Body Slam 1986

M. Harry Smilac, once a successful music promoter, now struggles to attract talent and book gigs for his sole client, the rock band Kick. Burdened by overdue car payments and a hefty debt to a banker, he reluctantly accepts a job to assemble acts for the fundraiser of an unpopular politician, a gig that pulls him into a world he doesn’t fully embrace. There, he meets Candace Vandervagen, the daughter of the politician’s wealthy campaign booster, and a path toward something more personal begins to form.

While lining up the fundraiser, Smilac misreads pro wrestler Quick Rick Roberts as a musician and hires him. With little luck in music management, he pivots and embraces a new role as a pro wrestling manager, booking matches for Quick Rick Roberts and his teammate Tonga Tom, turning the duo into a surprising draw.

As the clashes heat up, Smilac’s ambition collides with sharp politics and a ruthless rival, Captain Lou Murano, who leads the Cannibals—Axe the Cannibal and Hammer the Cannibal—in a high-profile, nationally televised feud. A disastrous fundraiser, engineered in part by Murano’s schemes, injures Smilac and his wrestlers and lands them on a blacklist that shuts them out of the major arenas.

Recovering from the setback, Smilac takes his wrestlers and the rock band on a cross-country road tour of small venues. At first, he promotes separate wrestling and rock shows, but a scheduling mix-up at a venue forces a single event that blends both worlds. The reception is strong, and Smilac begins to envision an entire tour built around this hybrid format, an audacious move he bills as the Rock n’ Wrestling concept—an idea that redefines their careers.

The tour’s triumph only steels Captain Lou Murano’s resolve, igniting further tension as he watches the crossover appeal threaten his control. On a televised appearance, Smilac challenges Murano’s Cannibals to a match for the World Tag Team Championships on behalf of his wrestlers, the pair of rising champions in the making. After a hard-fought bout, Rick Roberts and Tonga Tom overcome the Cannibals to claim the title belts and emerge as the new champions, signaling a bold new chapter for both the music and wrestling worlds.