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5.0 out of 5 stars Over 100 Years Of History Behind One Championship, January 2, 2010

D.P. (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)

This review is from: WWE: The History of the World Heavyweight Championship (DVD)

You can call it the NWA Championship, the WCW Championship, and depending on what show it's on...you can call it the RAW/SmackDown Championship but either way, this belt was always the World Heavyweight Championship. This presentation is different than any other "History Of..." DVD set regarding a championship in that you get a documentry highlighting the history of the championship complete with rare archival footage & facts along with three disc of matches highlighting the championships history through it's top three promotions in NWA, WCW, and WWE. Throughout the documentry, you'll hear from current WWE talent/employees such as John Cena, Batista, Edge, C.M. Punk, Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton, Triple H, Big Show, Chris Jericho, Ricky Steamboat, Dusty Rhodes, and Jim Ross. The special treat is that you'll also hear from people that you normally don't hear from (including some archival interviews) like the former NWA President Bob Sigel, Bill Watts, Mae Young, Larry Hennig, Jim Crockett, Lou Thesz, Jack Brisco, Mike Chapman who is the head of the International Wrestling Institute & Museum, Verne Gagne, Fabulous Moolah, Bobby Heenan, Gene Kiniski, Cheif Jay Strongbow, Dory & Terry Funk, Mike Graham, Goldberg, Jim Cornette, Eric Bischoff, Booker T, Diamond Dallas Page, Ron Simmons, and of course Ric Flair.

The documentry starts off talking about how far back wrestling goes to the point where it's mentioned in the Bible to former U.S. President Abe Lincoln was once a wrestler to the first World Champion in Frank Hackenschmidt. "The American Hero" Frank Gotch was talked about next including stories about how he would wrestle for over 2 hours & was the man who inspired wrestling to be taught in high schools & YMCA's. The championship reign of Ed "The Strangler" Lewis was highlighted by stories of how he was a celebrity in the 1920's and even once wrestled a match that went over 5 hours long (yes, 5 hours...300+ minutes!) that resulted in referees passing out, no audience by the time the match was over, him in the hospitial for two days, and how that started to change the perspective of wrestling at that time into what we would know today as "sports entertainment". The story behind the formation of the National Wrestling Alliance was discussed before going into the great Lou Thesz' record long NWA Championship reign, how he carried himself as a champion, and just how much of a celebrity he was. Buddy Rogers, the original "Nature Boy", and how he set a record for his title victory & what he brought to wrestling that changed the image of what a World Champion was is talked about before discussing the next series of champions & stories about their championship reigns like Gene Kiniski with a funny story of how he lost the championship, the tough Harley Race, Jack Brisco becoming the first Native American NWA Champion & the heavy toll being the champion took on him, and the only brothers to hold the championship in Dory Jr. & Terry Funk. How Starrcade '83 marked a new era in the history of the NWA with Ric Flair becoming champion was discussed next talking about how Flair was in high demand everywhere & his feuds with Dusty Rhodes & Ricky Steamboat before going into the story behind how Jim Crockett Promotions going bankrupt led to Ric Flair showing up on WWE TV with the championship. From there, the talk goes into the various champions during WCW's history such as Ron Simmons being the first African American champion, the big & agile Vader (listen to Jericho's comments about Vader), and WCW's posterboy in Sting. How the Monday Night War with WWE caused the WCW Championship to have more requent changes with some being more dubious than others (Vince Russo, David Arquette, Sid Vicious, Jeff Jarrett) before discussing various WCW Champions during that time like Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Giant winning the title in his first match, how Diamond Dallas Page felt like he was winning the Oscar, Goldberg, and Booker T closing out the company as champion. The story behind the WCW Championship coming to WWE and later being unified into the Undisputed WWE Championship is discussed before closing out the documentry talking about Eric Bischoff bringing the World Heavyweight Championship back and highlighting the various champions in the WWE era such as Randy Orton being the youngest champion, Mysterio being the smallest, C.M. Punk, Edge, Batista, Undertaker, and John Cena.

