It’s fair to say that this is a hotly anticipated WWE release. After all there has been so many up’s and down’s in the history of the World Wrestling Federation it’s difficult to imagine how this could fail.
I will be straight up from the start; there was never any doubt that this would be a WWE-friendly release. The company has a long history of painting everything in the most positive light when it comes to productions like this. In a way I have now complaints about their attitude; after all it’s their promotion and they have largely defeated all opponents that have squared up to them over the years. The winners of a war always get to write history to their own satisfaction.
The problem with this approach is that it makes for somewhat of a “vanilla” two hour documentary; there is also the problem the story featured here has been told many times before. You are not going to learn anything earth-shatteringly new here and long-time viewers with the likes of The Monday Night Wars or The True Story of WrestleMania in their collection might get feelings of déjà vu as they watch this.
First things first though and the WWE have assembled quite the list of contributors to the documentary. As well as the ubiquitous likes of the McMahons (although Shane only appears in previously filmed footage), Triple H and John Cena the likes of Koko B Ware, Jimmy Valliant, The Honky Tonk Man, Bruno Sammartino and Greg Valentine to name just a few all appear. At times it can appear a little scatter-gun in terms of approach but all have reasons to appear and most offer genuine insights, however briefly, to things.
The problem is that with 50 years to pass in two hours only certain parts of the tale can be given their full due. We quickly pass from the beginnings of the promotion to Bruno Sammartino and the wrestlers that followed him such as Bob Backlund to the birth of Hulkamania and the WrestleMania era. It’s all very interesting, but as said before it’s nothing new. Saturday Night’s Main Event, WrestleMania III and the pay-per-view expansion are all covered before we get to what was always going to be an interesting section; The Steroid Trial. This is, after all, the company who allowed Stephanie McMahon to compare 9/11 to her father’s trial.
It’s interesting that the likes of Jake Roberts, Jim Duggan and Ted DiBiase freely admit to taking Steroids during their time with the WWE but as you might expect there is little talk of the pressures that may have been put on them to do so. Roddy Piper says he took them because he had four kids to provide for. The overriding impression you get on this section is that it was all Dr. George Zahorian’s fault that any wrestlers even took steroids and it was wrong that the WWE were ever drawn into the trial in the first place. The acknowledgment that Jerry Jarrett was hired with the intention that he would replace Vince if he was found guilty and sent to jail does actually go to show just how serious the matter was.
It’s acknowledged that the steroid trial forced the WWE to change tack and push new stars although if you believed this documentary you think that was an immediate success. The creation of RAW is profiled as is the subsequent Monday Night Wars with WCW Nitro. Montreal is gone over, AGAIN, as is the Attitude Era and the huge success that was.
The next chapter was another intriguing one when the information was first released; Tragedy In Kansas City.
The documentary perhaps couldn’t have been done without a look at the Owen Hart situation but few details are gone into. It covers the night itself, which Linda McMahon calls the worst ever in terms of her WWE “business” career, but naturally doesn’t make any discussions about blame nor whether continuing the show was the correct decision. The Undertaker tells us he felt sorry for Vince as it affected him so badly and Linda informs us she phoned Owen’s widow Martha that night to offer to do anything they could for her and her family. The most chilling part for me, however, was the footage of Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler having to announce his death live on the air. It’s not so much the obvious emotion, but the oblivious kids in the background trying to get on camera unaware at the situation being explained.
From there we witness the birth of Smackdown, the brand extension and the mega runaway success that is modern day WrestleMania. A package on the Hall of Fame, which is welcome, is followed by one on the WWE Studios division, which is not welcome. Only a handful, if that, of the films produced by the WWE have had any real value at all. Still they were less of an outright failure than the WBF and XFL were, which are conspicuously absent from proceedings.
We finish with a look at the new Performance Centre and “securing the future” but with us having seen similar footage on the recent Triple H release it’s another case of déjà vu.
Any fan of the WWE will certainly not find this a chore to sit through. It’s just a problem that nearly all of it will be very familiar to any long-term fan. No-one would have been expecting a “warts and all” production, but there’s just not enough new or noteworthy to be able to warrant calling it a “must see” for all but those with only a scant knowledge of the promotion’s history.
The DVD extras presumably represent someone’s idea of the WWE’s greatest moments, although again there is very little that hasn’t been on numerous earlier releases. Hulk Hogan’s Mania matches against Andre & The Rock are certainly historic moments and the Bret/Shawn Survivor Series 1997 match is one of the most infamous in history. It’s nice to see a Bruno Sammartino/Billy Graham match and the 1988 Royal Rumble is a fun trip down memory lane. The Austin/Tyson and Vince announcing the purchase of WCW are cool moments to see again but quite why we need the first ever Raw match between Koko B Ware and Yokozuna is beyond me. And whilst CM Punk’s 2011 pipe-bomb remains an awesome moment, it’s inclusion here merely acts as a reminder that in real terms it changed absolutely nothing, beyond CM Punk being provided with his own tour bus.
No WWE fan is going to get this and hate it; after all there’s enough footage of various era’s and stars to ensure that there is something for everyone on that score. The problem is that the long-term fans it’s presumably aimed at will already know the story inside out and will be able to see right through the, understandable, gaps in the history. That means that whilst fans will get something out of it, it’s difficult for me to recommend it without the caveat that it will all seem rather familiar.
– By Matthew Roberts
Thank you to our partners, WWEDVD.co.uk and Fetch.fm for providing our copy of History of WWE: 50 Years of Sports Entertainment. History of WWE: 50 Years of Sports Entertainment is available on DVD and Blu-Ray from 2nd December. You can pre-order your copy from WWEDVD.co.uk now by clicking here.