Following last week’s news of a “tucked away” film by the late horror film director George A. Romero streaming on Shudder this summer, a low-budget, never distributed TV pilot helmed by the filmmaker will be released on DVD and vintage VHS on April 3 by Cryptic Pictures.

“Iron City Asskickers,” set and filmed in Pittsburgh, was created in 1998. The 21-minute pilot was written by Jason Bareford and focuses on professional wrestlers, the sensationalism behind the business and foreshadows the rise of reality TV.

Cryptic Pictures CEO Mark Ricche said the pilot was shopped to Los Angeles-based television networks by Romero and Bareford but never found a buyer. The pilot was filmed at the PWX Wrestle Plex at the old Eastland Mall and at Nigro’s in East McKeesport.

In advance of the release, the George A. Romero Foundation will host a free, virtual reunion party, 7-9 p.m. today, featuring WCW/WWE wrestler Sid Eudy (AKA Sid Vicious/Sycho Sid) and actress Lori Cardille (“Day of the Dead”), who co-starred in the pilot.

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