Why Mickey Rourke Didn't Face Chris Jericho
Emily Bell WWE had major plans for celebrity actor Mickey Rourke to wrestle Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 25. The long history of WrestleMania features a hit list of famous names from outside of the wrestling business to join the biggest spectacle in wrestling. Rourke was having a career resurgence for The Wrestler film, and it only made sense for the biggest promotion to bring him in.
However, the plans set in motion would get canceled due to things outside of WWE’s control. Jericho has confirmed the rumors of Rourke backing out for unique reasons. WWE hasn’t gone in-depth about this in any of their productions even though it is a fascinating story. WrestleMania 25 may be remembered differently if Rourke wrestled Jericho like planned.
The Original Plan For Mickie Rourke At WrestleMania 25
Chris Jericho was one of the best wrestlers in the world when WrestleMania 25 season approached and was without a major match. Vince McMahon wanted Jericho in the celebrity attraction of Mickey Rourke wrestling him during the height of The Wrestler. Jericho has admitted on his podcast that he was excited about the match. It was the perfect opportunity to show how good he was in a story that would hook the very casual viewer.
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The idea was to have Jericho degrade and disrespect older wrestlers like Rourke’s character in The Wrestler for months leading up to the show. Rourke would wrestle the match representing them looking to get revenge in true Hollywood fashion but in a wrestling ring for real. Jericho claims that Rourke was excited about it and looked forward to doing something new.
WWE had major wrestlers like Triple H, Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Edge and John Cena in the triple main event. However, it lacked the name that would provide a selling point to the non-wrestling fan like Floyd Mayweather and Donald Trump did in the previous two years. Rourke’s timing with a hit movie about wrestling made him the perfect choice.
Why Mickie Rourke Pulled Out Of Wrestling Chris Jericho
Vince McMahon planned to wait on announcing the match until after the Oscars to get the most hype from the show. Mickey Rourke however referenced it during a red-carpet interview at another award show that essentially confirmed rumors of him wrestling Chris Jericho. The team around Rourke talked him into backing out of the agreed WWE deal.
Eddie Murphy had recently been removed from serious consideration of winning an Oscar for his nomination in Dreamgirls due to him having the embarrassing Norbit film coming out around that time. Rourke associating with something deemed beneath Hollywood’s top actors could have harmed his chances of winning the Best Actor award he was nominated for.
The plans were called off with Rourke ending all plans for his match with Jericho. WWE even got the two on Larry King Live to show some tension in the prior weeks that was done for nothing. It was too late to put Jericho in another feud, so he ended up facing three legends with the same story in a handicap match.
What Could Have Been?
The trio of Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka and Ricky Steamboat faced off with Chris Jericho in an undercard attraction match at WrestleMania 25. All three guys benefited from Mickey Rourke’s backing out by getting relatively huge paydays for their efforts. Steamboat lasted until the end and turned back the clock for a genuinely great finish. Jericho won the match, but Steamboat was one of the most successful parts of the show.
WWE made the best of a last-minute change and did end up getting some Rourke involvement. A later addition to the plans saw Rourke agreeing to attend the show in the crowd and have a confrontation with Jericho after the match. The win for Jericho made his arrogance grow enough to challenge Rourke, who in turn knocked him out (Rourke was a former boxer) for a fun moment.
Rourke having the original match with Jericho likely would not have had the same in-ring fun as Steamboat did in that role. However, the star power of Rourke is something WWE could have benefited from in the marketing of the show. Rourke’s fame was at an all-time high just after falling short of the Oscar and an actual match would have sold more PPVs.
Jericho was performing at such a high level that he believed Rourke could have a good match with him. It is hard to argue against an all-time great like Jericho at the peak of his career. The segments and teases between the two were fun and effective at creating interest. Jericho and Rourke could have easily crafted another form of a WrestleMania moment if not for the actor changing his mind in fear of it hurting his reputation.
