Wrestling in unusual contexts

[JerryvonKramer]

I watched the Roman Polanski film Repulsion last night from 1965 and there's a little scene in which they turn the tv on and there's a wrestling match on. British commentator. It's a tag match. I think "Rebel Ray Hunter" is one of the guys mentioned.

 

This is one of the oddest instances of pro wrestling popping up in an unexpected place I can think of. Any other takers?

[Eduardo]

I remember in the Romanian film "Police, Adjective", having a wall with graffiti. One of the things written on the wall, in big clear letters was "John Cena". That was amusing.

 

In the French film "La Haine", I remember during a scene in a bedroom, there was a poster of Bret Hart.

[PeteF3]

Herb Stempel has wrestling on the TV during a scene in Quiz Show. Wrestling in the 1950's didn't quite carry as great of a stigma as it would later on but it was still a jarring sight.

 

This is as ridiculously obscure and pedantic as it gets...but in the Violent Femmes' video for "American Music," the LJN figure of Slick appears as a prop.

[Graham Crackers]

Gekiga (a word used for an avant garde Japanese comics movement influential during the 1950s through the 70s) pioneer Yoshihiro Tatsumi apparently drew some comics about Rikidozan early in his career. I've never actually seen them but he references them in his autobiography A Drifting Life.

[Ricky Jackson]

In Natural Born Killers there is a scene where Rodney Dangerfield's character is watching a WWF show with Tatanka wrestling somebody and he screams "Kill the Fuckin' Indian!" at the TV.

 

Chief Jay Strongbow and Gorilla Monsoon were referenced in a Stephen King book but I can't remember which one.

[Johnny Sorrow]

Speaking of Stephen King, in the "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" segment of Creepshow, he's watching Bob Backlund wrestle one of the Samoans.

[PeteF3]

In Natural Born Killers there is a scene where Rodney Dangerfield's character is watching a WWF show with Tatanka wrestling somebody and he screams "Kill the Fuckin' Indian!" at the TV.

But Dangerfield's character is an inbred redneck asshole. He's really the quintessential usual context. Herb Stempel at least was a supergenius savant game show contestant.

[Ricky Jackson]

I was actually thinking wrestling being featured in a mainstream (well, close enough) movie was the unusual context, not Dangerfield's character.

[JerryvonKramer]

Am I imagining this or did Hacksaw Jim Duggan once appear in an episode of ALF?

 

I think I saw it when I was 8 or 9, and since then have always just assumed this was a thing. However, internet searches for footage or images of this are coming up with nothing. Does my memory deceive me?

[Ricky Jackson]

Couldn't find anything, but this pops up pretty quick when you search:

 

Re: Jim Duggan in The Simpsons?

Post by jerryvonkramer on Aug 21, 2009, 4:02pm

 

Jim Duggan was on A.L.F. once.

Admit it Jerry, DiBiase isn't your greatest wrestling obsession, solving this mystery is.

 

Oh, and then there was this:

 

Re: Jim Duggan in The Simpsons?

Post by jerryvonkramer on Aug 22, 2009, 6:04am

 

 

Aug 22, 2009, 3:43am, bigbossfan wrote:

Also, Jim Duggan was on an episode of Harry And The Hendersons.

 

 

Come to think of it, I reckon I was thinking of that not ALF.

Case closed.

[JerryvonKramer]

Ha ha, the evidence for Duggan being on ALF is a post I made 3 years ago, where it turned out it was Harry and the Hendersons.

 

Sooo did I just make this up? I SWEAR I saw him on there.

[ohtani's jacket]

Is it really that unusual for wrestling to be in a movie? My favourite wrestling "appearance" is probably the author of a book on soul music interrupting Screamin' Jay Hawkins watching the graps.

[rzombie1988]

I want to know more about Duggan on Harry. I love that show. I have about 12 of the episodes, but that isn't one of them.

[Dylan Waco]

New Jack on Jenny Jones as someone brought in to motivate at risk teens to behave, which he does by violently cursing them and calling them pieces of shit while raving about how only their mama's really love them and Jenny pleads with him to stop has to be high on the list.

[Chess Knight]

A music video for a really, really shitty song has a bunch of people wearing Atlantis masks.

[El-P]

In the French film "La Haine", I remember during a scene in a bedroom, there was a poster of Bret Hart.

Shit, I've seen this one a lot of times and never catch (pun intended) that detail ! Awesome.

[El-P]

Of course you got the Fabulous Freebirds match at the beginning of Highlander. At Madison Square Garden no less.

[FLIK]

I always got a kick out of some random background character in the anime movie Akira sporting a UWF/UWFI (I forget which) shirt

[El-P]

In Kitano's masterpiece "Hana-bi", you can see one character wearing a Cactus Jack T-shirt.

And of course you got Chono and Tenzan destroying a restaurant in "Glory to the Filmmaker".

[Johnny Sorrow]

Of course you got the Fabulous Freebirds match at the beginning of Highlander. At Madison Square Garden no less.

The match was actually from the Meadowlands across the river.

[flyonthewall2983]

The unusual context about the NBK thing is that they let Oliver Stone use the footage, or didn't care enough to sue.

 

Richard Belzer (of all people) name-dropping Doink The Clown to illustrate Ned Beatty's fandom on an early episode of Homicide: Life On The Street.

[Minds_Eys]

A scene in the movie Grumpy Old Men, Walter Mathaw sits in his kitchen and wrestling is on the tv. I believe it was WWF but can recall the wrestlers.

[SteveJRogers]

There is an episode of Friends where Ross and Chandler are watching TV randomly. And you see lucha midgets on the screen. Ross blurts out that he misses his girlfriend Julie.

 

CHANDLER: Spanish midgets...spanish midgets wrestling...Julie! I see how you got there!

[goodhelmet]

In Saved by the Bell, AC Slater had wrestling posters on his wall. I am sure Loss could tell us exactly which ones they were.

[SteveJRogers]

Cheers 200th episode had a special roundtable discussion and series retrospective either before or after it, with the cast moderated by John McLaughlin of the Sunday Morning political round table panel show The McLaughlin Group. Before it they did a cold open with McLaughlin (an actual Boston native) walking onto the Cheers set as Woody is tending bar.

 

Woody kind of recognizes him, when told about McLaughlin being a talk show host wonders if it's one of those shows that stops female wrestling matches. Pretty sure the character was thinking a Jerry Springer like show.