which nobody
read. Anyway, here's what I like when he said your business is going
down the shitter. Well, he made a movie here that never turned a
prophet right and I think he's a producer. I don't even think he directs
anymore. So if he's listening right now, do you want to let him
know how you feel? Yeah? I think I already did. One more
time, just one for the road. Yeah, Brian, fuck you,
God, blessed to man's the way for us all. Oh my god,
he's so great? Is Brian Robbins or Brian Levine? Why do you have
two names? Dude? And are you the CEO of Paramount or Nickelodeon?
Who fucking knows? Man? Heavy hitter? Now? He is heavy?
I mean you know, yes, yeah, yeah, he's just a I
mean, god, damn it, Like, what a fucking douchebag? Like
that's the Oh my god. I mean, how against you when you can't
handle something like that. I think you're so insecure that that's exactly like,
come on, man, you have like all these ambitions and like, you
know, you have these grand visions, and so any perceived slight you know
you can possibly interpret, is getting in the way of your path to glory.
You know, there are people who if they said that, yes,
I understand that it would offend them and hurt hurt you. But Tony Shavani
like he's in. He's in like five minutes of the movie, and like,
what the fuck is your problem, dude, Like, calm the fuck
Down's awesome, so awesome. Oh and then he uh, here's another one
that he talks about, the big stunt at the end where ddp DP is
slammed through the three tier cage. He slammed through the three tier cage and
he doesn't die. I want to remind you, but here he's talking about
filming met stunt the bump that Diamond Dallas tip Page takes through the cages.
Will that be some ship? Yeah. I watched him do this many times
too many takes with the stunt man, and they had a different stuntman do
these bumps, And it was a stunt man that was hooked onto a cable
and he actually went bam bam. Band threw him and they shot it from
different angles and did it many times. I thought you were starting that there
was actually a guy who took the bomp for real. I was like,
that's the most ridiculous thing. No, he was on a cable. So
here comes the bump we're talking about. It's the big body slam right from
Jimmy King, which of course is Kenyon. And here's DDP and who's DDP
stunt man? Do you recall? No, I don't know who it was
here. Yeah, I don't know. I never I didn't find that out.
But yeah, so I don't think that was said before. Kenyon is
Oliver Plat stunt double stunt double. Yeah, so I mean, I mean
he said, you know, the stunt guy's on a cable and so with
w stew I understand it's right. You know, all wrestling's best stuff was
on cable. The uh so. Uh so these are the special features that
are also on the DVD. Bam Bam, Bigelow and DDP taped interviews that
were featured as bonus features. So this is here's Bam BAM's interview. Well,
everybody know it that. You know, you get a stump man in
our case us being professional wrestlers, but we're in fact our own stump man.
So it's pretty hard to double what we do best. We do day
in, day out, two hundred and thirty days a year. Well,
as a professional wrestler, I'm just so used to landing flat on my back
or trying to land on a flat part of my body. So it's just
second nature. You could do it time in, time out. Everybody may
say, well, wrestling is all a fake, but we don't. We
just do it. We don't rehearse it at all. When we wrestle what
you see on TV. We just going to ring and do it. But
the acting is new to us. So you know, we can do the
stunts, but we got to learn to do the act. We got some
lines. You know, I've acted before. I've been to sag you in
thirteen years. But it's difficult with the stopping and the going and the momentum
because we're used to moments them and when used to creating controlling, you know,
so it's controlled by a microphone. It's long hours you're hanging out.
You know it's caught next you know Guy's scene. It's just it's it's fatigued
just for hanging. But you know what, we fly around the world as
wrestlers. We wrestle two hundred and thirty two hundred and seventy five. Ye
so if I wasn't sitting in this arena, I'd be on an airpane flying
to some town god knows where, instead of going home to Asbury park where
the Beast belongs. What why does he take two hundred and thirty days?
Well, he went from two hundre three days and then he jumped into two
hundred and seventy five days. It's a random I thought it was three hundred
days a year. Anyway, Yeah, I know it's the usually say.
I mean, you have to tell us exactly what's in your contract. Also,
also, I don't think WW had any momentum at this point. But
anyway, he's talking, we need momentum, we need momentum. I don't
know you do. Here's and here's ddp's interview. What I like about it
is I got to do got to do scenes with Joey Pans and Olive the
Platt, and both of those are two of my favorite character actors. And
I'm not sucking up because I don't. I called the way it is.
And if I heard that I had opportunity to work with those two guys.
I saw Oliver and Now in Las Vegas, and I thought he was just
a fan backstage watching, you know, and I thought, wow, man,
what's up? And I love your work? And he goes, hey,
I'm gonna be doing this movie where you are because they were talking to
me about it right there and I went, oh, okay, and I'm
digging that. And then when I heard that Joey was going to be the
evil promoter that I was in and uh, this just to be able to
work with them and backstage the stuff that we do, like it was funny
because, uh, David Brian Robbins, the director, he's so cool.
He's he's like, he's like like one of the boys because he's a he's
an actor and you know, being a director to he can he knows what
we're trying to do backstage, he knows I live this. So I actually
punched up a couple of scenes and what do you think about that? I
didn't know it was club punched up at the time. You know. I
said, what if we did this, this and that? And I wrote
some stuff up. Yes, I like that. What if we didn't like
this? I said, that would work really good. So all of a
sudden you got to see backstage things happened that weren't going to be there before,
and he made them work really well. Look at that DDP making waves.
Oh yeah, you know, fucking moving and shaking WCW as they would
definitely do during the heyday of the Hogan of the Hogan Films, they aired
footage of the wrestlers on set, and one time, one specific time,
they did a they had Goldberg on set. Mike and I interviewed Goldberg on
set cutting a promo on The Outsiders. However, there's one major production glitch
that occurred. It's visual. So we're going to watch this one as well.
Me share. Do you have my screen? Yes? All right,
here we go. What does it say? Genius? It says from the
wrestling movie from the set of the Wrestling movie of the movie, the ww
film Slam as if the movie called Slam Slam, which even by then they
knew it was ready run. Mean, it'd been it had been written about
as ready to rumble. There's that corporate synergy they were talking about. Yep,
I mean yeah, it's so so fucking weird anyway. So yeah,
so it says literally says slam on the on the thing. Uh So,
let's turn back to Chris Kenyon's tome Wrestling Reality here. He's gonna set up
kind of some frustration about it all because he wasn't he wasn't supposed to be
on set at first. It was just supposed to be that one meeting that
we covered earlier. So we're gonna have a little bit of backstory here before
we lead into what happened. After a series of events, Page Bam Bam,
Bigelow and I were matched up as tag partners to form the Jersey Treead,
and at the nineteen ninety nine Great American As in Baltimore, we defeated
Ben Wah and Saturn for the WCW Tag Team title. Finally I was a
champion. I had a belt. It was like no other feeling I can
I can describe. All I can say is it was another dream that came
true. Things were going so well. They even made a rule that allowed
either of the two of us to defend the title. It's not I mean,
I guess for the if there's uninitiated watching this, the freebird rule is
something new and different. But yeah, not right. I was right up
there with Bigelow, who was a former headliner at WrestleMania, and Page,
who was a former US heavyweight title holder, And finally I could be in
main event title matches. That is my love. That is until my phone
rang. It was Bischoff, you gotta go out to La they're making a
movie called Ready to Rumble, and I need you there to supervise. Oh
no, not again. No, I was honest, I don't want to
Eric. There was silence on the other end of the line. I wasn't
asking you, I was telling you, he said. I sighed. Thankfully.
We worked it out so I could still work the Monday Nitro shows.
So I went off to LA and worked Tuesday through Saturday, but was off
Sunday and Monday so I could participate in the shows. It was a rough
schedule. I knew that I needed someone to go with me to keep me
sane. Shane Helms and I hit it off ever since he moved in with
me. Young and good looking, with a square jaw and long hair like
mine. I suppose I was always attracted to him, but I also knew
Shane was straight. He had a girlfriend back home in North Carolina, and
even though I told him we could be out there a few months, he
was quick to commit. I went out to LA first to learn about what
had to be done, and then I said I would send for Shane.
And I'm going to break it up here and play a clip from Shane Helm's
RF shoot interview because he was Shane Helms was David Arquet stunt double in the
film. Oh well, so here he is talking about the experience that was
supposed to be out there for like three weeks and it ended up being three
months. You know, I went just out there to help Canyon and coordinate
the wrestling scenes. You know in the movie they want everything laid out,
move from move from moved from camera angle. So uh, we were going
to help just come up with the spots that the wrestlers did. And uh,
the stunt guys, you know, the stunt guy who did it,
he was the guy who he was Arnold Arnold Swarzenegger stunt double for a long
time he did True Lies and like Terminator two. So this is you know,
really big wig in Hollywood. And he realized pretty soon that he's not
gonna be able to teach the stunt me in and wrestle, right. You
know in the first there was that believer. I just teach him how to
fall, and you know, but they'll be okay. And like when the
stunt man got there and they got on paths and we're just like, we
ain't got on no paths. We'll just fucking go do it. Hmm,
so that's how you know what Canyon was gonna be out of a plaid stunt
up no matter what. But then that's when they end up casting me as
David our Kaids. And it was fun. You know. I had a
lot of good times, a lot of crazy, crazy parties, and the
Hollywood scene is just pretty especially a movie scene. Can't get pretty natty.
H back to the book. As I left for LA I felt a lot
better about this project. I knew I'd done this before, and this time
it was a Warner Brothers movie and I wouldn't be in charge of much.
The movie was big, with David Arquette, Oliver Platt, Rose McGowan,
and Scott con The director also did Varsity Blues and that movie did pretty well.
Yeah, I just knew it wasn't going to be bullshit. For the
most part, I was right. The whole scene was much more laid back.
The executive producers were very hands on, very friendly. Though the day
to day guy was a bit of a ballbuster. All of the crew,
from hair to sets to costumes were nothing but professional. This was when I
was introduced to the Internet movie database. Pretty Much everybody had a great resume.
My first day out there, I went to the set of The Flintstones
in Viva Rock, Vegas to meet with my stunt coordinator. I was told
this was the biggest deal of all because I was going to be working with
him every day. Thank god. He was one of the nicest guys on
the planet. His name was Joel Kramer, and I could not believe the
movies he'd done True Lies, Terminator two, among others. Holy shit,
I thought, I'm working with one of the best stunt guys ever. They
put me up in a nice apartment, and I knew I was going to
have fun working with Kramer. I met with the stunt performer and we worked
out our wrestling scenes. But we had to keep reminding ourselves this was a
comedy. It had to be visually appealing and funny. With Shane in La
we had fun and it was very low stress for me, especially compared to
my last movie experience. Then Randy Savage went crazy again. Out of nowhere,
Savage called us, but of course I thought it was Luther again.
Luther is but so I didn't take it seriously. When I realized it was
the real Savage, I was filled with fear. M. I understand you
got a ring set up out there. Yeah, is there any way that
they can get into it? When tomorrow, he explained, and he had
a match with former basketball star Dennis Rodman in Sturgis, and of course he
wanted to practice. What could I do? I said yes, and Randy
I said, yeah, brother, Are we cool with the whole Good Morning
America thing? Oh? Yeah, brother, I got your message. We're
cool. Why were you so mad? I asked. It was right in
the middle of my Slimjym deal, one million dollar deal. Brother. They
were trying to phase me out. They thought I was washed up. The
slim Gym guys watched Good Morning America and saw you someone in my own company
calling me a hasbin. Oh god, man, I'm so sorry, I
said, I can see how that would look bad. Yeah, so Will.
I was ready to kill you, brother, but I ended up getting
the deal anyway, Otherwise you would have gotten a million dollar ass beaten.
I was really well read. Shane was feeling a little down about being apart
from a girlfriend of eight years. His favorite wrestler of all time was Savage,
so I thought meeting him would be a good pick me up. We
got to the ring, and of course Randy was there and he already had
the entire thing planned out. He knew Rodman was a bit nuts, so
when Rodman showed up and was completely clueless, it surprised no one. Later
on, I would also train Jay Leno, who, in my opinion,
took the whole thing way too seriously, but at least he was easier to
work with than Rodman. While there, while there were so many similarities between
actors and wrestlers, we performed they perform. They took days to tape a
minute of footage, while we made us a show every night live. He
started wearing on me because we were doing so much. On Monday, I
spent all day at Nitro that I would fly back to la for the movie's
work week. In the summer of ninetety nine, I was getting burned out.
I'd had enough. I was a tag team champion, but I actually
wanted someone to take it away from me because I was getting worn down and
didn't want to come back to defend it. I loved wrestling and stunt directing,
but they were working against each other. After one grueling day and sturgis,
I finally got to my hotel room At three am, the phone rang.
It was Savage, Yeah, can you come over and helped me go
through this match one more time. I couldn't believe it. It was the
voice I did not want to hear. I walked into Savages room and Rodman
was there on the bed. When he saw me, he just rolled his
eyes. I couldn't think of how many times they must have done this.
For three more hours we practiced. Each time he rehearsed the fight choreography.
We would beg to be finished, but Savage wanted to make sure he had
every less detailed down. Finally he let us go. After all the practice,
Rodman and Savage's rode Wild match went well, but at my own match
that night, the belts were taken away from us. While I should have
been disappointed, I was relieved they didn't have to do Monday nightro shows anymore,
and it helped me then I could focus on the movie. Warner Brothers
did not skimp on taking care of me. One of my hotels was like
an apartment close to it Jim. I never realized Jim could be a place
to hook up with a guy until I was staying in La working on the
movie. One day I was working out when I noticed a guy checking me
out. I'd been on TV for a while, though, so it wasn't
out of the ordinary for some people to come up and ask for autographs.
He was Hispanic and pretty good looking, and he stayed close to me no
matter what machine I was on. I felt bad for him that he was
too shy to come up to me and asked for an autograph. I wanted.
I wanted. I wanted to make it easier for him. You know
what, dude, do you want an autograph? I asked. He looked
at me like I was nuts, so I just walked away, but he
kept looking. I went to the locker room to get my bag, and
then it occurred to me he might be gay. He followed me in and
stood there with me. I went out to the lobby of the hotel,
and I watched as he followed, still staring at me. He intentionally dropped
the piece of paper, looked down at it, looked at me, and
walked away. I walked over and had only said Miguel with his phone number,
so I called. It was obvious that he was gay and he wanted
me, so I told him to meet me in my room. In twenty
minutes. When I got up to my room, I got a phone call
from Page wanted to know if I wanted to go to the movies. Hey,
Canyon, This poor guy, he gets phone calls like everything interrupts his
fucking life. Yes, you know, comedy Canyon. I didn't have enough
time, so I told him I was going to get room service and stay
in. Unfortunately, the whole note dropping, picking me up, and coming
up to the room was four times longer than the for play. Minutes later,
Miguel was finished and he was putting his clothes back on. I called
Page back. Yeah, man, it turns out I can make a movie
after all, Bucking Canyon. The movie I saw with Page was what do
you think the two of them watched? Oh jeez, think about this.
It's October of ninety nine. Okay, scream no, no, that would
have been good, but no, it's October of ninety nine. They're wrestlers.
There's a movie coming out that is currently doing festival and Oscar screening.
Well, Hunting Beyond the Mat. Oh my god. They went to see
Beyond the Mat. Yeah, the story of professional wrestlers and how the sport
is and how the sport is real, and it really revitalized me. Of
all the times I thought I was burned out, that movie made me realize
how lucky I was to be in wrestling. I don't know about that bell
they tried to take away. Yeah, they tried to explain what wrestling is.
It's comedy, it's drama, and so much more. But in the
end, all they can say is it's just wrestling. There's nothing like it,
and the people in this unique business there's nothing like them either. There
was one wrestler who always hit on me. Somehow he knew I was gay.
The closest I ever came to fooling around with another wrestler was while I
was working on Ready to Rumble. While we were staying in the same hotel
in LA. He called me into his room and invited me down to the
hot tub. I already thought the guy might be gay, but this made
it seem all the more likely. I went down and got in. Unfortunately,
the hot tub was beneath all the windows at the hotel. I figured
nothing was going to happen. The other wrestler showed up with his ice bucket
and some beers, and to erase any doubt, He also brought a gay
porn magazine he got in the Do you want to read with me? He
got in a hot tub and asked if I wanted a beer. Do you
like magazines? He asked, They're all right? What a like this guy
lives? Then his foot felt my leg. A lot of things were going
through my head. Just being in the hot tub was probably too much for
me, let alone looking at this mag I need to go back to my
room, I said, do you want to come back to mine? He
said. I thought about it. No other wrestler had ever hit on me
before, but I couldn't risk getting found out. I'm sorry, but no,
I said, no. Thanks. On the movie set, they celebrate
everyone's last day. They made a pretty big deal when it was my rap
day, presenting me with one of the world title belts that was used as
a prop well, the only world title he'd ever get. At the wrap
party, I was drinking, which was not good for me. For some
reason, I was angry, and I took that anger out on Shane.
At the time, he was schmoozing with other people rather than talking to me,
and it pissed me off. I decided to confront him bad idea I
hired you, I screamed, you don't appreciate what I did for you.
What did your fucking problem? But even as I yelled he yelled at him,
part of me said, what the fuck am I doing? Shane,
who had no idea what had gotten into me, protested, why are you
doing that? I can't do his fucking n accent, he asked. I
had no answer. I walked out on my own wrap party and passed out
the next day. I felt horrible. I was apologetic, but Shane was
more confused than hurt. I knew I think he knew I was a bit
unhinged. I think I knew it too. Wow, And that's how he
leaves it. It's tremendous. And then yeah, one other wrestler writes about
it in his book Ray Mysterio Behind the Mask. Oh do you know this
book at all? I do. I'm sure you do. You know them
all except what the weird ones that people give us for Christmas gifts? So
yeah, he talks about it for a couple of pages. But here we
go. It was somewhere around here during nineteen ninety nine that I get involved
in making a movie. It was called Ready to Rumble and so far it's
the only movie I've acted in, though I'd love to do more. I
guess hint, hint there, Yeah, what was the one? Well you
did Ready to Rumble? And I want to do more. I want to
do more movies. But what did he do? It was? Uh,
do you do it? Oh? He's not in that though. That's not
ray Masterio. That's another guy's ray Maisterio. I think I don't think it's
actually ray Masterio Junior. I think it's some other clown as ray you know,
like the ray Masterio that I saw do that bunch a show, you
know, like anyone with a mask that looks like a rat. I don't
know. Maybe it is him, I don't know. I don't think it
is, though, I don't think it's a real ray Masterio. Uh.
