Wrestling Hollywood

In what was quite possibly the most tragic event to occur since 9/11 Mickey Rourke lost his bid for best actor to Sean Penn and Marisa Tomei lost to Penelope Cruz in the best supporting actress category for their roles in The Wrestler at the Academy Awards last night.
I did learn that Hulk Hogan was offered Rourke's role perhaps if he got it he would have won.
To prove I'm not lying here's the interview he gave to the LA Times:

source: www.pwtorch.com-- In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Hulk Hogan reveals that he was asked to play the lead character in The Wrestler. Hogan claims he was sent the script and considered for the part of Randy "The Ram" Robinson. He read it a few times when it crossed his agent's desk, but passed on the movie. Nonetheless, Hogan believes Mickey Rourke did a great job in the film."The movie got made and they cast Mickey Rourke," Hogan said. "I thought he did a great job."While Hogan was complimentary of Rourke, he wishes Rourke could have had 30 years of wrestling experience to tell a more accurate story."I don't think the public could have handled it, though," Hogan told the Los Angeles Times. "Just made me realize after seeing the movie with Mickey Rourke that if someone does the real Hulk Hogan movie, you better hang on for the ride, brother."In his eyes, Hogan believes the whole movie is shock value. He fears the public perception of professional wrestling will be tainted by the film's view of the business."Made me realize how shock value - that just the drop of reality - can have an effect on the public," Hogan said. "It was wrestling light. Very light version of wrestling."When talking about blading, Hogan said there are wrestlers who blade 25 to 30 times per week. He also said he has friends who do staple gun matches similar to the one in The Wrestler 300 nights per year.