101 Reasons not to be a Pro Wrestler DVD review

[LucharesuFan619 0]

DVD Review: 101 Reasons Not to be a Pro Wrestler

 

Web site: HollymoodEntertainment.com

 

produced by Michael Moody & Hollymood Entertainment

 

Review by LucharesuFan619 on Thursday, June 30, 2005

 

I found this DVD very fun to watch overall. The main feature is three

hours long and the bonus features run another two hours long. The

film was almost entirely documentary style, featuring interviews with

various wrestlers; there was only one instance where actual in-ring

footage was shown, and that was a full match, which I’ll get into

later. There are enough interviewees so that the producers were able to

splice in a diverse range of personalities, so you never go from one

person to another, back to the original, back to the second person,

back to the original, etc.

 

The people who were interviewed are Rikishi, Psychosis, Joanie Lauer

(a.k.a. Chyna), Diamond Dallas Page, New Jack, Vampiro, Sean O’Haire

(just days after being let go by WWE), Konnan, Major Gunns, Nosawa,

Predator/Sylvester Turkay, and Babi Slymm. I found there to be a good

mix of seriousness and humor in the film.

 

Babi Slymm - an up-and-coming wrestler in Southern California - comes

off really funny and is a bigger part of the DVD than you’d expect, and

that’s a good thing because his “gangsta” style a brilliant counterpart

to New Jack’s similar - yet brasher - humor. Rikishi, Diamond Dallas

Page, and even Vampiro are very down to earth when being interviewed.

Even though most people haven’t heard of him, Predator is very

well-spoken and he and Sean O’Haire offer first-hand knowledge when

comparing pro wrestling with mixed martial arts.

 

O’Haire is otherwise somewhat reserved about some questions, as he

refuses to go on record about his thoughts on Vince McMahon, politics in

WWE, or drugs in wrestling. However, O’Haire does have interesting

comments about how he got into WCW, saying that it was the right time

and the right place. Lastly, O’Haire goes into detail about his side of

the story that he beat up two women at a bar a few months ago, saying

that it was nothing like the media portrayed it.

 

Joanie Lauer, on the other hand, well, she comes off weird, but you know

that already if you’ve seen her on Howard Stern anytime recently.

She’s honest and candid about her relationship with Triple H, her

relationship with Sean Waltman, her feelings on Stephanie and Vince

McMahon, Playboy, and how she had to adjust to the male-dominated WWF

locker room, but she was drinking and smoking during the interview and

clearly her mind was elsewhere at some points.

 

DDP’s “Positively Page” character is reflected in the film in that he’s

really optimistic when talking about the different subjects that were

brought up - he takes the high road when asked about Ric Flair’s

comments about him in his book and says that although Flair didn’t

think that he could ever be a star and even though that judgment was

wrong, he considers Flair to be one of the greatest wrestlers ever and

highly respects him. DDP also takes full responsibility for his

lackluster run in WWE, even though it was really not his fault at all.

DDP also tells a funny story about how he got into the business,

specifically his audition with AWA.

 

Rikishi talks about his family’s background in the wrestling business

and also comes off as very optimistic, saying that while he’s not with

WWE anymore, he is thankful to have had such a great job there for

almost 15 years. Rikishi also comes off very passionate about life in

general when talking about how celebrity status has affected him, his

opinion on his heel turn in 2000, and the story he tells about when he

was shot in the chest during a drive-by shooting will definitely keep

on the edge of your seat. Rikishi also tells a funny “stink face” story

when asked about his favorite ribs. However, although Konnan,

Psychosis, and DDP have no problem letting the camera stay in the

locker room while they’re planning their matches (Konnan and Psychosis

wrestled Ricky Reyes & Puma and DDP wrestled Babi Slymm), Rikishi asks

the cameraman to leave the locker room when it’s time for him to go

over the finish of his match with his opponents.

