Customer Reviews

The Monday Night War - WWE Raw vs. WCW Nitro

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

While I don't really pay attention to wrestling like I did in the past, I started getting into WWE (back then known as the WWF) right when the Monday Night Wars were at their most intense peak. This was when Stone Cold was the most popular WWE superstar and his rivalry with Vince McMahon was getting out of control each week. This was also when The Rock was a heel that quickly grew on you, as the crowd would always repeat all of his sayings when he'd try to talk. Bash the crowd, he would, but that wouldn't stop the crowd from "singing along" with him. I admit that I didn't really pay attention to the WCW, but I knew of the battle between the two corporations.

"The Monday Night War" finally reveals to you the complete (or as complete as it's going to get) story about the rivalry between the two giants, the WWE and the WCW. Here, you get all of the dirt and the low-down tricks that were implemented by each group. In one corner there's Vince McMahon, who takes his Monday night programming to new and subtle heights. In the other corner is Eric Bishoff, who manages Ted Turner's WCW company. Determined to bring new blood and a new flavor to the game, Bishoff takes it up a notch by offering unpredictable wrestling programming that would endanger Vince's empire. The changes would force Vince to change the face of wrestling entertainment as we now know it. The fight between the two was brutal, vicious, and threatened the careers of hundreds upon hundreds of wrestlers on both sides.

This DVD was really interesting to watch, as I had no idea how close the WWE was to going out of business, and I had no idea of the impact that Bischoff had on the WWE. Now that the two corporations are joined into one, both are able to reveal their stories and candid commentary without restraint. You hear comments from McMahon, Bishoff, wrestlers, and other former employees of the two giants. The program proves to be very honest and straight to business. And, as intense as the battle was between the two, no matter how vicious or brutal it was, it definitely had a positive impact on Vince's corporation. In a way, I wished the two were still going at it today as opposed to being all lumped into one organization. If that were the case, maybe I'd still be intrigued to watch today.

The DVD has some cool things to offer, other than the original program that runs about over an hour and a half. Extras include about 86 minutes of bonus footage that includes matches, events, and other benchmarks that intensified that Monday Night Wars between the two organizations. It would've been cool to have some more extra footage, as there were TONS of things that could be included in the wars between the two giants, but 3 hours of programming isn't too shabby.

"The Monday Night War" is a thought-provoking and energized look into the wrestling industry like never before. Learn about the betrayals, the back stabbings, the fear of losing jobs, and much more on this very entertaining DVD. Former and recent wrestling fans will want to include this in their collection. A great feature that isn't a waste of time by any means. -Michael Crane

I fondly remember the glory days of both WCW and the WWF, back when the ratings wars were going on. I was a hardcore WCW fan, but once Stone Cold stole the spotlight and became the icon of the "sport", I converted. However, in its day, WCW killed the WWF in ratings, and it was due in large part to STING. Yeah there are a few references here and there, but none in the time period from '96 to the end of '97 when WCW battled the NWO. All the credit for the WCW's success is giving directly to the NWO, when that is only half correct.

However, this DVD did feature the best Nitro match ever, in Goldberg vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan, and part of the best RAW match ever, in The Rock vs. Mankind. The two WWF full matches that were shown were somewhat lackluster, but the Benoit-Booker T match was part of a 4 out of 7 classic.

Overall, this DVD is good for the basic fan who never saw the war, but it tended to show a LOT more WWF than WCW, which could be understandable (all things considering). The Sting/NWO battle was the cream of the crop in WCW's heyday, and it was sadly omitted.

If the Monday night battles between Raw and Nitro fascinated you then you need this DVD. They go into great detail regarding contract talks, why stars left for the competition and how WCW rose from a money losing company to a company turning a profit.The story itself is just over 90 minutes. The DVD extras are...-Steve Austin & Shawn Micheals vs Owen Hart abd British Bulldog.-Shawn Micheals & Triple H vs the Legion of Doom (I believe this was the 1st time HHH & HBK teamed up before creating D-X)-Bookert T vs Chris Benoit (Nitro)-Hulk Hogan vs Goldberg (Goldberg wins the WCW title.)-Steve Austin gives Vince Mcmahon a Stunner for the first time.-Jim Cornette commentary regarding supposed icons in wrestling.-Vince Mcmahon's "Bret screwed Bret" interview.-D-X invades Nitro.-nWo in the production truck.-Eric Bischoff challenges Vince McMahon to a match at Slamboree.-Ric Flair returns to WCW to reform the Horsemen.-Ric Rude appears on Raw and Nitro on the same night.A great investment!

