On October27th, 2009, in the hallowed halls of Madison Square Garden, TNA President Dixie Carter made an announcement that shocked the world, that she would be partnering with the legendary Hulk Hogan and his business partner Eric Bischoff in an attempt to take TNA to the next level. What’s happened since has been well documented on Impact and on various pay-per-views, which now form TNA’s latest DVD release, Immortal Forever?
Presented in documentary format this six hour, two disc set tells the story of Hogan and Bischoff’s tenure in TNA, beginning with the aforementioned press conference. But the first thing that you’ll notice is that kayfabe is very much the order of the day here, as everyone, from Hogan and Bischoff to Dixie to Ric Flair to A.J. Styles and more speak in character.
Everything is mentioned here, from Hogan and Bischoff’s TNA debut in January 2010, right through to March to March this year when Sting defeated Jeff Hardy for the World title in Impact. Each protagonist gives their views on the various events which lead to the infamous heel turn as Hogan and Bischoff took control of the company away from Dixie.
But it’s not all talking head segments. There’s plenty of segments taken from various Impact episodes, as well as a few matches, beginning with the Hogan/Abyss versus Flair/Styles (which doesn’t get better, no matter how many times I see it), Team Hogan versus Team Flair Lethal Lockdown match, through to the aforementioned Sting/Hardy encounter. Thankfully Sting and Hardy’s second shambolic encounter isn’t shown, although it does get a mention.
So while this release is well presented I couldn’t help but notice a few flaws.
Firstly, there’s the length. At almost six hours this thing is a tad long, and I’m pretty sure that TNA fans wouldn’t want to sit in their chairs that long. It took me three sittings to get through it. If I’d been in charge I would have used disc one for a two to three hour documentary, leaving disc two for various matches with some of the Impact segments as the extras.
Then there’s the editing of the dialogue. Most of the time mentions of WWE, WCW and ECW are bleeped out, but there are other times when they aren’t. The same goes for certain swear words. While hell, damn and ass are omitted, hell damn and ass are clearly heard at other times. Hey, I know it’s a small oversight, but given that this is a DVD release from an international company this sort of thing is inexcusable.
So while this release is entertaining enough, it doesn’t really do it for me. Too much talking and not enough full matches means that Immortal Forever? doesn’t get the thumbs up from me.
With thanks to the powers that be for supplying a copy of this release. TNA Immortal Forever? can be purchased online at www.shoptna.com.
Also, don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com.
