Available at Amazon.com
Studio: World Wrestling Entertainment
Rating: Not Rated
Run time: 540 minutes
Number of discs: 3
Release Date: November 13, 2007
As the World Wrestling Federation grew through the eighties and nineties, owner Vince McMahon relied heavily on a select few guys – ambassadors if you will – to represent the sports-entertainment giant. When you think of the WWF (known as World Wrestling Entertainment since 2002), wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, Bret “Hitman” Hart, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and Dwanye “The Rock” Johnson are some who you could classify as true representatives for the company. A number of factors play a role: like how well they draw (attract crowds), how they carry themselves in and out of the squared circle, et al.
Well, their time as being top draws for WWE each and every week in arenas around the world are gone. In their places are some fresh-faced stars that must now take the reigns and continue WWE tradition. Of all the talents that Vince McMahon has at his disposal his greatest emissary is John Cena.
This DVD release, John Cena: My Life, is a three-disc look at the man who can both alienate and captivate fans. It’s a love-hate thing with John Cena. Kids see Cena as a Captain America-type, while older teens are disconnected with the superstar. Must be the spinner belt. The material contained in this set is sure to do the same.
The main feature is a 107-minute documentary about the three-time WWE Champion. A youngster growing up in West Newbury, Massachusetts, Cena was an absolute fan of wrestling. TV, PPV, it didn’t matter. When his father first got cable it was because of his son’s love of squared-circle combat. At the family home there are storage containers of recorded wrestling pay-per-views and commercial releases. You can even spot a “Stone Cold” Steve Austin video in Cena’s personal collection.
Cena’s early enjoyment of wrestling and being a bit scrawny led to a love of weight training. He would lift weights with the set his father gave him; the set would never get dusty due to Cena’s vigorous use. His dedication to being in peak physical condition allowed him to pursue bodybuilding competitions only to later be disqualified because the judges assumed he was using performance-enhancing drugs. Assumptions, you know what they say about them. Besides bodybuilding, Cena exceeded in the sport of football becoming a Division III All-American center while attending Springfield College in Springfield, Mass.
After college, Cena headed west to find greater success as a bodybuilder. It was while in California in 2000 that he started to train to be a professional wrestler. As kids we go through a phase where we play cops and robbers; Cena play-wrestled with his brothers in the backyard. Watching Cena compete in Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW) as well as Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) as The Prototype, his fondness for wrestling was more than just a phase. There’s an undeniable love going on.
With this documentary we see John Cena’s steady climb from rookie to superstar, from the undercard to the main event. Adding their two cents worth are wrestlers like John Bradshaw Layfield and Edge who talk about their feuds with the man who early on in his wrestler career was all about ruthless aggression, then throwback jerseys and pump-up shoes, and of course letting all of his opponents know that they can’t see him.
Comments from his friends and family help to prove that the rap act and attitude is not the product of WWE writers. John Cena is all about freestyle rapping and the sports paraphernalia. And he’s got Snoop Dogg as an admirer. He must be doing something right.
The John Cena of 2003 was a different animal compared to the Cena of today. Back then he was Vanilla Ice, only Cena had better hair and freestyle raps. None of this “Go Ninja Go” nonsense. Seeing him grow from being the doctor of Thuganomics to being a main event star brings back memories of his early feuds with the likes of Eddie Guerrero and The Undertaker in 2003. Sadly, none of those televised matches with Taker or the late Guerrero make it to this collection. (But they can be found on Cena’s previous DVD release Word Life.)
He has also grown as a wrestler. Far from the greatest, his FU finisher is a joke (though impressive looking on someone like The Big Show); Cena is a strong babyface/good guy who always brings it when it is a big money match. And having been the heavyweight champion from September 2006 to October 2007, the reign only helps to cement his status as the top guy in World Wrestling Entertainment.
See if you can see that.
A/V QUALITY CONTROL
The main feature is presented in widescreen. The extras vary with aspect ratios. The matches are all presented in 1.33:1. Some of the documentary footage includes home movies from Cena as a kid growing up in West Newbury, so not everything is pristine. But all the matches – the earliest dates back to 2002 – have minimal problems visually. We get mostly a 5.1 surround sound mix with all the WWE matches. Just listen to the crowd during his match with Rob Van Dam at ECW’s One Night Stand. The hatred the crowd has for Cena comes at you at all angles. Also note there’s no optional subtitles or selectable close captioning.
SPECIAL FEATURES
For this three-disc collection we get an odd assortment of special features. On the first disc, the only extra you’ll find is John Cena showing off his car collection. His Made in the U.S.A. car collection. 14 cars in all, each has its own mini-featurette with Cena giving a little background of the cars, modifications that were made, and their rarity. Altogether the featurettes run 40 minutes.
Moving on to the second disc we get seven hand-picked matches by John Cena. At least that’s what would be assumed listening to him introduce the matches. Each one seems to have a story behind it. The first is when he was wrestling as The Prototype in OVW. Going into his match with third-generation star Randy Orton in January of 2002, it was to be Orton’s farewell match before heading to WWE. Cena would need a few more months of seasoning before he would be called up. When he did, Cena brought ruthless aggression to World Wrestling Entertainment, and he challenged the likes of Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho upon entering the company. His first PPV match against Jericho at Vengeance 2002 is included here.
The remainder of the matches includes his first real wrestling program as the doctor of Thuganomics when he wrestled Rikishi in March 2003; the “I Quit” match he had with JBL at Judgment Day 2005 (which opened the eyes of many non-believers); a tag match from Raw of May 2005 in which Cena got to team with two of his idols – Shawn Michaels and Hulk Hogan; the WWE Championship match against Rob Van Dam at One Night Stand; and finally the “TLC” match for the WWE Championship against Edge at Unforgiven 2006.
Also on Disc 2 is a selection of different interviews and promos. Included is his return to OVW; his military coin collection; his entrance from WrestleMania 22; the A Few Good Men spoof he did with JBL as part of the WrestleMania Goes Hollywood promotion; his “Right Now” music video; and his dealings with K-Fed (Kevin Federline).
Disc 3 is dedicated to a series of Q&A sessions John Cena does for WWE.com. With 5 Questions with the Champ John Cena brings his comedic chops and answers the questions of devoted fans in a frank and humorous manner. Having never seen this segment before, the short intro is a good little lead-in to the 20 “5 Questions with the Champ” segments included. Total running time for the third disc is close to three hours.
Wow, three hours of John Cena answering questions. It’s a shame that some of favorite freestyle raps against the likes of Kurt Angle couldn’t have been included as well.
THE INSIDE PULSE
Overexposed because of his presence on our TV screens each week, it seems the John Cena character has undergone a wave a criticism. The kids still adore the in-ring superstar, but there are those who look at Cena and can’t help but puke. That’s a pretty blunt interpretation, but it seems that Cena attracts those who are both alienated and captivated by him. As for this DVD release, World Wrestling Entertainment continues to do great work with the documentaries they produce. The matches, while in short supply, are good at demonstrating that even world champions have fanboy moments (Cena’s teaming with Shawn Michaels and Hulk Hogan, for instance). A plus is Cena offering short introductions ala Mick Foley and his Greatest Hits & Misses release. Strange inclusion of his car collection and other special features lessen the overall grade, but this is still a good recommendation for those who have enjoyed the documentaries WWE has produced in recent years.
WWE – John Cena: My Life |
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