Customer Reviews

WWE Hall of Fame 2004

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I have to tell you, I wasn't sure what to expect from this dvd, considering that WWE has did alot to try to make fans forget the past. Those days are clearly over and Vince McMahon and the WWE are giving the proper respect to there hall of famers that they deserve. Before the induction ceremony, there is a brief rundown on every superstar who was already in the hall of fame, like Ernie Ladd, Andre The Giant, Jimmy Snuka, Lou Albano and many others. Here are a list of the inductees:

Superstar Billy Graham: Had true charisma, laid the ground work for guys like Jesse Ventura and Hulk Hogan. He gives a touching speech, as he received a liver transplant and he points out that the girl who donated her liver, should also have her name by his. HHH introduces the Superstar.

Greg Valentine: Only behind Roddy Piper and Ric Flair in my book when it comes to rating heels(bad guys). At least in the mid 80s when he feuded with Tito Santana. He gives a standard speech. Good to see Greg recognized. Longtime manager Jimmy Hart did the introduction.

Harley Race: Didn't do much when he came to the WWE. Is mostly remembered for what he did before, which was win the NWA title on eight differant occasions. Ric Flair inducts him and gives a touching speech about how Harley was the one that insisted on passing the torch to Flair.

Tito Santana: Was up with Hulk Hogan and Junkyard Dog in WWE popularity in the 1984-1985 era. Didn't get enough respect in his career as far as I am concerned. Tito actually went out before serious injury and now teaches Spainish to 7th graders. Shawn Michaels inducts Tito, they wreslted each other at Wrestlemania VIII.

Don Muraco: One of the most underrated wrestlers ever in my opinion. He had such power and skill, he give Hogan his best matches in my opinion. A long time IC title holder. Had feuds with Tito Santana and Jimmy Snuka. Was inducted by Mick Foley.

Junkyard Dog: Very popular wrestler in the WWE and was very well respected by his peers. Was a influential top draw when in terms of the African American community. Ernie Ladd inducted JYD. Latoya Ritter (Dog's daughter.) accepted on behalf of her late father.

Sgt. Slaughter: One of the most popular wrestlers of the 1980s but after the 1990s, possibly the most hated wrestler of all time. Former WWE champion. He is known for being pro America but was a Iraq sympethizer in the 1990s. Received death threats. Was inducted by Pat Patterson.

John Studd: The greatest rival of Andre The Giant. There matches were way better than the Andre/Hogan matches. Of course, Andre was in worse shape at that time. Was inducted by Paul Wright aka The Big Show. John Minton Jr. (Studds son.) accepted this award on behalf of his late father.

Jesse Ventura: Best known for being governor of Minnesota but he billed as the next Superstar Graham but never lived up to the hype. Best success in wrestling come from tagging with Adrian Adonis for the AWA tag belts, and then later becoming a color commentator for the WWE. Took part of Wrestlemania 1 thru 6 as far as commentating and was the best in my opinion. Was inducted by his son, Tyrel Ventura.

Pete Rose: First celebrity inductee. Was pointless but was fun. Took part in angles with Kane for Wrestlemania 14, 15, 16. Was inducted by Kane.

Bobby Heenan: The best manager in the WWE, period. The most charismatic manager ever, period. Managed numerous wrestlers that included Ric Flair, Andre The Giant, Haku, Rick Rude, The Islanders, Big John Studd, King Kong Bundy, The Blackjacks, and many more. Was inducted by Blackjack(Jack)Lanza. Gave the most touching, funniest, and longest speech of this DVD. The DVD is worth buying just to see this segment. Don't get me wrong, its a great DVD but if it was 30 bucks and only had this one segment, it would be worth it.