Matches Include:
NWA Champion Ric Flair vs. Magnum T.A. - This was a very competitive match that went back & forth between both men with Magnum overpowering & outwrestilng Flair early before Flair regained the advantage & heavily worked over his arm. Flair ended up bleeding at one point before just squeeking past Magnum.
AWA SuperClash '85

NWA Champion Ric Flair vs. Sting - This was the big return of Sting after his leg injury early in the year looking for revenge against the man who kicked him out of the Horsemen & had him get injured later that night. To insure a fair fight, Sting's group of friends called "Dudes With Attitudes" surrounded the ring to ensure the Horsemen wouldn't interfere while Ole Anderson was handcuffed on the rampway to El Gigante. Sting took the fight right to Flair & dominated him in the early going showing no signs of ringrust. Eventhough Flair heavily targeted his knee, Sting kept coming back & fighting off Flair's attack before Sting won his first ever World Championship.
NWA Great American Bash '91
(Bonus match on "WWE Great American Bash '06")

NWA Champion Ric Flair vs. Scott Steiner - Over seven years before he became a full time singles wrestler under the name "Big Poppa Pump", Scott Steiner got a one on one match here against the Nature Boy & seriously didn't look out of place one time eventhough he was a full time tag team wrestler with Rick, who was at ringside, at this time. Steiner kept using his superior power against Flair and went the distance here against the champion in this heavily impressive performance.
"WCW Clash Of The Champions" Jan. '91

WCW Championship Match: Lex Luger vs. Barry Windham - This was one of the most famous matches in the history of the World Heavyweight Championship...for all the wrong reasons. This match was to determine the new WCW Champion after Ric Flair left the company a short time earlier and the crowd didn't approve of this as they kept chanting throughout this match "We Want Flair!" There was tons of stalling between both men during the first half of the match and never left first gear until the end with Luger doing unfamilar moves like the DDT & a sleeper while both men tried to come off the top rope at one point. In the end, Luger left with not only the World Championship but also a new unexpected manager & bodyguard.
WCW Great American Bash '91

WCW Champion Vader vs. Ron Simmons - The story behind this match was that this was originally suppost to be Sting's rematch against Vader from the "Great American Bash" but after Sting was attacked by Jake Roberts earlier in the evening, Ron Simmons got the title shot. Simmons in this match was defined perfectly by Jim Ross, "going off power & determination." He went power for power against Vader resulting in the first ever african-american World Heavyweight Champion.
Aug. '92

Human Cage Match: WCW Champion Vader vs. Ricky Steamboat - Eventhough this match was given a fancy name, it's really just a lumberjack match. Steamboat & Vader's different styles clashed her as Vader used his power & weight while Steamboat heavily relied on his martial arts chops & kicks along with various splashes onto Vader's ribs. This was a really average match that wasn't bad but nothing I would honestly concider DVD worthy when showcasing the history of this championship.
"WCW Saturday Night" Oct. '93

Steel Cage Match: WCW Champion Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair - This was the third match in their series as Hogan won at Bash At The Beach while Flair won the rematch at "Clash Of The Champions" by countout so to ensure this was the final match, this was also a career ending match for the loser. Mr. T was the referee while celebrities like Muhammed Ali & Tommy "Hitman" Herns were at ringside along with Sting. Flair worked over Hogan's bad leg while Hogan came off very aggressive to the point where T had to keep acknowledging Hogan to back off which kept causing conflict between those two men. This got real wild in the end with Sherri, Sting, Jimmy Hart, a masked man, and handcuffs all got involved in the match before Hogan overcame the odds to retain the championship. As a side note, the part where the masked man was revealed to be Brutus Beefcake is not shown here.
WCW Halloween Havoc '94

WCW Championship Match: Sting vs. Hollywood Hogan - After the controversal ending of the more famous Starrcade match between these two and the rematch they had the next night on Nitro, this was the match to determine the vacant WCW Champion with the rules heavily relaxed as this was set to be one fall to a finish. This was a very aggressive fight as Hogan was cheating (including using his weightbelt as a weapon) & kept bad mouthing Sting before Sting came back & got his reciepts with the weightbelt. As expected, the nWo members did make an appearence but it was one specific member who would be the difference maker in this match helping WCW gain their championship back & had their own spray painted celebration.
WCW SuperBrawl VII

