Released in 2004, The Monday Night Wars takes a look at one of the most important events to take place in wrestling in the 1990’s, as World Championship Wrestling, under the leadership of Eric Bischoff and backed by Ted Turner’s millions, went head-to-head with Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation, until then the biggest and most powerful wrestling promotion in North America.
It certainly is an interesting story, and a timely reminder of just how great the wrestling business was then, when Vince McMahon actually had some competition to worry about.
From Lex Luger’s appearance on the very first edition of Nitro, to Madua/Alundra Blayze dumping the WWF women’s title belt into the bin and the birth of the New World Order, to the rise of the Rock and Steve Austin, the Montreal screw job and the birth of D-Generation X, every important battle of this war is touched upon, with insight and views from some of the major players, including McMahon, Bischoff and the wrestlers who fought on both sides of the war.
Despite being a WWE production, this DVD takes an extremely balanced view on these events, and the best part is the fact that we fans who witnessed these events as they happened now have to the chance to re-live them. It was great to be able to go back in time and see the first time Austin clocked McMahon, or when Hall and Nash invaded the production truck, or the infamous Billionaire Ted skits, that even Ted Turner found funny.
But as with any war, there has to be a victor, and I must admit that one of my biggest regrets is that I never saw the final edition of Nitro, instead preferring to watch Raw as Vince McMahon made that historic address to both the Raw and Nitro crowds.
With extras including two matches from Raw and two from Nitro, plus countless other memorable segments, The Monday Night Wars is an invaluable lesson for those interested in the history of professional wrestling. If you haven’t seen this already, get your hands on a copy. You won’t regret it.
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