Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen

Director: Kevin Dunn
Distributor: WWE Home Video
Released: 4/07

Featured Talent
Arn Anderson, Steve Austin, Chris Benoit, Eric Bischoff, Tully Blanchard, J.J. Dillon, Paul Ellering, Ric Flair, Michael Hayes, Jerry Lawler, Theodore Long, Dean Malenko, Shawn Michels, Gene Okerland, Dusty Rhodes, Paul Roma, Jim Ross, Ricky Steamboat, Triple H, Barry Windham, Kendall Windham

The Good
When you look at the original Four Horsemen stable (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Ole Anderson, Tully Blanchard and J.J. Dillon) you see five of the best promos in pro-wrestling and this pair of DVD is packed with top notch promos. I remember Meltzer discribing his mixed feelings about this release because it is an age of promos that will seemingly never return and how sad that is because that is such a magical part of pro-wrestling. Past that bittersweet realization, this documentary is one of the better WWE products that tells its story in a frank way that is not overly romanticized. They were a groundbreaking stable and this documentary captures their accomplishments, their legacy as well as their inability to recapture their fame in the 1990s. I felt the discussion of the personality conflicts really took this to another level. Flair was unafraid of ripping on a number of people, which made for some interesting parts. The discussion of Paul Roma though takes the cake in that department though. The explaination of several key events: the sale of WCW from Crockett to Turner, the feud between Flair and Eric Bischoff and the decline of Tully Blanchard's career were all well done.

The Bad
The biggest problem with WWE's documentaries is typically their skewing of history, where events and personalities are either romanticized or buried. Often people turn down projects or are left out projects and find themselves on the bad end of WWE's version of pro-wrestling history. Ole Anderson turned them down and he was marginalized, Sid turned them down and was buried and a number of key people were not included. Sting is obviously part of a rival company, Lex Luger has been blackballed and a number of others were simply left out and that always deters from the quality of the story. Arn Anderson kayfabed a bit and the story of the double-stabbing between he and Sid was at least mentioned, but definitely its impact was not discussed. This has several issues, but on the whole is a fair documentary as far as the WWE products go.

The Extras
The interviews and discussion of interviews is a real gem on these two discs. There are seven matches and a couple are excellent, but they are not the selection many people may have selected. There are bits and pieces after 1988, which are good in and of themselves, but the focus was really placed on the correct time period.


The Rating: ****

Nature Boy Ric Flair: The Definitive Collection

Directors: Kevin Dunn
Distributor: WWE Home Video
Released: 7/08
Featured Talent
Arn Anderson, Steve Austin, Batista, Tully Blanchard, Nick Bockwinkel, Jack Brisco, Jim Brunzell, John Cena, Jim Cornette, David Crockett, J.J. Dillon, Edge, Ric Flair, Ashley Fleihr (daughter), David Fleihr (son), Megan Fleihr (daughter), Reid Fleihr (son), Tiffany Fleihr (wife), Dory Funk Jr., Greg Gagne, Michael Hayes, Bobby Heenan, Shawn Michaels, Gene Okerland, Bob Orton Jr., Randy Orton, Bruce Pritchard, Harley Race, Baron Von Raschke, Dusty Rhodes, Jim Ross, Triple H, Greg Valentine, Kevin Von Erich

The Good
Generally speaking, the WWE’s documentaries on legendary pro-wrestlers have been good. They usually have the footage, interviews and a version of the story that is a worthwhile watch - at least once. This documentary, while a good retrospect of Ric Flair’s legendary career, lacks the depth that his excellent autobiography did. It is positive though and many people want to see those highlights and hear those stories. In that sense, it delivers. This was a big step-up production-wise as it featured some really fun graphics (depicting the NWA’s control over the US, Flair’s touring and title defenses), it also had some good lighting and presentation for the newer interviews and it really captured the past in a nostalgic way (as opposed to low-rent way). It was fun to hear Flair and some of his running buddies talk about his early days and peak when he was living the high life. There was a lot of focus on big feuds and rivalries, which has gone over well in recent WWE Legend documentaries. There really were no surprises here and it was basically a feel-good type documentary, which one has to expect. As always there were some great interviewees: Harley Race, Jim Cornette and David Crockett were all great and brought so much to this piece.

The Bad
As with almost all WWE documentaries, this lacked depth. It was missing that critical side that even Flair’s autobiography had. His financial woes, his lackluster WWF run and his burial in WCW are largely glossed over. There is no Eric Bischoff, Hulk Hogan or Mick Foley to offer some criticism, heck, Ricky Steamboat is not even on this! Although the list of interviews is solid, there were definitely some MIAs that could have added insight. Terry Funk really jumps out, but he is yet to appear on a WWE documentary. There also is some due criticism of the WWF/WWE that is sadly missing. His `91-`93 run is deemed a success, although it is acknowledged that not booking he and Hulk Hogan in a pay-per-view match was strange. While he had a good showing and had some great matches, he was not the larger than life character that he had been in JCP and was another legendary NWA champion reduced to something far less than he deserved to be like “King” Harley Race, Hoss (Dory) Funk and “The Common Man” Dusty Rhodes before him. As for his return after WCW died, well, it is clear that with the exception of a few instances, Ric Flair was not utilized well. One of the greatest interviews of all-time was seldom left to cut his money promos, a figure who could draw in the older fans was over-used and jobbed out and that final run that should have carried him into his final match was pathetically executed. All of these facts are swept aside, so we can hear him talk about the few things that were done right. While one has to expect that in a WWE production that does not mean that it is okay and the credibility of this documentary takes a hit as result. As for the matches, let's just say they did an average job complimenting the previously released "Ultimate Ric Flair Collection."

The Rating: ****1/2

Straight Shootin' with Mick Foley

The Good
Mick Foley delivers nearly four hours on his career from approximately 2000 to 2005. They talk about his time as WWF Commissioner, his feud with Randy Orton, his thoughts on Ric Flair and his novel writing experiences. His reflections on the importance of the feud and in particular his Hardcore match with Randy Orton and how crucial it was to getting the rising star over are interesting. Gabe Sapolsky repeatedly brings up the WWE writers, which Foley never buries out-right (as it seems the ROH booker wants him to), but he does give some critical and thoughtful comments on their role and how that refocusing has negatively impacting the WWE. The highlight of this, not surprisingly, is Mick Foley's thoughts on Ric Flair. He famously blasted Flair's poor booking in WCW, but Flair gave him an unfair, uneducated and unflattering (to Flair) receipt in "To Be the Man." Flair's name comes up again and again, but they save the heavy stuff for the finale. Gabe reads Flair's passage about Foley and the man himself rebuts it pretty handily. He reveals flawed research, flawed logic and ultimately gets his point across that Ric Flair is not a very reflective person. A burial of another talent that is different than you'll hear in any other shoot.

The Bad
If you take that Flair part out, this was a long and, at many times, boring interview. Foley goes on the assumption that you can remember much of the minutia in his matches, angles and such, which I can understand…but I couldn't remember a lot of those details. When I first listened to this, perhaps, but five or so years later this interview seems to be so limited in scope and dated in content. This is often a case in the latter part of a shoot interview, but this issue was constant. I can also imagine many would find much of this to be dull except for the Flair highspot. I probably would have given this four-stars or better when it happened, but this simply does not stand up very well.

The Rating: 
***1/2