Dark Pegasus Video Review: The History of the World Heavyweight Championship (Disc One)

The History of the World Heavyweight Championship (Disc One) by J.D. Dunn Twitter.com/jddunn411 Brightkite.com/jddunn411 Facebook.com/jddunn411 The narrator sounds a lot like James Earl Jones. We go *way* back to the epic of Gilgamesh and God sending the angel down to wrestle Jacob. The angel’s workrate was superb, but I thought Jacob was dogging it with all the chinlocks. Plus, he relied too much on his manager, Mae Young, to get heat. Most of the smarkish crowd was busy masturbating to David’s cattle mutilation – no, literal cattle mutilation – but, of course, they didn’t let their seed hit the ground because I think we all know what happened to Onan. That gives way to Lincoln and George Hackenschmidt, who was both brawn and brain. He challenged Albert Einstein to debate his Theory of Relativity. He’s kind of a Scott Steiner precursor in that, I guess. “Why don’t you take your Theory of Relativity and go to hell?! Or France, same difference!!!” Hackenschmidt, the Russian Lion, was just named the world champion. He dominated until he ran into Frank Gotch, who got him to submit to an anklelock after two hours. Legend has it that Gotch coated himself in oil to avoid the bearhug. Gotch became a national sensation, and wrestling itself caught fire. We gloss over Stecher and Caddock to Ed “Strangler” Lewis, the first rock star champion (before rock ‘n’ roll was invented). Mae Young notes that Lewis came up with the first banned hold – the stranglehold. Lewis was boring in the ring, though, wrestling Stecher to a five-hour draw. It was around this time that promoters realized that it was more marketable to put on matches as “sports entertainment” rather than athletic contests. Regional promotions had developed over the years, and in 1948, they decided to come together and name the first National Wrestling Alliance World Champion. They decided on Orville Brown, but Brown was injured, so they went with Lou Thesz. Thesz became the first TV wrestling star, and really, the first TV star period. TV led to more stars: Edouard Carpentier, Pat O’Connor, and Buddy Rogers. Rogers became a huge star, thanks to his look and interview skills. When he captured the title from O’Connor, it was the biggest crowd in the history of pro-wrestling. Thesz made a comeback in the late 1960s before passing the torch to Gene Kiniski. Kiniski gave way to Dory Funk Jr. after forgetting he was in a one-fall match. Dory says he enjoyed his run, which was the second-longest behind Lou Thesz. Dory lost to Harley Race. Race kind of snuck in, taking advantage of the feud between Funk and Jack Briscoe. Race was one of the most hated wrestlers, which was a nice contrast to Funk and Briscoe. Jack Briscoe would capture the title from Race not long after. Jack says he got tired of the grind of being champion – hotels, plane rides, one-hour draws. Terry Funk would avenge his brother, capturing the title from Jack Briscoe. Terry enjoyed his time as champion because he got to work with all the best people. Harley Race defeated Terry to earn his second title. This was the second of eight reigns. Terry says he was the best champion in NWA history because of his durability. With the advent of supershows, the NWA needed a new torch-bearer. Enter Ric Flair. Flair had one reign earlier in the 1980s, but the time came when the NWA wanted him to be the face of the NWA. His greatest rival was Dusty Rhodes. Bad business management led to the NWA collapsing into Crockett’s hands and eventually into Ted Turner’s hands. The first big rivalry was Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat, a situation that saw Steamboat win his only world title. Flair would take the title back and jump to the WWF a few years later. The lineage was stripped from that physical title while it was in the WWF. Ron Simmons would become the first black champion, but the title would bounce around among Vader, Sting and a returning Flair. The Hogan/Bischoff Era began in the mid-1990s. That led to more title changes. Sting, Hogan, Savage, the Giant, Goldberg, Dallas Page, Jeff Jarrett, Vince Russo… David Arquette… um… but not Chris Jericho, because he just didn’t have “it.” Booker T closed out WCW as the champion before Vince McMahon took over operations. The WWF unified the WWF and WCW Titles into the “Unified