When Mickey Rourke first announced plans on Sunday to participate in the upcoming WrestleMania 25, some worried that it might hurt his Oscar chances — including his publicist, evidently! A spokesperson for Rourke released a carefully worded denial to Defamer last night:
“Mickey was very honored to be asked as he has the greatest respect for WWE however he will not be participating in Wrestle-Mania. He is focusing entirely on his acting career.”
One can only imagine the tearful conversation between star and flack that followed this heartbreaking announcement (“But Sean Penn’s publicist would let him do WrestleMania!”). Even so, professional wrestling’s biggest night isn’t until April, so Rourke could still change his mind after the Oscars. And look at the clever way his publicist misspells “Wrestle-Mania” (there’s not really a hyphen!) — this reeks of non-denial denial. If we were Jericho, we’d definitely watch our ass.
Defamer Exclusive: Mickey Rourke Tags Out Of ‘Wrestlemania’ [Defamer]