I know what you’re thinking: It’s Wednesday, the one weekday when there is no pro wrestling on in prime time. Well, before you think about tuning in to the post-Michael Phelps Olympics or an episode of Supernanny, you might be interested to know — if you have Cinemax, that is — that Ready to Rumble, the wrestling movie starring David Arquette and most of the WCW roster from 1999-2000 — will be on tonight at 8:15 (I know I’m giving you short notice, but don’t worry — the movie is being replayed numerous times over the next two weeks).

No one considers Ready to Rumble a great cinematic achievement (although Oscar winner Martin Landau is in the film), but it’s one of those movies that’s so stupid and campy that it’s actually somewhat entertaining, especially if you’re a wrestling fan. The movie has special meaning for me because I attended the premiere at Mann’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood during my second week on the job as editor of WCW Magazine. My first — and, so far, only — trip to Tinseltown was a surreal experience, as there was a wrestling ring set up in the middle of Hollywood Blvd., while C-list celebs rubbed elbows with WCW stars.

Of course, there was a downside to Ready to Rumble. As a cross promotion, Arquette began appearing on WCW Nitro and Thunder. At the time, I saw nothing wrong with him getting involved in a story line, but then Vince Russo (and perhaps Eric Bischoff, too) took it one step too far.

I attended many of the WCW televised events, and while several of the shows and towns run together, I’ll always remember one particular Thunder taping in Syracuse, N.Y. Diamond Dallas Page, who had just defeated Jeff Jarrett for the WCW world title the previous night on Nitro, was teaming with Arquette against Jarrett and Bischoff. The stipulation was that whoever made the winning pin would be the champion. You know what happened next.

I was as stunned — and disgusted — as every fan in the building and every viewer (not that there were many) watching at home when Arquette was handed the big gold belt that had been worn by the likes of Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and Bret Hart. No single decision or event was responsible for the demise of WCW, but stunts like that one certainly contributed.

A couple months later, I interviewed Russo and asked him if, in retrospect, it was a good idea to have Arquette win the title. He defended it, saying he didn’t see how it hurt the company, but he knew how it helped. He cited the fact that the Arquette publicity stunt made the cover of USA Today. The only problem with his reasoning was that despite that coverage, it meant absolutely nothing for ratings and the buy rate for the pay-per-view Arquette headlined was horrible. Over the years, Russo has been asked time and again about it, and he has — to my knowledge — always defended the decision to put the belt on Arquette.

As much as I hated the angle, I actually liked Arquette. I talked to him a few times backstage and he was always friendly and very respectful of the wrestlers and the business. The night he won the title, he came into the hotel bar after the show and bought a round of drinks for everyone (Flair wrote in his autobiography that he told Arquette that’s what the world champion should do).

I ran into Arquette in the bar and we chatted for a few minutes about his big win. He seemed embarrassed about the whole thing, like he thought it was as ridiculous as everyone else did. He asked me who some of the top guys were in the company that never had the honor of holding the belt that was now in his possession. When I told him guys such as Scott Steiner and Booker T. were on that list (neither had won the title yet), he just shook his head.