15 wrestling movies we actually love

The first film about female wrestling and the last movie directed by Robert Aldrich, “...All the Marbles” was led by a cast of Vicki Frederick, Laurene Landon and Peter Falk as a wrestling tag team and their manager, respectively. It suffered defeat at the box office, and the title had to be changed to “The California Dolls” in the foreign markets because “all the marbles” is only an American idiom. But the comedy actually received generally favorable reviews from both critics and audiences. In fact, “...All the Marbles” likely would have yielded a sequel had Aldrich not passed away two years after its release.

Matthew Modine is the star of “Vision Quest,” a 1985 coming-of-age drama about a high school wrestler who wants to drop two weight classes to face the state champion but gets distracted after falling for an older woman (Linda Fiorentino) who is passing through town. Although initially greeted with mixed reviews and modest box office success, “Vision Quest” has become something of a cult classic and includes appearances by both a young Forest Whitaker and Madonna (in her first feature film role).

A struggling music promoter (Dirk Benedict) accidentally signs a wrestler (Roddy Piper) instead of a musician and decides to try his luck as a pro wrestling manager instead. Featuring the wrestlers Tama, Captain Lou Albano and the Wild Samoans in supporting roles, “Body Slam” also includes cameos from Ric Flair, “Classy” Freddie Blassie and Bruno Sammartino. Despite an unplanned direct-to-video release, the comedy actually received some surprisingly warm reviews, and it remains a favorite of wrestling fans and ‘80s movie buffs alike. (And we consider ourselves to be both!)

Was “No Holds Barred” a quality movie? Of course not. But as wrestling fans, we can appreciate a good gimmick and thankfully, like the WWE, “No Holds Barred” never took itself too seriously. The whole project was basically a push to make Hulk Hogan a movie star, and it was a spectacular failure in that regard. At least it more or less broke even at the box office. The best part about the film, however, was that six months after it was released, “No Holds Barred” was shown just prior to a WWE pay-per-view event that was meant to be a continuation of the movie. The main event featured Hulk Hogan as himself, the actor who appeared in “No Holds Barred,” but his opponent, fellow pro wrestler Tiny Lister, was billed as “Zeus,” his character from the movie. Why? Who knows. But like the WWE, watching it all unfold was truly entertaining.

Calling “Man on the Moon” a wrestling film is a bit of a stretch, but hey, it’s a biopic about comedian Andy Kaufman, who did spend some time as a professional wrestler… sort of. Beginning in the late ‘70s, Kaufman, who always preferred to blur the line between fiction and reality, started wrestling women across the country and calling himself the “Inter-Gender Wrestling Champion of the World.” As chronicled in 1999’s “Man on the Moon” (with Jim Carrey playing Kaufman), this eventually led to a feud with real-life pro wrestler Jerry “The King” Lawler, who famously confronted Kaufman on a 1982 episode of “Late Night with David Letterman” by slapping the comedian across the face and knocking him out of his chair. It wasn’t until a decade after Kaufman’s 1984 death from lung cancer that Lawler admitted the whole thing was a ruse concocted by Andy and himself.

Critics be damned, “Ready to Rumble” was a fun flick! Who needs a good plot or solid writing when you have David Arquette and Scott Caan wrestling the likes of Diamond Dallas Page, Randy Savage, Goldberg, Sting, Booker T, Sid Vicious, Curt Hennig, Rey Mysterio and a whole stable of others? Plus, the soundtrack features Kid Rock, House of Pain, The Offspring, Papa Roach and Mötley Crüe! The only bad part is that it led to Arquette actually wrestling in the WCW and temporarily holding the WCW World Heavyweight Championship belt, which everyone involved later admitted was a huge mistake.

Japan takes its wrestling pretty seriously, making “The Calamari Wrestler” all the funnier…not that an absurdist comedy about a professional wrestler who gets turned into a giant squid and continues wrestling needs any help in that regard. Directed and co-written by the always outlandish Minoru Kawasaki (and filmed in Japanese), “The Calamari Wrestler” succeeds thanks to both its silly plot and intentionally corny romantic subplot as well as the fact that it makes some surprisingly succinct commentaries on life in modern Japan. If you can manage to get your tentacles on a copy of the film, it’s definitely worth a watch.

