Frank Shamrock Talks Having Mickey Rourke’s Back

Frank Shamrock, MMA fighter and brother of Ken, recently spoke with Submission Radio, and spoke about attending WrestleMania 25 with Mickey Rourke. Here is what he had to say…

On coming down with Mickey Rourke to WrestleMania in case Chris Jericho tried anything:

Well you know Mickey is a good friend of mine. So when he got the call to do Wrestlemania, he thought that there was a good chance they’ll double cross him, or jump him, or this and that, or whatever, but he’s that guy, he’s old school. He’s like from the streets, he’s a real dude, hardcore. So he calls me up, he’s like “Listen, man, I’ve got my movie career going again The Wrestler is up for this award and everything.” He’s like “There’s no way I can go down like this.” He’s like, “If they pull something on me, I need some back up”. So he’s like “I want you to come out and I want to bring this killer with you just in case”. So I’m like “okay” [laughs]. So yeah I flew out, went out to his big pad in Hollywood and then we also went on Vince’s [McMahon] privet jet and I brought Clint Coronel who’s “The Aztec.”

He’s like a golden glove boxer, an MMA fighter, and just hardcore looking dude, and ’cause like Mickey’s serious. He didn’t understand that it was a gimmick, that Jericho was using it as a promotional tool. Mickey’s like me, he’s from the streets. Like if you say, “Hey, I’m calling you out,” it’s like “Oh, well, we need to deal with this before it goes somewhere else.” So he thought it was real. He thought they were going to have an altercation. He didn’t know what the end result was going to be, and he brought some forces and I was in that group. So, yeah, it was crazy. I’ve never been to WrestleMania. It was like one of my childhood dreams, and then within like two weeks we’re on Vince’s plane, I’m sitting there ringside, and the whole thing’s happening, and I was just like, wow what a crazy experience.

I kind of get where Rourke is coming from here.  Wrestlers are an odd bunch at the best of times and can often work people over ‘stiff’ in the ring who they deem to be ‘unworthy’ or not having enough respect for their acrobatics.  Ken Shamrock supposedly had quite a few stiff matches when he made the jump from UFC back in the day.  By the way, ‘The Wrestler’… good movie.