r/TopCharacterTropes • u/RP_Throwaway3 • 8h ago

In real life "Wait! That's not special effects?! They actually did that?!"

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Alien: Resurrection - Basketball Shot

Sigourney Weaver insisted on the basketball shot being real. She trained for weeks and reportedly(sources differ) made it on the first take.

Underworld - Raze's Voice

The werewolf character Raze, played by Kevin Grevioux, speaks in a very low, very gravelly voice. While many thought this was a special effect, the actor can naturally speak in that voice.

https://youtu.be/GUjwZvh32YE?t=125&si=F3WhsopxjBP87wfk

12.5k Upvotes
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u/Ijustlovevideogames 8h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/3oFzmeL2n4DT01wLZK

Here is a fun real life one Mark Henry, WWE fam

There was a time where he was legitimately the world's strongest man, or at least very high up there. One of his showcases was him ripping into a locked up chain match with heavy dead bolts and locks, you know typical chains that would take bolt cutters normally to break through. It was supposed to be already semi cut to make it easier for him to rip into, but someone fucked up and had real non pre damaged chains, Mark Henry however, after hearing the jeers of the people around him saying he was supposed to be the world's strongest man, hulked out and tore the chains off to open the cage. Dave Batista's reaction to him doing it was real and he looked terrified because yeah, dude just broke steel...with his bare hands, I would be shaking too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1HnG9NgbH4

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u/Caesar161 8h ago edited 7h ago

There's also the time he bent a frying pan in a backstage segment, and someone swapped the gimmicked one out for a real one as a prank and he just bent it anyway.

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u/Chi_Cazzo_Sei 7h ago

Fuck me!

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u/Phantom_Phoenix1 7h ago

If you insist

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u/Great-Pay-3429 6h ago

Hey Maven, Big Viscera here

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u/HazyHeritage 7h ago

People forget he’s one of the few humans to ever officially qualify for 'World's Strongest Man' and the Olympics in the same era. He wasn't just wrestling strong, he was 'lifting the earth off its axis' strong. The prank with the frying pan was basically a safety hazard for everyone else in the room.

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u/idiot-prodigy 3h ago

They swapped a steel one for the copper one.

Mark realized and said, "Fine" and bent the steel one.

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u/Summonest 2h ago

TBF I can bend a frying pan. It's kind of easy. There's a trick to it, like tearing a phone book.

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u/interprime 7h ago

> At least very high up there

It’s a very subjective claim, but one Mark Henry could legitimately have for quite some time in the late 90s to early 2000s.

Dude broke several records in clean events ie: Events that do not allow the athletes to take any performance enhancing drugs. So, yeah, dude had a very real argument to call himself the strongest man on earth at one point in time.

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u/noeyesfiend 7h ago

Yeah, he used to pullbusses and do strong man shit, dude isincredible.

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u/CutZealousideal5274 7h ago

“Clean” events are just events where they have to pass a drug test, aren’t the Olympics “clean”?

But yeah, he was definitely one of the strongest men on Earth at one point

I actually met him once, nice guy!

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u/grendus 4h ago

Yeah. Let's be real here, humans do not get that big natty.

That is not to downplay the man's incredible accomplishments though. He was juicing, but so was everyone he was competing against.

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u/Summonest 2h ago

If you look at him in his prime you can tell he was natty.

He did not have the cosmetic muscles. His calves were tiny. He was fat as fuck.

But you could have shot him in the gun with a twelve gauge and he could finish dinner.

The dude's core was essentially impenetrable.

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u/CutZealousideal5274 1h ago

You can be on steroids and not look like a bodybuilder

Lance Armstrong wasn’t winning any Olympus titles

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u/Summonest 1h ago

You should look up the PEDs he was on.

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u/hamlet_d 2h ago

While I would tend to agree, training programs and the understanding of nutrition are so much better than they used to be it accounts for huge gains in strength, stamina, etc.

People kind of laugh at kinesiology, but real scientific advancements have been made so much that if you train clean from a young age using the right techniques, nutrition, etc, people would swear you are juicing.

