Contrary to the Internet’s speculation last year, legendary Dominican wrestler Rafael Sánchez, alias Jack Veneno is not dead. Veneno, forever El Campeón de la Bolita del Mundo, has been off the rings, busy battling prostate cancer for the last ten years. The big news is that he will now have his life on the big screen.
If your tío hasn’t mentioned Jack Veneno from the days in which everyone in the countryside and in la capital followed the man’s wrestling days, you may have heard his name dropped (“Como cicatrices a lo Jack Veneno”) in Rita Indiana’s track “El Juidero.”
Production for the film will begin late this year headed by La Visual Sonora, whose director Tabaré Blanchard was at the documentary of La Montaña, a commercial hit in the DR two years ago. The sound and video production company is known for its breathtaking shots and original content.
It leads one to wonder where they’ll take this project; and it’s curious that, knowing Dominican sports, a wrestler gets a biopic before Big Papi or Pedrito Martínez. Actor Manny Pérez is set to play el luchador and, judging from this clip (from a 2010 film in which Pérez is an ex-convict who seeks redemption for the murder of his son’s mother) he looks the part if he adds a few pounds and keeps the beard-do.