KC's Guest Booker with Al Snow
I really didn’t like this at all. The first section of the DVD was entitled “booking.” They talked a bit about booking, then Al went on a rant about how the business has changed and how no one knows what terms like “finish” and “paying your dues” mean anymore. Meanwhile, I am thinking “if I have heard everyone from Ric Flair to Sabu to Shawn Michaels to Christopher Daniels to CM Punk use those words one way, and you claim they mean something else, I’m going to side with all of those guys, rather than just you. Al came off as angry and bitter, but you weren’t quote sure about what, and that really hurt the DVD.
About guys hitting moves then picking their opponent up, Al said (paraphrasing) ‘there are two usual ways to win an MMA match- tap or KO.” (actual quote now) “If the bell rang and the competitors were not trying to do either one of those things, would you pay to see them again? Why is wrestling any different?” The response that immediately ran through my brain was “he’s picking him up to hit him with another move to hurt him more so he can pin him. DUH!” At one point later, Al said that if you knock someone down, then pick him back up, there was no point in knocking him down because you just erased the consequence of the move. This is a crock of crap. If you knock someone down and then pick them back up, the damage you did to them with the move you knocked them down with doesn't just magically evaporate once they leave the ground!
Al also seems very out of touch here. He poops all over the idea of workrate and match quality, saying that the thing that matters the most is whether or not it draws. While technically Al is right, he seems to be completely missing what many of today’s fans look for. If you have amazing build to your PPV and I buy your PPV, but all of the matches on the PPV wind up sucking, I’m really not going to be very inclined to buy the next one, no matter how good the build is. Especially when you have televised wrestling, why should I pay to see a bunch of crappy matches when I can just wait until later in the week to find out the results for free?
Furthermore, as I sit here thinking about what I am going to type, am I facing a wall in my room with a bookshelf. On this bookshelf is my collection of close to 250 wrestling DVDs. Why did I buy these DVDs? Some of them I bought because they were cheap, others to see how the long-term stories unfolded chapter by chapter, but the ones I enjoy the most; the ones I was willing to pay the most money for- the ones that I rushed to buy as soon as possible… the ones I rewatch the most… I bought for the workrate. I bought them because the matches were great. If your website is going to tell me the results of the shows for free, why should I buy them on DVD? To enjoy watching the matches.
Anyway, forty-five minutes in, we get to the second section this DVD: “The Attitude Era.” They talk about that for a few minutes, too, then it is back to Al ranting. Sean Oliver tries to direct Al back to the Attitude Era, and it nbriefly works before Al goes off and rants some more.
Then, with about half an hour left, we finally get to the card Al actually books. The DVD advertised it as Al booking an Attitude-type product in the current WWE, but the card that Al books in no way screams “attitude” at all. He only uses specifics in one angle. He says that he is going to do angle playing off of some issue in history between Edge and Christian but never comes up with what that angle could be. Al only books three matches, which, for a Guest Booker DVD is a MAJOR disappointment. Al then returns to ranting by blaming what he believes to be the degradation of the wrestling business on Savage vs. Steamboat and the fact that Meltzer put that match over so much.
I strongly recommend that you not buy this DVD unless you like hearing Al Snow rant. It was disappointing as a part of the Guest Booker series and, at times, it made me, as a fan, feel insulted for enjoying wrestling as an art form, rather than as a money making business.
About guys hitting moves then picking their opponent up, Al said (paraphrasing) ‘there are two usual ways to win an MMA match- tap or KO.” (actual quote now) “If the bell rand and the competitors were not trying to do either one of those things, would you pay to see them again? Why is wrestling any different?” The response that immediately ran through my brain was “he’s picking him up to hit him with another move to hurt him more so he can pin him. DUH!” At one point later, Al said that if you knock someone down, then pick him back up, there was no point in knocking him down because you just erased the consequence of the move. This is a crock of crap. If you knock someone down, then pick them back up, the pain of getting knocked down doesn’t just magically evaporate once you leave the ground!
Al also seems very out of touch here. He poops all over the idea of workrate and match quality, saying that the thing that matters the most is whether or not it draws. While technically, Al is right, he seems to be completely missing what many of today’s fans look for. If you have amazing build to your PPV and I buy your PPV, but all of the matches suck on the PPV suck, I’m really not going to be very inclined to be the next one, no matter how good the build is. Especially when you have televised wrestling, why should I pay for see a bunch of crappy matches when I can just wait until later in the week to find out the results for free?
Furthermore, as I sit here thinking about what I am going to type, am I facing a wall in my room with a bookshelf. On this bookshelf is my collection of close to 250 wrestling DVDs. Why did I buy these DVDs? Some of them I bought because they were cheap, others to see how the long-term stories unfolded chapter by chapter, but the ones I enjoy the most; the ones I was willing to pay the most money for- the ones that I rushed to buy as soon as possible… the ones I rewatch the most… I bought for the workrate. I bought them because the matches were great. If your website is going to tell me the results of the shows for free, why should I buy them on DVD? To enjoy watching the matches.
Anyway, forty-five minutes in, we get to the second section this DVD: “The Attitude Era.” They talk about that for a few minutes, too, then it is back to Al ranting. Sean Oliver tries to direct Al to the Attitude Era, then Al rants some more.
Then, with about half an hour left, we finally get to the card Al actually books. The DVD advertised it as Al booking an Attitude-type product in the current WWE, but the card that Al books in no way screams “attitude” at all. He only uses specifics in one angle. He says that he is going to do angle playing off of some issue in history between Edge and Christian but never comes up with what that angle could be. Al only books three matches, which, for a Guest Booker DVD is a MAJOR disappointment. Al then returns to ranting by blaming what he believes to be the degradation of the wrestling business on Savage vs. Steamboat and the fact that Meltzer put that match over so much.