 

If you’ve seen Vampiro’s shoot interview with Highspots, you know that

he’s very candid about any subject that people bring up for him, and

his role in this DVD is no exception. Vampiro really made me leave his

segments internalizing just how corrupt the wrestling business is, as

he talks about egos, drugs in WCW, unions, and more. Vampiro also comes

off as pretty funny by cracking jokes with people off camera, but

perhaps most interestingly, during the commercial shoot, he comes off

as a very caring individual, as his main concern is protecting New

Jack’s safety in a stunt they have to perform, which isn’t what you’d

expect from a straight-shooting guy like Vampiro.

 

Konnan has a very unique perspective on every subject he discusses. As

a prime example, when he’s asked about where he sees the wrestling

business in five years, he actually predicts a lucha libre revolution

on an international scale and gives some great insight to back up that

vision. I would’ve liked to have seen him go into the politics in WCW

more than he did because in other interviews I’ve heard him do, he’s

told some really shocking stories about just how corrupt WCW booking

was. Konnan is really candid about TNA and admits that while there are

politics in that company just like any other company, and he also has

some interesting answers to the question of what else he would like to

accomplish in the wrestling business.

 

Psychosis and Nosawa’s English skills aren’t great, and Nosawa is

really hard to understand, although he does a good job of using body

language to convey his points. He also makes a really hilarious

introduction of himself. Nosawa really isn’t featured much at all, as

he talks about his thoughts on backyard wrestling and that’s about it.

Psychosis comes off as really down to earth and humble. Even though he

doesn’t speak English too well, he repeats what he says a few times and

eventually you understand him. He compares American fans with Lucha

Libre fans, talks about his mask, and also explains how in ECW,

wrestlers were encouraged to go all-out, while in WCW the luchadores

were told to hold back some. For some of his appearance, Psychosis is

wearing his mask and other times he’s not wearing it.

 

Major Gunns is getting her hair done while she does her interview,

which she talks a lot about how women were treated by WCW. She says

that drugs are justified in some situations, gives some stories about

training with the other divas (Madusa, Paisley, Stacy Keibler, etc.)

and tells an interesting story about a confrontation she had with

Goldberg backstage in WCW. Plus, she’s really hot to just stare at.

 

And New Jack, well, New Jack is New Jack. If you know New Jack, you know

what to expect, well, actually, you don’t know what to expect because

you can never predict what New Jack will say or do. Just seeing how he

responds to certain questions and what offhand comments he makes is fun

to watch. Most of his interview takes place in a bar, anyway, so he’s

drinking, and New Jack + booze = funny jokes and a whole lot more.

 

New Jack talks about tons of stuff: drugs in wrestling, politics, ring

rats, unions, etc. He tells a hilarious story (part of which is

featured in the trailers on HollymoodEntertainment.com, and part of

which is not featured in the trailers) about one ring rat he got

pregnant and his reaction to an e-mail he later got from her telling

him that he was the father. We also follow New Jack walking up

Hollywood Boulevard as he hits a (in a way only New Jack can) on a

middle-aged hotel clerk. Plus, there’s footage of New Jack arguing

(albeit pretty politely) on his cell phone with a promoter who had

booked him for a show, and then took him off the card without telling

him and now didn’t want to pay him for preventing him from taking

another booking the same day.

 

Other footage includes New Jack, Vampiro, Major Gunns, and the Insane

Clown Posse filming a commercial for the video game, Backyard

Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood. This segment was one of the

highlights of the DVD for me. New Jack gets really pissed at one point

when there’s trouble with the filming, and he almost starts ripping

into Vampiro verbally before calming himself down. This segment is

especially interesting because you get to see New Jack at his most

crude (when he talks about how big his nuts are), at his most low key

(when he tries to walk off a an ankle-twist he suffers during the

filming and refuses to talk to the cameraman, and actually looks like

he’s about to cry at one point), and at his most angry (when they’re

having trouble setting up the stunt involving himself and Vampiro).

