Customer Reviews

Legends of Wrestling 3: Andre Giant & Iron Sheik

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For those who don't already know, the "Legends Of Wrestling" program is a program on WWE 24/7 On Demand channel that's a roundtable discussion featuring Dusty Rhodes, Jim Ross, Pat Patterson, Michael Hayes, and Mike Graham speaking on various subjects. Throughout each discussion, you'll hear various personal & behind the scenes stories of each individual mentioned along with rare video highlights & pictures to showcase the point being put across. On each disc, you'll get a set of bonus matches with most of them never released on DVD before & even rare ones never seen on national television either...with Jesse Ventura's commentry not removed from the matches.

This discussion was based more about the panels personal (and most times, hysterical) stories of the wrestlers themselves than various topics. For those who didn't catch it, the Iron Sheik's famous Hall Of Fame speech is shown here before getting into the discussion with the highlights being Michael Hayes talking about the time Sheik failed a drug test & a roadtrip he took with Sheik & Jimmy Garvin & "Mary Jane" while subjects like his backstory & elements of his character was talked about. Andre The Giant's discussion was very similar with stories of being a giant, his drinking, and one about what happened when Pat Patterson roomed with Andre one time that you have to hear to believe before going into his heavy involvement with WrestleMania III and his relationship with wrestlers that he did & didn't like.

Matches Include:
WWE Champion Iron Sheik vs. Tito Santana - This was one of Sheik's rare title defences during the month he had the championship. This was a good competitive match but it got so out of control to the point where Tito Santana brought a chair in the ring while Sheik shoved the referee down.
Jan '84

Iron Sheik vs. Bob Backlund - For this match, Backlund had Hulk Hogan in his corner cheering him on. This was pretty short & sweet as it was out of control from the start with both men being heavily aggressive while Sheik kept taunting Hogan and even the referee got nailed.
Mar. '84

Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff vs. WWE Tag Team Champions U.S. Express - The first championship match at the first WrestleMania resulted in the first title change here. This had all the elements of a classic "babyface vs. heel" match even down to how important a role a manager can play.
WrestleMania
("Allied Powers: World's Greatest Tag Teams")

Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff vs. U.S. Express - This version of the U.S. Express had Dan Spivey replace Barry Windham. This was a nice tag team match between both men as they vibed off each other real well.
Aug. '86

Andre The Giant vs. Hulk Hogan - This was pretty short & was more of a "teaser" for their later matches against each other as the real highlight was Hogan doing what not alot of men were able to do & make Andre bleed.
Sept. '80
("Hulk Hogan: The Ultimate Anthology")

Andre The Giant & Rocky Johnson vs. Magnificent Muraco & Big John Studd - This was a good match as Studd & Muraco worked very well together with their double teaming along with wearing down both Andre & Rocky various times. Look out for the ending with the special guest referee Swede Hanson getting involved.
Apr. '83

Andre The Giant vs. King Kong Bundy - It should be noted that during this time, Andre had Capt. Lou Albano as his manager while King Kong Bundy was managed by Jimmy Hart. This was interesting as for a man Bundy's size, Andre used a different type of offense than you normally see from him such as an armbar/body sissors combination at one point. This was your typical "battle of the big men" match.
Sept. '85

Andre The Giant vs. WWE Champion Randy Savage - Jake Roberts talked about how Andre used to "chew Savage up & spit him out" which was the case early in the match until Savage was able to recover & get some offense in but this match was heavily centered around Elizabeth as she played a heavy factor in the beginning & end of the match.
"MSG" Sept. '88

This is one of the disc in the collection that had just the right mix of funny stories that had me pause the DVD at one point because I was laughing so hard along with a good discussion that was the highlight of this disc with the bonus matches just being icing on the cake. This is one to check out.

This DVD on Andre The Giant and The Iron Sheik was originally part of a regular series on WWE 24/7 called "Legends Of Wrestling" which had a panel consisting of Jim Ross, "Freebird" Michael 'P.S.' Hayes, Championship Wrestling From Florida legend Mike Graham, 1st ever I-C champion Pat Patterson and "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes!

First, The Iron Sheik is discussed. Some of the highlights include talking about his real wrestling background and his hand in training some of the stars of pro wrestling (including the late Kerry Von Erich). Then, some outrageous stories on his time outside of the ring including a funny story involving himself, Michael Hayes, Jim Garvin and some "Mary Jane."

The last half-hour focuses on Andre The Giant. Some of the highlights were stories on his legendary drinking, how he could make or break you if you worked with him and the story behind WrestleMania III with Hulk Hogan and his own impact on wrestling in terms of mainstream acceptance.

Now to the bonus material:

The Iron Sheik vs. Tito Santana (WWF/WWE Title Match) - This was one of the first and few title defenses The Sheik had prior to his losing the title to Hulk Hogan (thus the birth of "Hulkamania"). This was a wild affair which saw The Sheik even do a foward Sentan splash that missed! Still, to see that in 1984 was well ahead of its time in the U.S.! Ends in a double DQ!

