DVD & Book Reviews

The Dreaded Nerve Hold Review - The Rock: The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment

The Rock: The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment
Available: Silver Vision
Price: £17.99

This 3-Disc set, is one that I would imagine most of us have been looking forward to, for a long, long time. After all, The Rock, one of the most beloved performers in WWE history, has not worked an actual match, since Wrestlemania 20.

We have certainly been starved of his wrestling talents for some time, and now, with it pretty much guaranteed that we’ll never, ever see the guy work another match, it appeared to be the right time for a complete career retrospective. Previous releases on the Rock, have been nothing special, and of everyone of his stature, he has been the least well served by the WWE’s gargantuan video library.

This new release does nothing to help with that balance. “The Rock: The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment”, is a feeble excuse for a retrospective, and one that surely will please only the most easily satisfied of WWE fans.

At first glance, it looks like an optimistic set. Even though some of his greatest matches are omitted, keeping in trend with other recent compilations, the WWE have instead opted to include a batch of encounters that are not (generally) quite as top-drawer, but equal in value in terms defining the Rock’s range within the squared-circle. This is fine, as it unearths previously forgotten gems, that can only encourage fans to check out the more easily accessible matches. That isn’t where the issues lie…

The biggest problem is the atrocious format, complete with gravel-toned voice-over. This outdated structure not only enables a sanitised, censored narration, but pretty much relies on it. Instead of some in-depth analysis, some reliable back-story, and the thoughts and anecdotes of his many, many opponents, we are insulted with this ditzy, kid-friendly-yet-rose-tinted piece of fluff.

Plus, much of the music is AWFUL. Seriously, dismal stuff. The build-up for Rock’s epic title victory over The Game at Backlash 2000 is accompanied by some crazily jolly tingles. What happened to the original, goose-bump inducing video packages?

The Matches:

Intercontinental Title Match
Rocky Maivia vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley©

As you may imagine, this isn’t the most exciting or even interesting of bouts. Contested in early 1997, HHH was a fairly ordinary mid-card heel, who wrestled a bland, repetitive style that saw him ridiculously over-use his knee as a weapon.

Meanwhile, The Rock was a green, horrendously old-fashioned blue-chip babyface, who was not over with live crowds. In fairness to the guy though, the crowd are behind him in this effort. Honky Tonk Man appears during the match to take a seat in the commentary booth, and basically offers some comedy value by slabbering about all of the WWE’s roster, and in particular Rocky’s lack of ability to carry the IC title.

Slow action, fundamentally sound, but it never gets going, or provokes any excitement. Hunter nails a series of big moves, including a Piledriver, and a Superplex, before he’s caught in a Small Package while attempting the Pedigree. Definitely worth including, as it was the Rock’s first title victory, but you’ll not watch it more than once. Unless like me you’re particularly amused by the Rock’s flamboyantly bouncy hair.

Owen Hart vs. The Rock 

Somehow, these two would go on to become partners, and it’s probably just as well, because I don’t think their chemistry as opponents was tremendous. As with a later match ,I think this one is included purely because The Rock genuinely liked Owen, and this is an opportunity to spotlight the late Hart family member.

Triple H vs. The Rock

A king of the ring qualifier, this one. And I still find it bizarre that they didn’t save this for the PPV, given that Hunter and the Rock were feuding as leaders of the respective factions at the time. Not much too it. Certainly interesting however, though more of a set-up, and continuation of a feud than anything else.

WWE Title Match
The Rock vs. Mankind

This is the finale to the WWE’s Survivor Series title tournament, and it’s a doozy. It’s an utterly fascinating watch nowadays, even knowing the outcome. It still stands up as a superior piece of work as well even though the storyline is better than the match itself. The Rock went in as the underdog babyface, against Mick Foley, a babyface at heart, who was manipulated into serving the McMahon’s Corporation. And well, if you don’t know what goes down, you need to be looking this one up… Great stuff.

Shame The Rock couldn’t have his moment at the end without Steve Austin crashing the party (as he always did during these moments in 98/99), but the DVD wisely cuts proceedings prior to his appearance.

