Good, but not Perfect

  • Title: The Life and Times of Mr. Perfect
  • IMDB: link

If you watched wrestling in the 80’s and 90’s you know the name Mr. Perfect.  The latest from WWE Home Video is a collection of the wrestler’s matches from his early days in AWA, to his run as and Intercontinental Champion for the WWE, to his career with WCW.  10 matches are included on two discs along with a documentary of the man, who while in the ring, was always Perfect.

The highlight of this two-disc set is the documentary on Curt Henning‘s career, struggle with injuries, and his premature death at the age of 44.  Included here are interviews with friends, family, and co-workers all of whom praise Henning, both as an in-ring performer and as man.

What’s interesting about the matches included are how many Henning/Mr. Perfect loses.  The collection includes three matches over the years with Bret Hart including the famous Intercontinental title match from SummerSlam, an AWA Heavyweight Championship match with Nick Bockwinkel, a match against Hulk Hogan from Saturday Night’s Main Event, and matches against The Texas Tornado, Shawn Michaels, and Terry Taylor.

The extras on the disc include a nice assortment of the vignettes from Mr. Perfect’s time in the WWE which feature him performing various types of athleticism including basketball, darts, golf, diving, bowling, chess, horseshoes, football, ping pong, and a baseball vignette with longtime friend Wade Boggs.

Also included are the “Rap is Crap” video (from his days as part of the West Texas Rednecks in WCW) and Mr. Perfect’s pothumus introduction into the WWE Hall of Fame.

It’s not a perfect collection by any means,.  The matches aren’t that varied and Henning’s career in the ring seems to rate a bit higher than only two discs (there is very little here from his years in WCW).  It’s also a bit of a meloncholy collection given Henning’s injuries and early death as much as it is a celebration of his career.  Still, the documentary is quite good and there’s enough here to satisfy longtime fans of the character, and the man, who we lost much too soon.