On the morning of Wrestlemania 35 in East Rutherford, myself and fellow Pop Break staff writer Rob Crowther were fortunate enough to attend Mark Out at the Meadowlands at The Meadowlands Plaza Hotel in nearby Secaucus. On the floor of the ballroom stood Hall of Famers, hardcore legends, journalists responsible for millions made into fans, legit shooters, former Horsemen (and their prodigious progeny).
Among them was a tall, bespectacled man with silver hair and a love for the professional wrestling industry unsurpassed by even our own Pop Break staff. The man was Evan Ginzburg, associate producer of acclaimed Darren Aronofsky film The Wrestler, and the recent wrestling documentary, 350 Days. We were lucky to have Evan Ginzburg share some of his time, insight, and humor with us.
The film, 350 Days, is a documentary about the grind of the road life on professional wrestlers, especially what it was like during the 1980s wrestling boom period told by the wrestlers themselves, correct?
Yes. 38 of the greatest legends in history, of which a half dozen or more have passed since the making of this movie. We’ve lost George “The Animal” Steele, Ox Baker, Larry Sharpe, The Wolfman (Vilmos Farkas), Don Fargo and so on. The great, Don Leo Jonathan, has passed as well. Basically, we’ve preserved history as JJ Dillon told us and we’re very proud of that. The name of the film comes from the fact that guys like Ric Flair, they would wrestle, literally, 350 days. Greg Valentine told me he did about 320 days so that’s accurate. It’s right in the ballpark. And the toll that takes on your family, your body, your psyche, and being on the road, away from your family.
These guys used to wrestle on Christmas, Thanksgiving, Starrcade, Survivor Series, and, you know, “I’m sorry I can’t make your graduation. I can’t make your wedding. I’m not home for the birth of my child,” and that’s the story it tells. It’s a real human interest movie. It’s not a shoot interview. It’s a real film. Our editor, Michael Burlingame, worked with Paul McCartney, Sting (of The Police,) Mariah Carey, and so on. We’re very proud of it. It took six years to give birth to this film … and The Wrestler took seven … people don’t realize this.
Now, looking at those two films on your resume, I have to ask: Lifelong wrestling fan or is this something that you picked up along the way?
I’ve been a wrestling fan since 1972. The first match I ever went to was ’74. It was Fred Blassie and Nikolai Volkoff against Bruno [Sammartino] and [Chief Jay] Strongbow at The Garden with my dad. All of them are gone. All five of them are gone. So, people don’t realize that wrestling; it’s like your warmest childhood memories. June 24th 1974, the date is etched in my head forever.
For the folks who are looking at downloading 350 Days, it’s available on iTunes, you are preserving history and one of the neat things about the documentary is that there’s virtually no narration…
That was done intentionally.
All the wrestlers’ stories, right?
Yes. When you have guys like Billy Graham talking … Billy Graham could read the phone book. You’d be riveted. He could do ABCs. You’d be riveted. There’s no greater talker than “Superstar” Billy Graham, except myself, of course. No. I’m kidding. I’m joking. But, guys like that, you don’t need any narrator. Billy Graham and Bret Hart are kind of like the yin/yang of the movie. Bret Hart is very introspective and soft-spoken. Billy Graham is charismatic off the charts. When I was a kid, Billy Graham would walk down the aisle at The Garden: no pyro, no blaring music, no nothing. Sheer charisma. The building would shake. I’m not being melodramatic. The building would shake.
Obviously, there’s a big difference between wrestling fans and non-wrestling fans. This documentary, would it be for someone like my wife, who’s not a big wrestling fan?
I’m glad you asked that question because our editor was not a wrestling person. He didn’t know the prelim guys from the main event guys. He didn’t know the local guys from the legends. He said, “Make the most heart-wrenching, poignant film you possibly can.” This is a quote that I gave to him, “Make a film that an 80-year-old grandmother who never watched wrestling would cry,” and that’s the movie we made. The world doesn’t need another shoot interview: “Who was the booker in Chattanooga in 1973?” That’s been done to death. This is a movie that anybody can enjoy. You didn’t have to be a wrestling fan to enjoy The Wrestler. You didn’t have to be a boxing fan to enjoy Rocky.
It’s about love for the art form and preserving that history.
It is an art form. My friend, Johnny Valiant … the late, great Johnny Valiant, said to me, “This is my art.” It’s an art form when done right. It’s not always done right on RAW or on Smackdown, where it’s a circus sometimes. But, when it’s done right; Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat, Nigel McGuiness and Bryan Danielson, Dory Funk and Jack Briscoe. When it’s done right, it’s an art. Believe me. Greg Valentine wrestling Bob Backlund to a one-hour draw? It’s an art. Don Muraco and these guys back in the day. These were artists. Great Artists.
Additional reporting by Rob Crowther IV
