In just under a week, WWE will release its latest DVD/Blu-ray: The History of WWE – 50 Years of Sports Entertainment.
Today, I am going to be looking through the documentary and Blu-ray exclusive stories.
As we have reported previously the total run time for the documentary is a little over 2 hours, and not the 3 hours which was stated on the early marketing materials. I know this caused a degree of disgruntlement amongst fans, especially when it was accompanied by what some collectors feel to be a rather lackluster collection of matches and moments.
After watching the documentary I can say it does provide a good overview of the past 50 years of WWE, however as you may have expected some topics were glossed over or simply omitted completely – maybe that additional hour would have helped with this?
The feature opens with footage of Vince McMahon arriving at WWE headquarters and walking through the building and on into his office. This leads to the more “traditional” DVD open which has been featured on the site a few weeks ago (watch).
A criticism which certainly cannot be leveled at this documentary is under delivering on the number of subjects interviewed. The sheer number of interviews on the set is quite spectacular; ranging from newly recorded interviews with Linda McMahon, Undertaker, Roddy Piper, Bret Hart and Jim Ross through to recycled interviews from previous projects. The newer interviews are used more often through the documentary while the older individual interviews are used sporadically with some only being used once. A good job is made of integrating the new and archive footage as the older interviews are presented in widescreen format with no sidebars.
Here is a list of SOME of the talent which is featured within the documentary:
- Arnold Skaaland
- Basil DeVito
- Batista
- Blackjack Lanza
- Blackjack Mulligan
- Bob Backlund
- Bobby Heenan
- Bret “Hitman” Hart
- Bruno Sammartino
- Chief Jay Strongbow
- CM Punk
- Dick Ebersol
- Ernie Ladd
- Fabulous Moolah
- Freddie Blassie
- Gene Okerlund
- Gerry Brisco
- “Handsome” Jimmy Valiant
- Howard Finkel
- Hulk Hogan
- Jack Brisco
- Jake “The Snake” Roberts
- Jerry Lawler
- Jim Duggan
- Jim Ross
- Jimmy Snuka
- JJ Dillon
- John Cena
- Kid Rock
- Larry Zbysko
- Linda McMahon
- Mae Young
- Mark Yeaton
- Michael Hayes
- Michel Cole
- Mick Foley
- Ozzy Osborne
- Pat Patterson
- Paul Bearer
- Paul Heyman
- Randy Orton
- Ric Flair
- Rocky Johnson
- Rowdy Roddy Piper
- SD Jones
- Shawn Michaels
- Sherri Martel
- Stan Hansen
- Stephanie McMahon
- Stu Saks
- Ted DIBiase Sr
- The Rock
- Tony Chimmel
- Triple H
- Undertaker
- Vince Russo
You may have noticed a glaring omission from the above list and you would be correct. Vince McMahon is not interviewed for the documentary. The only occasions when we hear from the Chairman are through archive clips from news stories and special features on the company. In my opinion, especially given the open, there should have been some “closing thoughts from the Chairman” in which he discussed the 50 year milestone of the company with a possible forward looking statement.
The documentary is formatted in a very similar way to “The True Story of WrestleMania”, even down to the fact that the feature is voiced over by renowned film, television and voice actor: Keith David. A minor criticism would be that at times when introducing WrestleMania III, The History of WWE feels very similar to The True Story of WrestleMania, however given both are discussing the same thing, in a similar style – this was inevitable.
The documentary in earnest begins looking at the history of McMahon family in the promotion business; from Jess McMahon and then on to Vincent J McMahon and beginning the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) and the TV show Heavyweight Wrestling from Washington, here we hear stories of those early tapings from Blackjack Mulligan and Lou Albano.
The next portion of the documentary looks at the CWC breaking away from the NWA, Buddy Rogers and the Bruno Sammartino era. The North East portion of the United States is then attributed as helping towards the success of McMahon Sr’s business with its heavily populated cities and the importance of the wrestling magazines, which were published in the area. The stars of the 1970s are looked at next including Andre The Giant. To conclude this portion we are given insight into TV syndication and the logistics of “bicycling” tapes from TV station to TV station, used to set the stage for the next part of the documentary and the rise of cable TV.
