Pro wrestling in other media?

[Turbo Kid]

I love seeing prowrestling pop up in games, movies, TV, comics, etc. Do you guys know of any other examples?

Mad Max

Funny Tenchi moment

First boss in this video:

 

[bjork]

GTO has suplexes in it
Ren and Stimpy has a wrestling match in it at some point

AEW and DC are teaming up so there'll be new wrestling comics, though we've had WCW and WWF/E ones in the past, if that counts.

 

[Jayonnaise6105 Jayonnaise6105]

The New Japan Pro Wrestling crossovers in Yakuza 6 & Kiwami 2.

Most comedy anime have some form of wrestling in them. Nichijou being one of my favourites:

 

[Bakuma1997]

Absolute Cinema J/

 

[CheesyExplosive]

rumble roses...

 

[Yousef Yousef]

Moko mojiro is a joshi inspired idol wrestler in hundred line, a fantastic rpg. She makes references to both western and eastern wrestling.

She’s also a cutie.

Okada many, MANY other njpw legends heavily cameo in both Yakuza 6 and Yakuza Kiwami 2. You can even fight them.

Okada’s rainmaker is used in tekken 7, his outfit is also referenced and worn by King (who himself is a two decade long homage to Tiger Mask)

 

[CheesyExplosive]

oops i forgot something:

 

[Grumpy_Old_Man]

The Kurohyou 1 and 2( Yakuza spinoff ) psp games you can learn both Wrestling and the over the top Lucha Libre.

 

[JoystickV2]

Well... Kinnikuman at first wasn't about wrestling, but later became entirely about superheroes fighting supervillains on the ring, and it is GLORIOUS xD

If you like wrestling, Shounen anime and creative character designs, you're going to love Kinnikuman, because the heroes and villains are all bonkers in the design and powers department. One of my favorite examples is Sneagator, a crocodile man with the powers of a sneaker, and his grandson MAXman (or Pumpinator in the Ultimate Muscle dub), who is just a shoeman with no crocodile powers xD

Recently there's a new anime on Netflix, Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc, which is a sequel to the original anime/manga from the 80's. It's pretty good, and it starts with a episode recapping the original story's events, but I would recommend reading the manga because man... THE FIGHTS ARE SO FREAKING COOL!

There's also Kinnikuman Nisei, also known as Ultimate Muscle here in the west, it is a sequel series taking place several years after Kinnikuman, starring Kinnikuman's son, Mantaro (or Kid Muscle in the dub). It is a good anime/manga as well, but the anime is censored compared to the manga, and it's not just because 4Kids did the dub, the manga was... pretty violent at some points, so the anime toned it down to make it less violent for the kids.

Fun fact: Kinnikuman Nisei was so popular in the west that, after it ended with a filler arc, 4Kids themselves asked for more episodes! And thanks to 4Kids, we got two more seasons of Kinnikuman Nisei, which covered more of the manga. I don't like 4Kids for a lot of reasons, but this was one of the very few moments I can actually say "THANKS 4KIDS!" without a hint of irony.

 

[Graves Ruinwalker]

Well... Kinnikuman at first wasn't about wrestling, but later became entirely about superheroes fighting supervillains on the ring, and it is GLORIOUS xD

If you like wrestling, Shounen anime and creative character designs, you're going to love Kinnikuman, because the heroes and villains are all bonkers in the design and powers department. One of my favorite examples is Sneagator, a crocodile man with the powers of a sneaker, and his grandson MAXman (or Pumpinator in the Ultimate Muscle dub), who is just a shoeman with no crocodile powers xD

Recently there's a new anime on Netflix, Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc, which is a sequel to the original anime/manga from the 80's. It's pretty good, and it starts with a episode recapping the original story's events, but I would recommend reading the manga because man... THE FIGHTS ARE SO FREAKING COOL!

There's also Kinnikuman Nisei, also known as Ultimate Muscle here in the west, it is a sequel series taking place several years after Kinnikuman, starring Kinnikuman's son, Mantaro (or Kid Muscle in the dub). It is a good anime/manga as well, but the anime is censored compared to the manga, and it's not just because 4Kids did the dub, the manga was... pretty violent at some points, so the anime toned it down to make it less violent for the kids.

Fun fact: Kinnikuman Nisei was so popular in the west that, after it ended with a filler arc, 4Kids themselves asked for more episodes! And thanks to 4Kids, we got two more seasons of Kinnikuman Nisei, which covered more of the manga. I don't like 4Kids for a lot of reasons, but this was one of the very few moments I can actually say "THANKS 4KIDS!" without a hint of irony.

Kinnikuman chads rise up !
Way too underrated and much better than DBZ .

 

[PrismRed]

Suda51 is a big wrestling fan, there has to be at least one character who wrestles in all his games.

 

[JoystickV2]

Kinnikuman chads rise up !
Way too underrated and much better than DBZ .

