DVD Review - "McMahon"
While the WWE is never going to put out a DVD that would do itself a discredit, I would have to say that the newest company release "McMahon" is one of the best DVD's the company has put out in some time. Yes, we know that the DVD was carefully done to put Vince in the best light possible, and many times throughout the 3+ hour DVD many different wrestlers give tedious amounts of praise to their boss. I think the wrestler that seemed to want to give Vince the most credit was John Bradshaw Layfield. Man, how many times can JBL suck up to McMahon for just about everything he's done in the business. Of course if there is one wrestler that ought to suck up to Vince its JBL - as Vince basically made John what he is today as a wrestler. How quickly we forget the APA and what JBL was before he was JBL.
There are some rather touchy subjects that I thought were kind of taboo that the DVD does touch on - albeit sometimes in a rather "best light" approach. First off, the whole HHH-Steph courting/relationship/marriage is talked about at length. It gives the whole history of Steph's interaction with the company on TV, then how the whole relationship developed on and off television. Vince at one point didn't want the relationship to continue, but eventually gave in, and now the two are living happily ever after. The entire McMahon family, which I now count HHH as a part of, are HEAVILY pushed as well in this DVD. A pregnant Steph gets tons of air time, as well as HHH, Shane, and Linda. Of course Linda the least of the four, and that's a good thing.
The XFL is another subject that is hit upon. It gives a swift but interesting 10-minute look at the one year that the league was in existence. One of the better lines is McMahon saying that the league was rather cheap to start up, and that the company didn't suffer because of the failure of the league. I recall the day that the league was announced how the stock of the company dropped like a rock, so you can tell that Vince's claims are false when it came to the league.
The Katie Vick storyline is discussed, with clips of HHH jumping on a corpse, one of the dumbest angles of all time. The storyline of Vince and Linda going back and forth being together and then divorced is on the DVD, and then a five minute segment of Vince making out with just about every Diva is on there and talked about as well.
The WCW buyout was interesting, even with commentary from Jerry Lawler on how he thinks the brand extension is pretty much a bust in so many words. Then of course there's JBL in to make the save and say the move was one of genius. If you want to know which of these two is right, just check the weekly ratings as well as the overall fan interest in SmackDown.
Of course a lot of the DVD highlights Vince becoming active in the ring, and his "in-ring" battles with Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker and HHH. I don't have a problem with all the in-ring battles he's had, but the problem is NOTHING is ever going to overtake the Austin feud, which was the first and by far the best.
And yes, there was an incest angle where Vince reportedly pitched having him or then Shane be the father of Steph's baby. Stephanie says in the DVD that she was the one to turn it down, which I know at this point we are all thankful for. Extra clips that are worth watching is the RAW match (Vince's first) with Steve Austin, commentary from HHH on Vince losing and getting all mad, William Regal talking about VInce taking him back after rehab, and a funny story from Big Show about him sleeping on the way to Iraq and Vince slashing his air mattress.
I would make this DVD a buy. It is pretty through on the history of Vince and his coming into power, and if you can make it past the tons of interviews of wrestlers, old and new, kissing his butt, there are some pretty interesting revelations that makes this worth watching. I would rate it a 7 out of 10.
