MovieChat Forums > Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction (1997) Discussion > The Wrestler?

The Wrestler?

posted 14 years ago by daredevil1-1
3 replies | jump to latest

Does anyone remember that episode that's eerily similar to Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke? An old, washed up wrestler past his prime prepares for what will be his farewell match, and when it's over it's revealed he has died during the match of heart failure/ overexertion and his opponent ended up wrestling a dead man for the final duration. Anyone see the similarities? I'm not suggesting anyone lifted the idea from BB (mainly because who even watched the show), but it is a weird coincidence. I wouldn't be surprised if maybe the writer of the movie (not Aronofsky) wrote that segment early in his career only to revisit it later, for example.

[–] Coconut_Kaasa 14 years ago

Yeah, it was an interesting episode, I never watched The Wrestler (movie) but it's inspired by reality. Legendary wrestler Terry Funk played the main character in this episode. He first retired in 1985, Terry is still wrestling to this day. It's no coincidence that he got the part in this episode.

Anyways it's been a long time since I saw it. I think I caught it once, years ago. I remember thinking the other wrestlers Pharaoh gimmick was really stupid.

~Hey Arnold!~

[–] infinitern 14 years ago

It wasn't that "HE" (the main character played by Terry Funk) died, it was his opponent (The Pharaoh) had died during the match. It ended by the main character's manager saying something to the effect of "Poor (Terry Funk's character's name), even when he won he still lost."

The movie The Wrestler is loosely based on the life of Jake "The Snake" Roberts. A popular wrestler from the 80's-90's, Jake lost his fame, fortune & family due to a battle with substance abuse. To my knowledge he's still alive & still wrestles.

[–] jerome_george_davis 12 years ago

Aurelian Smith, Jr. aka Jake "the Snake" Roberts, son of Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith (also a wrestler), still wrestles on and off... he last retired in Late January of 2011, and is supposedly planning to return for one last run, being rehabilitated and trained by Dallas Page.