Colt Cabana's European Vacation - DVD Review

He is regarded as one of the top stars on the American indy circuit at the moment, and in 2004, “Classic” Colt Cabana embarked on a two month wrestling tour of Europe, competing for some of the continent’s top promotions, and he captured it all for posterity in DVD form with Colt Cabana’s European Vacation, courtesy of Wrestlestuff productions.

Disc one starts off with a scene of Colt backstage at a show, with audio clips from his interview with Blake Norton on The Wrestling Channel’s Bagpipe Report show. It’s then straight into the action as Colt steps through the curtain….

For a bout against General Trent Steele for BCW. Some great comedy moments from Colt at the beginning of the bout, and some great action from our man, but sadly, the General’s dastardly tactics see Colt defeated thanks to a power bomb and feet on the ropes.

Backstage, Colt laments about his defeat, and suggests that a chicken sandwich may lighten his spirits. He then gets in a plug for his website. Bagga would be proud of the shill!

On the Cabanacam, Colt travels with Doug Williams, on the way to get some grub. Colt comments on his surroundings and says hi to a few people along the way. They bump into Steve Corino, apparently just out of a meeting with Burger King’s top executives. Maybe it was the King of Old School who came up with their new advertising campaign.

Colt’s then interviewed before an FWA show in Morecombe, looking forward to his upcoming FWA double-shot against James Tighe and Jonny Storm.

Then it’s on to the FWA bout with James Tighe. Brief appearance from King Slim here, who appears to be the only one not cheering for the guy. Maybe it has something to do with that infamous interview a couple of years ago. Once again Colt tries to lighten the mood at the beginning with a handshake, but young Tighe isn’t playing that game. What you’ve got here is a great bout between two great ring technicians, with move for move, hold for hold, with Tighe getting a pin with a roll-up. Afterwards, Colt, claiming he raised his shoulder, challenges Tighe to an immediate re-match. After a brief flurry of punches, Tighe runs for cover.

Then it’s on to FCW as Colt takes on Kevin O’Neil. Despite being a more serious bout, Colt still manages to throw in a few comedy spots, and gets the win after thwarting O’Neil’s TKO attempt with a roll-up. A good match here, highly enjoyable.

We then see Colt walking around backstage at a show. After trying to call his parents on a clearly out of order telephone, a miserable building official asks Colt and his camera crew to stop filming. Colt agrees, but carries on filming anyway!

Then it’s over to Germany and WXW, as Colt takes on Robbie Brookside. A great looking match on paper turns out to be a great match in actuality, as Colt forgoes the comedy spots and puts on a great bout with Brookside, with Brookside working over Colt’s leg before Colt comes back, and after a great series of moves, Brookside got the pin with a roll-up.

Then it’s over to Premier Promotions, as Colt takes on Phil Powers, with the legendary Steve Grey acting as referee here. Fought under traditional British rules, Colt got the first fall after a quick series of moves in the second round. Powers got the equalising fall in the fourth after a big splash off the top rope before Colt got the second and winning fall in the sixth after a muscle buster. A great bout here, with Powers playing the whiny heel to perfection.

We then return to the FWA as Colt takes on Jonny Storm. Special appearance from Chris Hatch and Sarah Barroclough here as they sign Storm’s petition to get him reinstated in the FWA, which Colt himself signs during the match. I really can’t speak too highly about this match. After some great comedy spots that had me in fits of laughter, we had tons of great wrestling action from two guys well suited to each other, and after what seemed like a lifetime of move and countermove action, Storm got the win after a series of roll-ups and with the help of the ropes, as disc one comes to and end.

Disc two begins with a clip from Colt’s legendary appearance on The Bagpipe Report, talking to Blake Norton. We then take the Cabanacam backstage as Colt talks to Paul Travell.

Then we see Colt in action, taking on Jack Storm for the TAP promotion. Although a bit messy at times, this bout is still good, with Colt invoking the spirit of the Hulkster by finishing off Storm with a leg drop.

The Cabanacam then goes to a newsagent, as Colt discusses the difference between British and American top shelf magazines, before browsing through a newspaper, disappointed that he can’t find any naked babes! You should have looked in the Daily Sport buddy!

Then it’s off to FCW again, and a show I was at, the show where I first met the man himself, and where he took on Cameron Knite. Before the bout begins Colt goes through the referee’s curly ginger hair and checks for nits! I remember at the time that the show had been somewhat lacking until this match. Colt and Knite put on a hell of a bout, with Colt getting the pin with a sunset flip after Knite missed a senton off the top rope. Sadly, the moment where Colt got on the microphone and praised Knite for his efforts is missing from this segment.

Back on the Cabanacam, Colt tries to chat up a young lady, but doesn’t get anywhere. He then goes looking for other people to appear in his film, but again, doesn’t get anywhere. He then wonders why we have Texaco stations here in Britain. It’s because they’ve got more money than God buddy, and they can go anywhere they want to!

We then see Colt interviewed by a couple of fans, where he talks about his admiration for the British style of wrestling, and how much he enjoyed wrestling the likes of Jonny Storm and Robbie Brookside. A good segment here.

Then it’s back to Premier Promotions, and the match that earned a great deal of praise after it was shown on The Wrestling Channel as part of the UK Round-Up show, as Colt takes on British veteran Johnny Kidd under traditional British rules. A special appearance from Gareth Reed as Kidd’s corner man, and thankfully, no commentary from John Atkins of Charming Don Charles here. Some great technical stuff here, with Kidd getting the first fall with a roll-up after a quick series of moves in the second round. Colt got the equalising fall a round later with a backslide. It wasn’t until the fifth that Colt got the winning fall with a small package. A great technical contest here, and it’s easy to see why fans voted this Match of the Year in the 2004 1 Stop Wrestling awards.

Then it’s back to the FWA, and their British Uprising III show, as Colt takes on Dirk Feelgood. It’s a shame this match didn’t make it onto the main BU3 show, as it was a great bout with some great comedy mixed in with some great action from both men, with Colt getting the win with a small package after a fast exchange of moves.

Then the final Cabanacam segment sees Colt finding Doug Williams answering the call of nature. “The champ is pissing” could be the line of the night here.

The extras on this disc sees Colt’s first UK appearance, taking on C.M. Punk at FWA British Uprising 2, a great bout between two guys who know each other so well, with Punk getting the win after a Pepsi Plunge, as well as a short music video and a photo gallery.

In conclusion - this is one hell of a collection. With some wrestler compilations the matches tend to get a bit repetitive, and you sometimes get the same type of match over and over. This isn’t the case with this release, and it proves that Colt Cabana isn’t just a one trick pony content to do the same match over and over again, and this collection is a testament to that as he goes up against a wide variety of opponents. This is definitely a DVD you should add to your collection. You won’t regret it.

To order your copy of this DVD, visit www.wrestlestuff.com. For more information on the man himself, you can log onto his official website at www.coltcabana.com.