The Piledriver Report 8.14.06: DVD Reader Feedback
Posted by Ronny Sarnecky on 08.14.2006
This week’s “The Piledriver Report” lets the fans voice their opinions on what wrestling DVDs they would like to see the WWE create.
Last week, I asked the readers of my column to come up with a list of DVD that they want to see the World Wrestling Entertainment produce. I was pleasantly surprised at the huge response. Because of that response, I am devoting this entire column to the voice of the fans. You know what DVDs I want to see created, now check out what DVDs your fellow readers what to watch. Thanks for the e-mails, and I hope you enjoy the responses.- Ronny Sarnecky
"I think a Demolition DVD should be a great addition. They may have started as Road Warriors "imitators", but they evolved into something entirely different. Many people seem to forget how big they were in 1987-1990, but a lot of people also remember them. They could also include Bill Eadie, Barry Darsow and Bryan Adam's carrers before and afterwards. They has some of the greatest tag tem matches, with the British Bulldogs, The Hart Foundation, Strike Force, The Rockers and the Brain Busters (Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson). They would have to make peace with Bill Eadie in order to get this released though."- Ed Sanchez
"I know they made an Andre the Giant DVD, but that was just a remake of the old VHS tape titled Andre The Giant. They need to make a 10 hour or whatnot DVD of Andre The Giant. His early years, interviews, ect. I think its a disgrace that they haven't done this yet. After all, he was literally wrestlings BIGGEST attraction in the 70's -80s. If you hear anything on an Andre DVD let me know. Also if you know of any site that has old school matches of Andre let me know. I check YOUTUBE.com for videos but there arent many. Thanks a million."– AJ
"Good column, and great inclusion of the Kurt Angle and Owen Hart DVD's. I would be sure to throw in the Four Horsemen DVD. I really do think it's essential. In the biography, they could go through the history of the original group, and then go in depth about how the later version just couldn't cut it. I like the "Macho Madness" title (and always wished they would have made a Macho Madness shirt), but I still think they'd title it "Oooohhh Yeaaah!"- Ian C. Douglass
"A Dudley Boys dvd from the first Dudley to when they were in wwe..The old ECW promos with the other Dudleys were quite interesting. This could show that there are more Dudleys than just Bubba Ray,Dvon and Spike. Wargames the match beyond dvd. of course if I had a say id set it up so that fans could special order dvds of different wrestlers . Have like a master copy of certain wrestlers matches then make them as they are ordered. something that would be for the real wrestling fan. oh i just thought of one id like Raven dvd show how he came up with the character i know hes in TNA now but they could show the different gimmicks he used be fore he became raven. and also just cuz im a total mark for them some more Hardcore dvds, maybe dvd sets from the different feds through the years. Also there is a company down here in Texas that has put out a Von Erichs dvd. I cant remember the name but they showed a commercial for it during the last Saturday Night Main Event."- Gwhoa1313
"I love the suggestions, esp. the Hennig, Rude and Dibiase suggestions. No Von Erichs DVD would be possible though as Kevin Von Erich would't sell his WCCW tapes to McMahon, which is a shame as I have some old WCCW video tapes that they realeased and the action is awesome. The future Brian Pillman and Roddy Piper DVD's look to be great. Any Savage DVD would be great and long overdue I would suggest 3 Disc DVD sets for Harley Race Sting Terry Funk - though they would need the Japan footage Abdullah The Butcher - Again Japan footage needed Diamond Dallas Page Andre The Giant Jimmy Snuka Ric Flair - I hear volume 2 IS on its way Arn Anderson The Brisco Brothers The Great Muta Jerry Lawler Every Nitro/Thunder/Saturday Nite/WCW PPV"- James Byers
"An 80s tag wrestling DVD, The Bulldogs, Heart Foundation, Killer Bees, Strike Force, Demolition, Fabulous Rougeaus. some of the greatest WWE matches of all time. Bulldogs vs Heart Foundation at WM 3, Rougeous vs Bulldogs 2 out of 3 falls, Some matches that aren't on PPV would make this DDV worth buying alone. Interviews with those who are still alive and available, Neidhart, B Brian Blair, Tito, Rick Martel, Barry Darsow, the rougeaus Extra features could be a compliation of some of the bad singles gimmicks these guys ended up working; Repo man, Who. The Mountie (i loved the mountie)."- howard otley
"There are a huge number of DVDs I could come up with. Hell, just giving us better DVDs of The Rock, Eddie and Warrior (yeah, I know that one just lost me all my credibility) would be a good start. Don't even get me into the ones that Vince would never put his ego aside for (The Best of Monday Nitro on two DVDs or Wrestlecrap: The DVD done with the guys that run the site) or guys that might have only me and ten other people lining up for them (William Regal). So, I'll just give you my top ten (slightly changed since you hit several of mine with your list). 10) I could always do with a better Ric flair set. The last one was good but I would like to see one set up like the Dusty and Bret sets. Give the man the first of the three discs to tell his story in his own words supported by the comments and recollections of others. Pack the second DVD with Flair's choice of matches. Pack the last DVD with matches chosen by the fans. 9) DX. Three DVDs. 'Nuff said. 8) The Best of Starcade on three to four DVDs. 7) The Greatest Tag Teams of the 80's. Make it kinda like their other 80's stars set. Give us The Rock & Roll Express, The Midnight Express, The Bulldogs, The Bees, The Freebirds, The Heart Foundation and The Midnight Rockers amongst others.
