WCW the company that was about to make WWF(E) its bitch, this company changed history if it wasn't for WCW Monday nitro, well the attitude era wouldn't have existed, so was the DVD fair and good is it groundbreaking?? well not really the documentary had its ups and downs, but i'd actually recommend this for the new fans who think that cena is the best damn thing in the world, these people need to know how important WCW was and how it changed the wrestling world. OK so what are the positives?? i loved how the documentary began to discuss how the whole thing began since NWO and the different changes that took place in the company and how they dominated the wrestling world, until the company hit rock bottom and was sold to ted turner and if u ask me the main problem with WCW until its end in 2001 was the lack of strong management, lets move on,I really loved how they praised Eric Bischoff when he came and took control, i think he was the first person ''in a while'' who actually knew what to do and take the company and the wrestling world to the next level with the introduction of the nWo and how they began the whole thing as if WWf were about to invade the show, the fact that he said lets make nitro go live, lets make hogan a heel, all of these ideas changed the wrestling world i really liked that they pointed all of these things out, so for me i really liked all pf these stuff BUT there are some really big let downs, first of all they didn't talk about really important figures in the company like Sting who is a living legend, they didn't talk about nWo splitting into two groups plus when they talked about the fall of WCW well it wasn't explained in a good way, if you want how did WCW fall in details well you wont find this here. As for Russo, this guy wasn't that stupid he made the Attitude era he saved WWF back in the days -_- what happened in WCW that no one actually filtered his idea to be frank this was mentioned in the DVD that there was no filter for his ideas, yeah yeah his ideas were stupid, so the bottom line is the DVD is good but it could have been better,,,, final rating 7/10....
6 Reviews
So Close, But Yet So Far
zkonedog8 March 2017
The story of WCW, a compelling one for pro-wrestling fans, is a classic case of "second banana". Despite featuring a quality product and, for a short time, even surpassing Vince McMahon's empire, the WCW (for various reasons) never had the staying power to remain in the driver's seat of the wrestling business. This documentary provides an in-depth explanation of those reasons.
Three main areas of WCW history are examined:
1. The Early Years: The regional promotion from Jim Crockett is bought up by Ted Turner and allowed to thrive on cable television.
2. Monday Nitro: The WCW signs the top talent and eclipses WWE thanks in large part to the wild success of Monday Nitro on TNT.
3. The Demise: Poor management and bad fiscal decisions leads to the company's demise and ultimate buyout at the hands of McMahon.
For pro-wrestling fans, this documentary will bring back some fond memories and also provide some great history of the WCW. As with any doc, it is difficult to know to what degree the "truth" is being told, but while viewing this I never felt as if it was veering off course into speculation or other ludicrous ventures/notions.
Three main areas of WCW history are examined:
1. The Early Years: The regional promotion from Jim Crockett is bought up by Ted Turner and allowed to thrive on cable television.
2. Monday Nitro: The WCW signs the top talent and eclipses WWE thanks in large part to the wild success of Monday Nitro on TNT.
3. The Demise: Poor management and bad fiscal decisions leads to the company's demise and ultimate buyout at the hands of McMahon.
For pro-wrestling fans, this documentary will bring back some fond memories and also provide some great history of the WCW. As with any doc, it is difficult to know to what degree the "truth" is being told, but while viewing this I never felt as if it was veering off course into speculation or other ludicrous ventures/notions.
