Jimmo's Angle Special: Review of 'Supermen: A Story of British Wrestlers'

Last week, I was lucky enough to get a sneak peak of Supermen: A Story of British Wrestlers, a documentary film by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, looking at what wrestlers go through in their careers. It consists of many interviews with British wrestlers and explores their varying opinions on a range of significant topics.

Throughout this film, there are interviews with veterans such as Danny Boy Collins, Robbie Brookside and Dave Finlay as well as young, up-and-comers Joel Redman, Rockstar Spud and Marty Scurll. This was a really impressive thing for me as not only was there a great mix of old and young, but nearly two years after the filming of this documentary, some of these gentlemen have gone onto big things; Joel Redman has since been signed to a developmental deal with the WWE, Spud has made an impact in TNA in the last few months, Scurll has been on TNA's reality show British Boot Camp as well as an appearance on ITV's Take Me Out, and Brookside is now a trainer for WWE's NXT developmental system. Good choices by the makers of this film!

There are many themes and topics looked at in great detail in this film including why they got into the business, injuries, strain on family life and relationships. The subject that really interested me most was the comments made about training. There are very polarising views on this subject as the veterans admit that times have changed with regards to who can train, whilst the younger wrestlers concede that there aren't as many veterans around to learn from anymore.

I, like many other reviewers, don't want to give too much away here. So I'll keep this brief and say that if you are a part of the British wrestling scene or a fan, then this documentary is definitely for you. I'd like to think that it could give a good representation of British wrestling to outsiders, too; maybe it could even change some attitudes of ignorant, 'wrestling's fake isn't it?' people if they gave this film a chance. They could then understand the sacrifices that the wrestlers make in order to entertain us every weekend.

One of the many things this film highlights, that maybe none of us remember sometimes, is that these guys are regular people like me and you: They hurt mentally and physically at various times; they have families; they have dreams and are passionate about something; ultimately, they need to make a living (for those that do it full-time).

This film is available on www.supermenfilm.co.uk from Saturday 5th April (the day before Wrestlemania XXX). I urge you to take a look at it and spread the word of this thought-provoking documentary film.

Other links:

• Supermen Film Facebook page
• Supermen Film Twitter page

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