Batista: I Walk Alone DVD Review - Discs 1 & 2
I've had this one in my collection for a while, and if ever there was an appropriate time for a review of it, it's now. I'd like to get this one finished before his return on the 20th. So here is the first of this two part review.
Disc 1:
Documentary:
The main feature runs for an hour and a half, which I would say is an appropriate amount of time for a guy like Batista. I've never heard about his early life before, so it was interesting to hear about his childhood and how he lived in poverty, and how his mother raised him. That only lasts ten minutes before it goes to wrestling school. Batista's never had a lot of charisma, but he was still interesting to listen to when talking about his life. He looks a lot like Ross Gellar from friends when he was a teenager. It's cool that they managed to get a few of his old friends and even his mother to do some talking head secctions. Hell they even managed to get his ex-wife. Turns out that Batista cheated on his then-current girlfriend. I'm surprised they put him in a pretty bad light, but he does seem to regret what he did. Batista really makes the WCW training school sound like a piece of shit with a really bad instructor. I never knew that it was Afa of the Wild Samoans that taught him how to properly wrestle. I've got to say that the time is pretty much flying by while watching this which is obviously a great sign. I'll admit that I was almost in tears when it came to talking about Eddie Guerrero's death. I won't mention everything here since it won't make much sense unless you're watching it too. This was a much better documentary than I was expecting as it delved into his real life more than I thought it would, and it was all the better for it. A great documentary that had a lot of work put into it, and it deserves to be watched. Great stuff overall. 8.5/10
There are a few extra stories in the Special Features menu that are quite interesting to watch.
Time for the matches!
Disc 2:
Leviathan vs Doug Basham
From OVW in 2001 and the OVW Title is on the line. Victoria is also here as Doug's manager. I'd rather have had an OVW match featuring someone like John Cena or Brock Lesnar, but it's still nice to have an early match for Batista. Batista looks a lot like Goldberg here. Pretty entertaining match here, and Batista did show some potential. The small crowd was into it too. It was more of a standard bout, but it was still enjoyable. Powerbomb wins Batista the Title. **1/4
Kane vs Batista
From Armageddon 2002. This match is a little historical, seeing as it's Batista's first match on PPV. I have no idea why these two are feuding. I'm guessing that it may have something to do with Katie Vick due to the time period. I hope not. Not the best debut for Batista, but at least he beat quite an accomplished star in Kane. Sloppy match with a sloppy finish. 1/2*
Shawn Michaels vs Batista
From Armageddon 2003. This feud started at Survivor Series when Batista cost Shawn the match with a powerbomb. Batista was still green at this point and hadn't had a lot of PPV matches, but if one guy could give him a good match, it would be HBK. HBK has a good record of great matches with big guys. This was quite slow due to Batista's offense, but Shawn made it as good as he could. Solid match. The ref did seem to ignore the fact that Shawn's shoulders were down during the pin. Still, it was a good effort. **3/4
Batista & Ric Flair vs The Dudley Boyz : Tables Match
From Royal Rumble 2004. Tag Titles are on the line. Batista and Flair won the titles unfairly at the Armageddon PPV, and the Dudleys wanted them back in their favourite kind of match. The match was very short and seemed very sloppy at times. It didn't help that the Coach got himself involved. Not the best opener for a show that's for sure. 1/2*
Batista vs Chris Jericho
From Vengeance 2004. In four years time this would be a main event match with the World Title on the line. I'm not sure as to why their feuding. I think Jericho was meant to continue his feud with Christian, but he was out with an injury. Pretty good match, but it was really slow at times thanks to Batista's heelish offense. Jericho managed to bring things up to speed though. Batista wins even though Jericho has his foot on the ropes. **1/2
We get the Rumble match from 2005 from the point that Batista entered. I'll probably end up reviewing this PPV soon so I'll keep my match rating for that since this isn't anywhere near the full match anyway. I remember it being a fun Rumble. The ending between Cena and Batista was awesome as you didn't know who would win, and this was a huge moment for The Animal.
Batista vs Triple H
From Wrestlemania 21 and the World Title is on the line. We still get a pretty bad Motorhead performance of HHH's theme. This was Batista's big make or break moment to see if he had what it took to get the fans behind him and become a top guy. I think he did pretty well with that. Bit of an understatement I know. This wasn't the best match ever, but it did it's job and made Batista look like the next big thing. The match was pretty solid with HHH trying everything he could to keep Batista down, but Batista fought his hardest to win. **3/4
Batista vs Triple H : Hell in a Cell
From Vengeance 2005 and the World Title is on the line. Their standard matches weren't very good, but in the Cell environment, both guys shined. This is where Batista truly became a big star. He was the first guy to defeat HHH in a Cell, nevermind the fact that it's the third time in a row he had beaten him. There were some brutal spots like the sledgehammer to HHH's jaw, and the barbed wire steel chair deserves a mention. Excellent Cell match and one of the better ones from history. ****1/2
Batista vs JBL : No Holds Barred
From Summerslam 2005 with the World Title on the line. JBL makes it rain money before the match. The no DQ stipulation helped, since these two didn't have much chemistry in normal matches. Match was actually pretty short and pretty enjoyable. JBL didn't appear in many World Title matches after this. Batista retains with a powerbomb onto steel steps. **1/2
Batista vs Eddie Guerrero
From No Mercy 2005 and the World Title is on the line. Sadly this is Eddie's final PPV match. Batista and Eddie were good friends in real life and you could see that Batista was devastated when Eddie passed away. This was one of Batista's better singles matches thanks to the skill of Eddie. It was strange seeing the spinebuster used as the finish though. I thought a Batista bomb would have been more appropriate. Great match overall. ***1/2
Stay tuned for part 2!
No comments:
Post a Comment