How Ready to Rumble Influenced Wrestling in the ’00s

Ready to Rumble is the most important movie in wrestling history. I recently watched the critically acclaimed documentary from 2000 and couldn’t believe how it shaped the history of wrestling. We still see WWE “borrow” ideas from arguably the most important movie of this generation. Whenever someone asks you about pro wrestling, just direct them to this movie. All their questions will be answered.

Here are just a few examples of how Ready to Rumble influenced wrestling and other combat sports.

*The Triple Cage: This one is obvious. Without this movie, WCW never attempts the Triple Cage Match. Not only was that match an awesome visual, but it produced a buy rate higher than that years Starrcade and was the most bought PPV featuring a triple cage main event in the new millennium. And how can we forget the Vince Russo spin-off that led to Vince Russo winning the WCW World Title? The Triple Cage is one of the most important and dangerous matches in wrestling history. That’s why there have only been two of them, and that’s why there will never be another.

*WCW World Champion David Arquette: Name me another Hollywood actor who has won a major wrestling world title. You can’t. Brad Pitt may’ve been named Sexiest Man Alive in 2000 but didn’t he win a wrestling world title? No. Kevin Spacey may’ve won Best Actor for American Beauty at the Oscars, but did he win the Big Gold Belt? I don’t think so. When people bring up the WCW World Title, they always bring up the name David Arquette.

*John Cena: John Cena initially got over as a white rapper, a gimmick he stole from Jimmy King. Before his match with Diamond Dallas Page, The King spits 100% original lyrics that would have Run DMC crawling to The King to kiss his royal feet. Without that rhyme, John Cena doesn’t exist.

*Biker Undertaker: Less than two months after Gordie drove his motorcycle through the Triple Cage in the main event, The Undertaker shows up on WWF PPV, driving his motorcycle down to the ring during the main event. Coincidence? I think not.

*The Vigilante Sting: All WWE did with Sting once they signed him was rehash his gimmick from Ready to Rumble.

*The Women’s Revolution & Bayley: We all know how women were treated in wrestling during the early 2000’s. Then, with the start of NXT, something happened. Triple H, after years of refusing to watch a wrestling biopic that he wasn’t the star of, checked out Ready to Rumble and was inspired. He saw how Sean pined after Brittany, the hot blonde, and blew off Wendy, the cute but quirky wrestling fan. Triple H thought that made sense and validated how WWE treated women. Then, at the end of the movie, Sean blows off Brittany and hooks up with Wendy. Triple H was stunned. That’s when he realized that the best female wrestlers are female wrestling fans, not supermodels. And that’s what led to the birth of Bayley and the Women’s Revolution.

*King Booker: His whole gimmick was ripped from Jimmy King

*Draymond Green: The amount of willy kicking in this movie is insane. Draymond Green recently watched the movie, saw how successful it was, and decided he was going to start kicking people in the nuts as well.

*The UFC in Vegas: Before the release of Ready to Rumble, the UFC had never held an event in Las Vegas. Now, Vegas is the official home of the UFC. Zuffa bought the company and said, “We watched Ready to Rumble. We saw the shoot fight between Jimmy King and Diamond Dallas Page in the cage. And we saw how they sold out Vegas on just a couple weeks notice. We know we can sell out Vegas with cage fights.” And look at the UFC now.

*DX Pooping on McMahon’s: There’s a scene in the movie where Sean and Gordie wreck their poop truck on the highway, and the poop goes everywhere. You can thank that scene for DX dropping poop on the McMahon’s and the Spirit Squad and every poop joke you’ve ever heard on WWE TV.

*Tough Enough & The Diva Search: Both of those reality shows were created following The King’s Men Posse Search.

*Hulk Hogan’s WWE Run: Sal Bandini (wanna wrestle?) proved that old guys can still work. Hogan shouldn’t have won the Undisputed Title in 2002, nor should he have defeated Shawn Michaels and Randy Orton at back-to-back SummerSlam events, but he did because Sal Bandini beat up Sid and Saturn.

*Roman Reigns: How many other wrestlers have greasy hair and a chest protector?

*Shawn Michaels Return: Shawn Michaels was told that he would never wrestle again, just like Jimmy King was told that he would never wrestle again. Both men came back in unsanctioned matches and went on to championship glory. Michaels was so inspired by King turning his life around after it looked like his career was over, that he decided to turn his life around as well. Michaels didn’t found God. He found King. WWKD.

Those are just a few examples of how Ready to Rumble influenced wrestling in the new millennium. Can you think of more? Hit me up on Twitter @jeremylambert88 with your ideas.