The Extras include interviews and the following matches:

Big John Studd vs. Andre The Giant
Greg Valentine vs. Tito Santana in a cage match.
Pat Patterson vs. Sgt. Slaughter in a alley fight.
Don Muraco vs. Pedro Moralis
Harley Race vs. Junkyard Dog.
Jesse Ventura vs. Bob Backland
Superstar Billy Graham vs. Bruno Sammartino

Also features legendary segments that Pete Rose was in and several segments Bobby Heenan did with Gorilla Monsoon and Vince McMahon.

The Class of 2005 dvd ought to be just as good. Right now, Roddy Piper, Cowboy Bob Orton, Paul Orndorff, The Iron Sheik, Nikoli Volfoff, and Jimmy Hart are slated to be inducted.

To Sum up, this is a great collection for any wrestling fan from the seventies and eighties.

WWE has been doing a really good job with its DVD series, and this one stands out as exceptionally good.

If you were a fan of professional wrestling before its days of self-acknowledged "sports entertainment"; if you remember when your friends all thought you were nuts, and when to root for the Magnificent Muraco at a live show was to risk your life; if you thought that "Hulkamania" was a huge step down for the sport and that Greg "The Hammer" Valentine was the prototypical role model; then there is no way you won't love this DVD.

Perhaps most people will probably by it for the extras - historic matches such as the Sgt. Slaughter vs. Pat Patterson street fight, Big John Studd vs. Andre, Tito Santana vs. Greg Valentine for the IC belt (now THERE was a rivalry), and many others. Additionally, some of the non-match footage - interviews, promos, and the like - will get you a little misty-eyed. You'll see guys you never liked at the time (the late Junkyard Dog is an example in my case), but you'll realize how much they meant to the sport.

But really, the induction ceremony is worthy of a DVD unto itself. The tributes are as good as are the acceptance speeches. Use the CHAPTERS option to skip the Pete Rose induction (now there's a situation that's embarrassing to both wrestling and baseball). You could pretty much watch the rest at a sitting.

This would probably be an interesting view of wrestling history for younger fans. Old-timers shouldn't miss it.

Great stuff.

From silvervison.co.uk

On March 13th 2004 - the night before Wrestlemania XX - World Wrestling Entertainment held a very special ceremony to induct 11 legends, Jesse "The Body" Ventura, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Don Muraco, Big John Studd, Junkyard Dog,"Superstar" Billy Graham, Sgt. Slaughter, Tito Santana, Harley Race, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Pete Rose, into its hallowed Hall of Fame. These are highlights of that ceremony.

Three Hours of DVD Extras...

Seven legendary matches:

-"Superstar" Billy Graham vs. Bruno Sammartino

-Sgt. Slaughter vs. Pat Patterson (with alternate commentary)

-Don Muraco vs. Pedro Morales

-Jesse Ventura vs. Bob Backlund

-Big John Studd vs. Andre The Giant

-Greg Valentine vs. Tito Santana

-Junkyard Dog vs. Harley Race

Plus: Pete Rose's three Wrestlemania appearences, classic interviews, promos and vignettes.

The WWE Hall of Fame DVD is an incredible piece of work. You can feel the mutual admiration not only from the new generation of WWE Superstars, but also among the honorees and those who had the pleasure of inducting them. For people like me who grew up watching all 10 WWE Hall of Famers (not to mention Pete Rose), it's a wonderful way to relive those glory days.

Kudos to the WWE who apparently did not cut one bit of the inductees speeches. Bobby Heenan absolutely steals the entire night. He was never funnier.

You put this together with the Ric Flair DVD and you have a wonderful library of old-school memories.

This Hall of Fame DVD was a special DVD to watch. These inductees all deserved to be in the hall of fame @ some point in their careers, even if it may have been long overdue. In this DVD, you get the classy ceremony in its entirety, and well as extra matches, which I will review:

Disc One- Chapters:

"Superstar" Billy Graham
Greg Valentine
Pete Rose
Big John Studd (R.I.P.)
Sgt. Slaughter

Extras:

"Superstar" Billy Graham

Superstar's career (WWE Confidential - 09/06/03)

WWE Championship Match: "Superstar" Billy Graham vs. Bruno Sammartino (Graham wins title, Baltimore, Md. - 04/30/77), **1/2 (Two legends in the ring, pre-Golden Age era. A great moment to see Graham win the title.)