The movie stars David Arquette and centers around a wrestler who is screwed out of
his title, screwed out of his title by an evil promotion owner and fellow
wrestlers. A pair of wrestling fans take up his cause and help him to
get his title back. Arquette plays one of the fans. Oliver Platt is
the wrestler The company in the movie is loosely based on WCW and features a
lot of the guys from our shows. The studio that came out with the
movie was Warner Brothers Pictures. They were part of Time Warner WCW's owner at
the time. WCW range for a bunch of us to have parts in the
movie. I didn't know what my role was until I got to the set
in La I ended up in a tag team match with Billy Kidman against Houven
Tude and Prince Iakia. They just kind of gave us a rundown. Do
a two or three minute match. We'll shoot it and then edit it down
for the movie. Then they told us to go for it. It wasn't
until the director saw the stuff we were doing that he figured out what he
wanted to use and began concentrating on it. One of the things he liked
was my pop up Frankensteiner. Prince Aakia was sitting on the top turn buckle.
Billy Kidman launched me over and I landed in Iaka and gave him the
Frankensteiner. I did it three or four times, nailing it each time,
including the very last cut. The director yelled cut was exactly what I thought
when I came down that last time. Prince didn't let me go. It
was a slight mistake with big consequences. I landed on my knee and my
knee rotated inward. It gave way and a surge of pain. Oh familiar
pain, too familiar. Yes, you trash your ACL a couple of times,
and you know exactly what's wrong. You see, you just went under
the knife again. For us, I believe it. The noise that came
with it, it was exactly the same as the first time. That's so
sad, a ripping sound, o o sound, but took the life off
of me, or at least out of my knee. Luckily, the take
was a good one. I couldn't have done another. A doctor examined my
knee in LA. For some reason, the MRI didn't detect the problem and
they had to stick this needle and to find out what exactly was going on.
Not that he's used to that. It looked like it was three feet
long, and it looked like it was several feet wide once they started moving
it around, or it felt like it was a with a felt like it
was several feet wide. Once they started moving it around with a barbed hook.
I actually just got a chill down my spine when you said that.
Lapsed funk memory. I know, why are you guys doing that? Did
you find it? Oh? We weren't looking for nothing. We're just having
fun. We're just picking with a stick with a needle with a hook on
it. Yep. I thought wrestlers wormss feel pain, right? Huh how
about that for pain? You dumb fuck loser. Why are you doing this
to me? I don't care why I'm doing this to you, but I'm
gonna keep on doing it because it's funny for me. I'm exaggerating about the
size and the hook, but not in the pain. Exaggerating the size of
the hook. That's what aw those lifts in his shoes. It's true.
If it was, it was part of a camera system to look inside,
and they had to move it around. I swear I've never felt such pain
in my life. Finally they were done. Not He actually writes that in
finally they were done? Not Remember when was a thing? I mean,
it certainly wasn't a thing in twenty eleven when this book came out, all
right, Like it was like nineteen ninety four. It is not a thing.
It was not a thing. They'd been going in the wrong direction.
We got to pull it out and do it in the other direction. Do
what you have to, I told them, gritty my teeth the test confirmed
on my body had already told me. I torn my knee again. Once
more. I headed for doctor Andrews. Didn't you give me a lifetime guarantee
on this knee? I joked. I think he may have offered to throw
in an extra tendon for free. Fortunately he was able to repair do the
repair off our throw scoposcopically. Arthroscopically Is that right? Yeah? No,
knee surgery is minor, but compared to the other two, this was a
breeze. Rehab was a little easier this time. Practice makes perfect, I
guess. Except for the injury, the experience on Ready to Rumble was a
lot of fun. Before I got hurt, I'd done a little bit of
work in some of the scenes, but the best part was just being on
the set, soaking up the Hollywood atmosphere. It was definitely exciting. The
role was small, but at least I had the chance to say I'd been
in a movie. Being on standby, you realize how much time Hollywood actors
spend making a movie. A lot of it is just waiting around. Sometimes
would spend twelve hours a day just waiting to film for twenty five or thirty
minutes, and then maybe thirty seconds of that actually makes it into the movie.
A lot of people making the same point I've noticed, I know.
I mean, also, you know, you're not actually shooting for twenty five
minutes, you know, like you're only you know, you shoot for a
set couple of seconds, you know, like probably a minute or so at
tops, and then you get to wait to reset, and then you shoot
it again for a minute. Like it's not like you're but anyway, there's
downtime in wrestling, but nothing like that. You need an enormous amount of
patience in the movies. Not one of my favorite qualities though, like I
said, not one of my favorite qualities though, like I said, I'd
like to give it a try again. And remember when you talked to DTVP,
he's, you know, punching up scenes and stuff. He's like he's
getting into it. Well, he had he actually wanted to change the finish.
He had an idea for the ending that would actually be a little more
true to life. This is his you shoot interview. Ready to Rumble was
awesome because I'll be forty two forever, you know, in awesome shape doing
crazy stuff, and you know, people can just pick that up in the
middle and you get pulled in because it's just funny. You know. I
had a whole different end of the movie too, and I pitched the warmer
others and everything, and I think the wrestling community really would have wrapped around
to the ending. And how I wanted to do it was when I get
carried through the doors, right, and then Jimmy goes through all his stuff
and then Jimmy comes walking back and that's now the credits are just starting to
roll as you're watching Jimmy as he's talking, guys, I'll see you at
the barn. Can walk it in and you see me and I'm standing there
and he walks up to me, and you're like, these fuckers are gonna
go out at the get and then we do what we do, We hug
each other. Oh dude, good wow man. I thought I was gonna
kill me when he dropped me through the blah blah blah blah. And with
that, my scene of the movie was Now you see Arquette and Con going,
no, they're friends, you know, and we noticed somewhere like h
shit. So we walk up to him, Arket on one side, Con
on the other. We go, boys, welcome to the business. Let's
go have a drink. And that's how it ends. Like it would have
been real, you know, then it would have put all the little bullshit
all aside. You know. I like that a lot. Yeah, I
do too. I mean, you have to rewrite the entire movie, but
yeah, I mean, like you the whole movie. Then the whole movie
then is dependent on like when you think about it, if if it is,
if it is a work, how are you can't guarantee that fans are
going to try to rejuvenate this guy, right right? You know, you
have to redo the entire movie otherwise just you know, it's really circumstantial.
So it wraps and the movie is put together, and it's time to promote
the film, and oh my god, they built a ridiculously stupid website.
You can view the main page on archive dot org. But Russell Crap did
a hole like they inducted it into their thing and go take a look at
it. It's I mean it's not worth it. It's like it's so stupid,
it's so goofy, but it's fun, it's fun to go through it.
It was like not something that I could really do easily. Yeah here
yeah, uh and the book right right, and it's the writers, you
know, and I think it's so stupid. Uh. And then of course
the talent does the press junket wrestlers and actors. Here's Oliver Platt with I
don't know what he worked for, but this guy, the only I could
get him on YouTube is Diehard Derek. Do you know that name at all?
Oh? Good? Uh? This is Oliver Platt doing an interview with
him. This is this is where, this is where you see. You
know that Oliver Platt obviously has become a fan now of wrestling having worked with
them, right, Oliver Tonan, but I'm hearing that you're not even a
big wrestling fan. How do you end up as Jimmy King and ready to
rumble? First of all, I became a big wrestling fan, okay,
Uh, you know, making the movie and reading the script brought me into
wrestling. I mean, the reason I wasn't a big wrestling fan is because
I wasn't in on the secret. You know, I used to flip by
flip by wrestling, and I go all those poor guys, they think it's
real and R and the f of course they didn't think it was real,
and that's why they're having so much fun and uh. But I became a
huge wrestling fan working on this movie and gained a tremendous amount of of respect
for the tradition and the history, uh of wrestling as well. So all
that's you know, the craft and the discipline of it too. Now you're
also playing a veteran wrestler, a guy who's maybe washed up but has been
What kind of research you do for that? I mean, this really happens
in this industry. Oh yeah, pro wrestling. I mean guys like Jake
the Snake Roberts. Where there's some of the older guys that you watched and
maybe their career didn't take off. They're not living in a lot of luxury
like you know, hung out with a lot of wrestlers. Talk to them
a lot about you know, about their lives and about what they knew about
you know, a lot of the famous stories. Watched a couple of interesting
documentaries. You know, we used to watch a lot of old wrestling tapes.
Uh there's uh you know, well real well known documentary about uh Brett
Hart, Yeah and his uh hm his uh situation with with us Ncricmahan that
uh I A and and and you know, this stuff is all really fascinating
stuff and there's a tremendous wealth of information out there, and it's a lot,
frankly, a lot easier to research now that the cat is out of
the bag. You know, it would have been harder a few years ago.
I think, now, how was it for you stepping into the ring
as a wrestler, The bumps had to take, the training you had to
go through. I mean, is there and you find respect for these guys
that they say wrestling's fake, absolutely huge, you know. And that's the
whole thing, you know. I'm sure you've heard it's like fix not fake,
you know, but I don't like to hear fake and it's not fake.
I mean that to me is where a lot of my respect for just
their their their physical courage and skill and you know, grace and athleticism comes
from, you know, the the fact that you don't hear every Tuesday morning
that somebody got paralyzed The Night Before is a testament to all that stuff.
You know. These guys are phenomenal athletes and performers, you know. And
what does Oliver take away from this film? I mean, how much of
Jimmy King is still in you? And you still cut a good promo for
us? Jimmy King? Who you work for the w CW. Well,
no, I worked for that. I'm been in the business nine years.
I know all their little gimmicks and shapes. Yeah, you know, I
I think that this movie is is does right by wrestling, you know,
And at the same time, it's not really it's not a movie about wrestling.
It's about a movie about three guys. You know. It takes place
in the world of wrestling, right, you know what I mean it's about
it's about It's about three losers really and how they they kind of going around
this journey where they all feel at a little better about themselves at the end
of it. Now now I'm hearing, I don't tell anybody. It's just
between you meet the millions of people watching that you really put an ass whipping
on DDP during the whole training. That's why he's not wrestling now, That's
why he's missed a lot of shows on TV. I mean, agreeing with
DP, I wasn't gonna talk about it, but all I'm going to tell
you is that it wasn't pretty understand. I mean, you know, it's
like because it's not much of a likable guy in my face, it's like
working know what's what's Scott con and David Arkeet. I mean, if you
know wrestling and you hung out with these guys, you know what marks are
These guys are obviously huge marks. Are wrestling with the marks of the century.
You know. I think that's a key to the charm of the movie.
You know, it's the fact that these guys refuse to believe that it's
not vague. Is that great sea where we're David not uh and and uh.
That was a blast. They're they're great, great and really talented kids,
you know. And and they turned me on all the time. They
all gave me energy and you know, made me be better and and I
had a really good time with them. So what what's what's this whole thing?
Now? Are you into wrestling? I'm going to follow wrestling. I'm
gonna start hanging out with the boys more often, get back into the ring,
maybe a pay per view small kids, man, I tell you is
that I use like, you know, my kids know that they don't go
to bed. It's going to be super lex time, you know what I'm
saying. Thoughts, I love it. I love that he game around on
the business. I mean, I don't think he did, but I don't
get a couple of things he said in there. I mean, listen,
I think what he did was this, and I think this is what happens
to more people is that they they they don't become fans of the business.
They become fans of the guys they worked with. They become fans of the
wrestlers. Because I don't think I don't think Oliver Platt went on to watch
fucking wrestling week to week and became a fan of the business. Yeah,
you know, probably probably not the same thing with Mickey Rook. I don't
think Mickey Rourke fucking became a fan of the business. I think he just
learned that it's not all you know, it's not all fucking mattresses and pillows.
Let's the thing about pro wrestlers is they really know how to be charming
in small doses, especially around people that totally see as a springboard to another
potential career. Absolutely yep. And do they You know, that small taste
you get leaves out the deep unpleasantries and cynicisms exactly, you know, on
the road, and also just the the you know, they had the rattle,
you know, as the snake doesn't come out. I had the ball
as well. That's right, brother, I'm not playing to hide the ball
anymore, dude. Brother Goldberg also did an interview with this guy on the
press junket, and he actually didn't I guess he almost didn't do the film,
so he claims. At the beginning, I didn't even want to be
involved. I was under the misconception that that I would be stereotyped again playing
a wrestler, obviously, which is what I'm playing in here. But then
again, I didn't take any consideration who'd be surrounding me. So the positive
far outweigh the negative, was no question about it. So I won't put
my name likeness on anything that's going to be a bomb, or even I
consider to be a bomb, or even to be in bad taste in any
way, shape or form. I don't do comedy when it pertains to my
character. And I don't do distasteful things. That's to take care of the
comedy part. Also, you don't put on a you don't put someone on
a thing that's gonna bomb. Your name on a thing that's gonna bomb.
What what do you call this? Pal? How do you know beforehand?
Any of it's And then he was asked, this was funny, He asked
what He was asked what it was like to play a wrestler. Well,
let let's just cut a promo here, so to speak. I mean,
let's make this more of a wrestling considering the fact it's a film. Okay,
but you're playing a wrestler in this movie. Now you are a wrestler.
But what's like playing a wrestler? Acting as a wrestler. It's easy
because all you gotta do is be me. They only asked me to do
at w CW. They asked me to go out there and be me.
In this movie, they asked me to go out there and be me.
So in a sense, it's fairly easy. Although the the setting is quite
different and the end result is quite different. They're just asking me to go
out and be me. That's easy. I go to do his look at
Dallas and listen to him talk for about thirty minutes. I get irritated enough
to want to kill somebody, and there you go. Yep, yeah,
you know Goldberg. Colberg is so fucking annoying, especially in that era.
Oh he's well so gotten too, because you know, he knows he got
out Fox at Star K ninety eight and it's it's fucking with his head.
He he. It was just such a funk. I mean, he still
is. He's such a fucking prick. He just know. He's such a
bitch. I haven't. I don't like him at all. I can't stand
him. But speaking of DVP, though, he sting and David Arquette made
an appearance on the Do you remember this the Roseanne Show? I don't remember
the Roseanne. Do you remember Roseanne show? Like Roseanne bar Roseanne Arnold,
Roseanne whatever the fuck her name is had a talk show. I think after
the success of of Rosie. You know, she had a daytime alike.
She had a daytime talk show, but that was treated like a primetime talk
show, you know, like Ellen two for that matter. So they did
a typical interview to hype the film. Then things got bizarre. Would you
like to know more. I would. I'm going to share my screen with
you because this is truly interesting and fascinating. Do you have my screen?
Yes, ladies, ladies and gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, you're about to
witness witness and once in a lifetime of event of and then for the first
time on national television, devilment two of the world's tabs. Opponents want to
go ahead to head ahead for the Rose Ange Championship. Bolt please please welcome
the star already read and around morrow straight from a commune in Virginia up possibly
a cult David our cut cat got cat dot. Well, all right,
what you don't know now, ladies and gentlemen, gentlemen, make way way
for the domestic goddess god Is Queen asked as to Cleopatra, roll into one
one please love the one on the flake from Salt Lake leg like Queen Rosane,
what is happening? Get ready? You didn't let it the wing by
d d P. Yeah, I got his hand underneath their kid. That's
first rule. Are you ready ready? Are you ready? Ready? Ready?
Oh? God? Let the game speaking cat versus Rose hand Yep,
he bumps. She didn't do anything, he bumps. Look, she pushed
him. Don't always any fun at all? Here the thanks the worse thing
for the worst thing. He kicked out. He kicked out David ar cat
kicked out. Sting is in the ring. He's got no face paint on
him. He's got a cane he gave David arc had a cane and he's
hitting the rose head with a cane and now he's walking like an old man.
Haro. Sting told him the hitter win. Then god, I thought
that was the guy that Halloween ascot. Its o hokyist David, I mean
d d P is spanking Roseanne. Our kid is on the second rope.
He misses a shot. Get up again, here's on. He goes up
to Thys. Push me on my eyes, wa me overhead with this thing?
Who instances walk brace. I don't like that woman Sting in the corner,
splashing like what the fuck is going on? And another splash. She's
like barely touches him. It's awful, and he gets on. She's riding
him on his back. He's down. Wait a minute, he's on his
stomach and stakes, how did you end up doing a job? Oh my
god, Page whoa and guessed, okay, now that's fun. There was
no dialogue. It was just like DDP go to whole time. I mean,
is that not the most fucking it really is? Like, what the
fuck? What was the idea? Well, they were promoting again, they
did an interview beforehand, like he normally do. But then what was the
Rosie show going for? That's my question. I have no I I guess
to have Roseanne getting the fucking ring. So this movie did exactly what it
set out to not do, just make complete yockery of wrestling fans. Yep,
leave you with no other conclusion to draw than the most exact fans are
missing a chromosome exactly and they are so oh this was funny. So according
to uh To uh To, the to Meltzer and the Observer, so you
know at you know, at the end of shows, you know, specifically
shows that lead into the the the eleven o'clock news or like the news coming
up news to ten or whatever on cable change change, so they have like
a little hook to get the whoever's watching that show to come watch the news
afterwards. So there was at the end of an episode of w w E
SmackDown, there was a hook on UPN for the news, the local news
in New York to keep the fans watching, and the anchors. The hook
was they were talking about Ready to Rumble, and allegedly, according to Dave,
they said the following quote, Hey, WW fans, there's a new
movie out with some of the WWE's biggest stars. Okay, not mentioning w
CW one time. I used to happen to them way too long, I'm
sure. I'm sure, especially then, Yeah, especially then, like all
wrestling was WWE at that point. Uh, And then you know that was
about it. Nothing else was done to promote the film at all anywhere else?
Oh sorry, wait, didn't didn't David Arquette do something on WW television?
Didn't that happen? Oh? Yeah? Oh here you know what I
happen to get this thing from you. This is Vince Russo on k Fabe
Commentaries, sharing talking about all the classic characters. All I know, seriously,
everybody's on this one, talking about the origins of the David Arquette,
like bringing him on to TV. The first time David Arkette's name comes up
is when what do you mean the first time? The first time his name
comes up as someone to bring in it was probably And again, thirteen years
ago is a long time if I had to, you know, it doesn't
matter how long it is anymore with these guys. It could be you know,
one year ago is a long time. Absolutely all. That's all.
