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Monday Night Mayhem DVD Review: “Wrestling’s Most…Awful Angle”
Produced By: Kayfabe Commentaries
DVD Review Written By: Shawn “The Angry Hero” Marek
After another successful “Summer of YouShoot,” the mighty Kayfabe Commentaries returns with the second installment of its newest venture, the Wrestling’s Most series. This time around, the debate is over what is pro wrestling’s worst angle of all time. To be sum up the concept, it is like the VH1 “talking head” shows, only instead of Jake Fogelnest waxing poetic about ’80’s toys, you have Danny Doring cutting loose on Katie Vick. Every segment is intro’d by our host Sean Oliver and discussed by the same panel from the previous Wrestling’s Most installment. Here are some of the highlights of each angle discussed, placed in non-sequential order, because if you want to know how it breaks down, buy the DVD:
(5.) Katie Vick
Lots of laughs are had, but surprisingly enough, Bill Apter cites this angle as sickening and almost made him give up watching pro wrestling altogether. This coming from a man who covered Abdullah the Butcher’s WWC massacres on a monthly basis. Chyna, in a strange moment, compares this event to Quentin Tarantino, while The Masked Superstar says he would have quit than go through with the angle. Had Vince pitched Katie Crush to Demolition in 1990, it would have been the best/worst thing ever. As previously mentioned, Danny Doring tees off on the angle, bringing up the obvious question of how parents explain this to their kids. Can’t argue with that logic.
(4.) Mae Young Gives Birth To A Hand
Once again, a few laugh, particularly Matt Bourne, who I bet was shown the angle for the first time that day. He hypothesizes that the hand that came out of Mae Young’s vagina may have been attached to the arm he used to beat Crush with (as Doink) back in 1993. Billy Gunn calls it “tremendous,” not just because of the angle, but the fact that Mae Young does anything at her age is tremendous. Best part here is the discussion of what purpose the hand was supposed to serve and what Mark Henry’s role as the supposed father would have been from that point forward. I’m willing to bet Vince Russo had no clue at all how to answer that.
(3.) Stephanie McMahon Owns ECW
Not many people could understand why this made the list, and I am inclined to agree. Bill Apter makes a great observation that this upset the Internet fans more than the casual viewer. Road Warrior Animal claims that he was never a fan of the original ECW, but knew the “WWECW” flopped, so this was no surprise. The conversations shifts to whether or not Stephanie was tough or competent enough to inherit the barbed-wire mantle that was ECW. Doring sums it up nicely, saying that whenever wrestling is in the dumps, they always turn to the ECW style of hardcore wrestling. Case in point: WWE 2006 or TNA 2010.
(2.) David Arquette: WCW Champion
Unanimously, the panel agrees that this is one of the worst angles in the history of professional wrestling. The Honky Tonk Man wonders what WCW was thinking Arquette was going to bring to the table, while Apter counters with the “it’s a business” excuse, regardless of how blasphemous it was. Sunny & few others chalk it up to WCW’s ineptitude during that period. Animal makes the point that celebrities getting over on wrestlers just makes the wrestlers look inferior. Doring thinks that if Steve “Mongo” McMichael came out and took a huge dump on the title, it wouldn’t have tarnished the WCW Title & its legacy more than David Arquette did.
(1.) The Fingerpoke Of Doom
Similar to Arquette, there is disgust expressed all around except Chyna, who admits to liking the angle. Sometimes I wonder if she disagrees on purpose in this series, because she doesn’t have much of an argument to back it up. Billy Gunn thought it was ridiculous, due to the sheer physical size of Nash, regardless of politics. Bourne goes off on Nash’s ego, picking up on his Nash hatred from the previous Wrestling’s Most. Apter actually presents an interesting idea that someone backstage came up with the random idea of Nash jobbing to a fingerpoke, which then suddenly became a great idea for no real reason at all. It’s just how pro wrestling works sometimes.
And that’s it for this installment of Wrestling’s Most from Kayfabe Commentaries. I wasn’t as impressed this time around, mostly because it was the same panel of wrestlers who may or may not have any idea what the topic is being discussed. It’s not like you would expect The Masked Superstar to know everything current over the past ten years, but it does distract from the impact of the discussion. On the other hand, it’s fun to see guys like Doring & Bourne go off on the stupidity of wrestling in their unique way.
At 55 minutes, the DVD breezes by. The cartoon animations, along with the general upbeat nature of the project, make this a fine viewing experience if you are a discerning wrestling fan. Pick it up along with the all of the other great KC releases over at www.KayfabeCommentaries.com. Until next time, feel free to check me out on Twitter (at www.Twitter.com/AngryHeroShawn), my official “Future Endeavored” blog (located at www.FutureEndeavored.tumblr.com), along with my short film Smark (located at www.SmarkMovie.tumblr.com). Enjoy the rest of the “MNM Fall Tour ’11,” and remember: Above all things — be a man!
