Vince McMahon: Rourke will be at WrestleMania
OK, now this is getting ridiculous.
WWE chairman Vince McMahon issued a statement to eonline.com that Mickey Rourke will indeed be appearing at WrestleMania 25 on April 5 in Houston. Last night, an Associated Press story quoted Rourke’s publicist as saying that the actor “will not be participating in WrestleMania.”
“I am pleased that Mickey Rourke will be in attendance at WrestleMania to support the WWE Superstars who support him and the film in which he stars, The Wrestler,” McMahon said in the statement.
For those keeping track, Rourke’s appearance at WrestleMania has now been on, off and on again within a span of five days.
The key words here might be “in attendance.” That could mean anything from Rourke wrestling Chris Jericho as originally planned, to simply him waving to the crowd from the front row. At this point I’m reluctant to even hazard a guess, but I have a feeling that Rourke will either appear as a special referee in a match involving Jericho or be in the corner of Jericho’s opponent.
Comments
I like how Vince called them "Superstars" and then called the film by its name, "The Wrestler."
Is that why Vince is okay with this movie - it's about "wrestlers," not his "superstars"?
Posted by: Chris Slater | January 29, 2009 9:12 PM
I'm willing to bet Rourke screwed up here. They signed him to whatever and agreed to not say anything till after the Oscars. That way Jericho could come out on Raw the next night and base the angle on whether or not he won the Oscar. Rourke being the "free spirit" that he is, just went ahead and starting talking early. Just a guess.
Posted by: Paul | January 29, 2009 9:29 PM
It's starting to sound more and more like a work.......
Posted by: God of Rock | January 29, 2009 9:35 PM
Hopefully he'll take the extra cash and see Dr. 90210 for a better face lift. Who was his last Plastic Surgeon, Abdullah the Butcher?
Posted by: wrzesien | January 29, 2009 9:50 PM
your first sentence summed it up
Posted by: the artist formerly known as jack in hebron | January 29, 2009 10:29 PM
They could pull some sort of storyline like Rourke fighting for it's pride, despite his manager's suggestions.
To be honest, in spite of the lack of heat, I'm a huge fan of Jericho's and Rourke's performance (The wrestler is awesome but I loved to watch Harley Davidson and MArlboro Man when I was a kid). So I want to stick up to the idea that Y2J vs Rourke is still on.In a confusing fashion, though.
Posted by: Gaston | January 29, 2009 11:24 PM
at this point, I could care less.
Posted by: Richard | January 30, 2009 8:07 AM
Whatever the outcome , keep in mind Rourke is a nearly sixty year old actor (/wanna be athlete). Nevertheless it could be an interesting angle .
Posted by: the artist formerly known as jack in hebron | January 30, 2009 9:05 AM
This is starting to annoy me especially if Mickey does wrestle Jericho and Chris has to job to him. The Big Show jobbing to that little punk boxer last year was pathetic.
WOOOOOO
Posted by: Ric in Baltimore | January 30, 2009 9:31 AM
"Mickey Rourke will be in attendance at WrestleMania TO SUPPORT THE WWE SUPERSTARS"...doesn't sound like wrestling Chris Jericho, being a ref, or being in someone's corner to me
Posted by: Anonymous | January 30, 2009 5:06 PM
The swerve will be that the match at WrestleMania is actually planned as Mickey Rourke (with Ric Flair and/or Roddy Piper in his corner) against Ernest Miller (with Chris Jericho in his corner).
Posted by: Mr. Sarcasm | January 30, 2009 6:15 PM
Maybe its all a plot by Vince so Rourke doesnt win an oscar, initialy telling Rourke he will be at wrestlemania in a match and backing this up himself even though Rourke denied it, this could cost him the oscar, and we know Vince didnt like it the 1st time, how can he change his mind so suddenly? would we put it past Vince to be lying and manipluating us, the media and Rourke into believing he will be at wrestlemaina so to harm his chances of an oscar? I wouldnt...
Posted by: stan | January 31, 2009 3:03 PM
"Maybe its all a plot by Vince so Rourke doesnt win an oscar..." Why in the blue hell would Vince care if Rouke won an Oscar? Wouldn't it be better to have an Oscar winner on at Wrestlemainia - no matter what his role - than an Oscar loser?
Posted by: Marko50 | February 1, 2009 4:58 PM
Mark, the essence of Stan's theory is how Vince McMahon hates all things wrestling that are not under his control (or directly tied into his wallet). So, because Vince is so competitive, the last thing he wants is for a film about professional wrestling to garner an Oscar without his name all over it. That's the reason he would want Rourke to lose at the Academy awards. Also, win or lose, Rourke's association with WWE would thereby link WWE directly into "The Wrestler" (even if only as an afterthought in the public's perception).
For the record, Stan, we do not "know" that Vince didn't like the film the first time; we have only read that Internet "journalists" report that he did not.
Posted by: Mr. Sarcasm | February 2, 2009 5:34 PM
Mickey Rourke pulled out of WrestleMania 25 match against Chris Jericho.He would not be competing at the event.WWE subsequently reconfirmed Rourke’s appearance on January 31, 2009, where it was announced that he had been invited as a guest, and not as a competitor, for WrestleMania XXV.
Posted by: iwebie | February 25, 2009 6:24 AM