DVD Review: nwo The Revolution

DVD Review: n.W.o The Revolution

In 1996 the world of professional wrestling took a turn for the better. As the industry waned slightly and the main two companies (WCW and WWE) struggled to sell out arenas somebody needed to do something to break the status quo.

The moment that changed it all was when former WWE main eventer's Scott Hall and Kevin Nash decided to leave the organisation for some big money deals with their rivals WCW.

WCW was then under the leadership of Eric Bischoff (currently one of the key men behind TNA). Bischoff had gained power recently and whilst the product had grown steadily and even procured the talents of former WWE figurehead Hulk Hogan, he still felt something was needed to go to the next level.

Cue Hall (and subsequently Nash) appearing on WCW live TV. Both cutting some killer promos that seemed to allude to the fact that the pair were invading the company on behalf of the WWE (which they were not). The storyline gained momentum quick and saw Nash and Hall become two of the hottest commodities in wrestling ever.

The next big turning point was when during a six man tag match at Bash at the Beach Hall and Nash took on the trio of Lex Luger, Sting and Randy Savage (three men they had been intimidating for weeks). The punchline here was the lack of the much-hyped third partner for the Outsiders (as Hall and Nash were now known). This was the key moment in n.W.o history, as perennial good guy Hulk Hogan came to ringside, we all thought he was there to help Sting and Co. but he did the unthinkable and aligned himself with the Outsiders to pummel the WCW boys.

Hogan's heel turn was a landmark event. No one saw it coming and this DVD uses that as its main factor in the success of the n.W.o.

There have been other DVDs focusing on the New World Order, but this is the definitive version. Here we are presented with a nice history of the concept and wonderful array of talking heads, who were there at the time. The only major face missing is The Hulkster (whose TNA contract restricts his inclusion), but he does feature in events heavily. It is nice to see some people like Mike Rotunda, Lex Luger, Arn Anderson, Dusty Rhodes, Billy Kidman and many others all give their two cents in relation to what made the story line work and inevitably implode.

The documentary here covers everything from the n.W.o's introduction to their demise. When it was at its peak the faction saw a weekly introduction of new members (mostly on huge cash deals) and the group ran amok in the company. The problem was the group got too big for its boots and expanded too far. As WCW ran into financial problems and closed its doors the WWE decided to rejuvenate the n.W.o for one more run and re-introduced Hulk, Hall and Nash to the WWE audience. It was however a short-lived thing and never really caught off the way it had before.

n.W.o. The Revolution is a three disc (two on Blu-ray) set that not only features the stoy of the faction, but some of the best matches (both WCW and WWE) that it had to offer. There are also some nice extras which include such things as the Hall and Nash intros and much more.

On the match front we have bouts featuring Rowdy Roddy Piper, Dennis Rodman, The Steiner Brothers, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Jay Leno and Sting, all of them battling some member of one of the New World Orders roster.

Fans of the late 1990s wrestling industry will lap this up. Newer fans will enjoy seeing just what leaps and bounds were made during this era in the sport and how guys like Hall, Nash and Hogan have became so powerful in the business.

n.W.o. The Revolution is available now on DVD and Blu-ray.

Check out ww.silvervision.co.uk for this and more WWE releases.

RRP £29.99 (DVD), £34.99 (Blu-ray)

By Phil Allely

DVD Review The Greatest Cage Matches of All Time

WWE DVD Review: The Greatest Cage Matches Of All Time


By Phil Allely

You have to hand it to the WWE they certainly do know how to compile a best of compilation better than most wrestling organisations. The advantage they have of course is that they own the majority of the best match footage form the sports glory days and now they are happily embracing this rich heritage and showcasing them on DVD.

This triple disc set brings together a collection of fair to excellent cage matches from the WWE, NWA, AWA, WCCW and WCW, all of which have not only the curiosity factor, but make for rewarding viewing.

So for those unaware of this particular match style here’s a brief rundown of what to expect in this box set. Cage matches were usually the final match in a feud for wrestlers. These matches were always heavily hyped and often headlined live events, pay-per-views and of course sold-out arenas. The interesting thing was that the imposing cages themselves varied too and the performers often relied on blading to intensify what were at times dull bouts.

The matches on offer here range from the late 1970s and bring us right up to 2009. Those earlier matches are a bit sluggish at times, but the atmosphere and electricity in the air more than make up for the fast-paced action we see these days.

