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The theme of this year's Wrestlemania was "Where It All Begins Again" and the Wrestlemania XX DVD, which is scheduled to be released tomorrow, takes WWE DVDs to a new level, perhaps even surpassing the tremendous Ultimate Ric Flair Collection. The packaging, designed to look like a hardcover book folds out to a time line of Wrestlemania moments featured in color and black and white photos.
The three disc set features the entire Wrestlemania XX event as it aired on PPV with minimal changes (Victoria's ring music is a remixed generic version and the crowd chants for the Goldberg vs. Lesnar match don't seem anywhere near as loud as they were live in Madison Square Garden, but you can make them out.) On the basis of wrestling and emotional attachment to the show, the disc is a must buy. Chris Benoit's World championship win over Triple H and Shawn Michaels is a thing of beauty, matched only by the sheer emotion of Benoit and long-time ally Eddie Guerrero in the ring, both champions of the world after years of political issues and other hardships. If ever a moment can point to the greatness that professional wrestling can be on its best day, it's this one. The return of Mick Foley and The Rock to the ring against Evolution is a fun match that the crowd loved. Guerrero's championship defense against Kurt Angle was another fun match. Jericho vs. Christian and The Cruiserweight Open also come off well. The worst match obviously was Goldberg vs. Lesnar, but there's a unique perverse way to watch it, if you keep your eyes on Steve Austin trying to maintain his composure through the entire mess.
The production of the live show is simply amazing on the DVD and comes off even better than it did at the live event. The pyro, the staging, and the lighting make the Garden literally come to life, especially for Kane's entrance before a burning skyline of New York City. The opening video, ending with a computer generated image of the still to be constructed new Twin Towers is especially amazing. Even minor things, like longtime WWE acts Rikishi and Scotty Too Hotty dancing with sparklers going off in the ringposts and fireworks from the roof of the Garden looks awesome, giving the appearance of a nod of appreciation for two guys who show up and do their job to the best of their ability, even though they aren't huge favorites to the fans who live for the likes of seeing the superstars. Of course, the grand finale for the production was the return of the Undertaker, as they pulled out every special effect the character had ever utilized, from the druids to the lightning and thunder in the darkened arena and more. A nice moment for Taker fans.
The show itself is worth getting on DVD alone, but the extras more than make up for it. There are pre and post match interviews on the second disc with a number of stars. The best pre match interview was Molly Holly, completely out of character discussing how excited she was to work Wrestlemania XX. There's a great post-match interview with a choked up John Cena, who obviously is overwhelmed with the experience and notes that it was all a blur of lights and sound. There is another with Mick Foley, who admits he didn't think his comeback wasn't as great as it could been as he took a bad shot to the throat and was trying to catch his wind for much of the match. That would explain why it seemed like The Rock vs. Ric Flair show that night. Still, Foley notes that he doesn't think anyone live was disappointed and he wants to sit down and watch the match before he decides if he is or not. He made a point to mention he lost 50 pounds since he didn't want to embarrass his legacy. Of course, he certainly more than made up for it the next month as Backlash. For those of you who love your legends, there's a post-match interview with Billy Graham as well. There's a great feature on post-match thoughts from fans around the world as well.
The "Mania of Mania" documentary is featured as one of the main extras and if you missed it when it aired on UPN, this is just another must-see production as the film is just awesome. It's obvious WWE wanted to produce their answer to "Beyond the Mat" and they may have surpassed that film, looking at the end of Steve Austin's career, the return of Shawn Michaels to Wrestlemania, the injuries to Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar and more. This was my first chance to see the documentary and I was blown away by how Hulk Hogan was shown in the film, as there is a scene alluding to the fact that the rest of the locker room doesn't want him around and another where Michaels is shaking hands with the boys upon his return to the ring, only to blow Hogan off.
The DVD includes deleted scenes of the film focusing on Hogan vs. Vince McMahon and Booker T vs. Triple H. Helmsley comes off great in the film, talking about his love for the business and for all the criticism he gets from "hardcore fans", Triple H comes off exactly the same as any one of them, except he's in a position where he can wield his power. Helmsley also notes that while he doesn't want to insult Booker's work, it's "hit or miss" inside the ring. The DVD also looks at Booker's run ins with the law early in his life and how he used wrestling to turn himself around. The Hogan vs. McMahon footage is something anyone who studies the business should watch as well as obviously the boys and even the competitors were waiting for it to break down. The Undertaker notes that he doesn't know how it's going to go, "but I know how I'd like to see it." Angle wonders if there will be snug punches in retaliation for things that went down in the past. Hogan himself notes that there are ways to do things and make it look like an accident and "if Vince even puts his finger near the trigger, I am pulling mine."
The third DVD, where the documentary is located, also features the Ric Flair hosted special on the top 10 matches in Wrestlemania history. I watched it and thought it was a fun look back but there's no way in hell Bret vs. Michaels could surpass Austin vs. Rock at Mania 17, much less Michaels vs. Ramon or Bret vs. Owen at Mania 10. The third disc also features a fun feature where you can play a trivia game and depending on your answers, you are insulted or complimented by a WWE character ranging from Mick Foley to Rhyno to Al Snow and many more. I went through the game a few times and it generated new questions each time, so that's a nice feature. There's also a History section, broken down by event with results, photos, and facts from each Wrestlemania event, which is a nice bonus, especially the photos which look vibrant. There are also Confidential features on the return of Foley and The Rock as well as the NYC Press Conference. There are Easter eggs on the discs as well (Check our Easter Egg section for more details) made up of Wrestlemania Recall moments.
Overall, WWE Home Video has done themselves another fine job with this DVD and with titles dedicated to The Four Horsemen, Chris Benoit, Bret Hart, Eddie Guerrero, ECW, and others in the planning and production stages, this is going to be a most interesting year for the true wrestling fan.
Wrestlemania XX can be ordered now in the PWInsider.com Online Store..
Mike Johnson can be reached at Mike@PWInsider.com.
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