WCW Champion Hollywood Hogan vs. Goldberg - This was more about putting Goldberg over as WCW's "superhero" & top star more than anything else as Hogan threw everything he could at Goldberg by either wrestling him & resorting to cheating only for Goldberg to not be effected by it & keep coming back dominating his way to the WCW Championship. With cameos from Dallas Page, Karl Malone, and Curt Hennig...this wasn't much as far as a "match" goes but this was all about making Goldberg the top superstar in WCW.
"WCW Nitro" July '98
(Monday Night War)

WCW Champion Jeff Jarrett vs. Booker T - This was similar to the Luger/Windham match in that this match was infamous for all the wrong reasons. It was originally scheduled to be Hollywood Hogan vs. Jeff Jarrett but Jarrett layed down at Vince Russo's request so Hogan could win the WCW Championship before Russo came back out later to fire Hogan, claim Jarrett to still be the World Champion, and awarded the title shot to Booker T...who already had a match (and lost) against Kanyon earlier that night too. This was your sterotypical Jarrett match in that it had a brawl through the crowd & ringside area including Booker taking a piledriver on the announce table that didn't give one bit. From there, it was back & forth between both men before Jarrett's efforts with the "acoustic equalizer" didn't work out for Booker T to become the new WCW Champion.
WCW Bash At The Beach '00

WCW Champion The Rock vs. Chris Jericho - This match happened during the period when WWE had brought WCW and the WCW Championship was defended on WWE television. The big story behind this one was the fact that Chris Jericho had never won "the big one" as every single time he had a chance at a World Championship, something went wrong & he didn't win it. Both Rock & Jericho were fan favorites at this time so the crowd was heavily split between both men. This was a very physical matchup as it never once got boring or slow between both men as it started out as a wrestling match but got more personal as the match went on with both men countering each other's signature moves along with The Rock delivering a Rock Bottom through a table while Jericho was stealing moves like the Rock Bottom & People's Elbow. Stephanie McMahon made an appearence & accidently assisted Jericho to use whatever "stroke" he had left to finally become a World Champion.
No Mercy '01

World Champion Triple H vs. Rob Van Dam - This was the first PPV title defense of the World Championship after Triple H was awarded the new championship on RAW. A good match between the two as RVD continued to mock HHH to everyone's delight but the ending came when Ric Flair (who HHH insulted before the match for losing earlier) hit RVD with the sledgehammer starting Flair & HHH's on-screen partnership.
Unforgiven '02

World Champion Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels - You can look at any encounter they've had in the past & just know that whenever you get these two in the ring against each other, you will get a high quality match. However, this is one match they've had that stood out from the rest as the circumstance were completely different than any other match they've had as Shawn Michaels came into this match with a knee injury he suffered on RAW the night before so Shawn wrestled a heavy defensive style here as he was heavily limping from the moment he walked out during his entrance. Shawn kept staying in the corner and using the ropes to help him get around whenever he wasn't limping on hopping on one leg while Triple H heavily targeted that knee and worked on it with moves like the figure four. Shawn was still able to connect with his top rope elbow drop & sweet chin music but with the appearences of fellow Evolution member Batista along with Edge, the odds were just too much for HBK.
Taboo Tuesday '04

World Champion Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker - This match was worth the money alone. With the exception of their Fully Loaded 2000 match, these two have NEVER had a bad match and always tore the house down. This is a step below their SmackDown match (on Undertaker's DVD) but still great. Mat wrestling & their typical spots...it's just something great to watch and the ending is something that just came out of nowhere.
No Way Out '06

World Champion Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton - Unfortually due to having the label of being the "smallest" World Champion of all time, Mysterio was booked as an underdog losing to bigger competitors a majority of his title reign...in fact, you can count the number of matches he won on one hand. However this is a lost gem in his championship reign as this match happened the week after he won the title at WrestleMania. Unlike how his WrestleMania triple threat match was real short, this went twice as long & was much more competitive between the two men and any other match they've had before this as Rey was out for revenge for the disrespect Orton showed the late Eddie Guerrero. I wouldn't call his a lost classic in the career of Mysterio but this was definately the best match in his reign as World Champion.
"SmackDown" Apr. '06