Title.” Brock Lesnar “de-unified” the titles by becoming a Smackdown-only wrestler. HHH was handed the “World Title” by Eric Bischoff. Reigns by Shawn Michaels, the Undertaker, Eddie Guerrero, Edge, Batista, John Cena, Randy Orton, CM Punk, and Rey Mysterio followed. Everyone has fond memories of becoming the champion. Matches NWA Heavyweight Title, 2/3 Falls: Pat O’Connor vs. Buddy Rogers (06/30/61). First Fall: This match was one of my first 411 reviews back in 2004. Search the archives for a more in-depth look. O’Connor totally dominates, but Rogers’ selling is a sight to behold. It’s like William Regal coming off a crack bender. O’Connor stays one step ahead throughout, armdragging Rogers down and trying to twist his arm off. It’s a cool optical illusion, but it looks damned painful. Rogers catches him with a forearm on a wild charge to rock the champ and starts in with the hair and tight-pulling. O’Connor DRILLS him with a few rights but wildly charges right into a knee to give Rogers the first fall at 7:13. Second Fall: O’Connor is groggy, so Rogers chokes him to the canvas and slaps on a hammerlock. O’Connor uses WRESTLING SKILL~! to reverse to a wishbone. Now, O’Connor is getting a little chippy, shielding them from the ref and punching Rogers right in the nose. Rogers gets disoriented, and O’Connor is able to kip-up and catch him in the O’Connor Roll for the second-fall win at 12:59. Third Fall: O’Connor comes out fired up, but Rogers avoids him. They collide mid-ring and fall to the apron. O’Connor corners Rogers and LEVELS him with a straight right. More great selling by Rogers. O’Connor nearly gets the pin, but Rogers gets his foot on the ropes, drawing a gasp from the crowd. O’Connor misses a wild dropkick and lands on his head, this time drawing a gasp of horror. O’Connor is out of it, so Rogers crawls over and covers for the win at 20:26. For those of you who think wrestling from the 1960s can’t hold up, check out this match, which features an unparalleled selling job by Rogers and some of the quickest moves you’ll see from O’Connor. Quality storytelling and stiff shots abound. Definitely worth a look if you haven’t seen it before. **** NWA Heavyweight Title: Gene Kiniski vs. Dory Funk Jr. (02/11/69). We’re in Tampa, Fla., and this is just highlights, as expected. We JIP to both men groggy after a collision. Dory nearly gets the pin near the ropes, but Kiniski’s legs are out of bounds. Kiniski is noticeably winded. Funk goes after his legs with the spinning toehold. Kiniski counters a few times, but Dory is able to get him down and force the submission with the toehold at 3:14 (shown). What was shown looked fairly one-sided. Dory’s tenacity down the stretch was entertaining, though. [**+] NWA Heavyweight Title: Jack Brisco vs. Terry Funk (12/10/75). We’re JIP 20 minutes in to Terry getting whipped into the post. Jack goes hard after pinfalls, but Terry keeps kicking out. Terry catches him with a kneebreaker to turn the tide. Briscoe hits a suplex, though, giving Funk the chance to do his dying-fish-having-a-seizure sell. Briscoe goes for the figure-four, but Terry counters to the small package for the win at 3:40 (of 28:20). Terry was a completely different wrestler back then, and any combination of the Funk/Briscoe matches is pretty good. [***+] NWA Heavyweight Title: Harley Race vs. Dusty Rhodes (08/21/79). More clips. Dusty is positively catlike in the late 1970s. Of course, he was catlike in the 1980s, but that cat was Garfield. Dusty pummels him a lot as we jump to the 20-minute mark. Race goes to the eye and fires off a series of headbutts. He tries the diving headbutts, though, and Dusty gets his elbow up. Dusty drops the Bionic Elbow for the win at about 4:00 (of 30ish). Dusty’s commentary of how amazing his title win was is almost as good as the match. [***+] NWA Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair vs. Magnum T.A. (09/28/95). WOO HOO! For those of you who bought the old AWA retrospective PPV in the early 2000s, this was one of the matches featured, but it was clipped down to about five minutes. This is from the AWA Superclash show during the time when Verne Gagne and Jim Crockett were cooperating. Magnum works the arm early, but craven Flair tosses him for a breather. Magnum catches himself and comes back PISSED. His flurry backfires, though, as he throws an out-of-control