Wrestling Is Not Wrestling

MitchKoobski · 16-03-2015 6:24pm #1

Chronicle director and massive pro wrestling fan Max Landis has been working on a side project for ages. His retelling of HHH's career using multiple actors and a number of different guest appearances from other wrestlers and actors who are fans including Seth Green and even McCauley Culkin. Feckin' everyone is in this.It's mad, but its good.

"Who is The Undertaker? Hold on to your suspension of disbelief because its about to take a ****ing beating."

Agent Coulson · 16-03-2015 6:30pm

^^^
That's awesome.

Edit..

I would love to see the WWE give him or someone like him a chance to write a storyline over the course of a year in the same way Marvel/DC give the likes of Joss Whedon, J. Michael Straczynski, Kevin Smith etc an arc.

Hire talented guys who know and understand wresting.

Hashtag_HEEL · 16-03-2015 8:16pm

That was fantastic!

connemara man · 16-03-2015 8:28pm

that has to be one of the best wrestling videos I have ever seen.

Palo Alto · 16-03-2015 8:50pm

I never knew HHH was so hot.

So hot.

irish_stevo815 · 16-03-2015 9:05pm

Wow...that was unreal. Some great cameos in there too.

"I'm X-pac. And my thing is....uhhhh........I'm X-pac"

Moneymaker · 16-03-2015 9:08pm

Mind blown. Phenomenal.

Jon Stark · 16-03-2015 9:40pm

I found that oddly....how can I put this.....exciting.

A Primal Nut · 16-03-2015 9:49pm

Amazing video. So WWE's creative team are storytelling geniuses after all. :P

MitchKoobski · 16-03-2015 10:28pm

Credits were uploaded separately because they have WWE footage spliced in. Well edited with a Goldberg appearance.

https://youtu.be/eE1BXJyu5_E
(embed seems to be glitching)

Anyone who feels the name Max Landis is familiar, he is the son of director John Landis who did The Blues Brothers, Animal House and the Thriller music video.

This is also Max Landis defending wrestling on a podcast

CastorTroy · 17-03-2015 12:14am

Now I think Cena really needs to wear a "Spoiler I win" tshirt to the ring

rovert · 22-03-2015 3:14pm

MitchKoobski wrote: »

Chronicle director and massive pro wrestling fan Max Landis has been working on a side project for ages. His retelling of HHH's career using multiple actors and a number of different guest appearances from other wrestlers and actors who are fans including Seth Green and even McCauley Culkin. Feckin' everyone is in this.It's mad, but its good.

"Who is The Undertaker? Hold on to your suspension of disbelief because its about to take a ****ing beating."

Triple H pretending he likes it:
https://twitter.com/TripleH/status/579655783941566464

martyos121 · 22-03-2015 4:07pm

rovert wrote: »

Triple H pretending he likes it:
https://twitter.com/TripleH/status/579655783941566464

I don't think he's pretending. It was a fantastic highlight reel of his career done in a very creative and intelligent manner. Also it was a massive ego boost for him as if he needed one. It was never going to be explicitly praised by WWE because of the colourful language and inclusion of Benoit.

MitchKoobski · 22-03-2015 4:10pm

rovert wrote: »

Triple H pretending he likes it:
https://twitter.com/TripleH/status/579655783941566464

Any idea what the general response to it was in WWE?

rovert · 22-03-2015 4:14pm

martyos121 wrote: »

I don't think he's pretending. It was a fantastic highlight reel of his career done in a very creative and intelligent manner. Also it was a massive ego boost for him as if he needed one. It was never going to be explicitly praised by WWE because of the colourful language and inclusion of Benoit.

It is all about the Game and how you play it:

Don't trust his new found "friend of the fans" schtick, martyos121.

MitchKoobski wrote: »

Any idea what the general response to it was in WWE?

Depends who you trust:
https://twitter.com/Uptomyknees/status/579006801175126016

Bryan says WWE tried to take it down and talent were told not to tweet about it.

The beauty of the video is that it contains no trademark infringements.

Riddle101 · 22-03-2015 7:05pm

Triple H pretending he likes it:

He's playing up to his character from the video.

