Professional wrestling

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The subject of this article pertains to the canon of the Forrest Gump novel but not the film.

Forrest Gump becomes a successful professional wrestling superstar for a time after a man named Mike hears of his arm-wrestling ability and invites him to participate. Forrest adopts the persona of The Dunce. He is very strong and successful, but the nature of the wrestling was such that match wins and losses were pre-determined by both parties, and whether he won or lost was out of his control.

Forrest's final match was against The Professor. It was pre-determined that Forrest would lose the match. He and Lieutenant Dan decided to bet their entire wrestling winnings (ten thousand dollars) in favor of Forrest's win, and that Forrest would disobey Mike and win the match. However, The Professor defeats Forrest, and their only winnings was two thousand dollars promised by Mike for complying.

Wrestlers

Many different wrestlers are mentioned, along with their personas.

The Dunce

The Dunce is Forrest Gump's persona. He wears a diaper and a large black dunce cap. After a string of victories, The Dunce becomes popular, and merchandise about him begins to sell.

Wrestlers The Dunce fought

This list does not seem to be complete, as the book mentions The Dunce competing with a "hole bunch of guys" which are not explicitly named. Unless otherwise noted, all wins or losses were decided in advance by both parties.

The Turd

The Turd dresses in a body stocking which is painted to look "like a piece of shit". He covers himself in a slippery material which makes him hard to grasp. The Dunce's first fight was against The Turd. The Dunce suffered a humiliating defeat.

The Human Fly

The Human Fly wears "somethin with a big pointed snout like a fly have, an a mask with big ole bugged-out eyes". This was a win for The Dunce, who collected nine hundred dollars.

The Fairy

The Fairy is estimated by Lieutenant Dan to weight three hundred pounds, and has wings and a wand which The Dunce breaks on The Fairy's head. It is implied that The Dunce won. The Fairy later wrestles and defeats Juno the Giant.

The Grosse Point Grinder

The Grosse Point Grinder wears hundred dollar bills glued to his body. He is defeated by The Dunce.

Awesome Al from Amarillo

The Dunce defeats Awesome Al with a Boston Crab hold and wins the Eastern Division championship belt.

Juno the Giant

Juno weighs four hundred pounds, wears a leopard skin, and carries a papier-maché club. The outcome of his match with The Dunce is not mentioned, but later statements would imply that The Dunce hasn't lost a match since The Turd. Juno later wrestles The Fairy, suffering a loss.

The Professor

The Professor is a popular wrestler from California, runner up to the Western Division championship. Mike offers Forrest two thousand dollars if The Dunce will lose to The Professor. He accepts, but Lieutenant Dan convinces him to instead defeat The Professor, but to first bet their wrestling winnings of ten thousand dollars in favor of The Professor's defeat. Unfortunately, The Professor comes out on top, and Forrest receives only the two thousand dollars from Mike. He returns to Jenny's apartment to find that she has left him, disapproving of his plot to defy Mike, and of wrestling as a whole.

Other wrestlers mentioned

The Vegetable

The Vegetable wears turnip greens for a jockstrap and a hollowed-out watermelon on his head. He battles The Animal prior to The Dunce's first match, and apparently wins.

The Animal

The Animal is "hairy as a ape", and wears a black mask. He may be George Steele, who used the persona of "The Animal".

The following are only mentioned in passing.

• The Masked Marvel
• The Incredible Hulk
• Georgeous George
• Filthy McSwine
• The Spaceman