East Coast Musings 04.05.09: Wrestlers as Actors

Posted by James Craig on 04.05.2009

From Hogan to Cena, there have been many tries at crossing over, but has it ever worked?

Welcome back all, hope your weekend has been a good one so far. This week, I've decided to write this week's column to mesh in with the other wrestling related columns and so on all over the site tieing into Wrestlemania 25 tonight. I figure I'll take a look at some of the wrestlers that have endeavored to cross of into mainstream film. It works out since WWE's latest film project 12 Rounds is out in theaters currently as well, and it just happens to feature one of the men I've decided to look at for the column, John Cena.

It seems like a natural for some wrestlers to find their way into the movie biz, as on the outside looking in, it looks like many of the things that make a particular star in one medium should easily translate to the other. There needs to be some physical talent, since in most cases you're going to want to cast for an action movie. With the physical talent comes "the look" you can imagine one needing to be able to captivate a person's attention without saying anything. Finally, to tie things all together would be a certain level of charisma that will keep the viewer interested beyond a first look. Having been a fan of wrestling since I was small, there was always someone at any given time that I just wished I could see in a movie. Of course at the top of my list when I was just getting into wresting was Hulk Hogan. While I never got too caught up in Hulkamania, and to be honest, I was never even a fan of Hogan, there was something about him that made me want to see more of him. Say what you will about the man, but in the 80's, he was wrestling to general public and as such was turned into a cross-over star. Sure, Andre was around and was able to soak up his fair share of attention at around the same time, but in my opinion it had far more to do with public curiosity in the man's physical size and appearance than it did with his personality and charisma.

This lead to Hogan's cameo in Rocky III, as well as a whole slew of other movies built around him, which included such classics as Mr. Nanny and Suburban Commando. This was the top name in the business sin terms of media exposure and being recognizable to even the most casual of fans and he couldn't measure up in terms of Hollywood machismo that others had expected him to get and to compete with the Arnold's of the world. Hogan, would continue to sell himself in what ever way he possibly could, but his crossover appeal never really amounted to any sort of extend and more importantly, successful movie career. It wouldn't be until the late 90's that we would see another man step into the squared circle that had that same "it" factor that just made you want to see him in movies.

In fact, if you were very much a mark in the mid to late 90's, you may have had several wrestlers that you were just hoping to get into a movie or two. For me, and for just about everyone else, The Rock was the one I just knew could be huge in the movies if given the chance. He had the right look, he had every bit as much charisma as Hogan but was also able to mix in a humorous streak that Hogan never seemed to possess. The Rock wasn't the only choice however, as there were also the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin and Bill Goldberg out there. The inclusion of Goldberg is a personal one as when he was at the height of his career with "the streak" going strong and so on, I was a HUGE mark for Bill Goldberg. I was still a much bigger fan of The Rock, but I still though Goldberg could make it in the movies as well. How wrong I was. Austin on the other hand was just as big a star as The Rock and perhaps even bigger for those in wrestling circles, and it seemed inevitable that he wold make his way onto the silver screen before long. I'm not sure I shared the notion he would be any good as anything other than being Stone Cold Steve Austin but it still was an interesting proposition.

Much to my delight, it was The Rock who would take the first stab at a cross over and found himself playing the Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns. Even in as small an amount of time he had on screen and not as the CG rendered monstrosity at the end of the movie, you could tell he just belonged in front of the camera, not matter if it were a movie camera or a WWF/E camera. He just had "it". Goldberg on the other hand, well he was in the Universal Soldiers sequel and he did pretty much what he did for WCW, grunted and ran into/through things. Stone Cold, well, we had to wait just a bit longer for his debut. The Rock, however, was able to turn his cameo into a starring role in The Scorpion King . The movie was a fair success, but with it, the writing was on the wall as the Rock's cross-over appeal was starting to pull him further and further away from the squared circle.

Before he made it clear that acting was the no. 1 priority, however, The Rock was able to use his "movie star" status and the perception swirling around him as a sell out to create his Hollywood heel persona. It was in this period of time that perhaps we were able to see just what a star who was able to straddle the line between the two mediums could do and show how successful it could be. The problem was that we only had a glimpse of this, as as quickly as it came, it was gone once again and we were left to wonder, "Who's Next?" The WWE has been trying to answer that question for us for years now, and his name is John Cena.

Let me say this right from the start, I like John Cena. I think that when he is asked to, he puts on his work books and can be a very good worker in the ring. I respect him for being the consummate company man and I think that he has been able to effortlessly take on the responsibility of being the face of WWE, even at his age. I can respect the man for that. I think his heart is in the right place a lot of the time, but I am getting sick of having him pushed on us as the next cross over superstar from wrestling. Vince McMahon seen that his business was, arguably, never bigger than when he had The Rock and Steve Austin selling out arenas (not all by themselves of course) and being a legitimate part of water cooler talk around offices and so on. Wanting to capture that same lightning in a bottle, he needed to find himself someone that had the three basic components that could lead to the same sort of mass media appeal. Hence we have been given Cena, but unlike The Rock, while very charismatic, Cena doesn't seem as at home on camera for a movie. If anything, he is having a career more in the same vein of Hogan, just not as big, in that the movies aren't very good and the personality that we love or love to hate doesn't seem to carry over. Being saddled with career anchors like The Marine and 12 Rounds isn't going to help much either, but as a company man, Cena is dutifully going with WWE productions.

Cena, perhaps knowing that while it was hoped he could be that next cross over star, is always quick to say that while he loves the movies, he won't forget about his roots. What he's not forgetting is who pays his bills. I do believe him when he says he wouldn't leave the company in the same way that The Rock did, I just don't think that it would be as clear cut if he were being asked to take 8-10 months off at a time for major studio productions rather than WWE endeavors. My opinion is that he would ride the line for as long as he could, coming back as often as possible but he would also move into a full on Hollywood actor. That's not a very likely scenario in any case, but you never know.

The long and short of it is, not everyone can act. Nor, in a world of story telling and persona, can a wrestler carry that over into another medium. While having a stepping stone like being on television can be a boost to an acting career, it may never be successful. There have been many attempts, some solid efforts but in my opinion, only one true success.Sure, this column may seem like one big mark out for The Rock and what the hell, it probably is. I'm not going to apologize for being a fan. I will admit The Rock has had some stinkers come out, but I think that he has been able to establish himself as Dwayne Johnson now and not just The Rock. I'm all for seeing that next someone come along and restore the wrestling industry to where it was 10 years ago, but how often does that type of person come along? As it stands, I can take solice in knowing that in the mean time it'll be fun to watch who is going to try and be that person.