The documentary then moves on to 1982 and the purchase of the promotion by Vince McMahon and Titan Sports. We are given insight into Vince McMahon’s plans to take his North East promotion nationwide, using cable TV as the primary method for distribution and the fact that a national promotion would need a worthy top star to carry the business, enter Hulk Hogan.
Hulk Hogan and Hulkamania is examined in detail and the attributes which made Hogan perfect for the role of #1 attraction with his tremendous charisma which brought the company mainstream attention. The mainstream attention was especially important leading into the first WrestleMania. The first WrestleMania and its build is looked at, along with Linda McMahon’s explanation of the importance of the financial success of the show to both the promotion and the McMahon family.
The next landmark for the company was the first Saturday Night’s Main Event and the partnership with NBC. It is explored how Saturday Night’s Main Event revolutionized WWE’s television production – even to this day. Dick Ebersol explained how the show brought WWE an additional level of attention and awareness. The expanded audience was then capitalized upon in ways which were incredibly unique for the wrestling business – consumer products. This video was featured on the site just a few days ago (watch).
The next major milestone for the company is looked at now: WrestleMania III at the Silverdome. We see some of the build to Andre The Giant vs. Hulk Hogan, and this is the only real storyline which is looked at during the documentary. The highlights of which for me were a very rare 1984 promo from Andre discussing challenging Hogan for the championship and hearing from fans about their predictions for the Hogan/Andre WrestleMania showdown. From the build to the show the documentary moves to the actual event itself, as we hear from superstars who appeared and their thoughts on competing in front of the 90,000+ in attendance. The expansion of pay per view is covered next with the addition of Survivor Series, Royal Rumble, etc. until WWE were running a PPV each month.
The next section was potentially one of the most interesting topics going into the documentary – The Steroid Scandal. We see footage from a March 1992 press conference with Vince and Linda McMahon discussing steroid use within the then WWF. This is then complemented with hearing from 2013 Jake Roberts, Roddy Piper and Jim Duggan about their experiences with steroids and how they felt them necessary to cope life on the road; at this point, in my opinion it felt like we were using the word “steroids” as a catch all term for drugs in general. Discussion is given to Dr. George Zahorian and the 1994 trial, with its effect on WWE and the McMahon family. It is even mentioned by Paul Bearer about the plan for Jerry Jarrett to assume running WWE’s day-to-day operations should a guilty verdict be returned for McMahon. This section of the documentary is supported with news footage and even clips of Vince McMahon and “Superstar” Billy Graham appearing on The Donahue Show. Only the steroid scandal is looked at, while the other sex scandals of the era are not discussed.
Coming out of the Steroid Scandal it was explained that WWE’s business was down; many of the top stars had left for WCW and thus came the necessity for a “New Generation” of WWE stars. The documentary then moves on to discussion about the formation of Monday Night Raw – its original premise and where it has come to today. The launch of Nitro and the Monday Night War is discussed and the financial strife which being on the losing end of the war was having one WWE. This is used to segway into discussion of the Montreal Screwjob and then onto the birth of The Attitude Era.
The Attitude Era is given a decent chunk of time; no real discussion is given to the angles and story lines of the era, but rather the general tone of the era’s edginess and envelope pushing. At one point the era was described by Basil De Vito as teenage WWE for the children of the Rock ‘n’ Wrestling era. Of course the segment is highlighted with clips of some of the outrageous moments and stars. The Tragedy in Kansas City, which was of course the death of Owen Hart, slots in to place here. This chapter is done in a very classy way by first discussing the events of May 23, 1999 and then Owen the man. We hear from Chris Jericho, JR, Linda McMahon and the Undertaker talking about the tragedy. Martha Hart is only referred to once (by first name only, by Linda) and none of the legal events that followed are mentioned.
An interesting link is then made between Kansas City and WWE’s return there after Over the Edge for the first episode of SmackDown. Initially SmackDown aired on broadcast TV (UPN), which would bring WWE additional viewers outside of their then cable only reach, and the show also offered the superstars an additional television platform to “get over”. This part of the feature is highlighted with clips of SmackDown throughout the years which culminate with Vince McMahon’s address following 9/11.
