Wrestling Isn't Wrestling
| Wrestling Isn't Wrestling | |
|---|---|
Promotional poster parodying The Social Network
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| Directed by | Max Landis |
| Produced by |
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| Written by | Max Landis |
| Starring | Max Landis Chloe Dykstra Ana Walczak Lola Blanc Andi Layne |
| Music by | Evan Goldman |
| Cinematography | Stephen Sorace |
| Edited by | Andy Holton |
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Production
company |
Adjacent LA
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Release date
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March 16, 2015 |
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Running time
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24 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Wrestling Isn't Wrestling is a 2015 short film written and directed by Max Landis. Released for free on YouTube, the film retells the story of WWE professional wrestler Triple H. Like Landis's 2012 short The Death and Return of Superman, it consists of an unscripted monologue by Landis on the subject matter, accompanied by sequences with actors performing the parts in the story.
In response to the common saying that "wrestling isn't real", Max Landis says that its death-defying stunts make it "more real than any other show". He suggests that people who criticize wrestling on grounds of realism have probably never watched it, citing its outlandish and overtly fantastical storylines and clarifying that it is actually "a TV show about a wrestling show". In an effort to demonstrate wrestling's capacity to tell "interesting, diverse, and compelling stories", Landis recounts the story of his favorite wrestler, Triple H, and his journey from insecure aristocrat to degenerate rebel to World Champion and eventual corporate sellout.
Funded entirely by Landis, the film was shot at thirty locations throughout Los Angeles over the course of three weeks. It features a cast of close to a hundred extras, with most people involved working for free.Ron Howard was intended to make a cameo appearance, as he did in The Death and Return of Superman, but was unavailable for filming.
Writing for the Wall Street Journal, Michael Calia said that Landis's characterization of wrestling as "packed with the stuff of fiction, both good and terrible" was "not exactly a new insight", but said that Landis "defends wrestling in a fun, inventive way".
The video was praised by Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, both of whom it depicts as characters. The short earned Landis a position as a creative consultant on WWE Raw.
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