Wrestling Isn't Real... Obviously

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You Cannot Kill David Arquette (2020)

Written by Tyler Clark

To close out Wrestlers Week, we wanted to switch it up on you. We've been discussing wrestlers turned actors, but what about the other way around? What about an actor who puts their body on the line to become a professional wrestler?

Well, that's exactly what we're discussing with today's documentary.

Wrestling Isn't Real... Obviously

I love wrestling! Like, really love wrestling. Just over a month ago, I was in the stadium for the return of CM Punk and the GOAT Randy Orton. It's an incredible art form that gets a lot of slander.

Of course, the most famous criticism is that wrestling is "fake." Well, yeah, it's definitely a scripted show. It features cult leaders and escaped mental patients. But those who insist wrestling is fake have clearly never watched wrestling. It's a scripted program, just like The Sopranos or This is Us.

But do you know what's not fake?

The hits these people are taking, the pain their bodies are subjected to, and the lengths people will go to make it to the top of their industry. The last five years of David Arquette's life is a testament to that.

Do You Mean Dewey? From Scream?

Yes, I do mean Dewey from Scream.

So, a brief history: David Arquette was a big wrestling fan. When his movie Ready to Rumble was coming out, to promote it, he did a brief stint on World Championship Wrestling and even won the World Heavyweight Championship. Wrestling fans WERE NOT HAPPY!

You see, wrestling fans are a fickle bunch. They know what they like, and they really know what they don't like. One thing they hate is when they smell something "phony." Even when someone like Ronda Rousey first showed up in professional wrestling, the fans were incredibly hesitant to embrace her. And that's one of the actual baddest motherfuckers on the planet. So, imagine the reception Arquette got.

For years since then, Arquette has tried to distance himself from that. BUT, in 2018, Arquette returned to the ring, popping up in shows on the independent circuit. The man seemed to really be making a push. Then, in 2019, it was announced that there was a documentary coming out about it. So, how did it turn out?

You Almost Killed David Arquette

This film toes an interesting line between fiction and reality. On the one hand, there are a lot of real elements to the film. Arquette really did feel shame around his acquisition of the big gold belt or his struggles with mental health. There's even one incredibly harrowing sequence in which he gets stabbed in the neck mid-match.

But, on the other hand, there are some sensationalized elements—sequences they thought would play well on camera or the fact that Arquette does have a career. I mean, for God's sake, he made two more Scream movies after this.

This is because the film, much like wrestling, adheres to kayfabe: the fact or convention of presenting staged performances as genuine or authentic. Basically, the idea of a wrestler committing to the bit, not just in the ring but in interviews while "in character" and so on and so forth.

The film makes you question reality, and it makes you question fiction. Some of the craziest stuff in this movie is the realest part of it, just like in wrestling.

What makes wrestling incredible to me is not the fact that it's just so real, but the way that it blurs the line. The stuff that we remember the most are the things that actually happened—the Montreal Screwjob, the CM Punk pipe bomb, Mankind falling through the steel cage and landing on a floor full of thumbtacks. Yes, that actually happened. Wrestling is silly, over the top, and yes, fake, but it's also some of the realest stuff you'll ever see.

If you want to understand the world of wrestling more, I highly recommend this feature as a starting place.

Kayfabe

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