Ahead of its release
next
Tuesday, today I am going to take a look at the main documentary
feature on:
Triple H – Thy Kingdom Come!
Without giving too much away, this exclusive preview will showcase the talent
featured in the documentary and explore some of the topics which are
discussed.
As we have reported
previously
the documentary portion has a runtime of 2 hours and 7 minutes and covers Triple
H’s entire career, from training with Killer Kowalski through to his current
role as a WWE executive. While the focus of the documentary is the career of
Triple H, it is examined from the aspect of “the man behind the character” and
supported with stories and opinions from not only The Game but a plethora of
brand new “talking heads”. All of the interview footage looks to be brand new,
with the exception of: Ric Flair and Stone Cold Steve Austin, which is archived
footage from their previous DVD releases. Here is the complete rundown of all
the individuals interviewed:
- Triple H
- Paul Levesque Sr.
(Triple H’s father)
- Pat Levesque
(Triple H’s mother)
- William Regal
- Harley Race
- Road Dogg
- Diamond Dallas Page
- Terry Taylor
- Big Show
- Vince McMahon
- Undertaker
- Kevin Nash
- Sean Waltman
- Shawn Michaels
- Jim Ross
- Michael Hayes
- Mick Foley
- Billy Gunn
- The Rock
- Pat Patterson
- Stephanie McMahon
- Linda McMahon
- Ric Flair
(new and archive footage)
- Batista
- Randy Orton
- John Cena
- Brock Lesnar
The documentary opens with an awesome video package, which we had featured on
the site a few weeks ago, but to get yourself psyched, why not watch it again
below?
The documentary begins by looking at Triple H as a child, his hometown and
his early interests: bodybuilding and wrestling, including his very first memory
of professional wrestling. The commentary in the early part of the feature comes
from Triple H and his parents. The story moves on to look at his training under
WWE Hall of Famer; Killer Kowalski which eventually lead to a position with
World Championship Wrestling. His time with WCW is looked at here before he made
the jump to WWE.
In looking at his early career with WWE, a number of topics are examined,
including: the early Hunter Hearst Helmsley persona, the Kliq, Chyna and of
course the infamous Madison Square Garden “Curtain Call”.
The Undertaker is featured heavily thought the entire documentary, and as we
have learned over the past few days, Undertaker actually requested to be
involved with the project. Taker doesn’t hold back as he offers his opinions and
view points on a great number of topics ranging from the Greenwich Blue Blood
character, to the shenanigans of DX. However, one of the most interesting topics
which Taker discusses was his WrestleMania matches with The Game, with this
portion of the documentary including backstage clips following the Hell in a
Cell match, including footage of a very emotional Vince McMahon.
More of Triple H’s in-ring career is covered including his 1997 King of the
Ring win which began his legendary feud with Mick Foley and of course the
beginning of D-Generation X. During the course of the documentary some of Triple
H’s career defining promos are included, almost in full with interspersed
analysis. Those promos include: the day after WrestleMania XIV and his sit down
interview with Jim Ross from the summer of 1999.
The DX WCW invasion is also covered (as we’ve come to expect); however the
use of alternate handheld footage of the invasion does add a different feel to
the moment, making this often discussed topic feel fresh and new. From here we
lead into the Nation of Domination and DX rivalry and we hear from The Rock for
the first time.
Triple H’s relationship with Stephanie is examined in great detail. We hear
how their on-screen relationship lead to their real life relationship and how
those within the company, including Vince McMahon reacted. As expected we do not
hear about any other relationships in which Triple H was involved with. There is
also a great focus and discussion of their actual wedding with footage of both
the ceremony and reception afterwards.
The next section of the documentary looks at Triple H’s first WWE
Championship win and into his first rivalry with The Rock in 2000. The
quadriceps injury is focused on quite a bit and is supported with footage of the
closing moments of the match (sans Chris Benoit), the surgery and recovery
process and his eventual triumphant return at MSG in January 2002.
Voice over segments are used throughout the documentary; these are used to
set the stage for the next portion of the feature and often to summarise a
period of time. These ensure that no real period of his career is missed out,
but it does mean that, for example, his 2002 and 2003 feuds with Chris Jericho
and Goldberg are glossed over.
As you would expect Evolution is a large focus of the feature, looking at the
back story to how and why the group was formed and the stories behind it. This
then leads into looking at the feuds with Randy Orton, Batista and even the
WrestleMania 22 match versus John Cena.
While the set doesn’t examine the criticisms which have been leveled at
Triple H over the years, because of his supposed “politics”, the documentary
does look at the failings of the WrestleMania 25 main event with Randy
Orton.
The return of D-Generation X in 2006 is also examined, along with the
differences between the 1997 version and the 2006 incarnation; especially given
Shawn’s religious beliefs and the fact they were two ‘older’ guys trying to be
cool.
The closing chapters look at the progression from Triple H, the wrestler, to
Paul Levesque, the WWE Executive. It is flat out stated that Triple H is being
groomed to take over Vince McMahon’s role within the company, hence the title of
the set: “Thy Kingdom Come”. This portion of the documentary is complimented
with lots of backstage footage of production meetings and candid footage of
Triple H interacting with talent, production people and even Vince McMahon. The
majority of this footage looks to have come from the WrestleMania XXIX weekend
and NXT at Full Sail University. Triple H is put over for the excellent job he
is doing with the developmental system and the new Performance Center (only
referred to by name once). Finally in this portion of the feature we hear about
how Triple H manages to juggle work life and family life, and we are given an
insight into a typical day for the King of Kings.
The documentary concludes with an overview of Triple H the wrestler, but more
importantly Triple H – the man.
The focus of the documentary is the major milestones of The Game’s career,
and people could comment that we don’t learn anything earth shattering or new
about it. However, if you have knowledge of his career going into the
documentary it would be somewhat unrealistic to expect to learn something earth
shattering or new. The true strength of the documentary lies with the sheer
number of stories and little titbits of information shared by Triple H and the
fantastic line-up of interviewees. We are treated to so many previously untold
stories, ranging from those about his training, through to his role as a WWE
Executive and everything in-between.
In my opinion Thy Kingdom Come is one of the very best documentaries which
WWE have ever produced. I sincerely hope that you all enjoy it as much as I did.
Look out for Joe Israel’s full review of the feature and its bonus matches on
the site very soon.
Check out the awesome website that provided this information wrestlingdvdnews
