Monday Night Mayhem sent this in:
Courtesy: http://www.MondayNightMayhem.com
Monday Night Mayhem DVD Review: “Ring Roasts III: A Comedic Tribute To Jim Cornette”
Produced By: Kayfabe Commentaries & Legends Of The Ring
Written By: Shawn “The Angry Hero” Marek
The art of the comedic roast has seen a huge resurgence over the past couple of years with Comedy Central’s slew of celebrity skewering. It is no surprise that the wrestling community has decided to embrace this concept with Kayfabe Commentaries & Legends of the Ring’s ongoing Ring Roast series. The third annual outing is dedicated to none other than to one of professional wrestling’s most outspoken & decorated personalities: Jim Cornette.
The lineup this year is a virtual “who’s who” of Cornette well-wishers. Well, not really a “who’s who,” more like “who lives in the Tri-State area and wouldn’t mind driving to Jersey.” You have the original Midnight Express (“Beautiful” Bobby Eaton & “Loverboy” Dennis Condrey, Ring of Honor’s Prince Nana, Kayfabe Commentaries’ eternal loudmouth Amy Lee, Dutch Mantell (wearing the same clothes from his Guest Booker DVD: business exposed!), Al Snow (wearing a hideous shirt), Nick “Eugene” Dinsmore, Bob Holly (donning an orange painter’s cap), Missy Hyatt (with a huge black dude that may or may not be Swoll of No Limit fame), along with comedians Ryan Maher, Sean Carlucci, & Sean Morton. Your Roastmaster is none other than the God of Kayfabe himself, former Pro Wrestling Illustrated editor Bill Apter.
I’ll cut right to the chase: This DVD was not as funny as I thought it would be. With that being said, there are some solid jokes & moments that definitely make Ring Roasts III worthwhile. Both Maher & Morton have done the prior Roasts and exude more confidence than others in this environment, slinging barbs and not feeling intimidated by the fact that one of wrestling’s orneriest individuals (re: “Bobcore”) is mere feet away. Maher is particularly on fire and was the best choice to have opened the event. He works in a “B.B.” reference towards Holly, a slick Awesome Kong jab and a Camp Cornette dig that, in my opinion, sets the bar way too high for the rest of the roasters. It’s just that good.
Missy Hyatt is also a standout in her second Ring Roast appearance. Granted, she simply plows through reading a sheet of jokes. Thankfully, a lot of them are winners, including the first (and only) Dutch Mantell back hair joke. I’ve heard Missy on other wrestling radio shows & podcasts, and she has a style all her own that shines here. Nick Dinsmore is decent as well, serving up what is clearly the best Missy Hyatt joke of the evening.
For the rest, the humor is scant, although it is definitely not because a lack of effort. You can tell that Dinsmore & Al Snow tried really hard to write decent jokes, most of which fell flat. I’m not sure why, but wrestling fans all of a sudden become comedy snobs, making the novices work extra hard. It probably didn’t help matters that a drunk Amy Lee is up there swearing at them for fifteen minutes or that guys like Bob Holly & Dutch Mantell were more concerned with exalting Cornette, thanking him for his contributions to their careers. Wrestling fans, we are a fickle bunch sometimes.
As for Cornette, he is a great sport throughout. Just about every performer offered up jabs belittling him at the expense of Paul Heyman & Vince Russo that Cornette takes in stride. He’s the perfect candidate for a wrestling roast, with a storied history that provides a steady stream of comedic fodder. I also have to give props to the other roasters for being civil when being insulted, especially Bob Holly, who takes it hard more than once.
Ring Roasts III, despite its awkward moments, is a lot of fun. As a wrestling nerd, you will dig all of the insider references & wrestling-slanted humor that is usually saved for message boards. For someone being insulted by his peers, Cornette seems to love every minute of it and relishes in this honor. The standard for wrestling roasts has been raised a little higher this time around. I await next year’s offering to see how Kayfabe Commentaries will improve on this event.
