I am a massive fan of the American independent wrestling scene. I still follow WWE, TNA and ROH but most of my attention goes to the indies. So when I found www.smartmarkvideo.com and the best on the indies series I was over the moon. I have a lot of them and I recently got three more so I've decided to give a little mini review for each one. Before I set I'll share some information on them. The DVD's usually consist of 3 disks which has a shoot interview, which changes on length depending on who is interviewed, and a series of their best matches. So I'll give a little overview of the shoot and the matches on the set. Now some of the names you'll know and some you won't. I'll focus on some of the better ones as I have so many and don't want to write about them all otherwise I'd lose the will to live.
From Parts Unknown to Revolution Avenue The Jimmy Jacobs Story
The Shoot: Not an overly long interview and he comes off as a bit of a dick however this was done in 2008 when Jimmy was famously known as having a ego and being a dick. But with that said it is a good shoot. You learn that he stole the spike which is his trademark now and we learn his side to the story of him throwing the IWA Mid South World title in the trash during a AAW show. It's a shoot worth watching once but you'll probably won't watch it again.
Matches: Jacobs has had many big feuds and you get one of the best from the series e.g. Alex Shelley and Delirious, a lot better then over doing it like with some DVD sets *cough* Rey Mysterio *cough*. His match with Chris Sabin is great and has a truly unique finish, the old school throwback working with the Barbarian is just funny and the match where he loses the IWA MS title to Arik Cannon is fantastic. No real bad matches on the set even the last match against Jack Thriller (who had the nickname Serial Killer but looked like a geek) is truly great and shows that Jacobs can get great matches out of anyone.
Psycho Shooter The Drake Younger Story
The Shoot: If you watch this shoot then I recommend getting the Naptown Dragon Stories as this was done prior to the Diehard Dustin Lee incident and that's something that should be covered (and is covered by others in the series). Drake is such a nice and likable guy and that will shine here. You'll get to see what a deathmatch worker is like and what goes through their heads when they suffer major injuries (Drake covers three incidents which would make most people stop). It gets emotional when the subject of JC Baily comes up but overall it is a fun shoot which includes a wrap up and then continuing since Mike Burns (the interviewer) forgot to mention.
Matches: A nice mix of deathmatches and pure wrestling showing how good Drake is. Only downfall is that there are a lot of matches from his feud with CJ Otis but the matches were great so it's not so bad. Highlights are his legendary Barefoot Thumbtack match with JC Bailey, his No Rope Barbed Wire with CJ Otis and his grudge match with Brain Damage that closes the set. The SAW deathmatch with Thumbtack Jack you probably won't get through without cringing as it's sick for no real reason but that's TJ.
Tries His Hardest The Chuck Taylor Story
The Shoot: Chuck Taylor is probably one of the funniest guys in wrestling today and this comes off here. You can find some of the highlights on youtube which includes losing a guy in England and dealing with a drunk Doug Williams in Germany. You will laugh for sure and be entertained which is the key thing.
Matches: Some great matches here including a tag match with Cloudy against Richochet & Player Uno which gets a standing ovation, his matches with Richochet/Helios in Chikara are not only great but will get you laughing and his matches with Low Ki are fantastic as expected. However his match with Steve Corino is not great and probably could of been left out and his match with CJ Otis is a little awkward but two bad ones out of a set of 15+ isn't bad.
The Anarchist The Best of Arik Cannon
The Shoot: A great look into his career here which includes some really funny stories and a running gag of inserting a Homicide headbutt clip at certain points. But this shoots really shows of is how Ian Rotten can turn on a guy after they leave IWA Mid South and how that company worked. Overall this shoot is a great insider look and is really funny as well a shoot you can watch again and again.
Matches: Some of the biggest stars are included here and it's all great quality. Highlights are matches against Samoa Joe, Bryan Danielson, AJ Styles and Cheech but you'll struggle to find a bad match if I'm honest. The only odd thing about the set is that his least favourite match, against Homicide, is included and his favourite match, against Chris Hero at TPI 2005, wasn't included. Bit odd that a best of includes such mistakes for lack of a better term.
Danny Havoc Volume 1 & 2
The Shoots: Danny gets 2 volumes here as his first was done just a year or two into his career. The first shoot is just pure humour and only lasts 30 minutes or so. The second is much longer and includes serious points as well as humour. The funniest thing is that in the end of volume 1 he says what he'd like to achieve and by the next shoot he's done that. But it's worth watching as Danny is just a character and entertains you.
Matches: First off you have to love deathmatches to like this set, the only straight wrestling match on both sets is with Arik Cannon which is great for the commentary alone. The first volume is fine but there is too much DJ Hyde and Hyde killing Havoc which gets boring but the other matches are great. There is a lot more variety on volume 2 including some matches from his feud with Sami Callihan, which are also on Sami's volume and on a DVD set of just the feud so it's a little over done but the matches are great. A lot of opponents are done over but as a deathmatch wrestler there is a serious lack of wrestlers in that field. If you like deathmatches then you'll love this set and if you don't you'll probably become a fan.
The Last of a Dying Breed the Eddie Kingston Story
The Shoot: First of I'm a HUGE fan of Eddie Kingston so of course I'll recommend it. So the shoot, really entertaining and it shows what type of person Eddie is which is a guy who wears his heart on his sleeves. This shoot is done just after Eddie was having problems which isn't really covered in great detail but what is is the leaving CZW incident and his problems with the owner. But it's not all serious as there is some funny stories included.
