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After years on top as the flagship Diva of the WWE, Maria was unexpectedly released earlier this year, in a move that shocked much of the wrestling community. Leaving the ring behind, Maria has turned her eye to the music industry and has an album coming out soon. But of course… like any truly great wrestler, she can’t leave the industry without first giving us the low-down on the biggest names in the biz, with this latest offering in Kayfabecommentaries.com’s hugely entertaining series “YouShoot”; a series of shoot DVDs where the questions are submitted via e-mail and message boards. While Maria is doing a number of shoot interviews at the moment (there is also a High Spots interview with her) it was certainly a ballsy move for one of the industries leading ladies to open herself up to questions from the basement dwelling masses of the internet-wrestling community. The results were hugely entertaining.

Don't let the angelic look fool you; Maria has some stories to tell...

For those unaware with the YouShoot series of DVDs, they are a very unique concept in shoot interviews as they are based entirely around questions from viewers, with people from places like the F4W Board being allowed to suggest questions for the interview. With world-weary legends like Jim Cornette that can mean droves of insightful questions dating back to the earliest days of his career. With washed-up non-stars like Bob Holly, the format is basically used and abused for trolling the interviewee and basically having fun at their expense. With Maria the results are very much in the middle, if slightly leaning towards the former. Naturally when you put a pretty girl on the internet and give a bunch of wrestling fans the opportunity to say things to her, your going to get a bunch of reoccuring phrases; “dick”, “cock”, “spunk”, “muff diving”, “tits”, “tongue” and a bevy of others that I’ll leave unspecified (more incentive to buy the DVD). But, to the credit of the majority of posters, there are some very interesting questions asked and Maria is straight to the point with her answers.

The show opens up with some questions on the Diva Search before moving onto WWE and eventually post-WWE exploits. From here every subject imaginable is covered from locker-room love, to personal heat, to OVW and more. Maria’s articulate and insightful responses might catch some people off-guard, especially those who perhaps bought into her “ditsy interviewer” shtick back in the day. Maria radiates charisma during the interview, with lively banter, sly comments and at times unashamed criticism of her peers.

Maria desperately trying to think of something nice to say about Johnny Ace... she was struggling.

With a shorter career than most shoot DVD subjects, the DVD clocks in at just over an hour and 45 minutes, but the depth of conversation and honesty from all people concerned (both the well researched questions and Maria’s answering of the questions) means the DVD is certainly a fair deal at the asking price. Some noteworthy topics include Jim Cornette, Santino, the difference between OVW and FCW and some very interesting thoughts on WWE’s PG rating.

The standout talking point in the interview for me was Maria’s thoughts on women’s standing in the company, in terms of air time and merchandising. She has some interesting thoughts on how the female demographic can be better taken advantage of and how the Divas really don’t get the fair shake they deserve. Of course the show also has the usual array of YouShoot shenanigans like the “ho bag” for ladies with looser morals and the “dick bag” for… well… dicks in the locker-room.

Overall, the DVD has the right amount of interesting stories and mild laughs that I can say it’s a definite recommendation. If you’re new to shoot DVDs, it’s a really easy watch, and isn’t as intimidating as the long-winded interviews like Cornette. Experienced shoot DVD viewers can get something from this too, as it’s got some interesting stories from inside the world’s biggest wrestling promotion.

8/10