This that is the that right there. You know, remember how we were,
Remember how during Beyond the Matt Blaustein said, you know, the way
to know that a that a wrestler is is bullshitting you is is to they
say they call you brother, like Jake kept calling him brother, and so
he was like, you know, same thing here, I'd say, whenever
they talk about how wow, you know it's been you know, it's a
long time since I you know, they know exactly what happened. They remember
every fucking detail of it all, but they don't want to say it because
it makes them look bad. That's what I believe. Yeah, well,
yeah, it introduces there's nothing really flattering that they can say. It doesn't
actively make them look bad, but there's no there's no it's scenario. It
might make them actually look bad, but they don't want to. So they're
gonna they're gonna pull pull that in and and and fine, tune their story,
and then someone does go in on specifics, right, and then all
of a sudden they remember it all right here, you know, he's continuing
here, think back that far. I would say the first time it was
probably brought to my attention was probably by Page, and it was probably Page
telling me David Orcat loves a business. He's a big fan of the business.
You know, we should do something with him type of thing. And
I mean that was really kind of long before anything took place, but he
was probably the first one to come to me with the name. Okay,
all right, got it. So Arquet makes his first appearance on ww television
on April twelfth, two thousand, episode of Thunder Ah was it now?
It was thunder Now. Interestingly enough, this all this stuff happened after the
movie came out. Do you know that, Yes, I do. Okay,
yeah, yes, I remember. It was sort of like it was
already after the first weekend. It was already was bad. His name was
already associated with failure reviews VI this movie. Yeah. Yeah, So they're
trying to make it more depressing. They're trying to make it a little more
right, They're trying to make it they're trying to kind of, you know,
get people to go see the movie. So he's you know, he's
he Shavanni announces him, sees shows him, you know at ringside, and
then at the end Arquette goes and makes us say for DDP as Jared's beating
him down. And then Arquette took a serious beating Jared from behind him.
Cook. This does not get the page to the matches over. You think
they're done the scripture chart because he's further turn hardy like David r ke David
ar Kett, David Arkett has come into the audience. Is David our Kett
gets sent over the top by Jeff Jared hit Jared, give it up.
It's a sick bump too. Yeah, he takes it hard. It's like
he go, he soars over that over the top rope and it looks fantastic.
Our Cats, Jared is making this one personal. Our Kt just couldn't
take it out. Oh my god, jerks dropped in chests directly across the
steel safer will I hate to see this happen? Right? Did like Mark
Keet, but he never stop permut, he never so jumped in the ring,
but he strint chip with DDP has just been too close. It's all
about emotion and intensity. He just couldn't help itself. Oh you know,
it couldn't be type of the stroke, but David, I'll get in the
stroke gets down, d d pay is down, get ddy pick of pete.
Do you recall this at all? I sure do you do? Yeah?
Yeah, I was actually surprised to learn. You know, I guess
they were trying to build up Thunder still even though it was Yeah, because
like everything happened on Thunder, he wins the title. Yeah, because that
was the the bishof Russo relaunch was right. It was right around this time,
tenth or something, yep, And there was, yeah, a concerted
effort that they wrote Thunder just as hard as they wrote Nitro Wow in the
beginning three Yeah, yeah, well and it includes this. So the following
Nitro, Uh, there's a there's a promo segment between DDP and and Jared
and Bischoff. Jared Bishoff were in cahoots and they beat up DDP and our
Kett again saves DDP and Uh. Bischoff afterwards is furious and cuts this promo
against our cat our Catt. Let's just make that clear. I think I
might need to keep that one. Yeah, that that is actually money.
All during all the intrigue with you know Hogan and the f U N B.
Hogan and all the build up. Yeah yeah, yeah, oh yeah
yeah yeah Hogan, Hogan makes an appearance at some point in this whole thing.
Damn it our cat as mister Courtney Cox, you did that to me.
You come to my house and embarrassed me in front of my pants.
Who the hell do you think you are? You want to get in the
raging, You'll get in the way with me me all right, all right,
here, it's a deal. I'm gonna what eight hundred take your blood?
H Yeah, here's accepting pay something else. Let's make it a little
interesting if I'm pin you in the ring here tonight. DP get to shut
it ju dead for the title Boa in the Day You want it, I
says, they playing had to stop you want you got it? I'm gonna
tear your pat rear him out of there. Thoughts, riveting television, wonderful
work all around. What do you remember? What do you remember about?
But I just remember it being so desperate, such an attempt to take whatever
sliver of celebrity they could afford to force on the television in a bid to
generate some kind of buzz about WCW. Yeah. I mean Russo talks endlessly
about how there was one little item in the USA Today about how David arkitts,
Oh my god, everybody, everybody and their fucking mom talks about the
USA Today thing. So many people rational because people are so desperately grasping for
justification through this. It's awful. So our cat beats uh bishoff cage matches
on DDP wins the title from Jarrett and then the rematch is set up.
That was like two thousand w w W oh god, it was a hot
potato on Nobel Everyone History of the Best. I think we calculated it one
time. I think we calculated one time. It was like in like twenty
times something like that. It changed hands. It had like Kevin Nash winning
the title in a tag team match on Thunder. Well you get David Arquette
winning in a tag team match. Say nothing of David Arquette. So yeah,
the so DDP wins it and the rematch is set up for Thunder title
given to whoever makes the pinfall. And it was the thunder was in Syracuse
made me think, you know what the first thing is? They said it
was in Syracuse, and I'm like, why does shit happen in Syracuse?
Sean Michaels gets beaten up by two hundred and fifty Marines, and then now
this shit happens in Syracuse, Like, what the fuck's going on with wrestling
in Syracuse? Listen? I know this story has been told frontward, backwards,
sideways, it's appropriate upside down during intercourse, but I don't I don't
know. Please fill in any blanks that you may have about this too as
well, if if something something strikes you, But I didn't know the whole
story, and I just really didn't know some of the behind the scenes stuff
as well that was going on. So uh, according to the Nitro book
and the following clip, I'm gonna play it, Yeah, I guess Tony
Shavanni takes ownership of it in a way, but it definitely seems like Russo
threw him a fucking fastball right down the middle, if you ask me.
But this is from from what happens when a lot of people blame you for
David Arquette winning the world title. Oh I knew that would come to I
knew that would come up in this fucking thing eventually. Yeah. Well,
I mean, do you want to defend that shit? Yeah, I'll defend
it. Uh, I will defend it. To say that, when the
meeting was and I've talked to Vince Russo about this as we're seeing the cage
being lowered here now, I talked to Vince Russo on his podcast or YouTube
channel whatever. He remembers me saying at the end of the meeting, did
you ever think about having David Arqutt going over? But here's how I remember.
At the meeting adjourned and I'm sitting there and Vince looks at me and
Vince says, is there something you needed to tell me? I said,
no, not at all. He said, you don't like the finish?
I said, no, you do what you want, buddy, because you
know I was an ass kiss sure, And he said, are you thinking
maybe our quette should go over? And I'm said would it hurt? Would
people expect it? And he said that's the hell of an idea? And
that's how it. So. I was very much in the discussion. It
was his call, and he asked me what I thought and I thought it
would not be a bad idea. Yeah, I know a lot of people
were pissed off saying, oh it did Grendi denigrated the world title. It
didn't make funck all. We were on the USA Today the next day,
Courtney Cox and Kurt Russell were on our show the very next week. We
got the rub we never got and he dropped the belt back. No,
there was no rub. There was no rub. It's you know, I'm
not going to begrudge people for trying. He just not doesn't have to be
the world champion, right, agree, you could do anything with the guy.
You know, Mike Tyson didn't have to come on Run nineteen ninety eight
and win the world title. To me on Sports Center for a week.
You just had to do an angle one to the top wrestlers, right David,
Our kids out there taking incredible bumps. You think, have him take
a wild bump. That'll get you just as much publicity. You I mean,
for God's sakes, you got you got fucking uh newspapers all over the
place with that goddamn Jay Leno photo with the arm boxs me. You know,
Yeah, it's not like they didn't even know how to do it.
I think that's the desperation. It's not bringing in our cat, it's thinking
that that's not an it's thinking that, you know, no one people care
so little about WCW that if you bring David Urqette, nobody's going to care.
We have to have that extra oomph of the actually won a pro wrestling
world title, which all that does is add the most unflattering tone to every
article you could possibly generate. Yes, that you could ever imagine. Yes,
I mean, you just you know, it's an unforced error and everybody
knows it. I mean, but it was just you know, no no
one, no one had any idea what would give WCW a heartbeat. Again,
by that point in two thousand, nobody, I mean, or at
least nobody I've heard of. It's only nobody was working there. No,
not at all. I mean like that's russo too. Like you know,
oh, we had a meeting and everybody said book or team for bash at
the beach. Remember that, yep, get somehow Bischoff knows nothing about it.
Well here his vote's important. Yeah, Well again, nobody in wrestling
was at the meeting. If they didn't, if it didn't make them look
good. I think that's a Russo mo for sure is to you know,
this is going to be a tough call. This is gonna be a decision
that might come back to bite me. Let me try to find some way,
yep, to say that you know it was consensus, or that I
can point to one or two other people. Well, you also have to
disagree with if you disagree with, that's right. Here's uh this is This
is from the Nitro book. Immediately Russo reformed the meeting running the idea passed
quote ten to fifteen people he claims is there. It is, including Bishoff
himself. According to Russo, his any proposal met zero resistance, meaning that
in a swerve no one could see coming, David Harquette would become world heavyweight
champion. We were going to do the predictable thing, Russo told Russell Line
a week later. We were gonna do the tag match and Jarrett was gonna
get the title back. I said, wait a minute, Eric, the
whole idea of putting the belt on page was to be unpredictable. Now we're
gonna turn around tonight and do exactly what everyone thinks we're gonna do, and
that's put the belt Back on Jarrett, I said, we can't do that.
We're we're predictable again. So at the building we came up with the
David Arquette scenario. I went over to Jeff and said, Jeff, sit
down, I gotta lay something on you. You know. Jeff laughed because
he knows it. He knows me, he knows how I write television,
and he trust me because he knows I was successful before. So Jeff really
didn't have a problem with it, right, And well, let's see,
Jeff, this is Jarrett talking on his podcast. He said those things before
Jeff had a podcast. Yeah, right when you first got to the building
that night in Rochester, I'm sorry, in Syracuse, on the twenty fifth
of April, did you think you were winning the belt back? Did not
know? I know, because literally, especially between Nitro and Thunder, so
many different moving parts and things were changing, and you know, it's it's
it's you know, going into Nitro, it's all kinds of different moving parts
and different ideas minus the talent for the most part. Then all of a
sudden, you have Nitro and you've got twenty thirty wrestlers throwing their ideas against
the wall. And trying to get involved and then the fatigue of the road
or whatever you want to call it. So no, I didn't have a
clue. But as I'm hearing the top of your commentary right then, you're
talking about WCW was hoping to get publicity. You know, I think back
to those nineties and even early you know, I mean late eighties when you
add Russell Mania and Liberachi and Ali and Special Timekeeper and that kind of stuff
to get attractions. Who's going to sing America the Beautiful? And then get
into the nineties and you know, we different things Leslie Nils and at Summer
Slam or whatever it may be, and then Tyson does the big angle.
At this stage of the game, I mean we mentioned Ben Stiller and this
and that, but at this stage of the game, the pop culture of
professional wrestling to to sort of hang their hat on, hey, we're gonna
make our kid champion. Wasn't the same thing going to be accomplished. I
mean, look, there's two different ways to look at it, a million
different ways to look at it. But mercy, mercy, mercy, what
a mess he's got that sewn? Michael Sindromer, Oh yeah, he just
opens his mouth and he's gonna say a lot. Yeah, but he's gonna
say he's never gonna quite say exactly what he means. Yeah yeah, and
he's not gonna say anything that actually has a point to it. Yeah.
Well yeah, I think he intends to. And then he finds himself qualifying
everything he says and softening it so much and making it so generic so it's
to not come off as too snippy that he just ends up like, you
know, almost like with four reverse sentences syntaxes awfully, he says the point
at the end of the sentence instead of the right right friends, that whole
stream of consciousness with mercy, mercy, mercy, mercy. What a mess?
Where are we? How many fucking podcasts Conrad have now? Jesus Christ,
oh man, I don't even know. How does he have time to
do all that shit? Jesus fucking I know? So uh uh, David
Arken needs to be told. Who's the guy to tell him? Do you
know who that is? I'm sure that he was going to win the title,
yes, Gavani, No, it was Diamond Dallas Page. And when
they told me, yeah, we're going to put the strap on, well,
Arquette today. I was like, kid, that's funny. No,
no, we're serious, Like, dude, come on, you can't do
that. And the bottom line is, obviously they're the bookers, and it
wasn't Eric's idea. It was Russo's idea. I think almost positive he has
said it it is, and Bischoff didn't want it. You know, he
just got back in. It's him, and you know they're working together at
that time, so I guess he didn't really want to have the heat,
so he figured, what the hell, you'll see what happens with it.
I go and tell David. He's like, he starts laughing. I go,
no, dude, I'm serious. He goes, now he's a fan,
and he's like, no, no, dude, we can't do that.
And I go, well, they're doing it. I've already had this
argument with him, So they're doing it. So let me ask you.
If you were in his spot and they said we're going to put the world
title on you, we all know you wouldn't do it, right uncle.
There's not one of those fans that bitch about that. If they were in
that spot, we wouldn't be going, you know, not one of them.
So I get it that it pisses you off. It didn't piss off
anybody more than me because I had to be in that match, you know.
But you got to do what you're fucking told, just like you do
in your job. It's a job for us, so it is what it
is. You make the best from his you shoot interview by the way commentaries.
But there was something that DDP left out actually that was actually a little
bit of a turning point. Arquet filled in the holes with Chris van Vliet
van Vliet as I call him. I don't know how you get Vleet out
of that. Sorry. One of the things is I was walking around backstage
with one of these little like kids wrestling belts. Yeah, I was having
all the guys sign it because I am a fan. And then Vince Russo
saw that. I think that's maybe where the little germ of the idea came
from. He's like, oh, he's a fan, He's really a fan.
Yeah, and then yeah, so I don't know this was so when
Vince Brusso and I guess Eric Bishoff as well, come up to you and
say, all right, David, here's the plan. You're going to win
the world title. How does that conversation go. It was actually DDP.
He came. I said, so what's the plan for and he's like,
you're gonna be the chap shut up? Well really, what are we doing?
And then he's like no, seriously. I was like, what you
can't do that? You know this that's crazy, and I he explained to
me it's like, well listen, you don't. I don't recall him saying
you don't have to do it, but I think he may have, as
he said like, if you don't do it, then it's all over,
it's ready to rumbles over the promotion of it's over. You won't be coming
with us. But if you do it, then you stay to the pay
per view. And I think this is a combination of him explaining it and
Vince Russo and he's like you and I was like, I get to like
stay with you, like do this whole thing till the pay per view,
because that was only supposed to be on a one or two. Like the
first thing I did got a pop. So then the second time they brought
me back and that might have been the time that they I don't know,
but they said I could stay till the pay per viewed. I was like,
and I get to travel with you guys and be like part of a
group. I was like, this is like a dream come true for wrestling
fan. And I always thought it was like this kind of like parallel with
the movie, like because I always kind of felt like that guy in the
movie, you know what I mean, Like he was a little young,
like behaved a little younger than I did. We were very similar in a
weird way of like loving wrestling. So then uh yeah, So then that
was the kind of the clincher that I could tour with them for two weeks
and go all across America and my schedule was free, and I was,
you know it was. And the next thing I know, I'm on a
plane with Haul Cogan and I'm sitting He's telling you stories and Sting pops his
head between the two seats. It's like, what are you reading? And
I was like, what am I reader? You know, he was just
joking with me. It was like, really one of the highlights of my
life. That's nice, nice still relining. Yeah, absolutely, but do
you see do you see the other the problem? Do you see what they
did? So he explained it here, this is this is where it became
and and so he he it's found it in print on a Den of Gang
Den of Geek interview that he did. They explained about the publicity, and
that would be good for the film, this is him. It wouldn't the
title, it'd be good for the film, and that if I didn't do
it, that would be it. There would be no more promotion for Ready
to Rumble. I wouldn't go on the show anymore. I'd be no part
of it. This is so fucking ass. This is that ass backwards mentality
in those dying years. If you don't become world champion, we don't promote
our own film, right, If you don't become world title world champion to
our detriment, well it we'll also cost ourselves at the box office. What
the fuck? What is what? What the fuck? Imagine threatening someone with
the world title? Seriously, Like that's the stage we're at, you know
where you gotta threaten people with the world title because it's a heat magnet.
Oh my god, not not really, not if you fucking had had Jarrett
DDP and David Arquette as champion in like two seconds within a week. Awful,
Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, what a mess you said it? You
said it double j's remember the smartest thing I've ever heard you say? Pal
uh okay. So the match happens, The match happens, and we know
what happens. But here we go, buddy, ditch down date Mike,
you're come, David oct what's left of them? Dragging himself out? I'll
tell you d DP right now. I know what he's thinking. How about
jervis about push ups? But he's got his wife in his mind full time?
That time Kimberly gets kissed by kiddy's head who kick start to pick the
head? Scared through the hair, Tad Nor tas catch him. Count Kimberly
went down in the heat. There's no referee, Guys, there's a kid.
There's a referee. He's over towards our getting on to do it.
What what did did? David are captain? What's here? They can't want
the Keegan get want the wrong tick out? He get at the wrong tile?
Did Day can't come with the title? Can I even say that they
aren't catch him? He got him out? David on getting them David aren't
kidding. I'm gonna play it be go. I don't believe it day and
again in the world. Can get my life by a straight hand, That's
what would say. King Jay went over forty Bay great with my hands.
I can't believe that. What a soccer, What a jocker, that's lay
the he couldn't walk, can't bet if the god he's got the sack.
David gus got the dog felt what people don't believe in that? What's gonna
happen Monday? What they would have been for the Triple Games? Light up?
David get Jos turned to the arena. He's convergently and David aren't cat.
You don't mind an something's go fish on? Hey get black mine fountain
camerly a minchman like Vicky Jay, take you ry rescue come in or thy
fee the art cat now entertainment his cream. That's not the worst thing yourself,
yourself, I don't believe that. What more, what Holly water Way
on to do? What they can do well? I have to say I
give Tony a lot of credit. That is that is a pretty masterful call
of a completely a board of ideas. It is a hell of a cell
job. You can't you can't take anything away from him from Tony Shavanni.
Yeah. But man, man, oh man, it was. It was
so when you saw that, what did you feel taped thunder? I feel
like, yeah, I knew before I watched it. Well, okay,
when you first heard about it, what did you think to yourself? I
thought that, you know, I mean, it's they don't have any ideas.
