Torch asst. editor James Caldwell will be joined by Rob McNichol on Thursday's PWTorch Livecast. Tune into the show at 5:30 p.m. EST at Blogtalkradio.

GUEST EDITORIAL
By Rob McNichol, The Sun U.K. reporter

As the curtain falls on Oscars week, there is a filmic feel about wrestling right now.

From movie buff Goldust's surprise role as a supporting actor alongside Chris Jericho on Superstars to Bam Bam Bigelow's daughter Kathryn being named Best Actress, it feels like there are Tinseltown touches all over pro wrestling.

But now, TNA Productions have produced, from their Hurt Locker room, a piece to rival a nominee from last year's Academy Awards ceremony.

Or is a replica?

Starring Terry Bollea, as Hulk Hogan, it is a story of a once great wrestling superstar who, 20 years after his peak, comes back again for a match despite being physically not up to it. Close friends and family beg him not to, but he's goes ahead anyway because of the intoxicating nature of the business, and for the love of the fans.

Is that the main event storyline from the first TNA show of the new Monday Night War? Or is a synopsis of the acclaimed movie "The Wrestler."

Substituting Hulk Hogan for Randy "The Ram" Robinson, there are plenty of similarities. I don't foresee Hogan dipping into CZW for a match where he lets Necro Butcher use a staple gun on him, but from the profile of the man to the haircut and tan, you can see a resemblance on many levels.

To be fair, it is likely that the Rourke/Aronofsky tag team took more from Hogan than the Hulkster did from Randy 'The Ram.' They drew on a lot of real-life example to create the character – that's why it was so successful. But the direct portrayal at the moment surely imbibes the spirit of Rourke's Golden Globe winning turn.

Hogan's relationship with daughter Brooke has been a little strained, and since Hogan assumes we've all seen Hogan Knows Best, he can use this on TV. This doesn't completely parallel The Ram's family issues, but it's close enough.

The movie is based around Randy Robinson stepping back into the ring with famous nemesis The Ayatollah, and this plot in the movie, at least the characterization, was likely lifted a little from Hogan's battle with The Iron Sheik.

Fast forward to 2010's TNA, and Hogan getting in the ring to battle Flair again mirrors the movie considerably.

Worryingly, all this means that that Bubba the Love Sponge is basically a stripper that Hogan has been pursuing. Ugh. I'll take Marissa Tomei, thanks, if that's all the same to you.

And maybe we haven't got to the end of the movie yet. WCW pulled out a couple of "Flair has a heart attack" angles back in the day, which Russo and/or Bischoff will be familiar with, and may be tempted to make the sequel to, starring Hogan.

As long as we don't stray too far into the world of this being too close to a tasteless scene, this wouldn't be the worst ending to the storyline. How about Hogan being talked into one more singles match with Flair, but breaking down soon into it? Hogan disappears for whatever reason, leaving Eric Bischoff to reveal his true colors as a no-good nasty heel and run his role over the company. Hogan returns to a hero's welcome a couple of months later, and wrestles back control.

Listen, I'm not knocking TNA for lifting a little from the movie, if that is what they have done. Heck, the film itself wasn't completely original, and if you are going to rip off a movie, best make it a quality Oscar-nominated one, and not the low-budget B-movies that TNA has emulated for much of it's existence.

Here's the worrying thing though - Al Snow was working backstage at Impact this week.

Please let's not see Avatar – The Remake.

"Rob McNichol is a senior writer for The UK Sun's Wrestling section (www.thesun.co.uk/wrestling) and the creator of The One Sided Ring podcast which is available on iTunes. You can follow him on Twitter @robmcnichol)"

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