Bending the Rules (2012) and Wrestler Actors

Wrestling and Hollywood go hand in hand. I’m not just talking about the Hollywood Hulk Hogan era of wrestling. I’m talking about all the wrestlers who moved from the square circle onto the silver screen. There have been many wrestlers over the years that tried their hand at non-wrestling acting, starring in movies and television shows to show off their chops. They wanted to be seen as more than just muscle-heads. They wanted to show their other talents.

Professional wrestling has been around as long as, maybe even longer than, motion pictures. People were wrestling in rings for entertainment in Europe since the 1800s, with it soon coming over to North America in the vaudeville age. Nickelodeons and movie theatres arrived in North America around the same time. It wouldn’t take long for those two to become intertwined in a way that would continue for decades to come.

I don’t know wrestlers all the way back to the inception of the athletic entertainment, so the earliest example I can think of comes from the 1950s. Tor Johnson was known as Super Swedish Angel in the wrestling world but became popular in movies due to performances in a bunch of Ed Wood projects. One of these included a late career turn in Plan 9 from Outer Space. He might actually be known more for that now than wrestling.

Now we have to jump forward to the 1980s because I don’t know a lot of the in between wrestling details. Things went from independent circuits to independent circuits and big, televised wrestling promotions. The World Wrestling Federation (later World Wrestling Entertainment) had been established. A few people were becoming major stars. Many of the stars made the leap into movies. Roddy Piper starred in Hell Comes to Frogtown and They Live. Andre the Giant got a major supporting role in The Princess Bride. Then there was Hulk Hogan, one of the biggest wrestling stars of all time.

People might remember Hulk Hogan’s first major film role as Thunderlips in Rocky III. Thunderlips was a wrestling champion who was in a charity boxing match with Rocky. Hogan pulled from his real life wrestling background for that role. The wrestling background would be utilized once again for No Holds Barred, a movie about a WWF champion threatened by the head of a low rated television network. He would later move on to a string of family movies through the early 90s including Santa with Muscles and Suburban Commando. The guy was a movie star, though the movies weren’t good.

More movie stars would come out of WWF, and later WWE, thanks to the popularity of the Attitude Era in the late 1990s and early 2000s. People like Dwayne Johnson, Steve Austin, Kane, and Triple H were all featured in movies like The Mummy Returns, The Expendables, See No Evil, and Blade Trinity as time went on. The rival wrestling company, WCW, even had a movie called Ready to Rumble, which featured many of their own wrestling stars. It took place within their company, of course. Wrestlers in movies were becoming a big commodity.

With the rise of wrestlers in movies, WWF took it upon themselves to create a production company that would help pump out movies that could feature their stable of wrestlers. Dwayne Johnson was one of the early recipients of, now, WWE produced movies, as they helped get him on the big screen in movies like The Rundown and Walking Tall. John Cena was given the lead roles in The Marine, 12 Rounds, Legendary, and The Reunion. Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, Paige, Seth Rollins, and Becky Lynch all got to star in different movies produced by WWE. And they weren’t the only ones.

One of the Attitude Era stars I haven’t mentioned yet is Adam Copeland, better know by his ring name, Edge. It took ten years of WWE Films/WWE Studios for him to become the lead in a movie. That movie was a buddy cop flick called Bending the Rules. Nick Blades (Adam Copeland) was a detective on administrative leave for breaking the rules on the force. The attorney against him on the case, Theo Gold (Jamie Kennedy), wound up needing Nick’s help to find a stolen car. Along the way, the pair stumbled into a series of what looked like gang murders. They worked together to unravel the mystery of who was behind them, while also searching for the stolen car.

Much like many of the other WWE produced movies, this was meant to showcase a WWE wrestler as a potential movie star. It worked for Dwayne Johnson in the early 2000s. It worked, on a smaller scale, for Steve Austin in the mid-2000s. It would work for The Miz when he took over The Marine franchise in 2012. And it worked for John Cena through The Marine and 12 Rounds. Why couldn’t it work for Edge?