World Champion Batista vs. Undertaker vs. Edge - Edge played up his "ultimate opportunitst" label as he was avoiding Taker at the start, running away when Taker & Batista were fighting over who gets their hands on Edge, and trying to steal the pin after Taker legdropped Batista on the apron. The match never got slow & as just nonstop action the entire time with the ending involving Edge "having the strength of 3 men" was something. Edge stole another World Championship in the end.
Armageddon '07

World Champion Chris Jericho vs. John Cena - After what I thought was a real good series of matches between each other in 2005 (Vengance with Christian, SummerSlam, and their final match on RAW), this one was another disappointment as Cena had some ring rust here that showed here while Jericho targeted his previous injury & focused on the neck. The match wasn't bad but they would put on a better performance at Armageddon the next month but it didn't live up to the expectations based off their series years earlier.
Survivor Series '09

Ladder Match: World Champion Edge vs. Jeff Hardy - I'll give credit in that they've tried to do what Jericho/Michaels did at No Mercy in delivering a different type of ladder match than the usual "non-stop spotfest" that we're used to seeing. They tried to find new ways to use the ladder in this match along with revisiting old "highlight reel" spots from all their previous ladder matches. Again, it was a good match but it wasn't the blowaway classic everyone was expecting...but to be fair, they've set the bar so high for the past decade in regards to ladder matches that they just couldn't top it in this case. This was one of those matches where if you judge it on it's own instead of comparing it to all of their past ladder matches (I counted at least six) then it's a good match. But the major story at the end of the night was the aftermath that resulted in a new World Champion...AGAIN!
Extreme Rules '09

Other matches include Pat O'Connor vs. Buddy Rogers from 1961 in a 2 out of 3 falls match, (I think the oldest match WWE ever released on DVD to the point where it's completely in black & white) and matches from the "NWA Championship Wrestling from Flordia" promotion featuring Dory Funk Jr.'s NWA Title win against Gene Kiniski, Terry Funk's gaining the title from Jack Brisco, and Dusty Rhodes title victory over Harley Race. It should be noted that the CWF footage was edited back then to just show highlights/final moments of matches & not the complete match so that's not WWE's fault that you don't get the match in full.

In all, this documentry is one of the best WWE has ever done as they focused heavily & dedicated most of the time on here to the past history of the championship in the NWA/WCW than WWE with the gem of the historic photos, archival footage, and hearing from various names of the past that we don't normally hear from and eventhough they rewrote some history to simplify the history of the championship (no mention of the period when the title was the NWA Championship & WCW International Championship from '92-'94), it was probably for the better. While The match selection isn't 100% perfect (only 3 complete matches highlight the NWA period, Steamboat/Vader could have been replaced by another WCW match, I would have picked the Cena/Jericho from Armageddon than S. Series), a majority of the matches were quality in either being historic or in quality so this is definately a set worth going out of your say to see. I highly recommend.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A review, July 29, 2010

LeeAnn Hawkins - See all my reviews

This review is from: WWE: The History of the World Heavyweight Championship (DVD)

This was a pretty good set that traced the linage of the NWA and WCW world heavyweight title. Let's get the review:

Pat O'Connor vs. Buddy Rogers (6/1961): This was actually a good match from start to finish. It was an older match so u got the 2 out of 3 falls regulations but really a good match. I give this match 2 stars !

Gene Kiniski vs. Dory Funk Jr (2/11/1969): Pretty much just clips, nothing to really comment on. I give this match 1 star!

Jack Brisco vs. Terry Funk (12/10/1975): I really hoped this match would be complete but no just clips again so again i give this match 1 star!

Harley Race vs. Dusty Rhodes (8/21/1979): Another match that was ok and i believed was clipped again. I give this match star!

Ric Flair vs. Magnum TA (9/28/1985): This was a good match with Flair carrying Magnum through the match. Still a good match. I give this match 2 stars!