WWE Title Last Man Standing Match
The Rock vs. Mankind©

Yet another in the string of overly-brutal, but undeniably enjoyable battles between Mick and Rocky. Having won the title in a tournament against Foley, only to quickly lose it, regain it, and lose it again, within the span of less than three months, the WWE was running the gimmick bill up to sky-high proportions. And in doing so, they were destroying the credibility of their only credible belt. It helped then, when they settled for Foley, for once, retaining the belt, and prolonging another title change here.

This is one of Foley’s many overlooked gems, a really nutty performance, that while lacking the physical, terrifying bashing Mick received at the hands of a steel chair in a previous bout (the “I Quit” bout at the Royal Rumble), provided the requisite amount of violence. There isn’t much actual wrestling in this one, but in it’s place, hot, brutal brawling.

Also notable, is that at this point, The Rock, the Number One Heel in the company, was the most popular guy on the roster, with only Austin as the exception, and the cheers for him in this match are especially notable given the crowd’s relative indifference to Foley.

WWE Title Ladder Match
The Rock vs. Mankind©

Another gloriously heated, heated match-up between these two, again featuring stunts aplenty. This one includes an appearance by Paul Wight, soon to be known simply as “the big Show”, complete with comedy hair. I advise maybe not watching this one alongside the other Foley matches, even though it is impressive indeed.

WWE Title Match
The Rock© Vs Steve Austin

This was the bout that climaxed the abomination that was known as WM XV, one of the worst Supercard’s in that lineage. Not a classic by any means, but an effective Mania headliner, helped immensely by the epic storyline involving Vince McMahon’s rivalry with Stone Cold.

The last few moments of this are tremendously exciting, as although I tend to view the typical outside inference of the era overdone, and negative, it for once was the right direction to go in here. Honestly, it was the best ending they could have went with at the time.

Their rematch the following month at Backlash was much better than this, however, it was on the Austin DVD release, which explains why this one is included here. It’s a big moment, and deserves your attention.

Steel Cage Match
Triple H vs. The Rock

So this was a rarity I was looking forward to.

It’s a bit too punch-kick at times, but still a nice scrap. The crowd isn’t electric throughout, and perhaps that’s partly because as a babyface, The Rock was still kind of finding his feet at the time, and wasn’t as explosive as he would become. They work a fairly straightforward cage bout, until Chyna Knocks the referee out, and helps HHH escape.

But the ref doesn’t know it’s over, because like- he’s unconscious, and the Rock soon follows Hunter to the outside, for a bit of a brawl, before the action returns to the ring. At one point, Rocky uncharacteristically unleashes an Axehandle off the top rope.

Towards the end, the match becomes blatantly bizarre. Both guys are on top of the cage, in seated positions, duking it out. Chyna passes Trips a chair, and he nails the Rock with it, causing him to pass out on top of the cage. Hunter is then made to look like a complete buffoon. Instead of going to the outside, which he’s already half-way there, he goes back into the ring, to head out the door. En route, not only does he slip, and crotch himself on the top rope, but he then gets his foot tangled in the ropes briefly. While Lumbering Helmsley crawls gingerly towards the door, The Rock recovers and drops down for the win.

Disappointing. Why they included this, I have no idea. It wasn’t intense enough considering that the two were in a heated rivalry, and the action wasn’t up to the standard of many of their other encounters.

A far better inclusion would have been many of their battles from the following year, or even the strap match from Fully Loaded 99, or even better, the bout from the first episode of Smackdown that Shawn Michaels refereed. Like I said, bizarre.

WWE Tag Title Match
The Rock & Sock Connection vs. Undertaker & Big Show©

Foley really looks a state here in his wretched sky-blue jogging bottoms. What a hideous outfit.

Again, why the hell is this bout included? As Taker ditches Show, leaving him on his own, it doesn’t put over The Rock and Sock Connection, who then outnumbering the heel. And the action isn’t especially interesting or memorable in any way. A throwaway bout from a period in which the WWE’s TV shows may have done good ratings, but were stuffed with awful bouts like this. Poor match. Foley and Big Show look especially rubbish, and I think Taker was injured at this point, so he barely contributes before taking off.

