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Wrestling with Satan
Taking Satan to the Mat
USA 2009
produced by Paul Aldridge, Tom Borden, Patrick Eibl, Christina Keating, Bob Sarles, Lawrence Lipman (executive), Mathius Mack Gertz (executive) for SayWhyNot, M.M. Gertz Entertainment, Wandering Eye Productions
directed by Paul Aldridge, Tom Borden
starring Rob Vaughn, Dennis Dobson, John Ernst, Jeramy Jett, Anisa Vaughn, Jason Allman, Chris Allman, A.J. Styles, Dr. Death (= Steve Williams), Esau Mazerolle
music by Ed Bogas
documentary
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
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Wrestling leagues are a dime a dozen at least in the US - but the CWF
is the league with a difference, because it's not only about wrestling,
it's also about preaching ... yup, that's right, CWF stands for
"Christian Wrestling Federation", and it's not only a wrestling
league but also a ministry, so in addition to brutal brawls you also get
your fair share of the "word of God", and the matches are all
based on simplistic good-versus-evil concepts (like with most leagues,
actually). CWF founder and owner Rob Vaughn (wrestling under the name
"Jesus Freak") and his wife Anisa figure it's just a drastic way
to bring the word of the Lord across to today's youth, and with some
success even, but as so many "good Christians", they forget that
real Christianity is not about worshipping God but doing good to others -
something the documentary falls short of showing the Vaughns and company
doing -, plus the biblical fight good vs evil was never a physical one as
represented in the wrestling matches, and Jesus was anything but a
grappler. This critique (entirely on my part) aside though, the
documentary actually does a pretty good job painting a very unbiased
picture of the league as a whole, it's a group of people held together by
two common goals, spread the word of the Lord and deliver a fine wrestling
show. There are plenty of opportunities in this to make the film just
campy fun, and even though that might have been a hoot, it's a testament
for the filmmakers' sincerity that they didn't just go the road of satire
or worse the Michael Moore-way of presenting things but really just be the
fly on the wall - and thus brings across a rather interesting footnote of
wrestling history that allows one to have one's own thoughts on the
subject (as I did above) while taking one through the highs and lows of
the federation, peppered with many a fight scene, and trying to make this
as entertaining as possible. No matter what you think about
Christianity, if you like wrestling and are interested in some of the more
obscure facts/leagues, this is definitely a documentary for you.
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