By Graham "GSM" Matthews Whenever someone would bring up the topic of the best wrestling documentaries in modern memory, the three DVDs that would usually be mentioned were CM Punk's, Chris Jericho's, and Edge's documentaries. I had seen two of the three before (both of which I've reviewed), but I had never seen Edge's DVD. It was released in early 2012 and focused around Edge's in-ring retirement. I recall a DVD being released for Edge around 2008 entitled "A Decade of Decadence", and I'm not sure what it featured since Edge's "You Think You Know Me?" DVD basically covered his entire life and career. Regardless of whether he was face or heel, I have always been a massive fan of Edge, but this DVD made me look at him in an entirely different light. The part that inspired me the most was that he had always been a fan of the WWE. He was voted "Most Likely to Become WWE Champion" in high school, which is outrageously cool. He scratched and clawed to break into the wrestling business and eventually did so alongside his best friend and longtime tag team partner, Christian. The stuff he did alongside Christian and others early on in his career was absolutely hysterical. They truly were one of the greatest tag teams in WWE history. I was a bit disappointed they didn't touch upon Edge's breakup with Christian in 2001, but at least they covered his partnership with Hulk Hogan the following year (undoubtedly one of the biggest highlights in Edge's career) as well as his brief feud with Eddie Guerrero. It was also very cool to see what was going on behind the scenes around the time Edge started turning heel in late 2004. The fact he was "fed up" and relayed that frustration to his on-air character was incredibly interesting, also around the time that he started feuding with Matt Hardy both on television and in reality.
I always thought that WWE dropped the ball on Edge's first run with the WWE Championship in early 2006, so I liked the fact that Edge went into detail about that as well. His tag team with Randy Orton later that year, albeit awesome, wasn't all that noteworthy, so I wasn't surprised by the fact that it was left out. However, I was somewhat surprised that none of Edge's feuds from 2009 and 2010 were featured. Nothing that he did during that time was off the charts, but it was still a bit disappointing that they cut straight from his feud with Undertaker in 2008 to his abrupt retirement in April 2011. Regardless, all the emotion that went into his retirement and his thought process at the time was truly touching. Having anyone tell you that you can no longer do what you do for a living anymore is a huge loss, but the way Edge handled it and how he turned a negative into a positive was absolutely incredible. In addition to that, I loved the fact that they included some of his best matches in the two-disc DVD set along with his retirement speech in full and his appreciation night from September 2011. It would have been nice if his Hall of Fame induction was featured, but I realize that this was released prior to WrestleMania 28 last year. All in all, this DVD definitely lived up to my high expectations of being one of the best I've seen thus far. WWE always does a stellar job with these documentaries and this one was no exception. Even if you're not a fan of Edge, I would strongly suggest watching this DVD. His battles through adversity and various injuries are awe-inspiring and create an emotional effect that is absent in numerous documentaries. Should you see this movie? Yes. |
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