For many WWE DVD collectors, a collection of War Games matches has always been one of the “holy grail” releases. It was always one of the most popular responses when asked what collection WWE should release next. Part of me thought we would never see this actually get released, but I’m happy to be wrong about that. Even without watching a minute of this Blu-ray, I knew this would be a must buy. This is the first time we’ve seen a lot of the War Games matches released on DVD or Blu-ray, and the fact that we have EVERY televised War Games match makes the release that much better. Overall, this set delivered exactly what I expected. Some great matches, some nonsensical matches, and a whole lot of historical value.
Disc 1 of the Blu-ray runs 4 hours, 10 minutes, and Disc 2 runs 1 hour, 50 minutes with 80 minutes of Blu-ray extras. The Blu-ray is rated TV-14. As Mark explained earlier this week, the 1992 and 1993 matches have no commentary from Jesse Ventura, and the 1988 match has no commentary. Some commentary in the 1997 match in reference to Chris Benoit was muted as well. On the Blu-ray front, the 1996 ECW bonus match does not have any commentary.
“It’s Time for the War Games”: The Format
As mentioned in the intro, this set features every War Games match that has been televised in some fashion. In between each match, we get a snippet of an interview with Dusty Rhodes. Unlike Best of Clash of the Champions, he isn’t really serving as a host here. Rather than simply introducing each match, Dusty gives insights into the history of War Games and what was going on in WCW at the time. This serves as a bit of a double-edged sword. You definitely will get some interesting tidbits from Dusty, and everything that he says feels very genuine. The stories about the creation of the War Games context are particularly interesting. At the same time, we don’t really get much context for each of the matches. You can piece together some of the storylines from the commentary for each match, but it would have been nice to get a bit of back-story. I did appreciate that we got an interview piece before each match. I’ve always wanted WWE to do this instead of only using the host before a handful of matches. It gives the feature a better overall flow.
“Submit or Surrender”: The Matches
War Games Match: The Road Warriors, Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, & Paul Ellering Vs. Ric Flair, Lex Luger, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, & JJ Dillon (Great American Bash, 7/4/87) – *** 1/2
Overall an enjoyable match, but I did get the feeling that there was a bit of learning curve in dealing with the new match type. The MVP of the match was JJ Dillon, who took a hell of a beating. The match really picked up once he got involved.
War Games Match: The Road Warriors, Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, & Paul Ellering Vs. Ric Flair, Lex Luger, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, & The War Machine (Great American Bash, 7/31/87) – **** 1/4
In this match, I think the wrestlers took what they did in the first match and only improved upon it. There was a lot more storytelling going on here. The term “controlled chaos” would be the best way to describe this.
Tower of Doom Match: The Road Warriors, “Dr. Death” Steve Williams, Ron Garvin, & Jimmy Garvin Vs. Kevin Sullivan, Mike Rotunda, Al Perez, Russian Assassin, & Ivan Koloff (Great American Bash, 7/10/88) – *
This gimmick was incredibly stupid. It involved going from the top tier of the cage to the bottom to try to escape, but you could only move down a level during certain time intervals. It felt more like a mini-game from Legends of the Hidden Temple than a wrestling match. There also was a logistics issue in that by escaping the ring quickly, you left your team at a handicap disadvantage. The only reason I gave the match the rating I did was because the match got good once it came down to only Garvin & Sullivan. That happened way too late in the match, though.
War Games Match: Dusty Rhodes, Lex Luger, Nikita Koloff, “Dr. Death” Steve Williams, & Paul Ellering Vs. Ric Flair, Barry Windham, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, & JJ Dillon (Great American Bash, 7/16/88) – ***
While many of the War Games fit a pretty distinct storytelling formula, this one felt really formulaic. There wasn’t really anything to this match that was all that unexpected or outside the box. Since it’s a War Games match, you’re going to have fun, though.
War Games Match: The Road Warriors, The Midnight Express, & “Dr. Death” Steve Williams Vs. The Fabulous Freebirds & The Samoan Swat Team (Great American Bash, 7/23/89) – *** 3/4
This match featured a lot of very loud characters, which helped make it stand out. The Freebirds make great opponents for the likes of the Road Warriors and Dr. Death, all of whom mix intense brawling and showboating really well.
War Games Match: Ric Flair, Sid Vicious, Barry Windham, & Larry Zbyszko Vs. Sting, Brian Pillman, & The Steiner Brothers (Wrestlewar, 2/24/91) – *** 3/4
This match features a number of great workers (well, maybe not Sid), and they string together a very fun match. There are a lot of fun spots, particularly one involving the Figure Four. Pillman looks like a million bucks here, which is neat to see.
