Rock ‘The Dwayne’ Johnson, John Cena, Why is Dave Batista, Andre the Giant, Sexy
Kevin Nash, Edge, the star of the Big Show Show, the Big Show - even before The Rock
became the highest grossing movie actor in the world, many wrestlers always had one eye
on Hollywood for their post-in-ring career.
The expenses are better, if not the pay, the travel is nowhere near as arduous, and, most
crucially, you’re not filling up your bump card night after night at house shows, slowly
chipping away at your body.
Even Triple H, who seems like a WWE lifer, had two goes at a second career, starring
in Blade Trinity, before getting his own movie, the Chaperone in 2011 - which Prophet87 on
IMDb praised as “actually quite decent…”
That needs to be on the poster: The Chaperone: “actually quite decent”
The lure of Hollywood has long been a problem with WWE’s main event stars - with The Rock,
Batista and Cena either stepping away completely or becoming increasingly part-time while at
the top of the company to pursue their chances on the silver screen.
So while WWE will likely be very grateful for their top lady wrestler Becky Lynch suddenly
getting over in the entertainment world, you’ve got to also think they’re concerned about
what that means for her future.
After wrestling around the world in her teens and early 20s, Becky actually quit for a bit
to get her acting degree.
She continued acting classes throughout her time at WWE to improve on selling and promos,
and even now, in self-isolation, she’s revealed in an interview that she’s doing “acting
classes online”.
It’s one of the reasons her performances on WWE TV are so compelling.
And that, combined with her sustained push at the top of the company, has reportedly
made the entertainment world take note.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that many people in the entertainment industry
are very interested in Lynch because of her ability to connect with crowds.
She’s set to be prominently featured in a major national women’s magazine soon,
which will only increase that awareness.
WrestlingNews.co adds that they’ve been “told of at least two directors that would
be interested in casting her in big movie projects.”
Apparently a big reason behind this, on top of her acting ability and WWE popularity,
is her excellent social media game - which “has helped her a lot” when it comes to
being considered for roles.
WrestlingNews.co says Paul Heyman is partly responsible for this, as he’s been helping
Lynch with her Twitter strategy in certain feuds.
The report also says Roman Reigns has been getting more acting offers after his cameo
in The Rock’s Fast & Furious spin-off movie, Hobbs and Shaw.
He’s next set to appear in David Spade’s Netflix film ‘The Wrong Missy’ set for
release on the 13th May, which has helped him “get interest from Hollywood producers
for other projects” - as he has “the look of a star who will come off well on TV shows.”
You gotta love that wet hair.
Which is actually one of the main reasons WWE pushed him so hard.
Who would you like to see Becky Lynch play in a film?
Let me know in the comments down below, because I’ll be replying to people FROM OUTTA QUARANTINE
saying the correct answer is the live-action Kim Possible.
And Becky’s already set to appear in her first big TV role outside WWE…
After starring in 2018’s WWE Studios film The Marine 6: Close Quarters, Becky’s first
high-profile acting role outside of the promotion will air this Sunday on Showtime, with the
Season 5 premiere of Billions.
While promoting the show to TV Insider, she was asked how Vince McMahon might fare in
the series - which, for context, is about an attorney trying to bring a stock market
manager to justice (a role which McMahon is now particularly well suited for, just instead
of acting classes, he’s just getting served multiple lawsuits accusing him and his company
for dodgy corporate dealings).
Becky wisely didn’t bring any of that up in her answer.
But she did let a very interesting tidbit split about next Sunday’s Money in the Bank.
"I think Vince would do pretty well on this show, the eccentric character that he is…
Vince is such a larger-than-life character.
At the same time, I watched him the other day demonstrate falling off a tower at 74-years-old
without a bother, brushing his shoulders off and standing up again."
This demonstration presumably took place at WWE’s TV tapings over last weekend, where
they shot two weeks of Raw, SmackDown and NXT, along with next Sunday’s Money in the
Bank pay-per-view - which will see the annual Money in the Bank match get the movie-style
treatment of WrestleMania’s Firefly Fun House and Boneyard matches, as male and female
participants - which WWE announced yesterday will take place at the same time - have to
fight their way up WWE’s headquarters in Stamford, where they’ll then fight in a
ring on the roof of the building.
It’s wrestling Die Hard.
They’re literally climbing the corporate ladder - a joke WWE seem to be very proud
of, as they mention it on commentary every other sentence.
We know from leaked photos of the set that the final part will see a ladder match take
place on top of the building.