I still like DBZ, but... yeah, I kinda prefer Kinnikuman, ngl xD
TILEMAN DESERVED MORE, THO çwç

 

[Graves Ruinwalker]

I still like DBZ, but... yeah, I kinda prefer Kinnikuman, ngl xD
TILEMAN DESERVED MORE, THO çwç

Absolutely true .

I still cant forget Robin-masks and Buffalo-mans redemption .

Jesus Christ , this anime made me let cry manly tears for their sacrifices , their lowest times and the good deeds they did .

I was there for the Kaijus and the comedy and now i stay for the bromance and the cool and wacky characters that wrestle for their life to safe humanity and their friends.

 

[Jayonnaise6105 Jayonnaise6105]

Suda51 is a big wrestling fan, there has to be at least one character who wrestles in all his games.

No More Heroes was pretty big on the wrestling references

I don't have a screenshot, but I remember Travis posing like the Great Muta/Keiji Mutoh when you would finish some levels in NMH 3.

 

[JoystickV2]

I FORGOT TO MENTION ANOTHER EXAMPLE! TIGER MASK! That one manga that inspired King from Tekken! (btw I love King, he's great, he's cool af, and he doesn't afraid of anything :V)

I only watched some scenes of the original anime, but Tiger Mask W was a really fun anime as well, it has some problems, but it has some AMAZING moments as well!

And man... I really wanted the original Tiger Mask to be subbed, I don't understand italian at all and I really want to see the insanity of the original show çwç

 

[cutthroatcody]

One of my favorites was when Weezer threw an ECW reference into the 2nd Verse of El Scorcho

I asked you to go to the Green Day concert
You said you never heard of them (How cool is that?)
How cool is that? So I went to your room
And read your diary
"Watching Grunge leg drop New Jack through a press table"
And then my heart stopped, "Listening to Cio-Cio San
Fall in love all over again" (Ow)

 

[kuroninneko]

I remember a time when there was Hulk Hogan references in many arcade games, mostly fighters and beat em ups

 

[VivaLaDodo]

Suda51 is a big wrestling fan, there has to be at least one character who wrestles in all his games.

One of the guy's first games was Super Fire Pro Wrestling Special where he wrote the story. He's deep into it for sure.

Also I can't see Bonesaw McGraw in this thread and not give a nod to another Randy Savage character.

 

[Ezri_Muldoon]

I can throw down a few:
Wanna Be's (1986) - Why yes that is Kenichi Sonoda character designs

Glow (2017) - Sadly unfinished, genuinely fun. Struggling actresses turn to wrestling to pay bills.

Kinnikuman has already been mentioned.

Megas XLR (2004) - to quote the finale's final climatic battle:
"Looks like some one needs to watch a little more paper view wrestling!"
"Every one know that stuff is fake!"
"Does this looks fake?!"

Robert Rodriguez Lucha UnderGround (2014) - A wrestling drama where the matches were filled back-to-back, and a story was written around the various injuries the wrestlers developed

Eventually goes fantastical and involves dark magic and utter insanity whilst keeping the behind the scenes format going. Real wrestling, insane soap opera drama. Hard to legally buy or pirate

Heels (2021) - follows a group of Heels, sadly cancelled.

Steven Amell (of Arrow fame) is a Wrestling superfan who back in the day tried to brute force himself into WWE with a rivalry against Stardust, As in he would be watching events from the audience and storm into the ring as himself with dubious approval from officials and his own PR team.
He embodies a Kayfabe larping fanboy and he brings this enthusiasm to this show.

Wrestlers vs Zombies (2014) a kickstared Z-list film who's budged went entirely to hiring fan favourite wrestlers.

It's looks cheap but is wonderfully self aware.

 

[Jayonnaise6105 Jayonnaise6105]

Onegai My Melody had an episode that wasn't about wrestling, but still featured a few wrestling references/scenes:

Plus, one of the tomboy characters in the anime is a wrestling fan:

 

[Yukyon]

My personal favorite wrestling media representation has to be the Iron Claw

"Ever since I was a child, people said my family was cursed.
Mom tried to protect us with God. Pop tried to protect us with wrestling.
He said if we were the toughest, the strongest, the most successful... nothing could ever hurt us. I believed him. We all did."

 

[VivaLaDodo]

My personal favorite wrestling media representation has to be the Iron Claw
View attachment 116222
"Ever since I was a child, people said my family was cursed.
Mom tried to protect us with God. Pop tried to protect us with wrestling.
He said if we were the toughest, the strongest, the most successful... nothing could ever hurt us. I believed him. We all did."

The Iron Claw was a heartbreaker, man. 10/10, would watch again.

I got this one in the queue. Plan on watching it soon.

Also shout out to the Wrestler.

 

[DjQuick2008]

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Brotherrrrrrrrrr

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i find rumble roses easy to play now ive got the hang of the control system.

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daniel bearden