The Rock vs. Kane

Kane, the character who can go years at a time without a decent storyline, push, or match. At this point, the young, “burnt” sibling of Taker, still retained his nifty Red lighting during his entrance, and had the services of Tori, as his uh, girlfriend. It must have been those great conversational skills that he exhibited.

It only takes a couple of minutes for this match to degenerate into an arena-wide brawl, with a bump off the stage for Kane, and a Chokeslam through a table for Rock. Really short match, with interference by Torrie backfiring.

The crowd mark out for everything The Rock does, but it’s a rubbish match, and one of those counterproductive ones that explain why the WWE only ever had two or three constant credible main eventers until 2000.

WWE Title match
The Rock vs. Triple H©

Ahh yes, the bout which should have occurred the previous month at Wrestlemania. You would have been forgiven for thinking that the WWE would have given the fans the heart-warming moment they’d waited nearly a year to see, The Rock defeating the vile Triple H for the World title, at the biggest show of the year.

But they didn’t.

Instead, they infuriated the fans by booking Trips to retain at Mania, thanks to the McMahons. I’m personally torn between what was the right thing to do, as it no doubt added a much-needed injection of unpredictability to the Mania formula. However, if they were going to book the shock heel victory, they should have at least had a Hunter Pedigree end the match, not a McMahon chair-shot.

Regardless, the promotion made amends the following month, with this, stunning effort. At this point, Trips was coming into his own, as not just the finest Heel in the industry, but he was in the midst of having one of the most successful years, artistically, of any heel in history. This is one in a whole slew of superb efforts from the Son-in-law.

Even though it should be said, his tan here is absolutely shocking, rivalling Hulk Hogan in the orange stakes. Thankfully Ms Stephanie here, was going through her phase of looking extraordinarily hot. Of course, every bad guy, needs a good guy to match his skills, and of course, The Rock at this point, was his perfect opponent, really coming into his own as a superior hero.

Oh yeah, and you get a brain-jinglingly monster pop for Austin showing up and saving the day too. Awesome, awesome match.

WWE Title Match
Shane McMahon vs. The Rock©

You’d be hard pressed to find television material featuring the Rock as over as he was in the first half of 2000. With Hunter having suffered an arm injury (off the top of my head, I think it was a fracture), at Backlash, Shane McMahon stepped in for this cage match, to further the storyline. And it’s lovely entertainment, really enjoyable stuff.

WWE Title Match
Kurt Angle© vs. The Rock

These two always had superb chemistry. But then, it could be argued that both of these guys have great chemistry with absolutely everybody. They’d met repeatedly over the previous few months, while Angle held the WWE title, which he originally took from Rock himself (at No Mercy 2000), and Angle somehow always escaped with the belt.

Contested at No Way Out, this had to be the one in which the Rock won the belt back, in order to meet Steve Austin in their much-anticipated rematch at Wrestlemania. It was. What it was also, was a start-to-finish spectacular, with Rock near the top of his game, and Angle nearing his.

Earl Hebner botched finish not withstanding (he doesn’t realise that they’ve went to the finish, and fails to count the pinfall), it’s a masterpiece.

WCW Title Match
Booker T© vs. The Rock

This is the match from Summerslam 2001, the infamous PPV that saw the WWE butcher WCW’s reputation, and in doing so, destroy their own Invasion storyline. However, at times it was a great card, and this, the main event, something of a historic bout, is the highlight. Having seen both guys leave the WWE for other ventures, it’s great to look back at when the Rock was still in his peak, and Booker, while not yet having reached that level, was a tremendous prospect.

WWE Undisputed Title Match
Chris Jericho© vs. The Rock ©

Throughout late 2001, one of the only bright sparks upon the dismal landscape of WWE television, was the push of Chris Jericho as the number one (well, sort of) heel in the company. His main rival was former buddy The Rock.

The two contested a string of scintillating battles, including this final meeting at the Rumble of 2002. Entering the match, the world was convinced that Y2J would drop the belt, and see Rock head to Wrestlemania. So much so, that superstars during the build-up, had approached the Rock and made it known that when they won the Rumble, they would be coming for him. It aided a fantastic atmosphere for this match, furthering Jericho’s status as a frustrated, whiney heel, with a chip on his shoulder.

