Wrestler

When New Jersey teenager Alex Shaffer told his parents he wanted to audition for a part as a high school wrestler in Tom McCarthy's "Win Win," they said he couldn't go ? but not because they were against him becoming an actor. At first, Mike Shaffer recalled, "both my wife and I said the same thing. 'Sure, let's go.' And then, unfortunately, we realized Alex couldn't take the day off" because the teen had an actual high school wrestling meet the same day. Instead, the sophomore sent in a packet of wrestling press clips to the casting agent whose name appeared on an ad in a local paper.

DALLAS — If you're looking for quiet and unassuming, Jordan Burroughs might not be your man. Not that you would expect reticence from someone who spends his days grabbing people and throwing them to the ground. This is a guy who does not hesitate to proclaim himself the new "face of USA wrestling. " A guy who will be tweeting from the 2012 London Olympics under the name "alliseeisgold. " "Obviously, it rubs some people the wrong way," he said. "A lot of people mistake my confidence for cockiness.

In a memorable scene from "Boardwalk Empire," HBO's epic drama about Prohibition-era Atlantic City, N.J., bootlegger Nucky Thompson visits the childhood home where he suffered the abuse of his father, and after taking a grim last look, douses it with gasoline and sets it ablaze. "It's symbolic of the way he has remade himself by tearing down his past," says Steve Buscemi, the well-known character actor who's been unconventionally cast in a leading role as Thompson, a civic leader who leads a double life as a ruthless crime boss.

STOCKTON -- In the center of a starkly lighted wrestling ring, RJ Brewer glared at the overwhelmingly Latino crowd and spread the flag of Arizona across his back. Buff, mean, white and glistening with baby oil, he snatched the microphone from the referee. "I come from the greatest city in the United States: Phoenix, Arizona!" the wrestler yelled in English. "Phoenix is the only city with a woman in power with the guts to get into the president's face and address the real problem in this country!"

A 20-year-old college student collapsed during a wrestling tournament at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut on Saturday and later died, officials said. Jesus Cruz, a student at Rio Hondo College in Whittier, was on the mat with an opponent when he collapsed. He was treated by a Mt. San Antonio athletic trainer and paramedics and taken to San Dimas Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to a statement released by Rio Hondo President Ted Martinez Jr. The remainder of the all-day tournament was canceled.

Tony Okada of Savanna High School was one of 13 wrestlers named to Wrestling USA Magazine's High School All-American Dream Team, Savanna wrestling Coach Tom Caspari said. Okada, a 135-pound senior, will also participate in the Junior Greco-Roman Wrestling World Championships, July 26-28, in Barcelona, Spain, Caspari said.

The WWE's campaign to turn its brutes into box office deals another tepid hand with "The Reunion. " Following his monolithic turn in the generically solemn "Legendary," muscleman John Cena gets to try his hand at cynical wisecracks as the oldest of four heirs — along with Amy Smart, Ethan Embry and Boyd Holbrook — to a despised father's fortune. The catch in the will is that the brothers, who hate one another, have to go into business together as bail bondsmen, a venture that immediately sends the trio to Mexico to find a billionaire kidnapped by a vengeful businessman (Michael Rispoli)

Palomar College defeated Golden West, 49-3, in a South Coast Conference wrestling match at Palomar Wednesday. The Rustlers had to forfeit three matches, two due to injury and one because a wrestler missed the team bus.

I was rather annoyed at Kenneth Turan's review of "The Wrestler" ["As Fake as Wrestling," Dec. 17]. I saw the film at an academy screening and to dismiss this fine piece of work by the director, Darren Aronofsky, as an "essentially fake film" does a major disservice to the daring and creative director, but to the L.A. Times' readers as well. To see and experience the degrading quality of the lives of these hulking wrestlers was a revelation, and the powerful performance by Mickey Rourke in the lead role was more than astonishing -- it was lived-in and honest and touching.

Pro wrestler Andre the Giant was fined $100 for doing to a TV cameraman what he does to opponents in the ring. A judge found Andre Roussimoff guilty of criminal mischief for scuffling with Ben Hildebrandt last year after losing a match. The 7-foot-4, 540-pound wrestler on Tuesday was also ordered to pay $233 to KCRG-TV to fix the camera. The scuffle broke out when Roussimoff, who acted in the movie "The Princess Bride," contended that Hildebrandt videotaped the match without his permission.

