DVD Review: The Randy Savage Collection

WWE DVD Review: The Randy Savage Collection

It is hard to believe that 'Macho Man' Randy Savage is no longer with us. His sad passing was well documented across the globe (including a few pieces by yours truly). This three disc DVD box set is a very good way to fondly remember the legendary grappler. The only thing it lacks is any fresh input form Savage himself. This is of course just how these things go sometimes. Randy and the WWE were not on good speaking terms when the DVD was produced (2009) and thus his inclusion was something that we cannot really have expected to see.

Overall this is a perfectly enjoyable highlight reel of 'Macho Man's WWE and WCW career, plus much more along the way.

Matt Striker and Maria are our hosts in this roller-coaster ride through the ups and downs of Savage's tenure in wrestling. Savage was one of the few former wrestlers who retired gracefully and never returned to the ring. He did however make an appearance in the original Tobey Maguire starring Spiderman film though.

I for one had hoped the WWE and Randy would one day bury the proverbial hatchet and offer him a place in the Hall of Fame. Maybe that will still happen, it is just a shame that the man himself will not be able to appreciate it. That fateful heart attack and subsequent car crash saw to that unfortunately.

So what will you see on this three disc set? Well from the get go we get to see Randy as the perfect heel for the WWE at that time. He was cocky, exciting and more than willing to bend the rules when he could. Things really picked up when he was aligned with (real life spouse) Miss Elizabeth. Liz was something the WWE had never seen before, she was a glamorous young woman and she was a breath of fresh air in a company that possessed mainly older male managers.

From a match point of view across the discs we get to see some classic encounters between macho and Ricky Steamboat (with whom he had one of wrestling's finest ever feuds and WrestleMania's best match too), we also see him face off against Ted DiBiase, Honky Tonk Man, Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair. Included here also are the legendary Mania match with Hulk Hogan, the well-paced 'retirement match' with Ultimate Warrior and the quite scary battle with Jake Roberts (which saw Savage get mauled by Jake's pet snake).

Throw in some nice TV matches, WCW classics and a huge amount of vignettes, the 1991 in-ring wedding of Randy and Liz, and you have one hell of a good release.

This Christmas this may just be the one wrestling DVD that the wrestling fan in your life would love to have.

The Randy Savage Collection is available now from www.silvervision.co.uk and all good retailers.

By Phil Allely

Dr Tom Prichard interview highlights

Dr. Tom Prichard joined the VOC Wrestling Nation recently to give his thoughts on the debut of Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns, working with the trio down at FCW, his new wrestling project, and the overall state of the wrestling business. The VOC Wrestling Nation is the flagship program of the VOC Nation Radio Network, and can be heard every Wednesday at 5PM ET worldwide at VOCNation.com. Here are some highlights from the chat with Dr. Tom:

On Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns' WWE debut: “I don’t know if you can find anything in wrestling that hasn’t been done before, but I look at it the other way. At least these guys finally had the opportunity not to just show up, but to make an impact on a (top) guy like Ryback, who is making an impact right now.”

On the WWE product: “WWE is in a transitional period. The powers that be (HHH) know that they need new blood. The lifeblood of the business is getting new talent and putting them in the mix.”

On Roman Reigns: “Out of the three, Roman Reigns is the greenest, yet he still has talent and untapped potential and charisma to be a major star. Reigns is Sika’s son, so he has the bloodline. He played football in the past, and has overcome a number of personal challenges in his life that none of us can ever imagine.”

On which of Rollins, Ambrose, or Reigns has the most star potential: “The dark horse is Roman Reigns. As far as charisma and working ability, Ambrose is at the top of the list. Rollins has the passion and the attitude that can put you over the top. You have three guys that have their own individual “it factors”. All three guys are smart. Ambrose is crazy like a fox. Rollins is wild like a maverick, but finally understands that there are rules that you need to play by; he has his beliefs, and he won’t sacrifice what he believes in, but he’s finally figured out (how to work the system).”

On his departure from WWE developmental: “When anyone new comes in, they want their team. When Bill DeMott came back, I knew that the writing was on the wall. Canyon Cemen, who took over Ty Bailey’s place, is very new to the business and really knows nothing. I was very honest with him when I probably shouldn’t have been. I told him that he came across like an a—hole in his initial meeting with the talent, and the writing was on the wall from there. I understand how it works. HHH wants his own people. If they can’t produce stars, but proof will be in the ratings.”

On how to be successful in wrestling: “It’s more how you handle yourself backstage than anything. If you show up at the arena at 12:30, you have 9 hours before showtime where the (powers that be) can see you and judge you. Someone much wiser than I told me on a plane ride not too long ago, that you have to understand who you can be honest with and who you can’t.”