"Superstar" Billy Graham Promo (06/14/77)

Pete Rose

Wrestlemania XIV (Boston, Mass. - 03/29/98)
Wrestlemania XV (Philadelphia, Penn. - 03/28/99)
Wrestlemania XVI (Anaheim, Cal. - 04/02/00)

Big John Studd

Buddy Rogers' Interview (All Star Wrestling - 04/20/83)

Big John Studd vs. Andre the Giant (04/25/83), * (Not the best match in their series. A bad match to be sure, but good for nostagia purposes.)

Sgt. Slaughter

Alley Fight: Sgt. Slaughter vs. Pat Patterson (05/04/81), ***1/2 (Wow, was this match breath taking for the time. Talk about a brutal match. They figurately murdered each other here. A very good match.)
Alley Fight with Alternate Commentary by Michael Cole, Sgt. Slaughter & Pat Patterson

Sgt. Slaughter: "I Want my Country Back"

The Hall of Famers at Wrestlemania XX (03/14/04)

Easter Eggs - Hidden Features - Disc 1:

Go to Extras. Go to Pete Rose. Go to Wrestlemania XVI. Left click. You will be treated with an advertisement for No Mercy 2002 featuring Pete Rose and Kane.

Disc Two- Chapters:

Bobby Heenan
Tito Santana
Harley Race
Don Muraco
Junkyard Dog (R.I.P.)
Jesse Ventura
Vince McMahon

Extras:

Bobby Heenan

Atlantic City (Prime Time Wrestling - 03/21/88)

Yacht (Prime Time Wrestling - 11/22/88)

At Busch Gardens (Prime Time Wrestling - 12/12/88)

Grape squashing with Andre the Giant (Prime Time Wrestling - 02/25/91)

Bobby Heenan Tribute (WWE Confidential - 06/15/02)

Bobby Heenan's 1st night in the business

Greg Valentine & Tito Santana

WWE Intercontinental Championship: Greg Valentine vs. Tito Santana (Santana wins title, Baltimore, Md. - 07/06/85), ***1/2 (Another very good match here. Valentine and Santana had a good series of matches around this time.)

Junkyard Dog & Harley Race

Junkyard Dog vs. Harley Race (Saturday Night's Main Event - 01/03/87)*, (This match is actually from Wrestlemania III. And it's not very good to the least, but for nostalgia purposes, it's great.)

Harley Race Promo (World Wide Wrestling - 06/15/83)

Gene Okerland interviews Junkyard Dog (Wrestling Challenge - 07/18/87)

Don Muraco

WWE Intercontinental Match: Don Muraco vs. Pedro Morales (Muraco wins title, Philadelphia, Penn. - 06/20/81), ** (A semi-decent match.)

Vince McMahon interview (03/20/83)

Jesse Ventura

WWE Championshop Match: Jesse Ventura vs. Bob Backlund (03/14/82), **1/2 (These two legends had a good match here. Don't let the rating fool you though.)

Pat Patterson interview (All Star Wrestling - 01/16/82)

Easter Eggs - Hidden Features - Disc 2:

Go to Extras. Go to Bobby Heenan. Go to Busch Gardens. Right click. You will hear Bobby Heenan explain how "Weasel" became a nickname and what he felt about the nickname.
Go to Extras. Go to Tito Santana & Greg Valentine. Go to Greg Valentine vs. Tito Santana. Right click. You will be treated to Greg Valentine explaining how the nickname "The Hammer" came about.

Overall, this DVD set is special for many reasons, with most of those reasons being these men getting their place in the hall of fame, and the nostalgia factor involved with the extra features. I recommend this DVD set. Make it a companion purchase with the Greatest Wrestling Stars of the 80s 3 DVD set!!!!!!

