Review:
Overall Quality Of Wrestling
I wasn't sure what to expect going into this DVD. No TNA stars or internet favorites here. I was pleasantly surprised
by the wrestling featured here. Dr. Feelgood proved he could hold his own with Matt Hardy. Nikolai Volkoff does
alot more in the ring than many wrestlers living on their "former WWE Superstar" tag. The indy guys all had pretty good
matches. Nothing to gripe about here.
Score = 2
Commentary
When I saw masked commentator Mayor Mystery (the Mayor of Parts Unknown), I wasn't expecting much. Paired with
straight-man Rusty Stevens, the commentary ended up being better than I expected, but not without flaws. For starters,
lame jokes abound trying to sell the Mayor Mystery character. I never really care for that from my commentators.
My biggest beef is probably that the commentators couldn't decide if wrestling was legit or not. During the Rhino-Dinero
match, they want to keep pointing out that other promotions use "fixed" or "rigged" tables. They make sure and tell
you the APWF doesn't use fixed tables, but saying other feds do takes away from the "legitimacy" of wrestling. On the
other hand, they spend much of the show putting over the Matt Hardy-Edge shoot angle, talking about Hardy's "unscheduled
appearance on RAW last Monday." Maybe you're supposed to believe that WWE and the APWF are the only two legit promotions
out there. Not bad, but uneven commentary in my opinion.
Score = 1.5
Camerawork
All the acton is captured by multiple cameras. However, in my opinion, the camerawork is hurt by the positioning
of the hard camera. The roving cameras show that there is a decent sized crowd in attendance. But every time they
go back to the hard camera, we see about 7 people. So, most of the time, it looks like less than 10 people turned out
to see Matt Hardy headline an APWF show, and that looks bad.
Score = 1.5
On-Screen Graphics
Prior to each match the announced participant each cut a backstage promo (some guys are good, some need some work), ala
"Saturday Night's Main Event," and their names appear at the bottom of the screen so you know who they are. There are
Transition Videos before each match letting you know what the next match is and who the participants are. Well
done.
Score = 2
Menus
Features "Play" and "Match Index" options. "Match Index" allows you match-by-match access. The "Match Index"
background is that of a movie theater, which I still don't agree with, so, as with the previous Marquee Wrestling DVDs
I have reviewed, I will dock a point for that.
Score = 1
Packaging
The packaging for this DVD is very professional. The front cover features Matt Hardy and Rhino. The back
has a complete match listing with some photos, including the team of Nikolai Volkoff and Bubba Brewer. The spine
features the APWF logo, Marquee Wrestling logo, and the "Return To Glory" logo. It looks very good. The DVD
even arrived shrinkwrapped. Very professional.
Score = 2
TOTAL SCORE = 10 / 12
