Just to contribute SOMEthing other than show reviews, I though I'd do quick writeup on some of the shoot interview tapes I've watched recently. It's hard to discuss these in detail without giving the interview away, so I will attempt to give thumbnail reviews with a few highlights or lowlights. Most of these are available from RF Video [they have GOT to rename that company] unless otherwise indicated.

Vince Russo Shoot Interview - This was the most disappointing of the shoots I have watched recently. Normally I find that shoot interviews with guys who are or have been bookers turn out to be the best ones. Maybe that is because bookers spend more time thinking about the business. Maybe it is because they spend more time explaining their ideas due to the nature of the job. In any event, Russo is the exception that proves the rule. The man has NOTHING to say. I am reminded of the poet who coined the phrase "there is no there there". That's Russo. A deep thinker he is not. A thinker, period, he is not. This one is okay if you want Russo's side of some of the WCW stuff or the infamous Jim Cornette incidents, but there's little here that you haven't already heard. Russo also does not appear to think that he has ever done one thing wrong or had one bad idea in his life. Maybe leaving him off the WWE Monday Night Wars dvd wasn't such a bad idea after all.

I'll say this once, now, just to get it out of the way: it's off-putting, knowing what we know now, to hear Feinstein's voice asking the questions on some of these interviews. Yuck.

Fanslam December 2003 Q&A - Ah, this is more like it. This is from the infamous "blizzard" show that was run on the same day that NJ and most of the Eastern seaboard got snowed in. Dr. D. David Schultz, The Missing Link, Ted DiBiase, Virgil, and Gary Michael Capetta still made the show and did this live Q&A. If I had been there I would definitely have felt like I still got my money's worth. This one is really interesting. DiBiase has a lot of well told stories and opinions. Schultz gives his side of the Stossel incident and has a few things to say about Vince McMahon. Dewey Robertson aka The Missing Link is actually scarier as himself than he was as The Missing Link. Virgil chimes in with a few remarks and the interplay between him and DiBiase is fun. Capetta contributes some good analysis and comes off as very modest and self effacing. This one runs about an hour and a half and the time just flew by. Unlike the tape I saw of the first Fanslam Q&A sound and picture are perfect as well. It looks like Tommy Fierro invested in a nice sound system in between shows. Everyone is very clear and well miked with no distortion at all; in fact you can even hear them when they are talking under their breath trying not to be heard. Highly recommended. Available from Highspots.com or from RF Video.

Magnum TA Shoot Interview - Really interesting if you're a fan of the old Crockett NWA. That's the stuff that helped make me a wrestling nut in the first place so I loved this one. Magnum is well spoken and has lots of good stories. He doesn't seem to be holding much back either. He talks about his entire career, what it was like to work with different people, and what the plans were for him before the accident. He gets into a lot of details about the accident and his injuries, which were actually much worse than even what the general public was told. Picture and sound are fine. They cut in a lot of match footage, which is of lesser quality than the new stuff, during the interview. On one hand that's good since you get to see what Magnum was just talking about, but on the other hand it disrupts the flow of the interview. And anyone who would care enough to but this shoot already has the "I Quit" match so they don't need another copy of it. Still, a good shoot and worth a look.

Wifebeater Shoot Interview - I think they actually found someone who has less to say than Vince Russo. Wifebeater comes off as a decent guy, but it is just not that interesting of an interview. He does talk a bit about what it is like to work in Japan, something I wasn't aware he had done. They throw in some matches to round out the tape since the interview only goes about an hour. There's an alternate, one-camera version of Wifebeater's infamous retirement match against Zandig from CZW Night Of Infamy 2002 that's definitely worth a look. Available from smartmarkvideo.com.

Pat Tanaka Shoot Interview - I was never a big Tanaka mark, so I wasn't that enthusiastic about this shoot before I watched it. Boy was I wrong. This is one of the funniest shoots I have ever seen. I actually had to stop the tape several times because I was laughing so hard. You know how when a lot of guys are asked for a road story or rib story they laugh and say "Oh, nothing I could actually TELL you"? Well, Tanaka tells 'em all. God is he funny. My personal favorite was the one about what he and his frequent partner in crime Marty Janetty did to Curt Hennig's car. He's also scathingly honest about himself and his own problems and shortcomings. He doesn't blame anybody other than himself for anything, and while he admits he has screwed up at times he doesn't have any regrets, all of which is kind of refreshing. This tape is like taking a long car ride with Tanaka, only without getting arrested. If you wanna laugh your ass off, get this shoot. Available from smartmarkvideo.com.

Great Muta & Kaz Hayashi Shoot Interview - I got frustrated and just turned this off after a while. These guys simply do not speak English well enough to do one of these types of interviews. That is no insult to them; their English is a heck of a lot better than my Japanese. But it's not up to this task. Muta does have kind of a fun personality that comes through in spite of the language barrier. Even with both on one tape the interviews run short so the tape is filled out with Japanese matches.

Shane Douglas Shoot Interview 2003 - Really interesting shoot, regardless of your feelings toward Douglas. Douglas is extremely well spoken and tells all about his days in WCW, ECW, and XPW. He gives his side on a lot of the stories you have heard about him, including the lawsuit and why he has a problem with Francine. He also tells all about what was going on behind the scenes with XPW's attempted "hostile takeover" of the Philly wrestling scene. How much you choose to believe is another question, but he comes off very credibly and explains himself well. I actually somewhat changed my opinion of Douglas after watching this. The only real drawback to this one is that the sound, at least on my copy, sucks. This was filmed in some hotel room with the window open, and between Douglas' not-very-loud delivery and the traffic noise it's a little difficult to hear everything. For me the actual content was more than strong enough to overlook the sound quality, but in the future a lapel microphone or a more controlled recording environment would be a good idea.

Terry Funk Shoot Interview 2003 - The Funker is always worth listening to. This shoot isn't quite as good as his others, mostly because he just did one two years ago and there simply isn't that much new to talk about. It does make something of a companion piece to the Douglas shoot as he addresses some comments regarding XPW and specifically one XPW match that Douglas makes on his shoot.

Ricky Steamboat Shoot Interview - I dragged this one out of the mothballs recently and watched it again. Fascinating. Steamboat come across as a genuinely nice guy but doesn't seem to hold anything back either. His discussion of the difference between working with Randy Savage and working with Ric Flair is particularly interesting and tells you a lot about both men. Watching this one it's clear that Steamboat is very intelligent and has probably forgotten more about the wrestling business than most people will ever know.

Well that's it for now since my lunch hour is over. I'll be back soon with capsule reviews of some Wrestling Universe shoots so we can give Jac Sabboth a little equal time here. He's got some good stuff also, with both old and new stars. If you want to pick one Wrestling Universe shoot for now, go for the Balls Mahoney shoot. Any interview that starts with the interviewee sticking thumbtacks in his own head and ends with interviewer [CM Punk's #1 fan Nick Knowledge] getting KO'd with a chairshot HAS to be a great watch, and this one definitely is. You know, if Barbara Walters did that kind of stuff I'd watch her specials a lot more often.

Adam Dolan