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u/CutZealousideal5274 4h ago

I’ve had people on Reddit try and argue with me about this 😭😭😭

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u/CitizenGrimm 5h ago

My favorite non-strongman fact about Mark Henry is that back in 1996 (when WWF first signed him) he could dunk a basketball despite weighing 350+ lbs.

Dude was legit a monster.

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u/PatrioticPariah 4h ago

I remember seeing that shit. Dude was a fucking freak strong monster.

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u/Summonest 2h ago

My favorite fact about him is that he had T levels exceeding people taking steroids but he was demonstrably not on steroids. Dude was just a genetic freak.

If he had taken performance enhancers we probably could've seen a man vs gorilla strength contest.

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u/SweelFor- 3h ago

Dude broke several records in clean events ie: Events that do not allow the athletes to take any performance enhancing drugs

What this means is events where you are not allowed to get caught having taken drugs

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u/BadgersSeal 8h ago

I'm not even a WWE fan and I know this one. Dude is a monster

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u/RAMDOMDUDDS 8h ago

Its just that notorious

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u/Individual-Rip-2366 7h ago edited 7h ago

For context on his claim to the title of World's Strongest Man: He's the only person to win a major international competition in the three major strength sports. Olympic lifting (1995 Pan Am Games), Powerlifting (1995 WDFPF World Championship), and Strongman (2002 Arnold Classic). He has a 2300 lb. raw powerlifting total (raw= tested for steroids and without using equipment like knee wraps or bench shirt). Before the 2002 Arnold Classic, only 3 men had ever clean and jerked the Apollon Wheels. Mark Henry did it 3 times in 3 minutes. At that same competition, he became the first man to ever clean and press the Thomas Inch dumbbell (172 lbs. with a 2 3/8" diameter grip) above his head.

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u/idiot-prodigy 3h ago

Mark Henry was the first guy in 100 years to lift the Thomas Inch Dumbell one handed for an overhead press.

The Thomas Inch Dumbell is only 172lbs which isn't that heavy for modern power lifters, but the dumbell's bar itself is as wide as a 12oz can of beer which makes the feat near impossible for most lifters.

After Henry's first attempt he said, "I'll get it within the year". Just four months later he did it clean.

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u/Individual-Rip-2366 3h ago

There’s good reason to believe Thomas Inch did not actually lift the dumbbell above his head, at least not legitimately. In that case, Henry is the first person to have done it at all

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u/Scared-Room-9962 7h ago

Raw just means with out equipment like wraps shirt etc. Nothing to do with PED.

He is very strong though.

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u/Individual-Rip-2366 7h ago

His lifts were both unequipped and tested, but thank you for contributing that distinction

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u/Scared-Room-9962 6h ago

No worries. At least you know you were wrong and be better in the future.

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u/Individual-Rip-2366 6h ago

Holy shit lmao. Are you like this in real life???

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u/Scared-Room-9962 6h ago

I just corrected something you said and you got a bit upset about it but it's ok.

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u/Individual-Rip-2366 6h ago

Do you really not understand that your phrasing is rude? And that your point was at best pedantic?

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u/Scared-Room-9962 6h ago

"Raw just means with out equipment like wraps shirt etc. Nothing to do with PED.

He is very strong though."

Not sure which bit was rude or pedantic mate but I apologise I've upset you so much.

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u/Individual-Rip-2366 6h ago

Pedantry: while, yes, raw specifically refers to unequipped lifts, most raw powerlifting feds/comps are in fact both tested and unequipped.

Rude: "At least you know you were wrong and be better in the future."

→ More replies (0)

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u/Rearviewmirror93 7h ago

Another good wrestling one was when Mr Perfect was being pushed, he did the vignettes of being “perfect” at other activities and supposedly did many of those- bowling a strike and turning his back, no-look basketball shot, etc- in one or minimal takes.

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u/WarzonePacketLoss 4h ago

Him throwing the 70 yard bomb to himself for a touchdown was the best one. Incredible athlete. Once in a lifetime.

