Always looking for Wrestling content on Amazon Prime, this documentary, produced in 2020 is now available there. Street was, if I'm honest, a bit before my time as a wrestling fan, but it's clear to see his impact on characters that would follow.
Born in South Wales in 1940, it seems a life down the pit, like his father would be his lot in life. Adrian Street though was an entertainer and transitioned from bodybuilding into the world of professional wrestling. At a time when the business was staid and strait-laced, Street slowly developed one of the most extreme and flamboyant personas that the business would ever see. His ability to generate a reaction in the crowd would take him around the world and he'd settle in America, where he became a star in the territory days and inspire the next generation to take elements of his character forward.
It's fairly solid as far as a documentary goes. There is a career retrospective with Street, and with Linda, who was his valet during the touring days and later his wife. There are interviews with Mick Foley, who talks about what it was like to see a character like Street on the circuit in the 1970's and 80's and with Stu Bennett (WWE's Wade Barrett) who gives some perspective on the British scene. There is some interesting speculation that Adrian Street might have been an inspiration for the Glam Rock scene that grew up in the mid-70's.
It's probably more to do with the budget that the film has, but I did feel it could have gone a bit further with its interviews. I don't, obviously, know who turned them down, but someone like William Regal, who was actually there, would have been able to better tell the stories of the "World of Sport" days. There's no direct WWE involvement, so no comparison with a character like "Golddust" that lifted a lot of the androgynous gimmick from Street is drawn. There's a bit of a lack of footage altogether really, there are shots from his match with the Macho Man Randy Savage, but often they talk about crowd interactions, for example, without showing any of them.
I appreciate that he's rather a niche subject matter but there's definitely a fun and topical docu-drama to be made about him. This particular documentary is OK, but I felt like a better one is possible.