Vince McMahon’s sideshow – The WWE studios

With the WWE cruising through with packed arenas and sky rocketing TRP ratings despite the kind of drab shows that are being offered recently, the voices demanding a change or a look into the WWE creative is growing louder every week with each show. One other sphere that the WWE has been a part of for quite some time now is Hollywood. The WWE Studios is considered to be one of the biggest production units present till date. Considered to be Mr. Vince Mcmahon’s pet, the WWE Studios has steadily increased the number of movies it releases every year which comes to a total of about twenty films. Let us take a look at the various movies that the WWE has released up until now and see if they are any better than the dreary shows of RAW and SmackDown.

Of the twenty movies that the WWE studios released till now, John Cena has played the lead actor in four of them. The Marine, directed by John Bonito is a so-called action packed ride. The movie revolves around the plot that John Cena’s wife gets kidnapped by the villain played by Robert Patrick and his gang and how Cena risks his life to save her. This movie is a long and arduous journey for any movie fan, especially action movie buffs. Quite surprisingly, this movie made heaps at the box office and was very recently dethroned as the highest grosser by WWE studios. Two other films that John Cena was cast in were Legendary and The Reunion. Both these films fell short of crashing and burning at the box office. It was after the movie Legendary that John Cena’s acting credibility was highly criticised. John Cena’s only movie to justify his acting credibility is 12 rounds. Though with the same kind of story as The Marine (or for that matter a bunch of the movies made by the WWE studios; The Marine 2, The Marine 3, The Chaperone and also the sequel to the 12 rounds which is due soon), the 12 rounds has a very engaging screenplay and a some worthy action sequences. John Cena did rather well for his abilities in the role of a husband (also a cop) fighting to save his wife from getting killed.

That’s What I am, starring the Viper Randy Orton (supporting role) is the only film that the WWE studios made that was devoid of all the ridiculous acts. This drama is centred on a middle school teacher played by Ed Harris and his fight against intolerance and hatred in the America of the 1960s. Unfortunately, this film failed at the box office but received a lot of critical acclaim. Several other attempts by the WWE studios in the name of comedy include Knucklehead, starring The Big Show, Bending the Rules, starring The Edge which failed miserably at the box office.

One movie that is worth mentioning and even praiseworthy is The Condemned, starring Stone Cold. A movie jam-packed with stunning action sequences, The Condemned is about a bunch of vicious criminals being kidnapped and stranded on an island by a mad billionaire who instructs them to fight and kill until only one is left out to be viewed by internet’s audience. This movie was a huge success at the box office. WWE studios’ biggest blockbuster came this very month. The Call, starring Halle Berry and WWE superstar David Otunga is a serial killer thriller. The entire cast did justice to their roles and the movie carried on exceedingly well with no drags and hiccups.

As you can see, the WWE studios despite the occasional hits is struggling to make a mark consistently at the box office as are the shows of RAW and Smackdown. People in charge need to seriously introspect as to where they are heading before ruining the franchise even further. If the present trend continues, I will not be surprised if Vince plans to put aside WWE Studios for a while.