They don't have Usually, even when w W was in its absolute creative
dol drooms, you could look around and say, well, you know,
these big guys are hurt. You know, they seem to have a little
sign of life with this angle if they just put it to the forefront,
Like the nWo two thousand was a great example in late nineteen ninety. Like,
it wasn't a wonderful angle, but it was something that they could do
that suddenly made the product seem like there would be a new driving force of
television every week. And when you make a move like that, it really
just tells you that they really are flying by the seat of their pants.
There is there is no design under the surface, There is no you know,
big moment to come that they're building towards that the pieces just have to
line up appropriately. Because they had so much talent, that's A big part
of what sunk WCW is they amassed these massive contracts and signed them with these
huge you know, out years, and of course the out years came when
the revenue plummeted, so they were paying Goldberg the most they ever paid them
when they were making the least they had ever made since he came into the
organization. Hmm. Everyone's contracts were upside down like that. The nineteen ninety
nine two thousand salaries were obscene compared to how precipitously attendance had fallen in revenue.
So, I don't know, that's that's what it said to me.
It said that, yeah, they're really just, you know, every two
to three weeks just trying something else. You know. Yeah, there's nothing
on there. There's no grand or plan like you know, the New Blood
Millionaires Club. It didn't really go anywhere, but it was a it was
a structure. It was something that you could latch onto, kind of like
an orienting principle for WCW Wrestling TV shows. This is just like, Okay,
next week, maybe it'll be fucking you know Chuck Berry that wins the
world title. I don't know. Ah, And it's in one thing,
And we talked a lot about this when we did Bash at the Beach two
thousand shows, because we spent a lot of time looking at nitros and thunders
and a thing that I think really was a lost all hope moment, although
it was pretty much done for WCW, but a true compromise of any semblance
of something that people could look to WCW and say that's what WCW is versus
what WBF is. Which if there's nothing you can point to and say that
about ww BOWT, you might as well not turn the lights on in the
morning. You have to be able to say one, two, three things
that ww is that WWF isn't. And as soon as Russo got there,
it became what WWF was so quickly, and WWF actually started to resemble more
what WCW was bringing in high work rate, guys like you've been MOI on
Malenco Guerrero and so many others in spotlighting work rate and the way Rock carried
the world title and defended against everybody Jericho in the Triple H program in the
spring of two thousand. Anyway, when Tony Sivanni's a sports entertainment it's over.
Yeah, Oh yes, absolutely, WW cannot be calling itself sports entertainment
on television. That's the most pathetic, like like Munchausen syndrome. Stockholm syndrome
is what I'm looking for. Yep. You know we've been so thoroughly owned
and so so thoroughly big brothered that we're using their language. Yep, that's
how gotten too and how defeated and how owned we are. Sad stage of
affairs. Oh, totally. Obviously everyone in their mom has a response to
this. The Nitro book gave a whole I mean it must be like four
pages of responses. Meltzer said called it offensive, sort of offensive. Brett
Hart called it a joke. He says, I think that anyone who really
had a passion for this business or the profession sees it as a joke.
It's an insult to everybody whoever really busted their ass wrestling. I guess that's
the way wrestling is now. Vince McMahon was to be World Champion two for
at least a couple of weeks or a couple of minutes. I think that
if people find mean to be entertainment, that's fine, but I wish they
would quit calling it professional wrestling yep. And I think that was one last
Russo flurry too. I think it was like one of the last things he
did at WWF was put the belt on Vince for that. Yeah. Yeah,
that was in September of ninety nine. Yes, and such as you
could say the ar Kid thing was a you know for a bag something from
the same bag of tricks. It was like, yeah, totally put the
world title on someone who's a non wrestler degenerate that holy shit shock. He
in fact did it on SmackDown the Thursday show like Thunder was the secondary show
yep. And immediately you know, do an angle to where he doesn't hold
the belt for two days, for more than two days, so that people
can't pitch it the best to much about it. I mean in ninety nine
was the year too that the the w Championship changed the most I think ever.
Yeah, of course with him at the Helm that changed, like I
think it changed like thirteen fourteen times. That was one of his things,
you know, he would he would talk down the value of the belt so
that people wouldn't criticize this booking so much. You would, you know,
call them props and tin cans whatether fuck you'd call them. But at the
same time, he had to use the equity in those championships to create his
stupid ass predictable moments. Right, if the belts don't mean anything, why
do you deserve a pat on the back for booking a shocking title change?
Who should give a fuck who holds the belt at all? It's like,
you know, you come in and you strip mine anything that meant anything before
you got there to create your shock moments, and by the time it's over,
you've like thoroughly reduced the value of all the assets you had to work
with in the first place. You don't enhance the value of any of the
assets, You just sort of throw them into your cauldron of shock TV bullshit
that whose time had come and gone. And you know, we've talked about
it before, but wrestling doesn't always need to be unpredictable. It doesn't work.
It has to be predictable sometimes. I mean, sometimes it's great to
be unpredictable. Sometimes it needs to be predictable. It needs to be predictable
in ninety percent of the time. I mean, it just has to be.
I mean, you have to get people, have to have confidence that
when they buy a ticket or a pay per view or turn it tune into
a show, that they're going to get pretty much what they came to see,
like versus you know, it's that's the only reason to like wrestling over
other sports, is that you well, yes and no, but I mean,
like, you know, you don't always need to see the guy you
want to win the title win the title, you know, but you you
have to you have to have some scintilla of hope that even if he didn't
win tonight, he's going to eventually win. Because if he's never going to
eventually win, then you stop caring about that guy, and that defeats the
whole purpose. You have to find that delicate way of you know, that
delicate way of keeping someone alive even if you don't even if they fail.
Yeah, and uh, we'll see what happens with somebody on that front.
But it's hard, you know, like if you know, you don't get
a title run, if you don't have people going for the belt and losing,
well, yeah, but you believe you have challenges for the belt.
But you have to believe that they're a contender. That's what sells them.
Yeah, you can do little things that send signals to the audience that actually,
maybe this guy will win the belt. Absolutely, yeah, you have
to do that. You do have to create you have to create doubt.
You have to create reasonable doubt in the mind of the fan as the outcome
will be of your biggest matches. You do have to do that. But
I think you can't. You can't operate from the principle of what does everybody
expect, Let's do the exact doctor for no other reason that I agree,
I agree, I agree. Jared kind of defended it in an interview on
one Wrestling dot Com. He said he compared it to Andy Kaufman in Memphis,
which that's it's probably before you have another breakup with Russo. And I'm
like, I don't know, man, I think I think uh, I
think Coffin was different because the Coffin of the world title never pined. Jerry
Lawler also Kaufman is a much better performer than David Arquette. Well, there's
that too. David Arkett just fumbled and bumbled his way, right, I
mean, the only thing he did, like the only right you know,
that was thing too, you know, the way David ar Keet shouldn't be
involved in wrestling. No, no, And and you know what, someday
we'll get onto that too on his return. Yeah, you know, and
documentary certainly qualifies. I think for Jarrett it wasn't the worst thing because his
title reign was so unheralded, Yeah, and then so little that it actually,
you know, it brought a little bit of attention to his to his
title program. Sure, sure, DVP called it the stupidest thing ever.
Uh. Kevin Sullivan offered this, He said, David Arkette winning the world
title. Boy, Scott Hall never won the title. Scott Hall never won
the world ever weight championship. But David Arkett, can you tell me what's
wrong? Yeah, Scott can't stop doing drugs. He would have won the
belt eventually, I know, I don't know, maybe not. And uh
what else here? Oh uh. Flair also commented on his on his book.
But what was more interesting is that within the commentary of it in his
book, he also there's a there's an insert with Bobby Heenan who wrote this
quote. When I found out they were putting the championship the belt on David
Arketta replied, is ja Ja Gabor sick? This week? That's the way
it was in WCW. This is a company that had Buff Bagwell tag team
with his mother. It was like he hawed down there. They might as
well have had Buck Owens picking out his guitar while wrestlers jumped out of the
corn. So Flair wrights that this was so here here, you know,
you know obviously he he all the money, you know, this, all
the money he earned from w CW, he donated to Owenhart's family. Brian
Pillman and Bobby Duncan Junior, and David Arkette did so this is what Flair
writes in his book. So how do I feel about David Arkett's champion as
a champion, Well, he had a hell of a lot more character than
some other guys who'd warn the championship belt. Yep, amen. But the
you know USA Today cover, that's it, man, That's all they needed,
you know, fuck it. It wasn't in the cover. It was
a blurb on the cover of the sports sector of the section. And it
wasn't even a thing like it was at sure with a caption. It was.
It was a picture with a caption and a you know, see what
happens on nitro so stupid, you know, that's all I was, just
like, the only reason that anyone acts like that was something important is because
they need to have something to grasp to, the signal that it actually,
you know, did what they pretended it was going to do, bring new
eyeballs to ww were creating it was but no one gave a fuck that he
was the world champion. Like, it didn't draw anybody in who was like,
hmm, I'd love to see those nitro ratings. It was like,
right, no one was like, Wow, what the fuck is this?
No one, zero people, zero people. It went down to the ratings.
The ratings went down, of course they did. The week afterwards,
they went down. They they they yeah, it was bad as I was
watching. You know, I've been watching wrestling enough years and closely enough and
been attuned to the ratings long enough that I'll remember even if I remember the
number, I'll remember all that kind of worked, you know, because I
remember it was different. After they did that. It felt like more,
you know, it felt like more people were writing positively about the viewership trends.
It felt like people were buzzing about it that weren't before. I remember
that about Mike Tyson specifically, it feels like people are talking about it when
I don't have to force it out of people, or it comes up unsolicited
on the television screen. Didn't happen. They didn't become close to achieving what
they told themselves. It was new me. But did it accomplish what Russo
wanted? That's the question? You know what he wants is something for this
week? You know what? Sean, Well, that's right, and Sean
Oliver got to the bottom of that. Wait, where the fuck is it
here? Did it accomplish what you want? It accomplished exactly what I wanted?
And again I told the story fifty thousand million times. Okay, we
have we David. Let me interrupt you that that you did it. Let
me ask you a better question. Yeah, because I did ask you a
question that's been asked million times. You're on the cover USA today. Thank
you all the newspapers. You transcend wrestling, which is that very well,
not so not transcended it? I write then and there, I think I
killed the business forever. That's who you talked to. Wrestling transcends its own
borders and grabs the national attention. The very elusive thing that wrestling always tries
to do time time again and Marl Larnsdale or whatever you do. It is
there a fear and a legitimate criticism that what's next week? Not at all
that that that's all confidence, that's all confidence. My whole philosophy when I
was booking was I didn't care what we did, because the next week we
would top it. I was never afraid of every any angle. I never
held back because I had enough confidence in myself that next week we will top
this and the show will be better. Are you surprised by the criticism that
this guest? Yeah, because I was surprised of how many people actually believe
that wrestling was real. Yes, that's surprised the crap animation that there were
that many imbeciles walking this planet. Yes, do veterans and the people now
that are extremely critical of this, the old Guard. Do they say anything
to you at the time that absolutely not even outside the company, like you
get any phone calls from a Bruno or No, absolutely not Bruno calling him
there Italian break. I mean, listen, you know, here's the thing
though, like like he's he's so full of ship about the whole, the
whole, you know, all they think wrestling is you know that that's a
crutch. I start saying that because in the corner because like it's it's doesn't
matter. Like the same thing about about writing scripted television regular television shows.
It's not real, but you still have to believe in it. You have
to be able to suspend your disbelief for that for those for that hour of
television and for wrestling for the two, three, four, whatever the fuck
hours it is. And with that comes doesn't mean anything. You're a market
means something that's like, means something that's like, that's like saying this.
You you know these characters, they don't mean anything on this television show.
You know Tony Soprano, He's just a fucking fictional guy. He doesn't fucking
matter. Yet. The only reason David Arquette winning the title is is a
shock thing it's going to get us USA today is because the title means something
right. Right, That's the reason you did it, because the title means
something. Because apparently just putting him on the television show wouldn't have gotten you
in USA today. I know I had to do that because the title means
something that's right, Because you don't have to think wrestling is real to want
the championship to be held by people who are really good at pro wrestling,
and right the fuck man, come on, So our Kat's champion. By
the way, the following Nitro after him winning the belt two point four to
six rating against Raw seven point four to oh is exactly what I'm talking about.
That's what my first reaction was when I saw this that like I knew
there was that kind of a gap presenting itself in two thousand. Yeah,
and this was a symptom of that. This was like a an indication of
the state of of play between the two companies. So so if your KPI
is to get something in USA today, that's fine, but it's not what
people want to watch w c W every week. What about an r I
so fun off but r I we need an r I too, Yeah,
that would be really nice, but that comes way later. But I don't
return on it. I believe in, I believe my well, I'm looking
right now. I'm looking for a return on investigations. Oh shitt that goddamn
right, he is looking for return on investigations. And he'll get him.
You'll get him, You'll get him, all right. David Arcat's champion and
he like he says, he hits the road with the boys. And do
you remember this? A lot of people don't remember. This happened the following
like or during the week. You know, he's off, you know,
gon know, he's making another movie at the same time while doing the wrestling
stuff. And it's a movie that stars he his wife, Courtney Cox,
and Kurt Russell. And it was three thousand Miles to Graceland, the Stupid
Heist movie. And they filmed vignettes featuring David Arquette and Courtney Cox, and
then a cameo by Kurt Russell David Cohn. You can get hurt, you
can get killed. This is ridiculous. Donald. I just wished this belt
fit a little Yeah, I bet you do. You know why it doesn't.
You're not a wrestler, no, baby, Is that any way to
talk to the heavyweight champion of the world. Oh? Good God, I
think we should talk about this. I mean, yes, I'm glad you're
born to Birmingham. I'm glad you see my parents. But Baby, I
think this is dangerous. This is there's nothing to worry about. I'm the
WCW champion. Baby, I'm telling you Eric Bischoff, Jeff Jared I need
it meets them a lesson. But you've got nothing to worry about because Chris
Kenyon is gonna be there, Diamondallas Page, They're gonna watch my back.
How do you know they're gonna watch you? Hey, Courtney, we got
to do our nude love scene right now? How you doing, David curse?
Did you know that David was the WCW World Champion, World heavyweight champ?
Baby, right head, David, you're not a wrestler. I think
the was on a wrestling show. I think the highlight is is Kurt Russell
saying, hey, Courtney, we gotta go do our nude our nude love
scene writing for David. I can't. That's so fucking great. I mean,
he laughs, She says he's a world heavyweight champion. He said,
yeah, world weight champion, and he fucking laughs. Kurt Russell laughs at
David Arcat on television. Is that like this is entertainment night or a fucking
joke. It's stupid. That's why they're laughing because it's a joke. And
if wrestling is a joke, nobody is earning their money. That's right,
somebody is failing miserably and at their jump. So uh uh. Ourquet makes
his first official appearance at a w W show with DVP and Canyon and I've
got a couple of clips for you here. They're kind of done into like
a you know, one one thing, one clip, one bite, multiple
clips in it. Welcome to Day number five and the unbelievable title reign Up
New World Camp. Good Day, I mean, seriously, welcome to day
number five. Jesus, Poor Tony. You know it's like you wanna you
want to hate him for this, but at the same time you got to
respect him for having to do this and doing it with Gusto man totally Gusta,
do you really want me to do this? I kids his awe And
there's nothing where you can ask of the guy get a car, but catch
Tony Schiovanni, Scott hunching, Mike Madden looking live outside of the Bromide Jefferson
kind of sand the world tap is down and wake ut hold ups already,
you have to stand up. Wait a minute, and coming out of the
church ers Hawk, Oh that's the touch charge. What the no, he's
well he's fighting with with with Mike. What are you coming home? What
are you doing? Why is Ogan here? That was Nitro? I'm trying
to just play on this, brother, you know, I'm just trying to,
like, you know, dude, I'm trying to like kind of like,
you know, see the forest for the trees. Dude. If you
know what I'm saying, that's screeching car, the noise in his drive way
when he's can't won the title. That's that's the noise, brother taking off?
What do you mean Art? Who's no one? What is this going
on? Brother? David rocat dude, way concerned? Whoa whoa? Whoa?
Did he pin Hulk Hogan? I don't know, Darry, were you
well? Brother? That's the problem, dude. Was I there? Dude?
Did someone pin Hulk Hogan? How is David arcuat champion? Dude?
And I wasn't there? Brother? What that's anything? Continue with? That's
worst ship? Yeah, that's got my gossom. Hey, Jon's got it,
pay the world, trap just got the belt. Let's break it down
backstage and Beringham holding it awesome page one more time in Austin security trying to
pull him upon as best they can't, but they can't can't hold him.
Rob you gotta realize as well as we do that this past Wednesday out thunder
was a great moment. It's sports entertainment. When he won the double world
title. Page got killed and we're going to the next day you page.
This has all been a big food. It's been a whole lot of fun.
But I don't deserve to be the world heavyweight champion. No kidding.
Let's got big, kiddy, this is page. Come on, we can
keep it back, bro, Let's go. Come on, said, I
got a movie to show and I can't get killed. Man, little cold,
big going on by the world tendon. All right, Hey, Berbieham,
Alabama, the home town of my life. Who fucking cares. I
can't tell you how much of a dream come true this is for me to
have this belt. In the past seven days have just been amazing. But
what's been best is the way the fans have treated me. You really being
incredible. Well, listen, I understand that I'm an entertainer, not a
sports entertainer. And after my God, he said, I'm an entertainer,
not a sports entertainer. Okay, okay. Talking with Dallas Opinion tonight,
I'm gonna relinquish the belt. And give up the title. I don't deserve
it. How about that these guys deserve it. Maybe Booker T deserves it.
Yeah, the fans are here, okay, but I don't deserve it.
Now I'm gonna relinquish this belt. So I'm gonna put it up for
grabs to DVP and Jeff Cherry in the three K That that slambery. That's
a good call, run out of Rumbo. Yeah, good move. Go
back your sugar, mammy. I'm relinquishing the title tonight. A cowardly thing.
It's the right thing to do, slam Marie. I got that right
by the way. So as I was doing my research here and I was
looking to observers and stuff, this just happened to be near some David Arqutte
stuff. This is from March twenty eighth, two thousand. It's totally off
topic, but it's it's Hogan, so it's always worth it. Yeah,
Dave writes, do you want to know how silly mind control is? WCW
ran a contest involving Flare and Hogan. I'm actually not sure what the contest
was for. Anyway, we got numerous reports from people who said, when
you vote for flair. Yeah, goes have Hogan right. The vote total
for Hogan automatically increases by five. How does he know about that? Dude?
