I years ago saw Highspots’ standard shoot with Hughes, so I can’t really compare this “Dr.” Tom Prichard-hosted program to that, having not lately seen the other interview. I will say that there was plenty of talk in this interview about Kansas State University sports (which Hughes is wearing the hat of during this interview) that I didn’t care about, as I was interested in the wrestling content. As far as his “All American” history in sports, he seems to have a high opinion of himself, although it sounds like that opinion is justified by the many accolades he talks about having earned. I have to take some points off for the amount of non-wrestling talk in the beginning (about 15 minutes) and then 10 minutes that followed of continued lack of direction as far as questioning goes. The interview could have used more control by Prichard in this initial part of the interview as the Doc barely jumped in and it was just Hughes talking on and on about his pre-wrestling football career. Prichard, who visibly yawned at one point, had it made, as he was getting paid to host a show that he barely needed to talk on. Having said all this, if you’re not interested in his football history, you can skip the first quarter hour of this program.
There are barely a double digit amount of questions asked by Prichard in the entire interview. The talk ratio was probably 95-5, or 90-10 at best. Sure, Hughes talked plenty, so I can’t say he wasn’t willing to share stories or anything like that, but without rigid questioning, this was somewhat challenging to follow. Part of the reason that I zoned out at times was there was so much talk about his early life before he got to WWE, WCW, and ECW and I wanted to hear about those big leagues. Hughes said at the very beginning and at the very end that he loves to talk about wrestling, and boy, he wasn’t kidding. If you want an uninterrupted wrestling lesson from Hughes, this is for you, but if you want a structured interview, it isn’t. They fast forward through the post-1993 part of his career, as his first WWE run gets far more attention than his ECW and second and third WWE runs. There was some great talk during the third quarter hour about how his trademark “Mr. Hughes” look and bodyguard persona (which he says was influenced by Big Boss Man’s “Bubba Rogers” character) came about, and the content about Lex Luger was also quite enjoyable. However, overall, with Prichard doing little as far as his host duties, this was kind of a chore to watch.
PURCHASE: physical DVD – highspots.com/p/wanted-doa-hughes.html; digital – highspotswrestlingnetwork.com/media/wanted-dead-or-alive-mr-hughes/70608/feature, highspots.com/p/VD-wanted-doa-hughes.html
GRADE: C
INDEX OF TOPICS DISCUSSED:
- his memories of wrestling as a child
- his background in sports
- meeting “Dr. Death” Steve Williams
- Bob Geigel
- having his first match against “Bulldog” Bob Brown
- AWA
- WCW
- Japan
- Dusty Rhodes
- rumors that he had a drug problem
- negotiating with WWE in the early ’90s
- joining WWE
- Vince McMahon
- Lex Luger
- “stooges” in wrestling
- ECW
- re-joining WWE & being stuck with Triple H & later Chris Jericho
- his students who have made waves (Heath Slater, Apollo Crews, etc.)
RUN TIME: 1 hr. 28 min.
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