For those of us who were loyal WCW fans during the raging Monday Night War, this is an excellent DVD for both WCW footage and the extra matches. As far as telling the true story of the War, however, this documentary is a textbook example of WWE bias. For the most part, the documentary portrays the WCW and its president, Eric Bischoff, as being a bunch of irascible tyrants who cynically delcare a war of survival on McMahon's WWF. As was to be expected of the WWE, the documentary does not interview many of the key WCW superstars who were at the center of the conflict such as Hogan, Nash, and Hall. McMahon presents himself as the innocent bystander in the whole ordeal with Foley and Brisco sucking up and kissing his ass thoughout the entire documentary. He also uses the documentary to boast of his victory and aquisition of WCW. Meanwhile, Eric Bischoff, the ambitious man who took Ted Turner's WCW (which was little more than a joke at the time) and turned it into a competitive superpower and the only wrestling company to ever out do McMahon's empire, is portrayed as an "unethical" bully who's only purpose was to destroy lives, or as Foley puts it on the DVD, comparing Bischoff's business style to that of the Godfather, "We'll kill your kid but it's nothing personal." If I were just rating the extra matches on the DVD I'd give it 5 stars no questions asked. The extras alone are worth buying the DVD. I'm a loyal WWE fan today, and I think regardless of how bias this documentary is, it cannot hide the fact that had Bischoff and WCW not challenged McMahon in the bold way that they did, sports entertainment might very well have been nothing more than a joke today. Also, McMahon can say or think whatever he wants, but he and everyone else in the WWE knows that it was Bischoff's competitive challenge that got them where they are today. I truly believe the DVD makes that clear, regardless. Overall, I recommend this DVD if for nothing more than the great WCW footage, the extra matches, and at least getting to hear Bischoff tell it the way it really went down. If you're looking for the truth about the whole Monday Night War, don't waste your money.

The Monday Night War DVD is like a junkfood movie: entertaining enough for one viewing and not offensively bad. But then it IS offensively bad when you consider how could it SHOULD have been (really it's decent enough to warrant 3 stars but I'm saying 2 to bring the inflated average down). How the company didn't make a 2 DVD (or even 3 DVD) set out of this, I'll never know.......oh, wait, I *do* know-- because they don't want you to see the embarrassing lows that BOTH companies would stoop to (Chucky, anyone? How about the fake Diesel/Razor?) in this battle. Also, the idea of this being presented as an impartial take on the subject is incredibly laughable, especially in the scenes where Bischoff is being portrayed as being the anti-Christ because he's going to "put people out on the street on the welfare line" (as Mick Foley would put it). Hey Mick, got news for ya buddy.....that's how your boss got to the top!

However the WWE did redeem itself magnificently with the Rise and Fall of ECW DVD, which gave the subject the full and engaging treatment it deserved. So believe or not, they ARE quite capable of delivering the goods on a project like this. They just didn't do it this time 'round.

And the "extras??" Yeeeeeeessssh.

What a great time in wrestling people...wow do i miss those days...a great dvd,only reason i give it 4 stars instead of 5 is because this dvd is from a WWF/WWE point of view...so do you really think all the truths from a WCW point of view surface here??mmmmm no.but regardless it does a good job of showing how ted turners empire lead by the NWO and strong japanese/luchadore in ring action nearly buckled vince's WWF.With Ted Turner's seemingly endless supply of finances,Bischoff does talent raids grabbing stars like Savage,Hogan,Hall,Nash,Bret Hart,Luger to name a few...but as the NWO angle dragged on for nearly 3 years,growing stars such as Austin,The Rock,Triple H,and Mick Foley headlined a new "Attitude" charged WWF,Vince began using new angles and ideas which won the fans back for the majority of 1998 and all of 1999.the difference...WCW was not able to rebound because of its lack of making new stars and blowing lucrative amounts of money on Jay Leno,Dennis Rodman,Karl Malone,KISS etc. (this is not showcased on the dvd) WCW could have pushed their younger talent in 1999 such as bagwell,jericho,big show,benoit etc.,instead,they all went to WWF,bringing in vince russo was a disaster...and when the dust settles,Vince Mcmahon buys what was a 350 million $$ buisness 3 years prior...for a pathetic 6 million $$ in 2001,although it was viewed at the time as a victory to many fans...it did nothing but kill competition...since 2002,WWE stock regarding everything has dropped,as the swelled audience and many true wrestling fans have left due to tasteless/trashy angles and storylines the current WWE product puts out,there will never be another one of these wars to the magnitude between 1995-2001,its a must have for ALL wrestling fans...HOLLER!if ya hear me