Directed by Jared Hess and written by Hess and his wife, Jerusha (the same team behind “Napoleon Dynamite”), 2006’s “Nacho Libre” stars Jack Black as Ignacio, a cook at a Mexican orphanage who begins a secret life as a luchador wrestler to make extra money for the children. Although panned by critics, “Nacho Libre” earned nearly $100 million at the box office and became a cult favorite of kids and adults alike thanks to its crude and immature but still PG-level humor...and it’s soundtrack produced by both Danny Elfman and Beck!

Easily the most acclaimed film in this list, “The Wrestler” earned the Golden Lion Award at Venice, three Golden Globe nominations (with two wins) and Oscar nods for both Best Actor (Mickey Rourke) and Best Supporting Actress (Marisa Tomei). In the powerful and moving drama, Rourke stars as a pro wrestler in the twilight of his career who struggles with his fleeting fame, deteriorating body and relationships with both his estranged daughter ( Evan Rachel Wood) and a stripper played by Tomei. Directed and co-produced by Darren Aronofsky, “The Wrestler” holds a 98 percent freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Written, directed and co-produced by veteran actor Tom McCarthy (who later won an Oscar for writing “Spotlight”), 2010’s “Win Win” stars Paul Giamatti as Mike, a New Jersey lawyer and part-time wrestling coach struggling to support his wife and two kids. While covering for some shady financial dealings, Mike takes in a teenage boy who he soon discovers is a wrestling prodigy. “Win Win” is an acclaimed, endearing and entertaining dramedy that also features strong performances by Alex Shaffer, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale and Jeffrey Tambor. 

Originally titled “Hamill,” “The Hammer” is the true story of Matt Hamill, a deaf wrestler and mixed martial artist who eventually became a UFC fighter. Focusing solely on his collegiate career, “The Hammer” is an inspiring story about turning a disability into an advantage and overcoming the odds. Equal parts coming-of-age drama and sports biopic, the film originally starred co-producer Eben Kostbar as Hamill, but he ceded the role to actor Russell Harvard, as Kostbar felt a deaf actor should be the one to portray the fighter. Although it didn’t see a theatrical release, “The Hammer” was selected as the audience favorite at the Newport Beach (Florida), AFI, Miami, Cleveland and Philadelphia film festivals.

In 1986, a televised pro wrestling promotion was formed that contained colorful characters, featured impressive feats of strength and athleticism and included only female wrestlers. The tale of these enigmatic entertainers is “GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling,” a fascinating 2012 documentary directed and co-produced by Brett Whitcomb. The reactions from film fans and critics alike were so positive that they inspired Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch to create a fictionalized version of the former show in 2017. Following two acclaimed seasons on Netflix, “GLOW,” starring Alison Brie and Marc Maron, is currently filming its third.

The true story of John du Pont is so dark and confounding that it was only a matter of time before it was adapted into a feature film. An heir to one of America’s richest families, John du Pont was a wrestling enthusiast who recruited two gold medalists — brothers Mark and David Schultz — to train the next generation of great American wrestlers at his estate in Pennsylvania. For reasons still unknown, du Pont shot and killed Dave in cold blood on Jan. 26, 1996, and was subsequently sentenced to 13 to 30 years in prison. Breaking from his usual comedic roles, Steve Carell portrayed du Pont in the 2014 biopic “Foxcatcher,” which amassed three Golden Globe and five Academy Award nominations, including Best Actor nods for Carell at each event.

Inspired by the life of co-producer Ali Afshar, “American Wrestler - The Wizard” is about a teenager who flees his home country of Iran to live in America but faces hostility upon his arrival due to the ongoing hostage crisis of the 1980s. Thanks to moving performances by George Kosturos, William Fichtner, Jon Voight, Ali Afshar, Gabriel Basso and Lia Marie Johnson, “American Wrestler” performed well on the festival circuit and picked up a slew of awards despite limited mainstream notoriety.

Take a look at the highest-grossing films in Indian history, and you’ll see the title “Dangal” at the op of the list. “Dangal” is a Hindi-language drama loosely based on the life of Mahavir Singh Phogat, a former wrestler who trained his two daughters to become elite Olympic athletes in the sport. After raking in money at the domestic box office and performing admirably abroad, “Dangal” also racked up awards at seemingly every film festival and award show in the country, with star Aamir Khan receiving plenty of positive attention for his portrayal of Phogat. Endlessly entertaining and undeniably moving, “Dangal” is also one of the most acclaimed films in Indian history.