WWE: Legends of Wrestling - Heatseekers

Introduction

In wrestling, the term "getting heat" is usually a positive reference, which is used in describing a heel (bad guy) doing whatever it takes to make the audience mad at him. This, of course, sets up the babyface (good guy) getting the revenge, and sending the audience home happy they they've seen the villain get his butt kicked.
 
Behind the scenes, however, the term can also be used for wrestlers who drew the ire of each other, for real. When one person draws the ire of a large percentage of the other wrestlers, they become "heatseekers", and thus the title of this DVD.
 
Originally taken from the WWE's 24/7 television channel, "Legends of Wrestling: Heatseekers" is a discussion between wrestling personalities Michael Hayes, Jerry "The King" Lawler, Mick Foley, and Eric Bischoff - with Jim Ross leading the round-table talk - about the people that, to them, are wrestling greatest heatseekers.
 
 

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 and is fine for a DVD of this genre. The main feature is a round-table discussion, with no background music or anything that leads to distraction from the conversation. All voices are consistently clear, which is as much as anyone could ask.
 
 

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL, and is good for a DVD of this genre. The set is very dark indeed, however each member of the panel is very distinguishable, and their facial expressions can always be easily viewed, and thus this video is more than acceptable.
 
 

Extras

There are some interesting extras available here, albeit none which you are likely to see on any WWE "Best Of" compilations anytime soon.
 
One of those is a rare Fabulous Freebird (Michael Hayes, Buddy Roberts, and Terry Gordy) appearance in the WWF, as they took on Ron Shaw, Rene Goulet, and Charlie Fulton from the Philadelphia Spectrum in April 1984. The appearance is more historic than it is entertaining, especially since it was following their short WWF tenure that the 'Birds left for World Class Championship Wrestling, beginning a famous feud with the Von Erich family.
 
There's also a very hot match from the very first Clash of the Champions event (NWA/WCW), in 1988, as Lex Luger and Barry Windham faced Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson for the NWA World Tag Team Titles. This bout is a fantastic reminder of the way wrestling used to be passionately viewed by the fans.
 
The other highlight is the bout from 1989, in which Michael Hayes faced Lex Luger for the U.S Championship. 1989 showed Luger at his athletic peak - although his run with the WCW World Title would not come until two years later - and while this bout with the limited Hayes wasn't expected to be fabulous, it was better than anyone had anticipated.
 
There are other extras available here, such as Roddy Piper vs Buff Bagwell in a boxing match, and Vince Russo vs Booker T, but these matches are available here more to mock the participants than they are to showcase their talents.
 
 

Main feature

There's really rather little to say about a main feature which is simply a discussion of various performers, but the fact remains that if you are interested in the inside workings of the business, you'll enjoy this, but if you aren't, you won't.
 
There may be some video footage spliced into the discussion here, but it would certainly not be enough to satisfy anyone considering buying this release for that alone. The beauty is in the fact that you very rarely hear WWE personalities talk about the behind the scenes of the business as openly as they do here. That, coupled with the fact that the industry has an amazing history of great stories, makes for some hilarious and intriguing viewing.
 
The personalities discussed here are the likes of Lex Luger, Bill Goldberg, Buff Bagwell, Vince Russo, and Paul Heyman, although the likes of Hayes and Bischoff (both on the panel) are spoken of in more jovial terms, too. You'll hear, for example, Foley speak about his "dislike" for Bill Goldberg, Jerry Lawler describe the biggest rant-and-rave he ever saw in wrestling, and what Jim Ross did when Buff Bagwell's mother called in sick for him.
 
If this type of inside-talk has you intrigued, you'll want to see "Legends of Wrestling: Heatseekers".

Note: "WWE: Legends of Wrestling - Heatseekers" is currently online available by visiting http://www.silvervision.co.uk