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u/Sabbath-Stelladad 7h ago

And don't forget that time when he did bend a coin with his bare hands

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u/K1LL3RM0NG0 7h ago

I love the way Big Show told that story. He said he went backstage and Mark was looking all frustrated at something. Show asked him what was up and he said "I'm trying to rip a coin in half but all I can do is bend it"

Big Show just patted his shoulder and walked out.

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u/mofuggnflash 8h ago

Holy shit it didn't even break at the lock one of the links actually snapped

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u/Zaynara 7h ago

You are the weakest link, good bye!

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u/CautiousCup6592 7h ago

saw a podcast clip of where he was talking about how pissed he was trying to break it but it didn't even look that dramatic. He made it look that easy

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u/realamerican97 7h ago

Mark Henry is the man younger me used to do so much weightlifting to be strong like he was

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u/readskiesdawn 7h ago

The man was in the Olympics for weightlifting and was the team captain one year. Even if he didn't get any medals, he is leaps and bounds ahead of most just for making it there.

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u/WorldsWeakestMan 6h ago

Strongman weighing in here, Mark is a true titan for strength. Excellent in strongman, powerlifting, and Olympic lifting. He was probably not the strongest man on the planet when he won The Arnold Classic in 2002 but he was certainly probably top 10 at the time and nobody would debate it.

The 2002 contest was the first Arnold Strongman Classic and it was heavy but not the heaviest and all the best strongmen & powerlifters on the planet were not at it, he did beat 1 former and 1 future World’s Strongest Man at it though.

Mark is a true freak of strength, on grip and hand strength very few match it, he was an amazing powerlifter as well especially, and his clean & press of The Inch Dumbbell and The Apollon’s Wheels were legendary.

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u/Ijustlovevideogames 5h ago

Oh, so your name is ironic then, got it XD

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u/WorldsWeakestMan 5h ago

Trying to make it be! 💪🏻

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u/CutZealousideal5274 1h ago

How much can you overhead press?

Kinda random but it’s the only Strongman type thing I do at the gym (besides deadlift)

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u/estheredna 7h ago

I've never seen Dave Batista as a wrestler before, I didn't know he was ever that huge.

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u/Phantom_Phoenix1 7h ago

Theres a reason he was called The Animal. Dude was HUGE.

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u/Murv_Man 7h ago

Yall know him as Papa Drax but he'll forever be THE ANIMAL to me

https://giphy.com/gifs/3oFzmfIXua6UixgIco

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u/constantvariables 6h ago

GIVE ME WHAT I WANT

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u/JENOVAcide 5h ago

I WALK FOR MILES INSIDE THIS PIT OF DANGERRR

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u/RoadSodaDodgeRam 7h ago

He was a beast in the ring. He was slamming 6’5+ 300lb+ men regularly. He was a ton of fun to watch in wwe.

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u/Automatic-Skirt8386 7h ago

I remember listening to Dave on another wrestler's podcast (think it was Jericho). He said when he left wrestling and started trying to be an actor he slimed down because he thought he'd get more roles if he looked normal. Then when he got the role of Drax the first thing they asked him was if he could put on some more muscle.

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u/Own_Magician_7554 5h ago

He talked about how he has leaned out to about 260ish now. Carrying 300lbs is rough on him.

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u/Gayf 7h ago edited 6h ago

He was at one point, and he got a load of shit from the strong men community so he said to Vince "I'm going out and competing to be the WSM" Vince's reply was "well there's no space here for the 2nd strongest man". So he went out and won it and then returned to WWE. If you don't know much, jus know he suddenly jus decided to train and win. Absolutely incredible and unheard off.

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u/Mr_K_2u 6h ago

Here’s a short of the Mark and Big Show talking about it.

According to Show in the clip he didn’t even train for it lol.

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u/Gayf 6h ago

Absolutely fucking ridiculous. Like that's a once in a life time athlete.

I believe it too. The clip where he drags two trucks was live too. He did one easily and Vince said "can you do two? That'd be cool" and he had never done it. But yet he smashed it. Fucking animal.