dropkick and falls flat on his face. Flair locks in the abdominal stretch, and announcer Larry Nelson predicts that’s the finisher. Magnum survives and avoids a kneedrop. Now, Magnum slaps on the figure-four. Flair squeals his way to the ropes, though. Flair goes to the eyes, of course, and goes after Magnum’s arm. Don’t see that everyday. Magnum catches him in the sleeper, but Flair gets his foot on the ropes (probably because T.A. couldn’t squeeze with the bad arm ;). Flair gets his knees up to block a splash. Now Flair applies the figure-four. Magnum makes the ropes and SLUGS Flair back, knocking him over the top rope. Flair goes face-first into the post, causing a trickle of blood. Back in, Magnum pummels him again. Flair is helpless, so Magnum goes hard after the pin. Backslide. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! BELLY-TO-BELLY! Oh, but the ref gets hit by Flair’s feet during the move and can’t count right away. Magnum gets an O’Connor Roll. ONE, TWO—Flair reverses with a handful of tights. ONE, TWO, THREE! Flair retains at 25:46. The usual Flair formula fantastic match for the 1980s. Magnum looked like a worldbeater here, and his righteously pissed act could have drawn millions as the focal point of the promotion. He was like a precursor to Sting only with an awesome moustache. **** Speak of the devil… NWA Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair vs. Sting (07/07/90). This is the long-delayed transition from the Flair era to the Sting era that was originally derailed when Sting messed up his knee earlier in the year. For this match, Ole Anderson is handcuffed to El Gigante while the Dudes with Attitudes (the Junkyard Dog, Paul Orndorff, & the Steiners) surround the ring to ensure the Horsemen can’t interfere. Other than the overbooking, this is the usual Sting vs. Flair match. Sting no-sells all of Flair’s early offense and hiptosses him on that WCW ramp they used to use. Flair drops a knee between the eyes, but Sting no-sells, hits a couple of clotheslines, and gets two off a crossbody. Flair goes after Sting’s injured knee, but Sting powers back. Flair tries an intimidation “wooooo,” but that doesn’t work very well. Finally, Sting misses a dropkick, allowing Flair to go after the knee in earnest. He misses his own kneedrop, though, and Sting gets the figure-four leglock. Flair makes the ropes and takes it to the floor, whipping Sting into the railing. Sting no-sells and pummels Flair in the face once they get back in. Flair: Ohhhhh God! Flair goes up and gets slammed off. Sting backslides Flair for two and argues the count with the referee, allowing Flair to clip his leg again. Flair makes the same mistake he always makes, taking Sting to the corner and chopping him. Sting gets pissed and gives Flair a press-slam. Flair Flip, but Sting cuts him off on the apron and suplexes him in for two. The Stinger Splash sets up the Scorpion Deathlock, causing Ole to freak out. Sid, Windham and Arn run down to interfere, but the Dudes hold them off. Flair makes the ropes. He nails Sting in the gut and covers with his feet on the ropes. ONE, TWO, NOT THIS WAY!!! Scott Steiner returns to ringside and shoves Flair’s feet off the ropes, allowing Sting to kick out. Sting tries the running knee once more, but Flair moves out of the way. The crowd **GASPS** as Flair goes for the figure-four. No need to worry, though, as Sting counters to a small package to pick up the win and his first world title at 16:07. Sting puts over Flair as a champion after the match. I don’t think he was quite ready yet because they basically hit all the normal notes that they would in a great Flair/Sting match, but they didn’t have enough of the improvisational riffing to take it to the upper strata. ***1/2

The 411: One of the easiest recommendations you'll find. "The Big Gold Belt" is the most prestigious title in wrestling (yes, even after Arquette/Russo). The matches feel just as epic as those of the WWF title and, more importantly today, the quality of the matches holds up. The documentary skips over many of the controversial elements (the Veneno and Colon title "reigns," the Midnight Rider stuff, and the Russo years) in favor of a fawning historical piece. For those not familiar with the history of the belt, though, this is a fine walk through the history of the title. Thumbs way up.

Final Score:  9.5   [  Amazing ]