John Masiulionis from www.MondayNightMayhem.com sent along the following WWE DVD review to WrestleZone.com:
Monday Night Mayhem DVD Review: “WWE’s Greatest Stars Of The ’90’s”
Produced By: WWE Home Video
Written By: “Wild” Bill Brown
****
Content: 9.5
Tons of stuff here: with a great documentary, awesome clips, & an inside-look at many of the top major WWE superstars that have long made an impact in the history of the company. From “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels to “Stone Cold” Steve Austin & from “The Immortal Hulk Hogan to The Undertaker, this three-disc set features many of the most important individuals that ever have worked & made a life-long impression with fans of the ’90’s generation. Although there are many topics/names featured through & the run down is brief because there is so much ground to cover, there is still a tremendous amount of work laid out to give the viewer the understanding of what they are watching.
****
Video: 10.0
Great video presentation of all the footage. The WWE in the 1990’s was considered state of-the-art in production by then. One thing to expect with WWE Home Video is the best in quality, as well as the preservation of all the stored & now-displayed video footage for the DVD set.
****
Audio: 10.0
Clear & crisp commentary during the documentary & matches; Dolby Surround in two channels; Accurate sound reproduced; Inserts with the narrations are awesome as usual.
****
Special Features: 9.0
Lots of vignettes that we should all remember if you were a fan of the ’90’s. From Razor Ramon’s debut in Miami to “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s comments on the greatest fall from grace, The Shockmaster on live TV during the WCW “Clash Of The Champions,” this part after the profile features is just plain awesome. The WWE should just put together an anthology of all these types of vignettes, as they have some much stuff that they can show. Imagine the making, the unused footage, & re-takes just alone. World Wrestling Entertainment has a gold mine with their out-of-the-ring vignette production, and only getting twelve features is the ultimate tease — Great to see some cool stuff here.
****
What’s On The DVD?
Hosted by the recently-departed Tazz (which is pretty funny, since he did not enter the company until almost 2000 & just left after this DVD was released), the first disc features many of the major names selected that should be remembered. Past & present, the list is not to be taken seriously, because many names are left out, as there could be dozens of other choices, but realistically this has to be restrained in order to feature who was chosen prominently. Each topic is well-discussed & lots of footage is shown to illustrate anything mentioned. Lots of Mick Foley in the reviews as well (as his own piece), which is interesting, since he left the company last year, but they must have loads of gossip footage from him to utilize & insert into these stories. There is so much to cover as stated, but the WWE still does a very good job.
The last two discs bring to you sixteen different matches that have a major impact of the ’90’s decade. There are only three WCW matches in the mix, and ECW has little mention at all, nor any matches shown. I was expecting a lot of different choices to be selected, but here is a rundown of the matches.
****
The Matches: 8.0
Disc II
“The Nature Boy” Ric Flair vs. “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan
Madison Square Garden — November 30, 1991
This match is well-remembered for being able to see these two WWE Hall Of Famers on television as a “Dream Match,” which showcased these two important icons of the ’80’s clashing in “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”
Bret “Hitman” Hart vs. “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels (WWE Championship Match)
WWE Survivor Series — November 25, 1992
Two legendary superstars going thirty+ minutes with an excellent storytelling match.
“The Immortal” Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna (WWE Championship Match)
WWE King Of The Ring — June 13, 1993
This match was historic, due to the fact that this pretty much was the end-of-an-era with Hogan in the WWE, as after this he took some time off & repackaged himself under the WCW banner for a number of years.
Bret “Hitman” Hart vs. Owen Hart
WrestleMania X — March 20, 1994
Classic first ever one-on-one match with two brothers in a great rivalry.
Diesel vs. Razor Ramon (WWE Intercontinental Championship Match)
WWE Superstars — April 13, 1994
Interesting to see Diesel prior to being launched into the WWE Title picture.
Sting vs. Vader (WCW International World Heavyweight Championship Match)
WCW Slamboree — May 22, 1994
Stiff & well-executed match, as these two always had great wars with each other.
Bret “Hitman” Hart vs. Diesel (WWE Championship Match)
WWE Royal Rumble — January 22, 1995
Probably one of Diesels best matches ever with Hart, who tried to make this man look good.
Alundra Blayze vs. Bull Nakano (WWE Women’s Championship Match)
WWE Monday Night RAW — April 3, 1995
Nice to see Alundra get a match selected, as she was the reason for the re-launch of the WWE Women’s Championship back then.
Disc III
“The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels & Diesel vs. Yokozuna & “The British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith (Triple-Header Match)
WWE In Your House — September 24, 1995
A weird match to select out of the sixteen…surprised this one made it.
Owen Hart vs. “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels (#1 Contender’s Match)
WWE In Your House — February 18, 1996
At this point, I was wondering how many of Shawn Michaels’ matches they were going to pick, opposed to some of the others that they could have featured.
“The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels vs. Vader (WWE Championship Match)
WWE SummerSlam — August 18, 1996
Great match, with Jim Cornette acting crazy as well. Too bad Shawn never wanted to put Vader over.
Mankind vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Steel Cage Match)
WWE SummerSlam — August 3, 1997
Hard to believe this was the opening match in the SummerSlam PPV in 1997.
Lex Luger vs. “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan (WCW Championship Match)
WCW Monday Nitro — August 4, 1997
A rare title change on TV that was done very-well.
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker (WWE Championship Match)
WWW SummerSlam — August 30, 1998
Classic battle between two all-time WWE Icons: A great match to select for this DVD
Sting vs. Bret “Hitman” Hart (WCW United States Championship Match)
WCW Halloween Havoc — October 25, 1998
Two franchise players originally separated through the ’90’s clash together here: It’s Scorpion Death Lock vs. the Sharp Shooter.
Triple H vs. The Rock (Strap Match)
WWE Fully Loaded — July 25, 1999
Wild battle & great match to witness, as these two had some unbelievable matches during the latter part of the ’90’s.
****
Final Thoughts & Recommendation: This three-disc DVD set is a great way to bring back any fan just one decade prior from our current WWE generation. Many of the names are no longer in the business, and the few that are will be cemented today as icons of our sport. You owe it to yourself to once again take part in some of the greatest stories & top matches from the 1990’s. “Greatest Stars Of The ’90’s” from WWE Home Video can be purchased directly from the WWE (www.WWEShop.com), as well as many other retail/video/online outlets (Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Amazon.com, & Highspots.com).
****
Overall Rating: 9.3
****
This DVD was reviewed By “Wild” Bill Brown. Visit the official website & MySpace pages of The Mayhem’s official DVD reviewer at www.BBrownVideo.com & www.MySpace.com/BBrownVideo.
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