[Ogami]

Wrestling fans from the early 1990s will remember the phenomenon of the Ultimate Warrior, a wrestler who would come out with a driving guitar theme, painted face, and rope-shaking maniacism. The years have not been kind to the Warrior, he legally changed his name to "The Warrior", and is not beloved by his fellow wrestlers.

Now the WWE has released an Ultimate Warrior DVD, "The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior". This single-disc collection is a waste of money, don't buy, and heck, don't rent it if available.

The "documentary" consists of terrible edited segments showing the Warrior acting crazy or disoriented, with various managers and behind-the-scenes people (including Vince McMahon) making disparaging comments about the guy. Sure, the Warrior missed a lot of dates (a no-no for any professional wrestler), and pissed off a lot of people, but this DVD is an insult to fans who want to know more about him.

When Jesse Ventura became governor of Minnesota, Vince McMahon released a similar videotape trashing him, with people like Freddie Blassie being interviewed about what a bum he was. So it was then, so it is now.

A nice extra would have been the inclusion of the Ultimate Warrior's original videotape released in 1990, showing him introducing a number of his greatest fueds with Hercules Hernandez, Rick Rude, and the Macho Man Randy Savage. Instead, you don't get much for your money for this collection, I was very disappointed.

Steer clear!

-Ogami

[The Tyrant]

Well, this is a d*mn shame....I loved watching the Ultimate Warrior back in the day, especially his "Title vs. Title" match with Hogan at Wrestlemania 6 (I think that's the one...). It would've been nice to have a compilation DVD of his best matches instead of one bashing the character....

Thanks for the warning, Ogami.

[Ogami]

They do include that match (along with four others) on the DVD. But it's not worth the $19.99 price. Buy something else like Jake the Snake or the Road Warrior collection instead. I got suckered, don't be like me!

[Youkai]

I much prefer the Bret Hart DVD. It was originally supposed to be "Screwed: The Bret Hart Story" in pretty much the same vein as the other wrestling "documentaries" mentioned above, but Bret heard about it, he approached Vince, he and Vince managed to mend some fences and Vince allowed Bret creative control over how the DVD was to be made. The result ended up being a very faithful representation of the Hitman's career (from Stampede Wrestling all the way to WCW and beyond), what he contributed to the wrestling industry, what the wrestling industry did for Bret Hart, and doesn't shy away from the events that happened in Montreal. Plus there's three DVDs worth of matches hand picked by Bret Hart that are really worth watching.

Love him or hate him, I think this is the best documentary DVD that the WWE has ever put out.

[Ogami]

Cool! Thanks.