The ultimate WWE DVD series, the best wrestling show on television, old school promos

Wednesday, JULY 16 - 2:55 P.M.

-I watched the two-hour WWE's "The Definitive Ric Flair Collection" DVD documentary last night and I'll be posting a review later this week once I finish watching the extras. The documentary got me thinking about WWE's approach to their DVD production and their constant search for new material.

They've run through most marketable stars to the point that they've gone back and produced additional DVD sets on some of the big names. There are still some obvious names that they could feature, but it's probably only a matter of time.

What I'd really like to see is period pieces starting with the era leading up to the first WrestleMania. Perhaps break these into three or five year increments. And I don't just want to hear from the same group of wrestlers about these time periods. Rather, I want to hear from the man who pulled the strings, the chairman of the board, Vince McMahon.

Granted, there would be plenty of spin if Vince agreed to take part in such a production, but I think it would be fascinating to listen to him discuss the major angles, the big shows, the inner workings, and the wrestlers involved in these particular eras. It's one thing to hear Vince's employees and other wrestlers discuss the prominent events from their glory years, but I really want to hear what Vince McMahon has to say.

The key, of course, would be for Vince to be open and in a relatively honest mood when discussing the history of the company. Again, I'm sure there would be plenty of spin, but even that would be entertaining.

-Given the number of reviews I do every week, it's obvious that I watch a lot of wrestling on television. Smackdown has quickly emerged as the most entertaining weekly series ever since the WWE Draft. Raw is still Raw and there's something special about a live broadcast. TNA Impact has it's ups and downs. ECW is just filler most week.

However, my favorite television show isn't one of the weekly series. Rather, I'm hooked on watching the old WCW Saturday Night broadcasts that appear on WWE 24/7. Yes, there are plenty of squash matches, but it gets no better than the classic interviews on the old Saturday Night set.

The Four Horsemen in their prime steal every show. Dusty Rhodes delivers some doozies. Jim Cornette's rants with the Midnight Express at his side are always spectacular. And the list goes on and on.

These classic interviews offer something that's missing from today's television product. The wrestlers weren't reading scripts. They're not acting in backstage skits. They're cutting true wrestling promos and there's really nothing else like it.

I'd love to see WWE or TNA give the wrestlers the freedom to go out there and just talk like they did back in the old days. Sure, some wrestlers would struggle, but I'll guarantee that others would step up and develop their personalities in ways the creative teams could never imagine.

Tuesday, JULY 15 - 9:59 A.M.

-As I mentioned last night, I wouldn't read too much into the dark match main event held after Raw last night. I think it was wise of WWE to have Batista beat C.M. Punk in that match since Punk is being pushed as a vulnerable champion who needs to prove that he can hang with top competition.

Granted, I don't think I would have booked him to lose in a little over a minute because that makes him look incredibly weak to the fans in the building. Then again, that may have been the point since the quick finish probably convinced fans in the building that they are going to see a title change on Sunday.

-Kayfabe is dead. The days when people would buy into a stunt like last night's JBL and John Cena angle have long past, right? Um, not so much. My Raw correspondent reported that he saw a girl who appeared to be 12 years-old crying uncontrollably in the arena after Raw last night. The girl was inconsolable and was openly praying that Cena would be okay even as her friends tried to comfort her. It's still real to her, damn it.

-By the way, how does one transition smoothly from trying to make an arena full of fans believe they just witnessed vehicular homicide into a main event wrestling match? I can just hear Lillian Garcia saying, "Cena might be dead, folks, but let's get back to the action." Ugh.

-I'm still bothered by the way TNA tried to cover for Jim Cornette's absence at the pay-per-view on Sunday. They simply stated that he wasn't there and then Mike Tenay said the storyline authority figure was going to be upset once he got the memo about Abyss attacking a woman (Raisha Saeed). It's bad enough that the storyline authority figure didn't attend the event, but they basically implied that he didn't care enough to even watch it on pay-per-view.

-Raw is coming to Minneapolis at the end of September. I'm trying to decide whether to go to the show and let Rich Twilling fly solo on the review side or if I should stay home and cover the show. I was leaning toward going until last night's Cena angle. Yes, it was that much of a turnoff. By the way, I have a group of friends who are trying to find out the pre-sale password for the Minneapolis event. If you have any information, send me a note at dotnetjason@gmail.com.

-Here's a question that's been bothering me for a while. Do the troglodytes who clap at the end of movies they watch theater do the same after watching a DVD at home?