Coliseum Corner: Classic Covers! Royal Rumble Streetview, Sarge/Hogan

Welcome to another edition of Coliseum Corner. The theme for this week’s column is: Classic CHV covers.

Now cast your mind back to the days, when your main source for seeing upcoming WWF releases was a poster in WWF magazine. Long before previews on the Internet and sneak peak info on your favourite news websites, was a mystery to what you’d see on these exclusive Coliseum Home Videos. So let’s travel back in time and feel that wave of nostalgia.

If you remember going into the video store to purchase your brand new Coliseum Video, you’ll remember there would have been times where you couldn’t quite decide which one to buy. So there came the elimination process.

You might have missed Survivor Series so that’s a must; it may be that you just had to see WrestleMania all over again. It could be that your favourite wrestler was featured on the cover or there’s just more matches on the video. Did you just want the free gift sometimes? Or couldn’t you resist that bold lettering that said “Featuring matches, never seen anywhere else”? Either way, there were plenty Coliseum classics to choose from.

The WWF superstars were larger than life. Some you loved, some you liked and some you hated. The designs on these covers featured them all. The 3rd annual Survivor Series Coliseum cover featured team Hulkamanics consisting of; Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts, Hulk Hogan and Demolition. Like the other teams at the Survivor Series, these superstars were not usually acquainted. However, they were photographed together to demonstrate that for one night they were united. On the back cover were all featured superstars in their teams with a team name. To see this many WWF superstars featured on a CHV release cover was interesting in its self but seeing them in together, was too good to pass up.

The World Tour video release in 1990 promised matches from all over the world. Imagine picking this one up in the video store knowing you could see WWF matches taped in London, Paris and Tokyo as well as featuring all your favourites. Exciting!!!

The Coliseum Video covers for Royal Rumble 91 and 92 had a much different approach to the usual releases.

These front covers featured cartoon-like drawings of the top Superstars appearing to be walking in the mean streets. Behind these Superstars were shadows of Superstars, giving off the impression that there were many behind, also ready to do battle. These are probably two of the most famous video covers ever and a definite possibility that CHV fans would make these a prioritized purchase.

It goes without saying that WrestleMania is the one event that everybody wants to see. Much to the delight of World Wrestling Federation fans, Coliseum Video would release these big time shows every year. Wrestlemania VII’s video cover presented the American flag in the background, with Hulk Hogan – the biggest and most popular wrestler ever facing the hated Iraqi sympathiser Sgt. Slaughter. The dramatic and colourful appearance would have made this video a must buy for any fan’s collection.

Before watching your next CHV, look at the cover. Really study it. Get that thinking cap on and remember why you bought it. Get that nostalgic feeling and think about your first thought when you saw that video, you just had to have. We want to hear from you so let us know what your favourite Coliseum covers are and why.

See you next week for more Coliseum Corner.