The Legacy of Stone Cold Steve Austin

Director: Kevin Dunn
Distributor: WWE Home Video
Released: 2/08
Featured Talent
Steve Austin...that's it.

The Good
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin is one of the greatest pro-wrestlers that the sport has ever seen. He was a transformative character whose legacy cannot be understated. While people were acting like him before, wrestling like him before and being the anti-hero/top babyface before, he put it all together in a way that with the WWF machine behind...magic happened. This disc, like the Ric Flair and The Undertaker collections, tries to tell Steve Austin's story through his matches. Some people's wrestling, like Austin's, are probably more interesting than a standard WWE documentary would be. Steve Williams' life story could certain play well in a well-done documentary, but past efforts by the WWE and even A&E have not exactly probed deeply. This collection features 20 matches that are largely excellent, some great and some only good. There are six matches that are probably **** or better and another four or five that are close. The addition of TV matches and Clash of the Champions matches were good and all but two were worthwhile. A few matches that were surprising to see, but were certainly not unwelcome were the strap match with Savio Vega, a `97 match with Shawn Michaels and the lesser known but excellent Bret Hart match. The match quality on this is exeptional.

The Bad
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin is a legend. That said, this three disc "legacy" collection is gross disappointment. It has no documentary, no special commentary, no easter eggs even (!), just Austin giving input on some of the matches and angles throughout his career. The WWE has released numerous Stone Cold videos, but this could have been so much more. It basically runs through his career and contains 20 matches and a lot of clips and comments in between each. It left out some of his best matches and included some of the most unnecessary. The ECW stuff seems overblown in terms of the impact in his career and seeing he and Chris Adams or even some Dangerous Alliance era stuff would be preferrable. The Owen Hart match where he broke his neck was important, but does not make the cut. The two Kane matches were totally unwanted. The Triple H match with the car-crane BS was just bad for workers of that caliber. The Eddy Guerrero squash was stupid and only the fact that the two legendary Austin-Beonit matches could not be included seems to justify its inclusion. Although another DVD or two of matches that were omitted could be made, a few that jump out for WWF matches are: his KOTR battle with Marc Mero, a heel-versus-heel match he and Hunter had at an In Your House in late `96 and one they had at No Mercy `99.

The Extras
The extras on this were like the matches - a mixed bag. A "match", Austin-Yokozuna is pointless, a bit about McMahon is fine, the Redneck Triatholon is what it is, but the Austin angle with Terry Funk is tremendous. That last bit gets a huge thumbs up.

The Rating: ***1/4

The Stone Cold Truth - Audio Version


Author, Ghost Writer, Editor: Steve Austin, Jim Ross, Dennis Brent
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Publishers
Released: 10/03

The Good
I'd never done the audio book thing before and actually ordered it by accident, but it was a fun alternative. Austin and J.R. narrate, which is fine. They are redoing the book and are half in character, which is fine. Not as dynamic as you'd like, but the parts where Austin is funny, the audio makes it seem that much funnier. The part about he and Jeannie feuding with Chris and Toni Adams stands out to anyone I've talked to about it as being laugh-out-loud funny and so is his impression of the Undertaker.

The Bad
This is obviously an abridged version, so there is a fair amount lost. Austin's story is pretty well-known by most wrestling fans at this point and not much is revealed here that many wouldn't already know about. He isn't as venomous as you might expect and any heat he has towards people like Owen Hart, Jeff Jarrett and WWF creative is not really voiced, making this seem neither "stone cold" nor the whole "truth." While this is better than most of the WWF/WWE's autobiography releases, it is not what I think it should be. Again this was a 2 hour audio version, not the full-length book.
The Rating: **1/4

Debra Marshall Shoot Interview [Highspots]







The Good
Shoot interviews with some unlikely people can provide unique insight and perspective on the business.  I've heard interviews with peripheral figures like the Von Erich's bodyguard, independent referees and various friends of pro-wrestlers that were more interesting than some of the sport's biggest names.  I hoped this one with Debra would fall into that category.  At times, it did.  Her comments on Steve "Mongo" McMichael (whose never done a shoot that I know of), Jeff Jarrett (who sparingly does them) and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (who selectively does them) were all interesting.  She has led an unusual career and her viewpoint reflected that.  This had its moments.

The Bad
Part of the reason I had to reduce Debra to a fringe personality was because her actual tenure in the sport was so brief, often so minor and undeveloped made her seem like such a character.  She did not grow up a fan, she did not really express that she was a fan and she never seemed like she was into much more than getting on TV and being a star.  Most of those comments could be untrue, but they probably are not.  This lacked depth for the most part and it did not really make you want to see or hear any more Debra when it was over.

The Rating: ***