Brother? Who's talking to who? Dude? Right? Brother? I've
been reading the Observer and I'm telling you, dude, he knows way too
much about my brother. He knows where I am right now. I don't
even know where I am right now, dude, I don't know the best
thing when he suddenly realizes that the person right in front of him might be
the cause of all of his concerns, what I just want to I just
want to get something out ill, you know, Just sure, Terry,
go ahead. I know, I see you right in front of me right
now, brother, I can see that, dude. You and I are
right now in front of each other. Are you behind me right now?
Dude? I see you. I see you're in front of me. But
that's not my question. My question is are you behind me right now?
I just don't even know where to start. I don't know how to begin
to answer your question. So slam Marie triple Decker Cage ready to rumble,
same fucking thing. And what was So there's a moment where so, first
of all, the big swerve is that our quette turns on DDP and that
wops his waffles his head with the guitar and stuff, and Jarrett regains the
championship. Now, after the match, I guess there's a big brawl and
Mike Awesome comes out, Me fights with Canyon, and I guess Awesome throws
Canyon off the second cage. We're a fucking what is wrong with him?
What is wrong with fucking Vince Russo remark stop thinking it's real? So anyway,
so I can tell you all right, well the following night, this
is uh David Arqatt's heel promo. Yeah, I mean, like, can
you be any more of a fucking goofball? Like you fucking seriously? Like
that's dad? Is he all right? Sorry? Page? I really am
sorry, Kenyon, Oh damn sorry, But you should know better than to
trust someone from Ally. Why you know, when I was on the set
of Ready to Rumble with Page and he said, jes you get hurt,
but guess what you got hurt? Page? I don't think he said as
best one thing to say to you. How was the heavyway jadit of the
world? Thanks to my buddy and Bishop that king. He man, what
an actor put that in your corn pipe? And it's something what an actor
almost Gable liking his delivery, and a wonderful wife too, almost Gable like
in his delivery. That's that's funny fucking line. There not a doubt,
so you might didn't, you know, I don't understand how this didn't draw
money. I mean, sold me, sold me a new pair of my
new bag of shower curtains. Sucks so bad, so bad, it sucks.
It's so bad you go first, seriously, I'd be thrilled to fucking
shut up, you motherfucker, you dumb bitch idiot. Anyway, No,
no, he was. And listen, I get to say, you know,
there are so the it's it's not all the time I get, I
get a cameo back when I'm actually like you know what I've I feel like
I'm almost relating with this guy. And he's very relatable in his cameos and
stuff. He seems like a very nice guy. You know. But you
know, and we'll talk about this at a later date. It this whole
thing fucked up his career. Yeah, this whole thing fucked him hard.
He was at the he was he was the guy amazing and he just he
killed it. I mean, listen, wrestling does that. So anyway,
this thing ends, DVP comes out, give him the Diamond Cutter, and
I don't think he's on TV until new Blood Rising, where as we know
he interferes in the Judy bagwell in a four left match. So I've said,
instead of new Blood Rising, I'll tell you what new blood boiling?
New Blood pressure rising? Right exactly. More recently, this is twenty eighteen.
I believe David Arquette was a guest on Steve Austin's show and he kind
of reflected back on the title when with you know, he he understands more
and stuff, and I mean again it's like, dude, it's not your
decision, like you didn't choose to do this, it's somebody else decided to
do it. But anyway, this is him just whatever. I finally like
figured out why people got so mad about me. And then it's like this
heritage and this history and this you know, this this art form that it
was disrespecting by by doing it the way it went down, But just learning
about it all I can see. But then it just makes me even matter
about Hollywood not taking it seriously or like, you know, I guess they
have to take it seriously when you know WWE sells the rights to row or
yeah, hey, man, when you won the wsw WAL Heavyweight Championship,
that was in the year two thousand, correct his twenty eighteen. Now,
social media was non existence back then. If it had been, I would
imagine you would have caught a shit poll of grief from the hardcore wrestling fans,
because I mean, I think you caught it. Still do it eighteen
years ago, I still do it. I mean I get it in some
guy today. I'm literally like that's part of the reason I came back.
Some literally like the low bar, Like that's the worst decision. Baba Dudley
wrote when I hop did I hob they turned like the International House of Pancakes,
International House of Burgers, And he said, that's the worst idea than
making Davy dark Like God, But you know what, man, if you're
going to be and well, I'm thinking the same thing as true with the
acting as in pro wrestling or show business in general or life in general.
Dude, you got to have thick skin. Yeah that you do absolutely.
So Yeah, that's now before we talk about the release of the film.
I actually was trying to see if Vince McMahon ever made public like remarks about
the film. I couldn't find anything. I don't know, have you ever
heard anything him talking about it? I mean, I'm sure he had somebody
watch it. Yeah, mainly because not necessarily because of like the movie per
se, but the fact that W CW beat him to the punch when it
came to making a major motion picture during that later you know, during that
nineties boom period, Like, you know, that was the time We've always
said, like that was the time for these guys to be in movies.
I know, like the schedule is brutal. But I said, you know,
but then I thought to myself too, like you know, you know
what would he tried to kill that movie, you know, to make sure
his movie came out first. So I got a little dirty and I I'm
gonna on you something that we're going to read together. I chat GPT did
alright answer? And UH decided to see This is a vinsick man's phone conversation
with the executive behind Ready to Rumble, Basil, the Wanic that we mentioned
at the top of the show. So you be Basil do you get the
script? I send it in the in your email email. Yeah, it's
a word document and we'll do it the way we did it, the the
the original one that we did for the Christmas thing, where we'll read the
script and then we'll read what I told it to do. I think it'll
be more revealing that way. All right, Okay, So I'm Basil.
You're Basil or Basil. I don't know what we're gonna I guess we'll call
him Basil. Uh, all right, I'll read the interior Basil in one's
office day, Basil, I wanic produce Warner about this picture. Since at
his desk going through some paperwork, his phone's ring. His phone rings,
and he picks it up. Oh, Basil, I want speaking Basil.
Basil Simsic. Man, how the hell are you, pal? Hey,
Vin's good to hear from you. I'm doing well. Thanks. What can
I do for you? Oh? You know, just keeping the wheels turning
at WWE. But listen, I wanted to talk to you about something.
Sure, Vince, what's on your mind? Well, it's in this movie.
You guys are making ready to rumble. I've been hearing things and I'm
concerned Oh, what have you heard? Well, I've heard it's about wrestlers
from my competition. WW Then I can't help but feel that Ted Turner is
up to something. You're trying to take me down. It's just a comedy
about wrestling fans. I don't think there's any conspiracy here, just good entertainment.
You know you can't trust Turner. I know he's behind this. You
should drop that movie, Vince. We can't just drop a project like that.
It's a significant investment. Well, let me tell you something about those
wrestlers you've got. You know they're trouble. You know, Bischoff Turner two.
You're playing with fire pal and so we've done our research professionals and the
fans love them. Basil, you're being naive. They'll ruin your movie and
you'll be left with nothing. Hence, I find that hard to believe.
We've worked with these wrestlers before and they've been nothing but professional. You're making
a big mistake. This movie was my idea first, and you stole it.
Vince. We've been developing this project for years. We have the documentation
to prove it. You know, I'm issuing a civilian ceased assistant. You
drop the movie, Basil. Vince, We're not backing down. We believe
in this project. You leave me no choice. I'll sue Warner Brothers,
Turner and you on what grounds, Vince for using fake athletes playing characters.
It's against the law, Vince's not a valid reason. Wrestlers have been in
movies for years, and besides, wrestling is script and entertainment. We're not
claiming it's real. I don't care. I'll sue you all. This is
my empire. Then this is absurd. We won't be bullied. You'll regret
this, Basil, you and your movie making cronies. Phone slams down.
It was bizarre. Seconds later, the door bursts open and a life sized
wrestling action figure comes crashing into the room. What The action figure growls menacingly,
then unexpectedly sprouts facing secnd of flowers, Basil. So you can read
the read the description. So this is what this is what I wrote birth
that Yes, write a script where Vince McMahon calls up Basil and Wanek at
Warner Brothers Pictures. The conversation starts off with pleasantries before Vince starts asking questions
about the upcoming movie. Ready to rumble featuring wrestlers on Vince McMahon's competition World
Championship Wrestling. Vince is paranoid that Ted Turner is coming to get him.
Vince tries to convince Basil that the film should be dropped, but Basil is
not convinced. Vince then starts telling lies about the wrestlers Eric Bischoff and Ted
Turner in an attempt to get the movie dropped. Basically debunks the lies.
He just start telling lies. Next his next, his next gear. Vince
insists that the movie was his idea first and that Warner Brothers stole it from
him. Vince issues a civilian season. It's a word of that awesome.
I didn't make it up. Basil provides evidence that Vince's lie, and that's
what's great about it. Vince makes it up too. It's not a real
thing. Basil provides evidence that Vince is lying. Vincedent threatens to sue Warner
Brothers Basil i wanek. Basil asks on what ground Vincil sue. Vince comes
up with an outlandish and nonsensical reason to sue, having to do with fake
fleets. So I want you to know so, so I didn't write,
I didn't say fake athletes playing characters, that's right, that's chant gpt see
Vincent Basil can say it's against the law. I'm stunned. Here here's the
best. The best part is the end though. Finally Vince swears at Basils,
screams and hangs up. A few seconds go by, and then Basils
met with a terrifying surprise bursting through his door. The surprise devours Basils.
So you didn't tell them to make it an action figure? That that I
did not. That is so fucking creepy that they came up with that in
their own You're looking at your action figure collection and I got nothing. No,
that's so bizarre. What lurks in the heart of chat exactly? That?
I was deeply disturbed, deeply disturbed. So yeah. So the film
had its premiere on April fifth in Los Angeles. They aired an edited package
on on Nitro and I guess they they shot at w how do you angle?
During the premiere? Tony comments on it during what Happens when Here you
Go? And at the premiere that you were talking about, they held a
quick little five minute match with Vampiro in the wall. Right, I don't
remember that. I remember at the premiere. I remember Jeff Jared coming out
with a guitar and bashing David our Kett over the head with it. Oh
well, there you go. There could have been a match at that time.
But I remember that we had we had Jeff Jared's guitars in one of
the agents or one of the Hollywood writers producer's office, and I had to
I don't know why, I ran down with Jennie Engele to this producer's office
to get the guitars for Jeff Jared to use. Fucking Wacky Ready to Ramble
opened wide April seven, two thousand, at number six. The opening weekend
gross was just over five million dollars, averaging just over two thousand dollars per
theater. Two weeks later, the movie had plummeted to number eighteen. That's
correct, grossing nine hundred and ninety four thousand, averaging five hundred and ninety
four dollars per screen. Overall movie gross twelve point five million against a twenty
four million dollar budget, a pretty clear cut disaster. Bischoff in his book
blames it on the fact that because he was ousted from WCW, that that's
why it was an Eric Bischoff project, so you know they were like fuck
that. You know, I'm not going to give it. You know,
they're not going I'm not going to promote that. And yeah, now nothing
really much in there as well, although he just said this thing about Vinnicman,
but you look at the way they's kissing. He's just fucking like eats
vincic Man's asshole. Fucking is when you look at the way vintric Man puts
together a great infrastructure and management team win WW is involved with a movie,
you see how it should be done. That's because Vince understands the power of
the brand and the media platform. Oh how can reach out to the audience
and help motivate them to see movies? Speaking of things by chat GPTO.
Yeah right, seriously, I will note this because I imagine you're curious.
How did the movie do? The weekend after Arquet's title Win, the gross
went down seventy two percent from the prior week So making it was going to
it was going to go down eighty percent because we did the Yeah, okay,
thanks Nash. They made two hundred and seventy two thousand dollars eight hundred
and sixty two soon as every two thousand, eight hundred and sixty two dollars.
Curiously, though, after the pay per view Slamburrie, it got a
bump, went up nineteen percent. Still was like nothing, but this is
Slamburry compared to April, compared to April of last year or April the No,
this is the April. This is the Slambury. So after the show,
after the slam maerree, so he loses the belt on May seventh,
right the weekend of May twelve, fourteenth, the movie got a bump,
so like the of the week of the pay per view, it made ninety
seven thousand dollars. The weekend after the pay per view it made one hundred
and sixteen thousand dollars, right up nineteen point three percent. It's awesome,
just dismal, and was out. It was out by after after seven weeks.
Seventh week w ranked number forty eight. It was on two hundred and
nineteen screens and average two hundred and sixty dollars per screen. Awesome, yep,
that's the reality of it all. So as if we need to know,
compared to a successful movie, which would do which would do millions and
millions of dollars? How much per screen? Oh god, you could do
hundreds of thousands per screen easily? Thank you, yeah, easily. So
how is it received? Do we need to even know this? Do we
even need to think? New York Times said, Ready to Rumble is a
courageous, devastating expose of the brutality, misogyny, and homophobia that pervade the
so called sport professional wrestling. The films. The film goes to shocking lengths
to show how this wildly popular form of entertainment transforms its young males into uncouth,
slack jawed dolts who think that punching women in the face is an acceptable
mode of foreplay and who are entirely unable to distinguish fantasy from reality. The
movie also explores with candor this insensitivity, the undercurrent of sa sado masochistic homo
eroticism that has made wrestling a big money attraction for the whole family. Just
kidding, Actually, Brian Robbins, Ready to Rumble is not a satire of
the idiocy of professional wrestling, but a long, self satisfied wallow in it.
Merely It's not a movie this critic has been waiting sometimes to see not
at all. You may say I'm missing the point. Everyone knows for wrestling
is fake. Everyone knows it's stupid, and that's part of the fun.
Well be it for me to stand against the atrophy of human intelligence. But
Ready to Rumble is not much fun at all. As the credits roll,
Ready to Rumble runs the now obligatory blooper reel within, which is indistinguishable from
what has come before and leaves the disturbing impression that mister Arquette may not have
been acting at all. The Austin Chronicle right wrote, I'm sorry I laughed.
I know the whole country has spent the past week trashing this wrestling comedy's
asinine plot, premise and performances. And I agree with the naysayers one hundred
percent, as long as they notice that there's a one occupying those two big
zeros. But I laughed for the whole one hundred minutes. But enough to
know that discounting the movies cruden, uncouth humor wholesale would be dishonest. Call
me jaded, but maybe there's something pleasurable about a comedy that has no pretensions
about where it's coming from. And Roger Reebert had something to say on at
the movies. This is after the death of siskel So. He had special
guest host Mikaela Perera. Here and Here we Go. David Arketta and Scott
Kahn are a road company version of Dumb and Dumber and Ready to Rumble,
a comedy where they play wrestling fanatics. It's said, how ready to Rumble?
This is the opportunity to be a smart comedy about pro wrestling, and
settles instead for a machine made laugh and a predictable comeback plot. And Oliver
Platt, who was a good actor, is in the shade here compared to
the real wrestlers, who are much more vivid and flamboyant than he allows himself
to be. He literally doesn't seem to belong in the same ring with Diamond
Dallas. David Arketta and Scott Cohn have some funny moments, especially one where
they eat lunch sitting next to their dripping sanitary truck, but the comedy never
really reaches takeoff velocity. The comedy completely missed me. In fact, I
thought it was too silly, a little too much, no pun intended potty
humor. I think Scotty Kahn and David Arquette are both luney and quite funny,
and we've seen a lot from con recently with the Boiler Room, et
cetera. But it just didn't hit me. I'm not a wrestling fan,
although I admit I've seen a couple of smackdowns on the ww app and I
did like the ability to poke fun at the world of wrestling. Wrestling is
not I mean the way, well, the way they create these characters and
write these scenarios and the set shows and do these suns and special effects barb
wire and flame. Millions of people can't be wrong. I understand what you're
saying, be treated. I think in a smart comedy, a guy like
Robert Altman or somebody like David o' russell or Spike Jones could make this movie.
But I'm afraid Ready to Rumble is not the movie I'm thinking. I
agree with you. I agree with you. I'd love to see fucking Robert
Altman. I would have loved to have seen him do a fucking wrestling movie.
That would have been unreal. And finally, uh, in the commentary
track, this is the one thing I found that was worthwhile. Arquette was
asked by Scott by Scott Cohn if he would ever get in the ring again.
Oh, are you gonna fight again? I don't know if I'll go
back. I'd like to, but I'm pretty sure people are say of that.
I we'll see, We'll see what happens. Uh. Are you ready
to rumble? I'm ready to rumble. Oh my god, what a fucking
nightmare? And roll the projector three two one play Warner Brothers, Yeah,
for sure, Warner Brothers joined Cinema. It's weird to have no music with
a production company. H I thought that was imagine for a second there,
I was like, imagine, come on, but no, it's bell Air.
I couldn't imagine. I couldn't imagine. I imagine, imagine entertain Sid's
face it opens up. Listen. It sounds like the end of of a
of a Colosseum video from ninety five, the bloody pictures of Baron von Rashki
and Bobby Heena and the A W A. He's turning even w W pictures.
I don't know, it's all pictures. We can stay his fucking weird
face in the background. There Valent Time Slamboury, the Professional Wrestlers, Universal
pastex Calhoun save to assume that professional wrestlers are recognized as the queen Bruno,
Bruno and Fez. I don't think so, Andre I can running through all
these great sheikh's face destroyer mil muscatis my mom? Is my mom? Look
at that? Our heroes of history, that's right, superior athletes, superior
man, the French Angel Luise today and here we go now Lusk shopping stop
not associated with stopping shop. Of course, Jimmy King is the greatest wrestler
of all time. So here's like, like, that's part of the problem,
is that how am I supposed to believe that that Jimmy King, that
fucking Oliver Platt is the greatest wrestler of all time? I know it makes
no fucking sense. Ah, the Newfangled WW magazine with Kevin Neck at the
helm, I will any put you somewhere to look at the skuys of Scott
cons Neck. This is the other guy, by the way, This is
the guy, the third guy on the commentary track, Like, I don't
know why, but I guess he's a friend of David R. Katzer.
He's just tossing ship with these poor kids. He said it. Wrestling is
for our words. Yeah, this is the nineties still yeah two thousand,
I mean it is still the nineties. Really when it was filmed, it
was still the nineties. Listen, Jimmy King, the People's Champion. Scott
conn is lecturing to these kids about how this wrestler King is the the Bee's
knees. I don't know about Dog Skipper, but don't worry. Scott con
also not a wrestling fan, by the way, I don't know if I
said that before, not a wrestling fan. Well, David, our kids
looking at a magazine slipping slurpy, which yes, this is what Hollywood thinks
are wrestling fan. Yep, I don't know. What do you want?