I think there were a few reasons it didn’t work, and I wouldn’t place any of them on Adam Copeland’s acting skills. It was a buddy cop comedy/action movie and Edge fit that part well. He was able to perform in the action moments and the comedic moments. He may have even been the best part of the movie. The rest of the cast was solid, too. People like Jamie Kennedy, Jennifer Esposito, Alicia Witt, Kevin Weisman, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Jessica Walter, and Philip Baker Hall rounded out the cast with solid performances. They were the least of the problems in Bending the Rules.

Most of the issues came down to the production quality. It was one of the first movies solely produced through WWE Studios and didn’t get the budget that a Universal or 20^th Century Fox gave them with earlier outings. The action wasn’t as spectacular as things like The Marine, The Rundown, or 12 Rounds. It felt much more scaled back, like a direct-to-video production. Pair that with the lack of marketing, which meant fewer eyes on the flick, and it flew mostly under the radar. Until, that is, the movie ended up in the cheap Blu-ray section of stores. I got mine for three dollars at one of the local Dollaramas.

The other thing that must be brought up is how Bending the Rules treated the police force. Nick Blades was not a good detective. Well, he was good in the sense that he solved crimes better than anyone else. His problem was the tactics he used. The guy broke laws and rules to catch the bad guys. He wasn’t a good role model to the public. The rest of the police force was even worse, using excessive force on Theo Gold as a joke because they didn’t like that he was going after police officers who broke the rules. They pulled him over and tazed him at one point just because they could and other police officers would cheer them on, rather than hold them accountable. It was a somewhat accurate representation of the police force, though I don’t know if the filmmakers intended that to be a negative look at them. It more just felt like wacky hijinks.

For the most part, Bending the Rules was an enjoyable outing from WWE. It was different from the typical action movies and family crossovers that the company’s film arm puts out on a regular basis. It took a more comedic route, which somewhat worked. Edge had shown his chops and should have gone onto a bigger film career. It’s a shame that not too many people have seen him shine in the role of Nick Blades.

Following the release of Bending the Rules, WWE Studios decided to go another route with their movies. They would keep making movies that featured the WWE Superstars. There would still be movies like Vendetta, which featured Big Show, or Mohawk, which featured Luke Harper. But the studio would also start pumping out movies that featured multiple WWE Superstars. Movies like Surf’s Up 2: WaveMania, or the many times they crossed over with Hanna-Barbera cartoons featured a bunch of WWE Superstars in voice roles. The Marine sequels from Marine 4 onward would each feature multiple personalities from the WWE Brand. Eventually, there would even be Fighting with My Family, a biopic about the wrestler Paige which featured people like Dwayne Johnson, The Miz, Big Show, Sheamus, and Zelina Vega. Things seemed to become less about getting the superstars into movies as much as just getting WWE into the movies.

The other major current wrestling promotion is All Elite Wrestling, or AEW. There are a bunch of big names there, mostly people formerly from WWE, many of whom have had their time in the spotlight outside wrestling. Jon Moxley was formerly Dean Ambrose and was the star of 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown. Paul Wight, aka Big Show, also moved over to AEW. Chris Jericho and Cody Rhodes have been featured in a few reality shows, while Jericho also had some acting roles in things like Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! and MacGruber. Sure, the acting careers for each of these people, Cody Rhodes aside, happened during their WWF/WWE days, but it still shows that any wrestlers could want their time in another kind of performance.

Movies and wrestling have been intertwined for decades. Wrestling is performance art, after all. It’s scripted and the wrestlers are actors performing what was written. The difference between wrestling and acting in movies is typically the physicality. The wrestlers perform athletics live for audiences every time they step into the ring. Well, most times. They’re like if the theater kids and the jocks were put together. Sometimes they want to go more theater.

