WWE Diamond Dallas Page: Positively Living Blu-Ray Review

I'm looking to catch-up on my WWE Home Video situation at the moment, so expect an influx of Blu-Ray and DVD reviews this week. Let's begin with Diamond Dallas Page: Positively Living, which has been available in the UK since the end of March from all the regular outlets.

The main feature is a new documentary that covers the life of Page Joseph Falkinberg and the story of his transformation into Diamond Dallas Page (legally Dallas Page since 2003), through his wrestling career in WCW and WWE and onto the spectacular rise of DDP Yoga. The Blu-Ray's 26 matches include outings with the likes of Chris Jericho, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Ric Flair, "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan and Eddie Guerrero...but is this set worth your time and money? Let's take a look. 

Positively Living Documentary 

As you'd expect with pretty much every doc WWE produces, this is a great watch. The story involves Dallas driving around some old haunts as we follow the story of his childhood and onto his career. His journey into pro wrestling is fascinating and those that are unfamiliar with how Page got into the business will surely find the most enjoyment here. The run-time of just over an hour means that perhaps there's a lack of depth at points, but the structure and flow of the overall film tells a solid over-arching story that may have been damaged by taking further stops along the road. All those you'd expect are interviewed, including a nice surprise from Kimberly Page, with their words, and the narrative as a whole, creating a real feel-good film. The moment when Triple H calls Diamond Dallas Page to tell him he's going into the Hall of Fame is tingly stuff, with Page's reaction to the call making it special moment. 

I would have liked to have seen the documentary spend more time in places and to hear from a more varied pool of interviewees, but taken on it's own value this a great introduction for anyone interesting in delving into one of the more underrated performers in WCW history. 

The Matches

Kicking off with DDP's earliest TV match alongside The Diamond Studd [Scott Hall] against Chris Sullivan & Brian Lee (World Championship Wrestling, Dec '91), things swiftly move into a curious Lethal Lottery Tag Team match pitting Page & Mike Graham against Jushin Thunder Liger & Bill Kazmaier (Starrcade, December '91). My curiosity for this one quickly wore off and I'm still not quite sure why this relatively lengthy bout so early in DDP's career is included. There's improvements seen when tagging with Cactus Jack against Dustin Rhodes [Goldust] & Barry Windham (Saturday Night, Mar '92), but the bout is cut short just when it seems to be getting interesting. A six man tag alongside Vinnie Vegas [Kevin Nash] & Scotty Flamingo [Raven] opposite Marcus Alexander Bagwell, Brad Armstrong & Johnny B. Badd (Saturday Night, Dec '92) continues to show signs of DDP quickly developing as a wrestler, but not much else. 

The first singles bout is with Johnny B. Badd (Spring Stampede, Apr '94) and after a decent jump in time, DDP is still not particularly crisp, however the Battle of the Gimmicks is driven well by Badd and has a pleasant flurry of action to bring it to it's conclusion. The set then begins to move past Page's formative in-ring days, jumping to a United States Heavyweight Championship match with Eddie Guerrero (Starrcade, Dec '96) with the pair connecting nicely in the first truly enjoyable bout of the set. A random mid-match piledriver and a screwy nWo based finish, as well as an uninterested crowd, harm what could have been a much better outing for Guerrero and Page. At first glance a match with some guy called Mark Starr (Monday NITRO, Jan '97) isn't particularly interesting, but the post-match swerve with DDP "joining" the nWo is quintessential WCW viewing and one of the highlights of the Monday Night War. No Disqualification with Randy Savage (Spring Stampede, Apr '97) is a deck-stacker, storyline based epic of a scrap. Coming from one of DDP's most memorable feuds, it's a shame that the subsequent Great American Bash and Halloween Havoc matches aren't included as having the trilogy one after the other would've been a really cool touch. 

A World Heavyweight title bout with Hollywood Hogan (Monday NITRO, Oct' '97) showcases the kind of performer DDP developed into as he sells his arse off for Hogan and gets a DQ finish in return. The post-match angle with Sting making the save from the nWo (a rag-tag bunch including Konnan, Vincent, Curt Hennig, Scott Hall, Scott Norton & nWo Sting) doesn't make this bout anymore worth it's inclusion. Hennig is the adversary in the next bout (Starrcade, Dec '97), where DDP earns his first US Heavyweight title in a decent outing. The two mix a brawling and wrestling style well at points, with Hennig heeling it up to the max to result in a fun out of nowhere victory for DDP. A match with Chris Jericho over the same title (Monday NITRO, Jan '98) is included presumably just to put Jericho's name on the artwork. A Raven's Rules match with...um...Raven (Spring Stampede, Apr '98) has some value in it's brawly weapons and interference based tomfoolery, but it's still not a good match. 

A tag bout with basketball chap Karl Malone against Hollywood Hogan & another basketball chap Dennis Rodman (Bash at the Beach, Jul '98) is needlessly long, but not actually that bad. DDP's ability to allow the celebs to shine and still look a million dollars was a special skill that not many have ever possessed. This match wouldn't have worked without Page in his role. A similar match with DDP teaming with comedian, non-wrestler Jay Leno against Hogan and non-comedian, non-wrestler Eric Bischoff (Road Wild, Aug' 98) is not as good, with Leno & Bischoff lacking any real athletic ability. The fact that Hogan sold an arm wrench for Leno means that pretty much everything else that goes on here is irrelevant. It could have been much much worse, but it's still shit. 

