gimmieabreakbrain
Samurai Cop
I love garden implements. Wanna make something of it??
Posts: 2,181
|
Post by gimmieabreakbrain on Dec 12, 2007 8:46:56 GMT -5
Bought the DVD last night. It was a good DVD but not great. They had interviews with General Akbar, Gary Hart (who is one of my all time favorites) Bill Mercer, and of course Kevin Von Erich and as well as The Goon! Bill Irwin was all over the DVD and was very good in it. And rounding it out from WCCW was Jimmy Garvin, who really didn't say TOO much, Freebird Buddy Jack Roberts and it broke my heart to see him talk through a tube in his neck. He doesn't have a voice box thing like Kane "used" it was more like a trachea tube. Is the the word? Anyway Buddy Jack is one of my top 5 favorite workers and to see him like that made me sad. And then there was Michael Hayes in his bright blue suit that looked a size too small. One of the main things I got out of this DVD is that the biggest fan of Michael Hayes is Michael Hayes! He can give Mick Foley, who was also on the DVD and didn't make an ass out of himself, and Brett Clark a run for their money in the self admiration club. The DVD was well put together and it focused on The Von Erichs mainly and you got the history of Fritz and how he came into owning WCCW, I feel I heard this story somewhere before. J.R was on the disc but wasn't on too often which was a surprise. Jerry Lawler was all over the disc too. HHH had a lot to say. It's weird hearing HHH talk about Abdullah The Butcher. The DVD did the run down on the workers such as Chris Adams and Gino Hernandez, Brody, Kimala, but they could have been a little bit longer in my opinion. A lot of focus on the deaths of the Von Erichs, another sad part is where Kevin said he use to be the older brother but now he isn't even a brother. For a guy who has lost everyone in his family he is very grateful for what he had. You have to admire him a lot for that. Personally I found the "Hero's of World Class" DVD to be 10 times better than the one put out by the "E". The "E"s has much more as extras with matches and whatnot, and I was disappointed with them not having any Gino Hernandez matches on it. They could have had the hair vs hair tag match, they do talk about it but they could have put it on the DVD.
Don't get me wrong, the DVD is good but when you have watched the "Hero's" DVD you don't really need to see anything else cause that one was done almost to perfection.
A note on the extras. They have one about The Great Kabuki and Michael Hayes pretty much buries the guy as a non talent. He says he brought a lot to the dinner table but when it came time to eat he had nothing to offer. I guess Hayes knows a lot about eating with that way too small suit he had on. Another one is where Gary Hart talks about the plane crash he was in. Just the visual of a naked Gary Hart with a split head so bad that you can see his skull kicking down a door where an elderly couple lived drenched in blood is quite a story! But hey at least he made it!
|
|
algertman
Hank Scorpio
Heroes Die. Legends Live Forever.
Posts: 5,486
|
Post by algertman on Dec 12, 2007 9:38:39 GMT -5
LOL@ Bret Clark
good old Buffer
|
|
|
Post by Kash Flagg on Dec 12, 2007 9:52:58 GMT -5
To be honest, Kabuki was a great gimmick but his matches were pretty bad. Of course Hayes was mostly flashy with not very good wrestling skills himself. Putting two good wrestlers with him was a stroke of genius.
|
|
General Zod
Samurai Cop
KNEEL!
KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!!
Posts: 2,163
|
Post by General Zod on Dec 12, 2007 10:22:37 GMT -5
I watched it last night myself, and while I wasn't dissapointed with the overal product, it wasn't great, either.
I have yet to watch the Heroes DVD. If you guys are saying it's a better DVD, then I may have to part with some money and get it too, no?
|
|
|
Post by destrucity on Dec 12, 2007 17:21:22 GMT -5
To be honest, Kabuki was a great gimmick but his matches were pretty bad. Of course Hayes was mostly flashy with not very good wrestling skills himself. Putting two good wrestlers with him was a stroke of genius. I didn't realize how bad of a worker he was until I saw that episode of Cheap Seats.
|
|
Crappler El 0 M
Dalek
Never Forgets an Octagon
I'm a good R-Truth.
Posts: 58,479
|
Post by Crappler El 0 M on Dec 13, 2007 0:08:41 GMT -5
Here's my take: It's not as good as Heroes of World Class DVD, but WWE does a good job of telling the big picture of WCCW. It has some nice insights from people who weren't part of the other documentary, such as Hayes, Garvin, Roberts, Irwin, and some of WWE's guys like Shawn, Foley, Lawler, Ross, Dusty, Flair, and Dory Funk.
I thought the documentary was a little protective of Fritz and the Von Erich sons. They didn't get into the Fritz's general temperament, how he used connections to cover up for his sons' fast life styles in the early days before the many deaths, and how he tried to exploit his son's deaths. The documentary made it seem like the drug use and fast lifestyles didn't set in until after the glory days of WCCW, or at least they waited until after they established the downside before they mentioned it.