6) Lex Luger. Yeah, people like to shit on him now but he was damn good back in the day. Give the man the set he deserves. Plus, it would be a great way to get some Sting in there as well. 5) Ladies of the Ring. Set it up like the Stars of the 80's set. Give us three discs that each covers several women who have held the title or made an impact in the sport. Moolah, Sherry, Misty Blue, Medusa, Sunny, Richter, Victoria, Trish, Lita, Jazz, Woman, Jacqueline and Mae Young. Could be a really good set and should be made just for history's sake. 4) The Best of the Big Men. Another 80's style set in format. Give the guys who might not get their own sets but have/had a good fan base a nice little treatment. Sid, Vader, Bundy, John Studd, Powers of Pain, Big Show, John Tenta, Hercules Hernandez, Yokozuna and others. Some of these guys will never go down as the A list stars but they gave a lot of good times to the fans and helped push bigger stars even higher. Plus, I just have a soft spot in my head for Vader, Yoko and Sid. 3) I Am Not A Weasel: The Bobby Heenan Collection. Give the man a better, and longer, treatment then he got on the manager's DVD set. Load the interview segment with clips of his comedy and pack the extras section with matches that were fought by the men he managed to settle the feuds he started. 2) The Four horsemen on four DVDs. Give us the full first disc as the history of the group with interviews and recollections and pack the rest with classic matches (WARGAMES!!!!!). And now I give you my number one. This is the set that I would love to see made above all others but feel that it shall never see the light of day. The only thing I can ask is that you and your readers email the hell out of WWE with this idea. Drum roll please........ 1) History: The Chronicles of The Monday Night Wars. Yeah, I know that they did a MNW DVD already. So what. It was too short to really cover a lot of the cool stuff that happened then and it didn't have, I felt, enough matches and events from that time period. I'm looking for five DVDs packaged like the recent Wrestlemania anthology sets. The set should stay in chronological order to really capture the feel of what happened and when and should be packed heavy on the content. Extras should include things like some Smackdown or Thunder bits (some may be needed to keep the continuity flow), DX doing the Nation of Domination, The nWo doing their Horseman takeoff and all of the Billionaire Ted skits. God, I loved those. The breakdown:
DVD 1) The first Monday Nitro complete and uncut. It should also have either the Monday Night Raw from the week earlier or the week after (can't do the same night since there was no Raw) complete and uncut. This would be both entertaining (Pillman VS Liger!!!!!!) and begin to show how The Monday Night War changed the look of wrestling. Commentary tracks are optional. DVD 2) Give us a 1 1/2 hour program looking back on the first half of The Monday Night Wars. Again, keep everything in chronological order and split the focus about 50/50 on Raw and Nitro. Pack the rest of the disc with matches and highlights from that time period. The program itself doesn't have to be one long piece. It could be broken down over the entire disc with the matches and highlights between the chapters so that it works both as a look back and as a story telling device for the matches. DVD 3) One complete Nitro and Raw from the same night about midway through The Monday Night Wars. Again, this would be entertaining and would show how much the look of each show changed (especially Raw) by that point. DVD 4) This would be set up like DVD 2 and would cover the second half of the wars. Vince would love this one as he could show how messed up Russo and WCW got before the end without even trying that hard. Hopefully, his ego would take the back seat and we would still get some of the better stuff from Nitro's last days. DVD 5) The last Nitro and that night's Raw. Commentary optional. Let the set end it there without getting into The Invasion.
This set could cover so much cool stuff. The rise of DX, The nWo, Stone Cold, Goldberg and others. The matches and highlights from both shows, if Vince lets Nitro shine along with Raw, would be awesome and could be used to make a set that would demand repeated viewings for years to come. The set would also get a lot of WCW matches on DVD that we might not ever see otherwise and would be a real shame to loose to the mists of time. Plus, something like The Monday Night Wars really deserves a better look then just that one disc (nice as it was) gave it. Well, that's my list. Can't wait to see what others send in."- Jerry Chandler
"I was always a big WCW fan and I always thought that they should release some sort of collection. I realize it would be difficult but a Monday Nitro collection would be awesome. Maybe some sort of PPV collection too."– Thor
"How bout a DVD on tag teams, mainly the Demolition, I swear they held the titles for over a year, and brought in crush."- Jamil Brush
"DVD ideas....I liked most of your list...I would probably buy all of them. The History of Wargames...I would kill to get 91 and 92 wargames on DVD! Break the Walls Down....Chris Jericho story. Steinerline - The Steiner Bros. History. The history of the Ladder Match. SummerSlam Anthology. Royal Rumble Anthology. Hell, why not...Survivor Series Anthology. Then some random DVD's would be cool also: Brian Pillman, Vader, Big Show, Sid, British Bulldogs, Sting (after his TNA run is over), Scott Hall. Lot of stories I want to hear about there, not to mention seeing Stings earlier matches and the Bulldogs matches pre-WWF."– Kevin Reiter
"How about a DVD set for "Y2J" Chris Jericho, they have his footage from the WWF/E, WCW, ECW, SMW and they could borrow footage from Japan like they did for the Chris Benoit DVD set."- ANTHONY RICCIARDI
