The Rise and Fall of OMEGA
R. Benson | KCMO, USA | 09/06/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is a two-disc set. The first disc is a good documentary about OMEGA, an independent wrestling promotion started by Matt and Jeff Hardy while they were working as enhancement talent for the WWF(E). The documentary is made up of interviews with the promotions major players: wrestlers Matt, Jeff, Cham Pain, Jason (Venom/Joey Abs) Arhndt, Shannon Moore, Steve Corino, Joey (Joey Mercury) Matthews, Christian York, Murray (Otto Schwanz/Bo Dupp) Harper, Marty (Cham Pin) Garner, and Mike (Mike Maverick/Jack Dupp) Howell, plus promoter Thomas Simpson and ring announcer Ted Hobgood. Gregory (Shane/Hurricane) Helms doesn't appear in any interviews, but footage of his matches is shown, and he is seen in clips from Matt's 2006 Christmas party during the credits.
The interviews are what you would expect. Knowing nothing about OMEGA until I saw this DVD, I couldn't tell you which parts are true and which are sensationalized or completely lied about. I enjoyed watching it, though, and it was nice to see an independent documentary where wrestling footage is allowed to be used (unlike "Forever Hardcore" or "Heroes of World Class"; WWE owns the rights to any videos they could have used). There's also some extra interview footage, including Garner talking about working as the Rock's assistant and almost being involved in the first wrestling gay marriage (even though he's not gay).
The second disc contains the following matches from OMEGA:
*Matt Hardy & Venom vs. Otto Schwanz & Cham Pain
*Hardy Boys vs. Serial Thrillaz (Mike Maverick & Shane Helms)
*Matt Hardy vs. Will O' The Wisp
*Hardy Boys vs. Serial Thrillaz (famous "role reversal" match, top indy match of the year)
*Shane Helms & Shannon Moore vs. Christian York & Joey Matthews (from OMEGA reunion show)"