DVD Review: Diamond Dallas Page: Positively Living

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 424 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: March 27 2017

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

Fans who have only discovered wrestling, and primarily WWE, within the last ten years may wonder why the latest personality DVD is based around Diamond Dallas Page. Besides appearances in the 2015 Royal Rumble and the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32, DDP hasn't wrestled for WWE since 2002, and his WWF/WWE run was a disappointment to him and his fans. So, at first glance, it's a confusing choice. However, when you factor in the man's unlikely journey to stardom, his major WCW success, his popularity, his high-standard ring skills and psychology, and the tremendous work he has done to help other people since retiring as a full-time grappler, you realise that DDP is the perfect candidate for the DVD bio treatment.

The DVD (which unfortunately uses a redone version of Page's theme instead of his WCW theme Self High Five, which in itself was a copy, albeit a very effective one, of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit) begins with a documentary focusing on the life and times of Dallas. We're told about his initial sports success in college and how working as a bar manager led him, after becoming a wrestling fan of course, to send in trial videos to become a manager in the AWA. Then in his early 30s, DDP spent the next few years in the AWA and later WCW, filling the void left behind by great managers who had moved on whilst developing an over-the-top personality with plenty of gimmick props. As Page states here, in WCW he was told that he wouldn't be used as a manager going forward because he was overshadowing the wrestlers, but that's where DDP's journey really begins.

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Macho Madness: The Randy Savage Ultimate Collection

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 539 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: July 21 2009

While the likes of Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper and Bret Hart would made WWE returns after their WCW stints, one legendary figure who never did resurface in WWE was Macho Man Randy Savage. For reasons that have never been publicly confirmed, Savage remained an outsider to WWE, with even a hint of a return seeming unthinkable. So, when WWE announced that it would release a Randy Savage DVD in 2009, there was a fear that it would not do the great man's career justice, and even that it could be a burial to resemble the Self-Destruction Of The Ultimate Warrior DVD.

Fortunately, the compilation was mostly a fitting tribute to the career of the Macho Man. No, there isn't a documentary (this wouldn't come until 2014, several years after his tragic death), and Matt Striker and Maria were a bizarre choice to present the DVD (actually just Maria, playing that confused little girl character, since Striker's knowledge of wrestling history and topnotch Savage impressions make him a tolerable host), but this collection of matches does display why Savage was and is held in such high regard.

Ignoring Randy's pre-WWE adventures in several territories, Macho Madness (which, incidentally, has superb colourful artwork which the Macho Man probably would have been proud of) opens with Savage's Madison Square Garden debut against "Quick Draw" Rick McGraw. Bouts with Ricky Steamboat and Hulk Hogan from late 1985 are a cool preview of his future rivalry with those men, before Savage's WWF tenure begins proper with his enjoyable Intercontinental Title win over Tito Santana from February 1986. Since this was the era of one PPV event per year, Randy's year-plus reign, which got him over huge with fans despite his heel status, is remembered for one match, which had to be included here: his classic WrestleMania III battle with Steamboat, which was the greatest WWF match in the first few decades of its history. Before this, though, we get a bout of historic curiosity as he battles Bruno Sammartino, then approaching the end of a phenomenal career himself.

From there, we get clips of the formation of the Mega-Powers (featuring a ludicrously hammy expression by Hogan and their legendary quasi-handshake), before a battle with The Honky Tonk Man on The Main Event, the same show which saw the infamous "twin referee" hullaballoo that unseated Hulk as WWF Champion. Speaking of main events, that takes us to the main event of WrestleMania IV, where Savage (in the final of a tournament caused by said scandal) won his first WWF Title from "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, and a rematch inside a steel cage from MSG, the latter of which is very good. We then see The Mega Powers face The Mega Bucks (DiBiase and Andre The Giant) from SummerSlam 1988. It all seemed that things were rosy between Savage and Hogan.

