Home Entertainment Review: Scooby Doo: Wrestlemania Mystery (Warner Home Video)

I LOVE professional wrestling. I know, it’s hokey. But I’ve been a fan since the age of five and, well, I love the combination of athleticism and ridiculous soap opera tension. It works for me.

I LOATHE Scooby Doo. I know, it’s hokey. But I’ve disliked the canine with the munchies since the age of five and, well, no matter how he’s been repackaged or re-introduced to the public over the years I cannot get past how stupid the characters and their poorly-planned mysteries are. It does not work for me.

I love professional wrestling.

I loathe Scooby Doo.

And . . . there isn’t even an “L” word that can even properly describe how I feel about Scooby Doo: Wrestlemania Mystery.

Scooby Doo: Wrestlemania Mystery somehow takes the worst aspects of both pro wrestling and Scooby Doo and makes a “WTF” sandwich with a side of “Really Dude?” that leaves you scratching your head. First and foremost there’s the premise which, if you’ve ever watched Scooby Doo, is classic Scooby Doo. Scooby beats the latest WWE video game and wins tickets to Wrestlemania . . . in WWE CITY.

Yes; you read that right. WWE evidently has its own city now. You didn’t know? Pity.

Anyhow, the Mystery Inc. gang make their way to WWE City to Wrestlemania and, of course, find themselves in the middle of a “supernatural mystery”. I place that in quotes because if you’ve ever watched Scooby Doo you know how piss-poor the spooky mysteries actually are. This one is no exception. Why? Because a ghost bear is out to steal the WWE Championship and stop Wrestlemania from happening and the gang is hired to stop it from stopping Wrestlemania.

A GHOST BEAR.

It could have been a ghost wrestler but someone decided that a wrestling ghost bear was the best option because, you know, it’s Scooby Doo so the ghost or ghoul needs to be random as all get-out. The legend has it that WWE luchador Sin Cara’s great-great grandfather – Sin Cara Grande – defeated the bear in combat over a hundred years ago on the grounds of what would become WWE City. The bear was a sore loser and proceeded to attack everyone, leaving grand-pappy Grande to sequester the big galoot in a cave forever. Sin Cara believes that the “spirit of Wrestlemania” has stirred the bear from its spiritual rest and prompted it to derail Wrestlemania.

See? Basic Scooby Doo plot!

Trust me when I say the film doesn’t get any better. And also trust me when I say that, in typical Scooby Doo fashion, you will know who the bad guys is about twenty minutes into this thing. Be a doll and don’t spoil it for everyone else who’s watching it with you, OK?

I suppose the one cool aspect of the film is the inclusion of so many WWE Superstars; John Cena, The Miz (who is basically the biggest jabroni in the world in this film), Sin Cara, Big Show, Kane, Brodus Clay, AJ Lee, Triple H, Santino Marella, Mr. McMahon, and even WWE play-by-play broadcaster Michael Cole are all in the film and all voicing their own characters. The fact that WWE was all-in and really participated in the creation of this film is great, especially because most of their fanbase is young and into characters like Cena and Sin Cara (who really are the main heroes of the film aside from Scooby and the gang). Those kids will love this film. Kids who dig Scooby Doo might even enjoy the ridiculous hi-jinks of the film. There’s enough sight gags and standard Scooby fare to please the right kind of fan.

But if you don’t have to watch this? Don’t watch this. Put it on for the kids and leave the room.