DaveyBoy's Wrestling Menu - 'Great American Bash' Review + 'Confidential' DVD Review
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 at 12:04 AM EST





THE WRESTLING MENU #139

Welcome one and all to the 139th edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

There are a few things I need to get to before I begin today. Firstly, thanks to everyone who emailed me over the past week. It's an understatement to say that there were many of you, and I received heaps of interesting thoughts, opinions & feedback. As per usual, it's very appreciated. As is the 8,500+ of you who took time out of your day to read my column last week.

More importantly, most will recall that I have been mentioning an upcoming vacation of the USA for myself. Approximate dates have now been locked in, so I can pretty safely let you all in on my column schedule over the next 2 months. This will be my 3rd last column before I leave. Barring anything extraordinary, I will have another column next week. Then I will have one final column which I am planning as we speak. Chances are that final column will not be on my usual posting day of Wednesday (the 10th). It could be as early as the Friday prior to that, but most likely will be posted some time on the weekend of the 6th & 7th of August.

All up, I'm away for 2 months & the plan is that my return column will be on Wednesday October 5. Hard to guarantee that date, as I may have to sleep for 3 days straight to rest from the trip.

I think that's it for now. With regards to this column, I thought I would make it totally review based. While the 'Confidential' DVD is not exactly new, I thought it was sort of timely right now, as I'm certain that if it was still on television, Matt Hardy would be a talking point on the show. The other thing to note is that this show was never broadcast in Australia, so all the stories on the DVD are completely new to me.

On with the show.....


APPETIZERS - 'Confidential' DVD Review

Please Note that the actual full name of this DVD is 'The Best Of WWE Confidential - Volume 1'. We might be waiting a while for Volume 2!!!

Hosted by 'Mean' Gene Okerlund.

Total Length of Main part of the DVD: 113 Minutes

The first 10 minutes looks at the Monday Night Wars of the mid to late 1990's & leads up to the surreal moment when Eric Bischoff debuted on Raw. In amongst many clips, we hear comments from Eric & Vince in sit-down interview format. This is actually one of the best segments on the entire DVD & is pretty much a concise summary of what the 'Monday Night War' DVD described in detail.

This is followed up by a 5 minute look at the time when 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin didn't show up for a Raw telecast. Predominantly comprising comments from Vince & Jim Ross, this whole incident doesn't seem to be as timely nowadays, although I'm sure it was perfect for the 'Confidential' show at the time.

We get away from the serious topics for 10 minutes or so, as we take a look at Kurt Angle returning back to the Atlanta wrestling training facility where he spent so much time leading up to the 1996 Olympics where he won his gold medal. Then we see a basketball contest between Bradshaw, The Big Show & Linda Miles, which only confirms how annoying JBL can be. Nothing too fascinating or entertaining in either segment.

Next up we view a couple of legends in "the British Bulldog' Davey Boy Smith & Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka. Both segments are pretty well put together, especially the more detailed (10 minute) Snuka story, which is a good mix of clips & comments. Slapstick follows the legends, as we are treated to some rarely seen Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan moments. Unfortunately, the footage shown was more silly than funny. This is then followed up by what may be the definition of serious comedy when DeGeneration X invaded WCW. Most people would have seen this footage before, but if not, it's definitley entertaining & fascinating stuff.

Speaking of WCW, highlighted next is a segment looking at their death. Featuring some truly amazing quotes from past employees, this is both mind-boggling & fascinating at the same time. This very good (if too short) segment veers off into a mini-history of the WCW/NWA World HeavyWeight Title. Apart from showing the importance of being any organization's main titleholder, I was a little disappointed at this segment. It wasn't too bad, as it had a few little tidbits of interesting information & opinion. But it really should have included a lot more and, because of that, the segment never reaches any great heights.

Behind the scenes we now go as we look at William Regal's weird obsession with reptiles & Trish Stratus' humongous house. Regal's humor makes the short first segment succeed, while Trish makes what initially was a boring look at her privacy, decent enough. These segments have a place on this DVD, I suppose. But it's soon back to the ring as we get a look at 3 generations of Ortons; Bob Sr, Bob Jr & Randy. There's some classic old footage here, which shows how similar the 3 are in the ring. Following this is a nice, if over long, interview segment with Rikishi which looks at some of the great Samoans that have laced up the boots in the WWE.