One of DDP's top three matches is here as Goldberg (Halloween Havoc, Oct '98) is our unlikely hero for a perfectly simple World Heavyweight title bout in front of a molten Las Vegas crowd. The two do exactly what they need to do to get that audience whipped into a frenzy and it makes for a satisfying watch. The next night, it's Bret Hart over the US Heavyweight title (Monday NITRO, Oct '98) and another solid match, that's well worth a look-see. There's more silly WCW nonsense in the aftermath, but when DDP and Hart get it going in the ring, it's pretty sweet. 

Dallas' first World title win is present, but it's unfortunate that it comes in the form of a shit show of a Fatal Fourway with Hollywood Hogan, Ric Flair and Sting (Spring Stampede, Apr' 99), with Randy Savage operating as guest referee. You'd think with such a fine list of talent, that these five lads would, at the very least, be able to coast to something mildly engaging, and perhaps this is, but for all the wrong reasons. The booking is shit, the wrestling is shit, the finish is shit, this match is shit, you should watch it, because I did. Luckily, the night after against just Sting (Monday NITRO, Apr' 99) is DDP's best match, despite dropping the belt. The heel work from Page is juxtaposed well with his earlier babyface matches here, with the second half of the bout being full of top drawer near falls and reversals. It all comes crumbling down later on in the same show when DDP gets the title back in another Four-Way, this time with Kevin Nash and Goldberg, which manages to undo the good work of the earlier bout, as very little happens and when it happens it happens awkwardly.  

The final WCW match is a bizarre tag match with Bam Bam Bigelow against Perry Saturn and (a mostly absent) Kanyon (Monday NITRO, May '99), that whilst containing an impressive performance from Saturn, has a bollocks finish when Kanyon finally turns up. Things close up with the only WWF match, which is a fun clash with Christian over the European Championship (WrestleMania X8, Mar '02), and whilst it doesn't set the world alight it's still an easy watch. 

Blu-Ray Exclusives 

A Television title match with The Renegade (Fall Brawl, Sep '95) is not good, not at all good. Then there's a Battle Royal for a World title shot, with a bunch of crabcakes, namely Scott Norton, Ice-Train, Dirty Dick Slater, Earl Robert Eaton, Rocco Rock, Johnny Grunge and The Barbarian (Slamboree, May '96), which is as much of a farce as you could imagine. A US title bout with Bret Hart (World War Three, Nov' 98) is a slog of a bout. Seriously, there's nothing bad going on, but there's just so much meaningless slop and for a PPV main event you would've expected a lot more. Things aren't helped by the near 20 mins of action concluding with a screwy finish either. 

The Giant [Big Show] provides an intriguing opponent for DDP (Starrcade, Dec' 98) next, with the pair doing some strong big man/small man schtick, which is different from most of the content on the set. Beyond the story, it's hard to get past just how green Giant is at this point and the fact this is WCW means the booking is confused as hell. A steel cage match with Jeff Jarrett (Monday NITRO, Apr '00) concludes a poor selection of matches, as despite the cage having a roof WCW still managed to use a screwy finish, which is then fucked up further by Kanyon. 

Everything ends with the debut of DDP for WWF (RAW, Jun '01), with Dallas doing his best with having to do the Undertaker's wife's stalker gimmick.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 4.78/10

Positively Living is a strange release, because parts seem extremely well thought through, whilst others appear thrown together. The documentary is a strong film, telling it's story well and hitting most of the major points, whilst also creating a strong image of the man behind the character. The matches begin by following Page's arc of improvement and then jump about to title wins and then kind of gets lost. The match quality doesn't always reflect DDP's body of work, with matches against Raven (Spring Stampede, Apr '98), Chavo Guerrero Jr. (Fall Brawl, Sep '96), the aforementioned bouts with Randy Savage (The Great American Bash, Jun '97, Halloween Havoc, Oct '97) and Johnny B. Badd (World War 3, Nov '95) all missing, as well as a stellar three way with Raven and Chris Benoit (Uncensored, Apr '98) for obvious reasons. 

As a whole the match selection feels little bit like "Hah, wasn't WCW ridiculous?", instead of picking the stronger and most enjoyable matches of Page's career. With the WWE Network readily available, I'd personally want, if not all, of a person's best matches, at least, the majority to be here in one place. The lest said about the Blu-Ray exclusives the better.

This is a solid release, but had potential to be a lot stronger. 

All articles, reviews and interviews are presented for free. But if you'd like to contribute to help our writers keep writing, you can do so at the following link. Give us money for wheat-free bread - paypal.me/atpw 

Twitter - @ATPWrestling Facebook - /acrossthepondwrestling Instagram - @ATPWrestling

TV Review: WWE Monday Night RAW #1232 - Sami Zayn v Braun Strowman 3 *Last Man Standing*

On 2nd January, WWE aired the first Monday Night RAW of the year from the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, USA. Sami Zayn and Braun Strowman headlined the show with a Last Man Standing match, that appeared to be the culmination of their feud. With the likes of Chris Jericho, Cesaro, General Manager Mick Foley, Seth Rollins and Universal Champion Kevin Owens all featuring in the show, could WWE kick off 2017 in style? Or would that New Year's Day hangover still be around? Let's take a little look. 

