Review of WWE: Rob Van Dam - One Of A Kind

Introduction

If you`ve followed Professional Wrestling at over the last few years, you will have surely heard of Rob Van Dam. RVD, as he is better known, is noted for being one of the most athletic and consistently high-flying performers over the recent past.

In honour of this popular wrestler, WWE has released another of their previously-excellent biography style `best of` DVDs, loaded with fights and extras that span RVD`s career from WCW, to ECW, and then finally the big time of the WWE. The full fight listing is:

Disc 1:
1 - vs Scotty Flamingo
2 - vs Axl Rotten
3 - vs Sabu
4 - vs The Eliminators
5 - vs Lance Storm
6 - vs Jeff Hardy
7 - vs Tommy Dreamer
8 - vs Bam Bam Bigelow
9 - vs Jerry Lynn
10 - vs Jerry Lynn

Disc 2:
11 - vs Jeff Hardy
12 - vs Chris Jericho
13 - vs Christian
14 - vs Balls Mahoney
15 - vs Sabu
16 - vs Pat Rose

Video

The visual presentation on the DVD is very good. Presented in the original 4:3 aspect ratio, the colours are (suitably for the flamboyant world of wrestling) vibrant and there is no sign of print damage. 8/10.

Audio

The 2.0 stereo track is another example of a good job done in the technical department. The dialogue is clear and the sound effects (Bang! Urrgh! Ouch!!) are lively.

Features

The number of extra `vignettes` is quite impressive: there is already 4hrs of material spread over the two discs (as I`m not including the bonus fights as extras), and with the extras included on Disc Two, the DVD package lasts a fair bit over that.

We start off with `Before they were Superstars` (9mins), which is an entertaining segment on RVD`s life before getting into wrestling, accompanied with genuine Super8 footage of him as a child. `Airbrush Artist (3mins) is an interview with Joe Holland, RVD`s costume designer (these leotards really need to be seen to be believed). `Frog Splash` (2mins) is a pretty hilarious comparison between the shared trademark moves of RVD and Eddy Guerrero, another WWE superstar. `Jakk`s Pacific Tour` (5mins) is a short on the making and subsequent selling of RVD`s official figurine. `Fantasy Matchup` (6mins) features RVD talking about his most wanted opponent, legend Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka (although before my time I`m afraid).

`Wrestlemania Moments` (2mins) has RVD again as a talking head, talking about how he first got into wrestling with the huge annual extravaganza of Wrestlemania. `Outside the Ropes` (5mins) is an archived interview with Jon Coachman. There are next up two vignettes, which are basically trailers for RVD`s abilities (these are hilarious by the way). The `Behind the Scenes` (3mins) follows the creation of RVD`s entrance video. And finally, there is the WWE Invasion Promo (3mins), where RVD made his debut for WWE.

Phew!

Conclusion

This is my first wrestling DVD review, and I was pleasantly surprised. I haven`t followed Pro Wrestling since my days in Sixth Form, but I can still remember how much I loved some characters and how much I would have loved to have had a DVD biography of this quality - especially as RVD seems quite a character and is very enthusiastic in his interviews. The fights seem a pretty exhaustive list of RVD`s career, and each are accompanied with a commentary from the man himself. In addition, the sound and video are good, and there a lots of bonus extras that will keep even the most avid fan busy.