Iron Sheik vs. Bob Backlund - This was pretty much a revenge affair for Backlund as he was looking to get back at The Sheik after losing the WWF/WWE title to him in December of 1983! With Hulk Hogan in his corner, The Sheik was pretty much outnumbered here! Things really got out of hand when Hogan came in after The Sheik nailed Backlund with his "loaded" boot! Another wild match!

Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff vs. The U.S. Express (Barry Windham/Mike Rotunda) - This was at the first WrestleMania and it was for the WWF/WWE Tag Titles. It was a classic "face Vs. heel" bout that saw the first ever title change at a WrestleMania as Sheik and Volkoff took the belts from the future IRS man (Rotunda) and the future Horseman (Windham).

Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff vs. U.S. Express (Mike Rotunda & Dan Spivey) - This was long before his "Dangerous" days in WCW as Danny Spivey was known as "The Golden Boy." Not a great match but not bad. Volkoff and Sheik take the win here in classic heel fashion!

Andre The Giant vs. Hulk Hogan - This one was in the early 80's and was almost a teaser of what was to come! Hogan actually BODYSLAMS Andre in this one (long before he did it at WrestleMania III) and makes The Giant bleed! A rare feat in those days. This one ends in a no-contest.

Andre The Giant & Rocky Johnson vs. "Magnificent" Don Muraco & Big John Studd - Andre teamed with "Soulman" Rocky Johnson (the father of future WWE star The Rock) to take on Don Muraco and the late Big John Studd in a good tag team bout. Look for it to break down at the end as special referee Swede Hanson gets involved.

Andre The Giant vs. King Kong Bundy - This was right after a vicious attack where Bundy actually hurt Andre in the sternum area (again, it was rare for someone to injure Andre in those days). This was your classic big man brawl BUT we do see some surprising wrestling out of Andre as he used an armbar/head scissors combination to ground Bundy for awhile (would probably be a submission these days)! Ends when Big John Studd (who was Bundy's tag team partner at that point) interferes.

Andre The Giant vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage (WWE Title Match) - This takes place a few months after Savage won the tournament at WrestleMania IV (the ONLY reason to even few that particular WM but that's another story). Much of the match centers on the late Ms. Elizabeth as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan kept chasing her, which in turn distracted Savage, which gave Andre the advantage. Finally, the referee kicked Heenan out of the match but it mattered little as Andre held the advantage for much of the contest. Savage managed to gain an offense for a bit but Savage managed to retain the title despite losing the match by countout.

This program was definitely a contrast in styles here in you had the awesome Andre and the technical Iron Sheik. Worth adding to your collection!

I got this DVD mainly for the rare matches included that I had never seen before. Andre the Giant and The Iron Sheik will always represent for me my genesis period of watching wrestling in 1983. The panel discussion session had Freebird Hayes, Dusty Rhodes, Mike Graham, and Pat Patterson with host JR. Dusty considering his outgoing wrestling persona didn't speak as mush as I thought. The matches include:

Spectrum - 1/21/84
Iron Sheik(WWF Champ) vs Tito Santana

Spectrum - 3/31/84
Iron Sheik vs Bob Backlund w/Hulk Hogan

MSG(WM1) - 3/31/85
Iron Sheik/Nikolai Volkoff vs Barry Windham/Mike Rotundo(tag champs)

MSG - 8/25/86
Iron Sheik/Nikolai Volkoff vs Dan Spivey/Mike Rotundo

Allentown - 9/13/80
Andre the Giant vs Hulk Hogan w/Fred Blassie

Spectrum - 4/30/83
Andre the Giant/Rocky Johnson vs Big John Studd/Don Muraco

MSG - 9/29/88
Andre the Giant w/Heenan vs Randy Savage(WWF Champ) w/Elizabeth

Sheik/Santana had Tito taking the offense early and often. Sheik/Backlund rare rematch had a pumped up Hulkster trying to steal the thunder. The WM1 match favored the heels. Sheik-Volkoff/Spivey-Rotundo was just so-so. Andre/Hogan was a TV taping so the match was just a sample. Andre-Rocky/Studd-Muraco had a lot of stalling and some messed up video in the middle of the match. Andre/Savage had Heenan 'stalking' Elizabeth for a lot of the match.

All they do is yak yak yak with no end in sight. The matches while not that bad are still second-rate on this disc just exrtas. They even left out some of thier famous and/or infamous matches and here they are WrestleDude's Top 5 matches that didn't make it on this disc.
5. The Gimmick Battle Royal from WrestleMania 17 in which The Iron Sheik won.
4. Iron Sheik's Boot camp match against Sgt.Slaughter from Arpil 23,1984.
3. Andre The Giant's $15,000 Body Slam match against John Studd at the First Wrestlemania.
2. Tie between Iron Sheik's title match against Hulk Hogan in which Hulkamania was born(January 23,1984) and his title match against Bob Backlund where Bob's manager threw in the towel from December 26,1983
And the number one match that didn't make it on the dvd is... Andre The Giant's famous title match against Hulk Hogan from Wrestlemania 3 on March 29,1987. I give this rip-off a 1 out of 10.