"Can You Dig It? The Story of Booker T: To my knowledge, Booker T never had his own DVD. The man's a six-time World Heavyweight Champion, a fourteen-time Tag champ, and the most decorated wrestler in WCW history. As part of the tag team Harlem Heat, he feud with every major tag team that graced a WCW ring. As a six-time TV champ, he and Chris Benoit captivated fans with their Best of Five series. This would be an easy 2-disc set. 2) The Highlight Reel: The Chris Jericho Collection: Sure, Chris Jericho already has a DVD out, but that was before WWE acquired WCW and ECW footage. Everything from his first North American Title win (the ECW TV belt), to his record seven Intercontinental Championships could be included in this set. Hell, if possible, a few matches from his time in Japan would round out his amazing career. 3) The Best of the Cruiserweight Title: This DVD would contain stuff mostly from WCW's heyday (back when the title was taken seriously). Matches featuring Rey Misterio Jr., Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Billy Kidman and others who MADE this division the hottest thing WCW had going at one time. Adding a few matches from WWE time wouldn't hurt either. 4) Shooter: The Dean Malenko Story: One of the most underapprieated wrestlers ever, Dean Malenko made a career of doing one thing, putting on wrestling clinics in each and every match. This DVD set would feature stuff from his early days in Japan to his matches in ECW (especially his famous last match in ECW) & WCW. An extra feature could be about the moves that he invented, such as the Jackhammer. 5) Sting: It's Showtime! : WWE literally owns the man's career. Once his time is up in TNA, if they could work out a deal for him to commentate the most important matches of his career, it would be huge. If Rica Flair and Sting can commentate on a few of their matches, simply gold. Thanks, great column, man!"- Johnny Kinard
"Sets the WWE should get done include: The Harley Race Anthology: NWA World Title wins against the likes of Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Terry Funk and Giant Baba could highlight the disc. You could have 2 DVDs dedicated to his feuds across the territories alone. It could also cover his reign as "King" and his career as a manager. Double-Crossed: The Terry Funk Story: NWA and ECW World Title wins, Japanese footage of tag title accomplishments with brother Dory Jr., the Dusty Rhodes feud, the Jerry Lawler empty arena match. That would be just the tip of the iceberg for material that can be gathered from the Hardcore icon. Vader Time: The more discs dedicated to the best big man in wrestling history the better. AWA footage of his early career and tons of WCW time dedicated to his dominance would be astonishing. It would be great if major Japanese single title victories could be shown. The British Bulldogs: One disc for the team, one disc for Davey Boy Smith and as many discs as possible for Dynamite Kid. The Calgary Stampede material alone would be worth $120 retail. Not to mention the Tiger Mask/Dynamite matches that redefined the entire sport. ECW: Year in Review Each 2 to 3 disc set would focus on the best matches, angles and interviews from a year of ECW wrestling. The Dragon Collection: No '89 matches with Flair on this set please. Steamboat/Flair from Mid-South, the Youngblood/Steamboat team and feuds with Randy Savage, Don Morocco, Harley Race and Tully Blanchard would be awesome."- Laszlo Takacs
"I just finished your column on DVD's the WWE should make. I agree with all of your picks. Here is my "dream" WWE DVD's. "RAW- The Complete Series" They could release different volumes each with 6 months (or maybe more) worth of episdoes and just keep em coming (They could do the same with SNME,Smackdown or even PrimeTime Wrestling) I know if it was on syndication I would still watch re runs. "Disqualified- The Life and Death of WWE Superstars" Seems like everytime I Get online and try to look up an old wrestler I liked he winds up dead. It would be nice to know the background stories of so many deceased wrestling personalties. Other than that, you came up with it, or the WWE already put it out but keep up the good work."- Jake Fugitt
"High Flying Invasion: The Best of WCW Cruiserweights; beyond the NWO the cruisers were the real reason why I watched WCW in the 90's and why I still believe wrestling wise WCW's linup was the best at the time, a two disk set would be great, hell you could fit 50 matches on two disks, I don't need a history or anything I just want the matches, and maybe bio's on the top stars, I would pay anthing to see La Parka dance once again. The Horseman Ride Again: a true documentary of the Horseman would be great
Funk U: The Terry Funk Story, sign his ass to a Legends contract and get this dvd out, this would rival Dusty's DVD. The Ultimate Sting Collection: with TNA coming out with there own Sting DVD this fall the WWE is stupid not to capitalize on this opportunity to ride the popularity of that DVD and come out with something similar to the Ultimate Ric Flair Collection. Pure Dynamite, The Dynamite Kid: but only if the WWE got access to his Japan footage and Stampede stuff, adn if they get an interview Dynamite. Breaking Down the Walls: if Jericho ever makes a comback this would be a perfect DVD to put out a few months before he makes a comback to get people interested in him again. Steamboat, My Story: he's a freaking agent, a legend, and everybody loves the guy, how is there not a DVD planned for this man. Me Against the World: how does Vince view himself, and his organization, a candid documentary on the man would be very interesting if not funny to see how much he might lie, but hey you never know"- Doug Bernard
"Love the ideas for Perfect, Rude, Owen and DiBiase DVDs. Heres a few DVD ideas I had. Similar to your world title DVD idea would be the Ultimate Intercontinental Title Collection. There's already an intercontinental title dvd, but its just a repackage of a Colliseum Video release from the mid 90's (Just 5 matches from 92-93). Here you could have everything from Steamboat-Savage, to Warrior-Honky Tonk, the WMX Ladder match, Rock-HHH ladder match, etc etc. Avoid any sort of retrospective story of the title, just pack the thing full of matches from when it was started until today (for completedness sake, end the DVD with Johnny Nitro's IC title win, or whoever is champ when the collection gets put together).
