The Triumph and Tragedy of World Class Championship Wrestling
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DVD details
Actor: Abdullah the Butcher, Jerry Lawler, Mark Lewin, Ric Flair, SunshineBrand: Genius
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 360 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-12-11
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: World Wrestling
Product features:
- Collects some of the greatest matches in WCCW history, reliving electrifying moments for a generation of old-school fans and introducing new fans to the adrenaline-filled excitement of World Class Championship Wrestling. Catch the exploits of the Von Erich brothers and their rivals the Freebirds. See where NWA stars of the era - Bruiser Brody, Ric Flair, Jerry Lawler , Abdullah the Butcher began t
DVD Reviews of The Triumph and Tragedy of World Class Championship Wrestling
DVD Review: The Promotion That Changed The Wrestling World
Summary: 5 Stars
I'll be honest in that I didn't have the chance to see World Class until I got WWE 24/7 a year ago as it wasn't available to me growing up but this is WWE's 4th attempt at telling the story behind another wrestling promotion. This can either go the way of the "Rise & Fall Of ECW" where they go a great job in telling the buildup & downfall of the company along with the legacy it left behind that's still used in wrestling today or the way of the AWA or WCW on the Monday Night Wars DVD where they quickly gloss over the positive influence of the company before spending a majority of time picking apart the negatives of the company from a heavily biased WWE point of view just to put over it's superiority. Well, I saw this as the ECW route in which WWE did justice to a wrestling company that even I knew changed the way wrestling was presented that still effects us today.
The documentry kicks off by talking about the early days of Texas wrestling with comments from Texas legends such as Dusty Rhodes & Dory Funk Jr. The beginning of Fritz Von Erich, his reputation, and how he moved into becoming a promoter & wrestler is talked about. The documentry moves on in how the Von Erich boys (David, Kerry, Kevin) came into wrestling along, Fritz retiring as a wrestler leading to a big show at a football stadium in Texas, the backlash towards the kids being pushed in the promotion, and just how over the Von Erich's were over in Texas. How the TV show expanded into sydication across america & international countries was talked about including how the boys wanted to travel but Fritz didn't want to break the traditional "territorial" rules. All the new elements the promotion brought to wrestling such as personality profiles & features were glossed upon with a funny story about what happened at a water park. The legacy of the Sportatorium was brought up next before moving onto how the Freebirds came into World Class & what elements they brought to the show in & outside the ring was talked about before moving onto how the big rivarly between them & the Von Erichs got started in the cage match with Kerry & Ric Flair. The story behind Gary Hart leaving that night & Ken Mantel taking over the booking along with the influx of young stars coming into the company such as Wild Bill Irwin, Iceman Parsons, Jimmy Garvin with Sunshine & eventually his wife Precious, Chris Adams, Kamala, The Missing Link, and Brusier Brody is heavily discussed. How the Freebirds feuds with the Von Erich's rivarly brought in bigger crowds along with the importance of each member of the group is discussed before moving onto all the events leading up to David's death in Japan along with the aftermath which lead to WCCW's biggest crowd. The memoral show is discussed with highlights of Fritz coming out of retirement against the Freebirds along with Kerry winning the NWA Champion before revealing why Kerry didn't have a long reign as champion. Gary Hart's return along with his influence in the Chris Adams heel turn & feud with Kevin was brought up including the "stiff" working styles both men had with each other. The story behind Mike Von Erich's toxic shock syndrome was talked about before going into the negative effect that "Lance Von Erich" had on the company (I guess he was the Paul Roma of the group). The story of Gino Hernandez in how over he was as a heel and various storylines he was in was talked about before moving on to his death via cocane & how much it effected Gary Hart up to that time (he's passed away since this DVD was released). World Class withdrawing from the NWA & making their own champions was brought up in a negative light with comments from Gary Hart & Kevin in how that was a bad decision despite having wrestlers like Rick Rude & Chris Adams as champion. The story behind Kerry's motorcycle accident & losing his foot is talked about next before talking about the influence of drugs into the company. The events leading up to the suicide of Mike Von Erich is next and such a sad story told by Gary Hart before moving on to the heart attack angle they did with Fritz Von Erich. The SuperClash III PPV with the unification match between AWA Champion Jerry Lawler & WCCW Champion Kerry Von Erich is talked about next with how various parts of match was booked due to certain events before moving on to how WCCW was turned into the USWA. Kerry moving on to the WWF as the Texas Tornado & winning the Intercontinental Championship was highlighted before Kevin went into why he wanted to leave the business & the suicides of both Chris & Kerry Von Erich with footage from the "Current Affair" television show regarding Kerry's death close out the documentry.
This DVD comes with 12 bonus matches featuring a 2 out of 3 Falls match with Duke Keomuka vs. Ricky Starr, Fritz' retirement match against King Kong Bundy, the steel cage match between NWA Champion Ric Flair & Kerry Von Erich that started the feud with the Freebirds, Fritz coming out of retirement with Mike & Kevin against the Freebirds, Chris Adams & Sunshine vs. Jimmy Garvin & Precious, Great Kabuki vs. Kamala, Fantastics vs. Midnight Express, Bruiser Brody & The Missing Link vs. One Man Gang & Rick Rude, Bruiser Brody vs. Abdullah the Butcher in a steel cage match, and a Hair match between Iceman Parsons vs. Buddy Roberts. Kevin Von Erich does alternative commentary with Todd Grisham on two matches with him vs. Chris Adams and with Kevin & Iceman vs. Freebirds.
The only negatives I have here is that eventhough as I said that I didn't watch WCCW until around a year ago, I know that more could have been said about King Kong Bundy & Destivation Inc. since even I heard about them when I was young but yet they didn't get anything past a quick one liner throughout this documentry & they would have gotten some words from Steve Austin since he's said it time & time again that he grew up watching WCCW & would drive down every Friday night to see the Von Erich/Freebird feud so his memories as a fan would have been great to hear. In the end, this DVD reminded me exactly of Jake Roberts' in that when they bring up fun & memorable angles then it's a fun documentry to watch & get a couple of laughts off the stories being told but when they talk about the dark times, it's one that's either really distrubing or really sad to watch. After watching this, you can see why WWE decided to push this documentry back for months after the Benoit incident last July & Triple H described the sad deaths throughout this promotion best..."A public service announcement saying DON'T DO DRUGS!" This isn't just a documenty I recommend as a wrestling fan but one I would recommend for parents to show their children as well who are wrestling fans when teaching them the dangers of heavy drug use & the effects negative effects of suicide.
Description of The Triumph and Tragedy of World Class Championship Wrestling
Collects some of the greatest matches in WCCW history, reliving electrifying moments for a generation of old-school fans and introducing new fans to the adrenaline-filled excitement of World Class Championship Wrestling. Catch the exploits of the Von Erich brothers and their rivals the Freebirds. See where NWA stars of the era - Bruiser Brody, Ric Flair, Jerry Lawler , Abdullah the Butcher ? began their epic careers, and how local heroes Gino Hernandez, Mark Lewin, Tim Brooks and more paved the way for today?s Superstars. Even the Ultimate Warrior got his start here as the Dingo Warrior.Bestsellers in DVD
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