War Games Match: Sting’s Squadron (Sting, Nikita Koloff, Dustin Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat, & Barry Windham) Vs. The Dangerous Alliance (Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, Steve Austin, Larry Zbyszko, & Rick Rude) (Wrestlewar, 5/17/92) – **** 1/2
This might be the most famous of the War Games matches, and it is certainly the most brutal. Rhodes and Austin in particular bleed buckets. The big time feeling is huge here, which helps make the brutality feel authentic. Add in the fact that most of these guys are pretty good in-ring workers, and you’ve got the makings of a classic match.
War Games Match: Sting, Davey Boy Smith, Dustin Rhodes, & The Shockmaster Vs. Sid Vicious, Vader, & Harlem Heat (Fall Brawl, 9/19/93) – ** 1/2
From an in-ring standpoint, this match was fine. However, you never really get the feeling that there is much at stake. The ending in particular further emphasizes that. It comes completely out of nowhere, and doesn’t feel like it had any effect on the landscape of WCW at the time.
War Games Match: Dusty Rhodes, Dustin Rhodes, & The Nasty Boys Vs. Terry Funk, Arn Anderson, Bunkhouse Buck, & Colonel Robert Parker (Fall Brawl, 9/18/94) – * 1/2
This match was probably the biggest disappointment on the set. The heel team gets in almost no offense throughout this whole match outside of the time when they have a handicap advantage, and even at this point they still get beat up. This includes the 5 minute opening period, in which Dustin Rhodes beats up Arn Anderson non-stop. This is something that I don’t think should happen. This predictability makes the match really dull.
War Games Match: Hulk Hogan, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Sting, & Lex Luger Vs. Kamala, The Zodiac, The Shark, & Meng (Fall Brawl, 9/17/95) – ** 3/4
I went into this match with even lower expectations than the previous one, but I enjoyed this match WAY more than I expected. Even though there was really no doubt about the victor here, the Dungeon of Doom actually look like credible threats to “The Hulkamaniacs”. May not be a technical masterpiece, but you will have fun watching this one.
War Games Match: “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, & a Mystery Partner Vs. Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger, & Sting (Fall Brawl, 9/15/96) – ** 1/2
The nWo had just gotten going at this point, and I think this match does a good job of making them feel strong without making the opponents look like total losers. The real story in this match involves the future of Sting, as this match would kick off his departure and return as the “man in the rafters”.
War Games Match: Kevin Nash, Buff Bagwell, Syxx, & Konnan Vs. Ric Flair, Steve McMichael, Chris Benoit, & Curt Hennig (Fall Brawl, 9/14/97) – **
This match starts off pretty strongly. This feels like a big time feud, and even if the in ring talent isn’t amazing, the match is still fun. However, this match quickly falls prey to classic “WCW overbooking”. The finish of this match goes on forever, unless you enjoy watching Kevin Nash beat guys up.
War Games Match: Diamond Dallas Page, Rowdy Roddy Piper, & The Warrior Vs. “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan, Stevie Ray, & Bret Hart Vs. Kevin Nash, Sting, & Lex Luger (Fall Brawl, 9/13/98) – * 3/4
The antics with The Warrior in this match completely overshadow anything else going on. Honestly, it’s worth watching just to witness some of the disaster that is Warrior’s WCW run. The match itself is pretty generic and short.
War Games 2000 Match: Sting, Booker T, Goldberg, & Kronik Vs. Kevin Nash, Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner, & The Harris Brothers (Monday Nitro, 9/4/00) – 1/2 *
The “triple cage” gimmick is completely ridiculous (and, again, feels like it should be on a game show), and this match isn’t even booked all that well to begin with. I know I shouldn’t complain about this, but the Harris Brothers and Kronik vanish about 8 minutes into the match with little explanation, and at this point, the match becomes more about Vince Russo than the actual wrestlers. This match falls into that “so bad you can’t look away” category, similarly to the Lesnar/Goldberg disaster.
Blu-ray Exclusive Matches
Rage in Cage Match: Brian Lee, Jimmy Golden, Ricky Morton, Robert Fuller, & Robert Gibson Vs. Kevin Sullivan, Killer Kyle, The Tazmaniac, Stan Lane, & Tom Prichard (Smoky Mountain Wrestling, 5/93) – N/A
This match is joined in progress, so I decided not to give it a rating. For historical purposes, it’s very cool to see this match. The match itself isn’t really anything special, and since it’s joined in progress it takes a little while to pick up on all of the storylines going on. There is a large post-match angle included as well, which is also a neat inclusion.
