THE WRESTLER-1974-If you followed professional wrestling in the 1970’s you’ll probably like this time capsule. Ed Asner (taking a break from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”) stars as Frank Bass a professional wrestling promoter. He has difficulty finding an opponent to beat champion Mike Bullard (real life AWA wrestling champion Verne Gagne). He also has trouble with a gangster (Chicago Wrestling announcer Sam Muchnik).
Another real pro wrestler (and real life rival to Gagne’s title) Billy Robinson plays Billy Taylor, an English grappler who thinks he can unseat Bullard. Elaine Giftos plays Asner’s secretary/love interest. The main story-line involves a “Super Bowl of Wrestling” that Bullard is eager to participate in and win. His wife (Sarah Miller) just wants him to retire. The legendary team of The Crusher and The Bruiser are the most entertaining characters. If they were around today they’d have their own TV show! A scene featuring The Outlaws (Dusty Rhodes & Dick Murdoch) fighting Harold “Odd Job” Sakata in a bar seems unrelated to the rest of the film.
It’s not as bad as one might suspect especially when you consider that except for Asner, Giftos and Miller all the other major roles are filled by wrestlers! The best part is a match between Eddie Graham and Wilbur Snyder while Gagne narrates a short history of the sport. Many other wrestlers appear in cameos. The director, Jim Westlake never made another movie.
"History is a pack of lies about events that never happened told by people who weren’t there"-George Santayana
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