Braun Strowman's Last Man Standing victory over Sami Zayn, produced the most interesting part of the show as the pair had a driven and compelling outing. The match had a sense of urgency from the very beginning, with Zayn using a kendo stick, and the pair managed to keep that going, in part thanks to Zayn's terrific fighting from underneath performance and also because of the believablity of Strowman as an unstoppable, yet frustrated, force. Things were kept interesting by a lot of movement around ringside and into the backstage area, with a good portion of the fight happening on the ramp, with the match using it's one big spot of a crossbody off the stage and through a table form Zayn, as an effective near fall. It was a shame that the Tampa crowd didn't seem to get behind Zayn at any point, as this would have produced a much bigger moment of the finish, as the Underdog from the Underground took repeated punishment, but I can't see what else either guy could have done in this particular bout. I'm still unsure on how far Strowman can go in WWE, because obviously competing with someone like Sami will help to mask some of the inadequacies, but I'm looking forward to seeing if he sinks or swims in 2017.

The show's semi-main saw Roman Reigns manage to retain the United States Championship over Chris Jericho in a solid encounter, with Kevin Owens banned from ringside and the possibility of Reigns losing the title if he was disqualified or counted out. As you'd expect the many gimmicks dominated the story, with Jericho attempted to get Reigns either counted or disqualified. The Eddie Guerrero weapon spot has become a bit of cliche recently and whilst it worked in this situation, it was a little bit lazy to go back to this old classic once again. The set up for the finish was the brightest work in the match, with Jericho able to avoid a handful of spear attempts, but after being unable to win with a Codebreaker and then running into an exposed turnbuckle, Jericho was finally caught off guard. There isn't a whole lot of chemistry between Reigns and Jericho, but they capable of having good matches together in the right situation and that's what we got here.

The show-closer may have been advertised as Goldberg guesting on the new Kevin Owens Show, but Chris Jericho, Paul Heyman, Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman were also involved as the push towards the Royal Rumble was taken up a gear. The initial banter back and forth with Owens and Jericho didn't really work for me, as the scripting was a little on the obvious side and seemed to drag on without offering much that hadn't already been said on the episode, let alone over the last few months. The tease of dissension between the pair was handled well, but the segment didn't really pick up until Goldberg entered and brought a whole heap of energy. Heyman's appearance allowed Brock Lesnar's feud with Goldberg to be kept in the mind, but Reigns and Strowman's involvement gave proceedings a new and potentially interesting twist as the Road to WrestleMania begins to speed up. The double spear from Reigns and Goldberg to Strowman was also a cool moment, even if was majorly signposted by all.

At the other end of the show, General Manager Mick Foley was confronted by Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho, with a number of segments being set up for the rest of the show, as Commissioner Stephanie McMahon also got involved. Setting up the Kevin Owens Show segment as well as Owens v Seth Rollins and Jericho v Roman Reigns for later in the show was pleasing, but at times the conversations were clunky and ultimately pretty unnecessary. Of course, no episode of RAW would be complete without Foley fucking something up as at one point he managed to warn Jericho from interfering in his own match. There was a "shark cage" on the set also, everyone said "shark cage" a lot. The whole affair lack any particular energy or tension and I found myself drifting off from pretty quickly. Everything that was announced here could have been announced before the show or by the commentary team, freeing up almost ten minutes for the rest of the show. 

Kevin Owens suffered a disqualification loss to Seth Rollins in the opening match, that meant that the Universal Champion would be banned from ringside for the Chris Jericho v Roman Reigns US title bout later in the show. The two have had good matches in September and October last year, as well as in Ring of Honor in 2010, but this was not one to add to that list. It wasn't that the wrestling was bad, it was just that it wasn't very interesting, especially before the first advert break. Owens missing the cannonball on the outside was a sweet spot, but that moment was pretty much an exception to the rule. I feel like not enough was made of the finish, where Owens purposefully got himself disqualified, meaning he could no longer support his best friend later on in the show. Without telling the story of Owens really not being too fussed about helping out Jericho, the match was left without anything that could be confused with being interesting.

Karl Anderson picked up his first singles victory in WWE, by defeating RAW Tag Team Champion Cesaro in a fun match that saw both Luke Gallows and other RAW Tag Team Champion Sheamus get involved. Cesaro looked great throughout this one, being booked as the superior competitor, whist Anderson was able to take control at numerous points thanks to the outside distractions from Gallows. With Sheamus joining the commentary team, this not only worked to create a decent narrative for this match, but also emphasised the dynamic between the two sides for a potential championship bout down the line. The finish played into this idea more, with Sheamus finally coming to Cesaro's aid and ending up accidentally crotching him on the top rope, with Anderson picking up the win with a diving neckbreaker. The Club haven't exactly lived up to their potential in WWE yet, but if a clash with Sheamus and Cesaro is given enough focus, then we may start to see what Gallows & Anderson can really offer WWE.

New Year, New Day! Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods celebrated a brand new year by making copious amounts of sexual references. They revealed they'd be in the Royal Rumble match and talked about "dipping sticks" and stuff of that nature. If you like thinly vieled, mildly rude references then you were supposedly buzzing your tits off for this. Things got a little weird when Titus O'Neil arrived and wanted to join the group. I was pleasantly surprised by how much O'Neil went for this, as he's previously come across as pretty wooden in his promos, but here he showed a charisma that I can't remember seeing from the former WWE Tag Team Champion. The build towards a match between Woods and O'Neil was handled well, with The Real Deal not taking to kindly to not being allowed to join and dropping the ol' weakest link bomb. I'm not sure I'd like to see this go any further, but as a little bit of filler as we head towards the Rumble it was at least entertaining.

Any Other Business

• Xavier Woods defeated Titus O'Neil, with a sloppy roll-up finish.

