WWE: Starrcade - The Essential Collection

Well, another trip down memory lane and what I always call "the good old days" of wrestling--particularly, the days when the old NWA/WCW was around. But--instead of focusing on the great Monday Night Wars--this collection covers the scope of what was the NWA/WCW premiere event, Starrcade. As the documentary on Disc 1 covers, Starrcade was created with the intention of being the NWA's version of the Super Bowl--a tradition that started out being an annual Thanksgiving event, but later--due to some finagling by one Vincent Kennedy McMahon--Starrcade being moved to the month of December and how the event evolved over the years. Particularly, I enjoyed hearing Dusty Rhodes talking about the changes Starrcade went through & how Big Dust--in his own words--talking about how in the early 90s when WCW bought out the NWA & how there were people behind the scenes who didn't know "jack-bleep" about wrestling. As for the matches themselves, I would say it was a mostly excellent choice of matches. Of course--as with any WWE wrestling collection that has come out on DVD--you can always question some of the matches that get included. For instance, how the hell did Sting vs. Hogan from 1997 get included as being one of the Top 5 Starrcade matches of all-time. I could go on for days about how badly WCW botched that match, but I won't bother. Focusing on the good, this DVD is Ric Flair heavy--which is always a good thing, as Flair in his prime could pull a 4 or 5 star match out of just about anybody; just see Flair's '88 battle with Luger. And Flair's epic battles with Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes, Big Van Vader and the list goes on. Overall--if you enjoy the glory days of wrestling--then this is a must have. 5 stars

I am glad to own it

This vid rocks! If you like old school wrestling and seeing matches that they will no longer sanction, then this is worth a look. Road Warriors/Midnight Express scaffold match is worth it alone to see Jim Cornette take a real dive from 25 ft and blow both his knees all for the biz. Real stuff going on here. I got this for the Greg Valentine/Roddy Piper dog collar match, which was brutal. This was a first for both of these men and still to the day that Roddy passed would say he lost hearing in his ear because he took a beating that lasted. They even scrubbed it from YT, which is really why I bought it in the first place.

As I have stated on my other wrestling DVD reviews. I am NOT a wrestling fanatic. I haven't followed wrestling regularly since the Monday Night Wars. But I was feeling a little nostalgic and purchased some of the collections that took me back to my youth. Some have been pretty good (WCCW) and some haven't (AWA)...but this was the best by far! The documentary just reviews the history. Starcade was the biggest show and launched in the days before PPV. But it was still a super popular event. The documentary takes you year by year through the Jim Crocket days. But then unfortunately it skips over most of the rest of the years. The matches are what makes this set. You can find the list on other reviews so I won't repeat them. The years skip around of the matches because it is a countdown of the 25 best matches from Starcade. Another added feature is before the different matches there are I guess you would call them hype from some of the best wrestlers from the era including Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, Animal (from the Road Warriors), Jim Ross, and others. Overall, a great set and exactly what I was looking for.

Great nostalgic matches

My nephew apparently liked it.

I don't really have any beefs with the matches, but i thought the "documentary" aspect of the presentation was pretty lacking in anything resembling in-depth content -- the main thrust of the documentary footage seems to be to drive home the point that Starrcade was a big deal, it's like they're retroactively hyping it to "add value to the brand" or however you'd say that in businessman-speak. I stopped watching the documentary portion about halfway through, it was like watching an infomercial for a discontinued product. I also really disliked the lack of associated interview footage for the matches -- i'm sure that having 25 matches didn't leave much room for interviews, et al, but Tully Blanchard's match introductions are rather bland and insipid, and i really love the old interviews. All in all, i think there's a good amount of content here, but, taken as a whole, i find this box set comparatively uninteresting.

Old school wrestling

One hour documentary was OK, lots of comments from Dusty, Magnum TA,Jim Cornette. Animal Warrior, Flair, etc., but the matches, 25 in all, in their entirety, are fantastic to watch.

25 Matches in einer Reinfolge.Von 25 bis 1.DVD 1:eine Doku über die Entstehung der NWA oder dann später WCW.Auf DVD 1 gibt es dann auch noch Matche von Hulk Hogan vs Roddy Piper 1996.Kevin Nash vs Goldberg 1998,DVD 3 Hogan vs Sting 1997,Flair vs Rohdes 1985,usw.Leider gibt es nur English,gibt es nicht in Deutsch.

WCW FOR LIFE, AWESOME!

If you pride yourself on Loving Wrestling and not just "Sports Entertainment" This is a definite must! Fantastic interviews and full matches! Totally worth every penny! Better than any pay-per-view!!!

excellent