Legends Never Die

Starring: Bruno Sammartino & Roddy Piper

Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

This acclaimed documentary was supposed to be about all the untimely deaths in the professional wrestling industry. Since 1980, over 100 wrestlers have died under the age of 45, some from straight drug overdoses, others from age related disease. This is the wrestling documentary I've been waiting for, for a very long time, but it isn't what it's advertised to be. The film is hosted by the legendary Roddy Piper, filmed as he and Bruno Sammartino prepare to do a meet and greet at the Hard Rock Cafe. On the way they get to talking and for almost the entire film, they discuss how people perceive wrestling as fake, when the only thing per-determined is the outcome. The former Superstars go on and on about how the moves are spontaneous and the risks and injuries are 100% real. It gets to be very repetitive after a while. They also spend much of the film bashing their former employer, Vince McMahon, and blame him for wrestling's transformation from a real sport to a soap opera. They have a point there, but honestly, this film was nothing like what was advertised. The untimely death of these wrestlers was only mentioned in the last 10 minutes, and both former stars refused to say straight out that performance enhancing drugs were the reason, after all they weren't in the WWE Hall of Fame yet when this film was made. What also hurts the film is that it wasn't sanctioned or produced by any affiliated wrestling company and therefore had very little footage to show. We saw lots of pictures, but for the most part it was watching these guy having a conversation in their limo. Don't be fooled by the cool cover, the description on the back, or even by the terrific preview I saw on Youtube, before watching this film. It is as boring as any documentary you've been forced to watch in school.