funkyfry I missed the first couple minutes of this movie, so if there was ever an explanation of why a little girl (Kellie Martin, who's exactly a week older than me) is allowed to accompany a group of pro wrestlers and rock stars on an RV tour of America, well I missed it. Presumably she was present to make the movie more appealing to little girls.... doubt that worked out super well, but she's the oddly cynical and realistic member of this motley 80s crew.The movie's plot seems to concern a sleazy manager (TV star Dirk Benedict) in his efforts to help a pair of wrestlers (Roddy Piper and Sam Fatu) win a championship and to win the heart of an intelligent rich girl (Tanya Roberts). Benedict plays it so broad, there's little room for whatever appeal is supposed to develop. But the film is a blast, at least for those who grew up in the 80s and enjoyed pro wrestling, or perhaps for people keen to see some really cheezy stuff from the period. Benedict's character, a sociopathic loser, strikes gold by combining his clients out of sheer desperation, organizing a rock 'n rasslin' tour that sells out gymnasiums across the country. The sequences showing local talent (and announcers) taking on Piper and Fatu are hilariously banal, if such a thing is possible. "Captain" Lou Albano (who, besides making this movie, also briefly managed Cyndi Lauper in the 80s and appeared on the legendary "Super Mario Bros. Super Show!" as Mario) is the villainous manager out to ruin Piper's career and put little Kellie Martin in the orphanage. At the film's climax, Piper and Fatu must battle Albano's fearsome "Cannibal Brothers", while Albano tosses Dirk Benedict (and, kid you not, Billy Barty) around at ringside for good measure. A gallery of fading but beloved faces emerges to see the title bout, including Ric Flair, Bruno Sammartino and "Classy" Fred Blassie (who, true to form, roots for the Cannibals). The music, provided by a group called "Kicks" who later change their name to "Kick", is so poor that it's hard to believe somebody (perhaps stuntman turned director Hal Needham) wasn't having a joke with it. Still, I can remember a time in the 80s when this type of thing was marginally acceptable, if not cool. There's a great scene where Benedict's character is supposed to be talking to a reporter from Rolling Stone, and he says he changed their name to "Kick" because, "Who ever heard of the Whos?" To which the reporter responds, "how about the Beatles?" Now, I wanted to single this scene out because, first of all it's the only intentionally funny scene in the film. Secondly, it gives a good capsule description of this movie's universe. The reporter is an ostensibly "real" person, much like the little girl. Everyone else, the wrestlers and rock stars and particularly Benedict, are running around as if they are in some kind of psychotic delusion; or, perhaps more accurately, they are playing a 10 year old boy's version of adults. Which is to say, psychopaths. Come on, you gotta love this movie!

oolatech2 I have seen a majority of Roddy Piper's films and this one I saw long before cable brought tbs and nwa wrestling into my home. I only knew who he was because I had read about him in the wrestling magazines I bought as a kid. Wrestling is like a circus without the animals (at least the real kind lol). I thought the movie was well done for being a low budget film. I was entertained but I have been a Wrestling fan since the days of Bruno Sammartino. I enjoyed the nostalgia of the old school wrestlers and though I am not much of a Dirk Bennedict fan I do remember him from the A Team. The plot made sense and I felt though it was predictable it was still interesting enough to set through more than once. Roddy Piper plays a much more subdued version of his true ring persona and considering he has been wrestling since he was 15 I think he took the bumps well and delivered for his fans. If you hate this film remember a lot of folks grew up watching the pretend sport instead of the drawn out, treat it like a TV show wrestling we see on TV presently. I liked this film much better than the Verne Gagne movie The Wrestler, but it isn't in the same league as the Mickey Rourke film of present day. It examines the wrestlers going after the title much like All The Marbles and leaves you cheering and jeering through out the film.

jonandshellie Although this movie is quite dated (as is evidenced by Dirk Benedicts awesome 80's-style pleated leather pants at the beginning of the film) it is still a good representation of how the old wrestling territories/promoters used to operate before the WWF/NWA/WCW took over and essentially eliminated the need for them.The movie is a nice time capsule if you were into wrestling in that era, and that is all. If you weren't a fan of wrestling, then you will find nothing of this movie that would appeal to you whatsoever (outside of the still smoking hot Tanya Roberts who looks AMAZING in this movie). It is about 1980's wrestling and 1980's wrestling promotion - period.Still, despite the obvious cheesiness that the movie exudes and its ultra-adherence to 1980's fashion/fads, it is still fun for the particular demographic of movie fan that would appreciate it. I remember watching this movie on a rainy, boring Saturday afternoon as a kid on a local independent station back in 1987/1988 and instantly loved the movie. I could only recommend it for the true wrestling fans out there, but not for anyone else.

Coxer99 If you're going to do a comedy about professional wrestling, at least make it funny. The real thing is hilarious, why can't the movies be just as funny. Well, Hal Needham has made a film about wrestling here and it's not funny, not silly, not even about wrestling. It's about a sleezy little windbag of a character named Smylak, played to sleazeball perfection by Dirk Benedict. (A-Tea,) He's egotistical, untrusting and looking for any way to make a quick buck. Where was Burt Reynolds? Needham assembled a cast of wrestlers for the film including Rowdy Roddy Piper, Captain Lou Albano and a cameo by the Nature Boy Ric Flair. A film made for kicks, not bucks. It doesn't even deliver in the kicks department. A waste of time and money, but hey, it got Charles Nelson Reilly a job.