Bloodstained Memoirs
Encyclopedia
Bloodstained Memoirs is a professional wrestling
documentary
released online via an official stream in 2009. It is compiled by interviews featuring wrestlers synonymous with different eras in wrestling ('70s, '80s, '90s, and '00s) and different wrestling regions (USA, Canada, Japan, and Mexico). Production was filmed in the UK, USA, France, Japan, and Italy. When interviewed for Fighting Spirit
magazine, director David Sinnott stated, "I don't intend this film to be negative. It's too easy to sell people bad news."
In October 2011, the documentary was made available on DVD.
Celebrity Wrestling
Coach, Joe Legend.
, Rob Van Dam
, Mick Foley
, Keiji Mutoh, Roddy Piper
, Jimmy Snuka
, Último Dragón, Christian
and Molly Holly
. Al Snow
hosts the production. The film shows Rob Van Dam
's first third-party interview after leaving World Wrestling Entertainment
.
and Molly Holly
appeared on YouTube
, claiming that it was hacked footage from the former official website. It is debated whether this was the true case or whether the video was put up for publicity. Over 160,000 people watched the video, and the news story was picked up by a number of publications, including Power Slam
magazine which adds cause to the debate that it was in fact a planted video. In time the video even made its way to the official website. Several topics were discussed in the video, including the death of Bruiser Brody.
page stating that documentary was facing a delay because post production services delivered to the documentary had been below standard. The company responsible for the post production services, Online Post Production LTD were taken to court as a result of this.
The company was owned by Hilary Lawson
, Vice Chair of the Forum for European Philosophy at the London School of Economics and Political Science and author of Closure
.
On October 24, it was revealed that the producers of Bloodstained Memoirs won the case in court for an undisclosed financial sum, and that they would be moving on to another post production facility, stating that a release date would not be far away.
president Dixie Carter had given the producers footage to use from TNA's video library.
Following several more trailers, Bloodstained Memoirs became available to stream on November 23, 2009, via a subscription on the official website.
magazine called it an “undertaking which paid off handsomely.” The Fight Network
and Wrestle Hustle labelled it as “something very, very special” and “brilliant” respectively. Pro Wrestling Illustrated
magazine gave it a review of 4.5/5 stating it, “delivers big.” Future Publishing
's DVD and Blu-ray Review magazine scored the production 4/5. MNM Radio asserted that the production featured "great stories" whilst Bill Apter
's, 1 Wrestling stated the production delivered "a great piece of oral history and a fresh insight into modern wrestling." The Sun
remarked that it was "excellent."
Several wrestling personalities who were not associated with the production also spoke out publicly to compliment it, such as Paul Bearer, Sonjay Dutt
, Missy Hyatt
and Lanny Poffo
. Something which in itself was noted by sources such as The Miami Herald
.
The film, however, has not escaped criticism. Fighting Spirit
magazine called it, “Something of a missed opportunity.” Style Weekly
proclaimed, “interviews tend to jump into nitty-gritty wrestling knowledge without setting up scenarios so that casual fans will get lost in the details.”
Following the success of the documentary, an iPhone
application
was released in September 2011 featuring unreleased footage of the documentary.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
released online via an official stream in 2009. It is compiled by interviews featuring wrestlers synonymous with different eras in wrestling ('70s, '80s, '90s, and '00s) and different wrestling regions (USA, Canada, Japan, and Mexico). Production was filmed in the UK, USA, France, Japan, and Italy. When interviewed for Fighting Spirit
Fighting Spirit magazine
FSM is a monthly professional wrestling and mixed martial arts magazine published in the United Kingdom by Uncooked Media...
magazine, director David Sinnott stated, "I don't intend this film to be negative. It's too easy to sell people bad news."
In October 2011, the documentary was made available on DVD.
Background information
It is said that the original concept was to be a mixture of a work and a shoot, with one fictional, “dramatic” scene already filmed with ex-WWE wrestler, and ITVITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
Celebrity Wrestling
Celebrity Wrestling
Celebrity Wrestling is a British television programme, broadcast on ITV in 2005. It involved two teams of celebrities, competing against each other in wrestling style events. The series was presented by Kate Thornton and Rowdy Roddy Piper...
Coach, Joe Legend.
Cast
The interview based documentary revolves around nine internationally recognised and critically acclaimed wrestlers; Chris JerichoChris Jericho
Christopher Keith Irvine , better known by his ring name Chris Jericho, is an inactive Canadian-American professional wrestler, musician, songwriter, radio personality, television host, actor, author, and dancer...
, Rob Van Dam
Rob Van Dam
Robert Alexander "Rob" Szatkowski , better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam , is an American professional wrestler and actor who is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
, Mick Foley
Mick Foley
Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he...
, Keiji Mutoh, Roddy Piper
Roddy Piper
Roderick George Toombs , better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler and film actor who is currently signed to WWE. In professional wrestling, he is best known for his work with WWE...
, Jimmy Snuka
Jimmy Snuka
James William "Jimmy" Reiher is a semi-retired Fijian professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Originally from the Fiji Islands, Snuka wrestled for several promotions in the 1970s and 1980s. Snuka is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having been a...
, Último Dragón, Christian
Jason Reso
William Jason Reso is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring names Christian and Christian Cage...
and Molly Holly
Nora Greenwald
Nora Kristina Greenwald , better known by her ring name Molly Holly, is an inactive American professional wrestler. Greenwald is best known for her appearances with World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment .Greenwald began her professional wrestling career in WCW, where she...
. Al Snow
Al Snow
Allen Ray Sarven is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name of Al Snow. He is best known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment and currently works for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a road agent.-Early career:Sarven...
hosts the production. The film shows Rob Van Dam
Rob Van Dam
Robert Alexander "Rob" Szatkowski , better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam , is an American professional wrestler and actor who is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
's first third-party interview after leaving World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
.
