Guest Booker with Greg Gagne [KayFabe Commentaries]



The Good
Overall, I'd say I'm a fan of Greg Gagne. I thought he was a very good worker, I thought he was a solid babyface and I believe he really knows the AWA-style of pro-wrestling. In shoot interviews, he is enjoyable to listen to for sure. He is extremely blunt, he has sharp insight and he can be funny at times. His series with Gary Cubeta has been excellent, so I figured in the guest booker seat, he'd make a strong showing. He did bring many of the aforementioned good qualities to this and really explained the AWA method of booking, which is perhaps the closest we'll ever get to understanding Verne's logic for things. I recently heard Bill Irwin give his take on Verne's approach that I thought had great merit, but it was not discussed here. Basically, he felt Verne kept around the stars of his generation because he was in denial about the generational shift that happened. The Crusher, Mad Dog Vachon, Baron Von Raschke and others still had some steam, but seeing them 10-20 years past their primes going toe-to-toe with the Road Warriors, Hulk Hogan and other `roided up comicbook-like stars just turned off their audiences. Greg Gagne approach here is so revealing in regards to why the AWA machine failed to compete with the the WWF juggernaut.

The Bad
While guests on Guest Booker vary in their preparedness, Greg Gagne seemed completely unprepared and embarrassingly so at times. This series works if a booker comes in with some thought out ideas that they can explain, so as to expose their booking mind. When Greg tries to get Sean Oliver to book things, you know things are going poorly. He lacks the conviction and passion that is needed to get himself over as a great mind. He seems to cop out by saying that AWA basically on shot four angles per year, which I have a hard time buying. Regardless, it shows why their old-fashion style lost out against the booking of the WWF. Instead of making a case that more current pro-wrestling is over-booked and over-planned, it seemed like his generation under-booked and under-planned and that's why that style died out. Greg Gagne is not a bad interview, just like he was not a bad wrestler, but this one was an underwhelming effort.

The Rating: ***1/2

The Most Powerful Families in Wrestling


Directors: Kevin Dunn
Distributor: WWE Home Video
Released: 11/08
Featured Talent
Afa, Animal, Steve Austin, Chris Benoit, Eric Bischoff, Nick Bockwinkel, Jerry Brisco, Jim Brunzell, Carlito, John Cena, Mike Chapman, Christian, Deuce, Tommy Dreamer, Ric Flair, Dory Funk Jr., Greg Gagne, Verne Gagne, Billy Graham, Mike Graham, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Chavo Guerrero Sr., Cuqui Guerrero, Eddie Guerrero, Hector Guerrero, Herlindo Guerrero, Linda Guerrero, Mando Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Ata Johnson, Rocky Johnson, Jeff Hardy, Stu Hart, Larry Hennig, Hulk Hogan, Jerry Lawler, Steve Lombardi, Lia Maivia, Dean Malenko, Sherri Martel, Stephanie McMahon, Vince McMahon, Blackjack Mulligan, Rey Mysterio, Gene Okerland, Bob Orton Sr., Bob Orton Jr., Randy Orton, Pat Patterson, Roddy Piper, Bruce Pritchard, William Regal, Dusty Rhodes, Rikishi, Jake Roberts, The Rock, Jim Ross, Mike Rotundo, Samu, Sika, Davey Boy Smith, Diana Smith, Ricky Steamboat, Joey Styles, Triple H, Barry Windham, Kendall Windham, Greg Valentine, Val Venis, Kevin Von Erich, Baron Von Raschke

The Good
The title of this DVD is quite specific and makes someone interested in pro-wrestling history want to see it.  If we add a few qualifiers than we can perhaps deal with what we're really getting here.  “The Most Powerful Families (who have had at least a member under WWF/WWE contract) in Pro-Wrestling (of the past 25 years)”.  The first family featured, the Ortons, is really fascinating and comprehensive, which certainly gives a lot of hope to the quality of this.  Not every family featured is as good, but overall this is a strong product.  The sheer number of people interviewed and the variety to those people adds greatly to this.  You get everyone from Vince McMahon himself (whose insight is often wonderful) and Hulk Hogan to Gory Guerrero and Peter Maivia's wife and daughters.  This is great overview of some of the most prominent pro-wrestling families.  If you can set aside the reality of this being a WWE history recreation attempt, this is very good.

The Bad
Shockingly, this is hosted by a WWE underachiever and son of a legend in one small market.  No its not Brian Christopher, Robert Fuller or Rene Dupree, although all three would've been preferable.  It's Carlito (Colon) whose hosting is campy and adds nothing to this DVD.  His lines are not funny, his only positive contributions are in the interview portions, it forever dates this DVD and his ties to Carlos Colon have never really been part of his persona.  That aside, this “historical” DVD is quite lacking in accordance to its lofty title.  If we're talking about families who were “powerful” in terms of having stroke, then it seems like you need to include some of those promoter/wrestler families.  The Welch/Fuller/Fields/Golden clan is certainly pro-wrestling's most prolific family with early twenty members who promoted, wrestled and refereed throughout Tennessee, Alabama and elsewhere.  Other families like: the Cormiers, the Duseks, the Farhats, the Garibaldis, the Poffos, the Scotts and the Smiths (Grizzly, Jake Roberts, etc.) all had families with promoters, bookers and/or top stars yet none of them were featured or even mentioned here.  If we're talking about “powerful” families as in having physical strength, then it seems like the Steinborns (father Milo was a legendary strongman, while Dick was a top hand and booker) should be mentioned.  There is definitely some gaps in the history, but we've come to expect that from WWE Home Video.

The Rating: ****1/4