Book: The Hardcore Truth by Bob Holly

Professional wrestling was at its most popular in the late 1990s and early to mid 2000s. During that time two rival companies (WCW and WWF) were competing for the biggest audience share.

This rivalry spawned the “attitude” era, a time when the WWF wisely chose to aim their product not at children but at 18-30 year old males. The resulting edgier content was a resounding success, leading to the eventual demise of WCW.

During this era many popular wrestlers emerged, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) became household names while old pros like The Undertaker and Ric Flair enjoyed continued spells in the limelight. Amongst the mid-card wrestlers was Bob Holly, a guy who had toiled for years in the business after being saddled with the gimmick of being a wrestling race car driver. The more adult orientated programming gave Holly an opportunity to showcase his genuine toughness and Hardcore Holly was born. This was a tough guy in the anti-hero mould of Jake “The Snake” Roberts but with the believability that he could legitimately beat-up most other wrestlers. This is his story.

In general I’m not a big fan of (auto) biographies, I usually find that no matter how interesting a person is I quickly tire of their tales of high school woe and childhood. Holly is an exception. I was a fan of his during the attitude era of wrestling and this continued until his departure form the top company in 2008. I even got to see him once when he appeared in Glasgow so I was keen to hear what he had to say.

The man (just like his wrestling persona) pulls no punches. Names are named. Jerry Jarrett (Jeff Jarrett’s Dad), Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Scott Hall (to name but a few) are exposed here as Holly provides details of their questionable behaviour. He also covers wrestling’s most controversial subjects like the Bret Hart screw job, Owen Hart’s death and the Chris Benoit murder / suicide.

Holly could not have addressed these subjects (and others) in the frank manner that he does if this had been endorsed by WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) and the book is all the better for it. Between these issues is the tale of a man giving his all to the business only to be thwarted every time the chance of real success came along.

At times The Hardcore Truth can be a bit of a wistful lament but Holly’s no-nonsense insight into the most successful and controversial period in the history of professional makes interesting reading for anyone who was a fan at the time.

Ric’s Rating: Highly Recommended.             

TV DVD: Wrestlemania 29

The biggest event on the pro-wrestling calendar has been with us for almost 30 years. That in itself is a huge testament to all involved, both past and present.

The presence of wrestler turned movie star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (see review of Fast & Furious 6) helped ensure that this year’s event took place in front of an astonishing 80,000 fans. On offer for them was a selection of matches which included:

Ryback v Mark Henry

Chris Jericho (who is now a also a tv presenter) v Fandango (an updated Disco Inferno)

The Undertaker (going for his 21^st win at ‘mania) v CM Punk

Triple H v Brock Lesnar (former UFC champion)

and the main event of John Cena v The Rock for the heavyweight title.

Disc 2 of this set contains footage from the Hall Of Fame ceremony which honours the contributions of a selected group of individuals to the world of wrestling.

The rest of the Hall Of Fame is on disc 3 but be warned the speeches do tend to go on......and on.

There is more than enough here to entertain fans of all ages but it could never match up to the early events with comic book type characters like Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior, although the vast crowd in attendance may disagree.

Wrestlemania 29 is available on DVD in the UK now.

Ric’s Rating: Good 

TV DVD: Bret "Hitman" Hart: The Dungeon Collection

Throughout the 1990s Bret "Hitman" Hart was one of the biggest names in professional wrestling. This 3 disc set charts his career and highlights a clutch of lesser known matches hand-picked by the man himself.

We kick off with a brief introduction from Hart and quickly settle into a series of matches featuring a veritable who's who of professional wrestling, all thoughtfully described by The Hitman.

Matches in this collection include Bret Vs....Mr Perfect, Bam Bam Bigelow, "Stone Cold " Steve Austin and his brother Owen Hart.

This set serves as a fine tribute to one of the biggest stars of the golden era of wrestling but the glaring omission of Hart's acrimonious departure from WWE and the in-ring death of Owen Hart mean that it isn't the frank exploration of his career it could have been.

Bret "Hitman" Hart : The Dungeon Collection is available on DVD in the UK from 13th May 2013.