Next is a look at probably the oldest wrestling fan as a 107 year old woman is shown. This leads into a story on another wrestling fan; NFL player Levon Kirkland, who is a huge supporter of Booker T. This is actually a rather entertaining little walk through the Philadelphia Eagles training facility.

The final segment on the main portion of this DVD is the type of real-life situation that was perfect for the 'Confidential' show; The Montreal Screwjob. Interviews with the likes of Vince, HBK, Gerry Brisco & Earl Hebner are included & it's one great watch overall. Although, it is a little too much of a HBK fanfest for my liking.


MAIN - Extras & Conclusion

JIMMY SNUKA vs RAY STEVENS - December 28, 1982: Rather grainy footage of this Madison Square Garden bout. Old-style & methodically paced, Stevens plays the prototypical heel well, while Snuka plays the up-and-coming face perfectly. The crowd sure were hot for Snuka & nothing in this disappointingly short 7 minute match changes my mind from a column I wrote a couple of months back, that Snuka should have been WWE champ some time during his career. Snuka wins by countout.

BRET HART vs 'THE BRITISH BULLDOG' DAVEY BOY SMITH - August 29, 1992: From the SummerSlam that was held in England, this is my favorite match ever. Thankfully, the entrances of both wrestlers are shown here, as the reactions from the massive British crowd are rather amazing, and make me wonder why we haven't seen another ppv outside of North America since. Just the perfect mix of everything, these 2 put together an excellent combination of technical, power & psychological wrestling. This is arguably the bout that elevated Hart to main-event status & gave DaveyBoy a significant push. 26 minutes in length & the final 7 or so is better than anything you will ever see. For even more detail, see my column #53, which you can view by clicking on the following link: http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/2003_/articles/1058354860.php

BRET HART vs SHAWN MICHAELS - November 9, 1997: The match that just had to be on this DVD in full. Fascinating to watch (more than once) & for that reason alone, it has to be classified as entertaining. But what is often overlooked is the match quality. So excluding the ending, is it any good...??? The answer is "yes", apart from the fact that it was cut way too short. The crowd & atmosphere were amazing. But what made it all the more better was the classic cocky heel persona that originally made HBK famous. He really was on the top of his game character-wise here. The match was a little too methodical in pacing, but it was for a reason & predominantly succeeded. Of course, the abrupt, controversial & memorable ending cannot be ignored.

SCOTT STEINER vs BOOKER T - March 26, 2001: Short, but entertaining 'title vs title' match from the last ever Nitro episode. At 6 minutes in duration, the bout was way too short for what was a pretty important wrestling match in history. Having said that, it was wrestled at a good pace & both men showed little flashes of their best. A pretty good choice for this DVD, although if time wasn't an issue, maybe Flair vs Sting from the same Nitro episode would have been better.


CONCLUSION

Possibly one of the WWE's weaker DVD efforts. Considering that the 'Confidential' television show was still new to me, I expected much more informative items here. But what results is a mish-mash of anything & everything which sees no real target audience at all (apart from wrestling fans in general). In all honesty, I actually preferred the 'Before They Were Superstars' DVD series of 2 better. At least, you know what you are going to get & who would be entertained by it.

Having said all that, there were a few tidbits that were interesting. On top of that, some of the classic clips are interesting to watch. I have to admit that I picked up this DVD heavily discounted & I don't regret that at all. Why? Because it contains the Bret vs DaveyBoy match (as well as the Montreal screwjob). I could only recommend this 1 discer to people who have seen neither match. And even then, only purchase if it's discounted.


