Grunt! The Wrestling Movie (1985)

During his 1979 championship bout, Mad Dog Joe De Curso well on his way to winning the title accidentally decapitates his opponent Skull Crusher's head. Rumors had it that shortly thereafter De Curso, unable to find work, ended his own life by jumping off the Golden Gate bridge or went into hiding not being able to live with what he had done. Six years later, a mysterious masked man known only as "The Mask" appears on the wrestling scene and wrestles a style almost identical to that of Mad Dog De Curso. This comedy/parody farce picks up with a documentary film crew trying to discover the truth...is Mad Dog Joe De Curso the Mask?

As a lifelong fan of professional wrestling, I feel I can honestly say this film captures the strange world it entails surprisingly well and really the wrestling it portrays was about 10 years ahead of its time as angles would become every bit as edgy in the mid 1990s as those presented here in what was supposed to be an exaggerated parody of professional wrestling. In fact, many today would likely argue that pro wrestling today is little more than a weak parody of what it was in its glory days and doesn't even live up to what's presented here it's now become so formulaic and its secrets revealed. Anyways that's a debate for another day, this film actually does prove very entertaining to the wrestling fan in me. It presents wrestlers who are really in full wrestling character such as Exotic Adrian Street, Dick Murdoch and The Golden Greek John Tolos, men who weren't just these characters some of the time but practically lived them all the time. The fact this film presents mostly true professional wrestlers (Mando Guerrero and Steve Strong are two others on hand here) in the wrestling roles in a large part of why I think it rings so true. The biggest exaggerated element here is the decapitation angle. Everything outside of that isn't far off the wrestling world at all.

As a comedy on its own terms and for non-wrestling fans, I think they most likely will not find much enjoyment here. Everything outside of the realm of the wrestling here feels fairly amateurish at best although Wally George does provide some wild and crazy moments on his "in your face" talk show not too unlike the the wild, crazy and unpredictable world of wrestling itself, that is when it's at its very best. As a wrestling fan, I can say I loved it for the most part. I don't think I would though if I wasn't one. ** 1/2 out of *****