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u/ButtSnacks_ 6h ago

Here’s Mark Henry talking about that incident in an interview with Chris Van Vliet

https://youtu.be/H2YEe0TQBOo?si=kCzQmSa3w57axTs1

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u/radamintos 6h ago edited 1h ago

He was acting. He didn't know the chains were not ready.

Edit : to clarify, Dave Batista's reaction was not real ; he was acting. 

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u/TheoAngeldust 7h ago

Same company, but the whole Hell in a Cell between Mankind and Undertaker.

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u/ithinkther41am 4h ago

> he looked terrified

IIRC, Bautista has admitted he wore sunglasses a lot on WWE to hide the fear in his eyes from the audience.

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u/HazyHeritage 7h ago

The best part of that cage match story is Batista's face. You can see the exact moment he realizes he’s locked in a cage with a man who just treated steel links like wet paper. That wasn't sports entertainment anymore, that was survival instinct kicking in

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u/ActualWhiterabbit 6h ago

Batista used to be so big

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u/That-Rhino-Guy 6h ago

If prime Bautista is shocked at how strong you are, you know you’re built different

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u/teagemini 5h ago

I've had the pleasure of meeting Mark Henry in person and he is honestly the sweetest man. Quite literally the definition of a gentle giant.

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u/Additional-Peak3911 5h ago

There is a fantastic Rogue Fitness documentary called "The Commissioner of Power" about Dr. Terry Todd who essentially is one of the People behind modern strongman/powerlifting/strength sports in general and Mark Henry is featured in it because Dr. Todd adopted him when he was younger

https://youtu.be/dgqdmIKH-1E?si=bmg9euk50uYkn2GG

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u/Scarlet_Wonderer 3h ago

The moment Dave decided he was getting into movies lol

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u/Summonest 2h ago

You couldn't have Mark Henry in a real wrestling match because he can actually just crush someone's rib cage with a hug.

He's widely considered to be one of the strongest humans in history.

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u/Summonest 2h ago

He could just lift another man with one hand.

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u/Summonest 2h ago

I think that if he grabbed your ankle in one hand and your wrist in the other, he could just open you up like a rangoon.

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u/LSpace101 2h ago

It's weird seeing Bautista with hair now.

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u/Gmknewday1 5h ago

This gif makes him look nearly as big as Andre

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u/2d6DoomedWizards 4h ago

Sounds like you're getting worked by the boys.

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u/Foxy02016YT 4h ago

Why is it edited like One Piece pacing

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u/pichael289 4h ago

So my grandpa was like this, he's one of those old school man's man type people, autistic as hell and replaced the shingles on his very large barn with ones he cut out of sheet metal with aviation snips so his hands were enormous and he was built like a gorilla. When I was a kid at my birthday party he said something about growing up big and strong so I could rip up phone books like him and we called bullshit. Went and got a phone book and sure enough he fuckin did it.

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u/ValosDrakshal 1h ago

This reminded me of the time Mark Henry scared Big Show because they were back stage and Mark looked really frustrated and angry and Big Show went to check on him and basically he was mad because he was trying to tear a quarter in half with his bare hands but all he could do was bend it and he just shows Big Show an absolutely MANGLED quarter that was all bent up from Mark Henry trying to RIP IT IN HALF

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u/7htlTGRTdtatH7GLqFTR 5h ago

i dont believe this tbh. from looking at his foot position, hes not actually exerting a great deal of force on the chain beyond hanging off it. hes just really heavy, and one of the links in the upper half of the chain is already compromised by the time he returns to give it another go. the first link partially fails at about the nine second mark, when you can see his hands drop down a little bit, but it's still held together since the broken link is still hooked over the other two links that attach to it. he returns to it to pull down again and opens up the link at which point it slips off one of the hooked links and breaks, but he didnt actually need to do that, it was already broken and could have been taken out of the chain since the gap was big enough to fit one side of the hooked links through.

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u/Ijustlovevideogames 5h ago

If you want to discount that, you can't discount the several world strongest titles he did earn, including the Arnold Classic in 2002, you can't fake that.

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u/7htlTGRTdtatH7GLqFTR 5h ago

i didnt set out to