Rise & Fall, good and bad
BY SCOTT FISHMAN
Miami Herald Writer
Whether it was the Four Horsemen, the exciting cruiserweights, Monday Nitro live on TNT or the new World order, the impact World Championship Wrestling had on the business is still reverberating today.
World Wrestling Entertainment presents The Rise & Fall of WCW DVD. A three-disc set featuring a documentary and 20 matches spotlighting a once powerful pro wrestling juggernaut's rise to prominence as it reached staggering heights and disastrous lows.
While the documentary is a solid history lesson for casual fans who weren't around for WCW and haven't heard the story before, it does disappoint by leaving out or skipping a number of moments.
They get points for mentioning the Ding Dongs, but why does WWE ignore the Hunchbacks? The team born from the Jim Herd era who couldn't get pinned because of, what else, their hunchbacks.
Since I'm on the subject of gimmicks, what about Glacier? What about the Shockmaster? What about the Yeti? What about the Dungeon of Doom? What about Raven? Well, there are a few quick clips of Raven getting destroyed by Goldberg, but I just felt like putting out that one for kicks.
I found it interesting that they left out Stunning Steve Austin, considering the way he left WCW in 1995.
There were a few controversial moments off the documentary. For example, there was nothing about the incident between Arn Anderson, Sid Vicious and a certain pair of scissors. In addition, mum on court battles, including Ric Flair's beef with Eric Bischoff and the racial discrimination lawsuit filed by Sonny Onoo and others.
How can you not mention the first lady of WCW Missy Hyatt?
The producers of the DVD do mention KISS, David Arquette, Jay Leno, Dennis Rodman and Karl Malone. However, they skip over Wonder Years actor Jason Hervey, the late Reggie White, Kevin Greene and even RoboCop's involvement with the promotion. A movie icon, RoboCop saves Sting from the evil Four Horsemen but doesn't even get an `others.'
The DVD briefly notes how WCW signed a number of big stars from WWE in the 1990s, yet they fail to include Extreme Championship Wrestling. The Turner owned organization picked up the Public Enemy, Dean Malenko, Rey Mysterio Jr., Chris Jericho, Perry Saturn and Raven to name a few.
I know WWE wants to shy from showing or discussing Chris Benoit. I don't blame them, but I think a few minutes should have gone to talking about the Radicals jumping to WWE in 2000. When Eddie Guerrero, Malenko, Benoit and Saturn made the decision to leave WCW; many believe it helped seal the deal for the company's demise in 2001.
Speaking of jumps, there was nothing on Bret Hart's exodus from WWE to WCW. This was the most lucrative deal in pro wrestling history, up to that point and deemed some time.
I was also looking forward to getting a burning question answered. Who was driving the Hummer that hit Kevin Nash's limo in 1999?
A big miss for me was barely mentioning current TNA wrestler Sting. I know the guy works for another organization, but Sting's drastic change in face paint from color to crow was a big reason fans tuned into WCW each week.
One other thing is the DVD set has a lot of random matches taking space from more memorable contests that could have made the release much better. Instead of the War Games from 1996, I would have preferred to see War Games matches from the late 1980s or early 1990s, which were far superior.
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