Editor's Note: At PWTorch.com we strive for our content whenever possible and practical to be original and unique (i.e. not published on other sites), therefore Guest Editorials submitted to PWTorch.com should be submitted only to PWTorch.com. If you submit a Guest Editorial for consideration, please state at the top of your editorial that you submitted it only to PWTorch. com. For more details on submitting Guest Editorials, check out a detailed submissions guide following today's Guest Editorial below.

Guest DVD Review - WWE's Attitude Era
By Justin, PWTorch reader

I had the opportunity to check out the newest WWE DVD entitled "The Attitude Era," which was released last month on Blu-Ray and DVD. This review is based on the documentary portion of the DVD.

To preface, I was the perfect age as Attitude Era originally happened. I was born in 1982, and I can remember watching the first WrestleMania. I grew up through the "Rock and Wrestling" era of professional wrestling. As I got older, the World Wrestling Federation evolved, to a heavily gimmicked era in the early '90s, and again to the "New Generation" era in the mid-'90s. When the Attitude era hit, I was 15-years-old.

My teenage angst was encapsulated within the Attitude Era. From Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Godfather, The Rock, D-Generation X, and many others, I grew through my teenage years living vicariously through what they did each week on television. So, with that in mind, I was quite excited to hear that WWE was releasing a feature presentation DVD documenting what is arguably the greatest era in professional wrestling.

I was also excited to find out that WWE had recently come to an agreement with the World Wildlife Fund, and were able to use both the WWF initials, and the WWF logo on their DVD features again. In the past, there was nothing that turned me off quicker than their old WWF logo blurred multiple times across my screen. A complete visual eye-sore.

So, in sitting down to watch the DVD, needless to say, I had rather high expectations. Perhaps too high, as I found myself disappointed at the end of the documentary feature. That's certainly not to say that it was bad, or unwatchable, but I felt really underwhelmed by the end of the presentation.

My first issue is in the length of the feature. Coming in at 57 minutes long, it felt like a race from the beginning to get to the end. Keep in mind that through the Attitude Era, there was anywhere between two and six hours of first run television each week, from WWE's "designated beginning" in December 1997 to WWE's "assigned end" in March 2001, there is an absolute metric ton of material that could have been featured, and highlighted. While they did a great job focusing on the importance of The Rock, D-Generation X, Mick Foley, and Stone Cold Steve Austin, guys like Goldust, Jeff Jarrett, Kane, The Hardy Boyz, and the Dudley Boyz are hardly mentioned, if at all.

Secondly, the talent perspective sections were kept minimal, at best. At times, the DVD felt like "WWF: Attitude," as narrated by Road Dogg Jesse James, as his comments are the only ones heavily featured. Vince Russo appears for what amounts to approximately five seconds, which is completely criminal when you consider his influence on the product at the time (like him, or not).

With that said, when you come to the realization that what you're watching is not so much a documentary as it is a one-hour highlight reel to get you warmed up for the matches they have included as DVD extras, you will enjoy this quite a bit more. As I mentioned earlier, the flow is very brisk, and it doesn't lag at any point during the feature.

Comments come from Mark Henry, Road Dogg Jesse James, Christian, Stephanie McMahon, Rikishi, John Bradshaw Layfield, Ron Simmons, Mick Foley, Steve Austin, Vince Russo, and Pat Patterson. Also included are prior interview snippets from Eric Bischoff, The Rock, and Val Venis.

While it was reported that the DVD is completely uncensored when it comes to inclusion of the WWF logo, that isn't entirely true. Present were a handful of blurs (which are only noticeable if you are putting effort into looking for them), and some of the audio excerpts were edited to exclude the mention of "WWF" (as an example, when Vince McMahon tells Steve Austin that he is "Damn sick and tired of seeing him walking around with the WWF Championship," it is featured as simply saying "walking around with the Championship").

The DVD, though, is largely uncensored, and it cannot be understated how refreshing it is to see the WWF logo not only kept intact, but many shots highlighting it.

So, while I was really excited to sit down to watch the documentary, and I was left feeling disappointed at the end of it, I would still recommend checking it out if you have the opportunity. Go in with the mindset of taking a quick and fun trip down memory lane, knowing that you won't get much depth in terms of what was driving the company at the time. With any luck, this DVD will lead WWE will release a longer, more in-depth feature in the future.

You are invited to submit a "Torch Guest Editorial" for possible publishing on the site. For submission guidelines and the current email, click here or email to pwtorch@gmail.com.

[DVD graphic (c) WWE]

We suggest these recent related articles...

VALLEY: The story behind the 1980s wrestler who is suing WWE for egregious mistreatment of its wrestlers over the years

GUEST REVIEWS: Lucha Underground - perspective from TV taping, editorial on strengths & weaknesses of first episode

GUEST EDITORIAL: TNA's Legacy - Helping Future Wrestling Promotions Avoid The Same Mistakes