World Class and Heroes of WCCW DVD Review

**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.

**Loose Cannon** · 12-29-2007, 10:40 AM

Triumph and Tragedy of WCCW Review

Another quality DVD brought to you buy WWE. They really know how to put these Legends DVD's together. I have every single one since they released the Flair DVD and they've all been superior.

They had various guys being interviewed, which was a huge plus. You had Flair, Hayes, Jimmy Garvin, Buddy Roberts, Hart, Akbar, HHH, Irwin, HBK and a couple others. It was nice to see Garvin on TV again. It was sad seeing Buddy Jack using a voice box these days. I had no idea that his throat was that bad. It was also a plus having the Freebirds together when they had thier interview segments. (Garvin, Hayes and Roberts)

Again, like Heroes, the WWE DVD covered various WCCW wrestlers and had quick packages on them. The quick Kamala vignette they played was really cool. He looked bad ass back then. Gino, Adams, Garvin, Parsons were all covered. Good segment on the DVD.

They covered a couple big angles like the Freebirds heel turn, Adams heel turn and they even showed the Fritz heart attack angle. I remember reading about this back in the late 80's. It was Al Perez (Champion) vs Kerry for the Title. Before the match began, Gordy, Roberts and Parsons attacked Fritz and Kerry. It was pretty cool.

WWE DVD's do a great job on taking old footage and making it great quality. That's what I love about these DVD's. Big plus

Another plus about this DVD was did a great segment on what happened to WCCW and brought up the USWA and how it merged into that.

The only negatives about this DVD was they didn't mention the deaths of Brusier Brody, Chris Adams, and some others. And there was more in depth talk about these secondary characters on the Heroes DVD. The Von Erich's and Freebirds got a lot of attention on the WWE one.

Things to look out for:

A young Jake Roberts hitting the DDT on Kevin Von Erich during the Adams turn

A Young King Kong Bundy with hair during the Frtiz retirement segment

9.6/10

**The Mackem** · 03-20-2009, 07:32 AM

You know, I wouldn't mind seeing a DVD documentary on WCCW. I've been reading articles and watched you tube videos about general things relating to WCCW.

What I've learned is that WCCW had the Texas territory and they got huge attendances everywhere they went and as such the main everters were extremely popular, especially the 'god like' Von Erichs. I can't remember who said it but it went along the linesof 'when the public lost faith in the Von Erichs, they also lost faith in WCCW' or something to that effect.

**Loose Cannon** · 03-20-2009, 11:37 AM

great reviews by this guy

**Innovator** · 03-20-2009, 11:53 AM

Mackem, watch the Kerry Von Erich vs. Flair match from Texas stadium, you can see how popular WCCW was

**PorkSoda** · 03-20-2009, 04:47 PM

I need to get WCCW. It seems very educational.

12-28-2007, 03:28 PM	#1
Loose Cannon I'm all there is Posts: 31,811	World Class and Heroes of WCCW DVD Review 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.

12-29-2007, 10:40 AM	#2
Loose Cannon I'm all there is Posts: 31,811	Triumph and Tragedy of WCCW Review Another quality DVD brought to you buy WWE. They really know how to put these Legends DVD's together. I have every single one since they released the Flair DVD and they've all been superior. They had various guys being interviewed, which was a huge plus. You had Flair, Hayes, Jimmy Garvin, Buddy Roberts, Hart, Akbar, HHH, Irwin, HBK and a couple others. It was nice to see Garvin on TV again. It was sad seeing Buddy Jack using a voice box these days. I had no idea that his throat was that bad. It was also a plus having the Freebirds together when they had thier interview segments. (Garvin, Hayes and Roberts) Again, like Heroes, the WWE DVD covered various WCCW wrestlers and had quick packages on them. The quick Kamala vignette they played was really cool. He looked bad ass back then. Gino, Adams, Garvin, Parsons were all covered. Good segment on the DVD. They covered a couple big angles like the Freebirds heel turn, Adams heel turn and they even showed the Fritz heart attack angle. I remember reading about this back in the late 80's. It was Al Perez (Champion) vs Kerry for the Title. Before the match began, Gordy, Roberts and Parsons attacked Fritz and Kerry. It was pretty cool. WWE DVD's do a great job on taking old footage and making it great quality. That's what I love about these DVD's. Big plus Another plus about this DVD was did a great segment on what happened to WCCW and brought up the USWA and how it merged into that. The only negatives about this DVD was they didn't mention the deaths of Brusier Brody, Chris Adams, and some others. And there was more in depth talk about these secondary characters on the Heroes DVD. The Von Erich's and Freebirds got a lot of attention on the WWE one. Things to look out for: A young Jake Roberts hitting the DDT on Kevin Von Erich during the Adams turn A Young King Kong Bundy with hair during the Frtiz retirement segment 9.6/10

03-20-2009, 07:32 AM	#3
The Mackem VG + Q&A FORUM REPRESENT Posts: 38,940	You know, I wouldn't mind seeing a DVD documentary on WCCW. I've been reading articles and watched you tube videos about general things relating to WCCW. What I've learned is that WCCW had the Texas territory and they got huge attendances everywhere they went and as such the main everters were extremely popular, especially the 'god like' Von Erichs. I can't remember who said it but it went along the linesof 'when the public lost faith in the Von Erichs, they also lost faith in WCCW' or something to that effect.

03-20-2009, 11:37 AM	#4
Loose Cannon I'm all there is Posts: 31,811	great reviews by this guy

03-20-2009, 11:53 AM	#5
Innovator Inno Knows. Posts: 43,710	Mackem, watch the Kerry Von Erich vs. Flair match from Texas stadium, you can see how popular WCCW was

03-20-2009, 04:47 PM	#6
PorkSoda Diabetes Coming To Getcha Posts: 6,826	I need to get WCCW. It seems very educational.