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.
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