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.

What he really meant was:

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.

' (fizzling) - 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! - (Cheering)

Whoa! Ooh!

(whooping)

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!

- (brakes screech) - (Russell yelps)

What are you doing with that dog?

Russell!

Hey, boss, what happened?

- (catches breath) - 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?