Wrestling films’ popularity ebbs ... and flows
Professional wrestling films come and go periodically. In the ’80s you had the “rock ’n’ wrestling” age where the likes of Hulk Hogan teamed up with pop singer Cyndi Lauper. Then in the late ’90s the “attitude era” gave the sport a grunge makeover, causing it to be edgy and cool and sometimes vulgar, launching wrestlers like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin into the mainstream. Just look at the trajectory of The Rock’s career, from lacing up his boots in the squared circle to becoming one of the most bankable movie stars in Hollywood. Heck, he even had a sitcom based on his childhood, where he grew up in one of the largest wrestling families of all time.
Over the past two months, wrestling again has seen a spark of notoriety. In December, “The Iron Claw” was released, with praise from critics and moviegoers alike. The plot focuses on another wrestling family, the Von Erichs, who wrestled in the 1980s for World Class Championship Wrestling, deep in the heart of the Texas territory. The Von Erich’s story is not a happy one; it is shadowed in tragedy and death, followed by more tragedy and more death. The movie was on the short list of a lot of critics’ top films list, yet it still somehow got snubbed for any Golden Globes or Oscar nominations. Along with “The Iron Claw,” there has been a more infamous light shined on the professional wrestling industry over the past week, as sexual harassment allegations against the WWE’s former owner, Vince McMahon, has made for some dubious and detestable headlines.
But not all professional wrestling organizations are houses of ill repute. In fact, there are some thriving independent promotions here in the state of Arkansas from
Diamond State Wrestling in Fayetteville and the All Star Wrestling Federation in Tuckerman to Mid-States Wrestling in Harrison. The latter of the three promotions is gearing up to hold a wrestling spectacular fundraiser on Feb. 25. The event is raising money for the fairgrounds in Harrison, and to help put butts in the seats, they’ve invited legendary wrestling manager “The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart to participate in the brawling festivities.
Wrestling fans should remember Hart as the bright, cartoonish, megaphone wielding, mostly heel manager of the likes of Hulk Hogan, The Honky Tonk Man, and Bret Hart in the then WWF. Older fans might remember Hart from his days in Memphis where he worked with the likes of fan favorite Jerry “The King” Lawler and controversial meta-comedian Andy Kaufman. I met Hart at last month’s NWA Comic Con, where I was able to sit around his autograph table and ask him questions as he signed classic headshots and memorabilia and took photos with wrestling fanatics.
I regaled Hart with wrestling memories. I told him about going to Barton Coliseum and watching my favorite superstars duke it out. When I was 10 years old, my mother and I were standing at the guardrail during a match featuring Lex Luger and Ric Flair. At one point during their brawl on the outside, Luger grabbed Flair by the back of the tights, exposing Flair’s buttocks. To this day, my mother swears that that was the whitest, softest looking behind she has ever seen.
I also mentioned the 1997 WWF house show that ended in a riot. How the then-world champion Shawn Michaels was beaned in the head by a piece of trash (being assaulted by projectile trash was a common hazard for wrestlers in the late ’90s), which lead to Michaels getting on the microphone and claiming “you just lost your main event.” This caused already agitated fans (due to a string of lackluster bouts) to throw chairs and garbage, storm the ring, and even start a small fire. Local police and the use of a fair amount of tear gas were able to break up the rioters.
Hart agreed Southern wrestling fans are unique in their passion for the sport. He had stories of the rowdy Memphis crowds, and how there was always this one older lady who would sit ringside and would use her cane to stretch over the guardrail and whack at Hart’s shins.
I asked Hart, wearing a black sports coat embroidered with bright red cartoon hearts, how he got his start in wrestling. He said, “I was born in Jackson, Mississippi. Me and my mother got on a bus and moved out to Memphis, where I went to Treadwell High School and became friends with a young Jerry Lawler, whose dad was a wrestling promoter. But before I ever got into a wrestling ring, I started a band in high school called The Gentrys.”
This was part of his history that I didn’t know about, as the Gentrys were mildly successful, even having their song “Keep On Dancing” reach No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Hart eventually made his way back to Memphis and found great success in wrestling, playing the role of manager to monster heels trying to end the careers of Babyface Lawler in Memphis and later Hulk Hogan in the WWF.
“Even as I was managing up North for Vince, my music career wasn’t dead. I was able to write and compose a lot of the theme music for the wrestlers. I did Hogan’s WCW theme, I sang ‘Sexy Boy’ which was Shawn Michaels’ entrance music, and I even wrote a song for the WWE called ‘Eat Your Heart Out Rick Springfield.’”
Hart is loud and bombastic and energetic for someone who just turned 80 (he even jumped off the stage at the convention and onto a rather large fan’s back). He’s a natural hype man and sales person. Not only was he able to sell me on getting an autograph and a picture, he also talked me into buying his newly released WWE action figure. He also convinced me to go to the fundraising wrestling show later this month. He said that he’ll be out shaking hands and mixing it up with the crowd. And if we’re lucky, he said that we might even get to hear “Eat Your Heart Out Rick Springfield.”
Mid-States Wrestling will be presenting its fundraising wrestling event on Feb. 25 at the fairground in Harrison. You can find out more information about the event and buy tickets at https:// mswtickets.square.site/.