When Ray “Glacier” Lloyd told me he started working as a coach for All Elite Wrestling as a coach in June, I couldn’t resist taking a detour. I had to ask him about The Outrunners.
“I love those guys,” said Lloyd. “I watch everything they do. Not only to give them feedback if they want it, but just because I love what they do.”
Lloyd noted the “overnight” success of The Outrunners, who have taken AEW by storm over the last several months, actually took a long time. Yes wrestling fans, it’s true. The youngest men in pro wrestling are not actually the youngest men in pro wrestling. It took years of grinding at OVW for them to find each other and then find the gimmick that has the wrestling world spinning.
“It’s one thing I always teach young wrestlers,” said Lloyd. “Patience. It’s all about patience.”
Lloyd knows a thing or two about patience, and not just from his own career in the ring. On November 1, 2024, he and Luther Biggs finally saw a long-time project cross the finish line when their movie, The Unbreakable Bunch, became available for streaming thanks to a distribution deal with Gravitas Ventures.
“It’s been a journey,” said Lloyd. “All the hoops we had to jump through, all the boxes we had to check. They asked for so much stuff. I never knew that doing a distribution deal was just that involved. It was an education for us!”
Lloyd, Biggs, and company learned early on that not all film distributors are the same. Just like pro wrestling, the industry is full of predatory companies who take without thought of giving to the creatives who put their blood, sweat, and tears into completing a film. Gravitas Ventures offered them a great deal and proved to be a solid partner, but signing the distribution deal was just the beginning of a whole new obstacle course for the film.
For two months, the producers of The Unbreakable Bunch went back and forth with Gravitas Ventures, providing endless documentation from cast waivers to music clearances. “Our film has an original score, and several original songs that we were given permission to use,” said Lloyd. “You wouldn’t believe all we went through to use those songs.”
The team had some expert help on board to guide them through all the red tape. “Our lead producer, Melissa Gruver, is very good. She knows contracts and what it takes to get a movie released. But even she was worn out by the end.”
It took nearly a year to get the distribution deal done, one more year in a long journey that began even before COVID-19. The film started production in 2019 but had to pause for 18 months during the pandemic.
“I was told early on that every film is hard to make, but the hardest film you’ll ever make is the first one. I thought I knew a lot, but I had no idea how much of an education I’d get,” he said.
Despite all the challenges, Lloyd’s pleased with how things turned out. One the biggest goals he and Biggs set for themselves was to create a positive depiction of professional wrestling on camera. “Most of the time, all you see is the bad stuff. The dark stuff. But we wanted to show the camaraderie of guys being on the road.
“We knew that nobody could tell that story like we could because no one can walk a mile in our shoes. We knew we had to get the story right. We had one chance, and if we didn’t get it right, it would haunt us for the rest of our lives.”
The movie certainly succeeds in showing the positive side of pro wrestling. You see the camaraderie of a group of old friends coming together to help a friend through one more road trip. They drink beer. They swap stories. They deal with problem fans and a nefarious promoters. Like the Ocean’s Eleven series, you can see the cast members are having a blast just being together.
The film also depicts the tradition of bringing young guys along through car rides. It’s a dying art in many corners of the independent circuit, but if you look hard enough young guys can still find veterans willing to let them tag along. Just remember to keep your mouth shut and your ears open if you get so lucky.
“Pro wrestling comes down to three things: camaraderie, friendship, and loyalty,” said Lloyd. “That’s really what the movie is about.”
Of course, the wrestling story is just one plot line in the movie. Running parallel to the tale of pro wrestlers hitting the road is the story of an alien invasion in a small, Florida town. The film cuts back and forth between the two plots, setting the wrestlers on a collision course with the invaders from outer space.
If you grew up renting VHS movies from Hollywood Video distributed by Full Moon Features, you will feel those vibes right from the opening shot. The way the film is cut together, the style of special effects, it all hearkens back to the glory days of low-budget sci-fi thrillers like Oblivion and Alien Arsenal that made for perfect popcorn fun on a Friday night.
The Unbreakable Bunch also strives to be a film that audiences of all ages will enjoy. The language is very minimal, and the action is never graphic. Lloyd cites the late, great Hal Needham of Smokey and The Bandit fame, who famously said that action doesn’t necessarily have to be violent. There’s plenty of punching, kicking, and even shooting, but nothing more intense than your average 1980s PG flick.
Depending on streaming numbers, The Unbreakable Bunch may still get a theatrical run but some of the cast have already experienced the movie in theaters. The film screened in a few select cities in April 2024, giving Lloyd and company the chance to experience it with a live audience. “Seeing it on the big screen in an actual theater with paying customers, that made it worthwhile. It was a big, defining moment for us. We saw it through, and we did it on our terms.”
The film ends with a tease indicating there’s more story to tell, and the film’s investors and producers are hopeful that happens. Lloyd sees it as a chance to bring in some more old friends as well as some young, rising stars. He’s quick to point out you’ll see some familiar faces beyond the legends in the first film.
“Anna Jay is in the movie as a ring announcer,” he said. “We shot her scenes before COVID, before she signed with AEW. There are a lot of familiar AEW faces if you look in the crowd scenes.”
Keep an eye for legends as well. Diamond Dallas Page, Gangrel, and Stan Hansen are easy to spot, but you’ll also catch “The American Giant” Buck Breznor in the film.
Lloyd’s very enthusiastic about the future, but he’s focused right now on the present. He’s thrilled fans are finally able to see a passion project years in the making come to streaming, and he’s equally excited about making his mark on the next generation through AEW.
“Everything I’ve learned making this film, all this education makes me a more valuable asset to AEW,” said Lloyd. “I have so much more insight about film and television that I can share.”
One of the most important lessons he teaches is patience. It takes patience and perseverance to make it in pro wrestling. There are no overnight successes. Only men and women who stuck it out through the grind and endured until they found themselves in the right place at the right time.
Ray Lloyd will tell you the film industry is no different. It took years to get the script right, to find the right producer, to get the darn movie in the can, and finally bring it to the masses. It’s an accomplishment everyone associated with The Unbreakable Bunch is proud of, and rightly so.
The Unbreakable Bunch is now available to rent or purchase in the US through Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube, and other streaming services. If you have a fondness for the glory days of wrestling or the glory days of low budget sci-fi VHS thrills, The Unbreakable Bunch will certainly leave you smiling.
RELATED LINKS
- Nov. 13, 2024: Tommy Milagro’s review
- Aug. 9, 2023: Wrestlers vs Aliens the main event in ‘The Unbreakable Bunch’
- For more information on the film visit www.theunbreakablebunchmovie.com
- Follow The Unbreakable Bunch on Facebook