Ric Flair vs. Sting (7/7/1990): Great match! This was Sting's first world title win and who better to beat for ur first then Ric Flair himself, the greatest of all time! Really great match and good storyline too. I give this match 4 stars!

Ric Flair vs. Scott Steiner (7/30/1991): Kind of a strange match to include in this set but it was a good match. Once again Flair had to carry another up and comer but the match is still worth watching and ends in a tv time limit draw. I give this match 3 stars!

Lex Luger vs. Barry Windham (7/14/1991): I am a huge fan of both these guys so i was primed to see this match. It was good but not great. It was a relatively short match, only around 12:00 or so but still good enough to view. I give this match 2 stars!

Vader vs. Ron Simmons (8/2/1992): Ron makes history as he becomes the first African American to win the world title from the monster they call Vader. Again a good match but not great. I give this match 2 stars!

Vader vs. Ricky Steamboat (10/23/1993): Anything with Ricky is good and this was no exception. The "Human Cage" element of the match was nothing more then a lumberjack match which should have been thrown out because it added nothing to match itself. Still a good match. I give this match 3 stars!

Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair (10/23/1994): I remember at the time this was the biggest match in wrestling. This was a cage match for the world title with Mr. T referring and both careers on the line! Wow! This match was good not as good as their Bash at the Beach match but still good with a wild ending. I give this match 3 stars!

Sting vs. Hulk Hogan (2/22/1998): This was a good match and better then their Starrcade match. A lot of back and forth action and a really satisifying ending. I give this match 3 stars!

Hulk Hogan vs. Goldberg (7/6/1998): The match that really started the Goldberg machine. This match was awesome if not rather short. Still a great match. I give this match 4 stars!

Jeff Jarrett vs. Booker T (7/9/2000): Don't know why this match is on this set. It's boring and not worth seeing. I give this match 1 star!

Rock vs. Chris Jericho (10/21/2001): I love this match! I still say this was their match of their series together. This is the match that made Jericho in my opinion and proved that he was worthy of that belt. I give this match 4 stars!

Triple H vs. RVD (9/22/2002): Great match from start to finish. I was really hoping RVD would win but i guess Triple H has to make sure that didn't happen. Interference by Flair at the end ruined the match for me. Still good to view. I give this match 3 stars!

Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels (10/19/2004): Of all their great matches to show they picked this piece of crap. Normally i would not call one of their matches that but with Michaels barely moving on one leg and Triple H doing a half u know what job with the match, it sucked! I give this match 1 star!

Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker (2/19/2006): Awesome match! This is my all time favorite UT match. It went around a half hour and had everything from wrestling to brawling to almost MMA style fighting. I loved it. Have to see it to really appreciate it. I give this match 4 stars!

Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton (4/7/2006): Good match but would have been better on PPV. I give this match 2 stars!

Batista vs. Edge vs. Undertaker (12/16/2007): Another pretty good match. This was just ok not great. I give this match 2 stars!

John Cena vs. Chris Jericho (11/23/2008): Actually, this match is a very good contest between the two. I hate Cena but i will give him props when he does a good job and this was one of those times when he did just that. I give this match 3 stars!

Jeff Hardy vs. Edge (6/7/2009): You really get 2 matches on this one. The ladder match with Edge was a good contest not great cause all the spots used we've seen again and again in these type of matches, but still worth seeing. Once Hardy had won then CM Punk came out to cash in his Money in the Bank shot and beat Hardy fairly quickly to become champion again.

All in all this was a good set but could have been a lot better. There should have been better Flair matches maybe against Steamboat from earlier years not 1989 and also maybe against Luger. I would liked to have seen some more Sting matches, like his title win against Luger at Superbrawl. Otherwise, all in all, this series was really good and I'm hoping to see maybe a history of the WCW US title or even WWE Tag title history coming soon. Hopefully.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Good doc. and plenty of good matches., September 4, 2011

Jonnathan Ritland "Hank Peters, Italian Grocer" (Marysville, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: WWE: The History of the World Heavyweight Championship (DVD)

Trailing the lineage of something that dates back over 100 years seems like quite the daunting task, but that doesn't stop WWE from putting together a documentary about the history of the world championship.

