On Monday, November 24, 2008 at 5:54 AM EST
The Big Mosh sent this review in:
Monday Night Mayhem DVD Review: "Viva La Raza: The Legacy Of Eddie Guerrero"
Produced by World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE Home Video
****
Content: 9.0
An incredible amount of awesome wrestling matches from three top promotions captured in over nine hours & onto three discs, "Viva La Raza: The Legacy Of Eddie Guerrero" is worth putting a full day aside to just sit back & watch some of the best wrestling bouts ever seen. Each match showcases Eddie’s work rate, in it which is second to no one. Not only that, but the opponents he faces are incredible in their own right. Every match on the DVD is introduced by a friend or family member of Eddie’s, which gives the viewer once again those cherishing thoughts of the former ring warrior & WWE Hall Of Famer. There is plenty to see & much to appreciate.
****
Video: 9.5
The presentation of this footage by WWE Films is awesome, as they showcase their video archives as well as all the other materials that they now own. Their WCW footage looks very crisp, and even the ECW footage from 1995 looks just as fabulous quality-wise, which just amazed me. All the inserts & added footage throughout was perfectly edited & smoothly transitioned.
****
Audio: 10
Not a blemish, as everything sounded fabulous. Clear & crisp commentary during the documentary and matches. Listening to the three man team of Tony Schiavone, "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, & Bobby "The Brain" Heenan was so enjoyable as they really had a great flow, which is something that I have not heard come close in years. Dolby Surround in two channels, with accurate sound reproduced...The WWE is the best around.
****
Special Features: 7.0
Big step down. There was so much to choose, but this DVD was about the WWE panel introducing matches of leaving no real time for any special inserted promos or vignettes. The only extras were from the "Lie, Cheat, & Steal" video clips with Eddie & Chavo, Jr., and some of the out takes for just a few minutes. If his last match vs. Mr. Kennedy is shown as a bonus, then that really shows they put little effort into showing you more about the man Eddie Guerrero, which is where the DVD seriously lacks substance.
****
What's On The DVD?
The presentation of this DVD was totally different from most others this time around, as they would simply have a panelist introduce a match to you through all three discs. I expected to hear Chavo Jr., Chavo "Classic" Sr, & Vickie of course, as well as Dean Malenko, Chris Jericho, Edge, Rey Misterio, JBL, Batista, & John Cena, but I really did not need to hear intros for matches from Jim Ross, Jerry "The King" Lawler, Michael Cole, or even the men selected opening two or three other matches as well. There was no variety in this. Where is Hector Guerrero, maybe Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, dig up those clips of "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair to use about Eddie prior to his match, give me a few minutes from RVD. I mean, they just did not bother even trying. This is where the effects of his former close friend, Chris Benoit, uncontrollably ruined the DVD style. The format was changed to completely ignore Benoit, which is how it just has to be in the WWE. In effect, when listening to commentary go silent as announcers said his name, or to ignore from Disc I to Disc II, WCW matches to now WWE matches, without even a story on his career changing paths, it leaves gaps so huge that you as a viewer want to know more about. Eddie was described as a nice guy, but never was anything that was bad in his personal life embellished upon. The closest you get is when in 1998 he had the horrible New Years Eve accident. Vickie simply says he went to the store to get her some eggs, sliding in that he had some "rejuvenators" in him. What the hell are you telling me Vickie? Her next sentence says he fell asleep at the wheel going for those eggs, drove 130 miles/hour, & flew hundreds of feet from where he crashed his vehicle. Some rejuvenators! She mentioned that he needed to learn how to do everything all over again in rehabilitation from walking to moving & everything else. All of this is covered as fast as I could type it...very briefly. No mention at all from him being released in 2002, as everyone feared the worst was possible & pleaded with him to get help before he was re-signed, after showing beautiful improvements in his personal life -- which everyone years after continuously raved about. There is just no story about anything here, except from all that "Eddie was such a good guy" stuff. Eddie was the key reason that days after he died, the WWE instituted a much-needed Wellness Policy to monitor drug usage from their independent contractors. Not to embellish too much on the bad though, you do hear some great stuff from the panel that they picked nonetheless, as everyone adds in things that are from their own personal encounters with Eddie. Listening to Vickie talk about Art Barr, Jericho on their life on the road together, Misterio on always trying to do better each time, or JBL being escorted out of town with police to protect him was certainly interesting to hear.