Rabid Wolverine: The Best Matches of Chris Benoit. The Benoit DVD package was great, but putting out another with nothing but matches would really be great for fans of technical wrestling. Here you could put selections of his more of his ECW work (w/ Malenko specifically), in Japan, in WCW (i.e. vs. Jericho @Fall Brawl, vs. Malenko @ Hog Wild, any number of matches from the Booker T best of 7) and of course, tons from his WWE run. They could avoid repeating any matches that are on the existing DVD set by placing any number of rematches in their place (instead of the triple threat from WM XX, the rematch from Backlash, etc). Sales of this DVD would probably outshine the previous Benoit DVD. Benoit fans tend to be fans because of his ringwork; it stands to logic that they would buy more copies of a DVD with only matches on it, rather than a biography type DVD."- Matt Jones
"I don't know if you know, but I'm one of the new writers on the site. And I wanted to strop a lone regarding your latest column. First, let me say that I've really enjoyed the History of the McMahon Empire series you've been working, that's gotta be so much work, but it's worth it, very entertaining, I always look forward to reading those. Your latest article was no different. Before I read the article I just saw the title, then i went out to have a smoke and I was thinking about what I would like to see. What was weird was the first one I thought of was Macho Man. Between some excellent matches (Wrestlmania 3, 5, 7, 8...plus the Hart match and many more) and the behind the scenes stories would be great. I also thought of Mr. Prefect, I don't know if that would be a great seller, but I'd buy it as I was always a mark for him as a kid. I loved the idea of including the Owen Hart tribute Raw in his, that was an emotional show that I had taped at the time, but the VHS has since been ruined. Again, w/ wrestlers telling Owen stories, great matches and extras it would be a hell of a DVD. I'd also like to watch the Million dollar Man DVD as I always felt he was the best guy to never win the world title. I had a couple ideas that aren't of specific wrestlers... First, I thought it would be cool to watch a DVD featuring the WWWF, all the way up to Hogan's first title win. Watching the greats like Sammartino, Morales, Andrea, and backlund would be neat. Also it would be cool to see some of the fathers and possibly grand fathers of the guys we always hear about being second and third generation SuperStars. I thought another cool DVD idea would be a special on stables. A look at some of the best stables like the Horseman, DX, NWO, Hart Foundation, Nation of Domination and more. Have a couple matches from each and the story of how the stable was formed and how the guys were selected, some notable feuds and how and why it was disbanded. Personally, I can't wait for anthologies similar to the Wrestlemania one for Summer Slam, Royal Rumble and Survivor Series. I'd buy all those!!!
OK, that's it I guess, just letting you know I enjoyed the column, love it when the column makes you think! Keep up the good work!"- Mike LaFave (new writer)
"I would like to see the WWE create the "Riding with the Horsemen:History of the Four Horsemen". They touched on the subject in the Ric Flair collection. But they can devote three discs to this project. Disc one can focus on the ENTIRE history, to include the originals, the suitable replacements(Barry Windham,Sting, and Curt Hennig), and the disasterous (Paul Roma, Mongo McMicheal, and Jeff Jarrett). Their misuse by Eric Bischoff can be chronicled as well. Disc Two and Three can showcase the numerous tag matches, War Games,promos and group feuds."- Reinaldo E. HENRY
"Sounds like a good list to me, I´m salvating at the thought of the Macho Madness DVD since he is one of the top five of all time!!!! I have four more suggestions... 1. The Four Horsemen - a history dvd of the grap games most influential group ever. Have the greatest matches, a profile of every member of the group (yep, even Roma & Jarrett) and for the extra material you can have a chapter of Evolution as the 21 st century Horsemen. 2. Tag Team Wars - I know this would never ever happen, but I´m a sticker for the real tag team wars, I used to love the old times Survivor Series, with ten tag teams fighting for survival and not to mention The Hartfoundation vs. The Bulldogs, Midnight Express vs. The Rock N´Roll Express and so on. You know, tag team wrestling can draw, booked properly and I think that theres enough old school NWA / WWF fans out there to buy this one. 3. Ric Flair - the second chapter. Ok so sue me! I´m a Flair mark, but his exellent dvd missed out on some great bouts, I wan´t to see Flair vs. Vader, War Games, Flair vs. Luger, Flair vs. Macho and any of his pre world title feuds. Come on Vince, this one can´t be all that difficult can it?? 4. WWE tagged classics. I love that they are releasing the old school Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, King of the Ring, Summerslam and Survivor Series (and the odd In Your House) on dvd´s (at least in Europe) and I would like to see the same treatment for WCW and ECW pay per views. Starrcade or Great American Bash anyone?"- Richard Lundberg in Sweden...
"The Ultimate Royal Rumble Collection (Just the Rumble Matches from the ppv). The Ayatollah of Rock & Rolla: The Complete Chris Jericho (SMW, ECW, WCW & WWE). I'm in the Rasslin' Business: The Birth, The Life & The Death of WCW (Circa 1988 - 2001)."- Jake Hunter
"DVDs I would like to see: 1) Freebirds: All their best matches. 2) Best of the Midnight Express
3) Blood, violence and Mayhem: A collection of special matches from the NWA, WWWF, WWE.