This doc. tells the story from the early 1900's when a russian named George Hackenschmidt was so dominate he was named the world wrestling champion and remained unbeaten until amercian Frank Gotch defeated him via an ankle lock submission. Gotch retired undefeated four years later, allowing others to hold the championship until Ed "The Strangler" Lewis won it in 1920 and was described as very boring despite his great nickname, even telling a story of how he wrestled a man for 5 hrs. and 20 mins. This lead to wrestling changing and becoming a little more entertaining and putting time limits on matches.

From here it talks about how the regional territories formed the National Wrestling Alliance and how the first champion was named as voted on by the board. Lou Thesz became the champion and was a major celebrity for a wrestler and held the title on numerous occasions including a 7 year run. When the original nature boy Buddy Rogers became champion, a new age was ushered in, bringing more theatrics and showmanship into it. Thesz won the title back but lost it to Gene Kiniski in 1966 and held it for three years before losing it to Dory Funk Jr.

Champions in the 70's are talked about including both Dory Jr. and Terry Funk (becoming the only brothers to ever hold a world title), Jack Brisco and of course Harley Race. These stories were pretty good and I liked how honest Jack was about the schedule of being champion was too much for him and how after he lost the title he flew home and didn't leave his house for weeks.

Race held the title an at the time record eight times, but his most famous title match may have been in defeat as Ric Flair beat him in a steel cage match at Starrcade '83, which would spark a dominance by Flair through the rest of the decade and had big money rivalries including against Dusty Rhodes, which led to Dusty's second and third title reigns.

When the NWA was bought out by Ted Turner and made WCW, the title began to switch hands numerous times with notable reigns by Sting, Ron Simmons, Vader, Lex Luger, Ric Flair, and of course Hulk Hogan. This was a pretty good segment that showed some wrestlers at their peaks and how happy they were to become champion.

When WWE bought WCW, they brought the title with them and crowned an undisputed champion in December of '01 and he was Chris Jericho. The world title returned and was given to Triple H who would hold it numerous times along with Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, Goldberg, Batista, Undertaker, Edge and plenty of others.

Matches on Disc 1

-6/1961, 2 out of 3 Falls Match, Pat O'Connor (Champion) vs. Buddy Rogers: Black & white, classic and quite good. Of course there were the usual series of rest holds but these two did put on an entertaining match especially for that time. After O'Connor missed a dropkick, Rogers makes the cover to win the match and the title. 7/10. Nice post match promo by Rogers.

-CWF, 2/11/69, Gene Kiniski (Champion) vs. Dory Funk Jr.: Only about 3 minutes is shown, so its not really even worth having on the set since its not in full.

-CWF, 12/10/75, Jack Brisco (Champion) vs. Terry Funk: Here we get 7 or 8 minutes, problem is its still clipped so again it should just have been in full.

-CWF, 8/21/79, Harley Race (Champion) vs. Dusty Rhodes: Now 4 or 5 minutes of action, with Dusty on commentary and its sad this was the third match that was clipped.

-9/28/85, AWA Superclash, Ric Flair (Champion) vs. Magnum T.A.: Flair always made Magnum look greater than he was and this match was no exception. These two brawled good, wrestled better, Ric bled heavily and Magnum almost had the title won a few times, but Flair reverses a roll-up and pulls the tights to win the match and retain his title. 8/10.

-7/7/90, Great American Bash, Ric Flair (Champion) vs. Sting: To prevent outside interference The Steiners, Paul Orndorff and JYD were around the ring and Ole Anderson was handcuffed to El Gigante (The Giant Gonzales). This was a very good match as were all of the Sting/Flair matches, Sting was coming off of having knee surgery and Ric tested and worked on it setting it up for the figure four. Of course Sting was full of energy and threw Flair around the ring early on. Flair goes for the figure four but Sting rolls him up for the 3 count to win his first world title. 9/10.

