Friday, August 13, 2004

Hard Knocks: The Chris Benoit Story DVD

Holy fuck, is this thing good! I'm just about halfway through Disc 2 (I've got the Owen Hart tribute match to finish) , but I know that the whole thing rules from top to bottom.
Actually, now that I think about it, there are a few things that I would have changed:
  • Stampede footage: as far as I'm concerned, this is a no-brainer. Maybe they were worried about the condition of the footage, or maybe the couldn't secure the rights, I dunno. But really, how can you tell his story without it?
  • Mexico footage: Again, there was none. It's probably not integral to his career story, but hey, y'all mentioned Mexico on the packaging, man! Throw us a fuckin' bone.
  • Todd Grisham: Seriously, I like the guy. The thing is, I'm sure the WWE could've found someone better to do the alternate commentary with Benoit and Dean Malenko. I mean, goddamn it - I think I know far more about Japanese pro wrestling than this dude! It's like that Pegasus Kid/Liger match was the first Japanese match he had ever seen! Do yer homework, Todd. Don't get me wrong...some of the folks that'll pick up this DVD set might be total neophytes to puroresu, so Grisham might've been perfect to provide that kind of perspective. The thing is, Grisham comes off as a total bonehead asking Benoit and Malenko the same questions. Other than the fact that he was a part of it, the alternate commentary was pretty good.
  • Entrance music issues: Either they couldn't get the rights, or they didn't think it was necessary, but they omitted not only Benoit's Pegasus Kid/Wild Pegasus theme, but Liger and Sasuke's themes as well. Did they think we wouldn't notice? Fuck, give us a little credit. While I'm on that, they must've thought we were pretty dumb to think Chris has had the same theme music through his WCW to the present. Where's my "rolling eyes" emoticon?
  • No Benoit vs. Jericho '95 or Benoit/Jericho tag title victory: Huge oversights in my opinion. But hey, it's not up to me, right?

Yeah, I think that pretty much sums it up. Otherwise, I fully recommend it. Might I add that Chris has the best haircut of his career? Word.


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