4) AWA: The History: Most of todays fans do not know the history of this great organization. This DVD should try to capture the essence of the AWA. 5) Forgotten Legends: Most WWE fans are not familar with legends like Nick Bockwinkle, Bruiser Brody etc. This series of DVD's can feature these legends. 6) The BEST of the WWWF: This can feature the action of the WWWF from the 1960's to 1970's. 7) Madison Square Garden classics: best matches from the famed area."- Ray Tugman
"Hey, a good article on DVDs with an interesting selection. Not sure about Savage as he had a bad falling out with McMahon and Hogan and his behavior the last few years has been...erratic to say the least. As for DVD's I'd love to see: Superstars of the 80's: The Tag Teams; The first 3-disc set was awesome and this one can concentrate on the tag teams of that era. The British Bulldogs, The Rock n Roll Express, the Midnight Express, the Fabulous Ones, Demolition, the Freebirds, the Killer Bees and more. Put in the same histories, interviews and matches/extras of the first set and this would be awesome. Ricky Steamboat: The Dragon's Fire: Admitedly, I am a HUGE Steamboat mark, but come on, he definetely deserves a huge disc for his career. There can be a huge spotlight on his tag team with Jay Youngblood, his matches in WWF, multiple title wins in WCW and more. Steamboat already works with WWE so it wouldn't be much trouble getting him and any disc with so many classic matches is a must-have. The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection vol 2: The first set was awesome but so many matches left off. You can include Starrcade 93 against Vader; Wrelstlemania VIII against Savage; Halloween Havoc '94 against Hogan; winning the IC belt from Carlito and more. Come on, any disc with Flair is an automatic classic. The Four Horsemen: True, much has been covered with Flair disc but this could go into the full history of the group in all its incarnations from 1985 to 1999. You can put in matches with all members, promos and more, all with commentary from the Horsemen themselves, making another classic of the greatest "stable" ever. Jerry Lawler: It's Good to Be the King: Long before he was a goofy announcer, Lawler was the true King of Memphis wrestling and this could showcase that for a new generation. You can have all the antics with Andy Kaufman, with Lawler finally explaining in detail how they planned it all, his multiple reigns, winning the AWA world title and his falling out with Verne Gagne, the USWA and much much more. I know, so many more possibilities but these are ones I'm dying to see (especially Steamboat). Keep up the great work!"-Michael Weyer
"Sure the WWE put out that back in black crap a few years ago but that only scratched the surface of the n.W.o. They revolutionalized the way many people think of how a stable should work, superstars at the top and jobbers and failed tag guys at the bottom. The jobbers(Brian Adams, Vincent, Konnan, ect.) and failed tag guys(Scott Norton, Fake Sting, you could count Steiner but he was hardly failed, ect.) would do all the dirty work while Hogan, Hall, Nash, Savage, Syxx, and whoever would pose until whoever the jobbers were beating down were down then they could pick up the pieces. 4 Horsemen, Flair, Arn, Ole, and Tully had some great matches. Wargames, all of Flair's title defenses, and the tag matches with Arn and Ole/Tully were great. There's many others they could do like Stone Cold, Vader, History of WCW, Bobby Heenan, and hell, how about Scott Hall? If Dusty can get one so can Razor."- Lilhotboy391
"loved your suggestions,how about a collection of dvd's about each promotion he has the rights to."- Longhornjwg
"What about a DVD about Sabu. I mean the man is crazy and has tons of good matches"- Beatju
"Randy Savage - HELL YES. Not only would this be quality (as long as it has NOTHING after Halloween Havoc 1997 against DDP), but it would fucking SELL like a motherfucker. I agree with everything you listed to be on the DVD, but I will add that this would have to include the already mentioned DDP match, as well as the SNME match against Bret Hart from Seattle. Give us some RARE footage, not a match that is available on 10% of other DVDs. Rick Rude - Definitely agree on this one, and matches I would include are the Steamboat series as well as the infamous Masa Chono match from Japan in 1992. Von Erichs - HELL YES. Champion vs. Champion - I'll have to disagree on this one, as I don't think there would be enough interest. I could (and hopefully) be wrong though. Ultimate History of World Title - HELL YES.
Owen Hart - HELL YES. So many classics to be included, such as matches against Bret, Benoit (as Pegasus), Bulldog (Euro title tournament final), the Canadian Stampede main event, and the Harts/Steiners classic. I'm sure New Japan would be willing to offer Owen's matches against Liger and Pegasus for a good price. However, I doubt this will ever be created sadly due to Martha Hart's irrational bitterness. Curt Hennig - HELL YES. Ted DiBiase - definitely agree. Kurt Angle - wait a few years, as this one is a lock.
My ideas: Terry Funk - I don't need to go through all of the topic surrounding this bonafide icon. Ultimate Steve Austin collection - four-disc set that includes ALL of the great/big matches of his career, from the WarGames 1992 to the WM 14 main event to the Benoit series to the Bret feud to the Hollywood Blondes, just to name a few. The Rock: One in a Million - an ultimate collection set of the Great One, spanning on three or four discs, with ALL of the great matches and major segments of his career, as well as a chapter on his Hollywood career. Matches I would include are Benoit (Fully Loaded 2000), Hulk Hogan (WM 18), the Austin series, the HHH series, the Mankind series, the Jericho series, and so much more. Ricky Steamboat - too many classics to list that would be ready to be placed on this collection. History of Tag Team Wrestling - four-disc set, without a documentary feature. Why TALK about the great tag teams of all-time when we can WATCH them in action? From the Hart Foundation to the RNR Express to Midnight Express to the Bulldogs to Los Guerreros to Benoit/Angle to Arn/Tully to Benoit/Malenko to the Dudleyz to the Hardyz to E&C to the Steiners to Rock & Sock to the Hollywood Blondes to LOD to APA to Demolition to Doom to MNM to the Funks to the Rockers to the Thrillseekers to the Eliminators to Shelton/Haas, just to name a few, this would be absolutely incredible, and maybe, just maybe, spark more interest in tag team wrestling, and give it the attention it deserves. The Four Horsemen - God, this needs to happen, and dammit, it MUST have the first ever WarGames match. Two or three disc set. Booker T - While this is debateable, I believe Booker is respected enough and due to being a current wrestler, would make for a great DVD. His childhood story would be interesting to find more information about, and he has been a reliable asset throughout his entire career. I would focus on Harlem Heat in the documentary feature, but I would avoid any Harlem Heat matches, with the exception of two or three. The matches I would include are of course the Benoit series (WCW and WWE), his first TV title victory over the Disco Inferno from the 12/29/1997 episode of Nitro, Bash at the Beach 2000 against Jeff Jarrett, Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero (singles and when they were a team), Great American Bash 2006, the Saturn/Martel series from early 1998, BookDust (definitely include Armageddon 2002 and the hilarious segments), King Booker, and perhaps others as well. Oops! Wrestling's Most Memorable Duds - practically a one or two disc WrestleCrap DVD, and I won't even try mentioning how much material is readily available for this set in the video library.