Disc 2

-1/30/91, Clash of the Champions XIV, Ric Flair (Champion) vs. Scott Steiner: A forgotten match here and its one I wanted to like, I really did. But something just seemed off here, Ric did sell Scott's offense while getting in his usual moves. But the final couple of minutes kill it as Scott seemingly had the match won a few times but didn't make the cover, like they were trying to get to the time limit draw but making it painfully obvious. The time runs out and Ric retains. 5/10.

-7/14/91, Great American Bash, Steel Cage Match, Lex Luger vs. Barry Windham: This was right after Ric Flair had left the company, so we have this match to determine the new WCW champion. Its not bad but honestly doesn't seem to be main event material probably due to Luger being involved. Both guys try and do make some use of the cage in spots but its pretty average honestly. Harley Race comes down and tells Luger "Its time", so Lex hits a piledriver on Barry and makes the cover to win the WCW title. 6/10.

-8/2/92, Vader (Champion) vs. Ron Simmons: Quite a good match here as Sting was originally scheduled but Jake Roberts took him out earlier in the evening so Simmons was chosen at random to face the monster Vader. These meshed well together as both were strong and Vader was one of the few monster heels who could look both unstoppable and beatable during his matches. Ron ends up hitting a powerslam out of nowhere and covered Vader for the win to become the first african-american to win the World title. 8/10.

-10/16/93, WCW Saturday Night, Human Cage Match, Vader (Champion) vs. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat: Human Cage=A Lumberjack match and its fairly average as Ricky got in some moves, but mainly sold, sold and sold to Vader. While the lumberjacks were trying to get Vader into the ring Sid Vicious ran in and powerbombed Steamboat, allowing Vader to pick up the win and retain his title. 5/10.

-10/23/94, Halloween Havoc, Career Ending Steel Cage Match, Hulk Hogan (Champion) vs. Ric Flair: This was the rubber match as Hogan won at Bash At The Beach, then Flair had won at a recent Clash Of The Champions, so naturally the way to end this was for both to put their careers on the line. I feel this was better than their Bash match as it really had that big match feel, both went all out, tons of near falls. Also Sting, Sensational Sherri, a masked man and referee Mr. T get involved and Hogan ends up taking this one after hitting the legdrop and Mr. T makes the 3 count while handcuffed to the rope. 10/10

-2/22/98, Superbrawl VIII, Hulk Hogan vs. Sting: This was the return match from their infamous Starrcade face/off and also would determine the new WCW champion. Its better than the Starrcade match, but not by too much. Sting still gets dominated for the first few minutes, in the ring and all the way into the aisle. Sting of course makes his comeback and there's the expected NWO run-in, but Randy Savage shockingly hits Hogan, Sting makes the cover and becomes the new WCW champion. 6/10. Fun little post match segment where Sting brands Hogan NWO style, spray painting WCW on his chest.

-7/6/98, WCW Monday Nitro, Hulk Hogan (Champion) vs. Goldberg: With 43,000 plus in the Georgia Dome on hand, this match saw the mega launch of Goldberg as he beat Hogan for the WCW World Title with the spear and jackhammer. Major, major league pop for the finish, though the re-dubbing of the music with Goldberg's WWE music was pretty annoying. 8/10.

-7/9/00, Bash At The Beach, Jeff Jarrett (Champion) vs. Booker T: Earlier Jarrett laid down for Hogan, which prompted a promo bashing Vince Russo and the company's choices and this led to Russo firing Hogan. Having that segment may have made this more memorable as this was a fairly decent match with Booker having wrestled earlier this night but taking it to Jeff early on. There's good action, even going into the crowd for a few. Jarrett goes for the guitar from the top but gets caught in the Book End and Booker covers to win the World Title. 6/10.

-10/21/01, No Mercy, The Rock (Champion) vs. Chris Jericho: This was during the terrible Alliance storyline where WCW/ECW was trying to take down the WWE. These two had great chemistry and it showed in this match. Plenty of counters, good wrestling even a little brawling and the underlying story was could Jericho be a main eventer against the likes of The Rock. He was able to do well though Rock did dominate a good portion of the match, even hitting a Rock Bottom through the announce table, funny how the crowd was more pro-Jericho than pro-Rock. Stephanie McMahon comes down, throws a chair in the ring but gets a Rock Bottom for her troubles. Jericho hits the Breakdown on Rock on a chair and makes the cover to win the WCW title. 10/10.