• Bayley became #1 Contender to Charlotte's RAW Women's Championship, after defeating Nia Jax, thanks to a distraction from Sasha Banks in a disappointingly short match.

• TJ Perkins defeated The Brian Kendrick - Drew Gulak defeated Cedric Alexander - Rusev & Jinder Mahal defeated Big Cass in a Two-on-One Handicap Match

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.06/10

This was an average wrestling show on the whole, with a couple of good matches (Strowman v Zayn, Jericho v Reigns, Cesaro v Anderson), but also with one story taking up way too much air time, leaving the Cruiserweight and Women's division bout to be horrifically undertimed. It was frustrating to see matches that could potentially tear the house down, only given two minutes. Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho's relationship was over exposed, taking up almost fourty minutes of air time and even with Goldberg managing to change things up with a different energy in the final segment it was just too much for me.

Review - James Marston

Find Us 

Twitter - @ATPWrestling 

Facebook - /acrossthepondwrestling

Instagram - @ATPWrestling

Opinion: But Why Wrestling?

We’ve all experienced it. Wrestling is big in business and in cultural capital: WWE’s stock price is higher than that of Manchester United and WrestleMania and Smackdown are part of the global lexicon. So why do people still not get the appeal of wrestling?

At work recently, we all undertook a staff development session. It was led by one of the managers, a professional guy who works hard in his industry. As we collaborated on a task that was designed to enhance our empathy skills, a series of images were shown on a projector and the staff body had to react to them. I noticed a connection between the images: the shocked faces were familiar to me. I knew what was causing the people on screen to look so aghast: these images were taken from the New Orleans crowd just after The Undertaker’s streak had ended at WrestleMania 30. This super-professional management type was a wrestling fan.

Talking at work in the coming days, more fans came out of the woodwork: one guy said he watched highlights regularly on YouTube whilst a female colleague lamented that her boyfriend had taken to putting her on a list whenever she upset him. Wrestling, we are often told, is for kids. People tell us it’s not real (my brother’s response that he’s sure he hasn’t imagined it, often silences this claim). It is a conundrum to many: why would adults, professionals, management types be interested in that?

So what does make wrestling so appealing to responsible people who apparently should know better? In no particular order, here we go…

Admire the craft.

When wrestling is bad, it’s panto. But when it’s good, its theatre, Shakespeare for the masses. Many sophisticated types might scoff at that but some Shakespeare is just ridiculous: really how clever is A Midsummer Night’s Dream with its weird little fairies and donkey men? I’d take the yearlong build to the Mega Powers exploding over that. Hell, I’d take Vince McMahon with his arse out in Madison Square Garden over that.

Arsene Wenger once said that “football is an art, like dancing is an art - but only when it's well done does it become an art”. The same is true of wrestling: the best stories, promos and matches become art in my eyes. Watching a performer grow and reach a certain level is captivating: as they hone their craft and perfect their skills, they become more than an entertainer, they become an expert practitioner. I’d argue that in the last year, John Cena has gone from kid friendly superhero to respected veteran because the sense is that he has developed his game. And just as London has the Tate and Tate Modern, wrestling accommodates contrasting tastes: whether it be Mick Foley vs Randy Orton in a hardcore match or Will Ospreay and Marty Scurll tearing it up in a back and forth high spot war, the complexities of wrestling, its combination of drama and sport, athleticism and psychology, surely demand at least a grudging respect.

What’s wrong with panto?

So I said that when wrestling is bad, it’s panto. And sometimes, that’s no bad thing. At a PROGRESS Wrestling show a couple of years ago, I saw Grado and Mad Man Manson re-enact Titanic halfway through a match. I wouldn’t call this art in itself but it was funny and the crowd certainly enjoyed the moment. And funny is good. Chris Jericho’s current act is at least half-way house between panto and theatre: yes, the slow build to the end of his friendship with Kevin Owens is the trademark of a strong narrative structure but his promos are over the top and all the better for it. Sometimes, we are invested in the drama of wrestling and delight in the blood and fury of a combative feud. But sometimes, we just want to be entertained so give us some funny. As long as it isn’t boring or offensive, wrestling can’t really go wrong.

We don’t have to take it seriously.

If you’re under 18 and reading this, you need to know something. Life is hard. Work is tough, the responsibilities of being an adult can be all-consuming and the news is just terrifying. We need to be able to switch off and football doesn’t achieve that: Arsenal games have caused me more stress and anxiety than 10 Brexits. With footy (or other competitive sports), the result matters too much: it can get in the way of the spectacle. That’s not an issue with wrestling: we know its pre-determined so the result doesn’t matter. We can just enjoy the show, its intricacies and its melodrama for what it is. I equate live wrestling to be as close to watching a gig as it is a football match: there’s a sense of inevitability and security, knowing you’ll see something familiar and comforting; maybe some new material but plenty of old classics. No stress- just a performance to immerse yourself in.

Nostalgia

This is a big one for me: again, this may be to escape a dramatically changing world or to alleviate the pressures of adulthood, but isn’t there something re-assuring about revisiting your childhood? It’s just so easy to do this with in wrestling as opposed to other interests. Dennis Bergkamp will never play for Arsenal again so I can’t reconnect with my younger self by watching him grace the field in a way that wrestling enables me when Goldberg steps back in the ring. The stars of our youth have never really left wrestling in a way that they do in real sport: when an ex-player returns to a club as manager in the sporting world, they are transformed, both physically and in their role and demeanour. In wrestling, our childhood heroes are still presented as the supermen they were way back when: 2016 Goldberg doesn’t look much different to the 1998 version. And has Hulk Hogan really aged between 1983 and 2016?