Purple sugar slush King, That'll be a dollar? Like, what the fuck
is going on? Are they making like a stylized showdown over this purple slushy?
Look at savage picture in the back cards on the cosmic boob because that's
what people that's what we call people squirrel nuts. Oh, I see they're
cutting promos under Yeah, yeah, but it's a it's a dream as we'll
see, because Goss is so pathetic, it's so stupid. Such a wrestling
has run through the filter that Shane Shanehill is doing the supplex. I'm the
guy. She's a huge high vertical in the middle of this aisle, and
there's macho. Here we go. I'm gonna take you down. Look how
unsteroid to do that? Look how normal he looks? Right O Savage whipping
writes down the pike. It here comes Oliver Platt. There's the that's the
punch. That's the punch right there. Yeah, I mean, what the
fuck clothes? That was a real bomb. He bumped, He did the
bump. What is he? Martin Jeanetti puts his head through the glass.
See the drop kick by Riquette, body slammed by Platte. I'm ready,
savage, double axe handle. There's the night tro girls for no reason,
including Booker T's future wife and uh Shay who Kevin Nash. I think it's
generally accepted cheated on his wife with no ship. Huh pounded the ship out
of her. That's right, absolutely accurate from every angle. That's right,
and one should bend over right. I ain't gonna fucking do it. What
about what is he doing? He touches his ass. Yeah, why does
it look like you have your finger in your butt. God, because he
does. He has his finger in his But this is he's wrestling fans obviously
so bad, I mean and honestly, And here's the thing too, really,
what it is this is how something wrong w c W sees its fans.
He smells the finger and he's making it seem like he's it's like that
joking type of joking. Uh uh mall rats. You know where he sticks
his hand like his you know, he fucking he he uh you know,
puts his hand down his ass and he shakes Michael Rooker's hand with it.
Do you remember that not really movie? Too? Well? I wish I
was watching it right now. Yeah, it's way better than that. Cops
are here, cops are here, Keep your hands where I can see them.
Got stuff on you? What that's my nuts? He said? Wouldn't
you rather be on the other side of this search you want me to grab
your nuts? Whoa that the homotic? Some Yes, I mean, it's
so like dad. It's his dad. It's his dad. Well, look
what he's done for. It's his dad who just grabbed his best friend's balls.
Okay, but even worse fund wrestling in the Sun's pocket wrestling. He
says to his face, he says, it's not fake, it's real.
Oh my god, totally losing mental patiently, he says that the Shoff and
Hervey right here, the shop and Hervey, Oh totally damn you know,
damn Well, I don't see the point wrestling. He says, wrestling is
a game for little boys. Yes, he's such a condescending He's like,
that's that's, that's it. And if you didn't know we were in the
nineties, here's the soundtrack Nick nit Man fucking jam bands of the Job of
the nineteen nineties. It's right job. I know, dude, you have
a job I want to do. It's like like Jimmy King says, you
know, you know what a hul Cogan also said, say your prayers,
take your vitamins. Yeah, if that's where you want to go, you
know. And uh. And he was a steroid user and abuser. He
has used steroids, but he's not currently an abuser of steroids. Another go
to the country fair and they're beat up four trucks take you know, as
goofy as they look. They don't look like poor and dirty, these two.
It's a bad fit. Yeah, talking about a pay per view.
Well, how the show they're coming to. It looks like Mark Merrill for
a second. They're they're talking about a D d P versus King and it's
not a pay per view, Like what the fuck? And they're laughing at
them for being wrestling fans, as they should all done. This is how
wrestling fans are in the daytime, right, they clean up ship fucking cleaning
up porta potties? Like, what the fuck? Don't do it? What
don't what mean? You know what? Don't do what? Yeah, I'm
gonna see friends. Don't do it to friends. Okay, if you do
it, Jimmy King will get hurt tonight. Don't do it. Don't do
it. Oh he's got fingers crossed mind his back, so you know.
Also, like you know, what I love to is the movies like this
where they fucking must see and they're taking a ship rid because because the people
doing a fucking porta potty, right right, you bring a paper, bring
the paper in the porter potty. This movie sucks at this. He's gonna
so he's blowing you know if he was sorry, So he hooked up a
gimmick that blue air into the commode. Yeah, obody comes out scary.
I can help super super the fucking ground, Like what real people do?
Yeah, you can? People don't want to be superlexed. You didn't know
that? God help? You wants Brittany's taco? Oh my god, wants
Britney's taco? What do you guys want? Cheeseburger? And like, God
damn it. Can't you be a normal person? Like what the fuck?
This guy was? This guy, David Arquette was one of the hot like
actors of the of the nineties, Like he had this whole thing like I,
you know, I It's just it's just such a weird I just don't
get it, you know, Yeah, I don't me neither. The like
seriously, the only time I've ever really liked to missing the screen movies Diamond
Dallas, Oh yeah, you talk about if Kim is going to put a
hurting on Diamond Dallas page in the drive through with oh yeah every day and
Monday, Yes, yes, yes, yes, I agree with her that
he has nitro tickets. This girl, the Girl, the Brunette. Do
you remember the commercials where the wife comes down and and he's on the phone
and but it's with State Farm and she thinks he's cheating on her with somebody
else. Do you remember that commercial? It's like it's a recent one,
it's more recent, and it's the guy that he says, you know,
what are you wearing? Jake from State Farm Khakis And anyway, that's her.
She's funny. I like her. Actually, she's a good actor.
She's very funny. She's got a crazy voice, kind of high pitched.
Boys they're eating. The ship is dripping, it really is. It's dripping
like gravy out of the fucking tanker. Yeah, w k D S.
Isn't his bracelet? What would king do? I as said all the time,
what would Jerry the King do? And I do the opposite Incrusso style?
Yeah, so stupid David Arquette looks with his face foward, little bits
of food on his fucking face. And now we got the soundtrack to American
Beauty playing. Yeah, the old lady from a wedding singer. Oh my
god, she's like, you just clear out sewer pumps? Is that what
they do? They clear out? So jesus, he just walked. Can't
get all his cop dad buddies pulled guns on? Did he notice that they
were there? Like? And he walked in like he walked right by them
one just doing a job. I don't know what the is going on here.
David Arkett loves this movie. By the way, don't forget Oh yeah
I heard him. You think it's a great movie. Left, look at
the mysterio taking off side, step off the road, the way, no
mask, tiltortle takes over. Hovie, I spump, We're gonna Prince Akia
full house. They shot this at a w W. This is Olympic,
right, this Olympic yep, the big set in we sat up there before
there. Okay, if you only have one left, is still your left
nut? Yeah? If you only have one nut left, is it still
your left question? There, that's a good question. The said, uh
philosophical. You know. Here we go. There's the spot. This is
the spot that I guarantee you it's this one too that killed raised me.
Wow. Yeah. Billy Kidman launches Ray into a hurricane, run off the
top rope on hoovy, And then we got the Nitro girls and Rose McGowan
as a nitro girl who's not a nitro girl, but she's got to play
one on TV. It's a it's it's there is a weird part of me
because I'm so familiar with the screen movies, like their brother and sister in
the first Scream movie and then they hook up in this movie. It's weird.
How you doing? Booker, Booker t DDP and Goldberg promoter? What's
the finish? Goldbrook says the pile driver. I'll tell the King that was
come here for a second booking booking talent. What I just told you?
Yeah, tonight like wearing the fucking spectacles and ship. He's pretty good.
He's that bad? Yeah, that was good? Is all right? So
they have just ring a dancer even know they paid Michael buff for half a
million dollars. Yeah, yeah, they have them for one fucking scene.
Do you need need d DoD d do with that crappy w c W logo,
the worst, the dirt worst. Look at her, Look at her,
Look at the old woman. She's got a wig on, She's got
like Dominatrix, closes on like Jesus Christ. What is going on here?
Bammers sid in the Ring? Yeah, Carl's Robinson of the Ring ninety five.
Seriously, behold the King who looks nothing like a wrestler at all.
Look at him. He looks krible I mean, like, what the fuck
you know that may be the World Championship that Jeff Jared ended up walking out
of Bash at the Beach two thousand with, or pardon me, the Hulk
Hogan ended up walking out of Bash at the Beach two thousand with thinking it
was the original Big Gold when in fact Jeff Jarrett hung on to it.
But they did make a couple of these for the movie, and so those
would have been in circulation for that exact reason at this exact point in time.
Yeah, just it completely ruins the movie that they present Oliver Platt as
the top wrestler. I mean, I don't know if it completely ruins the
movie. I think it was ruined before, But I get your point,
you know, to the other talking about how this promoter is Eric Bischoff,
Yeah, did you notice there wrestling at the Cheyenne War Memorial. Yes,
yes they do. And also like supposedly he's dressed like Wyoming clothes that that
uh Joe joey Pants is wearing. He's gonna all over Platte look weird o.
What he's gonna take d v pen in his dungeon and making his medieval
puppet dog bitch puppy dog bitch. Yes, RD Hennig and Conan in the
ring as well, mister perfect there do you see Kurt Henning did? Yes,
nothing like it, Like shut up, David Arkad. He's so annoying
all he's done this whole movies make noises. Yeah, he screams, and
uh Joey Pants aka ty to Sinclair's that's right. Tony Schwani and my today
at ringside button us like why green guys, what are you guys doing?
Ww logo is death everywhere I see it. I get depressed, Like why
is that? Brother? Forgot Who's who's your what? Platt and Pants mouthing
off to each other about who created who, which I discovered fourteen years ago.
I just wanted to have this final moment together. Oh, brother foreboding
Platte looks like a fucking mora, he does. What's the deal? How
much clothing is he wearing? Like no, exactly because it up so much
because he's so that's Canyon, by the way, that's canyon right there.
Yes, yes, they're calling spots. So Colin hammerlocks, Diamond, Dallas
Page locking it up here with Jimmy King. Listen, he's gonna make the
call. Good sound effects. He says, somebody said, give me tackle,
give me a tackle. Oh god, off the ropes. No I
can see Kenyon yet. Yeah. Like he's like a completely different body size,
body shape than Oliver Platte. Big swinging neck breaker by Jimmy King,
hook of the leg and outside Charles Robinson down for two. You do your
job, I'll do mine, tells the ref of Jimmy King. Pendance in
the audience. Oh my god, he's looks, say the promoter, you
know what time it is. Jimmy King calls for a hiptos, but Diamon
Dallas Page slugs him in the face with a forearm. Something he right here,
the double cross is underway. Oof, Jimmy King crushed in the corner
with a lariat. Self high five on that one? Why, he says,
bosses orders, fat Boyton rights my page? What beside him? King
comes back with the right Now they're doing the only in the movie wrestling punches.
He's gonna launch Platte, catapults Canyon to the floor. Who better?
Who better than Canyon? Okay, yeah, I get a bang, I
get it. Thanks, Thanks. Maybe if Matches had this much going on
on, Nitro they wouldn't have been out of business. Maybe maybe they didn't
movie punches instead of it's gonna go for the crown, broke king, right
and we'll write to the gut. I also, you know, tell me
what I don't always understand too, is how wrestlers, like even even you
know, like Hogan in uh in, no holds barred, Like, why
do they always have the stupidest finishing moves? I know, it's like hard.
You know, Oliver Platt has a double axe handle as this fucking finishing
move, like, come on right, Hogan with a double acci here they
come open. No, no, no d Q I guess, And that's
been a sny van hammer you see van Hammer Hammer's there. Yeah, I'm
making my life miserable. Jesus Sid jumps on power bottoms sometimes right to hal
Jesus fucking Canyon sells like a pro big alot from the shoulders and with diamond
cutter a bit of tread dual offense. There goes Charles Robinson bumping, bumping
for the business ronically, the third man in the head Canyon, the one
taking the move. Yeah, right, that is funny. Here come the
King's Men, Saturn, Saturn and turn Hennigan Conan. They play heroic music
and turn on well yeah, Sinclair must have got to them, must have
got to them. They have proclaims in the audience. What's wrong with you?
He screams like an imbecile. Do you know who that is with the
pink trunks and the white necklace around his neck? Pink top? No?
Who oh? Is that ic connt from hitting the ring? It's a form
that's a future world heavyweight champion. They're preventing from the ring. It's not
even a pay per view. That's what he said, A four post massacre.
It's a pretty cool idea. I don't see that in wrestling. Yeah,
take off, it's the wrestler shot, you know, yeah underneath right
man, look at look at Bam and Big go for his trademark head But
good for him. They all land with four consecut uh simultaneous top rope headbots.
I like that movie. They should do that ring the damn Bell Ring.
The promoter loads Charles Anderson back in his cowboy hat. It looks like
a fool for a three good means with the announcement of our winner. That
was for the hardware too, Baby GP just took the world title off Jimmy
King on Nitro, but it's not inspired by Brett Hart at all. How
themoter has the mic? I mean, I love that he has long like
he looks nothing like uh uh uh Eric Bischoff at all. Like it's so
funny anybody I've ever seen in my life. I've never seen a promoter like
this at all. Let's see a woman, you know, fucking cowboy hat
and ship hoving tude. No, what he looks like this mmoto looks like
Sean Michaels. He definitely Sean Michaels actually, because see Sean Michael's wearing this,
Yes, hovering over Jimmie the promoter, Titus and Clair talking ship.
Why not you're through throw down with you? Not exactly Brando on the water
Front here is not at all. I mean, this casting decision for Platt
has got to be the worst I've ever seen in a movie of any type.
Yep, I mean, and I and I love Oliver Platt, but
this is just not un unforgivable. Whoever cast him in this role should never
work in Hollywood again. Well, I think a lot of these guys didn't
work in Hollywood again, so they can't admit that they're you know, they
can't admit that their men. They can't. Yeah, they can't cry about
things like this. After all, wrestling fans drive home from the event crying
it's their favorite lost. The one time I think I cried going home from
a wrestling match was when we couldn't get a ride from Wakefield. Yeah,
yeah, I was on the verge. And they also aggravated. They tip
over their ship truck in the highway, Like, what is wrong with them?
Yeah? That still hasn't really been explained. I mean, the problem
is they're supposed to be the normal ones. Would it be great if if
the truck just blew up right now and the rest of the movie would just
be a shot of the fire, you know, kind of shit? I
mean, they wish this was dumb and dummer. I know there's no deeming
qualities in the banter between these two whatsoever. They haven't said a single thing
that approaches funny. They don't have any particular chemistry either, but they've been
friends for years. Doesn't that count for something too clean cut to be playing
in these roles? I know? Oh, brother, I actually think you
could do quite a bit with a movie about two like fat, disgusting wrestling
fans like two towns. Yeah right, exactly, Oh my god, more
ship so it can splat out of the truck and land on people. And
ironically it's a toilet paper delivery truck. What are the odds? Oh god,
it's ironic that this is so chocolate Block with Vince mcman humor, and
it's a w W. I I know ship everywhere. Well, so I
did write the script actually under the name Stephen Brill in a relation to Kurt
Fuller's character in No Holds Bark. I guess I'll just have to hitchhike.
I can't. Everything's changed over. Yeah, the title what you heard?
What I heard? What Sinclair said, kicked Jimmy, it's King out of
the w Stippis It's over Jimmy debt okay, Sean for a reason, what
what could possibly be the reason for this? A right? Imagine getting a
script that says you two are pro wrestling fans. Yeah, and you're kind
of slow, and you get so upset that your favorite loses the world title
that you will also you think it's real, God exactly. You're also you
know, you're you're twenty five, thirty year old men and you think wrestling
is real. Yeah, the people that Vince Russo was railing against for getting
mad at or having the belt. It's these two characters in this film,
right, And we got one choice, David are get to say there's a
big part of Jimmy King inside of me? Yes, he did. I
believe it's his cock right, right? What piece would that be? David,
mister scream Look at this. I mean you said it. This is
a clear diversion for him. You know, this is a an inflection point
in his career. Yes, so they're forming a pasre like an infection point.
They're gonna they're gonna find Jimmy King, and they're gonna they're gonna have
him, I guess, get his job. I mean, the idea is
that they're gonna have him get revenge against Diamond Dallas Page, which is the
whole thing is so weird, Like you know, he's he's we've already established
that wrestling is fake, right because we're talking about for the finish, the
Collin spots. Yet they want to bring him in to the show after he's
lost his job. And but but to be fair, he was double crossed
and shoot so well, he established wrestling fake. We also established that that
wasn't supposed to also, but he also got fired for real and walk back
in and now he's just gonna, like, you know, they're gonna get
him to basically trespass onto his former company's property. Is this a Kenosha kickers
back here? What seriously? Kenosha pitch hiking? Here? They a white
van? Right? Oh? Something? Now the nuns singing? Break it
down, mama, So it's supposed to be funny that the nuns are singing?
I take it, yes, that they're singing. Who is this?
Uh? Is it? Is it Van Handlin? I don't know, yes,
I think so? Right in with the Devil? Yeah, what's wrong?
And there it is. I'm pretty sure David ur Kid's entrance music in
w W they dubbed it over and the clip you were playing is we're not
gonna take it? Yeah? Yeah, there's a version from the movie that
he that they use. Yeah, you're right. Oh there's a version from
the movie. Yeah. Someone band died a cover for it for the movie
and that's the version he used, a serious question. So this got dropped
off at a look at the surge can back there? I know right,
I was a w W sponsor. How many times are you farting? So
one of the nuns was a farting was farting up a storm. Hilarious farting
nuns. Isn't this funny? You're able to go one to introduce the flying
nuns. There we go, and now we got we got from American pie.
It's uh oh yeah, yeah, it's uh Sherman, it's playing an
arcade game about Jimmy King. Jimmy King, don't move. Yeah, it's
great graphics. I mean, Jesus Christ. That has got to be the
fucking ship worst graphics I've ever seen. Like w W attitude was better than
that. This kid playing the video games as his dad tells me the puking
is for pussies, asking the kid where Jimmy. Listen to this, I
could probably find it. Yeah, listen this. I can find anyone on
the net. Oh my god, I can find slick at the mack.
Look at the fucking mack sac faces he's having. I feel attacked, Yeah,
yeah, I feel violated. Right, this kid can find anything on
the net. Planet with those fires. Oh my god, hey, you're
in this is as lives in Atlanta. They just found his address, Broler
and see it's funny because Scott kind of sitting in Britney spears with a disc
man. It's a fucking movie so much. What are they doing? What's
wrong? It's so good, it's so you know, it reflects the time
period. It's a you know, so awful. So they found his house.
