Wrestling with Trump: What President took from men in Spandex

As comedian-turned-presenter Munya Chawawa reminded us at the top of this one-hour documentary, Donald Trump is the most famous man in the world. So when Chawawa promised “a revelation that could change everything you know about him”, it was a bold move. 

“Donald Trump loves wrestling,” he declared. Er, that’s it? The big reveal? Next, we’ll hear he is fond of gold and fake tan. 

He then cut to the 2024 Republican National Convention, with Hulk Hogan leading the crowd in adulation of Trump. A clip of the 2007 play fight with former promoter Vince McMahon followed. None of this has gone unpublicised, which rather undermined Chawawa’s pitch. 

But he’s a personable young guy and the trip to America was all sorted, so off we went to delve deeper. Before going, Chawawa set out his credentials as a guide, chief among them being a childhood spent on the sofa watching wrestling, and collecting the figurines (which he still has). 

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This was more like it. Sure enough, when he interviewed wrestlers and others involved in the game, the years of “research” paid off. As such, he proved to be an invaluable guide through the traditions and themes of wrestling. There was hardly anything about the early history, which was a pity, but when it came to the modern era, he was spot on. 

“We’re the most political business there’s ever been,” said one wrestler, adding that Jimmy Carter was the first to recognise there were votes to be had among the sport’s followers. 

Trump knew this, too, though his obsession dates back to before he ran for office. As Chawawa showed, he would take what worked in wrestling and apply it to politics: the “trash talking” of opponents; the insulting nicknames (“Crooked Hillary”); working the crowd at rallies; and just flat out making up stories and daring sceptics to prove otherwise (“They’re eating the cats”).  Wrestling, we learned, was all about the “Baby Faces” - the good guys - versus the “Heels”. 

The film came into its own when Chawawa looked at the more sinister sides of wrestling, racism and misogyny chief among them. He spoke to a current character the MAGA crowd loves to hate, who goes by the tag of “Progressive Liberal”, and a past one, Muhammad Hassan. The latter,  who is in fact Italian, gave up the game after a notorious sketch that aired on 7/7.

Chawawa concluded that wrestling culture should have remained in the ring and on TV and not spread to politics. I don’t think anyone would have argued with that. But credit due, he had set out his idea at the start and stood it up. 

Towards the end of the film, Chawawa finally got to do what he had clearly been hankering after from the off - take part in a bout with professional wrestlers. One woman wrestler slapped his chest in what sounded and looked like a play move, but the marks left behind said otherwise. Brave guy.