Bloodstained Memoirs is Good, Not Great

By:  | Posted: Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 4:41 pm.

In 2005, production began
on a brand new wrestling documentary. This was to be Bloodstained Memoirs,
and if you’re a wrestling fan on Facebook or Twitter, I’m sure you’ve
heard or seen something about it. The
film asks some serious questions to some of the best in the business,
including Chris Jericho, Ultimo Dragon, Keiji Mutoh (Great Muta), Roddy
Piper, and Christian. Christian, interestingly enough, was interviewed
upon his sabbatical from WWE, and working with TNA. A lot of his comments
seem very corporate and careful, I’m sure a tactic taught well by
the PR boys and girls at Titan Towers. 

The realness of this movie
picks up right away, when Ultimo Dragon, who’s the first to be interviewed,
explains how he had multiple surgeries on his arm so that he could still
compete. His hands and fingers all suffer because of this, nerves severed.
Piper talks about wrestlers hurting one another in the ring, and tells
the story of Wendi Richter getting pinned by Moolah,
in the original screwjob. Jimmy Snuka talks about Bruiser Brody getting
stabbed to death in Puerto Rico and how he had tagged with him earlier
in his career. But the whole show is peaked, with the words of Keiji
Mutoh. 

The Great Muta talks about
the differences between working in Japan and working in the States.
He goes on to discuss his time working in the office at New Japan as
well as the work he did with Sting and Ric Flair. He even has a hilarious
story, about how WCW hired him to come and do something, but by the
time he got there, the guy that had hired him was fired. 

In his first post WWE interview,
Rob Van dam talks about One Night Stand, and going to war with John
Cena, along with why he thought he wasn’t getting pushed and why he
wasn’t happy with the return of ECW. This comes across as bitter and
disappointed, and I don’t know if I blame him. I know that Rob feels
his best years were in ECW, there’s no denying that. He’s said it
every where he can get it printed. But you have to evolve and you have
to move on. Rumors are circulating that he’s to be showing up in TNA
on Monday. Let’s see if that brings back some of the lightning in
his step. 

There were
some troubles with this production coming out of the gate. Lawsuits,
a YouTube Leak, and some concept changes in the early goings all contributed
to the long period of time that it took to get Bloodstained Memoirs
off the ground and hitting the internet. The quality of the production
isn’t as polished as something you would see from WWE, but it looks
better than most of the RF Video shoots I’ve seen lately on YouTube.
Interestingly, the producers at this point, have only released it online
and only from their website. For a registration fee you can get your
password and cuddle up with your laptop as
host Al Snow brings you some of the great stories and opinions of some
of the great names in the business. 

I won’t go through all
the interviews here, because with nine interviews, it would defeat the
purpose of you paying to see something very, very special. The men and
woman who were interviewed for this project are all very honest, open,
and critical. The interviews open a window into a world that for most
is clouded with doubt and mistruths. Although the interviewer can come
across as bland and annoying at times, it’s clear that this is a labor
of love, and that the work put into it shows, that even in the face
of adversity, a great story can still break through.

The documentary is available online at www.bloodstainedmemoirs.com

Jeff Goodridge is a freelance
writer and lifelong wrestling fan. One year for Christmas, his best
friend Blair gave him a Macho Man Randy Savage bandanna he had owned
since the early 80′s. Jeff wears it to wrestling events to this day,
always with his friend in mind.

CATEGORIES:Editorial