Loose Cannon
12-28-2007, 03:28 PM
I had a chance to watch both of these videos this month and I just wanted to review them with my thoughts, feelings, etc...
When I heard WWE was going to do a WCCW DVD, I was pretty excited. World Class, just like all the other territory promotions back in the day, was not something I could watch. I was an avid WCW/NWA watcher and a huge WWF fan, but that was all that aired in my area. The only resource I had to the other promotions were the magazines. PWI was usually the ones i read. It had articles about all the big promotions (WCCW, Florida, Mid South, Pacific, CWA, AWA, and of course NWA and WWF). They usually were a couple months behind from the current storylines though being they were magzines.
Anyway, not to get off track, I watched Heroes of World Class first and I'll start with that one:
Heroes of WCCW
Deinately a must buy for any fan of wrestling back in the 80's or anyone who loves wrestling history. If you didn't follow WCCW back then, but were a fan of other big promotions like WWF and NWA, you'll recognize some names like Gary Hart, Kamala, FreeBirds, Kerry Von Erich, and Ric Flair. Some names you might see and hear for the first time on this DVD like Gino Hernandez, Ice Man Parsons, Chris Adams and Skandar Akbar.
The DVD did a great job of going over the key wrestlers that made world class a success. They highlighted some key feuds and had great interviews from guys like Hart, Chris Adams, Kevin Von Erich, Akbar, and a lot of WCCW's personal.
I personaly loved Kevin going through the old Sportatorium as it stood in today's time. It was very cool seeing it again before they tore in down. I know it must of brought back a lot of memories for the fans that actually attended those events.
Back to the feuds, in watching this DVD, you saw how great wrestling storylines can be and I sit and watch WWE today and wonder what the fuck happened. The whole Freebirds/Von Erich feud was tremendous. I enjoyed watching the segment where Jimmy Garvin had to do chores around the Von Erich ranch with Sunshine because he lost a match. Just some really golden stuff.
Then we get to a lot of the sad stuff associated with the promotion. Of course, the Von Erichs dying off that we all have come to know. But then there's a list of guys from that promotion that died so young from Brody to Hernandez to Chris Adams. And the deaths are so tragic; from being stabbed, to being shot, to Plane Crashes etc... Skandar Akbar does a voice over as they the DVD compiles a list of names of the wrestlers from WCCW who have died and that list grows and grows. It's really sad and disheartning. They put empahsis on a possible "curse" being with the company
All in all, an excellent documentary. Gary Hart is a great interview and he's a really great guy in person. I've met him on two occasions before. It was cool to see all these big names wrestle for World Class at one point and it was sad to see how many wrestlers we have since lost. I thought the DVD did a great job in remembering some wrestlers that were so good back then, but don't get any recognition today. An example would be Gino Hernandez. I never hear his name brought up.
My only complaint comparing it to the WWE one was I think the WWE one had better quality of footage, which is understandable and I thought the WWE did a better job in covering what happened after the WCCW folded, which I liked.
DVD Document gets an 9.3/10 from me.
I'll review the WWE one in my next post
I will review the WWE DVD in my next post.
When I heard WWE was going to do a WCCW DVD, I was pretty excited. World Class, just like all the other territory promotions back in the day, was not something I could watch. I was an avid WCW/NWA watcher and a huge WWF fan, but that was all that aired in my area. The only resource I had to the other promotions were the magazines. PWI was usually the ones i read. It had articles about all the big promotions (WCCW, Florida, Mid South, Pacific, CWA, AWA, and of course NWA and WWF). They usually were a couple months behind from the current storylines though being they were magzines.
Anyway, not to get off track, I watched Heroes of World Class first and I'll start with that one:
Heroes of WCCW
Deinately a must buy for any fan of wrestling back in the 80's or anyone who loves wrestling history. If you didn't follow WCCW back then, but were a fan of other big promotions like WWF and NWA, you'll recognize some names like Gary Hart, Kamala, FreeBirds, Kerry Von Erich, and Ric Flair. Some names you might see and hear for the first time on this DVD like Gino Hernandez, Ice Man Parsons, Chris Adams and Skandar Akbar.
The DVD did a great job of going over the key wrestlers that made world class a success. They highlighted some key feuds and had great interviews from guys like Hart, Chris Adams, Kevin Von Erich, Akbar, and a lot of WCCW's personal.
I personaly loved Kevin going through the old Sportatorium as it stood in today's time. It was very cool seeing it again before they tore in down. I know it must of brought back a lot of memories for the fans that actually attended those events.
Back to the feuds, in watching this DVD, you saw how great wrestling storylines can be and I sit and watch WWE today and wonder what the fuck happened. The whole Freebirds/Von Erich feud was tremendous. I enjoyed watching the segment where Jimmy Garvin had to do chores around the Von Erich ranch with Sunshine because he lost a match. Just some really golden stuff.
Then we get to a lot of the sad stuff associated with the promotion. Of course, the Von Erichs dying off that we all have come to know. But then there's a list of guys from that promotion that died so young from Brody to Hernandez to Chris Adams. And the deaths are so tragic; from being stabbed, to being shot, to Plane Crashes etc... Skandar Akbar does a voice over as they the DVD compiles a list of names of the wrestlers from WCCW who have died and that list grows and grows. It's really sad and disheartning. They put empahsis on a possible "curse" being with the company
All in all, an excellent documentary. Gary Hart is a great interview and he's a really great guy in person. I've met him on two occasions before. It was cool to see all these big names wrestle for World Class at one point and it was sad to see how many wrestlers we have since lost. I thought the DVD did a great job in remembering some wrestlers that were so good back then, but don't get any recognition today. An example would be Gino Hernandez. I never hear his name brought up.
My only complaint comparing it to the WWE one was I think the WWE one had better quality of footage, which is understandable and I thought the WWE did a better job in covering what happened after the WCCW folded, which I liked.
DVD Document gets an 9.3/10 from me.
I'll review the WWE one in my next post
I will review the WWE DVD in my next post.