I strongly recommend that you not buy this DVD unless you like hearing Al Snow rant. It was disappointing as a part of the Guest Booker series and, at times, it made me, as a fan, feel insulted for enjoying wrestling as an art form, rather than as a money making business.
About guys hitting moves then picking their opponent up, Al said (paraphrasing) ‘there are two usual ways to win an MMA match- tap or KO.” (actual quote now) “If the bell rang and the competitors were not trying to do either one of those things, would you pay to see them again? Why is wrestling any different?” The response that immediately ran through my brain was “he’s picking him up to hit him with another move to hurt him more so he can pin him. DUH!” At one point later, Al said that if you knock someone down, then pick him back up, there was no point in knocking him down because you just erased the consequence of the move. This is a crock of crap. If you knock someone down and then pick them back up, the damage you did to them with the move you knocked them down with doesn't just magically evaporate once they leave the ground!
Al also seems very out of touch here. He poops all over the idea of workrate and match quality, saying that the thing that matters the most is whether or not it draws. While technically Al is right, he seems to be completely missing what many of today’s fans look for. If you have amazing build to your PPV and I buy your PPV, but all of the matches on the PPV wind up sucking, I’m really not going to be very inclined to buy the next one, no matter how good the build is. Especially when you have televised wrestling, why should I pay to see a bunch of crappy matches when I can just wait until later in the week to find out the results for free?
Furthermore, as I sit here thinking about what I am going to type, am I facing a wall in my room with a bookshelf. On this bookshelf is my collection of close to 250 wrestling DVDs. Why did I buy these DVDs? Some of them I bought because they were cheap, others to see how the long-term stories unfolded chapter by chapter, but the ones I enjoy the most; the ones I was willing to pay the most money for- the ones that I rushed to buy as soon as possible… the ones I rewatch the most… I bought for the workrate. I bought them because the matches were great. If your website is going to tell me the results of the shows for free, why should I buy them on DVD? To enjoy watching the matches.
Anyway, forty-five minutes in, we get to the second section this DVD: “The Attitude Era.” They talk about that for a few minutes, too, then it is back to Al ranting. Sean Oliver tries to direct Al back to the Attitude Era, and it nbriefly works before Al goes off and rants some more.
Then, with about half an hour left, we finally get to the card Al actually books. The DVD advertised it as Al booking an Attitude-type product in the current WWE, but the card that Al books in no way screams “attitude” at all. He only uses specifics in one angle. He says that he is going to do angle playing off of some issue in history between Edge and Christian but never comes up with what that angle could be. Al only books three matches, which, for a Guest Booker DVD is a MAJOR disappointment. Al then returns to ranting by blaming what he believes to be the degradation of the wrestling business on Savage vs. Steamboat and the fact that Meltzer put that match over so much.
I strongly recommend that you not buy this DVD unless you like hearing Al Snow rant. It was disappointing as a part of the Guest Booker series and, at times, it made me, as a fan, feel insulted for enjoying wrestling as an art form, rather than as a money making business.
About guys hitting moves then picking their opponent up, Al said (paraphrasing) ‘there are two usual ways to win an MMA match- tap or KO.” (actual quote now) “If the bell rand and the competitors were not trying to do either one of those things, would you pay to see them again? Why is wrestling any different?” The response that immediately ran through my brain was “he’s picking him up to hit him with another move to hurt him more so he can pin him. DUH!” At one point later, Al said that if you knock someone down, then pick him back up, there was no point in knocking him down because you just erased the consequence of the move. This is a crock of crap. If you knock someone down, then pick them back up, the pain of getting knocked down doesn’t just magically evaporate once you leave the ground!
Al also seems very out of touch here. He poops all over the idea of workrate and match quality, saying that the thing that matters the most is whether or not it draws. While technically, Al is right, he seems to be completely missing what many of today’s fans look for. If you have amazing build to your PPV and I buy your PPV, but all of the matches suck on the PPV suck, I’m really not going to be very inclined to be the next one, no matter how good the build is. Especially when you have televised wrestling, why should I pay for see a bunch of crappy matches when I can just wait until later in the week to find out the results for free?
Furthermore, as I sit here thinking about what I am going to type, am I facing a wall in my room with a bookshelf. On this bookshelf is my collection of close to 250 wrestling DVDs. Why did I buy these DVDs? Some of them I bought because they were cheap, others to see how the long-term stories unfolded chapter by chapter, but the ones I enjoy the most; the ones I was willing to pay the most money for- the ones that I rushed to buy as soon as possible… the ones I rewatch the most… I bought for the workrate. I bought them because the matches were great. If your website is going to tell me the results of the shows for free, why should I buy them on DVD? To enjoy watching the matches.
Anyway, forty-five minutes in, we get to the second section this DVD: “The Attitude Era.” They talk about that for a few minutes, too, then it is back to Al ranting. Sean Oliver tries to direct Al to the Attitude Era, then Al rants some more.
Then, with about half an hour left, we finally get to the card Al actually books. The DVD advertised it as Al booking an Attitude-type product in the current WWE, but the card that Al books in no way screams “attitude” at all. He only uses specifics in one angle. He says that he is going to do angle playing off of some issue in history between Edge and Christian but never comes up with what that angle could be. Al only books three matches, which, for a Guest Booker DVD is a MAJOR disappointment. Al then returns to ranting by blaming what he believes to be the degradation of the wrestling business on Savage vs. Steamboat and the fact that Meltzer put that match over so much.
I strongly recommend that you not buy this DVD unless you like hearing Al Snow rant. It was disappointing as a part of the Guest Booker series and, at times, it made me, as a fan, feel insulted for enjoying wrestling as an art form, rather than as a money making business.