Greatest Wrestling Stars of the '90s - just like the '80s version that was already released. Best of the Cruiserweights - two disc set featuring some of the greatest cruiserweight matches in history. Edge - I'm sure this will be made in a few years, as it should be a lock. His documentary would have some easy material (injuries, Christian, Matt Hardy, injuries, Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle, being in Owen Hart's last match, John Cena), and the matches would be tremendous. Raw's Greatest Matches & Moments - four disc set, the title is self-explanatory. SmackDown!'s Greatest Matches & Moments - see above."- Rick Cobos
"Great column. I really liked the concept. If I could, I would have the WWE make a best of Terry Funk dvd. His old matches with Ric Flair, Dusty Rhoads, Abdullah the Butcher, Kevin Sullivan, both of his Five-star matches ala Dave Meltzer as well as ECW stuff ("The Night the Line was Crossed" IN ITS ENTIRTY, Barely Legal, and his match at ONS2). I would also make a best of Summerslam dvd. Think of all the greatest Summerslam matches (HBK vs. Ramon: Ladder match 2, Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart: Steel Cage, TLC 2, much, much, much more!!! And to top it all off, do a 10 hr. dvd on the history of Raw, including it's greatest matches and wildest vignettes and promos. Matches like the infamous Angle/Benoit cage match, HHH/Stone Cold vs. Benoit & Jericho, Raw Rullette's TLC, and many more."- Tanner Pruitt
"vince must have footage of brody and i think todays fans need to see some brodys matches, from the little footage ive seen he and the craziness he exhibited i think that a brody dvd would rule all."- Cactusdjt
"The Greatest Ever Tag Teams. An easy 3 DVD set, and they could fill that with just WWWF/WWF/WWE teams. But that would be a shame because teams like The Midnight Express, The Rock ‘n Roll Express and The Freebirds didn't compete extensively, if at all in the McMahon-run federation. They could start a history from The Fabulous Kangaroos, Rocca and Perez, then go on with Bernard and Murphy, The Moondogs, The Samoans, The Strongbows, Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas… my God, the list is almost endless. The Era Of Attitude. Let's face it, this was WWE's most successful era ever. The day Austin became Stone Cold, DX started crotch-chopping and The Rock took us to Jabroni Boulevard and the Smackdown Hotel. Double World Champions. A DVD that focuses on the wrestlers who won both the WWF/WWE title and the NWA/WCW title. Flair, Hogan, Savage, Kevin Nash, Bill Goldberg, Big Show/Giant, and maybe a bonus DVD on those who came close, like Steamboat, Race, Rhodes. I wouldn't include Rock or Jericho, who won the WCW belt during the 2001 botched Invasion angle, but I guess a case can now be made for Booker T. A History of The 4 Horsemen. Self-explanatory, and long overdue. Sergeant Slaughter. The Sarge was a huge part of the mid 80s WWF popularity explosion. Surely, somewhere, there is a complete copy of the famous Boot Camp Death match between he and The Iron Sheik from Madison Square Garden, one of the greatest brawls in history, and the culmination of a 2 year feud that lit up the wrestling scene and garnered mainstream coverage long before Roddy Piper broke a gold record over David Wolf's head and Cyndi Lauper took to managing Wendi Richter. Sarge then returned to WWF in the early 90s and became champion. Before his WWF run, he and Don Kernoodle were a famous tag team in the NWA, and he also wrestled in the AWA. There would be more than enough footage of Sarge to fill a couple of discs. A Man Called Sting. Well, I know this one's unlikely right now, but they own all the footage they need. From Sting's early days as a Blade Runner, to his breakthrough 45 minute match with Ric Flair at the first Clash Of The Champions, his time as a Horseman, his first World Title, right through to his amazing run in the revitalised WCW where he did nothing more than hang out in the rafters and beat people up with a baseball bat. WWE could rightly chronicle the botched Starrcade match between he and Hogan, which was the biggest PPV buy rate WCW ever had, after a one year build to the main event."- Andrew Prentice
"Ric Flair: The 70's The Ultimate Ric Flair started at his 2nd NWA Title pursue..Flair had a heck of a career going before starrcade ya know. KING KONG:The Bruiser Brody Story Does Vince own any of Central States? The Best of Vern Gagne,Harley Race,Nick Bockwinkle Because they deserve it. Before Starrcade:The Best of JCP 'Nuff Said!!!!!! Pure Evil: The Sheik Somebody somewhere owns Detroit.