DESSERT - 'G.A Bash' Review

For those that cannot recall my previous PPV review columns, this is the key that explains what the final PPV Rating means:

<50: Ask for a refund for not only your money, but also your time. [F] (Armageddon '04)
50-54: Mediocre & disappointing. [D] (EG: No Way Out '05)
55-59: Average. [C] (EG: Royal Rumble '04 & No Way Out '04)
60-64: Worth A Watch. [C+] (EG: Judgment Day '05)
65-69: Good event that was worth the money. [B] (EG: WrestleMania 21)
70-74: Very good. [B+] (EG: Vengeance '05)
75-79: Make sure you add this ppv to your video or dvd collection. [A] (EG: ECW: One Night Stand)
80+ : Make sure that the video or dvd is locked in a safe & cannot be erased. Memorable. [A+]

NOTE: Before I get into the review, I should state how many of my predictions turned out to be correct, remembering that I did not know that The Mexicools vs bWo match was going to take place & I wasn't aware of the UPN/Hassan embargo at the time of posting last week. So how many did I predict correctly? A big fat duck egg. That's right!!! Not a single one. Zero!!! I have no real excuse, apart from saying that some of the match results that the WWE came up with were truly mind-boggling. Hey, as punishment for this poor showing, I think I won't do predictions for the next 2 pay-per-views!!! LOL

ANIMAL & HEIDENREICH defeated MNM to Win the WWE Tag-Team Championships: Pretty much a basic 7 minute tag match. Structured predictably, it had MNM targetting Heidenreich's knee after the initial test of strength was obviously won by the faces. The eventual hot tag was made to Animal who threw in a strange looking dropkick in amongst a few power moves. The only unpredictable thing that happened here was the result, but I stated last week that I thought this was a big possibility. Like I said, this was extremely basic & way too ho-hum, but nothing was too bad. In fact, I liked a few of MNM's double-teams & innovations when isolating Heidenreich. Correctly kept short & did enough to get the crowd into it, but nothing more than average. Match Rating...5

BOOKER T defeated CHRISTIAN: I liked this 12 minute match, although it was nothing too spectacular & will probably fade pretty fast from the memory. The 2 men did well to bring a fair bit of intensity & meaning to what was an average feud. While Booker did everything he had to, Christian impressed me most. He very much established his heel character on his new brand (which I think he had to) with every trick in the book (EG: stalling, using the ropes, using the ref, thumb to the eye, etc...). He still got some cheers from his peeps, but they're not going to disappear any time soon. The wrestling itself was very solid, but the bout needed something to make it stand out. Booker T's axe kick from the middle rope was a good attempt, but it still needed more. Match Rating...7

ORLANDO JORDAN defeated CHRIS BENOIT to Retain the United States Title: I knew we were in trouble when the faces won the opening 2 matches! While the result is pure & simply a terrible decision, this match was better than I expected. It was the type of bout that OJ needed at the beginning of his title reign to legitimize him. It's basically too late now. Benoit was his amazing intense self here, but OJ did ok for the most part. It was clever & logical booking for him to target Benoit's arm & neck, and he did it well enough. Unfortunately, at 14 minutes in length, this bout was 3-5 minutes too long & it really hurt it's quality markedly. It resulted in a prolonged period where OJ was in control with resthold after resthold & it simply bogged the match down. Could this have been OJ's best ever match? Probably. It was decent enough. Match Rating...6

THE UNDERTAKER defeated MUHAMMAD HASSAN to Become the #1 Contender for the WWE Championship: Not since 'Stone Cold' stunned about 20 men in a minute on Raw one night, have we seen such an unrealistic dismantling of many men by just the 1 wrestler. This was basically a 7 on 1 handicap match (Hassan, Daivari & 5 henchmen) & the 1 emerged victorious both during & after the bout. Well, if you wanted to kill a character, I suppose that's the way to do it! The 8 minute match was truly forgettable & average. Predictable action was intermingled with the usual lashings of interference, but 'Taker got through it all somehow. The 5 minute aftermath even allowed him to go through all 7 men one at a time. This included a Last Ride Powerbomb of Hassan through the stage. I suppose that considering the circumstances, the WWE did ok in tying up that loose end. But it's a shame they forgot to book the actual match appropriately. Going on this unrealistic form, 'Taker will never lose another match in his career! I can't pass this. Match Rating...4

THE MEXICOOLS defeated THE bWo: Prototypical 6 man match, but at only 6 minutes in length, any potential the bout had was pretty much thrown out the window. Showed flashes of brilliance when the Mexicools were on offense (especially Super Crazy), but even those moments were too few & far between. I mean, Juvi going the abdominal stretch is just ridiculous. I haven't seen much of the bWo wrestle as a team, but I think they'd be better off ditching the wrestling styles of the 3 men that they are impersonating & trying to mimic their opponents instead. It might be fresh & humorous, where-as I've seen enough Hulking up & Kevin Nash moves this lifetime already. Filler which could have been so much better. Match Rating...5