Why wrestling? Because it’s both art and disposable fun. Because it is both drama and comedy. Because it is, first and foremost, about enjoyment, valuing performance over results and evoking nostalgic feelings of joy. Because it has given the world The Rock and one of the biggest entertainment dates on the calendar. Because it is something I’m already passing onto my son- now through old Hasbro figures; one day through live shows and road trips. Come to think of it, why don’t more people like wrestling? I’ll have to ask the boss…

Words - Sean Taylor-Richardson (@GrownManCenaFan)

Images, Editor - James Marston (@IAmNotAlanDale)

Find Us 

Twitter - @ATPWrestling 

Facebook - /acrossthepondwrestling

Instagram - @ATPWrestling

Photo Credits 

Image 1 - http://www.kotaku.com.au
Image 2 - https://wrestlebloger.wordpress.com
Image 3 - http://www.inquisitr.com
Image 4 - http://www.intouchweekly.com

Blu-Ray Review: WWE The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro Vol. 3

WWE's The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro Vol. 3 is out on on DVD and Blu-Ray from www.wwedvd.co.uk and all other good home video outlets. The set takes the form of a match and segment compilation, with Diamond Dallas Page appearing intermittently to narrate and lead into certain portions of the content. There 34 matches and 8 segments (with a further 6 matches and 2 segments as Blu-Ray exclusives) with the likes Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Bret Hart, Sting, The Outsiders and more feautring throughout the set.

Disc One

The opening match between Lex Luger and "Macho Man" Randy Savage (October 1995) is decent start to the set, with the pair stringing together some nice looking sequences, although like a lot of the matches on this set is harmed by having a "TV finish" (To be expected, really!) Johnny B. Badd clearly is up to wrestling Eddie Guerrero (November 1995) in the style of bout that is laid out, and despite some quite clever ideas, the end result is kind of shitty. Diamond Dallas Page and Sting (January 1996), put on a solid TV clash, that is certainly helped along by a lively Charleston crowd. The first real quality bout of the set is Savage and Ric Flair's (January 1996) World Heavyweight Championship clash, which features an electric finish, even if the commentary is more interested in pushing SOME GUY called Kevin Greene.  


Having Scott Hall and Kevin Nash on commentary makes a match between Rick Steiner and Sting (December 1996), that becomes more of a segment, ridiculously entertaining, as the two discuss whether is not Sting is part of the nWo. Another cracking in-ring segment with the nWo kicking out The Giant (December 1996) follows, with the amount of debris thrown into the ring by the fans being quite a site. nWo continues to dominate as the entire group and what feels like the entire roster brawl in the ring (May 1997), with Hollywood Hogan and Randy Savage's commentary adding something a little extra to proceedings. I'm convinced that the match compilers saw Chris Jericho vs. Juventud Guerrera (June 1997) and went "Yeah, that'll be all-right"...it isn't, it's botchy and Guerrera looks like he's never stepped foot inside a ring. 


Scott Steiner battles Randy Savage (July 1997) in a bout that features some competent action, but lacks urgency, harming the pace as the pair plod along and wait for the nWo run-in. The Outsiders are on sterling form in a tag match opposite Diamond Dallas Page and Lex Luger (August 1997), with one of the hottest crowds on the entire set and quite clever finish for television that left me wanting to see what would come next. nWo bitch-boys Vincent, Konnan, Buff Bagwell, Scott Norton and Rick Rude replacing the WCW signs (December 1997) with the nWo logo is interesting for about ten seconds, but quickly becomes a bore and runs WAY too long. The segment continuing all the way through to include the nWo Monday Nitro intro is a nice touch, but Eric Bischoff giving Hollywood Hogan two motorcycles and a limo (with a hot tub in it, because WCW) is mind numbingly bad. 


A cruiser weight tag team pitting Chris Jericho and Eddie Guerrero against Chavo Guerrero and Dean Malenko (February 1998) is one of the best bouts on the entire set, as one would imagine, but is hurt by Eddie trying to heel it up and the El Paso crowd not having any of it. nWo trying to recruit Rick Steiner (March 1998) did absolutely nothing for me, because I just couldn't give a fuck about Rick Steiner. The Giant chucking Scott Hall into a pool (March 1998) is at least a novelty to see, in a time when all WWE's venues look the same, but is still really quite silly, SPRING BREAK! Michael Buffer is the bane of my life, seriously every time this guy turns up I want to fast forward. He does the intro for a confusing Randy Savage vs. Hollywood Hogan bout (May 1998) where I'm pretty sure that everyone was heel. 


There's more nWo antics as Lex Luger joins the Wolfpac (May 1998), with so many of these jumps and without any real context it's difficult to get too involved. There is however, a superb segment featuring some back and forth between Hollywood Hogan, Eric Bischoff, Diamond Dallas Page and Karl Malone (June 1998), that's paced to tee and the crowd laps up every minute of. Things take a down-ward turn with Scott Hall's alcoholic "gimmick" in a match opposite Kidman, where Vincent refuses to give Hall a drink until he wins the contest (September 1998). It's easy to forget just however over Diamond Dallas Page was, but his over-booked contest with Kanyon (October 1998), is testament to Page's popularity if not anything else.