Ultimate Jeopardy Steel Cage Match: Tommy Dreamer, Public Enemy, & The Pitbulls Vs. Raven, Stevie Richards, The Eliminators, & The Heavenly Bodies (ECW December to Dismember, 12/9/95) – ** 1/4
This match as a lot of fun to watch, but since there are so many wrestlers involved, it devolves into a giant brawl pretty quickly. Shaving 5 minutes off this match wouldn’t hurt at all either.
Ultimate Jeopardy Steel Cage Match: Buh Buh Ray Dudley, D-Von Dudley, & Mastafa Saed Vs. New Jack, Axl Rotten, & Balls Mahoney (ECW Cyberslam, 4/3/99) – ***
Based on the wrestlers featured in this match, it shouldn’t be a surprise that this match is a weapons-filled bloodbath. If that’s your type of thing, you will probably enjoy this.
“The Match Beyond”: Closing Thoughts
This DVD/Blu-ray comes with a lot of expectations. For a lot of wrestling fans, War Games is the mecca of WCW. After watching through this Blu-ray set, it’s not hard to see why. For the most part, there is a “big match” feel to each of these matches, and a lot of the feuds do seem pretty personal. As Dusty points out in one of the interviews, the gimmick did become a bit diluted over time (like most gimmick matches tend to be). With the birth of the nWo, the War Games became a bit rejuvinated as one of the perfect gimmick matches to settle the WCW/nWo war. As you can tell from my match descriptions above, the match quality does vary pretty wildly here. For the most part, the classic matches are all solid, and some are fantastic. As we go on, though, some of the matches become a tad overbooked and have silly endings. I’ve always enjoyed multi-man matches, so I had fun watching each of these matches even if they weren’t great. The strange choices WCW made in some of these later matches can be fascinating, so even if they don’t produce great wrestling, they are fun to watch.
A personal highlight of this DVD/Blu-ray set is the strong sense of history you get while watching it. I would compare it to a past set like History of the WWE Championship for WWE. Just by watching through these matches, you see the changing landscape of the NWA/WCW. I’m really glad each match was included because, for the most part, we get a match a year. This allows us to “check in” on what’s going on in the company at that particular time.
I quickly discovered that I don’t think this set is really meant to be watched in a short time period, though. One of the biggest downsides to the War Games concept is that the matches become very formulaic. The formula is a great one, but if you watch a lot of these matches in a row, you will definitely start to see some similarities. I would recommend watching this set over a longer period of time so that the similarities don’t become so distracting. While I enjoyed watching almost every match on this set, I can’t see myself sitting down and watching the entire thing again. Sure, I’m going to revisit this set a lot to watch certain matches, but that’s likely the most I’ll do.
As far as the Blu-ray goes, you do get some nice extras, but I wouldn’t call them essential. The SMW match is neat from a historical perspective, but isn’t anything special. The two ECW matches are a lot of fun, though. If you are a big ECW fan, I would definitely recommend getting the Blu-ray. Otherwise, I don’t think it’s necessary, especially since none of the matches are in HD to begin with. The “Fantasy Booking with Dusty Rhodes” segment is fun, but after you watch it once I don’t see you revisiting it.
Overall, I think this is a must buy set from a historical perspective. It’s awesome to finally have all of these matches in one place. A lot of the matches are really good, and even the bad ones tend to be interesting to watch. I’m sure a lot of you are already planning on picking this one up, but if you were on the fence, I’d recommend it wholeheartedly. Did it live up to everyone else’s expectations? Let us know in the comments below!
Get your copy :: Amazon.com. WWEShop.com. Amazon.ca.
UK/Europe/Australia :: WWEDVD.co.uk. WWEDVD.com.au.
The antics with The Warrior in this match completely overshadow anything else going on. Honestly, it’s worth watching just to witness some of the disaster that is Warrior’s WCW run. The match itself is pretty generic and short.
REALLY? What idiot is bashing Warrior? It’s not Warrior’s fault WCW went down, It was Hogan & Biscoff!… Funny how they still say these things about Warrior when Hogan fried his eyebrows at Halloween Havoc 98 and needed help to win the match. Warrior is, was and always will be ULTIMATE over HOGAN! Who did you ever see Gorilla Press Hogan before Warrior? Who was the one who defeated Hogan first ever and holding both titles the same night first ever?… Get over yourself big nose!