A solid view of the rise & fall (A couple spoilers)
teddydahmer17 March 2013
Warning: Spoilers
As far as I'm concerned, this DVD does a great job chronicling the rise and fall of WCW. This documentary gives a really good history of the start of the company, which is a part of the history I wasn't particularly aware of (being from a younger generation). I do, however, know a lot about the Bischoff era + the Monday Night Wars that started in the mid-90s, and I personally really enjoy the way they overview the whole situation. Contrary to one of the other reviews, DDP & Scott Hall are featured throughout the documentary (not a huge amount- DDP mainly talks on the Karl Malone/Dennis Rodman involvement & Scott Hall only dishes a little on the beginning of the nWo hysteria). Bill Goldberg gives some good insight into his whole situation, and particularly his thoughts on when his undefeated streak was ended, which is something I always wondered about. The documentary itself is solid for me. The only thing I did not was we didn't get to see any interviews with Sting, and rightfully so- I imagine he didn't feel the need to be included, as Sting did not decide to go with the WWE and let his previous contract lapse. Other than that, I really enjoyed it all. Jim Ross, Ric Flair, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, Dusty Rhodes, and many others have lots to say about WCW in general. There are a lot of different opinions in the film, and I think that's why I enjoyed it. You get to see a big cross-section of ideas. Mainly, even as a huge fan of Kevin Nash, I was glad they took a close look at how he and a few others were able to manipulate the WCW to their own advantage because that is exactly where the fall of the company came from. Bischoff did a great job in turning WCW into a powerhouse, but he basically "let the inmates run the asylum" (which is a pretty close quote from Goldberg in the doc).
As far as the matches go on the DVDs, I wasn't too excited. There are many other worthy matches from WCW's history which should have been included that were not. 9/10 for the documentary, 5/10 for the matches portion of the DVDs.
As far as the matches go on the DVDs, I wasn't too excited. There are many other worthy matches from WCW's history which should have been included that were not. 9/10 for the documentary, 5/10 for the matches portion of the DVDs.
A Review Of The Documentary.
Movie-ManDan27 August 2015
Warning: Spoilers
For some time, WCW was bigger and better than WWE. They had the bigger stars and better stories and larger fan base. WWE's inaugural Wrestlemania in 1985 was the main reason WWE's fan base surpassed WCW's by just a little bit. WWE had Hulk Hogan and celebrity endorsements. But the late 80s and early 90s saw a change with WCW doing a better job of marketing after being bought by Ted Turner from Jim Crockett Promotions and breaking off of the NWA.
While WCW stars were well-known and the show was on Turner networks, Ted Turner had no idea how to run a wrestling promotion and so there was poor management thus sales were dropping. WCW began to recuperate when power-hungry Eric Bischoff entered the scene and management was improving. Bischoff brought WCW into the limelight by signing former WWE stars, bringing it to Orlando studios and creating "WCW Monday Night Nitro" on TNT in 1995 to compete with WWE's flagship show "WWE Monday Night RAW." The first year saw both companies trading hits, until summer of 1996 saw Scott Hall and Kevin Nash from WWE invading WCW. This lead to Hulk Hogan aligning with them (the biggest shock in the company's history), turning him heel and creating the New World Order--the greatest pro-wrestling stable ever. From then to another 84 straight weeks, WCW was the hotter show pulling off record ratings. NWO had an extremely realistic and original feel to it which was why people loved them. To ensure WCW stays on top, the cruiserweight division was added: short and skinny high-flyers who were as good as gymnasts and acrobatics. Plus WCW would give away RAW results, WCW's biggest star, Sting, changed his gimmick to a much darker persona mirroring The Crow and, former NFL star Goldberg who was unbeatable achieving a record of 173-0. WCW was destined to be the ONLY wrestling brand, so they created another weekly show called "Thunder" on TBS.
WWE was losing the war badly and had maybe a year or so before having to fold. Following the Montreal Screw Job in November of 1997, WWE was sure to die. Owner Vince McMahon pushed his lesser known stars and created very edgy, adult oriented material which became known as the Attitude Era. The rise of the new stars (particularly Stone Cold Steve Austin) and adult material gave WWE a chance to succeed as they finally put and end to WCW's winning streak in 1998. Both companies exchanged wins again with WWE eventually gaining the upper hand later on. While WCW's ratings were still really high, WWE's ratings were even superior. The whole world was watching wrestling and fans struggled between both shows.
