The following review contains Spoilers ahead of Friday's release of "Legendary."

By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

There are two conclusions to nearly every sports movie ever made. Either the underdog completes the journey and wins the ultimate match-up for the celebratory triumph (the "Mighty Ducks" finish) or the underdog completes the journey and comes seconds, inches, or moments short of the ultimate victory, setting up the babyface sympathy for a near-victory (the "Little Big League" finish).

WWE's first movie shifting away from giant explosions to tear-jerking family dramas, "Legendary," goes with the second finish of the underdog nearly winning the finals of an amateur wrestling tournament, but...wait for it...he wins in life by uniting his family together after a decade of separation.

The underdog is Cal Chetley, who is played by Devon Graye. John Cena plays Mike Chetley, the older brother who went undefeated as a high school amateur wrestler and distanced himself from the family when his father died in a car accident.

The Cal Chetley character is a stringbean, momma's boy trying to "come of age" as his mother, played by Patricia Clarkson, essentially tries to prevent him from crossing the street without permission, much less try out for the amateur wrestling team.

Skipping ahead to the end, Cal goes from nothing to something as an amateur wrestling, brings Cena's character back into the family fold, reunites the strained mother and older son relationship, and comes just short of victory in the tournament finals attempting a classic Chetley Family move.

Watching the advanced screening of "Legendary," I can say the movie moves along at a brisk pace and keeps the viewer engaged in the journey with strong performances from Clarkson, Danny Glover, Devon Graye, and the unheralded Madeleine Martin, who plays Luli, the high school love-interest of little Cal Chetley. WWE Studios missed out on marketing her "steal the show," spunky performance as Luli.

The script is fine and follows the sports movie formula at a predictable pace. Predictability isn't a knock if the movie can engage the viewer, which it does. However, some of the conflicts, issues, and characters weren't entirely fleshed out, leaving some unanswered questions by the end of the movie.

The best example is why Cena's character still looks like he can bench press the entire high school wrestling team if he's been down-on-his-luck for ten years and living in a trailer. With that back-story, I would have expected a scraggly beard, a pot belly, and perhaps an old dog sitting on the porch.

As far as Cena's performance goes, the phrase "hide the weaknesses and accentuate the strengths" applies. Cena has a firm camera presence, but struggles to find a different way of delivering his lines that breaks from the classic Cena preacher-style promo on WWE TV. His dialogue is kept brief, with the key scene in the movie being Clarkson delivering a monologue while Cena stands his ground at a distance.

That said, Cena is improving. The movie is a safe way for him to explore the "family drama/comedy" genre after two blow-'em up action movies. He probably wouldn't be considered for a leading role in a dramatic film outside of WWE's umbrella, but he holds his own in this supporting role.

Working with a small budget for these WWE Studios projects, I give the producers an above-average grade putting together a movie that's marketed exclusively to WWE's PG audience. It's a fine movie for families and kids, but doesn't break any new ground in the sports movie genre.

The movie serves the sport of amateur wrestling well, though. One of the key strengths of the movie is the focus on amateur wrestling, including work-outs, training, speed, balance, agility, and competition.

Applying the movie to pro wrestling, the "underdog story" is such a classic, relatable story that seems to be lost on TV wrestling writers. I find it impossible to watch any TV show or movie without thinking about how the story can be applied to the wrestling business because of how flawed the industry is in the storytelling department.

On the whole, WWE has been going through the motions for ten years, save for some exceptions here and there like the Nexus storyline earlier this year. Meanwhile, the poor folks in TNA continue to prove week after week they have no idea how to write a wrestling show.

Right now, the best TV feuds can be found on the "Real Housewives" series, the best conflicts and most outlandish characters are on "Keeping up with the Kardashians," and the most heavily-hyped and best-promoted TV match this summer was on "Camp Rock 2."

I wrote about this earlier this year how "the journey" is lost on pro wrestling TV writers. Add the "underdog story," making for two valuable tools in the toolbox that are collecting dust.

WWE was positioned to make big bucks off the classic Jeff Hardy vs. The Undertaker "underdog story" in 2002 when Hardy, who had personal problems at the time, challenged Taker for the Undisputed Title in a classic ladder match. The match contained Jim Ross's famous line, "Climb the ladder, kid, make yourself famous!" It's still remembered by people today, thanks to the "Little Big League" finish of Hardy coming up just short, but increasing his star value in near-victory.

In 2008, there was "little" Evan Bourne making a name for himself in WWE by challenging Matt Hardy for the ECW Title after winning a vote on the Cyber Sunday PPV. WWE sold that story terrifically with Bourne coming inches, seconds, moments away from the ECW Title. It also had the "Little Big League" finish of Bourne coming up just short, but increasing his star value in near-victory.

Where's the next "underdog" or "journey to greatness" story going to come from to make new stars in pro wrestling? WWE had money with Evan Bourne earlier this summer before he fell off the map. WWE has effectively used Rey Mysterio in the "underdog story" over the years, but not recently. WWE has a potential money-maker with Chris Jericho's "journey back to the top" story, but it could depend on his future in the company.

The next wave of pro wrestling stars could be made by using these two tools in the toolboxes more efficiently and more often. It seems to be lost on pro wrestling TV writers. Coincidentally, WWE's movie division produced a movie that comes out on Friday with all of the elements of a good story that can be applied to pro wrestling.

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