Know Your Role
How pro wrestlers went genre: The Past, the Present, and The Rock.
      by Sarah Kendzior

The casting choice that raised a million eyebrows: Mummy 2 star The Rock.

Over the course of this year, there has been but one program that has consistently satisfied my every expectation for genre entertainment. Week after week after goddamn week, this series -- which, almost magically, never airs in repeats -- has brought me everything I wanted in a good genre television show and more. It had heroes, villains, members of the undead, byzantine storylines, riveting dialogue, huge-ass explosions -- the protagonists stood as legend to me, and every Thursday I'd watch them fight and curse and battle it out, knowing that, unlike the uneven season every other sci fi or horror series seemed to be having, this one would not disappoint. This one was different. This one was special. This was the only place I could see New York Times best-selling authors hit each other over the head with metal folding chairs. This one, clearly, was a keeper.

This was WWF Smackdown, baby.

For those of you unaccustomed to viewing programming in which the prominent cast members' names contain either a definite article, an ambiguous threat, or a self-flattering description, my viewing preferences may appear somewhat disturbing. And for those sci fi and horror fans keeping up with the news, that disturbing feeling may hit a little too close to home. For slowly, in that subtle way so closely associated with royal rumbles and steel cage death matches, professional wrestling has eased its way into the genre world. It began through television -- that was former World Wrestling Federation women's champion Sable you saw on First Wave this season, and that was The Rock fighting Seven of Nine on Voyager. That was The Undertaker you saw on Poltergeist: The Legacy (okay, I'm not even going to pretend anyone saw that, but believe me, he was there), and Mankind on G vs E and in the series finale of Now and Again. All of whom were preceded, of course, by Jesse "The Governor" Ventura, who played a Man in Black in Darin Morgan's classic X-Files episode "Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'", a fact frequently forgotten by those who blanche at, say, The Rock starring in Glen Morgan and James Wong's new film. (Which he is.)

To the uninitiated, casting like this is an insult to the intelligence and integrity of a genre often appreciated for its more cerebral qualities. It's a sign, they say, of unthinking opportunism, letting those whose sole previous credits bear titles like Hell Yeah! and Wrestlemania XV mingle with the likes of Jeri Ryan and David Duchovny. These two worlds -- these two audiences, really -- are different, they insist, and they should not intertwine. But this is wrong. Wrestlers in sci fi are a good thing, and throughout their history with the genre, have always been a good thing, Hulk Hogan's IMDb credit listing aside. And at this point in genre filmmaking -- when even staunchly anti-WWF moviegoers are feeling the urge to layeth the smackdown on John Travolta's candy ass -- we need a little Rock on our Mummy 2. We need a little Edge in our Highlander. We need something, at least, to keep us awake through all the crap that has yet to come in the year 2000. And wrestling, more now than ever, offers the right kind of change.

The Rock, getting made up for Star Trek: Voyager.

Moviemakers, it seems, agree. "I watch The Sopranos, The Simpsons, and wrestling," says Glen Morgan, who wrote and produced The X-Files, Space: Above and Beyond, Millennium, The Others, and the recent hit Final Destination with partner James Wong. The writing team are currently working on a script for The Rock, aka Dwayne Johnson, and Morgan is unswayed by criticism from those unwilling to cede to the power of The Great One. "The jokes on WWF Smackdown are smarter than everything probably except Frasier," explains Morgan. "I just love it. It's such a smart show, and I think that the people who are dismissing it clearly are not watching it. Or they're confusing WCW with WWF."

Morgan, however, has grown accustomed to less-than-thrilled reactions from his associates. "I was telling Darin [Morgan's brother, and Emmy award-winning X-Files writer] about this stuff," says Morgan of their tentative film deal, "and he was kind of dismissive. He sort of has this tendency nowadays to kind of hate everything. But now Darin leaves messages on our answering machine saying, 'This is Darin Too Hotty!'" Morgan laughs at this reference to one of his favorite wrestlers, Scotty Too Hotty. "I can't wait until tomorrow!" he continues, referring to the WWF Attitude live show he is attending with actress/wife Kristen Cloke, Wong and his wife, and others. "If I can see The Worm, I can be happy."

WWF owner and film producer Vince McMahon.

Surprised by this revelation? You shouldn't be. While the majority of those who dare to defend pro wrestling to the genre fanbase usually preface their statement with a list of their degrees and an assurance of their social graces, the appeal is only natural -- genre fans like to watch larger-than-life heroes and villains, grandscale, far-reaching scenarios, and, above all, kick-ass explosions just as much as the average person. And in the post-Star Wars era, probably more so. Saying you watch Raw is War or Smackdown for the storylines is rather akin to seeing you read Playboy (or girl) for the articles, but even so, a similar pattern emerges. Good fights evil. Confidences are betrayed. Supernatural forces are at work. Witty one-liners are said. Stuff blows up. And at the center of it all are often a bunch of really fine men -- and if not exactly handsome, at least charismatic -- who each have their own plastic action figure temptingly awaiting you at the local Toys R Us. Honestly, it's not all that different from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, except Angel doesn't come with a Trash-Talking Stage. Although he should.

And if sci fi/horror fans are as yet unaware of the glories that await on Thursday night UPN (yes, that UPN), at least those who run the show know what's up. Quite a number of the WWF cast bear distinctly familiar appearances -- Mankind's look was fashioned loosely on that of Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Undertaker (he's Satanic, you see), his demented brother Kane, and the Anne Rice fantasy boys formerly known as The Brood all share a rather supernatural visage. At any rate, Ah-nuld knew exactly who his target audience was when he guest-hosted Smackdown in an attempt to promote his opus to Satan, explosions, and really big guns, End of Days. Clearly, the connection is there. Of course, pitching your tale to the mastermind behind it all is a different situation.

"We told the story to Vince, which was interesting," Morgan recalls of his meeting with WWF owner/wrestler Vince McMahon, who will executive produce the project. "This business is weird. Jim and I just got through working with Steven Spielberg, who is kind of one of my idols. Pitching to him, you're going, 'This is the guy who made Jaws!' When you're pitching a story to Vince McMahon, you've got a different level of respect. You're going, 'God, I've seen this guy get hit with a trash can over the head!'"

Morgan stresses that, at press time, a deal has not been finalized, and the project exists only in screenplay form. "Right now I'm just crossing my fingers," he says. "I just hope the script is good and that Dwayne, Vince and Joe Roth are happy. We met Dwayne at a meeting, and I just think he's great. The guy is charismatic and smart and handsome and physical -- he's going to be it. The next Stallone, Schwarzenegger, whoever -- he is the next big guy, if not with us, then with someone else," he insists, adding, "I read his book twice."

And what will this collaboration between these members of the literati consist of? Read on...

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