DVD Review: The History of the WWE Championship
After I completed my Red Dwarf marathon I was wondering what I was going to watch today. I decided to go out to our Wal-Mart this morning and pick up the DVD that is the title of this blog. I figured this would be a great subject so here's my review.
First off, let me say I am quite pleased with the overall presentation. The choice of matches was excellent and I love that Jim Ross was the host. I saw some early matches I hadn't heard about before and some that I saw bits and pieces of as well as some of my favorites. Here are my thoughts on some of the matches:
Ivan Koloff vs. Pedro Morales (MSG, 2/8/71)
This was the first time I had seen a match from the WWWF days and it was very good. I was amazed by some of the moves Morales did! I think he was ahead of his time by using some high risk moves that we consider commonplace now. This match had a great pace, a hot crowd and an amazing finish. I also enjoyed the information JR gave.
Bruno Sammartino vs. Killer Kowalski (MSG, 4/29/74)
This was also the first time I had seen Bruno Sammartino and Killer Kowalski wrestle. I hardly recognized Kowalski since he was quite skinny, lol. The match itself was entertaining and showed me how things were done in the WWWF. I was a little surprised by the finish but I think it worked perfectly. I loved how Bruno was still ready to go after the match despite the fact that Kowalski busted him open.
Bruno Sammartino vs. "Superstar" Billy Graham (Baltimore, MD 4/30/77)
Even more firsts as I had never seen Billy Graham wrestle before. He had quite the unique style and was definetly a classic heel. The finish was something I expected from Graham and one that has been (I think) over used now.
Superstar" Billy Graham vs. Bob Backlund (MSG, 2/20/78)
Bob Backlund vs. Greg Valentine (Philadelphia, PA 1/16/82)
Bob Backlund vs. Sgt. Slaughter (MSG, 5/23/83)
The only thing I can say about these three matches is that Bob Backlund is an awesome wrestler! I remember thinking while I watched these, "Bob Backlund wasn't booked right in his feud with Bret Hart." I always thought of Backlund as a psycho without much wrestling ability but those early matches showed me otherwise.
Iron Sheik vs. Hulk Hogan (MSG, 1/23/84)
This was a match that I heard about for years but never actually watched until now. It was nice to see this historic match and see where Hulkamania began.
It was at this point when my mom asked "Where are Bret Hart's matches?" I said we could skip past all of these matches and head to the 2 he had in this set. I didn't say this was gonna be a complete review, lol.
Hulk Hogan vs. King Kong Bundy (WM 2 4/5/86)
Hulk Hogan vs. "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff (Sat. Nights Main Event, 1/3/87)
Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant (WM 3, 3/29/87)
Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the giant (The Main Event, 2/5/88)
Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan (WM 5, 4/2/89)
Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior (WM 6, 4/1/90)
Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (Summerslam, 8/29/94)
I've only seen this match a couple before and it's as awesome as I remember it. Bret and Owen did an excellent job in this match. I was hoping they added the post match stuff with Bulldog and Neidhart but oh well.
Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (WM 12, 3/31/96)
This match could've been better. There was absoloutely no pinfalls, submissions, cout outs or DQs. I don't know if it was booked that way or if Hart or Michaels requested that before the match. I agree with a friend of mine that another Ironman match should've been put in its place.
Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind (IYH: Mind Games, 9/22/96)
This was a somewhat brutal match. Foley took his normal bumps during the match and also dished out some. This also had a fitting finish.
Shawn Michaels vs. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (WM 14, 3/29/98)
All I have to say about this match is: This was one of those matches that takes the winner to the next level.
Triple H vs. Cactus Jack (RR, 1/23/00)
This match was brutal! A lot of weapons were used and both men were bleeding when it was over.
The Rock vs. Triple H vs. Kurt Angle (SS, 8/27/00)
The Rock vs. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (WM 17, 4/1/01)
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin vs. Chris Jericho (Vengance, 12/9/01)
This was a pivotal match in that it combined the WWE and WCW World Title, if only for a little while. I was surprised to see Jericho win it when I first saw it. Now I think it was a good idea since Jericho deserved to be in the Main Event picture.
The Rock vs. The Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle (Vengance, 7/21/02)
The Rock vs. Brock Lesnar (SS, 8/25/02)
Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit (RR, 1/19/03)
John Cena vs. Chris Jericho vs. Christian (Vengance, 6/26/05)
This was Christian's first and last WWE Championship shot (I believe). I'm glad he went to NWA-TNA. Least there he's a fixture in the Main Event.
There was also a cool "Timeline" video with finishes from a lot of the World Title matches. I watched that first then went onto the main program.
There's the run down of this set. Thank you for your attention.