Truly an amazing and unforgettable DVD experience that even new WWE fans will get a kick out of. The best part of the DVD is Bobby Heenans speech that had everyone on their feet. Heenan is just the type of guy that you never get bored of listening to and could haver been a very successfull stand up comic if he wanted to. The other great part is Jessy Ventura saying that there ought to be a wrestler in the white house someday and how wrestling prepared him to become a politician. The rest of the stuff is also very classic and shows you what these men sucrificed to entertain all of the fans over the years. Without them there would be no RAW or Smackdown. As far as the extras go, its something only older fans would appreciate because those matches differ from the ones of today in a very big way and if seen would be considered rather boring. The ceremony itself though is priceless

it was a night that honored some of my faves i even have the sgt's autograph on the dvd i owned.When i think of this dvd i will remember the words that stood for wrestlemania 20 it all begins again thats what i think means for this

In a terrible twist of irony, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, one of professional wrestling's premier talkers, announced in January 2002 that he was battling throat cancer. Fast-forward to March 2004, and Heenan, while maybe a little harder to understand, hadn't lost one ounce of the quick wit fans loved to hate.

WWE Hall of Fame DVDs are true gems in World Wrestling Entertainment's catalog, but Heenan's diatribe makes the 2004 induction ceremony the most valuable of them all. Other pro wrestling vets making the cut this year included Superstar Billy Graham (inducted by Triple H), who gives a humble, insightful speech far removed from his boisterous character in the 1970s; Don Muraco (Mick Foley), another colorful character; Pete Rose (Kane), the first celebrity inductee; Big John Studd (Big Show); Junkyard Dog (Ernie Ladd); Greg Valentine (Jimmy Hart), who, as Gorilla Monsoon would have said, took 10 minutes just to warm up; Harley Race (Ric Flair), regarded by most as the toughest wrestler ever; Tito Santana (Shawn Michaels), a wrestler lucky enough to have a nice life after leaving the sport; Sgt. Slaughter (Pat Patterson), an underrated wrestler and talker, as is evident by this disc; and Jesse "The Body" Ventura (his son, Tyrell Janos), who may not have delivered on his promise of putting a wrestler in the White House but who held the crowd in the palm of his hand as usual.

Again, though, Bobby Heenan (inducted by his former charge Blackjack Lanza) stole the show, garnering multiple standing ovations by his fans and peers, telling hilarious stories, jabbing at people with his unparalleled repartee, and bringing tears to the eyes and splits to the sides of everyone in attendance. A master of the microphone, Heenan alone makes the 2004 WWE Hall of Fame disc worth every penny to all of the nickel-and-dime humanoids Heenan knows and loves.

I haven't followed wrestling in probably 18 years. I guess I outgrew it or felt that the shows were becoming increasing over-the-top. After reading the reviews here on Amazon for this DVD, I thought I'd check it out as it included many wrestlers and managers I remembered watching when I was a wrestling fan--even announcer "Mean" Gene Okerlund who looks the same as he did back in the day. Well, I'm glad I did because this DVD is a serious, professional ceremony that shows these longtime wrestling stars for who they are as family members, friends, and human beings. Nothing over-the-top or embarrassing crops up to devalue the event. The current wrestlers in the audience (which include a shot of Chris Benoit) are dressed sharp and show respect and humility toward the pioneers who paved the way for them. The event actually took place the night before Wrestle Mania XX (dang, I remember renting the videos for WrestleMania II and III when I was a kid) in which many in the audience had matches--and this ceremony was long, too, taking up two discs.

The DVD starts with a quick review of those who were already in the WWE Hall of Fame. Each inductee is introduced by a video retrospect and a speech by someone important in their career. The first inductee is Superstar Billy Graham. he was introduced by the heavyweight champion at the time Triple H, who does an impersonation, sort of. Apparently, Graham's induction was controversial. Graham seemed very appreciative of the honor and of being alive as he almost died save for a liver transplant in 2000. He gives a touching tribute to the woman who was killed but had signed a donor card which sent her liver to him. He also talks about his early days in "the dungeon", etc.