Ric's Rating : Good 

TV DVD: Royal Rumble 2013

The Royal Rumble is an annual event presented by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

Amazingly now in its 26^th year the event features the “Royal Rumble Match” which begins with two participants who are joined by another wrestler every 90 seconds. There are a total of 30 participants and the only way to eliminate an opponent is by throwing him over the top rope and onto the floor. The winner guarantees themselves a shot at the title at another prestigious event, Wrestlemania.

This release includes:

Big Show v Alberto Del Rio in a last man standing match.

A tag-team title match.

A championship match between reigning champion CM Punk and wrestler turned movie star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

With The Rock topping the bill the Rumble match is relegated to second top spot and it seems to come around rather quickly. The match itself is very entertaining and even features a few old-timers and novelty acts to keep old fans happy although the time reduction between entrants from 2 minutes to 90 seconds shortens the match too much.

Arguably the best annual WWE event, this will keep fans old and new entertained.

Royal Rumble 2013 is available on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK from 15^th April 2013.

Ric’s Rating: Good.         

TV DVD: Survivor Series 2012

Survivor Series is an annual event staged by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) which traditionally features 5 man tag-team elimination matches.

Now in its 26^th year the event has firmly cemented itself as a favourite on the calendars of grapple fans.

The 2012 show was staged back in November and featured matches such as:

Team Foley v Team Ziggler

CM Punk v Ryback v John Cena in a triple-threat match for the WWE Championship.

Divas Championship match.

United States Championship match.

It’s all a far cry from the days of Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant but still good fun and fans of the current crop of “superstars” will no doubt enjoy.

Survivor Series 2012 is available on DVD and in the UK now.

Ric’s Rating: Good.  

TV DVD: Top 100 Raw Moments

Here we have another 3 disc collection from World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). This time it’s the top 100 moments from their long-running tv show Monday Night Raw.

Discs 1 & 2 feature the countdown from 100 to 1 which includes classic moments such as:

Ric Flair’s retirement.

DX imitating Shane & Vince McMahon

Vince’s “Bret screwed Bret” interview.

And.....The 123 Kid beating Razor Ramon.

These will appeal to WWE fans old & new but this set features lots of moments covered better in The Attitude Era set (see review below) and does feature lots of relatively recent moments. I mean who can really agree that Santino Marella’s comedy tea party should be included?

Disc 3 is the 1000^th episode of Raw with a “making of” thrown in.

This is decent enough but the fans that this will appeal to will enjoy The Attitude Era much more.

Available now in the UK.

Ric’s Rating: Dodgy. 

TV DVD: The Attitude Era

“It was like a big party…and everyone was invited”. So begins the story of the most controversial and influential period in American professional wrestling.

The year is 1997 and WWE (then known as WWF) chairman Vince McMahon announces that the company’s flagship show, Monday Night Raw, was about to become an edgier style of programme. This was an attempt to win the ratings war with rival company WCW.

The result was some fantastic tv. Gone were the typical hero vs. villain type storyline and in came an altogether different bunch of characters who blurred the lines between right and wrong.

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin was arguably the most popular and his long-running feud with McMahon himself resulted in some fantastic, and often hilarious, moments. Other characters who came to prominence at the time were The Rock (now a movie star), Mick Foley and his various personas and the outrageous group known as Degeneration X. An iconic moment of the era was when DX “invaded” WCW.

The Attitude Era has been released as a 3 disc set:

Disc 1 contains the documentary with contributions from various participants including Road Dogg, Stephanie McMahon, Pat Paterson and Christian.

Discs 2 & 3 feature many matches and moments from the show including dangerous ladder matches, a brilliant hardcore title match and the car crash tv that was the Brawl For All. This was WWE’s ill-judged attempt at having “real” matches. It was a career-ender for many of the participants, either through injury or a complete failure in their marketability afterwards.

The Attitude Era is available on DVD & Blu-ray in the UK now and it’s a cool nostalgia trip for anyone who remembers the time. It also works as a showcase for WWE, proving to some that it wasn’t always the kid-friendly show it was in the 80’s and has somewhat become again now.

Ric’s Rating: Highly Recommended.