“You can’t just thank God for the great things that happen in your life because the things that seem really, really, really bad, sometimes, can be the best thing to ever happen to you.” – Diamond Dallas Page (Relentless)
In the past five to six years, we’ve had the pleasure of watching, hearing, and also reading about the incredible post-wrestling life of Diamond Dallas Page, as his DDPY fitness program has reached new heights. The journey has also been spotlighted in terrific documentaries, such as The Resurrection of Jake the Snake and WWE’s Living On A Razor’s Edge: The Scott Hall Story, two films about two men who will forever be linked to Dallas. Now, thanks to Relentless, fans can finally get the true story of Dallas’ unreal journey from former professional wrestling world champion to world champion fitness entrepreneur, who has changed, and continues to change the life of so many, one Diamond Cutter (I mean, the DDPY position) at a time!
The opening sequence in Relentless is a brilliant hook for this film, as its sucks you in and gears you up for the roller-coaster ride that is the rise of Dallas and DDPY. The wrestling clips help give the cliff notes to his pre-yoga days, as well as providing a dramatic visual to highlight the injuries that led him to find and then develop his own yoga techniques. There’s a cheesy slow-motion walk that's accompanied by narration from Dallas, who is the “voice of God” in this film, and in five minutes, we immediately dive into how he is transitioning to changing the lives of others through his own yoga program. It’s perfect, as it wastes no time setting up the story. It caters to the wrestling fans immediately, and the visuals of wrestling heighten the drama. But above all else, Relentless immediately captures the essence and spirit of Diamond Dallas Page, as it’s in your face, fast-paced (just like Dallas), and we immediately go into one of the many inspirational tales that Dallas shares throughout this film.
A large portion of the audience will be familiar with elements of the film's story, so for some, portions will feel like rehashing of old stories. However, the stories, like Arthur Boorman’s transformation, for example, are also explored in much greater detail in this documentary. They are also imperative to Dallas' story, and Dallas and co speak with such passion that you have no qualms about hearing them again. While this works, it is the ‘new’ details that make this documentary so engaging.
The quote from Dallas that is taken from this documentary and is seen at the start of this review is also a wonderful illustration of Relentless and its approach to telling Dallas’ story. The curtain is pulled back on how he built DDPY, and it’s by no means a cookie-cutter version. It highlights the struggles and the brutal reality that the founder of DDPY, the ‘Positively Unstoppable’ individual, even hit crippling lows and was on his last legs financially in 2011, a year before his yoga business started to take off. These insights, alongside some of the more remarkable stories of how ‘DIY’ the business was initially, is truly eye-opening, and shows the true grit of this success story. Like the quote, the film highlights the downs, as much as the ups, and the takeaways from those experiences. It’s again another beautiful way in which the film wonderfully captures who and what Dallas is.
At its core, however, this documentary is a beautiful and relatable human story. It’s about a man whose true passion and drive in life is to help others. We see that not only in how DDPY helped people change their bodies and way of living, but also through how selfless the founder is, and how he’s moved to tears about how people reached out to him to explain how he changed their lives for the better. It’s a motivation and a feeling we can all relate to, but one that Dallas reminds us we should strive for more than we already do. Also, if anyone knows or has interacted with Dallas (like I’ve had the privilege of doing), it will connect you to the film on an even greater level.
Like all films, there are few areas where Relentless falls a little short. In an almost unfair comparison, this documentary does lack that crisp feeling of other wrestling-related films that a lot of the fans that tune in will have seen, for example, WWE’s vast library of documentaries. Plus, the amount of content that’s crammed into the hour and two minutes, while impressive, can make it feel a tad clustered at times. Fortunately for the film, the raw emotion and passion shine through in the end.
As I’ve highlighted throughout this review, the documentary mirrors the energy of Dallas. It instantly feels like a cannon firing out, and it does not slow down. However, that ‘relentless’ approach does mean that the documentary starts to run out of momentum as it heads into the final portion of the narrative. On the surface, that’s surprising due to the runtime only being one-hour and two-minutes, but it’s difficult to maintain a pace like the film sets from the beginning. However, a great cinematic conclusion that’s akin to Mickey Rourke’s The Wrestler brings the film back and helps the film end with a “BANG!”
In the end, Relentless is undoubtedly a documentary worth watching. Regardless of whom you are and what you like, this story will relate to you, and ultimately, inspire you. Relentless tells you nothing is impossible, and it’s never too late, and Diamond Dallas Page’s journey is a shining example that those messages are true!
Watch Relentless on Amazon Prime and on positivelyunstoppable.com.
To learn more about DDPY, head on over to ddpyoga.com.
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