The Rise and Fall of WCW
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DVD details
Artist: WWEBrand: Genius
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Box set, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 540 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-08-25
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Genius
Product features:
- WWE-RISE & FALL OF WCW (DVD MOVIE)
DVD Reviews of The Rise and Fall of WCW
DVD Review: A Fair Look At WCW's History...FINALLY!
Summary: 4 Stars
They were Pepsi to WWE's Coca-Cola in terms of being the closest competition that the company has ever had in it's entire history to the point where they were the #1 wrestling promotion in wrestling...this is the story of the company that started off as Jim Crockett Promotions but morphed into World Championship Wrestling. Throughout the presentation, you do hear from the usual crop of WWE associates who's had a history with WCW (Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, Michael Hayes, Arn Anderson, Ric Flair, Ron Simmons, Big Show a.k.a. "The Giant", Dean Malenko, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, Gregory Helms, Mike Graham) but you also hear from those who you don't normally hear from & probably didn't expect to hear from at all (Kevin Sullivan, Jim & David Crockett, Magnum T.A., Bill Watts, Goldberg, and Dr. Harvey Shiller who was the President Of Turner Sports). Now a couple of notes here as well is that the big controversy surrounding the project was that Eric Bischoff chose to not be involved with this project based off WWE's negative showcasing & rewritten history of WCW over the years. WWE fixed that problem as best as they could by using past interview footage taken from other WWE projects (the old "Confidental" show & the Monday Night War DVD) & used here to get comments from people like Bischoff along with other names like Hulk Hogan, Booker T, Diamond Dallas Page, and Scott Hall. And for those who didn't catch on alright, the two disc of matches are split between the pre & post era's of "Nitro"
The documentry begins talking about how Jim Crockett Promotions came together along with the birth of Georgia Championship Wrestling and how that was the show that built the cable network we know know as TBS. The politics of the National Wrestling Alliance along with the creative innovations like Starrcade are discussed before into the story of "Black Saturday" where Vince McMahon took over the TBS timeslot and the aftermath of that whole deal where David Crockett said, "we payed for WrestleMania." The national expansion of JCP along their new talent being brought in (along with the tragic story of Magnum T.A.) are talked about before going into how that backfired on them & caused the sale to Turner. The transformation into WCW with changes behind the scenes along new talent, the inring wrestling quality that even made Jim Ross admit they had a better inring product than WWE at that time, and the classic feuds that happened during that period (Steamboat/Rude, Sting/Flair, Steamboat/Flair) were heavily talked about. Jim Herd's history with WCW along with the "revolving door" of bookers is discussed next before getting into the positives & negatives of what happened during Bill Watts' era of WCW. The introduction of Bill Shaw & the hiring of Eric Bischoff (along the irony behind that after what happened with Bill Watts) is talked about next before going into the steps taken to usher in the new era of WCW like the higher production level and the impact of Hulk Hogan signing with WCW & other ex-WWE personalities coming into the company leading to the birth of WCW Nitro & what Eric Bischoff did to be controversal & make his product different than WCW. The story behind the format of the nWo is heavily discussed next such as where the concept REALLY came from, the lawsuit filed by WWE, Hulk Hogan morphing into Hollywood Hogan, the innovations made to made the nWo look completely different from WCW, and Big Show talking about the details of Hall & Nash's contract which was pretty intresting to hear. The impact of the crusierweight division & Goldberg, how WCW dominated wrestling with their TV ratings/PPV buys were discussed next before going into the influx of celebrities into WCW with DDP telling the story of how the tag matches involving himself, Hogan, Dennis Rodman & Karl Malone, Eric Bischoff & Jay Leno came together and the mixed reactions by other WCW talents to it. The story behind the Goldberg vs. Hogan match on Nitro is heavily discussed next (you won't believe how Goldberg found out about it) before going into the heavy series of mistakes that WCW started to make ranging from what happened at Halloween Havoc '98 to certain wrestlers becoming the booker & being out for themselves to infamous "Fingerpoke Of Doom" to the undercard talent starting to leave the company. Incidents during the "Vince Russo" era of WCW is talked about such as David Arquette becoming the WCW Champion and the incident at Bash At The Beach '00 with Hulk Hogan and how it was so bad to the point where the talent themselves thought Vince McMahon sent him over to kill off the company...and listen to what Mike Graham had to say about Jeff Jarrett. The story of how the corporate merger of AOL Time Warner led to the end of WCW, WWE buying the company, and the legacy left behind of WCW close out the documentry.
