Who says movies don’t influence people? Despite being a monumental art form, movies have almost always been relegated to popcorn entertainment. However, the Olympian Aaron Brooks has just disclosed an interesting story regarding his Olympic dreams. More importantly, he has revealed how a Hollywood blockbuster pushed him to become a better wrestler. So how did Brooks’ tears turn into inspiration? 

As Brooks gears up for a push for gold, an old interview of his has come to the surface. The iconic wrestler sat with Negley’s host to talk about his wrestling journey. However, the interesting part came in early when Aaron Brooks revealed how Peter Jackson’s King Kong deeply affected him and became an effective tool for motivation.

“We went to the theaters and we watched the new King Kong that was out,” Brooks said about his father taking him to a movie. “I didn’t really cry that much as a kid. I was always trying to be a tough guy even at 5 years old. But I remember when King Kong had died and my dad looked over, he was like ‘are you crying?’” That was one of the first instances where a movie character made Brooks cry. However, it was for a good reason.

“I was like cuz I love King Kong the way he went out and was like ripping stuff,” Brooks revealed. Still, his father was a bit surprised by his tears. He asked, “What are you crying for?” but then also realized this could be an effective tool in turning Brooks into an even better wrestler. 

From then on, whenever Brooks wrestled his father would point at his opponent and say, “This guy killed King Kong!” and that would rile up the young wrestler. As Brooks noted, King Kong’s death became a motivation for him to “wrestle hard.” That’s certainly a meaningful lesson, especially because he’ll have to work hard in this Olympics.

Aaron Brooks gets strong advice from Pett State’s wrestling legend

David Taylor had hoped to be in the Olympics as America’s 86 kg representative. However, Aaron Brooks’ surprising surge proved to be too much for the legend and that ended his dreams. But that doesn’t mean he holds any grudges. In fact, Taylor knows Brooks and the Olympic favorite Iran’s Hassan Yazdani quite closely. Perhaps that’s why he has given a piece of strong advice to Brooks.

The 7-time world medalist and Olympic Gold medalist Yazdani is the biggest threat to Brooks’ dreams. However, Taylor has won five out of six games against the Iranian star. “I think for Aaron, he’s just going to have to be ready early,” Taylor said to Nittany Sports Now. “Yazdani…he wrestles really hard. He wrestles really hard the whole time, especially early, he comes in pretty hot.” As a result, Taylor wanted Brooks to stay aggressive. Instead of a low-scoring bout, Taylor predicted a high-scoring competition between the two wrestlers if they had a face-off.

In a way, Aaron Brooks is being advised to wrestle hard. Ironically, that’s how he wrestled when his father told him that his opponent had “killed” King Kong. Perhaps another one of those pushes is necessary again. But who’d be the one to give it?