There's pretty cool stunt in a segment involving Bret Hart, Diamond Dallas Page and The Giant (December 1998), with Page offering a decent insight into it in his lead-in prior. A three way bout between Bam Bam Bigelow, Goldberg and Kevin Nash (December 1998) is at least an interesting combination of guys, but with the match coming just before Goldberg and Nash's infamous Starrcade bout there's way too much of an eye on that match for this one to get too interesting.

Disc Two

When DDP puts over a match between Booker T and Bret Hart (February 1999) as being "nothing less than a clinic", it's easy to be a bit sceptical, with what has gone before, but this is probably the best match of the set. Plenty of great back and forth between the two, who both look very comfortable in the ring, but it's a major shame that the focus of the show isn't on the pairs quality wrestling match. There's a strong story being told in Goldberg and Ric Flair's (March 1999) entry, but it's hurt by some stupid booking. I had absolutely no idea what was going in Diamond Dallas Page and Hollywood Hogan's brawling bout (March 1999) and quickly lost interest. A hardcore bout between Rick Steiner and Hak is thoroughly entertaining (June 1999), but the booking is mind-boggling as Sting makes an appearance. 


Whilst a tag match with Kevin Nash and Sid Vicious on the opposite to Sting and Hollywood Hogan (July 1999) might be star-studded, this is WCW...and the hallmarks of the promotion are all over the bout towards it's conclusion. There's a decent match between Sting and Bret Hart over the World Heavyweight Championship (October 1999) but even this bout isn't quite as smooth as it should have been. A Ladder match between Hart, Vicious, Scott Hall and Goldberg with Kevin Nash as special guest referee (November 1999) is a steaming pile of wank...perhaps one of the worst matches I've ever seen. Hart puts on another sound match, this time with Jeff Jarrett (November 1999) but similar to the earlier Sting bout it's nothing to go out of your way to see. 


A Tornado Tag Team match (which is also apparently Falls Count Anywhere) with Sting and Vampiro taking on Team Package (March 2000) is utter silliness throughout, but is actually very entertaining. Booker T and Mike Awesome's World Heavyweight Championship bout (July 2000) is another satisfactory encounter with some nice back and forth between the two and a CLEAN FINISH! To close off the set for the banter, there's a pre-match promo from SCOTT STEINER! A SCOTT STEINER PROMO! Scott teams with brother Rick for a bizarre match with Booker and Diamond Dallas Page. (March 2001)

Blu-Ray Exclusives

The Blu-Ray exclusives kick-off with a Scott Hall promo, oh you are treating us WWE. Hall teams with Wolfpac brother Syxx in a short but sweet bout opposite the Steiner Brothers (October 1997). Gene Okerlund interviewing Ric Flair and Bret Hart is a diamond of a segment with and shows just what both men could do when motivated (January 1998). I found Hart's match with Lex Luger (August 1998) rather absorbing, the bout tells a sound story, with the commentary team (Tony Shiavone, Mike Tenay, Larry Zybyszko and Bobby Heenan) being on their best form of the entire set. 


The bout between Bret Hart and Hollywood Hogan (September 1998) is going strong for the portion of the match just between those two, but as soon as the booking team and Sting get involved it quickly became a pile of horseshit. The two nWo factions brawling backstage (leading to the Wolfac flipping Hollywood's limo) is a lot of fun with plenty of stuff going on throughout it's very enjoyable in isolation. The exclusives conclude with an "Everything is happening" bout between Jeff Jarrett, Goldberg, Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner (June 2000) and not wanting to break from tradition, we close things with a truly wank finish.

Finally...

I think the first point I need to make here is that the idea of having a third volume of a "Very Best" series is pretty ridiculous...if the first volume was the "Very Best" then this volume surely can't be?


Diamond Dallas Page is a fun host once again, offering some nice personal stories to go behind some of the matches, however, I can't help feeling having a different narrator for different matches and segments could have added the extra context that certain bouts could have done with. Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo explaining some of the booking decision could have been very interesting...


The entire set is pretty watchable from start to finish and whilst some of the moments are cringe-inducing or head-scratching, a lot of them are decent television outings. That being said there isn't a lot that is worth searching out to watch, with only three matches standing out as true quality bouts (Savage vs. Flair, Guerrero & Jericho vs. Guerrero & Malenko, Booker vs. Hart). If you're a big fan of average, television matches then you'll enjoy yourself here. The segments are hit and miss, but there is some absolute gold at points, with the Bret Hart and Ric Flair interview on the Blu-Ray exclusives standing out as one of the best of the bunch.


The set comes across as a good representation as the overall feels of Monday NITRO with a solid mixture of match types and segments. If you don't fancy trawling through every episode on the WWE Network then this could be a good purchase for you, although I'd imagine the first two volumes would be first on your list here.


You can find the set at WWEDVD, Amazon, Base, eBay, Hive, Rakuten and Blackwells. With WWEDVD offering the best price at £22.99 for the Blu-Ray.

DVD Review: WWE Monday Night War Vol. 1 - Shots Fired

WWE's Monday Night War Vol. 1 - Shots Fired is out now on four-disc DVD and three-disc Blu-Ray, available from www.wwedvd.co.uk and all other good home video stores. The main features ten episodes from the Monday Night War series that aired on the WWE Network between July 2014 and January 2015. Filling in between the episodes is a brand new interview conducted by Renee Young with Triple H and Sting. There is, however, no full matches included.

