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NBC is getting in the ring with a put pilot commitment to a drama about the 1980s professional wrestling boom that is executive produced by one of the biggest ’90s wrestling stars, Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock. The fictional drama set in the world of wrestling in the ’80s hails from Bruckheimer TV, marking a departure from the company’s signature brand of procedurals. It will be written by Brent Fletcher and Seamus Kevin Fahey (Spartacus: Gods of the Arena), who will co-executive produce alongside KristieAnne Reed. Johnson, Bruckheimer and Jonathan Littman are executive producing.
The ’80s, often called “the golden age of wrestling”, marked a surge in the popularity of professional wrestling in the U.S. fueled by the growth of cable television and pay-per-view and the efforts of hot-shot promoters like Vince McMahon. During that period, pro wrestling shifted from a system controlled by numerous regional companies to a system dominated by two nationwide companies: Ted Turner’s World Championship Wrestling and McMahon’s World Wrestling Federation. It featured the launch of WrestleMania and the emergence of wrestling’s first crop of superstars led by Hulk Hugan. The project extends the popularity of period dramas among the broadcast networks, which have two such series, the 1960s-set Pan Am on ABC and The Playboy Club on NBC, premiering this fall. It also expands wrestling’s presence at NBCUniversal. NBC’s sibling network USA carries WWE Raw as well as the revival of WWE Tough Enough. This is the third sale and third put pilot commitment for Bruckheimer TV so far this development season. The company recently set up a Navy SEALs drama at ABC and a procedural about a mom-turned-New York State Trooper at CBS. Fahey, repped by UTA and Underground Films & Management, previously worked with Bruckheimer TV as a writer on the ABC series The Forgotten. Fletcher is with CAA.
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I wish we knew how many things a guy like bruckheimer takes out that dont sell. Is he batting .500? Better?
“Macho Man” Randy Savage was one the greatest entertainers of all time. I would prefer to see a film based around him.
RIP Macho Man
Go Brent! Couldn’t have happened to a better and more talented individual. He is one of the good ones and will knock this out of the ring!
I’ve always thought a behind-the-scenes drama set in the world of pro wrestling could be really good. The insider stories I’ve heard and read about what goes on backstage and in the corporate offices makes the on-camera product almost boring in comparison. Though if they’re going to do a show set in the high-octane 80′s, I wonder how much they’ll be able to get away with showing the sex, the drugs, etc. And given Johnson’s lifelong ties to wrestling, I wonder how much they’ll get into stuff like steroid use, blading, hazing, and other things people in the business don’t like to acknowledge to outsiders.
I hate Bruckheimer’s TV group, but I gotta say, this is a great idea for a show.
I will watch if the Rock wrestles Jerry.
I hope they go into the fact that much of wrestling is like acting. Where it is staged. That could be interesting.
This is cool. I hate wrestling but this concept sounds good.
I just hope it is nothing compared to what NBC aired many years ago on a Sunday night, a horrible crappy special that was so irrelevant it wasn’t even funny. I miss Saturday Night’s Main Event on NBC late night.
I too miss the WWE special Saturday Night’s Main Event but they brought it back and didn’t put nay hard work and thought into it thus letting its ratings drop and become irrelevant. Vince could care less about it and instead would rather focus on Raw and Smackdown
never knew the 80′s were the “golden age of wrestling.”
Then you are younger than 30….so your opinion doesn’t count anyway.
It’s sad that because Bruckheimer is such a big name with some successes under his belt the networks will give him a put pilot commitment for ANYTHING!!! None of his recent sells sound at all interesting. The only unique idea is the wrestling pitch. I guess the networks will just keep buying from the big names and have failure after failure than to take a chance on a newcomer.
Who’s Hulk Hugan?
I grew up watching wrestling or wrasslin during that period those guy were badasses the steroids drugs women and rock n roll lifestyle sounds like a hit series to me if they make it realistic and don’t leave those things out
ahh yes, the golden age of wrestling… wait, what?
There is no way this will be a success. Wrestling has a very love it/hate it fan base, so the only people who are gong to watch are hardcore wrestling fans. Most non-wrestling fans wouldn’t be caught dead watching a show like this, and several closet wrestling fans would never admit to watching it.
Put the show on cable and it has a shot, but no way it succeeds on a network.
Also, wrestling afficianados know that in the 80′s there were far more than just the WWF and the NWA (World Championship Wrestling didn’t come into play until the mid-90′s). There was still the AWA (where Hulk Hogan got his start), as well as super-regional promotions like the WCCW and the UWF, in additional to smaller regional promotions across the country. The show is going to have to get details like this right if it is going to win over the hardcore wrestling fans it will need.
Yeah no way this will be a success. That movie “The Wrestler” certainly wasn’t, so I don’t see why this would be.
But yeah, like No one of Consequence said, wrestling in the 80′s was far different than it is now, and in the south where honestly all the best workers were before Vince killed the territories, it wasn’t the cartoon world of WWF. It was about heat and the product was geared towards an older demographic. Wrasslin is more interesting than wrestling and I for one hope they don’t ignore the territories as part of this bigger picture of the 80′s wrestling boom.
Ooh yeah, I’m a three time world wrestling champion, winner of wrestlemania 5 and the greatest intercontinental champion to walk the face of this earth, ooh yeah. I love to wear tight brightly colored pastel clothes with sequined capes, knee pads and Gargoyle sunglasses. I have a scruffy beard, thick veiny neck and a real husky voice, and sometimes I fidget around nervously, with appropriate hand gestures, ooh yeah. Are you ready to step into the Danger Zone? I need someone who can tape my knuckles before a match and will stand by me when I talk to Mean Gene and will support me
from the ropes as I elbow drop on Hogan in the ring. If you think you have what it takes to be my Miss Elizabeth I will honor and respect you as my manager. We will travel together by deluxe supercoach to many places throughout the country until I backhand you for no apparent reason on national television because of my roid rage and jealous insecurities, but listen here, be assured that I will beg for your forgiveness on one knee in front of a capacity filled arena somewhere in the midwest. Oooh Yeah!
Hey Guys, having been at the beginning of the 80′s era on Ted Turner’s TBS Superstation in Atlanta, I can easily verify, this was quite an interesting time for Pro Wrestling! A.I.
As someone who has been wrestling 22+ years and was trained during the 80′s, I’m pumped about this project! The 80′s is my favorite era of wrestling, and I’m looking forward to seeing this, and I’d like to be involved in it also.
These comments just show that this saying is still true:
Wrestling is a tradition in Canada, a sport in Japan, a religion in Mexico, and a joke in the U.S.
Just think of all the women this show will pull in while at the same time boring men to death because all they want to watch is the wrestling . The only other producters who could sell this would be JJ Abrahms, if the wrestling took place on an island or dick wolf if they solved horrible sex crimes. Interesting that NBC got sloppy thirds from bruckheimer this year. Can’t wait to see what the CW gets stuck having to buy?
P.s. The Wtestler was a great movie that was nominated for multiple academy awards and nobody saw that.
I have to say this idea intrigues me. I’ve trained as a wrestler and have a real respect for what they go through. This show, mixed with the second hand knowledge that Dwayne Johnson has been force fed his entire life should be interesting. With NBC backing it, it can go wherever it wants and be as realistic as it wants. Dwayne and everyone involved could careless if Vince get pissy about it because he doesn’t sign any of their paychecks. Hell, Vince tried to distance himself and the WWE from Benoit, but people still love what he did in the ring, despite what he did outside of it.
This show has potential and if it makes it past the pilot stage and onto the air, I will definitely be watching it.