Everyone that professional wrestling is not real, meaning that a winner is pre-determined, but according to former Steelers linebacker James Harrison, that doesn’t mean the pain isn’t real.
Speaking to TMZ about the new Starz show he’s in called “Heels” (a story staring Stephen Amell “about the men and women who chase their dreams in the world of small town pro wrestling), Harrison says he does all of his own stunts.
“It’s real in the sense that you have to take those bumps and bruises, you have to hit the mat like I did all my stunts in the show so you know jumping off a top rope, landing on someone, someone landing on you. .
. that is real, that is real pain,” said Harrison. “That’s the difference between it being something that pain is real but the actual competition of it is not, he’s not actually trying to hurt you.”
While he avoided major injury, Harrison said he did do a flip out of the ring stiff-legged and that required some rehab inbetween shooting.
The 43-year-old plays “Apocalypse” and is described as “an experienced, disillusioned journeyman wrestler.”
Related
It’s the first major role for the former Defensive Player of the Year, but if it’s up to him, it won’t be his last.
“The Rock, he’s going to have to come down at some point and I’m trying to step into there,” Harrison told TMZ with a smile on his face.