"Hey Max Landis, the video was awesome, you understand wrestling ....... I WILL F*CKING KILL YOU!!!!"

rovert · 22-03-2015 7:07pm

State:

https://twitter.com/GolazoDan/status/579718793699700736

leggo · 23-03-2015 3:04am

On that: I guarantee anyone here would act the same way if WWE started acknowledging them in the same manner. I criticise WWE heavily at times in podcasts and columns, but when they directly referred to something I wrote on WWE.com (or when names talked/tweeted about projects I've been involved in etc) before I got all gooey and weak at the knees, fact. That doesn't take away criticism I have for them - it's valid and I stand by it - but it also doesn't mean that it's not cool and flattering to be acknowledged in the same instance. So he's not 'selling out' by being happy. Not in the slightest. Good for him.

Secondly, I think people are repurposing the video's intention to project their own view of Triple H. And I think Max Landis meant it that way and made it to be deliberately vague in its narrative. When he spoke of the 'jealous and insecure' Triple H, was he referring to the character or his actual ego behind-the-scenes, for example?

The way it's written, if taken literally, definitely points to it just being a discussion of Triple H's character from a genuine fan of his work and character development. But there's a convincing case that he was winking and nodding to smart fans the entire time too. What did he mean by 'wrestling isn't wrestling'? Did he mean it's not an athletic competition and shouldn't be judged as such, i.e. that it doesn't matter that it's 'fake' (a really basic narrative that's been done to death)? Again, that's the deliberate point he made very clearly in the video. Or did he mean that the fun in wrestling lies in following the behind-the-scenes drama and how it plays out on the screen?

And I think the true genius of the video was how he didn't make either obvious and left it completely open to interpretation. You aren't even sure if he actually likes or hates Triple H by the end of it, he doesn't play his hand. That's a tricky and humbling tightrope to walk as a writer. Your every urge - if you're going to go the wink and nod route - is to make it obvious (even in a small way just once) that that's the line you're taking, because you're insecure that the audience won't pick up on the clever nuance you're using. And a lot of them just plain won't and will just LOL at the funny cameos. But he didn't give into that urge and that's what leaves you thinking at the end.

BMMachine · 23-03-2015 3:11am

that video is great and I'd willingly show it to my friends as regards why I like wrestling at my age.

thats a hard thing to do

leggo · 23-03-2015 3:17am

BMMachine wrote: »

that video is great and I'd willingly show it to my friends as regards why I like wrestling at my age.

thats a hard thing to do

D'ya know what? Maybe it's because public opinion has mellowed about WWE over here, or maybe I'm just getting older and more comfortable in my skin, but I don't find the snobbishness about wrestling that there used to be around any more. My housemate had a new girl he's seeing over tonight, a good-looking, successful girl who has no idea about WWE, and we started chatting to her about it, the parties we do etc. She loved it all. Wants to come to WrestleMania. I found that a very tough sell to people when we started doing it and, in spite of myself, felt almost apologetic while explaining it. Not anymore.

Same with people I work with etc, people are kinda copping on again (maybe due to social media) that there's something fun to wrestling that, even if they don't understand it, they want to be a part of. It's kind of cool again to be a fan, or at least to have been a fan at some stage. Maybe it's an extension of the whole geek chic trend.

Jon Stark · 23-03-2015 6:44am

Maybe I'm reading too much into it but I took him wearing a motorhead t shirt as a hint that he's a genuine HHH fan.

gimmick · 23-03-2015 12:24pm

Deserves a thread of its own so split from the news thread.

Moneymaker · 23-03-2015 12:30pm

HHH and Steph addressed him directly on twitter.

Bet he's marking out like a madman.

It's something you can show non-fans when they question why we all love PW.

Palo Alto · 23-03-2015 1:23pm

I tried that, didn't work. It's ostensibly for non-fans, but it requires more knowledge than you realise still, gf didn't have a clue what it was on about.

Still good though!

Although Landis' voice is super annoying.

Moist Bread · 23-03-2015 8:48pm

Didn't think that much of it really, but this line really rang true for me.

"A lot of wrestling sucks, but when it's good, it's ****ing great."

Also Trips is a ****ing ride.