On his new wrestling school: "We have a new wrestling project coming to Knoxville called Next Level Wrestling. It’s going to start in January. January 3rd is the open house for Next Level Training (the wrestling school)." VOCNation.com will have all of the information regarding the project as it develops.

DVD Review: nwo The Revolution

DVD Review: n.W.o The Revolution

In 1996 the world of professional wrestling took a turn for the better. As the industry waned slightly and the main two companies (WCW and WWE) struggled to sell out arenas somebody needed to do something to break the status quo.

The moment that changed it all was when former WWE main eventer's Scott Hall and Kevin Nash decided to leave the organisation for some big money deals with their rivals WCW.

WCW was then under the leadership of Eric Bischoff (currently one of the key men behind TNA). Bischoff had gained power recently and whilst the product had grown steadily and even procured the talents of former WWE figurehead Hulk Hogan, he still felt something was needed to go to the next level.

Cue Hall (and subsequently Nash) appearing on WCW live TV. Both cutting some killer promos that seemed to allude to the fact that the pair were invading the company on behalf of the WWE (which they were not). The storyline gained momentum quick and saw Nash and Hall become two of the hottest commodities in wrestling ever.

The next big turning point was when during a six man tag match at Bash at the Beach Hall and Nash took on the trio of Lex Luger, Sting and Randy Savage (three men they had been intimidating for weeks). The punchline here was the lack of the much-hyped third partner for the Outsiders (as Hall and Nash were now known). This was the key moment in n.W.o history, as perennial good guy Hulk Hogan came to ringside, we all thought he was there to help Sting and Co. but he did the unthinkable and aligned himself with the Outsiders to pummel the WCW boys.

Hogan's heel turn was a landmark event. No one saw it coming and this DVD uses that as its main factor in the success of the n.W.o.

There have been other DVDs focusing on the New World Order, but this is the definitive version. Here we are presented with a nice history of the concept and wonderful array of talking heads, who were there at the time. The only major face missing is The Hulkster (whose TNA contract restricts his inclusion), but he does feature in events heavily. It is nice to see some people like Mike Rotunda, Lex Luger, Arn Anderson, Dusty Rhodes, Billy Kidman and many others all give their two cents in relation to what made the story line work and inevitably implode.

The documentary here covers everything from the n.W.o's introduction to their demise. When it was at its peak the faction saw a weekly introduction of new members (mostly on huge cash deals) and the group ran amok in the company. The problem was the group got too big for its boots and expanded too far. As WCW ran into financial problems and closed its doors the WWE decided to rejuvenate the n.W.o for one more run and re-introduced Hulk, Hall and Nash to the WWE audience. It was however a short-lived thing and never really caught off the way it had before.

n.W.o. The Revolution is a three disc (two on Blu-ray) set that not only features the stoy of the faction, but some of the best matches (both WCW and WWE) that it had to offer. There are also some nice extras which include such things as the Hall and Nash intros and much more.

On the match front we have bouts featuring Rowdy Roddy Piper, Dennis Rodman, The Steiner Brothers, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Jay Leno and Sting, all of them battling some member of one of the New World Orders roster.

Fans of the late 1990s wrestling industry will lap this up. Newer fans will enjoy seeing just what leaps and bounds were made during this era in the sport and how guys like Hall, Nash and Hogan have became so powerful in the business.

n.W.o. The Revolution is available now on DVD and Blu-ray.

Check out ww.silvervision.co.uk for this and more WWE releases.

RRP £29.99 (DVD), £34.99 (Blu-ray)

