Any true wrestling fan will tell you that nothing gets them more excited for a feud or a match than a well crafted video package. WWE has been doing them for years and are far above any other sport in building hype and anticipation amongst their fans. The four major sports in the United States (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL) cannot hold a candle to what WWE's video editors do on a consistent basis. They do what any great editor does: they tell a story and connect with their audience through visuals and sound.
There are two different kinds of promos that are typically featured in WWE programming: the career retrospective and the rivalry build up. This particular article will focus on the career retrospective.
This past May, one of the greatest in ring performers of the 1980s passed away in a car accident due to a heart attack. His name was Randy Poffo but we all knew him as the Macho Man Randy Savage. Savage was young in the real world but he was getting up there in years in the wrestling world. He had stopped wrestling (unlike others who desecrate their careers by jumping in the ring. That's right, I'm talking to you Hulk Hogan). Fans have grown accustomed to waking up to news of wrestlers dying of heart attacks (typically from steroid use) and drug overdoses (cocaine and pain killers tend to be the favorites). Randy Savage's death was different. His autopsy claimed he had not been abusing drugs and he died of a rare heart condition. Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan personified professional wrestling in the 1980s and early 1990s. Hulk Hogan was the more popular of the two and ultimately became the bigger superstar, however, Randy Savage was a gifted in ring performer whose style inspired the likes of Shawn Michaels and more recently CM Punk.
On Monday Night Raw this year, Vince McMahon set aside his personal differences and aired a touching tribute to Randy Savage. The video was edited in a two act structure. The first act featured voice over, his Pomp and Circumstance entrance music, and his accomplishments. The second act took a more emotional tone and featured Coldplay's The Scientist. The lyrics took on a whole new meaning when matched with the visuals of Macho Man in his prime. It featured several shots of him and Miss Elizabeth who passed away in 2003 at the age of 43 as a result of a drug/alcohol overdose. The music video told a story of not the character of the Macho Man, but rather the story of the man who we thought of as character but in reality struggled like any human being.
The worst part about a eulogy type video promo is that it is for the fans and not particularly for the individual. This April, Shawn Michaels was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. If you ask this writer who the best in ring performer in history was, it is going to be hard for me to give you the name of anybody else other than Shawn Michaels. This video showcases his 26 year career in WWE with such beauty.
He bled charisma and character in the early part of his career. By the tail end of his career, he sacrificed that character in exchange for putting on a show every time he stepped between those ropes. His career was almost cut short in 1998 due to a back injury but he returned in 2002 and wrestled for eight more years having pantheon level matches with Kurt Angle, Ric Flair, Triple H, and The Undertaker.
On a related note, Shawn Michaels went to the ring at WrestleMania 24 to face Ric Flair. The storyline states that if Flair lost, he would have to retire. Flair knew it would be his last match and the fans knew it too. Flair wanted his final performance to be with the best. They put on an incredible match that left this writer in tears when it finally reached it's conclusion.
Professional wrestling is unlike any other sport. Every professional athlete hopes that his swan song will be winning a championship and then riding off into the sunset on top. Traditionally, in the world of pro wrestling, your final match is always supposed to be a loss. It is your duty and your responsibility to get your opponent over with the crowd for the "greater good of the business". Flair knew this coming into WrestleMania 24. He walked down that aisle in a beautiful robe knowing that this was it. A 59 year old Ric Flair got in the ring with a 43 year old Shawn Michaels. What happened over the course the following twenty minutes was pure magic.
This video is not particularly a career retrospective but rather a curtain call. Ric Flair's farewell on Monday Night Raw the night after WrestleMania 24 was professional wrestling's equivalent of Lou Gehrig's farewell speech at Yankee Stadium. It gave fans the chance to say thank you and it gave Flair the chance to vocalize what his 36 year career meant to him. It was a true display of heartfelt human emotion. Ric Flair's farewell was a rare moment that transcended the fake world of professional wrestling and broke down the fourth wall and gave fans a look at not the "Nature Boy" or the "16 time World Champion" but rather the performer who dedicated his life to his craft and watching him wave goodbye.
The ultimate career retrospective video was done in 2001. Kid Rock's song "Lonely Road of Faith" was the perfect song to accompany this particular video that showcased the evolution WWE. In just a few minutes, we are taken on a journey of Vince McMahon Sr. and his son's dream to make his father's professional wrestling territory something spectacular.
This is the greatest video they have ever edited in my opinion. They told a thirty year history of professional wrestling in just a few short minutes. The bridge to Kid Rock's song served as a brilliant bed to display the Attitude Era of the 1990s. The point where this video transcends other video packages is showing not only the evolution of the business but characters. The quick cuts from the grandfather "High Chief" Peter Maivia, to the son "Soul Man" Rocky Johnson, to the grandson The Rock elicit a sense of tradition that this sport treasures. Another edit that gives me chills is watching Macho Man Randy Savage, Shawn Michaels, and Kurt Angle all perform the same type of in ring spin at the 2 minute and 40 second mark. The video finally ends with a quick series of shots featuring the greatest World Champions in the history of the business. It poetically ends with a shot of Vince McMahon emotionally looking out to the crowd and cuts to a photo of his father. The video is called "WWF Desire" and it still brings chills down my spine. Vince Jr. changed the wrestling business in 1985 with WrestleMania and this video showcases the journey he and hundreds of performers have embarked on to make the art of professional wrestling what it is today.
Next time, I'll go over some of the best rivalry and feud build up promos ever edited by the WWE... and boy oh boy there are some gems.
No comments:
Post a Comment