WWE “going public” is next on the agenda and how their initial public offering has affected WWE’s business operations, and what the cash injection of the initial stock sale meant for the company. This segment is supported with news clips, including a CNN interview with Vince McMahon and clips of the Wall Street event from October 1999.
The purchase of WCW is looked at along with the acquisition of ECW’s assets. Linda McMahon discusses the advantages of acquiring WCW from a business perspective. The closure of WCW and ECW also mean the amount of superstars which WWE had was vastly increased which brought about the brand split. We then hear about the benefits of the split, supported with stories from Randy Orton, Batista and Edge about the opportunities which the brand extension offered them by being able to capture a World or WWE Championship.
The documentary then moves onto discussing PG and the benefits at the moment of them being PG. This section also features a look at the leader of the PG Era – John Cena and the recent charitable activities of WWE with the good causes they support: Make-a-Wish, Be a STAR, Susan G. Komen and Tribute to the Troops.
WrestleMania returning to stadiums and the Hall of Fame is the focus of the documentary next. Here we are given backstage clips and snippets of the induction ceremonies from 1994 onwards. The documentary then looks at WWE wrestlers being part of cinematic productions, from No Holds Barred; the WWE’s first foray to the silver screen through to the more recent WWE Studios productions. We then move from the silver screen to the flat screen with the advances in technology such as WWE’s adoption of HD, social media and new content delivery methods such as YouTube and Hulu.
The video library, which was looked at briefly earlier, is touched on in a little more detail with a nice graphic illustrating exactly which footage WWE owns. Interestingly they do list the Global Wrestling Federation library, which we have not heard an official announcement of. We hear about how the library now consists of more than 20 regional promotions which comprises more than 100,000 hours, used on home video and Classics on Demand (there is no mention of a WWE Network). We then move on from securing the past with their video library to securing the future with NXT and the new Performance Center in Florida.
The conclusion of the documentary looks at how WWE’s talent core had changed and evolved over the years yet their core business has remained exactly the same – entertainment.
The Blu-ray exclusive stories run for just more than 12 minutes and look at: Buddy Rogers losing the NWA Title, the McMahon’s bankruptcy in the ’70s, the formation and story behind Titan Sports and Vince McMahon being hands on with promos (which includes candid footage of Vince helping with promos from various points in time including WrestleMania V and Razor Ramon’s introductory vignettes). The final extra looks at the WWE Universe and the current use of social media. This extra includes stories from WWE super-fans Rick “Sign Guy” Achberger and John Glick discussing their favorite WWE memories.
Many of the major topics are discussed; however there are others which were omitted. Some of the topics which are not covered (or even mentioned in passing) include some of WWE’s non-wrestling exploits such as: Boxing, WBF and the XFL, Benoit and the development of the Wellness Policy and the 2002 WWF to WWE name change.
Regarding blurring/editing throughout the set and special features, all instances of “WWF” remain intact both visually and audibly. The vast majority of the documentary is presented in widescreen format with only a handful of clips displayed with sidebars. Also interesting to note, the “WWEHD” logo usually top left is not present throughout the documentary or pre-2008 special features. The WrestleMania III – Hogan vs. Andre match is described as “arena camera – no commentary” and this means the match is shown exclusively from the hard camera viewpoint and has no commentary, just crowd noise, which is somewhat of an interesting twist on this previously released match. Other small notes are that Jesse Ventura’s commentary is removed from the 1988 Royal Rumble match and Mike Tyson’s entrance music has been changed on the Tyson and Austin Confrontation from Raw in 1998.
I believe that most people will enjoy the documentary. I don’t believe it will be looked at in the same regard as “The Rise and Fall of ECW” which is honestly a shame, since The Story of World Wrestling Entertainment did deserve this. As always Joe Israel will be back very soon with his full review of the set and all of the special features. Stay tuned for that.
The History of WWE – 50 Years of Sports Entertainment hits stores across the United States this Tuesday, Australia one day later and UK/Europe on December 2nd.
Pre-order your copy of “The History of WWE” on DVD or Blu-ray…
– United States: Get yours ordered for Tuesday from Amazon.com or WWEShop.com.
– Australia: Pre-order the DVD/Blu-ray from WWEDVD.com.au for November 20th.