The WWE's campaign to turn its brutes into box office deals another tepid hand with "The Reunion. " Following his monolithic turn in the generically solemn "Legendary," muscleman John Cena gets to try his hand at cynical wisecracks as the oldest of four heirs — along with Amy Smart, Ethan Embry and Boyd Holbrook — to a despised father's fortune. The catch in the will is that the brothers, who hate one another, have to go into business together as bail bondsmen, a venture that immediately sends the trio to Mexico to find a billionaire kidnapped by a vengeful businessman (Michael Rispoli)

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is pulling no punches as it debuts on Fox television Nov. 12 with a heavyweight title bout between champion Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos at Anaheim's Honda Center. UFC said up to a dozen bouts will be on the Anaheim card, though only the heavyweight title bout will be telecast in an hour-long Fox show scheduled to start live at 6 p.m. Pacific time. "This was a no-brainer; the [best] fight that was right in front of our face," UFC President Dana White said.

"This is earlier than I usually get into trouble in an interview," says playwright Kristoffer Diaz with a sheepish smile. Indeed, it's not even halfway through an amiable lunchtime chat before he's holding forth on the divide between labor and management and talking about how his play "has a problem with old wealth. " Those aren't the comments he expects to ruffle feathers, though. It's when Diaz is asked to compare his work in the theater with the often thankless toil of the professional wrestlers who are the subject of his 2009 play "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity," which will have its Los Angeles debut at the Geffen Playhouse on Sept.

"Macho Man" Randy Savage, the flamboyant, raspy-voiced former professional wrestler known for his bandanas, exotic sunglasses and "Ooh, yeah!" catchphrase, died Friday in a Florida car crash. He was 58. Savage, whose legal name was Randy Mario Poffo, lost control of his Jeep Wrangler in Pinellas County on Florida's Gulf Coast around 9:25 a.m. Friday, according to a Florida Highway Patrol report. The Jeep veered, went over a concrete median divider, crossed eastbound lanes and smashed into a tree, the report said.

When New Jersey teenager Alex Shaffer told his parents he wanted to audition for a part as a high school wrestler in Tom McCarthy's "Win Win," they said he couldn't go ? but not because they were against him becoming an actor. At first, Mike Shaffer recalled, "both my wife and I said the same thing. 'Sure, let's go.' And then, unfortunately, we realized Alex couldn't take the day off" because the teen had an actual high school wrestling meet the same day. Instead, the sophomore sent in a packet of wrestling press clips to the casting agent whose name appeared on an ad in a local paper.

For much of his storied sports career, two-time Olympic medalist Rulon Gardner was a slave to the scale. He used rigorous, hours-long workouts to keep his weight in check and relied upon old-school wrestling tricks -- like exercising in a sauna -- to drop unwanted pounds before a competition. And when he retired from Greco-Roman wrestling -- and keeping his weight at roughly 270 pounds -- Gardner recalls thinking "I'll never have to look at a scale again. " Wrong. The 6-foot, 1-inch wrestling legend is back on the scale each week, only now he's doing it in front of millions of viewers as part of the cast of NBC's reality weight-loss show, "The Biggest Loser.

An 18-year-old high school wrestler who collapsed Tuesday night after trying to make weight before a match died of an enlarged heart, an autopsy revealed. Lincoln County High School wrestler Tim Galloway had failed to make his 98-pound weight division the first time Tuesday night. An autopsy done by the Clark County coroner's office showed Galloway had an enlarged heart. According to Lincoln County wrestling Coach Larry Williamson, Galloway ran a few laps in the gym, then collapsed and died.

Midway through "The Wrestler," Marisa Tomei's Cassidy sums up the general feeling the film's characters have toward pop music. Enjoying an afternoon beer at a dive bar with some metal on the jukebox, she dismisses everything released from 1991 to the present with a swipe at Nirvana's Kurt Cobain: "And then that Cobain . . . had to come and ruin it all." One can only wonder how she'd rate the movie's delicate, atmospheric score from Clint Mansell. In a film loaded with '80s metal -- Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child o' Mine" and Quiet Riot's "Bang Your Head" are prominently featured -- Mansell is the one who has to bring everyone back to the film's stark reality.

In a memorable scene from "Boardwalk Empire," HBO's epic drama about Prohibition-era Atlantic City, N.J., bootlegger Nucky Thompson visits the childhood home where he suffered the abuse of his father, and after taking a grim last look, douses it with gasoline and sets it ablaze. "It's symbolic of the way he has remade himself by tearing down his past," says Steve Buscemi, the well-known character actor who's been unconventionally cast in a leading role as Thompson, a civic leader who leads a double life as a ruthless crime boss.

The day after one of the biggest professional wrestling events of the year, Randy Orton, the heavily tattooed, frequently sneering, six-time World Wrestling Entertainment champion, is standing in the bowels of the Staples Center confessing a lack of self-confidence. Not about his most recent performance in the ring, where he administered the requisite body slams, clotheslines and backbreakers to his rival, Irish wrestler Sheamus. This is about channeling his inner Humphrey Bogart more than his inner Hulk Hogan.