 

Perhaps best of all, though, included is the full, uncensored match

between New Jack and the 70+ years old Gypsy Joe. This almost becomes

Mass Transit #2, as the two start to legitimately shoot on one another

and New Jack throws legit knee smashes, punches, forearms, and even

whacks him with a chain and a metal baseball bat wrapped in barbed-wire

(which he swings HARD). More than anything, I found it interesting to

just watch how the match progressed from the two not wanting to

cooperate with each other in the ring, to them seeing how hard they

could chop and strike each other, to it becoming a real fight (albeit

one-sided), with the fans backing up and trying to keep their distance

from New Jack.

 

You can see a parent picking up her kid and leaving the building as the

action starts getting rough, but there are other kids who look to be as

young as 3 and 4 in the audience that remain there the entire match. As

Jack is about to leave the ring area, a fan shouts that he’s a “f*ckin

n***er” and gets a really profanity-laced reply from New Jack, before

the segment cuts out and the interview format returns. This is

seriously worth a substantial part of the DVD’s price alone. The tape

of the match is REALLY hard to find as it is, *let alone* in this kind

of quality.

 

The main criticism that I had about this DVD was that it got really

annoying at times because a good 30 minutes or so of the bonus features

is stuff that actually was already in the main feature (the documentary

itself), so I had to fast-forward through those parts. The menus to

jump from feature to feature were also somewhat confusing to follow.

Also, the producers could’ve designed a better flow for the DVD.

Granted, the DVD is separated into chapters (i.e. Politics in

Wrestling, Traveling, Drugs in Wrestling, Wrestling and MMA,

etc. It would’ve just helped if there was a little bit better flow to the

documentary. I also would’ve liked to have heard New Jack talk about

the match with Gypsy Joe, being that he’s never once asked about it by

the interviewer.

 

Other than that, I really enjoyed this DVD. I’d put it on the same

level as Ultimate Insiders with Vince Russo & Ed Ferrera. This is definitely

a DVD worth checking out if you’re a New Jack fan, if you’re into seeing how a

match is planned, or if you want to hear comments from the wrestlers

about how the wrestling business has changed since WWE absorbed WCW and

ECW.

 

All of the interviewees - with the exception of Psychosis and Nosawa -

get a very sufficient amount of interview time for their personalities

to come across, and actually even with Psychosis and Nosawa (who only

appear a limited number of times), their personalities come across

pretty well, too, considering that neither was interviewed for more

than 10 minutes (and in Nosawa’s case, like three minutes). Psychosis

comes off as a very dedicated - yet humble - wrestler, while Nosawa

comes off as a “happy-go-lucky” type of guy.

 

I have new (even better than my previous) views of Vampiro, Rikishi, and

DDP after viewing this, and I left with very good impressions of two

other people (Predator and Babi Slymm) who I had heard of, but didn’t

know much about. Also, if you’re into Joanie Lauer (I can’t imagine why

you would be, but that’s not my business), this DVD is worth checking

out, too. And for New Jack fans, it doesn’t get much better than this -

New Jack rambles about blading, doing drugs, masturbating with himself,

and hookers; he pretends to take a sh*t in public; he shoots the shit

with the Hollywood Boulevard hotel clerk and quizzes her about what

”187” means (LOL); and so much more. Plus, you get the very

entertaining New Jack vs. Gypsy Joe match.

 

The “101 Reasons not to be a Pro Wrestler” DVD is available at

HollymoodEntertainment.com. The web site also includes trailers with

clips from the DVD, a photo gallery featuring screen shots from the

DVD, a fan forum to discuss and ask the producer questions about the

movie, and more. The DVD will not be sold in stores, so you must buy it

online if you wish to see it.

 

Also, if you would are a producer of pro wrestling videos or DVDs and would like me to review your merchandise on DOI and many other web sites and message boards across the Internet, you may contact me at [email protected].

[LucharesuFan619 0]

By the way, there's also another review of the DVD up at http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/infor...101reasons.html . It's definitely worth reading and checking out. Also, there's about 15 minutes worth of trailers from the DVD that you can watch for free at: http://www.hollymoodentertainment.com/trailer.htm If you want to order the DVD go to: http://www.hollymoodentertainment.com/order.htm

[Guest BrokenWings]

Who books New Jack by this point? And was there legal intervention because of the Gypsy Joe incident?