In 1989, the World Wrestling Federation Champion was Rip, a musclebound competitor whose blonde hair and handlebar mustache were in vivid contrast to his suntanned skin. His all-American ideals made him the hero of the wrestling world, and made the network that aired his matches a lot of money. If Rip sounds like another top wrestling star of that era, that’s because he’s played by Hulk Hogan (pretty much playing himself) in the cult favorite No Holds Barred, being released on DVD by WWE Studios for the first time today.

Following his appearance as Thunderlips in Rocky III a few years earlier, No Holds Barred features Hogan in his first starring role in a movie that is basically his own Rocky, with a touch of Road House. For those who haven’t seen the movie (or who may have forgotten it), it hasn’t gained a cult following because of the great acting or intriguing plot. In fact, it’s so unintentionally comical and clichéd that you can’t help but enjoy every second of it.

No Holds Barred was not only WWE‘s first foray into producing its own films (Vince McMahon and Hogan are both listed as executive producers, and longtime WWE music composer Jim Johnston created the movie’s score), but it was also a way to introduce a new in-ring adversary to Hulk Hogan in Zeus (Tiny Lister), an enormously intimidating black guy with crossed eyes, a weird unibrow thing and a shaved head (aside from the letter Z on each side). In the movie, Zeus is dominant in a bar brawl fight club wrestling league that takes place in a dive bar filled with cartoonish caricatures of the dregs of society (including a tobacco chewing monster played by Stan Hansen and a midget in a cage).

Brell (Kurt Fuller) tries to convince Rip (Hulk Hogan) to join his network in "No Holds Barred" (photo courtesy WWE)

When Rip refuses an offer by a rival network executive (played with comedic simplicity by character actor Kurt Fuller), a competing show called Battle of the Tough Guys begins airing and Zeus quickly becomes its star. And when Rip declines to face Zeus in the ring, the baddies resort to nefarious tactics such as beating up his younger brother (Mark Pellegrino) and kidnapping his love interest (Joan Severance). And as you might expect given the formulaic nature of the story, we eventually see Rip and Zeus face off in a no holds barred match that is in Zeus’ favor from the outset.

Zeus gets the upper hand early on and dominates Rip, who is distracted by trying to save his girlfriend before time runs out. But with his brother in the audience (and in a wheelchair following the assault), Rip finds the will to Hulk up and rally back in much the same way Hogan was known to do in the ring at the time. But even after his battle in the ring ends, he still has some fighting to do before he truly saves the day.

Rip (Hulk Hogan) takes on Zeus (Tiny Lister) in the finale of "No Holds Barred" (photo courtesy WWE)

No Holds Barred basically plays out like a long episode of The A-Team, with an equal mix of action, comedy, drama and suspense. But some of that comedy is clearly unintentional, which is one of the things that has garnered such a following for the film. Thankfully (and surprisingly), WWE seems to be having fun with its promotion of this re-release, focusing on the haphazard hilarity of the film rather than trying to make it out to be an action classic. And wrestling fans will recognize cameos from a lot of old favorites like Hansen, Bill Eadie (aka Ax from Demolition), Jesse “The Body” Ventura, “Mean” Gene Okerlund and Howard Finkel.

Aside from the new digital transfer, there aren’t a lot of bonus features (barring a photo gallery of scenes from the movie). But given the simplistic nature of the movie, one need not expect much more. Now if WWE can get us a DVD set of the Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling animated series from earlier in the ’80s, those of us who appreciate wrestling’s somewhat absurd forays into mainstream pop culture will be that much happier.

No Holds Barred. Directed by Thomas J. Wright. Starring Hulk Hogan, Tiny Lister, Joan Severance and Kurt Fuller. Rated PG-13. www.noholdsbarredmovie.com.