Next inducted was Greg "The Hammer" Valentine who was introduced by "The Mouth from the South" Jimmy Hart. Both discussed the dedication needed to make wrestling one's life. Pete Rose's induction (introduced by Kane) was a little strange but I guess he deserves to be in some sport's hall of fame. Next was the late Big John Studd who was introduced by Big Show and whose plaque was accepted by Studd's son John Minton Jr. Sgt. Slaughter was next. He was introduced by Pat Patterson whose speech kind of went on a bit. Slaughter was greeted with a chant of "U.S.A." and barked some orders at the crowd with his trademark hat and shades. He talked about how he called Vince McMahon Sr. a "puke" and blew cigar smoke in his face in his first appearance as the sergeant.

The second disc starts with manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan who was introduced by official Jack Lanza who told a story showing how Heenan had paid his dues in the business. I remember enjoying WWF Prime Time Wrestling hosted by Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon in the late 1980s. I'd look forward to it every Monday (I think) evening. They were so funny--as funny as any comedy team. I did not know that Heenan had been recovering from throat cancer, but his illness did not affect his wit and humor at all except that he might have gotten even funnier. Tito Santana was next introduced by Shawn Michaels who explained how he "managed to put together the whole package." That is probably the best way to describe Santana. In this time of steroid scandals and so many wrestlers dying young, Santana had it together--talent, values, and priorities. He's now a seventh grade Spanish teacher with two of his sons in Ivy League schools.

"Handsome" Harley Race was introduced next by Ric Flair who discussed the "King's" toughness. I remember when I first saw Race and wondered who the heck he was proclaiming himself "king." At the time, I did not realize what an important person he was to the profession. The King showed a lot of humility when accepting his plaque. Don Muraco was next. He was introduced by Mick Foley who talked about watching the famous rivalry between Muraco and Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka when he was a college kid. The late Junkyard Dog was introduced by Ernie Ladd. His plaque was accepted by his daughter LaToya Ritter. The final inductee was Jesse "The Body" Ventura. He was introduced by his son Tyrel which was a nice touch. Ventura talked about how wrestling prepared him for his political career. Then he said maybe in 2008 they should put a wrestler in the White House (ha).

One thing I did notice was how so many of the inductees paid homage to the McMahons. I'm wondering if the compliments were aimed more at the late Vince McMahon Sr. rather than at Vince McMahon Jr. as I've read negative things about him but maybe they were just from disgruntled former wrestlers. There are many extras on this DVD; you really get your money's worth. The extras include but are not limited to: Billy Graham's championship match against Bruno Sammartio in 1977, Pete Roses's WrestleMaina appearances, Big John Studd vs. Andre the Giant from 1983, Sgt. Slaughter v. Pat Patterson in an "alley fight" in 1981--one version shows the two wrestlers commenting on the match, Bobby Heenan clips with Gorilla Monsoon on Prime Time Wrestling, Greg Valentine & Tito Santana Intercontinental Cage Match, Junkyard Dog vs. Harley Race from WrestleMania III with interview clips, 1983 NWA Harley Race promo, Don Muraco vs. Pedro Morales for the Intercontinental Championship in 1981, Jesse Ventura vs. Bob Backlund in 1982. If Backlund has not been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by now, he should be.

WWE released a nice dvd set about the Hall of Fame ceremony of 2004. They'd have the entire event of inductees and as extras feature them in promos and some matches. While I feel its cheap to put a match between two inductees instead of once each. Its puzzling because this was such a great dvd set and could have contuined thru out the years. Now you get the ceremony without extras as a bonus for WrestleMaina dvd set. I dont know why they didnt keep on making a set every year for the ceremonys.