Shining a Spotlight 3.16.12: Documentaries

Among the issues I have with my house is how to store my extensive DVD/Blu-Ray collection. They range from box sets of various movies to several TV series and what I’d call a pretty impressive wrestling library. I don’t really go for PPVs but more the documentary style of discs. Lately, WWE has been on a real impressive rise with those sets, the Orton and Shawn vs Bret discs great to watch. They really went out of their way however with the recent Stone Cold and Rock DVDs, each giving two hours for the two biggest stars of their era. It shows again the power WWE has to document wrestling history and how some complain over how they don’t do enough.

Art of Documentaries

Documentaries are not always created alike. I remember seeing a film about Western movies with a great bit of the host talking to a subject who asks if he’s making a documentary “like An Inconvenient Truth” and the host replies “That wasn’t a documentary, that was a Power Point presentation.” Far too often, documentary directors can cross the line between presenting facts and their version of facts. Just look at Michael Moore, who regularly manipulates stuff for his films while supposedly taking on hypocrisy. There are differences between serious documentary filmmakers and the guys who make those crazy 9/11 conspiracy films and such. It’s harder than it seems as you have to strike the right balance between promotion and facts with an entertaining air.

The rise of DVD was a boon to the movie business as it allowed studios to pack discs with extensive “making of” features that allowed further insight and appreciation to movies. Ridley Scott, in particular, is known for putting on documentaries that are longer than the actual movies they spotlight. Meanwhile, ESPN made a fantastic series “30 for 30” with a great set of documentaries that ran the gamut from spotlighting an athlete with what was almost a speech for them (Marion Jones) to enthralling looks at major events and scandals (The SMU Mustangs’ fall from grace). There are a few clunkers and some self-centered stuff like how the doc on the USFL makes it seem a lot bigger than the organization really was at its height. It shows the power of documentaries, to entertain and educate at once and something wrestling should be embracing.

It took WWE a while to realize just how much money they had with the massive tape library at their disposal. As the owners of footage from practically every major territory of the last 30 years (with notable exception of Bill Watts’ Mid-South/UWF), WWE has a responsibility to show wrestling’s past for a new generation. It can be tempting for them to slant it totally in Vince’s favor and in fact, it was common with early entries. The “Monday Night War” DVD, for example, made WCW look like the bullies using unfair tactics, Vince even shown seeming hurt at how Bischoff was coming after him. The Ultimate Warrior disc wasted nothing in burying the man as insane and irrational on his best days, ignoring how huge a star he’d been in lieu of just throwing his rep under the bus. That made a lot of people worried about how further DVD’s would be, continuing to push WWE as the only guys in town. But they soon shifted that with releases, making you see things in a fairer light and paying true tribute to the legacy wrestling has.

Great Examples

The rise of great wrestling documentaries really began with The Rise and Fall of ECW. Thanks to the input of Paul Heyman, WWE was able to present a fantastic look at the promotion, how it rose to prominence and changed the game but also the factors that led to its downfall. It was a huge best-seller that no doubt sunk in on Vince and others in production that what fans wanted wasn’t some glossy look at the past but the truth, warts and all. Of course, for wrestling “truth” is a subjective term as even when frank, wrestlers are still working the fans and wanting to keep up a lot of illusions. Yet, the WWE discs have shown a tendency to really open up on popular topics. The AWA DVD was a fantastic effort, showing how big the company was while illustrating the factors that led to its downfall, with Verne and Greg Gagne both unwilling to accept how the tastes of fans were changing and the AWA wasn’t the place to be anymore. Sure, the “Vince” DVD was one-sided but also offered fascinating insight to how Vince’s mind works, this man so driven and even takes shots at his lack of athletic skill, some of his crazier ideas and how he can drive his family nuts.

The personal DVDs on various wrestlers are important to show new sides of them to fans. The recent Randy Orton DVD, for example, shows him in a better light, having improved his temper and ego in the last several years and accepted the responsibilities of his place in the company. The Chris Benoit DVD may be painful to watch for many today but still intriguing to watch this man who seemed to truly love the business and family and wonder how it could have ended the way it did. That goes in a different way for the Eddie Guerrero set, seeing this man so full of life not knowing he only had a year or so left. Meanwhile, the Road Warriors set was great giving them accolades for how they helped change the business but not shying from Hawk’s drug addictions that would end things premauterly.

