"Body Slam" was originally intended to be a major theatrical release by its distributor (De Laurentiis Entertainment Group), but legal troubles resulted in the movie being barely released to theaters. That was probably a good thing, because I can't picture this movie getting a good reception even with a major release behind it. The script is pretty awful for one thing. Quite often it seems that the movie is making things up as it goes along. And the kind of humor on display here would even make rednecks feel that their intelligence is being insulted. Hal Needham's direction makes the movie feel like it was made for television instead of theaters, and Dirk Benedict's character is extremely annoying. Is there anything of merit here? Actually, real-life wrestler Roddy Piper actually shows some charisma and likability, so it's no surprise he managed to make a number of movies despite the otherwise wretched quality of this debut for him.

I have seen a majority of Roddy Piper's films and this one I saw long before cable brought tbs and nwa wrestling into my home. I only knew who he was because I had read about him in the wrestling magazines I bought as a kid. Wrestling is like a circus without the animals (at least the real kind lol). I thought the movie was well done for being a low budget film. I was entertained but I have been a Wrestling fan since the days of Bruno Sammartino. I enjoyed the nostalgia of the old school wrestlers and though I am not much of a Dirk Bennedict fan I do remember him from the A Team. The plot made sense and I felt though it was predictable it was still interesting enough to set through more than once. Roddy Piper plays a much more subdued version of his true ring persona and considering he has been wrestling since he was 15 I think he took the bumps well and delivered for his fans. If you hate this film remember a lot of folks grew up watching the pretend sport instead of the drawn out, treat it like a TV show wrestling we see on TV presently. I liked this film much better than the Verne Gagne movie The Wrestler, but it isn't in the same league as the Mickey Rourke film of present day. It examines the wrestlers going after the title much like All The Marbles and leaves you cheering and jeering through out the film.

This movie is very funny. It has a great cast of famous Wrestlers from the 70s and 80s. Bruno Samartino, Rick Flair, Freddie Blassie, The Sheik, Capt. Lou Ablano, The Samonans, The Towers Of Pain, Roddy Pipper, and a few more. Overall the plot isn't that interesting, and some parts are kind of dumb, but it is all worth it for the ending. At the end the legendary Chick Hern gets to announce tag team championship title match. Chick did an amazing job announcing that wrestling match. That just proves how Chick Hern is the best announcer of all time. No other sports announcer can call a professional wrestling match that good. I would even watch snails race if Chick Hern was the announcer. Plus also the famous baseball announcer Harry Carry was in it too. This movie is a must see for all fans of 80s Wrestling or for fans of the Lakers.

This movie was funny but some parts were cheesy. This movie also got me to get to know the old wrestlers a little bit more. The only reason why I don't reconmend this movie for kids is because this was movie was made when the old wrestlers were in WWF and kids may not know who they are. But overall I give it an 8/10