WCW started making mistakes by having Hulk Hogan face Goldberg for the WCW Title. With only two days notice, ratings and attendance were massive. If WCW put that match in a ppv and gave more than two days notice, WCW may have been on another win streak. Then The NWO broke off into different factions which lost some believability. There were too many behind-the-scenes problems such as the arrival of Vince Russo and wrestlers becoming bookers that began the collapse. In early 1999, WCW made two major mistakes that prevented them from ever gaining the upper hand again: January 4's RAW result and the Fingerpoke of Doom. It had been a while since they gave away a RAW result, and Tony Shiavone did just that: "Fans, if you're even thinking about changing the channel to our competition, do not. We understand that Mick Foley is gonna win their World title. Ha! That's gonna put some butts in the seats." More than half a million viewers switched to RAW to see Foley win the title then go back to Nitro which still had a few minutes. Next was the Fingerpoke of Doom: returning Hulk Hogan pokes Kevin Nash in the chest and pins him for the title, reforming the NWO. That bone-headed move sealed WCW's fate.
From then on, WCW did all they could to increase ratings. KISS, Megadeth, Chad Brock and Master P performed and it just hurt the ratings even more. I personally liked them. But WCW making a KISS wrestler was a little too far and they guy sucked. In mid 1999, former WWE writers Vince Russo and Ed Ferrera were hired by WCW because they did not want the extra work load of doing WWE's Smackdown! (Thunder's rival show). Russo and Ferrera helped come up with some of the best things during the Attitude Era, so WCW thought they could make the product better again. But WWE had Vince McMahon to say what was good and what was bad. WCW didn't have anybody like that. Ridiculous scenarios and mindless stories lead to WCW's closure in 2001. I am glad that the DVD features the segments with David Arquette: in a desperate attempt for ratings, a movie called Ready To Rumble was made about WCW. David Arquette was its star and he was used in regular stories and became WCW Champion, damaging the value of the title. It is raved as being the worst move ever and everybody agreed it was horrible.
When WWE bought WCW in 2001, there was no other competition, so WWE lazed out again and ratings never recovered. Former WWE and WCW superstar, Jeff Jarrett created his own company in 2002 called "TNA Impact!" which is still the second biggest wrestling company in the world. But TNA's ratings are nowhere near WCW's at anytime of the Wars.
The DVD captures wondrous memories from a company that was sometimes better than WWE. Many of the best WWE talents and moments would not be around if not for WCW.
While WCW stars were well-known and the show was on Turner networks, Ted Turner had no idea how to run a wrestling promotion and so there was poor management thus sales were dropping. WCW began to recuperate when power-hungry Eric Bischoff entered the scene and management was improving. Bischoff brought WCW into the limelight by signing former WWE stars, bringing it to Orlando studios and creating "WCW Monday Night Nitro" on TNT in 1995 to compete with WWE's flagship show "WWE Monday Night RAW." The first year saw both companies trading hits, until summer of 1996 saw Scott Hall and Kevin Nash from WWE invading WCW. This lead to Hulk Hogan aligning with them (the biggest shock in the company's history), turning him heel and creating the New World Order--the greatest pro-wrestling stable ever. From then to another 84 straight weeks, WCW was the hotter show pulling off record ratings. NWO had an extremely realistic and original feel to it which was why people loved them. To ensure WCW stays on top, the cruiserweight division was added: short and skinny high-flyers who were as good as gymnasts and acrobatics. Plus WCW would give away RAW results, WCW's biggest star, Sting, changed his gimmick to a much darker persona mirroring The Crow and, former NFL star Goldberg who was unbeatable achieving a record of 173-0. WCW was destined to be the ONLY wrestling brand, so they created another weekly show called "Thunder" on TBS.
WWE was losing the war badly and had maybe a year or so before having to fold. Following the Montreal Screw Job in November of 1997, WWE was sure to die. Owner Vince McMahon pushed his lesser known stars and created very edgy, adult oriented material which became known as the Attitude Era. The rise of the new stars (particularly Stone Cold Steve Austin) and adult material gave WWE a chance to succeed as they finally put and end to WCW's winning streak in 1998. Both companies exchanged wins again with WWE eventually gaining the upper hand later on. While WCW's ratings were still really high, WWE's ratings were even superior. The whole world was watching wrestling and fans struggled between both shows.