Well it's the one Sherman gave them. Jimmy King. Jimmy King's wife
answers the queen. She's crutching her pussy. We're looking for the king two
years. She said, he hasn't been home in two years. Well,
now we're getting a little closer realistic wrestling. You want to see her pussy.
Her pussy has crabs on it. Yeah, associates are yeah, they're
all yeah, it's a wrestler. All right. Tell me who his associates
are, and she says they're all scumbag. He's a whore. She's a
whore. Other women in his life are horrors. Great, thank you,
kill support, child support, elbody. Yeah, this is getting better.
I don't know about better, but it's getting more accurate. Yeah, of
course this is the sun and he's got a ass cracks hanging out there.
Is that Sullivan just no, Ship's movies full of Evad Selivans. Yeah,
so that's that's supposed to be Jimmy Kingsteck's son. Yeah, oh asking if
they're bounty hunters, what is this a David Schultz inspired thing? Like David
Schultz, he'll pay for my braces? Oh my god. Yeah, this
is the wrestler's family to illegitimate two wives for bankruptcy three times. A tacker
kid knows everything, man, Yeah, I mean and again it makes sense.
This is you know, wrestlers on how to use their how to spend
their sucking money or save their money, and they won a t T on
that payphone. Here's the irony. That is actually David Arquette's father. That's
Lewis Rcatt. Yeah, well jim so this is Jimmy King's parents and he
was never very bright. And that's the woman. Do you remember in uh,
do you remember in Gremlin's two Microwave with Marge the community, remember that
segment where they're doing the cooking show and yeah, that's the that's her.
That's that's Marge. We saw them last week. You borrowed their motor home
like ship other kids pulling Jimmy King's speeding tickets and you can find you can
find anything on the net. Amazing. Dad calls him a pussyacking on the
phone is for pussies. I think everything you do is for pussies, apparently.
I mean, I think wrestlers do anything all that they do for pussy.
I know word pussy too, like the the the the names for you
know, male and female, anatomy, the slang terms. They're so bizarre
sometimes, Yeah, where did they come from? I know, like snatch,
pussy, cunt cock, that's funny. They just find the great Jimmy
King sleeping in the trailer home dressed like a woman. Another plot A rouge,
he says, Another plot A rouge. Okay, jim Yeah, nine
Things is awesome. Powers Steve Williams. It's us Who's he doesn't know you
like he knows you're right? Two marks knocking on your trailer window. Pharmacy,
pharmacy, Why would pharmacy want to deliver to him? It's us,
man like, he doesn't know, he didn't You have not been in person
with him. I would be horrified if I was Jimmy King right now,
look at look at him, at David. He right through your blinds on
a quest to restore his throne. The two kids are Tony Khan trying to
get see him punkd oh, you know it, you know it, Tony
kh even now like calling him every fucking day, leaving messages on his on
his fucking phone. Please, what can I do? What can I do
to have you quit and come back to work for me? Oliver Platt wants
some money for what too, to talk with them, just like just like
wrestlers do. They're really getting close to the sun here. I mean,
that's about heart should have done the movie. I know. That's about as
much as we had to pay for knobs. Yeah, the price for whatever
we had in our hand, we're forty bucks. Same with them, they
had to do thirty bucks. It's a conspiracy. We know this is so
the kids are telling the king that it's a conspiracy. You know, you
call them kids, they're not. They're grown adults, they have jobs.
You know. It's really it's it's really an atrocious situation. I made that
damn league, and he knows it. I put the damn budget a damn
so with hist's like everybody, these kids like they are being portrayed here.
Yeah, the full grown men. It's like everyone works at the mall,
you know, right right, just trying mm hmm. That's the best acting
your kids done all night. Yep. Let Oliver Platt waxing poetic on his
wife leaving him and at the end of his wrestling career, and he's lying.
He said his parents died and and she says that you left her.
I remember detective work going on here. And your son's not in a wheelchair.
Your parents aren't dead anymore either, aren't dead anymore. That means well,
he said they were dead, and he's trying to he's lying to them
to make him feel big, to get you know exactly. Wait if I
get up? Wait wait wait, can we just kicking him out? Now?
We can go on a beer run? Right? We can for you
for going to hear run for him? Beer beer here, we beer,
give him two six get on the money. What immediately accuses him trying to
skip out the money? Brother? This guy's a pro wrestler, all right,
and you and I will rule you if I'm a wrestling fan. In
two thousand and I bought a ticket to watch this movie. I'm forty five
minutes in. Do I have any idea why this is being marketed to me,
But it really should be marketed towards people who hate wrestling pretty much anyway,
And you don't understand people who watch wrestling. That's that's that's who this
is catered to, because like this is what they believe everyone is. I
mean, there are certainly quite a few who are like this. But my
hope is a you two gentlemen figure out. Okay, King trying to convince
them that he is not the fellow they go to see in his fucking bathrobe
gown. Shut the door on your way out. I know what's going on
here. It's going on here, Jimmy King, Why are you dressed like
the angel and ghost? It's a wonderful life character. It's so cheers Sinclair,
So what you're the King? You can beat anyone. No, it's
it's a it's fake. Yeah. Oh god, you know it's just a
show. No, it's just a show. Right, it's like dancing.
He says, it's a circus show with dancing. Oh my god, this
is fucking too much. And this clown a clown, this is this is
like keep in mind, this is w C W okay, this movie.
Oh yeah, fake creation stupid, the king saying I'm not a hasbend of
it never was. It's unrestling. You lose your title, you lose your
job, and you tailor and you drink. That's right, man, it's
right. Push away anybody that tries to help. Just kick these boys out
of his trailer. You know what, I don't get work from ourquet.
How can you? How can you be phony? If we believe in you?
God, this is so embarrassing, this is so cringe. I need
you to rise above this and take some clear down. That's what we're talking
about. I'm sure you're gonna go have a real fight in this guy.
Oh please, You fought with the broken back before your parade. You hopped
out of that wheelchair and what canyon in Memphis? Sting broke six bones in
your neck with a bat? What did you do? In two weeks you
came back broke your neck with a bat, and what did you do?
Come on, man, this is nothing. They drag him off the couch.
They're gonna do what it takes. It's an in what or what?
We yep? Now he's I mean this is assault. Actually, this is
a monkey flips. This is assault. These two guys, right, I
mean in a weird way. You know, they are trespassing Crown Us.
They want to get axe handled, and he obliges, and he get the
funk out, Like what the fuck is happening? He's pouring yourine on out
beer on their faces to wake them up. Hands off, snaky, g's
what taking you up on your offer to get one good swing at Tyler Sinclair?
All right, so he's taking the boys up on their offer. I
know, keep calling the boys. Can't name impathy, name with the enemy,
got a mad. I don't know what to call this genre of this
kind of voice. But it was the jam band, right, it was
the jam band era. It's called I don't know, I think so everyone
was always like nineties rock is what it is due. Oh god, the
New York Arena. They couldn't get they couldn't get MSG. No ship.
They couldn't get MSG anyway at all ever, not even just uh yeah,
look at look at fucking me and Jane. So here we go the ship.
Now they now they have trespassed and gone way gets out of a limo.
Okay, so this this is completely against the law. What they're doing.
I would imagine get arrested. They're smuggling Jimmy King out of the building
inside of a poor a body. Was his hair spray, you know,
they smuggled in and the hairspraaking. Oh my goodness, all right is the
night for girls dressing room? Chay is walking around with just Bronz panties.
Bron panties. Yeah, it's like another one. Which one is that?
I'm not sure it's fire. It's so ridiculous. Excuse me, boys,
There she is Rose McGowan. We're checking out the pipes that go through the
walls, checking out the pipes that go through the walls, and say that
again, door closed in their face. I mean, like what already noticed
them? Does the nitrous nitro goal? That girl of them all, it's
g d P with the world title strapped on his waist and promoter Titus Sinclair
by his side. I recognize this guy, the p A guy there the
the headset on. Recognized that guy behind him too, that's a wrestler.
Yeah, probably. Look he's got fucking braids. He's got braids? Does
does Joey pants? He does? And tell them it's right, they are
morons. Titus Sinclair said, he these two fans love who I tell them
to love well. He means overall, not just these two guys. I
see. It's like Patrick Stewart actually the guy with the headset hy, what
do you jim shoot a promo? The page Jimmy into the arena. They're
actually talking about Jimmy King like they just fucking buried him on TV the week
before. Angle alert. Oh and with that, Jimmy King burst out of
the commode and swings it page and the crowd goes crazy and he's assaulting these
men. That's one I haven't seen before. The baby face burst out of
a out of a commode. Yeah, where do you get the fucking t
DP has the toilet scene around his neck, thrown around pillar to post shot
that shot we saw. This is the way that shot happens. Foreign object,
He screams. See here he's thrown into a porta potty. A shithouse
bitch. Oliver called him a shithouse bitch. Oh look at you look at
This is completely assault sleek double teeming by Scott con I like the way he
slid into the fucking triangle. That's pretty sweet idea. Again, this is
all like you know of and Hammer just through Scott Con and then kid eats
glass got to see a bamband Jack Nicholson overhe there in the blue Yeah,
page emerges with toilet pepper hanging out of this and then he gets crowned.
Jimmy King comes off the top of the commode with a double ax handle your
fans telling them to count the cover. Two. Three, Jimmy King is
pinned. Three. Why are you taking orders from a clown that doesn't fucking
work for you? A wonderful question, promoter asked the mica. We're told
we can just go in forerno looktributing so much at him any time, guys,
it's one, I mean, it's not real. Guys screaming for a
match. They made the same mistake in Iron Claw, Yes you know,
showing us that it's fake, and then showed the participants agonizing over getting title
shots not a not capturing opportunities. Ye, one million dollars, you forfeit
your crown and never be able to wrestle again. If all of our plaid
loses, you can never wrestle again to New York, although they're in New
York ironically so well disc going Farno being sad because he's standing there in the
background. Yeah, yeah, they they could all they're all they're all gonna
be in sad. Yeah, I mean they all had I mean, you
know, I don't know. I think they all had bigger parts. Probably
get cut. Oh Jesus Christ, there were ten seconds in this movie someone's
fucking screwing no partying with the homeless under the overpass pretty much. Of course,
Rose mcgowand has the hots for David our cat. Say, Gordy Gory
Bogs, stupid Gordy Bogs. I mean nothing against you know, Rose McGowan,
but she's she's not a natral girl. Yeah, I mainly because she's
like, she's way too gothy. You know this one or no, not
that one either. It's this one. Yeah, ass up? Our cat
shirt looks like the one they made Froze name tag on it, masculinely.
I really like the cultural impact and post structuralist residence of Ready to Rumble Hold
On. There's a moment here that is that is just tremendous. Bizarre Cody
Wyoming, do you hear that? Oh this is fucking other from I'm from
Lost Wyoming one day. That's another thing, like look at this ship that
charmel shutting it up. Like you kind of portray wrestling fans, but instead
of portraying them from part of the country with the actual they have their own
kind of character. They pick wrestling fans from Wyoming. I have no characteristics
whatsoever? Do people think I'm sexy? Asks drunk Gene? Oh that's a
tree. We get to see drunk mean Jene. It's probably a shoot.
It is kind of jarring. See these wrestling personalities still in their wrestling personalities,
but on film quality they look kind of like more shadowy, more like
so I used to seeing them on wrestling television. You know why is Jimmy
running through the those manholes slide? They don't fall down into the hole like
that. You don't know what you're talking about. You don't know what you're
talking about. Where to find them? We're in the business. Found him
in drainage tunnel fourteen. He didn't want to leave. We'll take care of
me. Stey found Jimmy King in a drainage tunnel. Yeah, where else
would you find him? You cannot run away. You got a major fight,
you got major responsibility. I got news for you. I suck a
punch page last night it never happened again. It was a flip. How
can you say that we got you this bar didn't we? Huh huh?
You a trainer, trainer. I don't need a trainer. I need a
same path baby, or a new identity for Jimmy King doesn't need a trainer,
he needs a new identity from the FBI, or like you said,
a safe house. Jimmy King does not back down, do you get it?
I't care to kill me in my life. So I'm dead and buried
in the ground and mid bug so so D people to DD people want to
commit murder. Apparently that's what we're at here, because that's our mission.
I'm serious. All of our plat looks like kJ styles right here. D
d P is the only one that wants to commit murder right now. Tell
you that Jimmy King is the best wrestler. Oh my god, this is
so painful. He's really fat. That ass pulled that ass Jimmy was he
lapsed fan? Why did they just break out in the song again. They're
trying to show their support for him. They're taking him to the dungeon screaming.
Can hear the streams? Somebody watched wrestling with shadows. Yeah they did.
Don't forget fucking uh. Oliver Platt said he watched it, sure did.
I think they turned him for advice on the on the story. Maybe
he could have said, you know, I watched this thing and there was
this element that you know where they're you know where where Petart's father. There
were screams coming from. Now let me tell you, like watch the result
here as a mystery door, it comes open there he is like Martin Landau,
seriously like you'd think he's the fucking want to wrestle. Oh shit,
Salvandi want to wrestle? You fucking got him? Is Billy Robbins. I
would say he's catching him all right? Tap out son? So this is
funny you call him huh. I see you. You're big, you're tough,
but you don't know littly Ship about real wrestling. Always worried what about
TV time and telling all deadly Ship about real wrestling. Were you gonna mention
TV time? Because guys are always that's the thing people don't. People are
always asking for TV time. We're got all the injured students, Oh that
they're injured. I say, what is this perverse as display? Martin land
Bank apartment fucking flaps the fucking kid. What the fuck is Martin Landau doing
in this movie? Academy Award winning in Woody Allen Movies, A legend,
pretty amazing. I mean, obviously, you know, give anyone the fucking
right amount of money. Listen, listen. So Plak gets in the ring
with Landown. He's throwing platter around. Yeah, that's healing the legs,
kicks him, fucking leveled him, sal be. He takes a massive like
a fucking Scott Hall WrestleMania bump. Was gonna kill me. They think Oliver
Platt just killed him. No, man, a little flick. No,
he kicked him in the face. So brother, you're right, and he
comes alive. Kicked the balls. Oh, Kenyon folded head over heels on
that though, see if it was okay? Scrap. I taught him a
lesson about playing possum. Did you have to squash the possum's nuts? I
can't well. Back at the branch, David Kat comes to Rose mcgallon's front
door. Sorry, I didn't know you spooks Spanish? Yeah, I took
it in high school A bunch of times, a bunch of times, a
lot of flourish to that question. There she shook her head for like twenty
five seconds before she said, are you flooring? Yeah, fling, and
then he said, no, I'm fine, I'm feeling fine. He's a
He said, I missed that. You brought her a bunch of bananas.
That's romantic. The flower guy was closed, Come on it, wow,
candles and so this way lose me. This wrestling fan would never score.
No, well, you'll see there's a reason why he scores. I mean
also, I mean, are you he woud So? How's training going?
Pretty good? How's training going? A coach? He's starting to listen?
So thanks for looking up a coach? Really? Do I know you heard
him? No? No, I don't think I know him. He's old
school, he's a real tro kind of been training alongside himself. Okay,
what you know this isn't what this isn't engaging breveting dinner table conversation here between
the Gowan and he's not ready to have It's chops, you know, it's
Chinese food, chop sticks. He's using chopples, Chinese noodles, but he's
using chopsticks. He doesn't know how to use chopsticks. He's a fucking idiot.
Take watched this. I got some moves for you, I'm sure.
And then he just rest moves to her throw look at her. She's like
that that wasn't he likes that? She once more? Where that came from?
Why don't we wrestle here? I love to wrestle here here. Yeah,
things because he is like, he's Jeff Town. That's the thing.
He is Jeff. She straddles him, brother gold On. Dude, Rose
McGown is now going to any other secret weapons. Guess what those are?
Yes, they are in the face. You had a run across the face,
sucking the left cross there pretending to wrestle. A postcard from the Statue
of Liberty arrived at David Arquette's dad's house. Oh, such a fucking prick
who just seems to have lostuitiful house officer. I met this really really sweet
girl. I'm not a virgin anymore. I'm not a virgin anymore. So
again, just you know, a a incredibly wonderful examination of wrestling fans.
What's the New York magn He's not a very good uh shot? There?
This guy Gordon. I don't think he needs an I mean when he was
shooting this. David Arqa was twenty eight years old. It wow, so
it's safe to assume that he was a twenty eight year old. He's playing
a twenty eight year old. Oh, Wilberg, you see John Cena in
a second John Cena. Wait, he'll be in the left hand left of
the frame. Okay, there he is, and wait till Goldberg comes around
here. Wait wait, oh, big Bill, Big Bill? What are
you doing? Baby? I didn't know you're in town. You're looking jack,
you're looking good. What's going on? Why are you here? What's
the turf? He's doing? Letterman's doing Letterman? Yeah, bullshit, it
reains to be seen. Now he did, he did Letterman. I remember
that is extremely leno. Actually, he's going to make an example out of
you basic. That's where he challenged stone Cold. Remember that machine right there.
We're gonna look at the prototype. That's fucking free. Now. I
had no idea being John Cena go on to become John Cena. Remember that
that time you were in the room with Bill Goldberg and word to you right
right exactly, and thought you were fucking punk. Said you said, you
said, I'm trying to be arrested. You know, I'm training to be
a wrestler too, and he was like, fuck you, dude. I
thought Oliver Platt was a champion. He comes in here and just gets the
acts like one of the fans, just getting tossed around and intimidated exactly because
he's not a wrestler. He's a goofball. No, you didn't he let
me down? I know, King, but the making King's case to Goldberg,
whatever's happened in the past, the past, but ultimately he's your friend,
right is he? And you can't turn your back on a friend.
You can't. Jimmy King is Goldberg's friend. I guess work alone, That's
right, brother master. As I walked these roads are none I may call
on when I'm watching Kung Fu. Aparently is uh Martin Landau. Oh jesus,
this fucking scene mm hmm Goldberger, No, it's pretty Saturn have broken
and entered and Sal's gone. I didn't allow him to go. Where the
fun did he go? Sid doesn't talk about the fucking you know. Sid
doesn't talk about it that much the movie. I mean, he says,
fine, and she hadn't like he had no problems. I think everyone talks
about the waiting. No, that's a doll, idiot the hell, says
Saldandin you want to wrestle, and takes both Sit and Saturn off their feet
with heel trips, just like Shawn Michael's eliminated both Vader and Yes because a
nice hip toss by on Saturdays the disarmor. I'm your daddy, bitch,
he says to Saturn. He wants you to stay away from kid. You'll
tell your boss off train whoever? I want both and the army of Saturn.