Who sold seats and made the crowd intense and excited more than Warrior?… NOBODY!
oWn FOREVER!
i wish they did alternite commentary on the matches that didnt have commentary.
they could of got josh matthews and dusty (or someone else since he was in the match, maybe road dogg) to do a play by play
Dissapointing. Matches ending suddenly. Sloppy brawling. Kind of dumb the rules are. It seemed like the heels always had the early 2 on 1 advantage….coincidental… the matches mostly sucked…. the late 90s being the worst. Bret sold a leg injury from a shitty chop lock via Stevie ray for I don’t know 10 minutes. Wcw wow. Just wow.
I am just happy they included Benoit because you can’t tell the story of pro wrestling WWE or WCW or ECW for that matter from 94 to 07 without mentioning him. The fact that they have pretended like he didn’t exist is just stupid. I am glad they put him in the DVD so they could tell the story of war games.
I am by no means defending what he did I am just saying Vince he did exist don’t block him out.
They had every War Games match from 87-00….the only one there were missing is the match from 1990…does anybody know who was in that match?
I might be one of the few people disappointed with this set. But not cause they did anything wrong, just cause the matches are mostly terrible. Looking back, I honestly wonder why everyone thought these matches were so good. They’re sloppy brawls with the same exact formula every single time. Theres no flow at all, just so much punching and throwing into the cage. Its like they just decided who was going to win but didn’t actually plan any spots or anything. The Sting Squadron one was cool, and there were a couple good one 80s ones, but the rest were all pretty shitty
The fact that they are all the same formula is an issue. I’m thinking I may not have been strong enough about that in the review.
Looks like a good set, but a mixed bag in terms of quality, a lot like the Hell in a Cell anthology. This set though has brilliant historical value as you say Joe and one thing I always liked about “War Games” was simply the name itself. It just sounds so awesome that it is something that needed to be seen. A set I’ll pick up sometime, but not right away =) Great review too.
Enjoyed the inclusion of the Easter Egg on Disc 1. Didn’t last long, but it was Dusty’s comments on comparisons of War Games to the Royal Rumble.
Got the Blu-ray which was a pain in the ass to find in stores, so I ordered on Amazon, shipped the same day and received it Wednesday (excellent service and shipping).
Took me 2 nights to finish this set and i enjoyed it, just great stuff, especially disc 1, loved the old school matches. War Games was a creative concept at that time and fitting especially involving two factions.
I got it Tuesday. I’ve watched it and it was better than I expected. This should have been done a few years ago. Real good.
Are are the matches in full apart from the commentary? Like no more edits of the actual matches.
The only thing I wish they could have done with this was also show the 5 min match Hogan had with Kevin sullvan with part of the wargames if Hogan’s team had won. And Big Shows run in. Also with the 96 one show the after the match. I would have liked WWE to have show the part where Luger was crawing back to the locker room. And and flair and arn were still fighting the NWO and Savage jumped in and went after Hogan and Big Show jumped in and Beat Up savage and Elizabeth showed up to try and help randy. I would have like to them to have keep those in as there were part of the matchs at the time. But this was a great Set.
I just watched the Tower of Doom match and thought it was pretty fun. Towards the end of the commentary JR gets really worked up which is always good for some laughs.
Can anyone tell me why Jesse Ventura’s commentary was edited out of the 92 & 93 matches?
I am only guessing. Jesse Ventura’s politics have made him look like a crazy, leftist, conspiracy theorist. I am guessing WWE doesn’t really want to be associated with him right now.
There is no Ventura commentary because like 20 years ago he sued Vince for royalities for tapes begin sold with his commentary… Jesse talks about it in his first book… The E has either done new commentary or just blocked his out ever since unless its projects that would really hurt without it (like Best of Saturday Nights Main Event)
This is one of the releases I’ve been years to finally see. I pre-ordered about two months ago and I’m not in any way disappointed. As someone who’s seen most of these when they originally aired, I may have a slightly different perspective. In my view, the best ones are:
both of the 1987 ones, 1988 house show match, 1991, and 1992. The next tier would undoubtedly be the 1996 and 1997 matches. You can skip the rest of them as they really weren’t even the highlight of their respective shows (1988 Flair vs Luger, 1989 Flair vs. Funk, 1993 Flair vs. Rude, 1994 Sting vs. Vader vs. Guardian Angel, 1995 Flair vs. Anderson, and 1998 Raven vs. Saturn) I was very glad to see the Benoit match make it on this release. All in all this was an outstanding release and a must-have for all collectors!