REY MYSTERIO defeated EDDIE GUERRERO: Many people will under-rate this match due to it's result, potential and/or storyline. And while it was admittedly nowhere near the classic perfect match that they could give us, it was still very good. Our expectations may have been too high here. A tremendous & entertaining first 5 minutes saw Rey constantly on the offensive with many exciting nearfalls. The match then logically moved into storyline territory, as Eddie gained control & used the ringside psychological distraction of Rey's son Dominic. Thankfully though, the occasional burst of offense from Rey coupled with Eddie's usual clinical attack (including a picture perfect brainbuster) kept this bout's quality fairly high. Of course they can still do better & of course this feud will now have to progress swiftly, but this was still very good & should not be under-rated. Rey get's the rollup pinfall after Eddie's lazy pinning attempt. Match Rating...8

MELINA defeated TORRIE WILSON in a Bra & Panties Match: Pretty much the same old same old. Although there was some good intensity by both women at the start & then Torrie showed some decent wrestling skills towards the end (including a nice dropkick & a suplex). But let's not overrate this. I think I'm very much over these bouts. At least the heel won for once. Kept short at 4 minutes in length, plus the obligatory stripping of the winner & referee afterwards. In the words of Matt Morgan; "Whoo... whoo... whoo... whoopie do". Match Rating...4

JOHN BRADSHAW LAYFIELD defeated BATISTA by Disqualification in a Match for the WWE Championship: Oh boy, where do I start? With a positive, that's where. I don't know if it was just me, but no matter what I thought of the feud, the pre-match promo & entrances got me right into this bout. There was just something about JBL's flag-waving antics & Batista's entrance that worked well. Unfortunately, the bell then rang. What followed was 20 minutes of rehearsed & slow-motion action which simply did not live up to the usual WWE pay-per-view main event standard. Piper & Hogan may get away with a 3 minute sleeperhold, but these 2 cannot. Occasional moments of impact & intensity were good, but they were very occasional. JBL made Triple H look like a legend here & the questions that I asked about Batista earlier in the year are now well & truly back. To make matters worse, the WWE went the Unforgiven 2002 (Lesnar vs 'Taker) route by having the main event end in a feeble disqualification & no real payoff afterwards. In DX fashion, if you didn't see this match, I've got 2 words for you; Slow. Boring. Match Rating...4

PPV RATING (43/80) = 54

Looking at the key, I have basically given the 2005 version of the 'Great American Bash' a 'D' grade & said that it was 'mediocre & disappointing'. I'll stick by that comment, even though it was fairly lucky to pass full stop. The only thing that saved it was a pretty good Rey vs Eddie match, plus solid outings in Christian vs Booker T & Benoit vs OJ. On top of that, nothing was downright awful, despite 3 matches failing. The other problem with this event is that literally all matches will be forgotten in 2 months time. Nothing memorable came out of them at all. This ppv will forever be known as the event where The Undertaker took on the world & for the 2nd year running put paid to a WWE character. Very disappointing & what's worse is that the most likely main-event match that this brand will put on at SummerSlam, involves 3 wrestlers who all failed on this card. Very disappointing & the WWE continues to do the SmackDown brand no favors.


Ok, that is all for edition #139 of 'The Wrestling Menu'. I hope you enjoyed it. If you would like to comment on my DVD review or clarify anything about it, you may do so. And what did you think of The Great American Bash & my review of it? As per usual, I will reply to all feedback. My e-mail address is DaveyBoy123@bigpond.com

Otherwise, if you are an LOPForums member, you may also leave feedback by clicking on the following link: http://www.lopforums.com/showthread.php?t=4889

So, what's on the agenda for next week's 'Wrestling Menu'...??? Well, I'm still sort of deciding, but am currently leaning towards looking individually at 3 Raw superstars, their future & the way the WWE are booking them right now. Look out for that column same Wednesday time & same LOP channel. Until then, this is DaveyBoy signing off & asking you to remember that dinner is best served in 3 courses.












*NEW GALLERY* Even MORE Hot Shots of TORRIE WILSON Tearing the Night Up!

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