Directed by Black Swan and Requiem For a Dream auteur Darren Aronofsky, The Wrestler stars Mickey Rourke as Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a 1980s pro wrestling star whose best years are behind him. As he travels around on the indie circuit and struggles with his declining career, personal life, and a bad heart.
Fans may remember WCW legend Ernest “The Cat” Miller portraying Randy’s old nemesis, The Ayatollah, but the film was shot in New Jersey in early 2008, making use of the Northeast wrestling scene of the era. As a result, there are a number of indie stars from the era, many of which fans today would notice. So let’s take a look at 10 of them and see what they were doing around this time.
10 Necro Butcher
One of the most prominent indie wrestlers featured in the film, Necro Butcher can be seen in the gruesome deathmatch scene, as well as its aftermath. Debuting in 1998, the appropriately named Butcher was famous not only for deathmatches but also great matches in IWA Mid-South against opponents like Samoa Joe and Low Ki. By 2008, he was wrestling for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Ring of Honor, Combat Zone Wrestling, and Big Japan Pro Wrestling against prominent indie guys of the era like Chris Hero, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, and El Generico.
9 Robert Stone
One of the many New Jersey area wrestlers appearing in The Wrestler, modern fans will recognize the wrestler then known as Robert Eckos for his future gimmicks as either the hapless manager Robert Stone in NXT or as Jersey Shore parody Robbie E in Impact. But in 2008, he was still wrestling under his old ring name of Rob Eckos in various Northeast promotions. In that same year, he’d have a television match being squashed by Kofi Kingston on ECW.
8 Nigel McGuinness
Born in the UK but starting his pro wrestling in the midwestern United States, Nigel McGuinness would make a name for himself in promotions like IWA Mid-South and Heartland Wrestling Association before debuting in Ring of Honor and being among the best wrestlers to go through that company.
By the time he appeared in The Wrestler, McGuinness was already a former Pure Champion and was in the midst of what would be a 545-day reign as ROH World Champion. Two years later, he would debut for Impact Wrestling as the underutilized Desmond Wolfe and then retire from in-ring competition in 2011.
7 Jay Lethal
The Wrestler working with Ring of Honor meant that there would be a 100% chance that Jay Lethal would show up. One of the longest-tenured veterans of the promotion, Lethal would end up holding every possible title in ROH. By the time of his appearance in The Wrestler, Jay Lethal was a few years into a six-year run with Impact Wrestling, and started 2008 as X Division Champion, which he would soon drop to Johnny Define in a street fight.
6 The Blue Meanie
Fans know The Blue Meanie for his runs in ECW and WWE, where he was a comedy guy known for his blue hair and for being in the New World Order parody stable BWO -- not to mention being a Goldust parody once. Since the year 2000, however, Da Blue Guy has been a staple on the indies, and in 2008 was wrestling for various indies in Philadelphia, New York, and New Jersey like National Wrestling Superstars and Squared Circle Wrestling.
5 Chuck Taylor
Now known for being a tag team specialist in All Elite Wrestling, former two-time PWG World Champion Chuck Taylor has wrestled for New Japan, EVOLVE, and even Impact Wrestling. By 2008, the future Best Friend spent a lot of time in the Philadelphia indie scene, wrestling for CHIKARA and CZW, but also ventured out to Germany for Westside Xtreme Wrestling as well as the US west coast for PWG, where he was knocked out in the first round of the annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament.
4 R-Truth
The arachnophobic, John Cena-worshipping 52-time 24/7 Champion R-Truth is a comedic legend in WWE, but before that run he was former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ron “The Truth” Killings, and is seen in The Wrestler shaking saying hello to Randy The Ram.
By this point in time, Truth had moved on from Impact Wrestling and was putting on matches in Puerto Rico as well as for AAA in Mexico. He’d return to WWE in the spring, wrestling dark matches and at house shows until he finally returned to television in August 2008.
3 Drew Gulak
These days, the underrated technical wizard Drew Gulak is known for his time in WWE where he’s a former Cruiserweight Champion and more recently a relative comedy jobber with eight runs as 24/7 Champion -- a fraction compared to other wrestlers on this list. But in 2008, Gulak was a staple on the Philadelphia indie scene, wrestling for CHIKARA (as Soldier Ant) and for Combat Zone Wrestling, where he’s a former World Heavyweight Champion.
2 John Zandig
While his cameo is uncredited, eagle-eyed fans can spot John Zandig in Aronofsky’s film. A deathmatch legend who’s delivered some gruesomely iconic moments of the course of his career, Zandig founded CZW, where he’s a six-time World Heavyweight Champion. By the time of The Wrestler, he was largely retired, having lost a retirement match in 2006, but still periodically entered the ring for special occasions, including a CZW Cage of Death match in late 2008.
1 Cesaro
There’s a scene in The Wrestler where Randy is changing in a dressing room, and it’s hard not to notice Cesaro on the right side of the frame doing the same. A seven-time Champion in WWE, in 2008 he was still a few years away from signing and was still the indie workhorse known as Claudio Castagnoli and performing for Ring of Honor, CZW, CHIKARA, Pro Wrestling NOAH, and PWG, among countless others. Many of his accolades during this time were in the tag team genre, teaming with Chris Hero as Kings of Wrestling.