Well, what can you say about this DVD? Everything, with the omittance of some things, that you ever wanted to know about the Monday Night Wars between the WWE and WCW is on this DVD. The story alone gives the DVD 3 1/2 stars. But the extras is what makes this DVD disappointing. ONE match in the extras section stands out and that's the Austin/HBK vs. Owen/Bulldog match. It's an excellent match and well worth your time seeing. The others, Goldberg vs. Hogan, Benoit vs.Booker T, and L.O.D. vs. HBK/HHH (???) or ok, but they are NOT classic material. This DVD SHOULD'VE been a 2-disc set, with the story (and a few extras within the chapters) being on disc 1 and the best matches in the history of Raw and Nitro being the second disc. Looking at the HUGE WWE video library, this DVD could've been so much better with the addtion of more extras. RAW and Nitro, during the course of the war, had many memorable moments. Too bad that most of them were left out. Overall, the story of the Monday Night War and the awesome tag team match from Raw make this DVD worthwhile. Otherwise, don't bother picking this up. If you desperately want to buy this, rent it or borrow it from a friend BEFORE you make your purchase.

It would've been nicer to get the story of the Monday night wars from both sides. Sure, Eric Bischoff, Paul "Giant/Big Show" Wight, Chris Jericho, Benoit, and Eddie Guerrero of the former WCW put in their 2 cents but they all work for WWE now and you know they're not going to bash their bread and butter even if WCW is defunct. A nice trip down memory lane nonetheless. Gerry Brisco is such an ass kissing yes-man. Those segments alone made me want to Ebay this DVD.

WWE's starting to look like the WCW of 1999-2001 now... They could sure use some competition again. They might start producing better shows...

For someone who didn't realy tune into Pro-wrestling until late 2000, by which point the wars were basically over, "the Monday Night Wars" does a decent job of presenting a brief synopsis of what was missed. Think of the blurbs that preceeded episodes of dramatic television shows to let you know what has happened and where you are in the story. If you don't know what the Monday Night Wars were or what happened, this DVD would be a good buy, as it gives you the gist fairly well. Once you become a bit more interested in the topic, however, you'll wish that there was a lot more to this DVD. As always, the WWE chooses to interview only the people who they have employed when they make the DVD, and even makes some strange choices among their own employees. This gives the account of what happened a very one sided feel, and creates some doubt in the viewer as to whether they are getting the whole story. It is also frustrating to spend so much time hearing from people like Gerald Briscoe who, while I'm sure he witnessed a lot and was very involved with the Wars, is not exactly the type of personality to excite wrestling fans across the globe. It becomes even more puzzling when one views the special features and realizes that the WWE had plenty of people who would have known a lot about what was going on, who they chose not to talk to. Scott Steiner, Booker T, Rey Mysterio, all of these people should have been heard from more in the main feature of the DVD rather than just the special features. The ultimate example of this is Kevin Nash. One would be hard pressed to find a single person who represented the Monday night Wars more than Kevin Nash, aside from possibly Scott Hall. While Hall's absence is understandable, the WWE had Nash under contract at the time, and yet did not use any of his interviews anywhere but in the special features. It would also have been nice to have heard from Stone Cold, who is never too far away from being under WWE contract. In light of the Rise & Fall of ECW DVD, the length of the "Monday Night Wars" is a bit disappointing, and the special features leave something to be desired. At least one match involving Sting (a mainstay of WCW who to this day has never set foot in a WWE ring) would have been nice, as well as some stuff with the Outsiders and the Rock. This DVD is decent as an "abridged version" of what happened, but don't come here looking to learn more about specific details.