Disc 3

-9/22/02, Unforgiven, Triple H (Champion) vs. RVD: After being awarded the world title a few weeks prior, Triple H was set to defend against the much deserving RVD. It was a good match, where their unique styles mixed well and also the crowd really, really wanted RVD to win the title and he was close on a few occasions. The ref was knocked out, RVD kicks Triple H in the face, while he was holding the sledgehammer. Ric Flair comes down, grabs the hammer but nails RVD allowing Triple H to hit the pedigree and covers him to retain the title. 7/10. Nice post match where Flair presents the title to the Game.

-10/19/04, Taboo Tuesday, Triple H (Champion) vs. Shawn Michaels: Since Summerslam '02 these guys have had some classic matches, this contest however isn't one of them. Shawn was heavily favoring his knee and gave an effort but with his injured knee it wasn't really a very good match at all. HBK goes for sweet chin music, Batista interferes but gets knocked off the apron, Shawn connects with the kick but Edge comes through the crowd and hits the spear on Michaels. Triple H makes the cover to retain his title. 5/10.

-2/19/06, No Way Out, Kurt Angle (Champion) vs. The Undertaker: Very, very, very good one here, both are such great big match players and they really shine in this match. The momentum swings a lot, with each guy getting in some great moves, as Taker hit his usual moves while Angle tries to ground the deadman working on his knee. The ending is great as Angle reverses the triangle choke and pinned his shoulders to the mat so Angle retained his title. 9/10.

-4/7/06, Smackdown, Rey Mysterio (Champion) vs. Randy Orton: Good TV main event here, this would be Orton's last match for two months as he was suspended for violating the wellness policy. Orton worked over the smaller Rey, while Mysterio tried to use his quickness to outsmart Randy. Rey ends up hitting the 619, then the leg drop from the top rope and makes the cover to retain his title. 7/10.

-12/16/07, Armageddon, Batista (Champion) vs. The Undertaker vs. Edge: Early on both Batista and Taker targeted each other and especially Edge who kept running away from both men, only getting in some spots when each man was down. Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder came from under the ring as fake Edge's trying to stop both Batista and Taker from winning the match. Taker hits the Tombstone on Batista, but gets hit with a chair by Edge, who makes the cover and wins the World Title. 7/10.

-11/23/08, Survivor Series, Chris Jericho (Champion) vs. John Cena: Just a few weeks after winning the title, Jericho must face the returning John Cena who suffered a neck injury 3 months prior. Its the usual Cena match but is elevated cause he's working with someone as good as Jericho. Chris worked on John's neck with clotheslines and also locked on the Walls of Jericho, while Cena came back locking on the STF, which Jericho gets out of. Cena deadlifts Chris off the mat and hits the FU, makes the cover and he's the new World champion. 8/10.

-6/7/09, Extreme Rules, Ladder Match, Edge (Champion) vs. Jeff Hardy: Great one here, both take some heavy risks and makes good uses of the ladders around the ring, Jeff gets smahed groin first on a ladder that gets all twisted, Edge misses the spear going head first into the ladder. Nice spot where Edge slaps on a sharpshooter while Jeff was trapped in the ladder. The best spot was when both men fell from a ladder through another ladder set up between the ring apron and the barricade. The finish comes when Jeff pulls Edge's legs in the ladder to trap him and Jeff climbs to get the title. 9/10. Loved how the aftermath was included of CM Punk coming down and cashing in his Money In The Bank briefcase on the beaten up Hardy. Punk ended up hitting his second GTS and made the cover to win the title. Thus began the heel turn of Punk.

I personally liked the documentary as the early parts were very refreshing to hear about and while short it was fun to view. It was great to hear from wrestling historians and people like Jim Crockett, Ric Flair, Jim Ross, Harley Race and so many others. The matches were good for the most part with some duds. Great DVD set to have in your wrestling collection though.

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