Today starts the beginning of a new feature on MouthoftheSouthShore.com. Since this is a WWE blog and the WWE has made big business out of their DVD releases, I have decided that it is important to inform my readers which new DVDs are worth watching and which should stay on the shelves. Given that this site only opened a few days ago, I'm going to start with a DVD that came out a couple of weeks ago, but is still the most current WWE DVD: John Morrison-Rock Star. Let's take a look.
Every quarter, WWE releases a list of products that will hit the marketplace in the next quarter. When I saw the product list for quarter 1 of 2010, one product stood out over the rest, a John Morrison DVD. I think what shocked me most was that a Morrison DVD was coming out before bigger stars like Chris Jericho. It was then that I realized that Morrison's DVD was simple that, a 1 disc production on "The Shaman of Sexy". Figuring just one disc wouldn't take up too much of my time, I got a hold of this release and gave it a view. To say that I was underwhelmed by it was an understatement.
This DVD was not a biographical story of the man who plays John Morrison. It was not a compilation of that man's wrestling career starting with independent footage, working its way through the Nitro phase, and up to the present either. It presented John Morrison as a man who was born in 2007 when he decided to change his ring name from Nitro to Morrison. I understand the wrestling is a kayfabe world, but the coolest thing about these DVDs is that they usually present the people behind the gimmick in them. This presentation equivocates Morrison to Kane or Undertaker, which are the only other people to be presented remotely in that light.
The matches presented were singles matches from the past 8 months, not exactly a large selection to choose from. What's sad is that he teamed with the Miz for about a year and the only match from that time included is their loss to DX. A team that won multiple championships and the only match they show is a loss? Sad to say the least. Granted, there are only 7 matches on this sad excuse for a compilation, but I think better choices could have been made.
In between each match, segments with Morrison ranged from absolutely pathetic to actually somewhat interesting. The pathetic would include the "ask Morrison" segment, which could have been excellent insight into who he really is, but featured brainbusters like "do they serve chocolate in the Palace of Wisdom?" and "Where is the Palace of Wisdom?". The whole thing was done in character and featured snide remarks and to me, felt like an enormous waste of time. While many of the segments were done in character, the couple that weren't were actually quite interesting. Towards the end of the DVD, fans will learn of Morrison the actual guy's love of surfing and see "the Shaman of the Surfboard" in action. It was interesting to get that insight into him as that's not something you would see on Friday Nights. My favorite segment though, had to be Morrison's parkour training. This was partticularly interesting since most fans know that Morrison is famous for his athleticism and innovative wrestling style, and it seems that a lot of that comes from this form of training. It was quite a site to see some of the moves he performs while engaged in the training, and the fact that it can be done anywhere provided images of Morrison doing parkour in various arenas to the pleasure of this one man audience. I would even argue that these segments made the DVD for me.
Another big disappoinment of the DVD is the lack of "Dirt Sheet" inclusion. There is a "best of the Dirt Sheet" segment between matches, but it was mostly just one liners that Morrison had, and the editing was done to clearly highlight Morrison's involvement with the team. Shamefully done in my eyes, as the coolest thing about the Dirt Sheet was the dynamic between the two men and the parodies they often did TOGETHER. I know this isn't a Miz DVD, but being in that tag team was a big part of the Morrison Legacy and it's barely a blip on this DVD's radar. If it wasn't to be included in the main section, why not have full Dirt Sheet episodes in the special features? Certainly that could have been included and enjoyed by many fans.
Speaking of special features, the only one is the "birth of John Morrison", which was the night he appeared with the instrumental version of his theme song for the first time in his new persona. It's a cool segment, but it's sad that it's the only "special feature". Again, some Dirt Sheet stuff and perhaps some promos he's cut would have been a fun thing to add. Unfortunately, it's all lacking.
The only reason to buy this DVD is if you are a really big Morrison fan and have no idea how to use You tube. All the matches seen can be found on there, and the couple of behind the scenes things that are interesting don't justify the value of the DVD. With that said, I will leave you with part of the parkour training section on the DVD. The quality is pretty bad as it is the only version currently available on You tube, but it should give you an idea of what the training involves. If a better copy comes along, I will replace this version for you. For now, enjoy the video as the only part of the DVD worth showing on this website!
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