The good news is that in this set for every slow match (let’s simply say Bob Backlund and Lex Luger) there are at least five worthwhile cage scraps to savour. Highlights include a nice Ric Flair versus Kerry Von Erich blood bath from 1982, a hard-hitting tag team brawl pitting Ivan and Nikita Koloff against the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, a superb Road Warriors and Fabulous Freebirds war and some modern classics featuring Steve Austin, Mankind, Triple H, Edge, Chris Jericho and The Rock.

What’s nice about this set is that many of the matches featured are indeed rare ones, they have yet to appear on DVD and the cage gimmick enhances the in-ring action well. These days the blood-letting may have stopped in the WWE, but you don’t need to see the claret flow if the combatants can tell their story well and construct a wild, violent and believable match we can all buy into. That is what this box set best displays, the bouts here all tell stories, they wind up feuds, tie up loose ends and in some cases they take a key player to the next chapter in their career.

The Greatest Cage Matches of All Time is a nicely produced three disc offering that should keep everyone interested until the final match of disc three. The only drawback is that like any other stipulation heavy release there are only so many cage matches you can watch in one sitting, so break your viewing up to get the full impact of the content here.

The Greatest Cage Matches of All Time is available now form ww.silvervision.co.uk and all good retailers.

RRP £29.99

Cert 15

Runtime 8hrs 8mins

Busted Open satellite radio show with Lex Luger

Busted Open satellite radio show with Lex Luger


Hosts: Dave LaGreca and Doug Mortman

Airs Mondays and Wednesdays on Sirius 92 and XM 207 from 2-4 ET



Luger on whether he’s pleased with WWE’s PG direction: “I’m very happy with the direction WWE is taking. I actually work behind the scenes with them now again and with their wellness club, I council a lot of their athletes on nutrition, wellness, exercise and taking care of their bodies. Their organization is really moving forward with that. I commend them on that. But also, they changed their ratings to PG content and more family orientated.



“The athletes now are better than ever and I was at Wrestlemania in Atlanta a few weeks back. The production quality and the athletes are incredible but they just want to make sure it’s family viewer friendly like the old Saturday night TBS days……those were the late 80’s and early 90’s when people would tune in on Saturday nights with the whole family and people say they miss that so I’m very excited with the direction that WWE is taking now and they’re definitely heading in the right direction in my opinion.”



Luger on Sting still wrestling at his age: “I think him and Undertaker…..their particular personas in wrestling are timeless. The fans continue to love their characters. I joke with Sting, he’s able to cover up with the jackets and paraphernalia like Undertaker. Their characters make them incredibly timeless. He’s still, and Undertaker’s still moving around the ring well and they have a lot of credibility with the fans…..they’re a couple of the greatest guys.



“It is incredible. I know what my body went through for 15 years and those guys are still doing it. You go beyond that with Ric Flair, Hogan and it’s just incredible some of these guys are still out there performing. My hat goes off to them. I give a lot of credit…..wow. It blows my mind.”



On Sting (a born again Christian) choosing TNA over WWE despite TNA’s adult content: “(laughing) I’ve heard people tell me that, and I tuned in to a couple of their shows recently and there is definitely some questionable content……I’m gonna have to bring that up to him. I’m gonna have to ask him about it.”



Was Elizabeth’s passing a turning point in his life? “There’s a lot of dark times and moments in my life back then, but that was definitely the lowest day…..one of the lowest, without a doubt. It’s a real tragedy. We all admired and loved her career and Elizabeth herself as a person. It’s a great loss to wrestling and a real tragedy. It’s a real tragedy of when my generation and I know that my relationship with her at the time, I was a contributory factor, the lifestyle of drugs and alcohol and things we were all doing at the time. It was a real lesson I’m able to hopefully that she…..it wasn’t in vain. I share that experience with youngsters out there to avoid the same paths.



“I’d like to say it was a turning point, but we all hear about the word rock bottom…..guys, I went further and deeper than that before the good Lord saved me from myself. I’d like to say it was a turning but even THAT wasn’t a turning point in my life.