Matches: A really good selection of matches with some highlights being his Last Man Standing with Chris Hero (showing why these two have had such a great feud), Tim Donst which makes Donst as he was only a few matches in, Drake Younger, Arik Cannon and his first deathmatch with Zandig. The first two matches (a 6 man tag and against Jolly Roger) are not the best but it was early in his career, his match with Ricochet has a DQ finish which hurts it a bit and his first match with Larry Sweeney just stops randomly but also includes Sweeney hitting Eddie with a car to help the feud move on. Side note I wish Sweeney had got the chance to get a volume in this series or at least a shoot as would of loved to hear his point of view.
Choose Death the Necro Butcher story volume 1 & 2
The Shoot: Only one interview here as the second volume is just all matches. A good little shoot but it often seems like Necro mixed shoot with work when he talks about his story. It does go into a lot of personal issues here and includes the story of how he got into the Wrestler. I'll a little mixed on this shoot, it has it's good points and some bad.
Matches: So many matches here so can't really go into that much detail. Some matches are highlighted by the commentary by Dave Prazak & CM Punk which is just hilarious. It's a great mix of straight wrestling and death matches. The matches against Samoa Joe, Low Ki and his tag with Toby against the H8 Club are over done and highlighted to much else where but are still a must watch.The only downside is his match with Gyspy Joe which just has very little and puts Joe over for no reason and a match against JC Bailey were both seemed drunk/out of it and the match just ends randomly.
Zandig Volume 1 & 2
The shoots: Now there is a 3rd volume but I haven't seen it yet. These sets are all about the interview. For those of you who don't know John Zandig was the owner and creator of one of the biggest indies going today which is CZW. In the 2 interviews John covers his early life, his start in wrestling, creating CZW and then some of the most infamous moments in the company which includes the ECW invasion at Cage of Death 3, the IWA Mid South invasion, the hanging incident and much more. John also gives his own views of some of the stars who were made and some who were brought it. It's a great shoot as not many former owners do shoot interviews. It also helps that he isn't afraid to express his true feelings. I do plan on getting volume 3 sometime soon which covers the worse Cage of Death ever and him selling the company to DJ Hyde.
Matches: One thing about Zandig and the same can be said for Ian Rotten (I'll be surprised if he doesn't get the same treatment soon and gets multiple best on the indies) is that they are involved in pretty much everyone else's set. If they've been worked by someone it's usually their best matches. So Zandig has a good selection but it's also very few as the shoots take up a lot of the space which makes sense. Some highlights are his matches with Wifebeater, Joker, Lobo and his legendary Tournament of Death 2 match with Nick Mondo with the biggest spot EVER!
Confessions of a Switchblade: The Sami Callihan Story
The Shoot: Sami doesn't hide anything in this shoot and gets very personal. He talks about numerous companies some of which he's had a lot of say in. There are many stories and subjects covered one that is left out his him getting knocked out by Necro Butcher, which is included in the matches. Besides that, which is minor, it's a great watch and you can't help but feel for him when it's all said and done.
Matches: You'll struggle to recognise Sami in the first match, he's changed so much since then it's insane. All the matches included are great some showcase how great of a team him and Jon Moxley were, some show how good he is and how vicious he can be when wrestling. The only downside, as mentioned earlier, is the coverage of his feud with Danny Havoc which has been covered in a lot of other places. Besides that you'll struggle to find anything to complain about with this DVD.
Stories from the Street: The Jon Moxley Story
The Shoot: Moxley has had a really long career and not everything is covered here a lot of his HWA stuff is overlooked as is his stuff in IPW. The shoot many focuses on CZW and what he's doing lately. There's some great stories told included what really happened when Gage got hurt at Tournament of Death and Moxley went out there with Thumbtack Jack, who lasted until 5 in the morning in a bar in Germany and some major comments towards B-Boy and his actions. What I find funny is that when asked if he thinks doing deathmatches hurts his careers he says "I doubt anyone in the WWE is really paying attention to me" well he was wrong since he's now working there.
Matches: A nice little selection here. Highlights include his title victory over B-Boy, getting the hell kicked out of him by Nick Gage, a brilliant brawl with Brain Damage and an amazing match with Robert Anthony. A downer is that a match with Jake Crist where the referee will annoy you by asking "do you give up" ever 5 seconds and the matches is rather long for an I Quit Cage match and his match with Ricochet which is mainly hurt because it's held in a dark garage and it takes away from a good match. But again there minor complaints.
Notorious Scumbag: The Devon Moore Story
The Shoot: You will not be more entertained by a shoot then you will with this one. Devon is brilliant and is not ashamed to say anything. He seemingly buries everyone and puts over everyone it's brilliant. You will get lost on just what the hell he's talking about as he gets asked one thing and goes off on another for example when asked about his semi-final King of the Death match with Gage and Dustin Lee he goes off on Dustin Lee. But it's that same quality that makes the shoot so entertaining. You will watch this over and over.
Matches: There is a great selection of matches here with some incredibly big spots involved in some of them. Some matches will surprise you like the match with Pinkie Sanchez and his tag with Drew Blood against Ty Hagen & Adam Cole. Some of his biggest moments are included here like his King of the Death win against Danny Havoc, which is covered an awful lot elsewhere as well, his Loser must Retire match with Drew Blood and a true classic with Drake Younger that closes the set.
Now that is just some of what I own. I also have Nick Gage, Mickie Knuckles, Mike Quackenbush, Nate Webb, Toby Klein, Thumbtack Jack and JC Bailey which I didn't include here for one reason or another.
I seriously cannot say enough good thing about these series you can see just how many I have and there are so many more out on www.smartmarkvideo.com and there probably all worth it. If I had the money I would be getting a lot more. Anyways that's all from me, may be next time I won't be so stupid and decide to review something that I have a lot less of. But as always cheers for reading, if you did and let me know what you think.
