THE TWO SHEDS REVIEW by Julian Radbourne
E-mail: juli316uk@yahoo.co.uk
Website: http://twoshedsreview.blogspot.com
Sponsored by Intimidation Clothing, makers of high quality, affordable MMA apparel and T-shirts. Visit their website at www.intimidationclothing.com.
I have to admit that I’ve never really paid much attention to Dutch Mantell’s wrestling career, whether it be as a wrestler, manager or booker, although I’m certainly familiar with one aspect of his work over the past few years.
So when the latest Guest Booker DVD featuring the man in question came through my letterbox I was intrigued, especially as the front cover said that he was going to reveal all about the TNA booking process, a process he was a part of for a number of years.
For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past couple of years the premise of these releases is quite simple, with the chosen subject booking a wrestling company at a certain period in time. In this case Mantell is given the task of re-launching TNA from January 4th this year.
But this release is somewhat different. With the ever dependable Sean Oliver once again posing the questions you’d expect Mantell to get right to work putting TNA back together for their big kick-start.
But that doesn’t happen for quite a while. For well over an hour Mantell gives us a lesson in the art of booking professional wrestling, drawing from the various sources he’s worked with, as well as from his own tenure as the IWA booker in Puerto Rico. This is by far the best part of the entire show.
With just forty-odd minutes left Mantell finally began to book his version of TNA during the first month of the Hogan/Bischoff era, and while I don’t want to spoil anything for you I will say that Mantell’s ideas certainly make a lot of sense.
So does this release get the proverbial thumbs up? The answer is a resounding yes, but given that over an hour of this release saw Mantell re-counting stories from his career then perhaps, if he ever sits down with Sean Oliver again it should be as part of the YouShoot series. Given his performance here that is something I’d definitely like to see.
With thanks to the powers that be for supplying a copy of this release. Guest Booker with Dutch Mantell is available to buy online at www.kayfabecommentaries.com.
