Pro Wrestlers vs. Zombies director on "cultural snobbery" against pro wrestling, discusses working with WWE legends Roddy Piper, Jim Duggan, and more

"Pro Wrestlers vs. Zombies" director Cody Knotts spoke with PennLive.com about the release of his upcoming film and defended pro wrestling in the process. "People hold their nose down at professional wrestling," Knotts said. "There's a bit of cultural snobbery, and it's a shame because from a business standpoint the market's there. There's people who want to see it, but everybody would rather have someone doing martial arts mumbo jumbo. They move their arms 16 ways instead of just hitting somebody. They think it looks cool on screen, and honestly I've always thought it looked kind of ridiculous."

Knotts also spoke about how the independent wrestlers who worked on the film learned from some of the veterans. "I think they learned a lot from Roddy (Piper) and from Hacksaw (Duggan)," he said. "Probably the biggest thing is to understand that this is all a business. It's entertaining but it's business, and there's certain things expected of you when you hit a certain level. The other thing was how better to present themselves. I know Roddy one day told Facade he needs to have a better intro when he enters the arena, and he was giving him advice. I think they were picking up stuff along the process." Read the full story at PennLive.com.

Powell's POV: The film features pro wrestlers such as Piper, Duggan, Matt Hardy, Kurt Angle, and Shane Douglas. Knots notes that Douglas took over as the choreographer when Terry Funk as injured. The film will be shown on Friday night in Uniontown, Pa. at State Theater Center for the Arts (27 E. Main Street). You can check out the trailer at Youtube.com/watch?v=v4TTWJKsNdI.