Meet Marty Jannetty: The real life 'Wrestler'

Mickey Rourke won a BAFTA, Golden Globe, Independent Spirit and Academy Award for his starring role in the hit 2009 film, writes Craig Birch.

The movie revolved around a central character, a grappler who lost all of his riches from the mat game and carried on long after his time had been and gone, eventually until the end.

His curtain fell as a desperate figure, who was beyond saving. After a spate of real-life deaths, the general consensus was that the wrestling world chewed up and spat people out.

Our own 'British Bulldog' Davey Boy Smith, 'the Texas Tornado' Kerry Von Erich and 'Mr Perfect' Curt Hennig are just three examples. Jannetty has either shared a ring or show with them all.

That film struck a chord with every ring figure who had pulled on a pair of tights, the 53-year-old no different as he's in final throes of his career.

First name Fredrick, he has performed in world title contests and headlined pay-per-view events alongside Shawn Michaels as 'the Rockers.'

He beat his former partner in 1993 for the Intercontinental title, regarded as the organisation's second biggest belt. Jannetty also fought Ric Flair for the NWA crown in the 1980s.

He was top of the bill at the 1989 Survivor Series, appeared at three Wrestlemanias and prospered in a boom time for the business.

Last week, Darlaston's All Active Centre was his arena, as he visited the United Kingdom for a series of dates before heading home to Columbus, Georgia.

The former 'Rocker' readily admits he's not well off enough anymore to never work again, but insists that's not his reason for still accepting independent bookings at his time of life.

He readily accepts there's no way you can score a pinfall or make Father Time submit, but you can slow him down. Will can beat skill when the will is still willing.

He still loves the business, it's all he has ever known since he ever known for the last 30 years. And there's another consensus in 'sports entertainment.' Once a wrestler, always a wrestler.

He said: "I have to admit, that film resonated with me, with how the guy used to be in the spotlight and went on to the smaller venues later. He was supposed to be down but still loved it.

"Myself, I still need some money to live but even if I was broke, I would still love wrestling. It's only when I didn't connect with the fans anymore that I would probably slow down.

"It's like Michael Jordan when he switched to baseball for a bit, he went from flying in his own jet to riding the bus, just to do the sport he loved.

"The people are great and it's the same here, Australia, Japan and back home in the United States. The buzz they give you is a big part of the fun."

Rourke's character refers to himself as a "broken down piece of meat" in the film, shortly after undergoing a heart bypass.

Jannetty has no such problems. He's still fit and healthy, free of scars and retains a lot of the 'look' that made him one of wrestling's heart-throbs. He didn't have that many wars in the ring.

He has his faculties and, from a financial standpoint, it was actually wrestling that lost him most of his money.

Being away from home with business interests to look after didn't prove wise.

There was the Charles Austin controversy. Jannetty was working a match as 'the Rockers' in December 1990 when tragedy struck.

Austin was only a 'jobber,' there to go through the motions and make the stars look good, before losing in the end.

Everything was going like clockwork until Jannetty executed his finishing move, 'the Rocker Dropper,' on Austin.

It was a sequence he had performed before and since countless times without incident, even in the ring at Darlaston. This time, his opponent ended up breaking his neck instantly.

The counter argument in court was that Austin had tucked his head during the move, rather than 'pancaking' flat on the mat.

Austin was severely injured and sued Jannetty, Michaels and the WWE. When the case finally came to court in early 1994, Austin was awarded $26.7million in damages.

Jannetty said: "At WWE level, you got paid good even if you were just opening the shows. We used to say the national anthem was your ring music!

"They have a rate now where you sign your contract and you know what you are getting, but there was a lot of money flying around back then.

"I didn't really start out well in life, money wise. For me to able to buy a house outright in the place that I wanted, which was Florida at the time, was fantastic.

"The business made me a lot of money, but it also cost me half a million over a guy who had his neck broke in a match against me.

"That could have happened to anyone, we did the Rocker Dropper in the match here. He even said that, at the time.

"I was keeping up with him in hospital and stuff and I didn't really care that it was just an accident, someone was hurt and that concern comes first.

"After that, I did a bit of mortgage brokering in some down time and I invested in a gym in my hometown with a buddy I grew up with.

"He ended up being a sychester, he took the money and ran. I haven't seen him since. It's a problem having businesses you can't watch over.

"We were on the road 300 days a year back then and, sometimes, we would do three towns in a day. You would have the A team, say Hulk Hogan, in one place and usually sold out.

"Then it would be someone like Macho Man Randy Savage or Jake 'the Snake' Roberts headlining another card, which would be a little smaller but sold out again.

"Then there would be a third show, where sometimes me and Shawn would be top of the bill. We were always there for pay-per-view."

Some might expect Jannetty to be a little bitter about those problems, more expect him to hold it against Michaels for how their tandem split.

In the storyline, Michaels memorably rammed his head through Brutus Beefcake's 'Barber Shop' glass window, a staggeringly violent incident at the time.

Such was their chemistry as a unit, despite never winning the tag team championship, was that few could decipher that the bad blood between them after was real or not.

Suspicions that it was personal heightened when Michaels shot to main event status for the rest of his career, winning multiple titles and becoming a multi-millionaire over the next 20 years.

Jannetty slid down the card and, grudge matches with Michaels aside, never enjoyed mainstream success again.

A poignant moment he did get to enjoy was in 2005, when he was invited back by WWE for one-time only reunion. For that night and that night alone, 'the Rockers' reformed.

He said: "I have a lot of pictures, starting with my first match for a world title. That was even before I starting wearing long tights.

"In my first six months in the business, I was wrestling Ric Flair for a world title. I ended up doing it a dozen times.

"I hadn't even met Shawn yet, by that point, but I mentioned it in character in that infamous Barber Shop segment, telling him he had never done it!

"That happened in 1991 and people are still talking about it. It's 23 years later and everyone remembers me being thrown through a window!

"Some people think he had more of the look and charisma but, as workers, I thought we were pretty even. We both could do certain things the other couldn't.

"We were like twin brothers, we even knew each other's body language and that's why our wrestling worked so well together. We still keep in touch by text.

"For us to be reunited for that one night was one of the best moments of my career. From over 30 years in the business, that really stood out to me.

"I had been out of the mainstream for seven years and I was 45. When you are in this business, you can stay young forever."