Sid creeps up behind smashes a wooden chair across and Martin Lando takes the
goofy bump with the eyes like you should have had fucking tweitty birds had no
lines. Oh well, he's not obligated to memorize them. Have to stay
here for a while. Tough news that does. Have to stay here for
a while. Don't have any questions. Can we see him? I'm gonna
get him a butter finger, little girls room. Yeah? Can I have
a butterfinger too? It's yeah, promoter, he answering the phone at the
desk. Oh is she look at that? She is? She's on the
payphone, That is to say Rose McGowan calling up Sinclair, can he sees
it? I love you, I love you, Harvey Weinstein on the other
end of the phone, Come on, come on, not Rose McGowan,
Come on, you know, I know, tell that the saturn vicious over
here. Maron fucking crying. So how does the National inquisitory girls? She's
the headmine of a girl. She's the fuing middle dancer, Like, what
the fuck? Prostate is the size of a melon? Landau, repped head
to toe in hospital bed, says, so he's scrapping tappy Hookah, it's
prostates the size of a Melonie says, that's what he said. Oliver Platt
paying him a visit. I mean, I will say, Oliver Platt at
least has the fucking dome of a of a wrestler. It's huge. I
think he means weaknesses, No, I mean strength. No one ever expects
you to attack the strongest part of the foot up the middle. That's where
the action is in life. You think Stu gave this talk to Brett,
something like this, you gotta do you gotta take him, Yeah, you
gotta just push him, push him into balls and and just talk about,
well, look a butterfinger. Can we do anything? For you. Get
out of town. This place is no good for a wrestler. In fact,
the basics no place we can do that. This place is no good
for the restless the fun does that even mean? No explanation at all?
Forgot? It's they took a plot line that has nothing to do for wrestling
and just sprinkled wrestling on top of it. What it takes from here on
out to get the job done? I am too. We're going to get
you that belt back. It's the pledge from the boys to get a were
going to get him the belt. They're going to get it back. It's
not he's got a wist. What did sal just say? Well, it's
about what's in here. He hit him in the butter finger he broke he
stole the butterfinger from from sal Bandini. Sorry yet to make a call Rose.
It's more than I can say for the two of us. Wow,
what's going on? Guard? We're going back to basics to find our heart?
What can I come? No, you don't have a going to find
our hearts? And you can't come because you don't have one cute kid rock
nothing without other animals. How boys twin towers see that. I didn't.
I've never seen this before, making the town apparently, who's driving exactly?
I think it's all over platt Okay, yeah, all right, that's the
he's kind of leaning on the wheel. I know you don't want to talk
about your right, I don't want to talk about it, but I just
mind your own business, all right, dumb bitch, kan't. Where are
we going? King? There's something I gotta do. It's taking a detour.
Something he's gotta do in the off run. I don't make things,
make things right. I love Eugenia King. It gets kicked in the nuts.
I mean, how many times does he need to get kicking the ball?
Dignities? I mean, that's that's accurate for wrestlers, to the dignity
to most wrestlers, if they went back to their acts, would suffer this
faith mhm hm Okay, now we're back to the American beauty music broken de
Dean Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean Dean,
you think this way that would have been accurate? Actually, because that
that that whole Thomas Newman's style became so popular, that quirky marimba sounding ship
became became so popular after American Beauty. Yeah that is colonel no, sergeant
Pittman's outfit. No, seriously, look ranky, I came say sorry too
late, apologized to hisself, his son taking it back by his face.
How you doing, Eugenia, Eugenia, please, Eugenia, I'm sorry that
when I should have been taking carry all those years. Really, I'm really
sorry. Dean fast bastard. Sorry, what are you gonna do about it?
That motivational speech for my wife? Stop coming here saying your storry?
What are you gonna do about it? Platt got that bell back? Million
dollars, pay off all my dbts. Hey, how about that? The
suggestion that the world title comes with the most riches, Well, a million
dollars is up for grabs to see get that goodnis, I just gotta son
of good Dennis. Where are we training now? Or we're just driving to
Vegas? Yeah? Ting me oh go to Wyoming? Yeah, of course
we are going home. No place like home. That's where to god.
That fucking nitro shirt on him is ridiculous. It is it's so forced.
Oh brother, please care, almost smashing into David Arqatta it's his dad.
Yeah, approach the vehicle. What do you sound like RoboCop? No clue
what this guy's deal is supposed to be. He's very anti wrestling, you
know, he's the ultimate parent right there? What do you do? Just
like that? David Harcutt's gone in a cop car? What do you do
you watch Monday? Nitro? No skimpy outfits. No touching other men.
See again, no touching other men. There's a lot of that. There's
a lot of homophobia in this yet looks son. Just because it's your dream
doesn't make it right or noble or whatever that's right, just like being a
homosexual name Joe Stalin, Michael Bolton. What's the point? It's the director's
name again, Robbins, Yeah, Brian, Brian Robins. I think I'm
now a fan. Such an idiot working by lamplight Pat Patterson style is David
Arquette now back under the thumb and watchful eye of his dad doesn't stop uh
his buddies from showing up in his bedroom windows. Come on Cat's walls covered
in wrestling posters. As you can see, we need your baby. Jimmy
King wants Ourt to be his corner man. I don't know if I can
do this without you. He doesn't know if he can do it with a
him, What is he gonna do? He does know how to wrestle,
he does know how to train you. Let's be gone. I see a
lead a poster there. I think, yeah, I think you're right,
cop exam. He's given up Duncan box, right? Is Duncan big and
wyoming? What's his dream? I don't understand what is it like to hang
around? What is your right? Time? For me? To get rid
of all this that's fronting his boyhood hereldish things, to get rid of all
my childish things, telling me to grow up. We are thirty years old,
you're dumb. Fuck. The film, in many ways, is a
commentary on the agonizing reality of aging. You know, yes, very our
modern condition. How we part that's true, I mean brink. It's of
boyhood and you know, coming of age and the idea that you know,
we we you know we we transcend our our our, our childhood into a
uh a formal adult uh transgression. And what is it that we you know,
what is lost in that in that change and what is gained? And
what is what is real? Yeah? I suppose that's what it comes down
to. We're now in the barn. I think Fern's coming. Here's David
Arquet's w w entrance. I'm not gonna take it anymore. Fucking text him
with a fucking elbow. Look, they're they're wrestling on mattresses like I used
to Oh they are, we are? What is this? Well, they're
supposed to be. These are guys who are auditioning to be his like crew.
If you started something at this that point in the film, you would
swear this is a film about a guy who's never wrestled a day in his
life. Yes, to learn, Listen to this, Listen to this,
Listen to this. Auditions for Oklahoma? Okay, Dawkins, who's left?
First? Fireman Fred? What's wrong? And I'm doing a whole job right
Next? This is the trure? What is this supposed to be? These
are his cronies? Is uh? Is that Matt Hardy in the back?
Then? Yeah? I know, hello Darling. Uh, I'm afraid we
really need to take people who can help us in Vegas. H My friends
they she's got lost, no clothes on, and they call her pretty kitty,
and I don't understand what she's doing here. Well, idea that she's
a distraction. I guess for the man because they'll see her her, you
know, long time picturesque physique looking at his jogging. But did that work?
I wish going, yeah, I wish Gord who was coming, I
wish he wasn't. I'm glad he's Exportatorium seriously, and you know, like,
what the fuck is this ship? It's a It's like they's just such
a fucking awful movie. I can't even begin. Now here's the question,
does it? What is it? What's worse this? Or almighty thor almighty
wow? All right? Why is Oliver flat dress like headliner from the sixties?
Because he pretty much is. So why is there a marching band here?
Mh excuse me? The other the other drive through girl? You can
stop thinking about how Scott con approaches. I think I should have been a
lot nicer back. Scott Conn's biggest role minim in boiler Room before this or
or The Oceans movies, the greatest let me see here gift for you too.
M yeah, her tits, her tits or tits or tits or tits
or tits And I guess always always in varsity blues too. So this guy
fucking directed him in that and uh gone to sixty seconds. That's another one.
I guess. I don't think it's a big movie, but oh,
he's in a lot of these guys fucking movies. Jesus Christ, I really
wish I could go with you. Scar pulls up David or Kid here to
see him off. Sorry, chem King, I really wish I could go
with you, but I can't. Of course, his dad still brings him
to the fucking right rally. He's headed to Vegas to compete and the herb
Abrams u w F black Jack brawl. He's touching a man. I told
him never touch a man pretty much what they're mine for there. I don't
fucking listen. I can grab balls because I'm a cop, but I don't
knock anybody else touching men. That's homo sexual. Homer. Here goes the
van Yep making the towns. That definitely is a sportatory. I'm look at
their fucking cheering, like, what the fuck is? What the fuck is
this movie? She's got to go. She's wearing an n w O.
Fucking look at this they're wearing. Look at that they're fucking in the w
w n w O. Yeah, Scott totally naked the fuck you know what
this is? This is like some of those Christmas movies we've watched where it's
like, you know, California Sunshine. They just they make a movie that
has nothing to do with Christmas, but they put Christmas decorations in the ground
of the Yeah here, this is nothing to w W. But they put
its logo everywhere right right, and they say the name Vegas Nitro Girl Dancer
Team here, where as we got on the head nitro Girl now sex sex
sexy sounds like the fucking wolf Pack theme. There's this thing. Could Sting
very carefully, defensively listening silently. He's a future like It's like he's he's
he's telling him like, this is what It's so weird. If you're gonna
have any future in this in my company, you're not gonna allowed dream King
to watch. They're ready for you as you get the fuck out. Look,
I don't know what the fuck this is, but they got the They
got some fake ship going on here. I guess it's what you guys do,
but they're ready for you. I'm pretty sure that the promoter just told
Stang, I will kill you if you funk this up. Yes, kill
you was the word? Yes, yeah, what a medieval manner. Waiter
with the fucking theaterre along here, Jesus Christ, thank you fucking Pimma,
Emma, are you ready? Are you ready? Idiot is a little baby.
I know he does. He's totally been champion for decades, like Hulk
Hogan type, how long is here? Why did you drag me this fake
ship? My goddamn piece of ship? Son? This show is called One
Man's Suicide? Can wind us a promoter take the center of the ring and
scream tonight, one million dollars is on the line here and one man's life
is on the line. Hikes. Here it comes the triple Cage. There,
it comes the big structure, the cage of death, not seen since
what was it the eighty eight Starkape, a great American Well, I mean,
Mike, it depends, like you know it was. It was a
great American bash eighty eight. And but the rules are different, Like the
idea is that you climbed up the cage to get down to the six to
climb down. There's Michael Buffer. Yes, you're saying this isn't a climb
down model. No, you climb It's like Basically it's a ladder match.
He climb out of the cage and you can get down the pay per view
too, right, And didn't they use this for war games in two thousand
and two? You sure did art of war games? Maybe? Yes,
watch out for the Pyro. There's some booker t Pyro Scott. But it's
clothes aren't burning, though, I said, watch out totally not worse for
wear here his fucking cronies. Somebody saw that there's always pyrot wrestling events and
thought would it be funny if you actually got jam on fire? Yeah?
You just like the Undertaker kind of pages were entry heard now? Just too
beat up to make a trip? DDP hits the square circle, the triple
pages in ways and ready the Challenger and champ gun are ready. Are We're
ready? I called buff forgetting this moment with a vertical lifting pin, and
the millions watching it home around the world, we are. They are ready
to rumble. Michael Buffer, there's your five hundred grand right there. It
stretched that land and there's the opening k locked and on the side on the
calls page versus mc king skits in the right hand across and another by King
and a third puts down to below. He's going for it. Oh you're
an obvious then wow, there's Canon doing that? And Bumpy does and stands
up straight poof in the fence. Where is King just over the top?
How How would having Gordy here improved the situation? I don't understand through.
How doesn't it work? It's got conscious through like I feel he full of
powder? He lit his face. Wouldn't bother it all? I'm an upside
down to the pussy, he said. Why doesn't it work? Well?
Because you know, talcum powder in the face doesn't really blind you like you
see. They're making fun of wrestling. Movie Drop kicks Oliver King off the
ladder. He's using the clan the next let Oliver King. This sounds like
somebody else Oliver King. Yeah, tell the boat. Who's the guy in
the fucking crown? Who is that? Oh? Yeah, crack horse,
she says, of course. The team thinks it's irresistible that they're tab their
typical left Here we go, kissed wad. They're boping up the cage with
bolt cutters. Biggeloads sat up. He doing Wait a minute, he's gonna
do that? Al He's like he's doing Ryn here, ye's got the ladder
as a necklace and he's turn it all around taking guys out. Oh it's
a son. His son is one of the mass men. Did you stop?
What's going on? It? He just stopped. Son, Wow,
you're doing clothes lines his own Wow. Get it on the boots. Here
we go the boots again for Toty Svanni. I'll say, oh, what
have we got? Reinforcements are here? So this was booked or is this
saw a shoot? This don't understand right, disco infer Billy Kidman Goldberg and
Booker t H. David, I can't screaming again, Dad. It breaks
through the cage while with his cop motorcycle and Spear Spear a sidekick there over
jack Hammer on sad center ring Saturn, just taking the punishment that they're all
watching with the the dad. Oh that wasn't the dad. Then it was
out of the motorcycle. Who was David Arquette. Oh, I'm sorry I
missed that all up. Another dad realizes it. There is son of a
bitch, get that belt data Kitts like, now his dad's getting into it,
spears. So many people in the room pretend not to care. And
then yeah, within twenty minutes in Cherry Olber gives our cat pops on the
spear. Page gets free from the cuffs thanks to us Flaire. How wild
is it to build a new carriage for a wrestling movie? I know,
how unnecessary? I mean, at least they used it. I wonder what
the logistics were of the transfer. Did they leave it at a warehouse and
the w w ST picked it up? I could never forgive you for what
you did. So you're a mean, mean lady, Sasha, shut up.
Oh you're fucking waffled with took a ladder in the face. It's not
a ladder match. A cage match on the second floor is a trash can.
Obviously obviously their weapons, because it's like, what are the fucking lethal
lockdown? You know what? Pretty much there were weapons in the eighty eight
Great American bashtrible page to there, I don't remember each other. Jesus,
wrap the full odd noose around Oliver Platt's neck. He hung at it.
He's trying to use this awkward little ladder to climb to the third level and
he's up. I hate those lads. They hate those ladders because you're like,
you know, just because of the way back and forth right, and
you also like end up kind of like on your back a little bit,
staying watching from the rafters where we're like. He does like he's one to
do, covering over page and wing and then he tosses about the page just
like Canyonloe, except into a collapsible ramp. Way right, He's gonna round
the belt. I'm staying from the rafters. He plays music like with a
full orchestra. What are you doing, freaking Jimmy King? Can you believe
this? This is a wait a moment for the stinger, Jimmy King,
the Claire Stewie King's all right, Jimmy King's all right by me. King.
We're men, we're not afraid to say that we love other men.
What is going on here? The homophobia is so like it's just bizarre.
It's even it's this where they're their way up the side of the the top.
It's you know, did you know that it's okay for a grown man
to say they love another grown man? Glad? I need to see this
movie clarify it very tip top. Here we go Jimmy King and Page and
they're locking up pages. Got color Coldberg is concerned. Who the hell are
you fighting for? May oh need to the need of the gut, big
right hand. Another one, low blow by Jimmy King, low blow by
that babyface. I guess it's the adure therapisode stood in the one. There
we go another thing here too. Like you know, it's always a weird,
very basic move that does the most damage. We get a body slam
and through the cage of cage. I mean he should be dead down,
he should be dead mhm, standing tall. But the title still from this
whole fucking bizarre King Garb has reclaimed the World Heavyweight Championship Colpor Colpor going insane.
Yeah, the biggest draw in the business. Jimmy King Aaron Lay,
I don't about you, but when I hear it words Jimmy King, I
think pro wrestling superstar. That's a disasting start huh. I think I hear
Jimmy King, I think old ladies in leathern a planet Rather he sucks in
Claire. What what the fuck made wrestling? Says Joey Fans. I made
wrestling, and again the fans who are not employed by w W assault the
owner, oh the promoter. We make wrestling, not you. That's right.
The fans, fans in the stands, and they beat the ship out
of the poor guy. And then I guess see crowdsurfs. There's a guy
who wanted a sting mask, who looks horrifying. Oh, it's just a
fans. Fans are beating him up. Fans are beating up the promoter.
It's tiger respect then ye on the stereo thing other Really, from what I
understand, he could eat her outstanding up right, I believe so Gen Okland
with Jimmy King. Excuse me, excuse me, Jimmy looks like we need
a tag team partner. What do you say? Why is it appreciated he's
a world champion, but they already got me a tag team partner out here
somewhere? Where is it said? He has an attack team partner out here
somewhere? And it is right there. You have an ar cat an attack
team partner, A Guardy bog a k the law, the law Gordy,
the law bogs in the Dad's proud sean sugar dadded book or t of course
I get to see a word the whole fan thank you will either no,
Oh my god, Hans raise try it's right they've got Jimmy King back of
the winning track. Wrestling fans can do it, but the fans don't know
that it's real. Wrestling fans have been tripped again. Page with the bloody
Fore one more to look back at the looking piste off in the corner Royal
Bash the cover of w c W magazine. This is back to the scene
where they're talking to the kids at the gas station and crashing through the glass
window. Is some guy Goldberg and tights, isn't it? Well the guy.
It's the guy, you know, the the owner who gave him a
hard time at the beginning of the movie Goldberg. Goldberg is fucking yeah,
right, like this is how he goes to a fucking convenience store. I'm
your bitch and you're my daddy. That is what he said. There's Cha
from Nature Girls coming to pick somebody up. He's banging, She's banging,
Sean. Now I guess it's com all pilot Ge Katy, Katy King King
King King Katy. Oh my god, Martin getting that giving some live It's
the strangest move I've ever seen in my life. So bad, so fucking
bizarre. Yeah yeah, now I remember, well we have credit. Here
we go, you'll see the punch. There's a lot of glare coming off
of that dome of yours and bread, there's a lot of glare coming off
of that dome of yours. Ber face, I know, it smells like
you poured it right from your foot. It sounds like you poured it right
from your right. What's got the lines? Get me the line? Here
we go, Here we go. A yeah, he ship. That's awesome.
Alright, it's over. Yeah, all right, that's it. We
we were ready to rumble. Yeah I don't think I was, and I'm
ready to not rumble anymore. Uh. We got some exciting stuff coming up,
That's all I want to say. And we will see you next time
at the movies. Come on. Yeah. This is a production of the
Laps Entertainment Group. It's content is intended for private use only. Who's your
daddy, bitch,