i guess i just don't know anything about mickey rourke's life; that should not be a factor when we consider a film though, should it?
i see your point about the cliche of the NES wrestling scene, and i would add that the conversation between him and the stripper at the bar about cobain coming along and ruining it all as a bit stilted and unconvincing (i don't think he should have even known the lead singer of nirvana's name), but i don't know, i think that's how life works---it is often trite, kitsch-y, and cliche. there is a lot that has happened to me in life that if i saw it in a film, i wouldn't buy it at all, but that's just how life works in my experience---cliches, i think, touch on some cosmic truths. 🤷
EDIT: just read the Mickey Rourke wiki and I see the resonances you are talking about. Apparently, when Mickey Rourke was boxing, his entrance song was "Sweet Child of Mine"
I guess something that colored my perception of the film was the soundtrack. Basically the same music I was into when I watched wrestling----Cinderella, Ratt, Accept, GNR...