IYFW DVD Review - Coronation Cup 2011

I've been meaning to pick up an IYFW DVD release since discovering them in April but really haven't had the time or the disposable income to order one in the past. Having had a good day at the Saratoga Racetrack the day prior (I go once a year, so it's nice to come out ahead) I had more than enough to take a chance on a DVD. Purchased the Coronation Cup '11 while at Summertime Bruise because of how much I'd enjoyed the event itself.

If you want to know how I felt about the matches, check out my live review.

I want to talk about the presentation of the DVD, itself. It started out with a solid advertisement for the In Your Face Wrestling Academy featuring Adam Badger, Jamar Justice, and Shiloh Robinson as it's first graduates. Simple and very effective. Cut right to an attractive menu in IYFW colors with matches broken up into chapters. Looks good! The overall filming of matches is what I expected. One hard camera parked on a fall wall of the arena with one roving camera on the ringside floor. The editing and transitions between the two are smooth enough with good coverage of the ring. One wish would be to have the house microphone mixed into the video recording, somehow. The ambiance, rise and fall of the fans in the building can be heard easily, likely through the hard camera mic, but the announcer and/or anyone who speaks into a microphone can barely be heard. As someone who was in the audience and had a hard time hearing exactly wha was being said while in the actual building I was looking forward to seeing the mid-show Touch'ole/Scarsdale/Vigo interplay that helped set up the evenings main event - but it wasn't included in the DVD. If mixing the house audio in isn't an option, then how about bonus backstage vignettes with wrestlers before/after their match? Nothing fancy, just some character building stuff and a bonus for those buying the DVD.

The matches stood up to my memory, with perhaps the tag team title match projecting the best to film. The absolute star of the show, from a production standpoint, has to be the play by play and color work of Joey LaRoque. As the voice of IYFW's excellent audio INTERFACE, LaRoque has always impressed me with his ease and comfort behind a microphone but he is really a perfect fit - and it seems really loving what he does - when he is calling a match. He knows the product, has facts, puts emotion in it without getting emotional and overall kicks the booths ass. I get why he doesn't have a more visual role on the DVD side, and it doesn't matter. Based off of a match or two I've seen uploaded to YouTube and the like I know he's had help in the booth before... But if they're ever looking for a snarky heel color guy to play off Joey's straight man thing, gimme a call ;)

The dvd's physical packaging itself was pretty well done. Again, simple and effective. One other minor gripe is their online ordering system. Make it easy and enticing for the customer by linking to that shows results before putting it in the shopping cart. The guy that WANTS to know will hunt for the info and find the matches/events they want, have heard of, etc. But what about the customer on the fence? The lazier consumer. Make it easy for them. Run a DVD sale every once in a while. Two for $20 or something would be a deal I would absolutely (and unbeknownst to my girlfriend) take advantage of.

In closing... I enjoyed Coronation Cup, so of course I enjoyed the DVD. Really looking forward to their Summertime Bruise release and, I am sure, will snatch that up at the next show if not before.