The personal notes are interesting to watch. I’ve always believed Vince made that “Screwed” DVD as one-sided as possible, putting Bret hart in the worst light, knowing that Bret’s ego and pride would push him to take part in a DVD that was more fair. The Shawn Michaels sets are notable for how Shawn is completely up front over how much of a complete asshole he was in his prime and how he’s changed. The Shawn/Bret set is a revelation with the discovery that much of their supposed real-life heat was faked and Bret acknowledging how his own ego pushed him to a hard position that contributed to Montreal. The recent Austin set has him talking frankly about why he left the company in 2002 and taking shots at Owen Hart for not calling him back after nearly breaking his neck (with even Bret saying Owen made a bad move there). This is the stuff wrestling fans live for, the real stories and discussions and when they’re given time to dig deep, these sets shine. The Four Horsemen set was the best you can ask for, going really in depth to the low points of the gang as well as the highs. The Pillman set covered just about every aspect of his career except for the Yellow Dog bit (which is probably a good thing) and let you appreciate more the daring of his scam. When a DVD is great, it can be amazing not just with the presentation of a worker or company but how it lets you appreciate the business more.

Not always perfect

Of course, not all DVDs shine so brightly. Sometimes it’s time constraints, other times it’s the subject not able to open up. I get the sense that Dusty Rhodes participates in DVDs regarding him with the understanding that they won’t take too many shots at his “Dusty booking” style that fans hated in WCW. It’s interesting that the Heroes of World Class DVD has Kevin Von Erich talking of how much of a total bastard his father Fritz could be. However, on the WWE World Class set, Kevin is talking about how his dad wasn’t that bad a guy. On the same set, Michael Hayes is good with his insight, but also a bit too boastful of how much the Freebirds made the promotion a success. Both sets also fail a bit with how they don’t go in-depth to the last years of the company, ignoring how much they had done by then. The “Rise and Fall of WCW” set spends a lot of time on how the company rose to heights but not as much on the last year or so when it all completely came apart.

One notable person left out of a lot of DVD’s has been Sting. The various WCW discs pretty much ignore the whole year-long buildup between Hogan and Sting that made the company huge in 1997. True, they blew it in the end but the actual build was terrific and helped the company win the ratings battle so often. Aside from a chapter on that “Superstars of the ‘90’s” set, Sting just hasn’t gotten much love on WWE DVDs. The reason is pretty obvious as he was the one major star of his era who never worked for WWE and Vince is always reluctant to give props to anything he didn’t help create. He does seem to have come down from that a bit with sets on “Clash of the Champions” and others. It does make you wish Sting had signed with WWE last year as rumored so he could give proper justice to his legacy. It’s something that no doubt helps a lot of wrestlers decide to work with WWE, to give their perspective. I’m hoping a new Booker T set can be coming with his return to the company, although it will suffer as they wouldn’t be able to focus on the Benoit feud that helped push Booker as a singles star.

Also, a lot of guys are still reluctant to break kayfabe and the act to be truly up front. Remember, wrestlers are always working you, despite what you think. Indeed, the documentary “Forever Hardcore,” meant to be a “rebuttal” to WWE’s ECW set, contains Raven’s infamous line on how the smart fans are the easiest to con. Shoot interviews can be really self-serving, lost count of how many times I’ve seen guys on those blatantly lying to make themselves look better and fans accept it because it’s a “shoot.” It’s troubling but it happens and in many cases, they can’t help it, it’s their nature. Even though WWE has been more fair lately, they still tend to slant things a lot in their favor, which is probably inevitable. After all, it is the winners who write history and they won it in the end.

It’s easy for us fans to criticize some documentaries as not being good enough or such and not going into the detail we want. But we should also respect them for what they do provide, which is a look at the business that most of us have never seen. Many of these are eye-opening in how they do away with long-held myths and beliefs of the IWC and let you see these guys as more than their on-screen personas. It’s refreshing how so many guys see this as a chance to open up about their pasts and accept responsibility for things that went wrong. What makes these stand out is how they can capture the feeling of the past for a new generation and remind you why you loved certain performers or moments. A great documentary enthralls and entertains you in ways no fictional movie can’t. For a business that mixes real and fantasy, wrestling can offer even more and so many documentaries do that. It’s a great facet of the business we can hope continues as it shows once more why real life is so much more powerful than fiction can ever be.

For this week, the spotlight is off.