"Can you smell what the Rourke is cooking?" Mickey Rourke hits Wrestlemania

source: youtube.com

UPDATE – Rourke’s publicist has denied that he will attend Wrestlemania, despite having been officially invited. Boo!

On the red carpet for last weekend’s SAG awards, Mickey Rourke revealed that he has accepted an offer from WWE Emperor Vince McMahon to appear at Wrestlemania 25.

The former teen heart throb has returned to the limelight thanks to his Oscar-nominated lead role in Darren Aronofsky‘s brilliant film The Wrestler. Rourke stars as Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson, a professional wrestler from the 80’s who is now struggling to make it in a world that no longer has any use for him. So clearly, everyone involved with the film was thinking since day one – “cha ching!”

Rourke said he is looking to take out Chris Jericho at the April 5th event. By then, Rourke could be an Oscar winner. The only question is, will Rourke appear as himself, or his tragic anti-hero The Ram. I would love to see an Oscar winner take on a professional wrestler in the ring; but I don’t think it would be wise for ‘The Ram’ to turn up. After all, he has a weak heart. And if the fight ends the same way the film does, well, welcome to the most depressing Wrestlemania ever.

Could Rourke’s commitment to Wrestlemania lead to a brave new age of Oscar campaigning. Can we now expect Frank Langella to announce his candidacy for President in 2012? Will Brad Pitt have plastic surgery to turn himself into a legitimate old man baby? Will Sean Penn fake his own assassination? (Too soon?)

Check out my 5- star review of The Wrestler here.