– UK/Europe: Pre-order the DVD/Blu-ray from WWEDVD.co.uk for December 2nd.
I know this doc should’ve maybe been 3 hours, but I still enjoyed it. It gets a thumbs up from me just because of all the pre-Hulkamania stuff, which hadn’t really been talked about in other productions. The interviews with Bruno and Bob, among other legends from the 60s and 70s, were great, all the different stories told, etc. I also like how they indicated when someone’s career happened, or when certain people had different positions with the company/other companies, when the interviews happened. Suitable for the doc.
A lot of the extra matches I had already seen, but I really enjoyed the Hogan-Andre hard camera footage. Gave a “Mania III shot from a handheld” feel. The Cena-Punk match feels somewhat out of place on this set, but nearly a year after it happened, it’s still very, very good. Good set overall.
No ULTIMATE WARRIOR included?…. What a bunch of BS!
Not buying it!
If any documentary deserved to be 3 hours or a little bit over that, it is this. We’re talking 50 years here. I really wanted to hear about The Monday Night Wars from talent who was there during those days like JR, HBK, HHH, Kane, Taker.
Glad they covered Owen’s death with class. But I’m surprised that according to the article, the deaths of other wrestlers aren’t discussed. The passings of Andre, Eddie, Doink, Paul Bearer just to name a few should have been at least touched on. The MSG Incident, the retirement(s) of certain talent (HBK, Edge) as well as MSG since so many iconic moments and whatnot happened there including the MSG Incident from 1996 would’ve been nice features.
But like the article says, due to its length, some things will be omitted. Considering what IS included and the names they got for interviews, this will be better than I originally thought. WWE did go all out. They just didn’t go out far enough so this definitely isn’t gonna reach its potential though. What a shame. Maybe if this sells well, whatever was omitted will be covered in a 50 Years Vol.2 set????
Considering names like Skaaland, Sherri, Moolah, etc are here, either those interviews are archived footage or this documentary started being made before they passed away.
Anybody know why they made this doc so short? I’ve heard for Netflix reasons. Seems like a lame excuse.
I really enjoy these usually more so than the matches, but to have it not very detailed bothers me. The Horsemen doc was almost 2 1/2 hrs long, the Greatest Families doc was over 2 hrs and a 50yr history of a promotion is only 2 hrs with 12 extra minutes on the BRD. Very strange. I’ll watch it eventually, just disappointed it’s not going to be thorough.
Boy have I pissed off people here or what? Im just a passionate fan who wants to see things done right. Im only going to live once why give us half ass dvds.
And for AJ you can take breaks whilst watching things you know. You dont have to watch everything in one sitting. I wonder if you have watched Ric Flairs shoot interview in one sitting because I know I didnt.
And Bill I have watched wrestling for 15 years. Ive seen everything there is to see from Lou Thesz to John Cena. I dont watch WWE now because its terrible but that doesnt mean I dont watch any wrestling.
What exactly do you think is terrible? Is it PG, because until 1997, wrestling has always been PG. Is because of John Cena, because there was John Cena in the 80’s and 90’s and his name was Hulk Hogan. I’m not crazy about current story lines, but in terms of actual in ring action, I don’t think there’s ever been better matches than the last 10 years in American wrestling. The actual talent with guys like Ziggler, Punk, Bryan, the Shield are better than most eras in wrestling.
I understand watching Docs in parts, but 4 hours is crazy. In no other genre is a documentary on anything 4 hours. Its just something you want to complain about, without actually thinking about it.
4 hours might be too much for the casual fan but it should have been at least 3.
There’s no comparing John Cena to Hulk Hogan, you and A LOT of people are forgetting that in-ring psychology is very important to pro-wrestling. Cena doesn’t use in-ring psychology nor does he know how to tell a story in his matches where Hogan did. The wrestling today is terrible, wrestlers using jobber names, constantly doing big spotfests to have a “good match” (while abandoning in-ring psychology in the process) and most of all, the wrestlers today constantly break kayfabe and just aren’t larger than life because they have no characters (and just prefer to talk a lot).