I didn't think the documentary conveyed strongly enough how groundbreaking their television show was, though Bill Irwin does explain that they could have gone national if not for Fritz's unwillingness.
I am not sure why Triple H was so visible on the documentary. Maybe he just enjoys getting to sound like a wrestling historian with great knowledge. Maybe it strokes his ego. Anyway, he does make decent observations, though they are certainly not profound.
I'm surprised at the lack of Vince. He had plenty to say on the AWA and ECW sets. Maybe he was dead when they filmed a lot of this,
They didn't really discuss Bruiser Brody's death, though he wasn't really with WCCW then (WCCW was USWA then anyway). They also don't mention Chris Adams's death, granted that happened years after WCCW went under.
They do discuss the Fritz heart attack angle, which I believe was not included in the other documentary (though I could be wrong). Kevin steadfastly denies that it was a staged heart attack, however. It was just meant to be that Fritz was injured after the beat down and fans thought it was a heart attack. They didn't discuss anything about his trying to say his condition got better or worse depending on how many fans attend the show, which is something I've often read about.
The living Freebirds (including Garvin) look pretty bad today.
Overall, the DVD is a nice set. They offer a lot of footage which the other documentary simply didn't or couldn't show (including matches of course).
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2007 12:24:01 GMT -5
Man. If Garvin came up to me and asked me if I remember marking for him in the mid-80's, I'd knee him in the groin and tell the creep to get lost. Then if, maybe, he could show m 5 forms of ID to prove that he is in fact the formerly gorgeous Jimmy Garvin, I'd knee him in the groin again for letting himself go so badly.
|
|
|
Post by lmoney215 on Dec 14, 2007 10:45:52 GMT -5
yeah, jimmy garvin, what the hell happened to him.
i like how they had akbar dressed up as ger. skandar akbar, while everyone else was themselves for the most part.
anyone watch the badstreet usa video? it was ahead of its time, lol.
i like the extra matches they put on there. the fantastics vs midnight express was a good match but a really random and odd selection cause they werent mentioned on the dvd. i would have put the dynamic duo vs von erichs cotton bowl match when they get their head shaved instead and also the kerry vs flair texas stadium match as well, but they did put the star wars match, i guess they wanted a where ric flair won.
is it just me or does gary hart still look the same for the most part, minus beard and with bloodshot eyes?
the iceman king parson vignette....something to see for yourself. i wonder where is iceman today, i think he is still alive.
I guess with the death of "you know who", they didn't want to mention how over 40 people associated with WCCW have died. i know that was a big selling point at the end of the heroes of world class dvd.
IMO, i think that the heroes of world class and this world class dvd go hand in hand and for any true wrestling fan that wants to learn about world class, they should watch both cause it will probably be the best history you will get on this promotion. although i remember seeing some documentary years ago on yahoo which focused on the deaths of the von erichs and the tragedy of that. The main difference b/w the heroes dvd and the wwe dvd is that the heroes dvd makes you really depressed at the end and at least the wwe dvd tries to makes you feel better. Overall, it is depressing cause the deaths did contribute to the demise of the promotion, but there were so many good things about WCCW in its prime.
did anyone here watch it on espn back in the day as well?
|
|
General Zod
Samurai Cop
KNEEL!
KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!!
Posts: 2,163
|
Post by General Zod on Dec 14, 2007 11:35:33 GMT -5
I love the Badstreet USA video.
|
|
|
Post by darthpipes on Dec 14, 2007 23:17:40 GMT -5
I just watched it tonight. While it wasn't as good as Heroes of World Class, I still enjoyed this version. The footage was great and it included more involvment from some of the other wrestlers involved in WCCW. I felt there was much more insight in the Heroes of World Class DVD while the involvement of some felt like they were just there to re-state the obvious and talk about how great things were in general terms. Still, like I said the footage was great and some of those extra interviews were interesting to say the least. Gary Hart and Mick Foley sound exactly the same.
Agreed about how they skirted around what a **** Fritz was. With Kevin's involvement, I'm sure they weren't going to totally tear him down although they were more critical of Fritz in the Heroes documentary. Seeing footage of Mike Von Erich after his bout with toxic shock syndrome is very uncomfortable to say the least. To me, that is a great indication on what a piece of **** Fritz was. Just looking at that footage, it was clear Mike shouldn't have gotten back in the ring again but Fritz valued his children more as show attractions than as sons.
