The Rock - The Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment [2008] [DVD]

The Rock: The Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment.

UNDENIABLE FACT.

Throughout the decades of the wonderful world that is wrestling, we've had the best there is, was, and ever will be, a Showstopper, the toughest S.O.B. in the WWE among many more legends with titles that are so true in their own right. But none have ever had the charisma or ability to fire up a crowd as uniquely as The Rock. The Brahma Bull was without doubt one of the greatest to ever step foot in the ring. Like Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Steve Austin, Triple H, Brock Lesnar and John Cena (to name only a few), the Rock had the all greatness, the wrestling ability, the personality, the mike skills, the charisma and the leadership skills necessary to carry the weight of the whole WWE promotion on his shoulders. Even though the People's Champion has moved on to a successful film career in Hollywood (and the odds of him making a wrestling return can be considered next to impossible), no one can ever forget the impact he made on the wrestling business or the legacy he's left behind.

There have been plenty of DVDs honouring the Great One in the past, but this seems the right time to have the definitive Rock DVD. This is a three-disc set that's presented in the same style of Tombstone: The History of The Undertaker. Which means no new interviews with Dwayne Johnson, just an extensive narration of this legend's career, with many of his greatest matches thrown in.

To start with, we have The Rock's wrestling roots and heritage covered, starting with his late grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia and his father, Rocky Johnson. To learn of the Samoan Family tree is amazing, especially given that it includes such greats as Superfly Jimmy Snuka and Yokozuna. After that, it's just more and more awesomeness. We're treated to coverage of his debut at the 1996 Survivor Series as babyface Rocky Maivia and subsequent infamous chants of "Rocky Sucks", his unforgettable reigns as the Intercontinental Champion, his affiliations with the Nation of Domination and Vince McMahon's Corporation, the multiple WWE Championship victories, going back and forth between being face and heel, classic feuds with Triple H, Mick `Mankind' Foley, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Kurt Angle, the origin of SmackDown!, the birth of the Rock `N' Sock Connection, his pursuits of the WCW and Undisputed world titles, the awesome dream showdown with Hulk Hogan and finally, transcending to Hollywood.

With these match compilation DVDs, there are always bound to be problems with fans. That there are matches that should've been included and that it feels incomplete as a result. Let's be honest, it's a problem that haunts all wrestling DVDs and it's the same here. So let's discuss problems first.

These are only personal preferences of mine, but I would've loved to have seen his matches with Goldberg and Brock Lesnar, his two-out-of-three falls/Iron Man bouts with Triple H, battles with Ken Shamrock and Chris Benoit, and the Rock `N' Sock battle against Evolution at WrestleMania XX. I also feel that some important stuff has been overlooked in the narration pieces, such as his great feud with Ken Shamrock, the end of his era at the hands of Brock Lesnar, more of his brief returns in 2003/04, his short-lived encounters with Bill Goldberg and Evolution, quality interactions with Christian (Cage) and Eugene etc. And I was really hoping to see brand new interview footage with The Rock himself. I can understand why that hasn't happened given his movie schedule, but his participation would've really been a positive boon for this release.

Still, the 3-disc set gets so much stuff spot-on and very little wrong. The narration pieces have been superbly done and all nineteen matches range from being very good to outstanding to absolutely classic. The Rock's electricity meant that no match featuring him could ever be boring, and it's evidently true here.

One of the things that was sorely lacking from HHH: The King of Kings was the fact that there was no coverage/matches of the epic Rock/HHH rivalry. That's something that's supplied in abundance here. There are four of their bouts here, the best being their classic WWE title match at Backlash 2000. The rest are high-stakes Raw matches, involving the Intercontinental title, the 1998 King of the Ring and a steel cage.

More real treats are obviously amazing encounters from his intense rivalries with Mankind and Stone Cold, mostly revolving round the WWE Championship. With Mankind, it's the title tournament finals from Survivor Series `98, a Last Man Standing match and a ladder match, all brutal affairs. With Austin, it's his epic classics from WrestleManias XV and XIX. Other classics include phenomenal matches with Kurt Angle, Booker T and Chris Jericho, a truly entertaining cage match with Shane McMahon, a thrilling triple-threat with Angle and the Undertaker, and of course, his timeless dream encounter with Hulk Hogan from WrestleMania XVIII.

