How the Spider-Man Films and Pro Wrestling Will Forever Be Linked

Warning: This article contains minor spoilers about the plot of The Amazing Spider-Man.

The Amazing Spider-Man was released during the Independence Day week and so far the film has performed well, bringing in $35 million on its opening day.

While the record-setting Tuesday opening is exciting, it is something else which has fans of pro wrestling excited about the new reboot of the franchise.

In the original film, starring Tobey Maguire, we saw Spider-Man enter a pro wrestling match in order to win a sum of cash which would allow him to purchase a used car he thought would impress Mary Jane.

At first, Peter Parker wanted to be called The Human Spider, but Bruce Campbell put a stop to that nonsense and sent him down to the ring as Spider-Man.

As if seeing the man most famously known as Ash Williams wasn't enough, we were treated to a second cameo within seconds which put smiles on a lot of faces.

Spidey was facing off against Bonesaw McGraw, who was played by the late, great Randy "Macho Man" Savage.

It was here where Spidey first faced off against a foe who put him through the physical ringer, so to speak.

This cameo by the legendary Macho Man was a pleasant surprise to wrestling fans who had missed Savage.The new film, featuring Andrew Garfield as the web-slinging hero, has gone back to the well and given Peter Parker another wrestling-based inspiration.

At one point in the film Peter Parker is walking away from a group of hoodlums he had just schooled when he falls through a roof, landing in the middle of a wrestling ring.

When he stood up and looked around he saw what provided him with the inspiration for his signature mask.

The small arena was filled with signs featuring Lucha Libre masks, one of which catches Parker's eye more than the others.

The mask is red with dark-colored designs surrounding the eyes, nearly an exact copy of Spidey's look sans the webbing all over the face.

Director Marc Webb made a lot of wrestling fans happy by inserting another inspiration for Spider-Man which is based in the world of pro wrestling.

Wrestling fans and comic book fans have a large cross-section which these film makers recognized and chose to acknowledge.

Comics and wrestling have a lot in common. They both feature people dressing in outlandish outfits, having signature attacks, drawing inspiration from the masses and a defined system of good and evil.

While it may seem like a small detail, the fact that both Marc Webb and Sam Raimi chose to use wrestling as a launching pad for Peter Parker is something fans of the sport appreciate.

Wrestling has gotten a bad reputation over the years and with the success of the film The Wrestler and more references being inserted into movies it could mean a slight change in thinking towards the world of spandex and piledrivers.