Look at movies right now. Some of the biggest stars started their careers as wrestlers. Dwayne Johnson came out of the Attitude Era of WWE and went on to be the biggest current movie star. Rampage, Skyscraper, Jumanji, and San Andreas are only a few of the movies he headlined. John Cena followed soon after and has found success in movies like Blockers, Trainwreck, and The Suicide Squad. Dave Bautista seems to be the current wrestler turned movie star that people think has the best acting chops. He has shown up in Guardians of the Galaxy, Blade Runner 2049, Hotel Artemis, and Dune. He’s come a long way since WWE and having a bit part in Scorpion King 3. Many of the movies we see coming out now feature wrestlers in acting roles. Hollywood and wrestling coming together. Intertwined. As they’ve always been.

Two other things that go together are these posts and the notes at the end:

• I mentioned a whole bunch of movies in this post. Here are the posts for Plan 9 from Outer Space (week 375), Hell Comes to Frogtown (week 206), The Marine (week 30), The Marine 2 (week 30), The Marine 3: Homefront (week 30), The Marine 4: Moving Target (week 154), The Marine 5: Battleground (week 237), The Marine 6: Close Quarters (week 327), Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! (week 190), Southland Tales (week 428), Santa with Muscles (week 211), 12 Rounds (week 460), 12 Rounds 2: Reloaded (week 460), 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown (week 460), and The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption (week 380).
• Don Yesso popped up in Bending the Rules after appearing in Fant4stic (week 172), American Ultra (week 261), and Dudley Do-Right (week 336).
• Another four-timer was Cynthia LeBlanc, who was in Fant4stic (week 172), Jonah Hex (week 249), 12 Rounds (week 460), and Bending the Rules.
• Connected to Cynthia was Elton LeBlanc, who has been in Fant4stic (week 172), Jonah Hex (week 249), and Bending the Rules.
• Jamie Kennedy starred in Bending the Rules. He was also featured in Bermuda Tentacles (week 96) and Son of the Mask (week 207).
• Wayne Pére made an appearance in Bending the Rules following appearances in Fant4stic (week 172) and American Ultra (week 261).
• Finishing off the three-timers was Geraldine Glenn, who was in American Ultra (week 261), 12 Rounds (week 460), and Bending the Rules.
• Four actors from Freelancers (week 14) were in Bending the Rules. They were Emily D. Haley, Adam Sibley, Michelle Torres, and Mark Turbe.
• Candi Brooks and Adam Copeland appeared in Bending the Rules and Money Plane (week 437).
• Tom Proctor returned to Sunday “Bad” Movies in Bending the Rules after first appearing in Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers (week 48).
• Deneen Tyler was in Fant4stic (week 172) and Bending the Rules.
• Bending the Rules was the second Sunday “Bad” Movies appearance for Wendy Miklovic, who was previously seen in God’s Not Dead (week 230).
• Michael Jamorski popped up in both Bending the Rules and American Ultra (week 261).
• One of the key players in Bending the Rules was Kevin Weisman, who was also in Space Buddies (week 270).
• Finally, four actors from 12 Rounds (week 460) appeared in Bending the Rules. They were Thomas C. Daniel, Wayne Ferrara, Avon Maser, and Terry Lee Smith.
• Have you seen Bending the Rules? What did you think? What do you think of professional wrestlers who make the move to non-wrestling acting? Who are your favourite wrestlers turned actors? Let me know on Twitter or in the comments.
• I’m always looking for suggestions on what to watch. If there’s a movie that you think I should check out for a future Sunday “Bad” Movies post, hit me up. Find me on Twitter or leave a comment with what movies I should be watching.
• Head on over to Instagram for more Sunday “Bad” Movies fun.
• Next week, I’ll be checking out a movie I’ve seen a few times. I revisit it every couple years. It’s not because I think it’s a great movie. It’s not. It could be that I grew up reading Stephen King and watching stuff based on his writing. That’s why I keep going back to Maximum Overdrive, next week’s movie. I’ll see you soon for a post about that one. Hopefully on Sunday.