Actually, Hogan and Cena are very comparable. Both led the WWE during their run, limited in the ring, disliked by hardcore fans, cater to younger fans, “hulk up”, and defeat odds etc. In fact, Cena’s had better matches than Hogan. The matches Cena’s had with Punk, Michaels, Orton, Jericho, Triple H, Bryan are just better matches than those with Hogan. It also shows todays talent. You talk about in-ring psychology, but I’m not sure you know exactly what it means. Hogan matches psychology had Hogan get beat up, hulk up, win. That’s it.
The major difference between Hogan and Cena is that the monsters and heels would always get the best of Hogan before his came for revenge. That was his whole run, the difference is that NO ONE EVER gets the best of John Cena, thus his “comebacks” are hindered.
Mark I respect your opinion, but I think we’ve seen that Cena too. I mean, the entire summer of 2010, he got the hell beat out of him by Nexus. I wasn’t the best decision for him to be superman in that match, but it was a total Hogan-like program. Before Mania 26, Batista was dominating Cena. Part of the problem when comparing the Cena opponents to Hogan opponents. Hogan’s opponents were bigger than life and he only had three-five programs a year, when Cena has more and destroys guys like Del Rio or Ryback convincingly.
Nick if you don’t watch it then you have no business judging
Question for people who want the DVD to be 3+hours or possibly even 4…would you really sit through an entire 3/4 hour doc in one sitting? As much as I want these docs to go through every nook and cranny, it just isn’t going to happen. I’ve felt like some docs, Austin’s in particular, were a little too long, almost like a chore to get through. People complain about 3 hour RAWs ever week, but want three hours of sit-down interviews?
Wow I really want to hear what fabulous moolah and sensational Sherri have to say! To bad we can’t seer their full interviews
Fans like Nick take the business/WWE/F too damn seriously. Stop making a big deal over the DVD’s docs there great far better then you could ever do and the TV PG thing is an old lame excuse too use
Dont talk like you know me. I dont even watch wwe anymore and i have never taken wrestling as seriously but I do enjoy wrestling history and for a doc on the 50 year history it should have been done properly. I am barely a fan anymore because Im getting older and the PG era doesnt interest me at all but I thought a bit more effort should have been made for this dvd.
Owen’s death gets discussed, those carnies can discuss the aftermath of the Benoit tragedy. Far bigger impact.
I guess the PG era is moving over to the dvd department. These docs are getting worse.
Austins was great
Foleys was great
Triple h was terrible
and now this.
I wish I was making these dvds. This doc would have been 4 hours and covered everything. This would have been the Gone with the Wind edition.
I’m surprised Frank The Clown isn’t one of the super fans. Or Brock Lesnar Guy.
While I understand it’s a touchy issue for them, they really should have addressed the Benoit tragedy, even if in passing without going into heavy details. It has led to so many positive things for the young wrestlers coming up, and it changed WWE forever (in good and bad ways). Wellness is a super important topic that would be fit to be discussed here and not really anywhere else, so that’s a shame. It’s more important than dedicating a chapter to WWE Films… I’m still very interested this, though. Super interested in seeing Undertaker’s memories of Over the Edge ’99.
On the pre-HD era footage, do they zoom or crop the extras as they did in the documentary?
If so, I’ll probably stop buying WWE releases altogether.
Looks like it. You can’t enhance footage that was 4:3 video tape to 16:9 without quality and loss of footage. So they definitely cropped the picture.
I would rather they leave the 4:3 footage in native format with sidebars than zoom and crop the picture which looks even worse. They did that for True Story of Wrestlemania and even on the Triple H documentary.
Right. And, it’s fine to do that within the confines of the documentary or some newly produced special features/extras.
On the other hand, if they do that with complete matches from the pre-HD era, I’m out. I have NO interest in complete matches that have been cropped or zoomed.
Pre-HD era complete matches should be released in either 4:3 or with sidebars (that are preferably black). No zooming or cropping.
No surprise WWE didn’t want to touch on the controversial stuff but had they did, this DVD would be a hot seller.
Great review but I;ll pass
I expected this to be a two-sided look at the WWF, and if you have followed and studied the WWF for any amount of time, you’d know exactly what to expect from this DVD set.
The first side, I figured would be historical; “A Look Back” at the growth and evolution of the company. Obviously, that’s what it was sold on, and it delivered from what I’ve read here.