Wrestling fans could give you a better description of what happend between 1995-2001, than the WWE. Think Vince was going to tell it from both sides, never.

So before wasting money on this, here's my take.After signing Hulk Hogan and some other WWE Talent, Bischoff foolishly decided to challenge the WWE on Monday Nights, and guess what, it was a decision that worked. WCW was kicking Vince's [back] and all he did was whine and moan, while Bisch was happily giving away results to Raw and signing away more WWE cast offs. Bischoff hit paydirt with the nWo angles, along with the transformation of Sting, which was forgotten, and Kick-[butt] cruiserweight action. Meanwhile, the WWE was doing the same ol' big man, GI Joe vs. Cobra crap, that fans cared little about. Then it hit the fan for Vince, at the Survivor Series 97, with Bret Hart, he was so doomed.

But then a sleazy writer named Vince Russo, who was trahsed and not given credit for anything and for good reason, decided to go for broke with Austin and DX plus Vinny Mac's going all out and creating the Mr. McMahon as of a results to the Survivor Series is what turned the tide for the WWE. WCW, as always was marred with politics, and with the addition of Time Warner peeing all over the product, the ship began to sink. On Raw, Austin and McMahon feud skyrocketed the ratings, sibling rivalry between taker and Kane, a feud between DX and the Nation, who's leaders were budding superstars The Rock and Triple H, tilted it back in the favor of the WWE, where it stayed.

What did WCW do in response, they followed the politicians lead and kept all the storylines on the nWo, split them up, and bored people to tears. Old, talentless men got pushes, legends got shafted. Rising stars like Jericho, Benoit, The Guerrero's, Raven, Booker T, and others were stuck mediocrity thanks to backstage politics. Only star to be made was Goldberg, and the political machine even froze that. They signed Bret Hart and did absolutely nothing with him, to note, and I mean nothing. In the end, a mass exodus beginning with Paul Wight (The Big Show) began and didn't end, until 2001, leaving WCW with a bunch of old guys and stars who were to green to carry a carnival. Guys like Booker, Kidman, Storm and others tried hard, Sting and Flair carred the banner till the end, but by then the ship was too far in the water.

Meanwhile, WWE was raiding ECW out of business and blending them in with fresh talent like Angle, The Hardyz, Edge, and Christian.
WCW runaways like Wight, Jericho, and Benoit immediately made an impact. WCW only managed to sign away Jeff Jarrett, who uh what's the word yeah sucks, from the WWE, under not one but two Russo reigns that looked to be a mixture of barnyard politics and mental retardation. WWE had the Raidcals, Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Saturn and Malenko, WCW would have the Misfits In Action, Hugh Morrus (Bill DeMott), the Wall, and Chavo Guerrero, Jr- who was miused along with Morrus. And they wondered why no one was watching Nitro. While Rock and Triple H were tearing down the house with classic WWE Title Matches, WCW
offered us the epic Sid Vicious-Tank Abbott or The Wall or the Jeff Jarrett saga. Booker T was one of the last promising stars they had, and instead of grooming him, he parades around as GI Bro, meanwhile Kurt Angle is being carefully groomed to be the star he is today in the WWE.

This is from someone who watched both shows. Vince didn't beat WCW all by himself and in no way as portrayed in this DVD. Time Warner wasn't all the blame here either. Stupidity always dominated WCW from the era of Jim Heard's Ding-Dong's-PN News-Johnny B. Badd's, to Bill Watts No Top Rope non sense, Bisch's and Vinny Ru's Politics and BS'n. It finally caught up with them, Time Warner had no patience to put up with their stupidity and sold them to Vinny Mac for cheap, after cancelling all thier shows. WCW was the cause of WCW's downfall. This is just my take on it after renting the DVD and laughing at all of this tomfoolery!

DVD is just Vince gloating and claiming victory, don't blame him, but you're better off asking fans who witnessed the Monday Night Wars and watched both Raw and Nitro, before picking this up.