DVD extras include bonus stories such as Dusty Rhodes talking about the "Cactus Jack Is Missing" series of videos, Bill Watts talking about the issues of "racism" that were put on him during his run of WCW, Bill Goldberg talking about where the elements of his character came from (you'll laugh when you hear how he got his "Who's Next" catchphrase), Harvey Shiller talking about a character named "Spam Man" which you have to hear to believe, and a piece from the old "Confidental" show with Eric Bischoff & Vince McMahon talking giving Eric away the results of RAW on Nitro.
Matches Include:
$1,000 Challenge Match: Ric Flair vs. Magnum T.A. - This match was short but non-stop action between both men with the story being that Flair had to beat Magnum to get the money.
("NWA World Championship Wrestling" June ' 85)
Sting, Lex Luger, Barry Windham vs. Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard - This match was your average TV main event but from bell to bell between all 6 men, this was a fun match to watch. It wasn't a classic wrestling match by any means but just each man doing what they do best as far as being entertaining, having great inring quality, & being able to hold the hot crowd in the palms of their hands.
("NWA The Main Event" Apr. '88)
NWA United States Champion Barry Windham vs. Dusty Rhodes - This was a "teacher vs. student" match as Windham turned his back on his friends & associates to join the Horsemen. This wasn't a classic match but it was an enjoyable match for most of the match for the first 10 mins. until the ending when Barry Windham put the claw on Dusty & held it on for what seemed like at least the last five minutes. The ending & who got involved with it was unexpected at that time but in the end, it was an enjoyable match between the two overall.
(NWA Great American Bash '88)
NWA Champion Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat - If your asking me to describe/summerize a Steamboat vs. Flair match then your out of your mind because these are just classic encounters that you have to see with your own two eyes as anything I say here wouldn't do them justice.
(NWA Chi-Town Rumble '89)
[Greatest Wrestling Stars Of The 80's]
Rock `n' Roll Express vs. Midnight Express - If anyone knows the history between these two teams dating back years then you know that you'll expect the best tag team action possible. This match was no exception as you got everything great about tag team wrestling: double teaming & building towards the hot tag, great in-ring wrestling & storytelling, and even the comedic spot with Jim Cornette including the classic one where he gets into verbal conflict with the referee & teases a fight between the two. Another classic match in their series of matches.
(NWA Wrestle War '90)
NWA United States Tag Team Champions Midnight Express vs. Southern Boys - Eventhough the Southern Boys isn't known by most wrestling fans...they were a underrated team in the likes of the Fantastics where they were a compliment to the style of the Midnight Express. This was a match that was so good that it had the crowd cheering for both teams as the match went on. Look out for one moment when there was a "karate showdown" along with Jim Cornette's usual antics at ringside.
(NWA Great American Bash '90)
WCW Tag Team Champions Steiner Brothers vs. Sting & Lex Luger - This was the dream match for WCW at that time as the two most popular singles wrestlers teamed up against the most popular tag team. Luger used this strength in this match as at one point, Steiner ran straight into him & bounced off him. Both guys used countered each other's moves & even their own move against each other at one point. This didn't last long but I think lived up to the hype.
(SuperBrawl)
WCW Champion Sting vs. Big Van Vader - I've said before that aside from Flair & maybe even Rick Rude (as you'll see in the next match), Sting's best opposition came in the form of Vader as I never recall them having a bad match. This was their first televised match that started their long term feud that lasted for years in WCW with Sting selling the ribs that Vader injured weeks earlier.