The second would be the “Look At How Great We Are” side. Anybody who has even just a basic understanding of how WWE operates would know to expect this. Anything they discussed would be positive towards them, and anything negative would be discussed in a light where they wouldn’t have to take responsibility for the topic at-hand (steroid trial, Owen, etc.). Needless to say, my expectations seem to be met on all grounds.
I’m a little disappointed that they didn’t even bother touching the name change. But I guess, what can you say about it without making yourself look like a fool?
The fact they didn’t touch the sex scandal is very funny to me, because their avoidance really says how comfortable they are of talking about it, even though it was 20 years ago.
I didn’t expect them to mention Benoit. It wasn’t necessary, and is hardly a “landmark” in the growth of the company.
I’m actually pretty surprised that they didn’t mention the XFL. I wouldn’t expect them to mention the WBF or the boxing venture (of those two, I’d think they’d be more apt to talk about the WBF), but the XFL was such a high profile project that it would stick out a bit if they didn’t discuss it at least for a few minutes. But I guess it wasn’t part of the wrestling property, so it doesn’t count.
The Wellness Policy would be something that they could really toot their own horn over, and it wouldn’t even have required them to discuss any deaths.
I’m still planning on picking this up. To me, it’s a no-brainer.
Sounds like an amazing Doc…might pick it up.
This looks interesting. I’m not going to run out and buy it right away, but it’s something I might get eventually, when I have extra money lying around. I’m looking forward to seeing the Hogan/Andre Match without commentary. Did they do that so they wouldn’t have to pay Ventura?
This sounds awesome, but why wouldn’t they include Stone Cold in the interviews? Even if its an old interview, I would have thought that’s a guy we need to hear from. Unless he’s in it and I’m missing something here. If not I don’t understand that one at all.
I may fall into the minority here, but there’s a certain charm to Vince not being interviewed. This is a History of WWE production and, to me, every WrestleMania, PPV, RAW, Smackdown, SNME, MSG show, DVD/Blu-ray, or any other WWE production is a Vince McMahon interview, plus more as you get the man’s mindset each time with it. This set is the history of his vision, save for the earlier parts where he is not in charge (although he picked up a lot from his father and expanded on it). I like that almost everyone else one can think of is interviewed. Vince doesn’t need to talk. The whole set and its topics speak louder than anything he could say. Part of me wishes it was like that on the McMahon and True Story of Mania sets. Same reason why I enjoy him rarely being at the HOFs and how he’ll never allow himself to be inducted as long as he’s breathing.
This DVD sounds fantastic.
Huge pass on this one
As great as this sounds, I’m going to hold out for a sale on this one. I’m thinking when the book comes out in March they’ll probably offer a package deal.
When the biggest story in WWE history (Benoit) is ignored completely I really have to question everything contained in this documentary.
When someone thinks Benoit is the biggest story in WWE history, I really have to question everything they post on the internet.
WWE history officially begins in 2002, a bigger story of the last 12 years please.
Didn’t think so.
Causes me disgruntlement because you all are the ones who reported it was three hours, which is why I pre-ordered it. Things wouldn’t be glossed over in three hours.
The initial details we were provided did indicate the documentary was 3 hours, as soon as we discovered it wasn’t, full details were posted here: http://www.wrestlingdvdnews.com/history-of-wwe-not-3-hours-shawn-michaels-dvd/52936. As the set hasn’t been released you should be able to cancel your pre-order.
Well that’s not true. When the UK licensee revealed the cover artwork they also put out the info that the documentary would be 3 hours. That’s what we mentioned here, then we made a follow up article confirming it to be 2 hours.
http://www.wrestlingdvdnews.com/cover-artwork-the-history-of-wwe-dvd/51935/
http://www.wrestlingdvdnews.com/history-of-wwe-not-3-hours-shawn-michaels-dvd/52936/
That said, WWEDVD.co.uk only reported it as a 3 hour documentary because a synopsis they received from WWE stated it to be. No “DVD sites” are to blame. 🙂
Sounds great!
Also from what it looks like the pre-HD footage is cropped and zoomed. There is really no way of formatting 4:3 interlaced on video tape to 16:9 without losing some picture quality. I would have preferred the SD footage in native 4:3 with sidebars.