“That’s another thing that WWE is being very proactive now with the Wellness Department and really train these guys with health and nutrition and drug prevention. We’re trying to prevent the young guys, this young generation of guys from going down the same path as we did back in the 80s and 90s. It was kind of cool to be partying and doing our thing on the road….we had no accountability. There’s a lot more accountability now on the road with these guys, a lot more supervision that we didn’t have that were trying to provide them with a real infrastructure. WWE is being very proactive in that regard and I commend them on that.”



Luger on reaching out to Scott Hall to give him the help he needs: “We’re still reaching out to those guys. I’m actually trying to get a hold of Scott right now. We don’t want any more of this to go on. Us and WWE and everybody involved really wants to turn the tide in that regard. It’s a life and death situation, so we definitely want to be available and do whatever we can in that regard.”

Wrestlemania Candid snaps

Wrestlemania 2011 - WCW Themed Hall Of Fame!!!

According to sources the 2011 Wrestlemania (hailing from Atlanta) is to be WCW orientated/themed. Considering the company that rivalled the WWE for many years and almost beat it into submission in the late 1990s, is owned now by the WWE this makes perfect sense for the McMahon run operation to do. There are already rumours flying about that Lex Luger, Arn Anderson and Ron Simmons are to be inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame as part of the event. There are of course possibilities that such former WCW stars as Booker T, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and other may also be added to the HOF ceremony, they are all not under cntract to TNA at present. A big coup would be Sting, who was such a huge part of WCW that his inclusion would make the event very special indeed, however sources are saying that the Stinger is set to re-sign with TNA soon. Ric Flair, Mick Foley, Vader and others are off the card due to TNA contracts or other issues with the WWE.

Lex Luger Talks WWE and His Future

Lex Luger: I'd like to see how I'd have matched up to Triple H

By Phil Allely


It's been more than 15 years since Lex Luger (Larry Pfohl) set foot in a WWE ring, but that is about to change (in a way) when the legendary Superstar makes his video game debut as a playable character through the latest downloadable content package on the upcoming Raw V Smackdown game.

In a recent chat with WWE.com the former WCW World champion, WWE superstar and co-winner of the 1994 Royal Rumble talked openly about his in-game character, his dream opponent and the legacy of Lex Luger. Here are a few snippets from that chat.

Although he had no input into the games design Luger's ikeness will appear in the upconing game and be a fully playable add-on that can be downloaded.

Lex Luger: I totally trusted THQ on that, but I just got a sneak peek preview and the realism is just incredible.

Luger's previous agame appearance for the WWE was in 1995's WrestlemaniaThe Arcade Game, a programme that now appears very dated indeed.

Luger: Oh yeah, it’s like night and day. I mean not just the technology, but the manoeuvers and the different matches and all the alliances you can get involved in. The variety of choices they have now just blows me away.

Lex was best known in the WWE for his All american character, but does he conisder it a high point or not.

Luger: As far as the highlights of my career, slamming Yokozuna was just phenomenal. Everyone who goes on YouTube or Googles me, they always say, ‘I saw that thing where you slammed that gigantic guy!’ It really was an incredible experience.

The British Bulldog and lex formed a formidable tag team during that era. That team also feature in this new game content?

Luger: The Allied Powers are back! Isn’t that cool? That’s part of the fun of this game. You’re able to put teams together and get us involved with today’s current Superstars. You can have really classic matchups.

having retired in 2001. Lex was asked if there a dream match you never had in your career that you wish you had.

Luger: I guess it would be against some of today’s Superstars. I'd like to see how I’d match up against John Cena or Triple H or Randy Orton.

He then explained how The Total Package would fare in a brawl with powerhouses like Kane or Sheamus?

Luger: I like to think I’d hold up pretty well. The athletes are more athletic and the maneuvers are so spectacular, but I’d still have a basic ground attack. I’d have to stick with that, but sometimes simplicity is best.

Luger: People tell me that back in the day they loved to see me because once I got them in the Torture Rack the match was over. You don’t kick out of the Torture Rack, buddy.

You suffered a spinal stroke a few years back and have been recovering slowly from that. How have you been feeling since then?

Luger: Thank you for asking. I'm getting more strength and endurance back. I'm able to do more things from my spinal cord injury, which I'm very thankful about. I still continue motivational speaking with guys like The Million Dollar Man. And I have a business called Total Package Fitness out here in Atlanta. We do wellness consultation, exercise, nutrition and supplementation. That’s what I always loved doing