It’s hard to find wrestling match compilations that get both sides of the equation right. The first half of the formula is the telling of a featured wrestler or promotion’s story through a documentary style feature or a collection of interviews. The second part of the package is the match selection. Ideally you want to see a well varied assortment of battles that capture the true essence of the featured subject.
Often one facet in an archival release is much stronger than the other. For example in the previously reviewed Randy “Macho Man” Savage DVD set the matches far outpace the biographical content. Alternatively 2008’s The Life and Times of Mr. Perfect does a nice, if somewhat safe, job of telling the late wrestler, Curt Henning’s story. Unfortunately about a third of the selected matches, including a short bout with Terry Taylor, are duds.
Here are a few examples of wrestling packages that pull both sides together superbly.
The Rise and Fall of ECW (2004 WWE)
The tale of the original Philadelphia based ECW wrestling promotion that forever changed the path of sports entertainment is told in an engrossing two hours plus documentary. It includes a wealth of archival footage and the recollections of promotion founder Paul Heyman along with anecdotes and opinions from such iconic ECW wrestlers as Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer, Taz and the Dudley Boys. These guys also appear in the terrific supplemental matches as do hardcore wrestling stars Sandman, Sabu and Raven.
Bret “Hitman” Hart (2005 WWE)
The 18 complete matches in this three DVD set, additionally titled, "The Best There Is, The Best There was, The Best There Ever Will Be", were personally selected by “The Hitman”. They showcase not only his highly touted technical wrestling skills but also his first rate ability to put his opponents over as required.
The lengthy biographical feature on "the Hitman" is outstanding. It features a candid Bret Hart giving his take on his career and many of his fellow wrestlers. At times Hart gives an inside bit of information about a match and the appropriate piece of footage is right there to drive his point home. The bio piece additionally benefits from it's inclusion of much classic footage from Bret's early days in Stampede Wrestling.
Phenomenal - The Best of AJ Styles Part 2 (2007 TNA)
It’s easy to make a case for Styles as the best all round in-ring performer going today. If you’re making that case you may want to use this DVD as “Exhibit A”. Against suck skilled opponents as Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe and Petey Williams you’ll see Styles unleashing his unique high powered offense.
Watch this TNA Wrestling mainstay get highly elevated to deliver perfect flying forearms, flip his body swiftly over to unleash his "Pele" kick and finish opponents off with his jarring “Styles Clash”. Additionally you’ll witness “the Phenomenal” AJ Styles taking some hellacious bumps and giving a made for this DVD interview that reveals him as a humble, intelligent guy who greatly enjoys what he does for a living.
Want to hear about more cool wrestling DVDs? Check out this other story in Suite 101.
Stephen Smith - A Southern Alberta freelance writer for close to a decade; Stephen has been paid to write about TV shows, movies, books and music he would ...