From start to finish, this is a stunning, thrilling piece of work. Yes, the quick pinfall finish is less than satisfying (a clean pin for Jericho would have helped him so much heading to Mania), but everything beforehand is great fun. A must-see.

The Rock vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan

What more can be said about this match? Incredible atmosphere, astonishing example of working the crowd, and one of the biggest moments in recent wrestling memory. We’ve been through it before. This is the ultimate in wrestling spectacle, and although it’s been included on other DVD releases, it’s difficult to argue with it’s presence here.

WWE Undisputed Title Match
Kurt Angle vs. The Rock vs. The Undertaker©

Vengeance 2002, and a lost gem this one. One of WWE’s earlier examples of how to truly set a different pace for the triple threat format, rather than just basically featuring two singles matches at the same time, this is a furious, rampage of a wrestling match. The Rock is the babyface, with Undi playing the Champion tweener, and Angle as the newly-serious heel. It’s a toxic combination, and all three feed off the unpredictability of the scenario by indulging in a break-neck speed.

Seriously crazy stuff at times, with a scintillating use of a whole host of finishers. Awesome, awesome last five minutes.

The Rock vs. Eddie Guerrero

Pretty much a straight-forward TV encounter, the inclusion of this is again a testament to the Rock’s relationships with some of the more well-liked guys on the WWE roster through the years. And again, it’s here as an excuse to feature Eddie in a one-on-one match with someone who really respected him. Good match, worth seeing for sure. The mullet-mania is in full flow too!

Steve Austin vs. The Rock

Steve Austin’s last match. Ever. But the showmanship belongs to The Rock, who working as the bad guy, is absolutely magnificent. Truly fantastic. This was hyped as being the third Mania encounter between the two, and Rock was engulfed by the pressure to defeat Austin, having never achieved that at WM. And they reference their previous bouts continually, but with both hilarity, and drama.

Rock short-changes the cynics who argue that he was never “a good worker”, with his masterful manipulation of audience emotion, and his ability to change gears seamlessly. At the end, the fans are cheering both guys, even though Rock is the heel. But they understand that he had to be for this to take place, and he also had earned the victory, and was moving on, while Austin was checking out.

The emotion between the two at the end is a absolutely unforgettable.

Promos:

See this is where you think lies the true treat of the whole DVD set. And you would be correct. But not as much as you would imagine.

The promos and interviews ( some in-ring, some backstage), are masterful. Truly sensational. We have the famous Armageddon 2000 one, where Rock impersonated his six Hell in a Cell opponents, to superb effect, and it’s arguably the best of the bunch.

But there’s also some fine stuff running down Billy Gunn, and the Big Show. Meanwhile, there’s a nice segment from July 2001, featuring Rock, Jericho, Booker T, Rhyno, and Stephanie McMahon. It’s hilarious, but Rock was involved with so much great stuff with Y2J at this time, there could be a whole lot more. And that’s the undoing of these extras. How can you distil the Rock’s entire microphone output, down to like, a dozen interviews??? Crazy!

Everything amongst the extras is fantastic, but it only marginally even touches on what it could be. Hugely disappointing.

That certainly sums up this entire, 3-disc set… hugely disappointing. The format is incredibly bad. We’ve moved on from this Kayfabed retrospective. And even if it was to remain in storylines, surely it would only be fitting to include some commentary, discussion, and interviews from others superstars?

There is no genuine feel for storytelling in this DVD set, ironically, given that this is exactly the quality that the Rock exhibited that would have ensured his longevity had he chosen to remain in wrestling.

There are, like in Triple H’s King of Kings set, too many Mick Foley matches included. The opponents selected for this entire set are fine, even if some of the specific match-ups are somewhat questionable. But in that regard, it’s still not enough.

Try and get it in a sale, because as enjoyable as it is, it’s an empty, lifeless beast of a release.

And that’s all I’ve got to say about that. Join me again soon for more gibberish, and thanks for taking the time to read this .I welcome and enjoy all feedback, so please get in touch at bazilalfonso@hotmail.com or alternatively, www.myspace.com/michaelwrestlingetc Thanks indeed.

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