By Phil Allely

Kevin Nash Interview Highlights

Kevin Nash appeared on Kayfabe Wrestling Radio with Alan Wojcik & Spug, which airs live on Tuesday nights at 9:00 p.m. on www.wildtalkradio.com. In a nearly 40 minute interview he talked about his film career and two of his releases coming to DVD soon (Rock of Ages and Magic Mike), the difference between doing a fan-fest as opposed to what it’s like with WWE or WCW, his views on the NWO DVD release coming soon, has he been contacted to participate with the WWE Network, what does he think of CM Punk’s lengthy title run, what Rick Rude instilled in him coming up, his views on social networking on wrestling today, and much more. With the New World Order DVD coming soon, does he like that fans of the era can relive it and see new footage of what was done: “I think the body of work still stands out. A lot of it, because we participated in; even though we did it, we’ve never seen it back. There have been so many matches and segments and things that we haven’t seen that sometimes, especially with the production that the WWE has, when they put something together, it’s usually an incredible piece and you sit there and kind of relive it again. You go ‘Oh yeah, forgot about that’. So, I look forward to watching those pieces because it does bring back a lot of memories." Does he like doing the seminars and working with the up and coming generation: "The way I look at it, I was fortunate enough to have guys like (Rick) Rude and (Curt) Hennig and Jake (Roberts) kinda guide me, watch me and critique what I did. So, I mean, if somebody asked me to watch them, I’d definitely do it; I don’t think I’ll be able to give them much of a critique on what they should have done from a trained wrestling standpoint. But as far as telling a story, that’s the number one thing; and that’s what I ask a young guy, ‘What was the story you were trying to tell’ because that is the basis for what we do/ It determines what we’re going to do as far as movement to tell that story. A lot of guys have gotten away from telling stories, they’re more into doing spots and I think that’s kind of hurt the business.” What he thinks of the lengthy Punk title run: “At the same time, with the progression of the character, and everything they’ve done, I think that he was the Straight Edge and now I mean he is, if you take last night’s show, there’s times when I say ‘That was cheap heat’ and then he finds a way to get out of it with good heat like when he backs off Ryback. I mean, he’s done just such a good job; he’s a good worker he’s great on the mic, and now he’s growing into the part and I don’t see how they could possibly even function and conceivably do three hours of a show without him. And the thing is, the one thing is if you can make the belt mean something then that person can, especially from that heel persona, look over his shoulder and say ‘Oh yeah? Well, if I’m not the best, why do I have this and why have I had it this long?’ What did he learn from Rick Rude and what is lacking from today’s wrestling: "Number one, first and foremost, he was an entertainer, but when he did a lot of things to tell a story, I mean he got heat; he was a believable bad ass and he was a dangerous human being. I think that’s one thing missing from a lot of the characters right now; I just don’t believe that those characters right now can physically hurt me. I mean Ryback’s a big dude but Ryback’s not much taller than Phil (CM Punk). I mean Goldberg was 6’4”, 305 lbs.; it was just a different era of guys I think one thing I saw from Ryback last night (vs Tensai at RAW) when did couldn’t do his finisher a couple of times; it’s nothing against him, he was put into that situation and he probably thought he could get him and he didn’t get him, but at the same time, no body is using that spear right now and they’re chanting ‘Goldberg’. To me, go with it. He could use the spear; no one else is using it. He could spear a big guy, it’s like anything else. I mean I used to use the big boot on Yoko(zuna), because there’s no way I could powerbomb him. I always had a secondary finished for a guy you just couldn’t physically put into it. I don’t think it took anything away from him cause the coverage on the announce was Tensai’s experience let him block those two attempts. But if he’d had the spear or a back-up, secondary thing already established, I think it would have helped him out.”

Paul Bearer Interview Highlights

THQ and WWE Games have announced that their new game, WWE '13, will feature Alberto Del Rio's personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez, as well as the legendary manager, Paul Bearer. To celebrate, WWE Games caught up with the urn-holder himself for an extended talk about his time as an actual mortician, the evolving role of a manager in WWE, his favorite managers in history, favorite "Attitude Era" moments and his top three WWE Superstars—CM Punk, Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler. Bearer states, "CM Punk is outstanding. I put CM Punk above Cena. I never knew him until I came back when I got kidnapped by Edge. He has the mentality and the ability and the athleticism to perform. He picked up all of that on his own, from Taker and Kane and talking with those guys. He is like a sponge and he just picks up everything. I think he is fantastic. Cena is fantastic too, but Punk is, in my estimation, No. 1 on the roster. "Daniel Bryan was in developmental when I was going to a different territory each week. He came from Shawn Michaels' school. Shawn is one of the best in the business, and he taught Daniel Bryan right. He is not a CM Punk, but he is pretty close. He is really good at one he does. "Dolph Ziggler…he had to grow on me. I had never heard of him before and he looks so much like Billy Gun. Certain things he does in the ring…I see Billy Gunn. He’s not Billy Gunn, but he is a fantastic performer. I have nothing bad to say about any of these guys – they are all really good at what they do." The legendary manager also discussed his association with The Undertaker and Kane. "They are such great performers, such great athletes. Such great men, gentlemen in general. I am truly humbled that I have been allowed to be associated with them for all these years," Bearer said. "When me and Taker first started, his first WrestleMania was my first WrestleMania, so we’ve really been together all that time. I get asked, would you have thought then, that he’d be still going in 2012? Hell no, I wouldn’t then and I’m sure that he wouldn’t have either. In the early years, me and Taker were together so much, I mean all the time. We had a very special relationship and a very special bond. It was such a perfect chemistry, a perfect meant-to-be thing. We were meant to be for each other, but we had no idea it would last this long."