Planning on watching some of the matches and interviews this week.
|
|
Joekishi
Fry's dog Seymour
Posts: 20,490
|
Post by Joekishi on Dec 14, 2007 23:19:30 GMT -5
God GArvin has really fallen off in 17 years, bald, fat, and looking nothing like he did back in 1991
|
|
|
Post by TRMcGillicutty on Dec 14, 2007 23:30:50 GMT -5
Poor Buddy Roberts This is nowhere near as good as Heroes. In fact, I think I heard a few instances where they said one thing in Heroes and another in the WWE-produced one. That irked me a lot.
|
|
|
Post by Drillbit Taylor on Dec 14, 2007 23:46:00 GMT -5
The Reason HHH was on there is he has gone on reccord saying that he loved NWA wrestling more then anything growing up.
|
|
|
Post by Bishblast on Dec 14, 2007 23:49:15 GMT -5
I've only seen the documentary feature. And I've got to say that I'm slightly disappointed... I was expecting to hear things I've never heard before, but if you know the story of WCCW and the Von Erichs, in general, nothing new here, but worth a view.
Nice that they admitted that Kerry did in fact wrestle on one foot for, what, 5 or 6 years.
Edit: Also, mention of Fritz' church ties would have been a good touch, but I understand why they didn't include any of that info: you don't want the church or the most legendary family in wrestling to look bad.
But, seriously, if you don't know about this of which I speak, pick up the Irvin Muchnik book "Wrestling Bablyon." It explains it in great fashion.
|
|
|
Post by darthpipes on Dec 15, 2007 0:01:40 GMT -5
Yeah, I think it's not surprising they don't mention the church thing.
I thought the most damning bit of stuff on Fritz was that clip of him with Mike's doctors talking about how Mike would be back in the ring soon. Considering what his son just went through, the last thing he should have been thinking about is that.
|
|
|
Post by Bishblast on Dec 15, 2007 0:49:18 GMT -5
Yeah, it's all screwed up... I've read extensively about the family, and it is truly, indisputably f***ed up. The part that gets me the most is Chris. So sad.
|
|
|
Post by Tyfo on Dec 15, 2007 1:38:37 GMT -5
the iceman king parson vignette....something to see for yourself. i wonder where is iceman today, i think he is still alive. Oh yeah, he's still alive. He lives here in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area somewhere. He actually worked some matches for an indy fed in the Dallas area as recently as a year and a half ago.
|
|
Crappler El 0 M
Dalek
Never Forgets an Octagon
I'm a good R-Truth.
Posts: 58,479
|
Post by Crappler El 0 M on Dec 15, 2007 17:36:06 GMT -5
I thought I'd resurrect this thread to comment on the matches:
They did a bad job at selecting the matches. They included many matches from the David Von Erich tribute show, but not the match where Kerry defeats Flair for the NWA title??? WCCW were known for the Von Erichs and the 3-Man tag matches, but they don't include a match with the definitive 3-man Von Erich team of David, Kerry, and Kevin (though they are the three shown on the front of the DVD). There is no Gino Hernandez or Dynamic Duo. Let me repeat. There is no Gino Hernandez or Dynamic Duo. How did they not include their hair match with the Von Erichs. Oh, and I noticed a misprint which stated David Von Erich wrestled at his own tribute show. There is a lot more complaining that I could do, but I'll just finish my rant by saying that there was too much Iceman Parsons.
|
|
Lukin Stontmehn
Don Corleone
This aggression will not stand, man.
Serves glasses of water from the bathroom sink to his guests
Posts: 1,737
|
Post by Lukin Stontmehn on Dec 16, 2007 11:40:34 GMT -5
When i look at the back of the DVD box i notice that they announce that there are matches like Dingo Warrior vs Tim Brooks, Gino Hernandez and Chris Adams vs Kerry and Kevin Von Erich as well as Bruiser Brody vs Rick Rude but they ain't there and that is the suck.
|
|
|
Post by lmoney215 on Dec 18, 2007 1:01:48 GMT -5
I thought I'd resurrect this thread to comment on the matches: They did a bad job at selecting the matches. They included many matches from the David Von Erich tribute show, but not the match where Kerry defeats Flair for the NWA title??? WCCW were known for the Von Erichs and the 3-Man tag matches, but they don't include a match with the definitive 3-man Von Erich team of David, Kerry, and Kevin (though they are the three shown on the front of the DVD). There is no Gino Hernandez or Dynamic Duo. Let me repeat. There is no Gino Hernandez or Dynamic Duo. How did they not include their hair match with the Von Erichs. Oh, and I noticed a misprint which stated David Von Erich wrestled at his own tribute show. There is a lot more complaining that I could do, but I'll just finish my rant by saying that there was too much Iceman Parsons. yeah and iceman didn't even appear on the DVD. i was also dissapointed with the lack of a dynamic duo matches. i would have liked to see at least one match. Gino Hernandez was a damn good heel. "texas, i am your champion", thats hillarious. It would have been nice to hear something from steve austin about chris adams, cause adams was the one that trained him, though austin also took his ex-wife. one last comment, man bruiser brody was a force and was way over in texas and i wish the DVD would have discussed more about him and his story as well.
|
|