And if Vince was demonstrating how to fall off a tower just a week-or-so ago, when the
match would’ve been taped, that implies someone is taking an insane - albeit pre-produced
- bump.
Who do you think it will be out of the already confirmed entrants - Otis, Aleister Black,
Rey Mysterio, Daniel Bryan, King Corbin, Nia Jax, Asuka, Shayna Baszler, Dana Brooke, Lacey
Evans and Carmella?
Becky seeing the bump of the tower demonstration implies she might also feature in the match,
perhaps brawling with Baszler to take her out of contention.
Let’s see how some of those entrants qualified though, in last night’s episode of SmackDown…
in about 4 minutes.
The show opened with Daniel Bryan cutting an impassioned promo about Money in the Bank
and how it started his own climbing of the corporate ladder in his WWE.
But not even Daniel Bryan, 9 years after his Money in the Bank win, can escape the pull
of King Corbin’s midcard vortex.
After beating up Bryan’s buddy Drew Gulak the week before, Corbin wrestled him in a
decent match, which anticlimactically ended when Corbin threw a ladder at Bryan and getting
disqualified.
Who knew using a weapon in a match in front of the referee would automatically lose you
the match.
This ain’t Dynamite, mate.
Feeling the midcard vortex’s gravitational pull, Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro came out
to help Corbin beat Bryan up in the post-match.
Braun Strowman’s promo was interrupted by a Bray Wyatt Firefly Funhouse, who told a
story of The Black Sheep, calling back to Strowman’s Wyatt Family history.
Braun wanted them to go face-to-face, but Wyatt just waved goodbye.
Sheamus squashed EVOLVE’s Leon Ruff next, and then threatened to be waiting for Jeff
Hardy and his return on next week’s SmackDown.
Mandy Rose took on Carmella next in a Climb the Corporate Ladder qualifying match, which
saw Sonya Deville come out to distract Mandy - neatly bringing up what happened this time
last year, that Sonya gave Rose her Money in the Bank spot, and Mandy still lost.
The distraction allowed Carmella to capitalize with a superkick for the win.
Deville then brutally beatdown Mandy, using the ring steps with a fiery intensity.
Deville gets better and better every week, with her promo last Friday, and now this excellent
beatdown spot.
After they stood tall in last week’s brawl, the Forgotten Sons took on The New Day in
a non-title match with Miz & Morrison on commentary - where The Sons got a relatively clean win
over the champions.
A title shot is presumably in their future, as SmackDown continue to flesh out their tag
team division with multiple possible challengers.
Sasha Banks tried to get some Team B.A.D. points with Tamina backstage ahead of Tamina’s
shot at Bayley’s SmackDown Women’s title.
But nobody’s more observant than Tamina, as she pretty cooly caught Bayley’s sneak
attack by grabbing her throat.
Then we got Lacey Evans jumping in, for all the SmackDown women brawling around backstage.
Dolph Ziggler cut a brilliant emotional promo backstage with Deville next, claiming he’s
going to beat Otis, win Money in the Bank, cash in, become champion again, and, ultimately,
comfort Mandy Rose once Sonya had destroyed her.
Sonya and Ziggler are really elevating what could’ve been just a throwaway soap opera
storyline.
Full credit to WWE for giving this the focus it deserves.
While Otis and Ziggler main event qualifier match didn’t have the emotional stakes of
their WrestleMania encounter, the context, storyline and stakes running into it actually
made the action very dramatic - with Otis getting a shock victory with the Caterpillar
and qualifying for Climb the Corporate Ladder in the Bank.
Your future My Money in the Bank Otis!
No, think bigger, your future WWE Champion Otis!
No, bigger than that!
The next cameo star for the season 6 premiere of Showtime series Billions!
That’s when you know you’ve made it.
That was SmackDown in about 4 minutes.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, and press the ‘i’ above my head
to cast your rating vote.
This was yet another effective build for Climb the Corporate Ladder in the Bank, with pretty
much everyone on the show looking good, stories being built effectively, and Sonya Deville
absolutely knocking it out of the park.
This SmackDown gets a Smacktastic.
Is there heat backstage between WWE and Roman Reigns?!
Click the video on the right to find out what’s happened.
And are we getting AEW vs Ring of Honor?
Click the video beneath that to watch Luke and Laurie discuss in the latest WrestleTalk
Podcast.
And subscribe to partsFUNknown as we’ve got a brand new No Rolls Barred in the year
3000 going live tomorrow!
I’ve been Oli Davis, and that was wrestling.