WCW started making mistakes by having Hulk Hogan face Goldberg for the WCW Title. With only two days notice, ratings and attendance were massive. If WCW put that match in a ppv and gave more than two days notice, WCW may have been on another win streak. Then The NWO broke off into different factions which lost some believability. There were too many behind-the-scenes problems such as the arrival of Vince Russo and wrestlers becoming bookers that began the collapse. In early 1999, WCW made two major mistakes that prevented them from ever gaining the upper hand again: January 4's RAW result and the Fingerpoke of Doom. It had been a while since they gave away a RAW result, and Tony Shiavone did just that: "Fans, if you're even thinking about changing the channel to our competition, do not. We understand that Mick Foley is gonna win their World title. Ha! That's gonna put some butts in the seats." More than half a million viewers switched to RAW to see Foley win the title then go back to Nitro which still had a few minutes. Next was the Fingerpoke of Doom: returning Hulk Hogan pokes Kevin Nash in the chest and pins him for the title, reforming the NWO. That bone-headed move sealed WCW's fate.
From then on, WCW did all they could to increase ratings. KISS, Megadeth, Chad Brock and Master P performed and it just hurt the ratings even more. I personally liked them. But WCW making a KISS wrestler was a little too far and they guy sucked. In mid 1999, former WWE writers Vince Russo and Ed Ferrera were hired by WCW because they did not want the extra work load of doing WWE's Smackdown! (Thunder's rival show). Russo and Ferrera helped come up with some of the best things during the Attitude Era, so WCW thought they could make the product better again. But WWE had Vince McMahon to say what was good and what was bad. WCW didn't have anybody like that. Ridiculous scenarios and mindless stories lead to WCW's closure in 2001. I am glad that the DVD features the segments with David Arquette: in a desperate attempt for ratings, a movie called Ready To Rumble was made about WCW. David Arquette was its star and he was used in regular stories and became WCW Champion, damaging the value of the title. It is raved as being the worst move ever and everybody agreed it was horrible.
When WWE bought WCW in 2001, there was no other competition, so WWE lazed out again and ratings never recovered. Former WWE and WCW superstar, Jeff Jarrett created his own company in 2002 called "TNA Impact!" which is still the second biggest wrestling company in the world. But TNA's ratings are nowhere near WCW's at anytime of the Wars.
The DVD captures wondrous memories from a company that was sometimes better than WWE. Many of the best WWE talents and moments would not be around if not for WCW.
The Rise And Fall Of WCW Epic Fail
Terryfan16 August 2010
Warning: Spoilers
The Rise And Fall Of WCW is a three disc DVD set from World Wrestling Entertainment.
Ever since the WWE Brought out WCW they have to all the WCW Footage, WCW Names, Images and more.
Since the success of what is what many say is the best Wrestling DVD ever made The Rise And Fall Of ECW the WWE Thought that it would be right to make the Rise And Fall Of WCW.
However this DVD was a epic fail. First off Almost every wrestling fan knows how WCW Fall. The Business has stars that use Ego, Greed, and Selfish stars.
WCW was a very strong company but when the young talent like The Giant now called Big Show in WWE, Chris Jericho and others left because they were being hold back never get the spot light or the world title matches. WCW begin to go downhill.
WCW never use too much of their brain to understand how to make a company work they had former World Wrestling Federation Stars running the show and just never allow the younger stars to get their break in World Championship Wrestling.
This DVD started off good with a small fact about how The NWA National Wrestling Alliance was created and then when Ted Turner brought the company he turn it into WCW World Championship Wrestling.
During the 1980s WCW became almost an overnight hit with fans of Wrestling. Then the famous Monday Night War begin back in 1995 with the creation of WCW Monday Nitro to go head to head with The World Wrestling Federation and Monday Night Raw This war would go on until 2001 when WCW were brought out.
Also This DVD only shows clips from former WCW Stars that were not in the WWE when this DVD was being made. They Show interviews from past WWE Shows. Stars like Scott Hall, Diamond Dallas Page, Booker T and Others didn't interview for this DVD.
However they got Goldberg, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, Arn Anderson, Ric Flair, Mean Gene and others to do this DVD.