Disc One

Episode 1 - The War Begins

Aired - 7th July 2014


The series get's off to a strong start with a look at how the Monday Night War between WCW and WWF began. The episode features a sprawling story, beginning with the early days of cable TV and includes a nice glimpse into the relationship between head honchos Vince McMahon and Ted Turner. Hulk Hogan and Lex Luger both feature heavily, with both men's moves to WCW given a fair amount of coverage and making for a satisfying narrative. There's some nice inclusion of stuff that perhaps wouldn't have merited their own installment, such as the dirty tactics that both sides employed throughout the war. Vince McMahon and Lex Luger are the star interviews here for me, with McMahon's opinion on Nitro going head to head with Raw, as well as Luger's insight into his jump to WCW prior to the first episode. I'd have liked to have seen the documentary be a little more fluid in it's description of events between the two promotion, as things seem to cover WCW and then WWE, without comparing the two companies all that much. Still a good start for the series.

The interview with Triple H and Sting provides a good insight into both lockeroom's at the time of the first episode of Monday Nitro, whilst Triple H also discusses into areas that the documentary doesn't go, such as the infamous Curtain Call incident.

Episode 2 - The Rise of the nWo

Aired - 26th August 2014


The main problem with this episode is that it's been less than three years since WWE released the nWo - The Revolution three disc, which included a full length documentary, however if you haven't seen that documentary it won't be a problem. The feature, as the title would suggest, mainly focuses on the glory days of the nWo, which is a rather interesting choice. Hulk Hogan offers the best interview on this one, with the Hulkster noting his initial reluctance to join the group, presenting some sound reasoning. The inclusion of WWF's decision to use Fake Razor and Fake Diesel is one of the rare times throughout this series where WWE admit some kind of mistake on their part. Chris Jericho provides a glance at what it was like to be on the outside of the group and it's a shame not to have a few more outside voice chiming in on this. The episode works fine in it's position, following nicely on from the initial episode.

Sting completely no-selling Renee Young's question about potentially being the 3rd man in the nWo continues a frustrating theme with the Stinger, who seems reluctant to give away much about his time in the promotion.

Disc Two

Episode 3 - Embracing Attitude

Aired - 27th August 2014


Similar to the previous episode, if you've already seen The Attitude Era DVD set (released 2012) then there is nothing important here that you won't have already heard before. The biggest criticism here is that the timeline the episode follows is seemingly completely random, jumping at one point from the Hardcore division to the birth of the Mr. McMahon character. The Attitude Era is put over something fierce, as one would imagine, with the main points being that things were sexy and awesome during those days. The coverage of WWF's Hardcore division, as opposed to WCW's, is horrendously biased, with no real reason's given for why one was better than the other. My absolute highlight of the entire show is Daniel Bryan's impression of Sunny, which had me in bits for a minute or so. If this episode had been shuffled around to take a more linear review at the Attitude Era (and therefore it's effects on the ratings) it would have been all the better for it.

Episode 4 - A New D-Generation

Aired - 2nd September 2014


WWE's previous documentary releases on D-Generation X have, at least, The New and Improved DX and DX: One Last Stand have, at least, looked at the faction in years following the Monday Night Wars, although numerous releases on Triple H and Shawn Michaels have covered that time period. Shawn Michaels stands out of the talking heads on this, providing a frank description at his turbulent personal life during the time, although the documentary shies away from going into too much details. There's also some well thought out comparisons of the D-Generation X and WCW's nWo, with Michaels again standing out with some strong reasoning to back up his opinion. There's more of a focus on specific moments in the history of the faction, such as Rick Rude's defection to WCW and the infamous DX address, and therefore it's a shame that the ratings for these specific shows aren't brought up at the same time. Rude and Chyna are the only faces missing from the talking heads, and whilst Rude is sadly no longer with us, Chyna could have offered a different perespective into the time she spent with the group. This episode is where the cross over with previous episodes really begins, and it becomes a frustrating motif for the series from here on in. 

Disc Three

Episode 5 - Have A Nice Day

Aired - 9th September 2014


Another name with a number of previous DVD releases, including Mick Foley: Greatest Hits and Misses, Mick Foley - Hard Knocks and Cheap Pops and most recently, For All Mankind - The Life and Career of Mick Foley, a lot of the ground covered here will be familiar to most. For me, the documentary looks at a lot of content that it doesn't need to, spending a good deal of time peeking at Foley's career prior to the Monday Night War, and whilst certain elements like his time in WCW are relevant, I'd have preferred to see this focused on Foley's career during that period. Foley's ability to change throughout his career means that there's a good deal of different footage available and keep this episode feeling fresh. Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler provide fascinating insight at what it was like to be at ringside for Foley's infamous Hell in a Cell match at King of the Ring 1997. There's also a fantastic look at Foley's WWF tenure from the other side of the trenches, as Diamond Dallas Page, Kevin Sullivan and Larry Zbyszko all give sound interviews on the subject. Once again the episode is hurt by covering previous ground, with the nWo again featuring heavily on an episode where they wouldn't have been missed had the not appeared.

The interview with Sting and Triple H quickly shifts off Foley onto something else entirely, however not before Sting imparts his most interesting story of the DVD.