(Great American Bash '92)
WCW International Champion Rick Rude vs. Sting - Before I get started, for those who don't remember the story behind this championship...this was the "big gold belt" (currently referred to as the World Heavyweight Championship in WWE) that was originally the NWA Championship but when the NWA pulled out of WCW for the last time, WCW owned the belt and just renamed it but kept the status of it being a World Championship.
Now before the match, Harley Race issued a challenge on behalf of Vader to the winner before Sting clocked him with a punch. Just like their past matches, this was a back & forth encounter between each other with Race & Vader getting involved which led to Sting once again winning the World Championship in what is my second favorite encounter between these two only surpassed by their "King Of Cable" semi-final match from Nov. 1992. Unfortunally, this would be the last in-ring PPV appearence of Rick Rude as he would suffer a career ending neck injury within the next month.
(Spring Stampede '94)
WCW Champion Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan - Hogan's debut match in WCW and one of Hogan's best wrestling matches in his WCW reign. He all know Ric Flair is one of the best wrestlers in the history of the sport & Hogan knows what to do to get the crowd hooked into a match. This was a match that did live up to all the hype it had surrounding it.
(Bash At The Beach '96)
[Hulk Still Rules & Hulk Hogan: The Ultimate Anthology]
WCW Champion Ric Flair vs. The Giant - This was pretty short & sweet as Flair tried his best but the future "Big Show" dominated this match & broke the figure four as only he can to win the WCW Championship.
("Nitro" Apr. '96)
WCW Cruiserweight Champion Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Dean Malenko - What can I say here that hasn't been said before about this feud that put WCW's crusierweight division on the map. It was everything that you expected here as this was fast paced action full of counters with Mysterio's high flyin' offense & Malekno bringing his technical wrestling along with some high impact moves here such as a brainbuster & a version of the gutbuster that you have to see to believe.
("Clash of the Champions" Aug. '96)
War Games Match: Sting, Lex Luger, Ric Fair, Arn Anderson vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, ??? - For those who never seen this, it's a two ringed cage match with a caged top on it & the first two wrestlers go in for 5 minute period. A coin toss is held (which the heels always seem to win) to determine who goes in next and the teams alternate wrestlers entering the match. When the final wrestler enters the cage, the only way to win is by submission or surrender.
This was match was significant in many ways as this was the match that started the feud that would eventually end Arn Anderson's career and the match that would begin the transformation of WCW's most popular character leading up to the biggest match in WCW's history. As for quality, this wasn't as violent & bloody as the other War Games matches but it was still a good match with quite the swerve at the end.
(Fall Brawl '96)
[nWo: Back In Black]
Ladder Match: WCW United States Champion Eddie Guerrero vs. Syxx - This match was Eddie's first ladder match from the nWo's first (and only) PPV "nWo Souled Out" and this was one of the highlights from that PPV. Eddie was going for revenge against the man who stole his United States Championship from him in the Syxx (1-2-3 Kid/X-Pac). This wasn't the best ladder match in history but far from the worse as well as this was more of a wrestling match featuring a ladder instead of what you would usually expect in a ladder match. As Eddie said in his commentary before his ladder match with RVD on his first DVD set, he didn't think this match wasn't that good...and he had a point as this was a good wrestling match featuring a ladder but didn't match up to the standards to set by previous & future ladder matches in wrestling.
(nWo Souled Out '97)
No Disqualification Match: WCW United States Champion Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko - This was a spinoff feud of the previous match as Syxx would go on to steal Malenko's crusierweight title and eventually win it at SuperBrawl the next month thanks to Eddie interference towards Syxx backfiring costing Malenko the title leading to this match. As the commentators would constantly point out, both men were more aggressive & intense than usual here right from the start through their moves & even both doing some trash talking and a bit of brawling with slaps & punches & illegal tactics to each other that didn't let up one bit & played towards the "No DQ" rule in this match. A great match like their usual classic encounters with a more aggressive twist here.