But in reality, the seeds were being sown for one hell of a break-up, with the paranoid Savage believing that Hulk wanted to take away his beloved Miss Elizabeth. That brings us to their great WrestleMania V main event, which is nostalgic fun all the way. We later see them clash again in a SNME bout that includes a cameo by Smoking Joe Frazier, and after that we get a forgotten Savage match from WrestleMania, as he and Sensational Sherri face Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire at WM VI (Dusty's music is inexplicably replaced by the UK Wheel Of Fortune theme, which spoils the presentation).

Savage, by now known as the Macho King, would then direct his attention towards The Ultimate Warrior, and here we get to relive their classic Career match from WrestleMania VII, with the post-match scene (a Savage-Liz reunion) providing a true WrestleMania moment. This leads to their on-screen wedding ceremony from SummerSlam 1991 (which is included as a DVD extra), but hold on! Their fabulous day was ultimately spoiled by the evil Jake Roberts, and after clips of Jake's shocking snake bite attack on Savage, we see Macho get revenge against Roberts at This Tuesday In Texas, which is intense and exciting but could have benefitted from lasting a few minutes longer.

After that match, Savage's retirement had officially been overturned, leading him to face Ric Flair in an underrated WWF Title bout from WM VIII, which was also preceded by a great plot-line as Flair suggested a past relationship with Elizabeth ("She was mine before she was yours!"). The next few matches are rare bouts from 1992: a very good European Rampage showdown with Shawn Michaels, and a fun tag bout as Savage and Bret face Shawn and Flair. The last WWF bout here is an unsuccessful WWF Title challenge against Yokozuna from February 1994. I was hoping that Randy's final high-profile WWF match - his WrestleMania X Falls Count Anywhere battle with Crush - would be here, but it wasn't to be. Instead, the collection moves onto his WCW tenure.

The first WCW bout is a forgettable bout with Flair from Bash At The Beach 1995, the Lifeguard stipulation for which is quite confusing (no surprise for a WCW match). After a later Savage-Flair bout from an early 1996 edition of Monday Nitro, we then revisit what was arguably Savage's best WCW feud with Diamond Dallas Page, as he and DDP collide in stipulation from The Great American Bash 1997. The DVD culminates with Savage and Sid Vicious facing Kevin Nash and Sting at Bash At The Beach 1999, which has another confusing set of rules (whomever gets the fall leaves as WCW World Champion, meaning that Nash could lose the gold to his own partner; this scenario was used to instigate David Arquette's risible reign as titleholder the following year). The DVD extras include plenty of classic Savage interviews, and the cheesy-but-great tribute video before the Macho-Liz wedding from SummerSlam 91.

Although the WCW selections are hit-and-miss, the WWF choices are as good as they could be (incidentally, Randy's last ever match, a one-off six man tag appearance in TNA, is unsurprisingly not even mentioned), resulting in as good a Savage DVD as one could expect from an in-ring standpoint (and some of the matches are absolute classics). It does have its flaws and some minor omissions but on the whole, WWE took the high road and provided Savage fans with a worthy retrospective for the legendary, one-of-a-kind Macho Man.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10 - Excellent

Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 372 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: November 17 2014

Ooooh Yeahhhhhh! This DVD provides a long-awaited documentary on the life and times of the legendary Macho Man, Randy Savage, along with a selection of matches. But does this live up to the hype?

The documentary, lasting around 90 minutes, begins a little awkwardly with a car accident sound effect, followed by tributes by Randy’s brother Lanny “The Genius” Poffo on the sight of the crash which led to the Macho Man’s death in 2011. From there, it covers Randy’s life from growing up to his pre-wrestling baseball career and then onto his entry into wrestling and, in 1985, the WWF.

