Russell Madness

They say courage is found

in unlikely places.

This is the story of

how I conquered my fears

to become part of the greatest

tag team wrestling duo

of all time.

And finally got

what I always wanted...

a family.

Oh, no, that's not me.

That's me, Russell.

The Jack Russell Terrier.

Every story begins somewhere.

And every dog has his day.

Some would say I come

from humble beginnings.

We'd spend our days vying

for the attention of kids

to take us home and make us

part of their families.

There was me. I used

to be a real scaredy-dog.

This is Russell.

Aw, he's so cute.

- Oh, pee pee.

- Oh, sorry.

Russell doesn't usually do this.

He's normally a very

sweet puppy if you just...

Just give him a chance.

I always did this.

Oh... Russell, you have to stop

peeing on all the customers.

Or you'll never find a family.

What are you scared of, anyway?

It was a good question.

That was just the way I was.

And the way I figured it,

I was going to stay

that way forever.

But little did I know,

my luck was about to change,

when the Ferraro family

moved back to Portland.

- Here we are.

- Great!

Well, this is it.

That's Nate, Colleen,

their son, Max

and daughter, Lena.

And that's the legendary,

totally awesome,

Ferraro Wrestling arena.

Amazing!

- Oh!

- Whoa!

Here we go.

Whoa!

Wow!

Max, wait for us

before you go inside.

Wow!

"The strongest tag team

is family."

Hmm.

' - Ooh!

This place rocks.

If you like the Stone Age.

And the greatest

wrestler of all time.

The great Maximiliano

Ferraro II enters...

Okay, I know this

sounds crazy, but

I can feel your Papa

Maximiliano's presence here.

- Really?

- Yeah.

Maximiliano bounces

off the ropes

and takes the evil Crusher

down with a clothes line.

I wish we could just

give the building a face lift

- and flip it, you know?

- Oh, no, no. It's so nostalgic.

What's "stolgic"?

Yeah. See.

He pits the Crusher and...

Come on, Nate.

We're finally going to get some

quality family time, remember?

No more 12-hour-days

at the office.

He wins the belt!

He did it!

Max, honey.

Okay.

Looks exactly how

I remember it as a kid.

Well, your papa definitely

had a particular taste.

Yeah, it's called

"mid-century Guido".

Remember,

all Papa said

in his will was... yes...

"Return our profit

within one year

and the building is

ours to sell."

Then we can all go

back to San Diego,

and forget that this

ever happened.

"Ferraro Wrestling."

You dropped your dolly.

Where did you get that?

I think it's the monkey's.

Lena, when are

you going to grow up?

I'm only six and a half, Max.

I see you found

the costume room.

I knew it wouldn't take you

too long.

Mm-hmm.

My grandma taught me to sew

on a machine just like this.

I never thought I'd get

to use them again.

They don't make them anymore.

These old costumes

are pretty great.

What?

Now that was a tiny wrestler.

Cute.

I'm going to check on the kids.

Okay.

Oh, no, no, no, no.

Oh, no, no, no, no, no.

No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

You don't want him unless

you get covered in...

Come on, honey, let's go.

- Derek take him.

- Sure, boss.

Come here, little guy.

It is okay. You're okay.

Guess what?

It's Russell's anniversary.

He's no longer a puppy,

which means

he's pound bound.

Oh, boy, you're in trouble.

What's the pound?

It's a place where rejects go,

because no family wants them.

No family wants me?

But that's all I want,

is a family.

Russell, if I were you,

I'd get out of here

as fast as I could.

You got to give him

another chance.

Let's face it.

Russell's the runt and he's had

way too many chances already.

Then I will take him.

Look...

I can't let him

end up at the pound.

- Hey, buddy. You all settled in?

- Yeah.

- Where did you get that?

- Lena found it.

Okay. Can I see?

You know, I haven't seen

this since I was your age.

The original ll Maniac

gave this to me.

I used to play with him

all the time.

Yeah, front flips, back flips,

body slams, right?

I had so many cool moves.

Here you go.

- You keep him safe, he's yours now.

- Really?

Of course.

- What's this?

- It says "Ferraro Wrestling".

No way.

Wow.

You know, Papa Maximiliano

started this whole place with

nothing more than

passion and a dream.

Who's the monkey?

Old Maximiliano was

an interesting character

and that was his monkey, Hunk.

He referred to him

as his partner.

Like a mascot?

Yeah. Kind of.

What was it like back then?

Back in its heyday,

in a time called the '80s,

the Ferraro Wrestling

Arena was the place to be...

Welcome fans, to Thursday Night

Mayhem at Ferraro Wrestling.

I'm so excited,

I'm like a kernel

Popcorn, 'H'? - about to...

Don't mind if I do, Mike.

We had the best talent in town.

But none were better

than ll Maniac.

Il Maniac!

Whoa! Ooh!

ll Maniac is still

the heavy weight champ.

He really did have it all.

The talent, fans...

everything.

- What happened?

- Mick Vaughn came to town.

Mick wanted to buy us,

along with all the other

wrestling businesses

on the West Coast.

He called it "WUF".

The Wrestlers United Federation.

And Papa Maximiliano,

he wanted to preserve Ferraro

Wrestling as a family business

for generations to come.

But, pretty soon Papa couldn't

afford to pay the wrestlers.

It was like the mat was

pulled out from underneath us.

My dad knew it was a sinking

ship and he moved us away.

Losing the business Papa could

handle, but losing his family...

it broke his heart.

Dad, we can bring

Ferraro Wrestling

back to its glory days.

No, buddy, it's...

a different era now.

That bell has rung.

But you always told me,

just because you lost the round,

does not mean

you lost the match.

Okay, that's...

That's true, but...

Yeah, let's just put this away.

Okay.

All right, my boys.

It's lights out.

Good night.

- Dad?

- Mm-hmm?

Why did you name me

after Papa Maximiliano?

Because guys named Max

are always the best

guys to have in your corner.

All right.

Some new pugs are moving in.

So, it's time to go

to your new home.

Oh, no,

he's taking me to the pound.

I have to get out of here.

What the heck?

Hey!

What are you doing

with that dog?

Russell!

Hey, boss, what happened?

Where's Russell?

I don't know why,

but that dog just bolted.

What? But I just adopted him.

I was going to take him home.

I had a lead on

some local wrestlers

that know how to draw a crowd.

- Ooh!

- MmHmm.

Yodel-ay-hee-hoo?

Hello, Dieter Das Mountain.

Nein, Dieter Das Mountain.

- Oh, Dieter Das...

- Mountain.

Mountain?

Oh, sorry about that.

- Hi, I'm Nate Ferraro.

- Oh, hi.

My name is Nate Ferraro

- from the Ferraro Wrestling.

- What do you want?

Yeah, how would you like

to wrestle

- in a match...

- The classic arena.

- ...at our classic arena?

- Nein, I work for Mick Vaughn.

- Mick Vaughn?

- You know him?

- I know of him. Right.

- I will be blacklisted.

I totally understand. I wouldn't

want to be blacklisted either.

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