Episode 6 - The Hart of War

Aired - 16th September 2014


Bret Hart is another wrestler who WWE have given a number of DVD releases over the years, Bret Hitman Hart: The Best There Is, The Best There Was, The Best There Ever Will Be, Hart & Soul: The Hart Family Anthology, Greatest Rivalries - Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart and Bret Hitman Hart: The Dungeon Collection have all graced video stores shelves. From the very opening of this episode, it's made clear that this is all about the Montreal Screwjob, with no real effort made to look at any other element of Hart's career during the Monday Night War. There's more content on the nWo, as well as the Attitude Era, which whilst both seem relevant, feature reused interviews from their own episodes, which is pretty lazy on the production teams part. There is a decent look at Hart and Shawn Michaels backstage problems, with Jerry "The King" Lawler and Pat Patterson telling an interesting story between the two of them. Where this episode really shines for me is in it's use of footage from the film Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows (if you haven't seen it...go now), which provides some real life footage that grounds a number of the comments made. The juxtaposing opinions of Hart and Eric Bischoff on his WCW run also makes for good viewing.

Whilst Sting doesn't really have much to say about Hart, other than that the two have the same finishing hold, Triple H does offer an extra dimension to the episodes coverage of the Montreal Screwjob.

Episode 7 - Foundations of War

Aired - 2nd December 2014

The set jumps two months, in terms of when the episodes aired on WWE Network, for reasons. A slightly different approach to this episodes, see's The Undertaker and Sting become the focus of the piece, which is a breath of fresh air from previous episodes, and allows things to jump from one promotion to the other quite easily. From my knowledge, this was WWE's first documentary look at the career of Sting, and whilst The Undertaker has had multiple DVD sets, the gimmick means that The Deadman is never focused on for too long. Again, I'd have liked to have seen more focus on the pairs journeys during the Monday Night War, rather than their times in either promotion prior. The documentary lacking both The Undertaker and Sting as interviewees means that we never get a true idea of their mindsets for staying loyal for both companies, which is odd because Undertaker does turn up elsewhere on the set. One of the stronger episodes present here, because of the dual focus.

Sting is again slightly reluctant to reveal anything during the post-episode interview, which is a real shame, as with him not being present on the main feature, it would have been well received to hear him reply to some of the points made in the episode.

Disc Four

Episode 8 - The Austin Era has Begun

Aired - 29th September 2014


With six WWE DVD sets to his name, there isn't really much that isn't known about Steve Austin's career, is there? Throw in the fact that numerous episodes throughout the series so far, especially Embracing Attitude, have covered a good depth of Austin's relevance to the Monday Night War and by the time you've got to this episode it's already become a little bit of an overkill. With a strange amount of references to Hulk Hogan throughout, there is at least, some good comments from those in the industry at the time, as well as current WWE wrestlers. The moment Austin breaks his neck at SummerSlam 1997 is repeated at least three times here, which is lovely (seriously though, once was enough). There is some rare footage that I hadn't seen before included, like Austin's WrestleMania 14 press conference after winning the World Heavyweight Championship. Whilst the story is as fascinating as ever, it's nothing most won't have heard before.


Triple H and Sting have a great chat about wrestling being built on characters, rather than moves, with The Game in particular giving great observation.

Episode 9 - Who's Next?

Aired - 21st October 2014

Goldberg is someone who WWE have surprisingly yet to release a documentary on (although they did release a match compilation a few years ago), which means that this episode is one of the most interesting of the ten released here. Someone who's career pretty much all took place during the Monday Night Wars, Goldberg's story is covered in full and allowed to focus entirely on the Monday Night Wars themselves. William Regal offers a superb understanding into his infamous encounter with Goldberg from 1998, although it is a shame that we don't get to hear Goldberg's side of what went down. The comparison of Goldberg and Steve Austin, that is glanced at in the previous episode, offers some differing views and works well as the talking heads exchange opinions. CM Punk may quite possibly steal the show however, with a hilarious description of how Goldberg's streak came to end.

It's clear that WWE's opinion of Goldberg isn't particularly high, with "Two Moves, One Name" being used during the opening of his episode and therefore when the Sting and Triple H interview descends into talk of limited workers, it's not all that surprising.y 

Episode 10 - Flight of the Cruiserweights

Aired - 14th October 2014


The final episode on this Volume is, in fact, the shortest, which seems fitting considering we're talking about Cruiserweights (HA!). This episodes is one of the times when WWE admits that WCW did something quite good, with plenty of praise for the Cruiserweight division and the vision of Eric Bischoff for setting it up. There's a strong focus on individual matches again, as looks at Brian Pillman vs. Jushin Thunder Liger from the 1st episode of Nitro and Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero from Halloween Havoc, both getting plenty of praise. It's a shame that no data is provided for the kind of ratings that the Cruiserweight's got during episodes of Nitro as that would really have given some of the opinions given that extra bit of weight. Of course, WCW get's the blame for the downfall of their own division, whilst WWF comes out squeaky clean when they manage to make stars out of the likes of Chris Jericho and Eddie Guerrero and the status quo returns.

Finally...

A lot of what is covered here, is covered elsewhere and in more depth. There's not a whole lot of fresh stories, outside of, perhaps, the Undertaker/Sting, Goldberg and Cruiserweight episodes. Dust off your old DVD's on either Austin, Foley or the nWo and I'm sure you'll have a much better time.

If you don't own a single documentary from this period, then this is the set for you. You'll get coverage of some of the biggest names in the industry in one set and everything will be fine. However, I'd suggest you don't watch more than one episode in a fortnight (I watched this entire thing in just over a day) because there is surely only so many times you can hear about Razor Ramon and Diesel jumping to WCW before you go completely insane.

I can't help but feel that this whole series was a missed opportunity, as a linear look at the War, perhaps covering a few months at a time, could have been a much better way to chronicle one of the most popular periods in wrestling history.