(Uncensored '97)
Title vs. Mask Match: WCW Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho vs. Juventud Guerrera - This was around 2 months into Chris Jericho's best run in his WCW career that showcased the personality that we've all known him for today. The stipulation here was that Juventud must not just win the match but win the championship or unmask. With the stipulation, not only did both men put on the performance that we expect & praised the crusierweight division for but also had Jericho try to use the stipulation to his advantage in unique (and comedic) ways such as purposely trying to get counted out at one point.
(SuperBrawl VIII)
WCW Tag Team Champions Steiner Brothers vs. Outsiders - This was one of those "put a storyline over" matches as this was all about the birth of "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner & the end of the Steiner Brothers (for that time).
(SuperBrawl VIII)
Dallas Page & Karl Malone vs. Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman - This was actually a very fun tag team match with Malone & Rodman both putting in more effort here than you usual get from celebrities in the ring. One real highlight was the aftermath involving Karl Malone.
(Bash At The Beach '98)
WCW Champion Goldberg vs. Dallas Page - Unlike the live PPV broadcast, you get to see more than the first minute here in what was voted as WCW's "Match Of The Year" in '98. They were aggressive & as DDP liked to say, "Jacked Up!" right from the start with Goldberg using his power and working over DDP's arm to counter the Diamond Cutter (RKO for current WWE fans) while Page used his experience to counter Goldberg's offense & used his power against him at moment. One of the best matches in Goldberg's career
(Halloween Havoc '98)
WCW Champion Booker T vs. Lance Storm - Lance Storm was only in WCW for a short time here but made one hell of an impact as he became a triple crown champion by capturing all of the singles titles (U.S., Hardcore, Crusierweight) so now he was going for the "Grand Slam" by challenging for the biggest one of them all in the WCW Championship. The match was real short but was a good contest here for what it was if you can get past the distractions like Mike Awesome on commentary doing his "Fat Chick Thriller" gimmick (Don't Ask!).
("Nitro" Aug. '00)
As usual with every DVD, there are some positives & negatives. The big negative here is that the documentry seemed to go through all the post-Nitro era of the company too quickly for me (you went from the birth of Jim Crockett promotions to the nWo before the first hour was up). Eventhough certain incidents & feuds in WCW's history were heavily talked about on other DVD's....there were still incidents here that could have been talked about or gone more in detail with like the expansion & merging with various promotions like the UWF, the Clash Of The Champions going head up against WrestleMania IV, the controveral ending of Starrcade '97 with Hogan vs. Sting, how the nWo got so big that there were more stars in that group than in WCW, and the issue of racism that was always apparent in WCW's history just to name a few.
The positives were that eventhough everyone has their own list of what should be on the WCW, they did a nice job in giving us quality matches overall (eventhough I could have did without the Outsiders/Steiners & Booker/Storm match) and not a lot of repeats. The major positive for me that overshadows that is the fact that after seeing the negative image WWE gave out on WCW in the past...they did what they did on the Starrcade DVD and give a fair view on the company & kept it away from being a burial like how we've gotten before.
Overall, this isn't on the level of how the documentries of ECW & World Class were but it was better than "Monday Night War" so this is something I would recommend as a "starting point" to learn the history about WCW and later get the documentries on Starrcade, Monday Night War, Legends Of Wrestling: Heatseekers along with those on other ex-WCW personalitles to hear about specific incidents & feuds.
Description of The Rise and Fall of WCW
WCW grew out of a southern promotion, into a giant that battled World Wrestling Entertainment every Monday night. For the first time ever, the complete story of World Championship Wrestling, from Ted Turner?s purchase and entry into the world of professional wrestling, through the Monday night wars, and the company?s eventual collapse.Bestsellers in DVD
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