The Butcher Because He deserves it too. Throwing the Gauntlet Bob vs Billy,Harley,Ric and Nick. Harley vs Billy,Bruno . Ric vs Rick (You had already mentioned THIS one but hell....somebody somewhere had a camera going) I do believe Bruno also wrestled Lou Thez too."- Ronevsorg
"I've emailed WWE so many suggestions over the years, just whenever i think of one. I've already sent all of yours except 4 and 5. Some others I would like to see: The British Bulldogs, Rock'n'Roll Express,
Midnight Express, Four Horsemen, Best of the UWF (after they get it...I remember watching it when I was little, once a week, probably towards the end of the company's existence), Best of Kevin Sullivan, Best of Doctor Death, Best of the Steiner Brothers, (a better) best of eddie guerrero, (just for my personal satisfaction) HHH 2000, Jericho, Ricky Steamboat, (a better) now, (a better) Monday Night Wars, Tommy Dreamer vs Raven, Fabulous Freebirds. The list goes on and on. I'd buy them all."- Manu Bumb
"1 From Lionheart To King Of The World- The Chris Jericho Story: Get a few Japanese matches like on Benoit's one, show the Canadian stuff, the ECW, WCW, WWE. Simple and easy, plus while Jericho's not chomping to get back to the biz, I'm sure he would come back for something like this. 2 The Complete Wargames.- Enough said. 3 Diamonds Are Forever, And So Are The 4 Horsemen- Please? 4 Wrestling's Mad Scientist- Paul Heyman- From the Dangerious Alliance, to ECW, to WWE and the Alliance, a look back at Heyman's career, from manager of champions to ruler of the misfit toys to the voice of the disenfranchised to the Phenix Reborn. I'm talking lots of promos, plus all the biggys (ECW Invasion V1.0, Dangerious Alliance formation, a couple of ECW ones, EC-Dub's reunion, THAT promo on Vince, the 3 way with Vince and Eric, his work with Brock and Eddie, so on and so forth). 5 Catfights, Evening Gowns & Brawls- The Evolution Of Divas- A look back at Women in Wrestling. With that library they can go from managers and early women's wrestling to the catfights of ECW to The Golden Age of WWE Women's wrestline to...The Diva Search. But really, this would be an excuse to get as many Jumping Bomb Angels matches on DVD as possible."- Mathew Sforcina
"Nice article! I think I would like to see a Nikita Koloff "The Russian Nightmare" DVD set. He had great tag matches with Uncle Ivan Koloff and historic matches with Magnum TA. Add to that some great footage in his tag team matches with Dusty Rhoades against the 4 Horseman and the Road Warriors I think you'd have a quality product. And if you wanted to, follow his post wrestling career in his Christian Ministries and the Ultimate Wrestling Action. Just my view from my neck of the woods."- Jim McDaniel
"1. Bobby "The Brain" Heenan - how he hasnt gotten one yet is beyond me. I would want a two disc release just to have all 4 episodes of the Bobby Heenan show on it. 2. The Hart Family - you talked about an Owen Hart DVD, and as much as i love him, i don't know if he could support a DVD on his own (although i'd say the same about Brian Pillman and i'm picking up his DVD in September), so how about we stretch it out to include the entire Hart clan. Footage of Owen, Davey Boy, The Dynamite Kid, Jim Neidhart, Bruce Hart, maybe some footage of other Hart Family trainees like Benoit and Jericho. Maybe the WWE might even have an old Stu Hart match sitting in there vault somewhere? 3. Greatest Wrestling Stars of the 80's vol. 2 - i can't think of a better way to spotlight some classic wrestlers who helped make the industry but probably cant support a DVD on there own. Im thinking Ted Dibiase, Andre the Giant, John Studd, King Kong Bundy, Tully Blanchard, the Freebirds, Jim Duggan, Nikolai Volkoff, Tony Atlas, Bob Backlund, Barry Windham, Sensational Sherri, Jesse Ventura, Jimmy Hart and Demolition. 4. "The King" Jerry Lawler - 30 years in the sport, tons of history, and the guy who pretty much invented the classic heel act. The only problem might be ownership to the rights of his old Memphis stuff (i dont believe Vince owns them). 5. Saturday Nights Main Event sets - ok, by my research there were 36 SNME's between May 1985 to November 1992 (5 in NBC Prime Time, 2 on Fox, and 29 on late night NBC). Im thinking 3 shows on a DVD, 3 DVD's to a set, 4 sets released quarterly."- DKhan1
"Chris Jericho should certainly be included. Going from his roots, through ECW, WCW and finally the WWF/E. His promos and matches were usually very good, and now that he looks to be done with the wrestling part of his career, it seems a good idea to get it out there. Sabu? I'm not sure how much stuff they can get for his non-ECW work, but I'm sure he'd make interesting watching! William Regal: He's had a long career, and although I'm rather a mark for him, I think he'd make a great DVD. His early World of Sport work wouldn't be too hard to pick up, and you could follow his ups and downs through his addictions and runs in America. Finally, Sean Waltman... It may read like a car wreck, but he had good runs in the WWF and WCW, and some good matches too. You could also put in his anti-Bischoff promo.Cheers!"- Luke Southworth
"I would love to see the best of Stampede Wrestling, best of Dynamite Kid, and best of Bad News Allen."-
Paul
"That's a good list of DVD's that WWE should put out. If they came out with those DVD's I would definitely buy most of them. I think that WWE is giving Ted Dibiase his own DVD and I also heard they are coming out with a DVD of the Four Horsemen, if so they really need to put the Wargames match on it. Also they need to come out with a DVD of Bruno Sammartino: The Living Legend. What he accomplished in wrestling needs to be documented, if Bret and Vince can forgive each other there should be no reason why Bruno and Vince aren't able to. I have the DVD of the Warrior and I would hate for them to do the same to Bruno, but I wouldn't put it past Vince to come out with a DVD; Grumpy Old Man: The Bruno Sammartino Story."- Joey Nic
"Here are a couple of related DVD ideas. The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection Vol. 2-Since compiling every great Ric Flair match and promo could probably fill a box set bigger than the Wrestlemania box and given the success of the first volume and Ric's continued popularity in the 'E. To this add a Four Horseman collection-Such a set would have to include Arn's original naming of the group as well as some of the early War Games matches. The doc would have to give a rundown of every wrestler who was ever a member of the group, when and how they came in to the stable, and when and how they got the boot. This gives you a set featuring matches with Flair, Arn, Tully, Windham, Benoit, Pillman, Luger, Sting, Ole, Sid, Malenko, Roma, McMichael, and even Jarrett and Hennig."– chris
"How about a DVD of the funniest skits ever? Seriously, they could fit about a million things into one DVD package."- Brian
"the only best group in wrestling. THE 4 HORSEMEN. They were a hell of a group and everybody either loved and or hated them. thats my opinion and a KANE dvd."- BL
"I consider myself a smart wrestling fan. I am not a smark. I am not a wrestling historian. But I DO know what I like, what I find entertaining and what (in the past) I have found entertaining. When the infamous MSG hug broke down the walls of kayfabe for good, I may only speak for myself when I say that it opened up a whole new perspective and whole new set of "Hey, wouldn't it be cool to see………." stuff. So, here's what I would love to see: 1. A Ricky Steamboat collection. Drop "The Dragon". Just plain ol' Ricky Steamboat. The purists will eat this up. The "wanting to be hip on the IWC" young teenager crowd will eat this up. But, you know what, Ricky Steamboat is revered and admired by virtually all fans in all 4 corners of the globe. I was fortunate to have seen him in a live ROH appearance in Elizabeth, NJ a while ago and the crowd was electric. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing up. Make this DVD. Flair/Steamboat, Savage/Steamboat, Roberts/Steamboat ‘nuff said. 2. Now that we have sifted through the cloak of kayfabe, I would love to see a candid DVD of our late 70's and 80's stars talking about the industry, their favorite matches, their favorite opponents/partners, all while talking over one of their "signature" matches as it plays in the background. This is, of course, predetermined by which of these guys is still around to give some camera time. Who wouldn't love to see George "The Animal" Steele give some candid interviews? Then, you could interview (separately) the Adorable contingent, first Adrian Adonis who would address his transformation, his association with Dick Murdoch, and then catch an interview with Adrian Street. I would love to hear the Moondogs' real voices, and others as well. 3. How about a DVD of the greatest interviews/sketches/skits? The DX invasion at WCW? The DX spoof of the Nation of Domination? The AA promo about "getting the job done"? Mick Foley and "He's Hardcore"? Shane Douglas bringing in the new breed? Y2J's debut, interrupting the Rock? The introduction of Mr. Socko to a hospitalized Vince? Piper's Pit coconut incident? The birth of Austin 3:16? Kane setting JR on fire? Gold, I say. 4. Wrestling's Greatest Tough Guys. This would be a compilation of interviews, matches and promos from some of wrestling's greatest tough guys. Stuff from Bruiser Brody, Stan Hansen, AA, Finlay, Regal, Austin, Blanchard, the Koloffs, the Samoans, Ronnie Garvin, Tommy Dreamer, Terry Funk, Dory Funk, Verne Gagne, Nikolai Volkoff, Don Muraco, and Sabu to name just a few. 5. Wrestling's Greatest Comedy Matches and the Characters That Made Them Great. We could have midget matches here. We could also have the Survivor Series match with the multiple Doinks. Bushwhacker matches. Billy and Chuck matches. JYD matches. BWo stuff. And of course, Bundy squashing Little Beaver at Wrestlemania. 6. A tongue-in-cheek view (since I believe that there is money to be made in honesty) of some of the most famous failed, or reasonable failure, gimmicks. That would be sure to entertain the smarks of the IWC, the guys like me (and my friends as well) that are totally entertained by the scrubs of the feds, and people with a generally good sense of humor. Let's see……..Max Moon, TechnoTeam 2000, TL Hopper, Abe Knuckleball Schwarz, MVP, the Renegade, Mantaur, Bastion Booger, Giant Gonzalez, Mr. Z Tom Zenk, the Shocker, Skinner, Red Rooster, and others I am sure I am forgetting."- Chris M.
""Steinerized": The story of the steiner bros. Follow Rick Steiner from his days at michigan state to the nwa and the introduction of younger brother scotty as these two men became one of the greatest tag teams in history. Relive classic confrontations with the vasity club, the road warriors and the freedbirds.
"Who's the man?" : Big Van Vader's path of destruction. At 450 pounds of pure power, Big Van Vader was one of wcw's most dominant champions. Follow him from his 1990 debut at the great American bash to his rise to the top and memorable feuds with Sting, Flair, Cactus Jack and Shawn Michaels. Jet Planes, Limosines and wrestling: the story of the legendary four horsemen: The name says it all: the four horsemen were truly "where its at in professional wrestling." Follow this legendary group from its beginnings in the 80's to its ups and downs in the 90s. Along the way, relive feuds with Dusty Rhodes, Sting, Barry Windham and the nwo. "Fear the Dragon" : the best of ricky steamboat. The Dragon is one of the most respected athletes in the history of professional wrestling. For 20 years he dominated the nwa, wwf and wcw. Relive classic confrontations with Jake Roberts, Ric Flair, Randy Savage, Steven Regal and Steve Austin. "Here comes the Ax, Here comes the Smasher: Demolition were truly the tag team of the 80s in the wwf. Now, relive their classic feuds with the hart foundation, strike force, the brainbusters and others, as they bulldozed their way to three reigns as wwf tag team champions and a loyal fan following to this day."- Andrew Seisser
