Oscars tomorrow night – will Rourke then head to WrestleMania 25?
The Oscars take place Sunday night with Mickey Rourke nominated for Best Actor in a Feature Film for his role in “The Wrestler”.
The ceremony airs live in the U.S on ABC and here in the UK on Sky Movies.
For wrestling fans, the big question over the next couple of days is whether or not Rourke will be involved with WWE between now and WrestleMania 25 on Sunday, April 5. At one point, it certainly appeared that Rourke was at least going to make an appearance at the PPV, with some speculating that he could even step into the ring to face Chris Jericho.
Shortly after both Jericho and Rourke appeared on CNN’s Larry King Live to start getting some mainstream interest in the angle, Rourke’s people announced that the actor would not be at WrestleMania. However, many believe that Rourke backing out of a Mania angle – or even a match with Jericho – was done in order to prevent harming his chances of winning an Academy Award, with the feeling being that those able to cast a vote may not look at Rourke’s involvement with the WWE as a good thing.
On Friday night here in the UK, Rourke appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, briefly discussing a possible appearance at WrestleMania and admitting he enjoyed the physical side of his role in The Wrestler.
“I was going to wrestle,” Rourke told Ross on his BBC1 show. “But after I started listening to people other than me, they won’t allow me to do it.”
Although unconfirmed, there’s certainly a feeling within the company that come Monday, regardless of whether or not Rourke is named Best Actor, his role with the WWE heading towards WrestleMania will be back on.
Whether his role at WrestleMania will be as a wrestler or acting as a cornerman for somebody else to face Chris Jericho remains to be seen, but the feeling is that we’ll learn in the next few days which direction things will head in.
On a side note, Hulk Hogan told the LA Times earlier today that at one point he was being lined up to play Rourke’s character, ‘Randy The Ram’. Dubious? Me too.
Phil Lowe
phil@ifight365.com
