DVD Review
Publisher: Shock
Thu, 1 January 1970
by: The Gimmick
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There have been many wars over the course of human history. The allies versus the Nazis, Pepsi versus Coca-Cola, Collingwood versus the human species to name just a few, and they have all been huge in one way or another. In the world of professional wrestling, none was bigger than the Monday Night War and- you’re not gonna believe this- but that is the topic for this DVD review.
Let me introduce the 2 factions in this war. In this corner, the then World Wrestling Federation and it’s owner, the father of modern day wrestling and a third generation wrestling promoter, Mr. Vincent Kennedy McMahon. And in the opposing corner, World Championship Wrestling and it’s owner, media mogul and billionaire, Mr. Ted Turner. Mr. Turner will be accompanied in this battle by his right hand man Mr. Eric Bischoff.
Now that that’s out of the way, let me run a little history by you.
It all started on January 11th 1993 when WWF/WWE began running the first program, which was to become the biggest and most exciting change in the wrestling business since the WWF/WWE was sold from one McMahon to another in 1983. The program was Monday Night Raw and was beamed live on cable TV throughout the USA every Monday night. Until then wrestling was only ever taped and screened, sometimes up to a month, after it was recorded, usually on a weekend and never in Prime Time. Raw became an instant ratings success due, not only to the fact that it was live meaning the possibility of anything occurring seemed fairly likely, but the quality of matches were higher than had ever been seen before on TV. With Raw, Vince McMahon had proven again that he was the king of sports entertainment and that his WWF/WWE was the undisputed king of pro wrestling.
About 2-3 years earlier Ted Turner had purchased Jim Crockett Promotions, a wrestling organization which made up a big piece of the NWA (National Wrestling Alliance). Eventually Ted and company renamed the organization WCW (World Championship Wrestling) and within the years that followed had rendered it a shell of what it was in its glory days. Management was the main problem. Whether it was selfish wrestling promoters or horrible management, the company seemed to be in huge financial trouble.
Around about the time WWF/WWE had started RAW, Ted Turner had decided to hire an executive producer to run things and get WCW back on track. Enter Eric Bischoff. The first big change Eric Bischoff made was to take WCW TV out of the southern, redneck arenas and move it into the bigger Disney MGM studios. As luck would have it, former WWF/WWE superstar Hulk Hogan was filming a new TV series at the MGM studios and Eric Bischoff decided to go down and have a discussion with him about joining WCW. He did, and what followed was a huge influx of former WWF/WWE superstars into WCW that would help generate interest in the WCW product.
Over the next year and a half- with the inclusion of more PPVs and better TV- WCW grew slowly but surely to the point where they were a threat to the reigning king Vince McMahon and his WWF/WWE. On September 4th 1995 WCW decided to go head to head with RAW and produce their own Monday Night program entitled Monday Night NITRO and the rest is history.
I won’t say anymore in detail because I want you all to see for yourselves what transpired in the 5 years that followed between the two, but the rise of stars like Goldberg, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The NWO, Mick Foley and many more (which are all chronicled on this disc) helped make that period of time, in my opinion, the most exciting time for a wrestling fan. This DVD is awesome, not only for the main feature, which runs for a good 1 ½ hours, but the extras are really good also. 2 big matches from both RAW and NITRO are included as well as interviews and segments from both shows. But in my opinion the high-light on the extras section is the 4 horsemen reunion from NITRO. If you haven’t seen it before check it out and watch for Ric Flair’s emotions. They were as genuine as it gets. Brilliant stuff!
Overall I loved this disc. For someone like me who lived through it (I know I sound like an old man talking about living through the depression and how there was only dirt to eat) it was awesome to re live it again and to hear the inside stories as to what made the war so personal. But for those who didn’t, it’s as close as you’ll get to seeing anyone challenge the mighty Vince McMahon again.
The Gimmick
“And remember never trust a midget or anyone with 2 first names.”
by: The Gimmick
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