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The Instant Classic: The Best of Christian Cage
DVD Review
He’s “The Instant Classic” Christian Cage, and this Best
of DVD is a must have for all of his Peeps!
The Instant Classic: The Best of Christian Cage DVD is available at the
online TNA Store and through the usual retail outlets, including Best
Buy, Target, Sam Goody, and Wal-Mart.
Match List
1) From Against All Odds, February, 2006
NWA World Championship vs. Jeff Jarrett (C)
This is the well fought old school style match when Christian won the
NWA Heavyweight Championship for the first time.
2) From Bound for Glory, October, 2006
The 8 Mile Street Fight vs. Rhino, in Detroit, MI
Many fans felt that this brutal and bloody anything goes match stole the
show at TNA’s biggest PPV of the year.
3) iMPACT!, November, 2006
Six Sides of Steel cage match vs. Rhino
Although TNA’s cage matches are generally won by pinfall of submission,
this one stipulated that the winner would be the wrestler whose feet first
touched the floor after leaving the cage. The result was one of the most
memorable finishes ever for a cage match, when Rhino gored a bloodied
and battered Christian through the cage door and the ring ropes to the
floor, thereby losing the war after clearly winning the battle.
4) iMPACT!, November, 2006
The first ever match between Christian Cage and Sting
The exciting first ever match between these two wrestling superstars had
to be included in the collection. Making it even more special is the fact
that it was also the debut of Tomko in TNA. I was pleased to see two iMPACT!
matches included, because it lets fans know that TNA’s regular weekly
shows include terrific wrestling matches.
5) Final Resolution, January 2007
Three Way Elimination match for the NWA World Heavyweight Title vs. Abyss,
with James Mitchell, and Sting
After Sting eliminated Abyss, this terrific battle came down to Sting
vs. Christian, and Christian regained the NWA Championship.
6) Against All Odds, February, 2007
NWA Championship match vs. Kurt Angle, with Special Enforcer Samoa Joe
This match was every bit as good as you’d imagine a contest between
Christian and Angle would be.
7) Destination X, March 2007
NWA Heavyweight Championship match vs. Samoa Joe
Even people who think Samoa Joe is the most overrated wrestler on the
planet (like me) will enjoy this match, as Cage has the charisma and energy
it takes to carry even as heavy a load as Joe.
Extras
The gold mine of extras are what really made this DVD for me, since I’d
already seen all of the matches. TNA generally puts Easter eggs on their
DVDs, but I wasn’t able to find them, and they aren’t listed
on the TNA website yet. I imagine those will add even more value to the
DVD. I have no idea why it's considered a "spoiler" to tell
fans where the Easter eggs are; most people I know have lives, and they
can't spend hours pressing buttons in different combinations, trying to
find hidden tracks on DVDs. Please, video makers, pay attention to those
of us who have lives, and stop catering to those who don't!
The interview with Christian and the tour of his house are pretty much
expected these days, but still lots of fun because of Cage’s terrific
sense of humor, such as when he reveals that his dream is to turn his
dining room into a dance studio so that he can replace Michael Flatley
as “Lord of the Dance.” Another hilarious highlight is his promo
for Newman’s Own Three Cheese Balsamic salad dressing.
My favorite part of the DVD was the old videos from Christian’s early
career, including the first ever promo filmed by him and former tag team
partner Adam “Edge” Copeland and an old match between a very
young Christian Cage and an equally young Lance (aka Simon) Diamond with
Dawn Marie. Christian and Simon narrate and mock the video, mentioning
that it’s from Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling out of Reading,
PA, where they worked together with such wrestling notables as Edge, “Reckless
Youth” Tom Carter, Andrew “Test” Martin, Devon Storm, and
Ace Darling.
In the TNA teleconference this week, Christian said that he chose to show
those old videos, even though he described them as bad, even “brutal,”
because he wanted to show fans the progression from beginner to professional.
He wanted fans to know that you don’t just step into a wrestling
ring and are automatically a star: it takes lots of hard work just to
become good.
I thoroughly enjoyed this dvd, and I recommend it to fans of Christian
Cage, and fans of wrestling in general.
-- Karen Belcher
http://www.ProWrestlingDigest.com
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