dvd review: the rise & fall of wcw

i just got done watching the rise & fall of wcw dvd. i was not expecting much out of the dvd. i kind of expected it to be all negative, coming from the wwe. overall i felt like i was wanting more. they either ran through important angles and moments too quickly or skipped them completely. the group of people they interviewed gave a bunch of different perspectives. from the bookers like dusty rhodes and kevin sullivan to the wrestlers like goldberg and magnum ta to backstage people like harry schiller and eric bischoff. it felt like they tried to cover all the bases in that respect.

i did like the fact that they showed respect to the fact that wcw did dominate the ratings war for a long time. the maybe should have gave a better idea of how bad off the wwe was because of this. they touched on some of the big time feuds through the history. it seems like they skipped over the importance of sting and his role in wcw.

some of the highlights of the documentary were the different bookers and how the people at turner did not want any wrestlers running the business. just goes to show how ineptly the promotion was run. also they touched on how important the cruiserweights were to the popularity of wcw. i also found it interesting that the wwe actually showed the rumors that vince russo was secretly working for the wwe to destroy wcw from the inside. they never denied it by the way.

some of the misses were not really going into the popularity of sting, he is touched on a little but he should have had a whole segment. they did not really get into the departures of the radicalz, big show, chris jericho, or even raven as turning points in wcw's demise. brett hart was not even mentioned, nor how bad the messed up what could have been a huge angle with him coming off the montreal screw job. the ric flair come back was not included either. this was a huge moment in the history of wcw. also taking jabs at jeff jarrett seamed a little bush league.

now onto the extras. i will just give quick reviews of each extra.

lost in cleveland: this was the mick foley segments when he disappeared to sell an injury. really bad stuff there, but funny to watch now.

bill watts defends himself: basically this is watts saying he is not a racist, i could have lived without this on the dvd.

spam man: interesting that wcw actually pitched an idea to spam for a wrestler with a spam gimmick. i am so glad spam turned them down.

the origin of goldberg: one of the better segments on the dvd. i am not a goldberg fan, bout i found this very interesting.

bischoff gives away raw results: i wonder if he is really regretful of giving out the results or he just said that because it was a dvd produced by wwe.

onto the matches

ric flair vs magnum ta: good match, nice way to show newer fans who never saw magnum wrestle how over he was.

sting, lex luger, and barry windham vs ric flair, arn anderson, and tully blanchard: i am guessing this is on here to showcase the horsemen.

dusty rhodes vs barry whindham: great match, these are two of the better wrestlers in wcw at the time and this match does not disappoint.

ric flair vs ricky the dragon steamboat: one of the best matches in the history of wrestling.

the rock 'n' roll express vs the midnight express: great feud, i am glad the two teams are represented here.

the steiner brothers vs sting and lex luger: ok match i guess. i think both teams have had better.

sting vs big van vader: vader was an absolute monster at this time. if you want to see him in his prime this is a good example.

rick rude vs sting: another great match. rick rude does not get enough respect for how good he was.

ric flair vs hulk hogan: i hated this match. at the time i felt like it made wcw seem minor league. to have hogan win the belt in his first match in wcw seemed to make flair less important.

ric flair vs the giant: one of the better matches from the giant in wcw, he was still really green here but flair managed to get a good match from him.

rey mysterio jr vs dean malenko: awesome match. malenko and mysterio were perfect adversaries for each other.

team wcw-sting, lex luger, ric flair, and arn anderson vs team nwo-hulk hogan, kevin nash, scott hall, and nwo sting: the build up for the match was better than the actual match. the whole is sting going to join the nwo was a huge angle. it also set up the crow sting gimmick with him in the rafters.

syxx vs eddie guerrero: this was a ladder match. probably the best match of syxx's career.

eddie guerrero vs dean malenko: another good cruiserweight match, makes me miss the cruiserweight division.

chris jericho vs juventud gurrrera: see comments from the last match.

the steiner brothers vs the outsiders: ok match. i wish the steiners were represnted better on this. at one time they were they best in the world.

diamond dallas page and karl malone vs hulk hogan and dennis rodman: malone was good but rodman was horrible.

goldberg vs ddp: i actually liked this match more now than when it happened.

booker t vs lance storm: i am shocked this match made the cut. i love both these guys as wrestlers and this match does not disappoint.