The Wrestler vs. 'The Wrestler'
Written by Marcus Monday, 02 March 2009 14:56
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Former wrestler Jason Murphy dishes on his former career, the Honky Tonk Man, and what's real in The Wrestler.
Mickey Rourke's erratic movie career echoed his heavyhearted portrayal of Randy "The Ram" Robinson in The Wrestler. Three days before the Academy Awards were handed out, WaaKao sat down with a former professional wrestler, Jason Murphy to discuss his former career, what it's like to hang out with the legendary Honky Tonk Man, and the realism of The Wrestler.
"Even though they won't admit it, most wrestlers start the business, as it's always called, in backyard wrestling," Murphy begins. His own entrance into the business was when he did a couple shows with some friends in Nova Scotia. Soon, his reputation was growing so he started his own promotion company and even built a steel cage for a few matches. Word gets around quickly in the wrestling community and Murphy was asked to come down to Maine and do a show. "Since I was the pretty boy, I was thrown right in with the big boss who proceeded to beat my ass. In wrestling, things are coordinated, but the chops and bumps still hurt. Taking 20 of them until my chest is black and blue took hurt to a whole new level."
Murphy didn't flinch while taking the punishment, earning the respect of the owner of New Wrestling Horizon (NWH), who thought his look was appealing to the fans. Murphy would soon be rechristened Jason Holiday,the Canadian Heartthrob, because he had the charisma as well as the muscles to make the ladies scream. Unfortunately, being the new guy on the block that gets a lot of attention has its drawbacks. While Murphy was (literally) learning the ropes, he was drawn into a feud with "a guy with a furry afro and big tits." This lead to some publicized bad-mouthing and trash talking, which is the norm in this business, but"this guy went too far." Basically the guy couldn't deal with the fact that Holiday was getting booked more than he was because was he was in such good shape. So Murphy did what most twenty-somethings do when their manhood is challenged; he ripped right back into him. But because he was a veteran, this caused some misunderstandings and eventually led up to Holiday being put on the "blacklist" by the biggest promotion in that part of the Maritime provinces. "It wasn't ever said in plain English, but I got the picture." Murphy explains in more detail,"Of course I regret my actions of talking back and voicing my opinion against a veteran, which made me come off with an attitude. I just respect myself and didn't take kindly to a guy trying to railroad my career before one of my biggest matches because of his feelings of inferiority. Unfortunately, the promotion I was blacklisted from had a TV deal. They went national after I got axed. In retrospect, after many people watched the finished product, they told me that maybe cutting someone with charisma and acting ability wasn't the greatest idea afte rall. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bitter in any way as to the events leading up to this in any way, shape, or form. Currently I'm doing a job that I love and I'm happier than I've ever been. Don't get me wrong, I miss the ring and the motley crue of wrestlers I came to call my family. I'm very proud of all my fellow workers accomplishments in the business and I wish them nothing but the best in the future."