****
The Matches:
Disc I has two ECW matches: one vs. 2 Cold Scorpio & the other against Dean Malenko, that showed a very young Eddie at about 180 lbs. beginning to perfect his craft. You will see suplexes out of the ring, topes onto cement floors, & other crazy moves. After that, there are eight WCW matches, with almost every one of them off the chart. Watch Eddies ring work improve, as he gets more fluent in all his crisp moves & how his tank was full of energy every second. There were some classic WCW Monday Nitro matches (like one with Juventud Guerrera, which was great, but was on Nitro & the contest was under ten minutes of completely-rushed action), but no matter how good some of them were, they are not as appreciated as much when you can see twenty-minute well-paced PPV bouts with focused commentary within the same disc. My personal favorite was the SuperBrawl VIII PPV match with Eddie vs. Chris Jericho, as they opened the Pay-Per-View @ The Cow Palace in San Francisco, CA, with the crowd just totally ignoring the match. Pins are dropping in full stereo out there, as the packed house was not into anything. Jericho prior to this match said he just wanted to get the crowd into the contest, but knew that they would not care. Despite that, both he & Eddie were doing everything that they could perfectly. The match was their best, but the crowd made it seem unimportant. I kept thinking that ten years later in that same building, Eddie Guerrero would win his first WWE Championship against Brock Lesnar, and that was quite possibly the defining moment of his wrestling career. Disc II just leaps forward to his WWE matches, starting out with Chris Jericho & taking you through Matt Hardy, Rob Van Dam, Jeff Hardy, & "The Rated-R Superstar" Edge. His Parking Lot Brawl with John Cena was greatly entertaining, as they threw themselves through all the vehicles & tried many crazy stunts, but that match through the edits can simply be termed as an entertaining production & not a match. Disc II wraps up with Brock Lesnar, and Disc III brings out Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle, the feud with John Bradshaw Layfield, & a match vs. "The Animal" Batista. A special feature has his last match ever with Mr. Kennedy on November 11, 2005 on it, and when watching, you could kind of see that the 170 lb. AAA star that boomed out to around 245 lbs of solid muscle was in this match starting to look very aged, much older, & a little slower. There are a ton of great matches, and that is what this entire DVD focused on showing you.
****
The Verdict:
This DVD features incredible matches, some great discussion, & lots of match history from a man that made a huge impact in professional wrestling & sports-entertainment. If you are looking for great matches of perfection, this is it. If you want to know a true story on the life of Eddie Guerrero, this will not be that at all.
****
Overall Recommendation:
Buy this DVD. Anyone that likes the technical side of wrestling matches has to get this. Those that are looking to break into the business should learn from Eddie’s style, his manners, & how to work perfectly in a wrestling match. If you liked his character more than watching the bouts, maybe this is not quite enough for you.
****
Final Thoughts:
No matter what type of style in how the WWE produced their latest DVD release, "Viva La Raza: The Legacy Of Eddie Guerrero," whether you liked it or not, one certainly cannot take anything away from Eddie Guerrero as the performer himself. Without question, this production features one of the very best wrestlers anyone will ever see in their lifetime & plenty of the greatest matches are contained in this title.
****
Overall Rating: 9.0
****
DVD Reviewed By "Wild" Bill Brown. Visit the official website & MySpace pages of The Mayhem's official DVD reviewer at www.BBrownVideo.com & www.MySpace.com/BBrownVideo.
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