The DVD falls because of the lack of talents that could have share their stories about WCW and the fact that all Wrestling Fans know the reasons WCW fail.
If you really want to learn about WCW watch The Monday Night War and others dvds stay away from this one.
I give The Rise And Fall of WCW a 4 out of 10
Ever since the WWE Brought out WCW they have to all the WCW Footage, WCW Names, Images and more.
Since the success of what is what many say is the best Wrestling DVD ever made The Rise And Fall Of ECW the WWE Thought that it would be right to make the Rise And Fall Of WCW.
However this DVD was a epic fail. First off Almost every wrestling fan knows how WCW Fall. The Business has stars that use Ego, Greed, and Selfish stars.
WCW was a very strong company but when the young talent like The Giant now called Big Show in WWE, Chris Jericho and others left because they were being hold back never get the spot light or the world title matches. WCW begin to go downhill.
WCW never use too much of their brain to understand how to make a company work they had former World Wrestling Federation Stars running the show and just never allow the younger stars to get their break in World Championship Wrestling.
This DVD started off good with a small fact about how The NWA National Wrestling Alliance was created and then when Ted Turner brought the company he turn it into WCW World Championship Wrestling.
During the 1980s WCW became almost an overnight hit with fans of Wrestling. Then the famous Monday Night War begin back in 1995 with the creation of WCW Monday Nitro to go head to head with The World Wrestling Federation and Monday Night Raw This war would go on until 2001 when WCW were brought out.
Also This DVD only shows clips from former WCW Stars that were not in the WWE when this DVD was being made. They Show interviews from past WWE Shows. Stars like Scott Hall, Diamond Dallas Page, Booker T and Others didn't interview for this DVD.
However they got Goldberg, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, Arn Anderson, Ric Flair, Mean Gene and others to do this DVD.
The DVD falls because of the lack of talents that could have share their stories about WCW and the fact that all Wrestling Fans know the reasons WCW fail.
If you really want to learn about WCW watch The Monday Night War and others dvds stay away from this one.
I give The Rise And Fall of WCW a 4 out of 10
Could have been something Amazing.
tonyschlapak14 February 2018
Oh boy, where to begin with this WWE home video release.
I grew up watching WCW in the early 90s and when this title came out, I figured it would be just as good, if not better than the Rise and Fall of ECW .... It's not, not even freaking close.
A-lot of chapters should have just been merged into one, like the separate chapters for Georgia Championship Wrestling, Mid-Atlantic ... you could have had just one long chapter where you talked about the history of South East Pro Wrestling where you bring up each promotion. Then talk about Black Saturday then when Ole Anderson tried to bring back GCW as his own promotion while Vince had control of the actual Georgia territory
This documentary came off more as a "This is what you don't do to run a wrestling promotion" than an actual detailed history about WCW.
I would have liked to have seen more talked about the Bill Watts era and when Jim Herd was in charge. I would have liked to seen more talk about the great tag teams from the history of WCW like the Midnight Express, Rock N Roll Express, Road Warriors ... etc.
It's worth a watch definitely, specially for those who have no idea about WCW. It gives you a quick history lesson on the company that almost put the WWE out of business.
I grew up watching WCW in the early 90s and when this title came out, I figured it would be just as good, if not better than the Rise and Fall of ECW .... It's not, not even freaking close.
A-lot of chapters should have just been merged into one, like the separate chapters for Georgia Championship Wrestling, Mid-Atlantic ... you could have had just one long chapter where you talked about the history of South East Pro Wrestling where you bring up each promotion. Then talk about Black Saturday then when Ole Anderson tried to bring back GCW as his own promotion while Vince had control of the actual Georgia territory
This documentary came off more as a "This is what you don't do to run a wrestling promotion" than an actual detailed history about WCW.
I would have liked to have seen more talked about the Bill Watts era and when Jim Herd was in charge. I would have liked to seen more talk about the great tag teams from the history of WCW like the Midnight Express, Rock N Roll Express, Road Warriors ... etc.
It's worth a watch definitely, specially for those who have no idea about WCW. It gives you a quick history lesson on the company that almost put the WWE out of business.
See also
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