Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is now apparently an Oscar player. That’s the news coming out the Venice Film Festival, as his movie The Smashing Machine —directed by Benny Safdie and co-staring Emily Blunt — received a 15-minute standing ovation .

While it’s true that The Smashing Machine could put Johnson on a level never before reached by his fellow wrestlers, it’s also true that wrestling is acting, and others who left the squared circle for the screen have put in excellent work. Sure, there are many wrestlers-turned-actors who simply play the same character in another context (see Roddy Piper in They Live or Randy Savage in Spider-Man ) , and, sure, some find themselves unable to play the dramatic beats necessary for movie or TV show (see Jesse Ventura in Abraxas, Guardia

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