There's also a historic tag title match with Mankind against `Taker and the Big Show. Other bouts with the late, great Owen Hart and Eddie Guerrero, as well as Kane, seem to have been randomly chosen, but the Rock's gifts and the true talent he works with make for more great battles, that earn their place on the set.

Finally, we have extras, which is a rich assortment of the Rock's very best interviews, promos and segments. These are all absolutely hilarious and are truly the icing on the cake. Like the matches, these MUST be viewed to understand why the Brahma Bull truly was the `Great One'.

This DVD is yet another ESSENTIAL release from WWE. They've done a masterful job in chronicling another true legend and making sure that his impact on wrestling can never ever be forgotten. The People should forever honour their Champion by buying this...if (one more time) you smell what The Rock is cookin'.

Throughout The Rock's incredible sports-entertainment career, fans and foes alike knew enough to know their role, shut their mouth, or risk a beatdown from the Brahma Bull. While he's gone from WWE rings to the big screen, his impact on professional wrestling will never be forgotten. The Rock: The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment highlights the meteoric rise of The Great One, the first man to hold the WWE Championship seven times. This package is packed with 3 discs filled with 19 amazing matches.

Disc 1

Samoan Royalty

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Rocky Maivia
RAW (13/02/97)

Rock the Ruler

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Owen Hart vs. The Rock
RAW (06/04/98)

Nation vs. DX

King of the Ring Quarterfinal Match
Triple H vs. The Rock
RAW (22/06/98)

Rock's Big Chance

WWE Championship Match (Final Round)
Mankind vs. The Rock
Survivor Series (15/11/98)

Rivalry with Mankind

Last Man Standing Match for the WWE Championship
Mankind vs. The Rock
St. Valentine's Day Massacre (14/02/99)

So it continues...

Ladder Match for the WWE Championship
Mankind vs. The Rock
RAW (15/02/99)

Two of the Most Charismatic Superstars Ever

WWE Championship Match
Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock
WrestleMania XV (28/03/99)

Disc 2

People's Champion

Steel Cage Match
The Rock vs. Triple H
RAW (05/07/99)

Rock `n Sock Connection

World Tag Team Championship
The Rock / Mankind vs. Undertaker / Big Show
RAW (30/08/99)

The Verbal SmackDown!

No Holds Barred Match
The Rock vs. Kane
SmackDown! (30/12/99)

McMahon - Helmsley Regime vs. The Rock

WWE Championship Match
Triple H vs. The Rock
Backlash (30/04/00)

The Following Night...

Steel Cage Match for the WWE Championship
The Rock vs. Shane McMahon
RAW (01/05/00)

The Great One vs. The Olympic Medalist

WWE Championship Match
Kurt Angle vs. The Rock
No Way Out (25/02/01)

The New Title

WCW Championship Match
Booker T vs. The Rock
SummerSlam (19/08/01)

The Undisputed Champion

Undisputed WWE Championship Match
Chris Jericho vs. The Rock
Royal Rumble (20/01/02)

Disc 3

Icon vs. Icon

The Rock vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan
WrestleMania X8 (17/03/02)

Triple Threat

Triple Threat Match for the WWE Undisputed Championship
Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker vs. The Rock
Vengeance (21/07/02)

Just Bring It

The Rock vs. Eddie Guerrero
RAW (22/07/02)

Third Time's A Charm?

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock
WrestleMania XIX (30/03/03)

Transcending Sports Entertainment

The Rock: The Most Electrifying in Sports Entertainment

Extras

Promos

Heat July 11, 1999 - "Billy's Prayer to God"

RAW August 9, 1999 - "The Big Slow"

RAW September 6, 1999 - "My Name is Kane"

RAW November 15, 1999 - "Doughnuts"

SmackDown! August 10, 2000 - "Hermie"

RAW December 4, 2000 - "Armageddon Opponents"

RAW August 13, 2001 - "Thomas Jefferson Sucka"

RAW September 10, 2001 - "The People's Strudel"

SmackDown! September 20, 2001 - "Great Balls of Fire"

SmackDown! January 3, 2002 - "Copacabana"

SmackDown! January 17, 2002 - "Camera Man"

SmackDown! January 24, 2002 - "The Charleston"

No Way Out February 17, 2002 - "NWO"

SmackDown! July 11, 2002 - "Busta Rhymes"

RAW March 10, 2003 - "The Superhero"

RAW June 21, 2004 - "Miami Dolphins"

The One-Liners

So thats the listing and I can't wait for my copy to arrive.

If Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's return to the WWE in 2011 proved one thing it was that his moniker of "The Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment" was/is no idle promotional boast. This 2008 produced DVD set obviously doesn't feature any of his most recent return to the promotion, but does give us three discs of matches and promo's stretching from 1997 to 2004. It doesn't feature any "new" footage of the Rock at all with the links between matches being merely narrated highlight reels but that doesn't detract what is generally a very entertaining look back at his career.

After a brief look at the vast Samoan heritage in the wrestling business, Disc 1 takes us from "Rocky Maivia's" first Intercontinental title victory over Hunter-Hearst Helmsley in early 1997 to his first WrestleMania main event at WM XV. To be fair the opening match against HHH is tedious, to say the least, as at this stage Rocky Maivia was one of the least liked "pushed" WW(F)W babyfaces in history and HHH was still some while from being over at all. Perhaps it should have been on this set for the completist's but all it really serves to do is highlight just how different "The Rock" became after a very inauspicious first year in the company. His subsequent heel turn certainly kick-started his career and whilst it's fun to see a RAW match with Owen Hart and a King Of The Ring qualifier with HHH at least shows how much both had changed since 1997 neither match is essential. Neither, from an in-ring point of view at least, is his first World Title victory from Survivor Series 1998 over Mankind but it was certainly a memorable moment of the Attitude era and had to be on this set. Better are the two Mankind matches that follow (a Last Man Standing match from Valentine's Day Massacre and a Ladder Match rematch from the following nights RAW) whilst the disc ends on a particular high note with the aforementioned WM XV main event opposite Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Disc 2 stretches from mid 1999 to Royal Rumble 2002. It opens with ANOTHER Triple H encounter from Raw, which is at least better than the following match which sees Rock teaming with Mankind to take on The Undertaker & The Big Show. Better is a spirited Smackdown tussle with Kane and his post WM 2000 victory over Triple H at Backlash, which is riotously entertaining. His Steel Cage match with Shane McMahon (from the night after Backlash) is another entertaining effort but things really pick up with the last three encounters on the disc. A match with Kurt Angle from No Way Out 2001 is a superb effort whilst his wCw World title victory over Booker T from Summerslam 2001 is also very good. The disc closes with a cracking tussle over the Undisputed title with champion Chris Jericho from Royal Rumble 2002.

Disc three takes us from WrestleMania X8 to WrestleMania XIX. Having been in attendance at both supershows I am perhaps biased but his match with Hollywood Hogan remains one of the biggest spectacles of all time and whilst his match the following year against Steve Austin can't match it in those terms it is in itself a great match. Throw in the great Triple Threat match including Kurt Angle and The Undertaker from Vengeance 2002 and a thrilling RAW match against Eddy Guerrero and Disc 3 is the best of the lot from a match quality point of view. There are also a series of Rock promo's on this last disc which effectively showcase the skills that made him a superstar.

This is by no means a definitive "best of" collection of The Rock but it is still an essential collection for anyone who was a fan of The Rock in his hey-day or a more recent fan who wants to check out what the fuss really was about. Not every match is great, and not every match has historical importance either, but there are more hits than misses. Some might be put off by the large proportion of "TV" matches on here (roughly half) compared to [ay-per-view matches but I don't necessarily agree. A compilation of this size benefits, in my opinion, from a few shorter TV matches in amongst lengthier ppv offerings.

I have some misgivings (such as cynically wondering why the WWE could produce a Triple H DVD with no Rock matches on yet produce a Rock DVD with FOUR Triple H matches on) about the match choices and there are clearly some great Rock matches that didn't make the cut onto here. There's also clearly the scope for a very good Rockumentary, if you will, about his career but overall this is a very good look at the Rock's career; and as I said right at the beginning of this review it goes a long way to proving that The Rock truly is the Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment.