Cage-match cinema: we take a look at the 10 greatest wrestlers to make the transition from the squared circle to the silver screen

Wrestling Digest, June, 2003 by Mike Stokes

7. Roddy Piper

Irreverent and unpredictable, "Piper's Pit" was much more than a hilarious staple of WWE broadcasts in the 1980s, it was a springboard to B-movie superstardom for its rowdy host. After forgettable roles in "Hell Comes to Frogtown" and "Body Slam" in 1987, Piper made a splash on the big screen as the lead in John Carpenter's 1988 offbeat aliens-among-us thriller "They Live." With the immortal words, "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass ... and I'm all out of bubblegum," Piper begins blasting the insidious invaders to evil alien bits. The Rowdy One followed the success of "They Live" with an array of shoot-em-ups like "Sci-Fighters," "Tough and Deadly," and "Immortal Combat." While he's since guest-starred on several series, Piper came this close to prime time when he was set to team with Jesse Ventura in the proposed grappler/cop series "Tag Team." In it, the colorful pair were wrestlers who alter being blacklisted from the sport by an evil promoter join the police academy and fight crime. And they say there are no original ideas left in Hollywood.

8. Terry Funk

Old Chainsaw Charlie might not have been blessed with leading-man looks, but he's logged an impressive career as a movie thug. Funk's greatest screen moment came as one of Ben Gazzara's henchmen and disgruntled Double Deuce bouncer in the 1989 tour de force and TBS staple "Road House." Funk's bigscreen career began much earlier, however, with his role as Frankie the Thumper in Sylvester Stallone's "Paradise Alley" in 1978. (Funk also served as the film's wrestling choreographer.) He re-teamed with Stallone several times, beginning with a small part in the 1987 arm-wrestling opus "Over the Top" and as a stuntman in "Rambo III". and "Rocky V." A poignant behind-the-scenes look at Funk's personal life and dedication to wrestling is also a prominent feature of the 1999 wrestling documentary, "Beyond the Mat."

9. Prince Iukea

Though Prince Iukea achieved his greatest fame as a wrestler, his greatest professional success is in film. Though he's incognito on screen, Iukea (a.k.a. Mike Haynes) has been in many high-profile films including "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me," "Scream 2," and "Scent of a Woman"--as a stuntman. Iukea has also appeared as a bit player in several telepics including "Cinderella" and "Andersonville." Perhaps the Prince's greatest claim to fame, however, is a childhood guest spot in a 1982 episode of "Chips."

10. Professor Toru Tanaka

Though he was often typecast as a bodyguard, butler, or sumo wrestler, the ubiquitous Tanaka seemed to be a silent fixture of Hollywood. The salt-throwing former tag-team partner of Tanaka's finest work was his 1987 role as Subzero in "The Running Man." Tanaka appeared in more than two dozen films and television shows ranging from "The A-Team" to "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure." He also remains the toughest man this side of Merlin Olsen to ever to appear on "Little House on the Prairie."

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