The only war games that was probably televised but not included was the 7/2/88 war games.
That match never aired anywhere. This collection includes every professionally recorded War Games match.
Does anyone know exactly why they mute some commentary?
Ventura commentary is muted because it is expensive to use. The matches with no commentary never had commentary to begin with. The Benoit stuff muted for obvious reasons.
Though who really cares if they would have left the Benoit commentary? For historical purposes, they should have left it as is. It’s not like the commentary being left off helps change the events that took place. With that said, if removing some of the commentary allows them to feel better about releasing Benoit, then I guess it’s fine for the time being. Now let’s start seeing him in every complete show released to DVD and every complete show available through Classics on Demand.
I mean, if the commentary is talking about how great Benoit looks in the match or something, I think it’s appropriate that it should be removed.
Totally agree Joe ! good call
I disagree. I realize what Benoit did more than six years ago was terrible, but I fail to see the need to rewrite history. If they want to do the world a service, maybe they need to start running public service announcements concerning the effects of repeated concussions.
Let’s not forget that this is entertainment and just because they talk someone up as though they are God-like it doesn’t mean they are. Benoit wasn’t ever God-like regardless of how they talked him up. Furthermore, if we take the approach that everything we hear in commentary on a DVD is held to the standard of modern-day reality, maybe they should start removing commentary on the Undertaker where they almost always pushed the concept that he was indeed a dead man. Wrestling is make believe and the commentary is no different.
These Benoit debates never end well, so just leave it as that. WWE won’t and will not include any commentary praising Benoit…simple! just be glad they’re at least including his matches when needed.
This is why WWE don’t take guys like Anonymous seriously…these sort of people love to over-analyze and nitpick every fault WWE has. Your comparison with Undertaker is just a bunch of bull.
First off Underaker is a gimmick…Benoit on the other hand murdered his wife and son….BIG DIFFERENCE, it makes sense they don’t want to include any praise for Benoit…the guy deserves none.
No one is saying to praise Benoit. The argument is to leave history alone and I fail to see how rewriting history is ever a proper thing. Need I remind anyone that Hitler is still seen on an almost daily basis. If anyone thinks that what Benoit did was anywhere near as significant to global history, they need their heads examined, much like Benoit did.
If you understood the business as well as you think you do, then you’d also understand that every wrestler is just a gimmick. They’re hyped by the promotion as being this or that, but without the promotion they’re nothing. Don’t believe, talk to any of the people involved in the business (and I don’t mean someone in the PR department who will simply tell you what they think you believe to keep you happily thinking they respect you and your opinion).
And, since you’re so interested in seeing to it that these Benoit debates end, instead of condescendingly knocking people and hypothesizing that WWE doesn’t take these opinions seriously, then perhaps you shouldn’t get involved. You’re simply wrong. Want proof? If they didn’t take these opinions seriously, he wouldn’t have made this release at all.
Ventura’s commentary has been used in other releases though so I think it’s simply a matter if they want to pay him or not. His commentary has been used in the Summerslam & Survivor Series Anthologies so I guess unless it’s a WWF event that he announced on, they’re not gonna pay him.
Another great review Joe!
If you buy the blu ray for this, be forewarned of a very violent scene that made me turn my head away for a second (and I don’t do that often) in the ECW 6-man that involves Axl Rotten, a pair of scissors and D-Von’s forehead.
Where is the /10 rating? I really missed it! 🙁
In that case, I’ll give it. 11/10
Out of curiousity which one of the 1988 matches has no commentary? Just wondering because i read that one of the matches from 1988 has no commentary aside from the muted Jesse Ventura commentary and the Chris Benoit bits as well…
The actual War Games match
The blu-ray feature War Games Fantasy Booking with Dusty Rhodes, who does he discuss for that?
On the Wargames fantasy booking segment Dusty uses current WWE superstars along with HBK, and a surprise name for one of the teams. I won’t give any hints or spoil the surprise.
I wish the segment was booking a Wargames match using wrestlers who had competed in previous Wargames matches assuming they were all active today.
I wish the set talked about the feuds leading into the Wargames match (besides the ones involving Dusty and the WCW vs. NWO feud to a lesser extent).
Otherwise an enjoyable set. Like the reviewer said I don’t see myself watching the who set more than once, but watching some of the matches every once in a while.