- At one point Nicolas Cage was set to star in the movie. He was seen at a Ring of Honor wrestling event in NYC doing research for the part.
- The shooting schedule was 35 days.
- Fox Searchlight bought the North American rights to the film at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival for a reported $4 million.
- On February 9, 2008, as apart of CZW's regular February event, filming took place in the New Alhambra Arena for the upcoming movie which included many CZW alumni, along with the Necro Butcher, who will be playing a major part in the film.
- Reportedly, both Bruce Springsteen and Mickey Rourke were paid no money for their contributions towards the film.
- Artie Lange, John Ventimiglia, and Dave Attell screen tested for the role of Nick.
- The main climatic scene featuring the rematch between Randy "The Ram" Robinson and The Ayatollah was taped at two Ring of Honor events on 3/14/08 and 3/15/08. Several Ring of Honor wrestlers also have cameos in the movie.
- Mark Margolis has appeared in all four of Darren Aronofsky's films.
- Cameo: [Robert D. Siegel] The film's writer makes an appearance at the start of the film as a fan getting an autograph from Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Mickey Rourke).
- Darren Aronofsky and Marisa Tomei attended the same high school, Edward R. Murrow High School.
- World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Famer Afa Anoai ("The Wild Samoan") trained Rourke and choreographed the matches. His daughter, Vale Anoai, plays a brief role as a pharmacist.
- Darren Aronofsky revealed that Mickey Rourke was the first choice to play Randy "The Ram" Robinson but the studio wanted Nicolas Cage. Aronofsky fought to have Mickey Rourke as "The Ram", and ultimately won out.
- Only two days after its completion "The Wrestler" was screened on Venice Film Festival and walked off with the Golden Lion award for Best Picture. Mickey Rourke also would have walked off as Best Actor if the Venice jury chairman, director Wim Wenders, had had his way but Wenders' vigorous campaigning could not topple a longstanding festival rule which insists that one film is not allowed to win both awards. Rourke happily contented himself with finally being the star of a prize-winning picture.
- Due to the film's modest budget, W. Axl Rose donated the use of Guns 'n' Roses' "Sweet Child O'Mine" free of charge for the final match.
- Randy "The Ram" Robinson's van is a Dodge Ram.
- Throughout most of the movie, "Metal Health (Bang Your Head)" by Quiet Riot is The Ram's theme intro.
- The scene where a fan hands "The Ram" a prosthetic leg is based on an actual event from an ECW show where a fan repeatedly yelled "use my leg" and eventually tossed his prosthetic leg to Tommy Dreamer who in turn used it on his opponent.
- Star Mickey Rourke received his first Oscar and Golden Globe nominations due to his work on this film.
- The film reportedly moved wrestler/actor Roddy Piper so much, he broke down and cried after a screening.
- Randy "The Ram" Robinson's uneasy relationship with his daughter Stephanie parallels that of real-life wrestler Jake "The Snake" Roberts and his daughter, as chronicled on the 1999 documentary Beyond the Mat (1999).
- The video game Randy and his child neighbor play in the trailer was created especially for the film and was fully playable. The game features similar graphics to the original WWF Wrestlemania Nintendo game.
- Marisa Tomei's first day of shooting was the scene where she gives Mickey Rourke a lap dance.
- Mickey Rourke actually bladed (cut his own forehead with a razor blade as many wrestlers do) in this film to add realism to the role.
- Mickey Rourke was always the desired first choice for the role, but due to his erratic nature, financing for the film fell through.
- During his boxing career, the song played over Mickey Rourke's entrances was "Sweet Child O' Mine", by the band Guns N' Roses; his character in this film uses this same song when entering the ring in his last fight.
- Randy "The Ram" Robinson shares characteristics of the two biggest wrestling icons of the 1980s: Hulk Hogan and Randy "Macho Man" Savage. The look of the Ram,with the long blonde hair and tremendous physique as well as the steroid use is obviously Hoganesque while the "Ram Jam" (a flying double forearm smash off the top rope) is inspired by Savage's "Flying Elbow" even down to the pose before executing it. The Ram's feud with "The Ayatollah" also mimics the feud that Hogan had with the "Iron Sheik" that made him a venerable superstar and the face of 1980s and early 90s wrestling.
- The old wrestling photos of the Ram in his heyday are actually doctored photos of former wrestler Lawrence Pfohl (a.k.a. Lex Luger).
- The first scene of Randy working the deli counter was improvised. When real customers kept walking up to the counter during filming, Darren Aronofsky told Mickey Rourke to take their orders while the camera would continue rolling. Also improvised were all of the backstage locker room scenes.
- Shot in 40 days.
- This movie, and Mickey Rourke's status as lead actor in it, was used in a story angle by the world's most well-known pro-wrestling company, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE, previously known as the World Wrestling Federation or WWF). The story angle reached its climax at The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania (2009) (TV), where Rourke himself made an appearance at the event (not as a wrestler however).
- Randy's real name is Robin Ramsinski (mentioned when he is at the pharmacy.)
- Darren Aronofsky's first film where he is not credited for writing the screenplay.
- Abbie Cornish was originally cast as Stephanie Robinson but dropped out at the last minute. Evan Rachel Wood replaced her.
>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<<
Trivia items below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this title.
- SPOILER: When Randy the Ram gives his speech prior to the match that closes the movie, the audience is in love with their hero and gives him a huge standing ovation. The reality was that when they first attempted to film the scene, the Ring of Honor audience began catcalling the monologue. It wasn't until Darren Aronofsky addressed the audience and explained how important the scene was that they got on board, giving themselves a "We f***ed up" chant before setting into the rabid Ram-Lovefest seen in the final film.
- SPOILER: The movie ends with Randy coming off the top rope with the Ram Jam before going to black, and playing Bruce Springsteen's song as the credits roll. When the match was filmed at a March 2008 Ring of Honor event, Ram nailed the move and scored the pin.
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