There are (at least)a half-dozen Stone Cold videos on the market, but surprisingly, it wasn't until 2011 (The Bottom Line on Wrestling's Most Popular Superstar) that one of them really gave you a complete, well-rounded picture of who the guy was and why his contributions to the business were so important.

 

Unfortunately, this particular DVD set came well before that.

 

The Stone Cold Truth was originally a 2004 UPN special that told The Texas Rattlesnake's story. After its release, WWE decided to repackage it as they did with Eddie Guerrero's Cheating Death, Stealing Life and throw a few extra matches our way. The special is also based on Austin's autobiography of the same name.

 

The fact that it was a made-for-TV special means the production values are slightly slicker than most WWE documentaries. Less wasted space between interviews, tighter cuts and more distinctive theme music.

 

The story itself is a familiar one: Steve growing up with his family in Victoria, Texas, learning to wrestle from the late "Gentleman" Chris Adams, travelling from Memphis to Dallas to WCW to ECW and finally to the World Wrestling Federation, where he'd go on to be a household name.

 

What I like about this documentary is that it covers pretty much Austin's entire wrestling career and talks a wide variety of people, including contemporaries such as Mick Foley, Eric Bischoff and Vince McMahon, but also his siblings, ex-wife Jeannie Clark Adams (a/k/a Lady Blossom) and his even his young daughters.

 

There are also informative bonus segments where you, too, can learn how to peel potatoes and shave you head just like Stone Cold does.

 

At one disc, The Stone Cold Truth is a little on the skimpy side. About the only bonus match worth checking out is a tag team match where Austin and Brian Pillman (The Hollywood Blondes) take on Ric Flair and Arn Anderson. Otherwise, there's not a whole lot here.

 

While the set certainly isn't horrible, WWE could have done far better here. And that's the bottom line, 'cause Bulldog said so!