If you have an old-school NWA fan that you need to do some holiday shopping for, head over to
www.KayfabeCommentaries.com and put this in their stocking. Be sure to check out Kayfabe Commentaries on Twitter (at www.Twitter.com/KayfabeComment) for their latest updates, in addition to following myself & Monday Night Mayhem on Twitter (at www.Twitter.com/AngryHeroShawn & www.Twitter.com/FeelTheMayhem). Thanks for reading, and remember: Above all things, be a man!
We appreciate the support & dedication from all members of The Mayhem Nation from around the world! Be sure to place your vote for Monday Night Mayhem in the 2011 Wrestling Radio Awards, as we attempt to go for a 3-Peat as the “Show of the Year.” Log on to www.WrestlingRadioAwards.com, and smack down your vote for “Your Home of Wrestling Radio” for Show of the Year,” in addition to “Male Interview of the Year” (“The Immortal” Hulk Hogan, Tommy Dreamer, & Vince Russo), “Female Interview of the Year” (Awesome Kong, Coco, Dixie Carter, Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, Tammy “Sunny” Sytch, Torrie Wilson, & Taryn “Tiffany” Terrell), & “Media Interview of the Year” (Don West, Jim Ross, & “Stone Cold” Steve Austin). Monday Night Mayhem is proudly sponsored by Sizzlin Sauces (the official hot sauce of The Mayhem, the home of the Hot Sauce of the Month Club, & the proud presenter of “The Hot Seat With Eric Bischoff” heard exclusively on MNM: www.SizzlinSauces.com) & B. Brown Video (where you can relive the moments & memories of professional wrestling’s rare & vintage moments: www.BBrownVideo.com).
Subscribe for free to the official Monday Night Mayhem Podcast on iTunes, and listen to select programming & audio content from the past five+ years of The Mayhem. You can re-live interviews with some of your favorite WWE superstars & divas (CM Punk, WWE United States Champion Daniel Bryan, “Dashing” Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, R-Truth, Kaval, Christian, “The Glamazon” Beth Phoenix, & Gail Kim), WWE Hall of Famers (“Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Bret “The Hitman” Hart, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, Terry Funk, Dory Funk, Jr., Harley Race, “Superstar” Billy Graham, Nick Bockwinkel, “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase, Tito Santana, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff, “Cowboy” Bill Watts, Bob Orton, Jr., George “The Animal” Steele, Koko B. Ware, “The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart, Jim Ross, “Mean” Gene Okerlund, & Jesse Ventura), some of the most recognizable names/faces in TNA Wrestling (TNA President Dixie Carter, “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair, “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles, Kazarian, Beer Money, Jeff Jarrett, “The Monster” Abyss, “The Blueprint” Matt Morgan, “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero, “The Samoan Submission Machine” Samoa Joe, Mick Foley, Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer, “The War Machine” Rhino, Brother Ray, Brother Devon, TNA World Tag Team Champions The Motor City Machine Guns, “The Prince of Punk” Shannon Moore, Orlando Jordan, Jay Lethal, Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, Taylor Wilde, Mike Tenay, Jeremy Borash, Christy Hemme, & Don West), some of the biggest stars & personalities from Ring of Honor (ROH President Cary Silkin, ROH on HDNet Executive Producer Jim Cornette, ROH Producer Dave Lagana, ROH World Champion Roderick Strong, Davey Richards, ROH World Television Champion “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels, Homicide, Eddie Edwards, Steve Corino, “Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen, The Embassy’s Prince Nana, ROH World Tag Team Champions The Kings of Wrestling, Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team’s Charlie Haas/Shelton Benjamin, & The All-Night Express’ Kenny King/Rhett Titus), plus some of the biggest names in the worlds of sports, entertainment, & Hollywood (Nancy O’Dell, Ice-T, Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, Curtis Granderson, Jim Kelly, Dennis Rodman, & Michael Buffer). Hear these interviews & many more right now by logging on to www.MondayNightMayhem.com, and don’t miss all-new episodes of “Your Home of Wrestling Radio” live every Monday evening (at 7PM ET/6PM CT) along the airwaves of the Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network.