Ready to Rumble

Ready to Rumble is a 2000 comedy movie directed by Brian Robbins and written by Steven Brill, which is based on the now defunct professional wrestling promotion, World Championship Wrestling. The movie draws its title from Michael Buffer's catchphrase, "Let's get ready to rumble!"

Plot
Sewage workers Gordie Boggs (David Arquette) and Sean Dawkins (Scott Caan) watch their favorite wrestler, WCW World Champion Jimmy King (Oliver Platt) get screwed out of the title by "Diamond" Dallas Page (playing himself) and evil WCW promoter Titus Sinclair (Joe Pantoliano). The dimwitted duo embark on a quest to help their fallen hero regain his title and his honor.

Cast

 * David Arquette - "Gordie Boggs"
 * Scott Caan - "Sean Dawkins"
 * Oliver Platt - "Jimmy King"
 * Joe Pantoliano - "Titus Sinclair"
 * Rose McGowan - "Sasha"
 * Martin Landau - "Sal Bandini"
 * Ahmet Zappa - "Cashier"
 * Jill Ritchie - "Brittany"
 * Richard Lineback - "Gordie's father"
 * Chris Owen - "Isaac"
 * Melanie Deanne Moore - "Wendy"
 * Caroline Rhea - "Eugenia King"
 * Tait Smith - "Frankie King"
 * Ellen Albertini Dow - "Mrs. MacKenzie"
 * Kathleen Freeman - "Jane King"
 * Lewis Arquette - "Fred King"

Wrestlers

 * Bill Goldberg
 * "Diamond" Dallas Page
 * Sting
 * Bam Bam Bigelow
 * "Macho Man" Randy Savage
 * Booker T
 * Sid Vicious
 * Juventud Guerrera
 * Curt Hennig
 * Shane Helms
 * Disco Inferno
 * Billy Kidman
 * Konnan
 * Rey Mysterio Jr.
 * Perry Saturn
 * Prince Iaukea
 * Van Hammer
 * Announcer Michael Buffer
 * Announcer "Mean" Gene Okerlund
 * Announcer Tony Schiavone
 * Announcer Mike Tenay
 * Referee Charles Robinson
 * Referee Billy Silverman
 * Gorgeous George
 * Nitro Girl Chae
 * Nitro Girl Fyre
 * Nitro Girl Spice
 * Nitro Girl Storm
 * Nitro Girl Tygress

Aftermath
Following the release of the movie, WCW bookers decided to promote the movie by running a storyline in which David Arquette, a legitimate wrestling fan, became WCW World Champion. The storyline was reviled by wrestling fans, and Arquette himself reportedly believed it was a bad idea, as he felt that it would damage the value of the belt he held in such high regard. While in WCW, he aligned himself with Diamond Dallas Page (despite Page being the movie's villain) and agreed in storyline to drop the title to him. He eventually lost the title in a match involving the three-tiered cage seen in Ready to Rumble, pitting himself against Page and Jeff Jarrett, which ended when he turned on Page and allowed Jarrett to win. Arquette later donated all the money WCW paid him to the families of pro wrestlers Brian Pillman and Owen Hart and referee Brian Hildebrand.

The movie itself was a critical and box office failure, grossing $12,394,327 domestically.

A main criticism of the film is that many wrestling fans felt the movie was trying hard to portray wrestling storylines as real (kayfabe), even though the Internet Wrestling Community was ending kayfabe's influence in wrestling at the time of the film's release.

=Trivia=
 * The character of Jimmy King is an obvious parody of real life wrestler Jerry "The King" Lawler. The character was created to mock WCW's competition at the time, the World Wrestling Federation.
 * The character of Sal Mandini is based on the late wrestlers Lou Thesz and Stu Hart.
 * The "What Would King Do" bracelets are parodies of the "What Would Jesus Do" bracelets in pop culture.
 * On an episode of WWE Raw in 2006, ECW Champion Big Show, WWE Champion John Cena & World Heavyweight Champion King Booker argued over who was the greater champion. At one point, Cena's then-newly released film The Marine, was brought up, as was Big Show's role in The Waterboy & Booker's role in Ready to Rumble, which he proclaimed as the greatest film of all time. Show, Cena & the crowd promptly burst into laughter.