Ready to Rumble

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Ready to Rumble

Directed by	Brian Robbins
Produced by	Bobby Newmyer, Jeffrey Silver
Written by	Steven Brill based on WCW
Starring	David Arquette, Scott Caan, Oliver Platt, Bill Goldberg, Rose McGowan, Dallas Page, Joe Pantoliano, Martin Landau, Steve "Sting" Borden
Music by	George S. Clinton
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	April 7, 2000
Running time	107 min.
Language	English
Budget	$24,000,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

Ready to Rumble is a 2000 comedy movie directed by Brian Robbins and written by Steven Brill, which is based on the now defunct professional wrestling promotion, World Championship Wrestling. The movie draws its title from Michael Buffer's catchphrase, "Let's get ready to rumble!"

1 Plot
2 Cast
- 2.1 Wrestlers
3 Aftermath
4 Trivia
5 External links

[edit] Plot

Sewage workers Gordie Boggs (David Arquette) and Sean Dawkins (Scott Caan) watch their favorite wrestler, WCW World Champion Jimmy King (Oliver Platt) get screwed out of the title by "Diamond" Dallas Page (playing himself) and evil WCW promoter Titus Sinclair (Joe Pantoliano). The dimwitted duo embark on a quest to help their fallen hero regain his title and his honor.

[edit] Cast

David Arquette - "Gordie Boggs"
Scott Caan - "Sean Dawkins"
Oliver Platt - "Jimmy King"
Joe Pantoliano - "Titus Sinclair"
Rose McGowan - "Sasha"
Martin Landau - "Sal Bandini"
Ahmet Zappa - "Cashier"
Jill Ritchie - "Brittany"
Richard Lineback - "Gordie's father"
Chris Owen - "Isaac"
Melanie Deanne Moore - "Wendy"
Caroline Rhea - "Eugenia King"
Tait Smith - "Frankie King"
Ellen Albertini Dow - "Mrs. MacKenzie"
Kathleen Freeman - "Jane King"
Lewis Arquette - "Fred King"

[edit] Wrestlers

[edit] Aftermath

Following the release of the movie, WCW bookers decided to promote the movie by running a storyline in which David Arquette, a legitimate wrestling fan, became WCW World Champion. The storyline was reviled by wrestling fans, and Arquette himself reportedly believed it was a bad idea, as he felt that it would damage the value of the belt he held in such high regard. While in WCW, he aligned himself with Diamond Dallas Page (despite Page being the movie's villain) and agreed in storyline to drop the title to him. He eventually lost the title in a match involving the three-tiered cage seen in Ready to Rumble, pitting himself against Page and Jeff Jarrett, which ended when he turned on Page and allowed Jarrett to win. Arquette later donated all the money WCW paid him to the families of pro wrestlers Brian Pillman and Owen Hart and referee Brian Hildebrand.

The movie itself was a critical and box office failure, grossing $12,394,327 domestically [1], yet was considered a cult classic in the U.K. despite a limited cinema release.^{[citation needed]}

A main criticism of the film^{[citation needed]} is that many wrestling fans felt the movie was trying hard to portray wrestling storylines as real (kayfabe), even though the Internet Wrestling Community was ending kayfabe's influence in wrestling at the time of the film's release.

[edit] Trivia

There is a record 13 blows to the testicles throughout the span of this movie.
The character of Jimmy King is an obvious parody of real life wrestler Jerry "The King" Lawler. The character was created to mock WCW's competition at the time, the World Wrestling Federation.^{[citation needed]}
The character of Sal Mandini is based on the late wrestlers Lou Thesz and Stu Hart.
The "What Would King Do" bracelets are parodies of the "What Would Jesus Do" bracelets in pop culture.
On an episode of WWE Raw in 2006, ECW Champion Big Show, WWE Champion John Cena and World Heavyweight Champion King Booker argued over who was the greater champion. At one point, Cena's then-newly released film The Marine, was brought up, as was Big Show's role in The Waterboy and Booker's role in Ready to Rumble, which he proclaimed as the greatest film of all time. Show, Cena and the crowd promptly burst into laughter.