Let’s take a look at four of the best wrestling tie-ins from comics, manga, and film. There have been plenty of times when we’ve seen wrestlers and entertainers crossover but rarely do we see things carry over from the silver screen to the ring.
Did some of your favorite wrestling tie-ins make the list?
Tiger Mask and Jushin Thunder Liger
The Tiger Mask character has been around since the 1970s and in wrestling since the 1980s. Jushin Liger has been around since the 1980s. Before that, both characters were manga series with Tiger Mask being true to its wrestling roots.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling was quick to scoop up the rights to both names right when lucha libre was starting to blend well with the company’s in-ring style. While there has always been one Jushin Thunder Liger, we’ve seen several Tiger Mask and Tiger Mask offshoots.
Of the main line-up, the OG, All Japan’s Tiger Mask, and the third (Koji Kanemoto) was considered prime for the mask. The second (Mitsuharu Misawa) and the third would go on to greater success once they removed their masks.
As for Satoru Sayama, the original, he would lay the roots for MMA in Japan via his Shooto organization. Also, he would train two other wrestlers in the Tiger Mask vein: Super Tiger II and Tiger Shark.
Of the wrestling tie-ins on this list, this is definitely the most well-known.
Z-Gangsta/Zeus
Here we have a good tie-in and late one. Late actor Tiny Lister—best known as Debo in the Friday films—played Zeus in the 1989 WWE-backed film No Holds Barred. Lister was later brought in as a short-term heel against star Hulk Hogan, continuing the feud from the film.
Years later in 1996, Hogan has been in WCW for a few years now and Lister is brought in as Z-Gangsta. I don’t know what befell Zeus between 1990 and 1996 besides an iconic role in Friday but he still had beef with the Hulkster.
While I enjoyed the overall feud, it was a skippable one that had the goal of getting Hogan some reaction from the WCW crowd, according to then booker Kevin Sullivan.
Manik/Suicide
This character is native to Impact Wrestling/TNA Wrestling. Sporting an all red/black/sometimes bluish bodysuit and mask, he’s the perfect character for the X-Division. The main reason for this: any light heavyweight can wrestle in the costume.
Muscular, skinny fat, a few inches too short, white, Asian, flyer, technician—it doesn’t matter. Manik doesn’t speak, he gestures and has an easy enough moveset for everyone to work around. Hell, a wrestler can take their usual approach to a match and just do Manik’s finisher and it’s gravy!
Also, the X-Division’s roots are in high flying and in the same way that New Japan and WCW figured out< the colorful, flashy flyers catch on. The faux-Spider-Man/Deadpool vibes of Manik works well here just in case TNA wants those younger viewers.
So, where’s the tie-in? Manik was created as a character for the 2008 TNA Impact game. The game didn’t do well and the character should’ve gone away with the game but it caught on. Nowadays, Manik is basically the X-Division version of Dusty Rhodes’ The Midnight Rider.
The Muscle Buster
Very rarely does a wrestling move from a comic make the jump to the ring. Oftentimes, the wrestling moves are depicted in such an exaggerated manner that not even athletes this side of Ricochet or Kota Ibushi could pull them off cleanly.
One move that managed to make the transition is The Muscle Buster from Kinnikuman. If you read our article on comics and wrestling, you know how much praise I put on this manga. The main hero Kinnikuman has a finisher called The Kinniku Buster—or The Muscle Buster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTognhz9K6U
Credit: Sam (via YouTube)
There are two wrestlers who became synonymous with the move: Samoa Joe’s which ends in something of a suplex and Mohammed Yone, who sometimes does a version similar to Kinnikuman’s.
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