First off, let me say I am quite pleased with the overall presentation. The choice of matches was excellent and I love that Jim Ross was the host. I saw some early matches I hadn't heard about before and some that I saw bits and pieces of as well as some of my favorites. Here are my thoughts on some of the matches:
Ivan Koloff vs. Pedro Morales (MSG, 2/8/71)
This was the first time I had seen a match from the WWWF days and it was very good. I was amazed by some of the moves Morales did! I think he was ahead of his time by using some high risk moves that we consider commonplace now. This match had a great pace, a hot crowd and an amazing finish. I also enjoyed the information JR gave.
Bruno Sammartino vs. Killer Kowalski (MSG, 4/29/74)
This was also the first time I had seen Bruno Sammartino and Killer Kowalski wrestle. I hardly recognized Kowalski since he was quite skinny, lol. The match itself was entertaining and showed me how things were done in the WWWF. I was a little surprised by the finish but I think it worked perfectly. I loved how Bruno was still ready to go after the match despite the fact that Kowalski busted him open.
Bruno Sammartino vs. "Superstar" Billy Graham (Baltimore, MD 4/30/77)
Even more firsts as I had never seen Billy Graham wrestle before. He had quite the unique style and was definetly a classic heel. The finish was something I expected from Graham and one that has been (I think) over used now.
Superstar" Billy Graham vs. Bob Backlund (MSG, 2/20/78)
Bob Backlund vs. Greg Valentine (Philadelphia, PA 1/16/82)
Bob Backlund vs. Sgt. Slaughter (MSG, 5/23/83)
The only thing I can say about these three matches is that Bob Backlund is an awesome wrestler! I remember thinking while I watched these, "Bob Backlund wasn't booked right in his feud with Bret Hart." I always thought of Backlund as a psycho without much wrestling ability but those early matches showed me otherwise.
Iron Sheik vs. Hulk Hogan (MSG, 1/23/84)
This was a match that I heard about for years but never actually watched until now. It was nice to see this historic match and see where Hulkamania began.
It was at this point when my mom asked "Where are Bret Hart's matches?" I said we could skip past all of these matches and head to the 2 he had in this set. I didn't say this was gonna be a complete review, lol.
Hulk Hogan vs. King Kong Bundy (WM 2 4/5/86)
Hulk Hogan vs. "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff (Sat. Nights Main Event, 1/3/87)
Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant (WM 3, 3/29/87)
Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the giant (The Main Event, 2/5/88)
Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan (WM 5, 4/2/89)
Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior (WM 6, 4/1/90)
Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (Summerslam, 8/29/94)
I've only seen this match a couple before and it's as awesome as I remember it. Bret and Owen did an excellent job in this match. I was hoping they added the post match stuff with Bulldog and Neidhart but oh well.
Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (WM 12, 3/31/96)
This match could've been better. There was absoloutely no pinfalls, submissions, cout outs or DQs. I don't know if it was booked that way or if Hart or Michaels requested that before the match. I agree with a friend of mine that another Ironman match should've been put in its place.
Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind (IYH: Mind Games, 9/22/96)
This was a somewhat brutal match. Foley took his normal bumps during the match and also dished out some. This also had a fitting finish.
Shawn Michaels vs. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (WM 14, 3/29/98)
All I have to say about this match is: This was one of those matches that takes the winner to the next level.
Triple H vs. Cactus Jack (RR, 1/23/00)
This match was brutal! A lot of weapons were used and both men were bleeding when it was over.
The Rock vs. Triple H vs. Kurt Angle (SS, 8/27/00)
The Rock vs. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (WM 17, 4/1/01)
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin vs. Chris Jericho (Vengance, 12/9/01)
This was a pivotal match in that it combined the WWE and WCW World Title, if only for a little while. I was surprised to see Jericho win it when I first saw it. Now I think it was a good idea since Jericho deserved to be in the Main Event picture.
The Rock vs. The Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle (Vengance, 7/21/02)
The Rock vs. Brock Lesnar (SS, 8/25/02)
Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit (RR, 1/19/03)
John Cena vs. Chris Jericho vs. Christian (Vengance, 6/26/05)
This was Christian's first and last WWE Championship shot (I believe). I'm glad he went to NWA-TNA. Least there he's a fixture in the Main Event.
There was also a cool "Timeline" video with finishes from a lot of the World Title matches. I watched that first then went onto the main program.
There's the run down of this set. Thank you for your attention.
posted by Wade Wallenstein at 9/06/2006 07:35:00 PM
2 Comments:
I'm surprised you haven't seen the Sheik-Hogan match before, as it is on the DVD, and parts of it were on all of those Hulkamania tapes from back in the day.
Although now every Iron Sheik match has a new meaning. You watch that match with Hogan and you see him put Hogan in the camel clutch and you wonder if this is the time where he finishes off with steps 3 and 4 of the humbling.
10 thumbs up for the name change BTW.
The DVD I refer to is of course the Hulk Rules DVD, for those of you that are not mind readers. And if you're not a mind reader, you really should get to work on that, there's really no excuse in this day and age not to be one.
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