Significant time is devoted to Savage’s growing popularity and main event status in the Federation, as well as his classic feuds and matches with Ricky Steamboat and Hulk Hogan, and his at-times rocky marriage with Miss Elizabeth (the two divorced in 1992). We then revisit Savage’s role as spokesman for Slim Jim, his exit from the WWF for WCW in 1994, his charity work, his WCW run, his post-WCW banishment from WWE, the death of Elizabeth in 2003, his attempts to move away from wrestling and his second wedding in 2010 to Lynn, and his own tragic demise on May 20 2011. Across the feature are comments from most of Savage’s top opponents and co-workers, along with family (including his mother and, as stated, his brother Lanny) and friends.

It is a strong, in-depth documentary of the Macho Man, which pays tribute to his legacy but also does not ignore his flaws. One big positive is the use of an interview by Savage recorded in 1993, which is surprisingly informative for a filmed discussion from this era, and which provides context for some stories that, without this input, may have seemed incomplete. The talking heads are relevant and have worthwhile comments, although Lanny rejecting certain views on Randy’s relationship with Elizabeth seems like a bit of a whitewash based on the overwhelming percentage of wrestlers who believe that these opinions are true.

On the down side, the opening scene is slightly unsettling. Three of Savage’s greatest feuds (with The Ultimate Warrior, Jake Roberts and Ric Flair) are not acknowledged at all in the documentary, which is disappointing (hey, the incident when the snake bit Savage is covered on the OMG DVD). And whilst it is refreshing of WWE to acknowledge that Savage was never provided with a return to WWE, and notes that there was anger which somehow couldn’t be overcome, it doesn’t really explain why (at least from WWE’s standpoint; Savage’s gripes with the company are mentioned), which is disappointing for what was a key selling point of the documentary.

(The reason behind the WWE-Savage problems is one of wrestling’s great mysteries. Some explanations are plausible, other rumours are more scandalous and probably untrue. What is known is that Savage left the WWF an hour before a live Raw, according to Jerry Lawler on the Greatest Wrestling Stars Of The ’80s DVD, which no doubt upset Vince; but Savage did apparently negotiate with the WWF in the late 1990s about a possible return, so it seems an example of a grudge which simply did not heal. That being said, Savage did film a commercial for WWE All-Stars and promote his classic action figure in 2010, none of which would have happened had there been massive hatred on both sides; it does seem like wounds were in the process of healing at that point, which only makes his death the following year even sadder.)

The matches spread across discs two and three are largely enjoyable, ranging from a few lesser-known bouts against Ricky Steamboat (one of which is surprisingly bloody for a PG-rated DVD), several 1980s clashes from the Boston Garden, and rare bouts against Harley Race, Bad News Brown (which feels bizarre considering the time in which it took place and has an abrupt ending), Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper and Shawn Michaels (according to Lanny, Savage had pitched for a long-running feud with HBK by which to end his WWF career; that this was declined is a reason why he chose to defect to WCW).

The most famous match included is his SummerSlam 1992 WWF Title defence against The Ultimate Warrior, a really good match which proves that the Warrior did possess more than a couple of moves, and which links nicely into his never-before-released WWF Title loss to Ric Flair a few days later, and is a great example of wrestling storytelling. Flair reappears in a WCW Title Cage bout; Savage also has WCW matches against Arn Anderson and Diamond Dallas Page to conclude the DVD.

As stated, one should find a lot of entertainment and plenty of action across the match selection; however, if you did not purchase Macho Madness: The Ultimate Randy Savage Collection, released in 2009, you may be wondering where Savage’s most high-profile matches are. The answer is in the question: the previous Macho DVD contained all of his greatest bouts, and understandably did not want to repeat content here. I was fine with this, but you may not be.

So, does Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story live up to the hype? To me, it kind of does, but there are definitely some missing chapters from the documentary, and the match selection is good but not comprehensive. Despite these flaws, I still rate this as a good wrestling DVD which old-school fans should buy; you just need Macho Madness to complete the package.

Ooooh Yeahhhhhh!

Overall Rating: 7.5/10 – Good