Leaked YouTube video
In March 2007, footage featuring four minutes of interviews with Roddy PiperRoddy Piper
Roderick George Toombs , better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler and film actor who is currently signed to WWE. In professional wrestling, he is best known for his work with WWE...
and Molly Holly
Nora Greenwald
Nora Kristina Greenwald , better known by her ring name Molly Holly, is an inactive American professional wrestler. Greenwald is best known for her appearances with World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment .Greenwald began her professional wrestling career in WCW, where she...
appeared on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, claiming that it was hacked footage from the former official website. It is debated whether this was the true case or whether the video was put up for publicity. Over 160,000 people watched the video, and the news story was picked up by a number of publications, including Power Slam
Power Slam
Power Slam is an independent monthly non-kayfabe wrestling magazine published in the United Kingdom by SW Publishing, with co-publishers Findlay Martin and Colin Bowman. It began life as Superstars of Wrestling before altering to its current name after 30 issues in 1994. The magazine's UK-wide...
magazine which adds cause to the debate that it was in fact a planted video. In time the video even made its way to the official website. Several topics were discussed in the video, including the death of Bruiser Brody.
Legal issues
David Sinnott, executive producer of Bloodstained Memoirs, released a statement on July 30, 2008 through the official Bloodstained Memoirs MySpaceMySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
page stating that documentary was facing a delay because post production services delivered to the documentary had been below standard. The company responsible for the post production services, Online Post Production LTD were taken to court as a result of this.
The company was owned by Hilary Lawson
Hilary Lawson
Hilary Lawson is a philosopher, filmmaker, and video artist. Known for his theory of Closure, he is Director of the Institute of Art and Ideas, founder of the Artscape Project and a director of TVF Media.-Biography:...
, Vice Chair of the Forum for European Philosophy at the London School of Economics and Political Science and author of Closure
Closure (philosophy)
Closure, in epistemology, is the principle that if a subject S knows that p, and S knows that p entails q, then S can thereby come to know that q. Most epistemological theories involve a closure principle and many sceptical arguments assume a closure principle, arguing for instance that if you...
.
On October 24, it was revealed that the producers of Bloodstained Memoirs won the case in court for an undisclosed financial sum, and that they would be moving on to another post production facility, stating that a release date would not be far away.
Website Release
In May 2009, it was revealed that production had finalized. In addition, it was revealed that Total Nonstop Action WrestlingTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...
president Dixie Carter had given the producers footage to use from TNA's video library.
Following several more trailers, Bloodstained Memoirs became available to stream on November 23, 2009, via a subscription on the official website.
Reception
Bloodstained Memoirs was met by largely positive reviews from critics. Amongst the reviews, EmpireEmpire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
magazine called it an “undertaking which paid off handsomely.” The Fight Network
The Fight Network
Fight Network is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel devoted to airing programming related to wrestling, boxing, mixed martial arts, and other combatant styles...
and Wrestle Hustle labelled it as “something very, very special” and “brilliant” respectively. Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Pro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...
magazine gave it a review of 4.5/5 stating it, “delivers big.” Future Publishing
Future Publishing
Future plc is a media company; in 2006, it was the sixth-largest in the United Kingdom. It publishes more than 150 magazines in fields such as video games, technology, automotive, cycling, films and photography. Future is the official magazine company of all three major games console manufacturers...
's DVD and Blu-ray Review magazine scored the production 4/5. MNM Radio asserted that the production featured "great stories" whilst Bill Apter
Bill Apter
Bill Apter is a journalist specializing in professional wrestling and best known for the kayfabe or so-called "mark" magazines for which he edited and photographed matches from the 1970s to the present. The magazine he became most prominently known for was Pro Wrestling Illustrated...
's, 1 Wrestling stated the production delivered "a great piece of oral history and a fresh insight into modern wrestling." The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
remarked that it was "excellent."
Several wrestling personalities who were not associated with the production also spoke out publicly to compliment it, such as Paul Bearer, Sonjay Dutt
Sonjay Dutt
Retesh Bhalla is an American professional wrestler of Indian Punjabi descent, better known by his ring name, Sonjay Dutt. He is best known working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and is also known for his stints with Combat Zone Wrestling, Major League Wrestling, and other various independent...
, Missy Hyatt
Missy Hyatt
Melissa Ann Hiatt is an American professional wrestling valet, better known by her ring name, Missy Hyatt. She gained the majority of her fame while working for World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling....
and Lanny Poffo
Lanny Poffo
Lanny Mark Poffo , better known by his ring name "Leaping" Lanny is an American professional wrestler. Poffo was born in Calgary, Canada, to Angelo Poffo, an Italian American Catholic, and Judy, a Jewish American. He is also the brother of wrestling legend "Macho Man" Randy Savage...
. Something which in itself was noted by sources such as The Miami Herald
The Miami Herald
The Miami Herald is a daily newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company headquartered on Biscayne Bay in the Omni district of Downtown Miami, Florida, United States...
.
The film, however, has not escaped criticism. Fighting Spirit
Fighting Spirit magazine
FSM is a monthly professional wrestling and mixed martial arts magazine published in the United Kingdom by Uncooked Media...
magazine called it, “Something of a missed opportunity.” Style Weekly
Style Weekly
Style Weekly is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Richmond, Virginia, United States. The paper is distributed for free and covers a variety of topics on popular culture, entertainment, and the arts. It is owned by Landmark Media Enterprises, the same company that owns the...
proclaimed, “interviews tend to jump into nitty-gritty wrestling knowledge without setting up scenarios so that casual fans will get lost in the details.”
Following the success of the documentary, an iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
application
Application software
Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...
was released in September 2011 featuring unreleased footage of the documentary.