The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro DVD

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I just got my copy of WWE's "The Very Best of WCW Nitro" 3-disc DVD set and wanted to chime in with a review

of the actual product. First, there is some confusion out there because some of the reviewers here on Amazon

are listing this set as having these special features: Rey Mysterio vs Mr. J.L. and a segment called DDP Monday Nitro

Highlights. These two extras are only found on the FYE exclusive version, not the version Amazon, or any other retailer,

happens to be selling. The FYE version contains those extras along with a segment of DDP talking about being afraid

of heights the night Sting saved him from an nWo attack and they escaped via Sting's harness to the top of an arena.

These 3 extras are only found on the FYE exclusive version, which is limited! So with that out of the way, here's my review...

Being a longtime wrestling fan (I started watching in the 70s) I can tell you without hesitation that the mid to late 90s were

the best time ever to be a fan, thanks to the Monday Night Wars. As Eric Bischoff put it in a WWE Legend's Roundtable show

a few years ago, "every Monday Night was like the Super Bowl". It was an amazing time to be a fan because when WCW went

head-to-head with WWF Raw on Monday Night both promotions started pulling out all the stops to capture ratings and win

over viewers. You never knew from week-to-week who was going to jump from one promotion to the next, there was more

emphasis on actual wrestling, promos blurred the lines of fantasy and reality as stars called out wrestlers and promoters from various

promotions and you would get to see world class main events and dream matches on virtually a weekly basis. No doubt, the Monday

Night Wars burned white hot and this new 3-disc DVD set featuring the best of WCW Nitro shows highlights from the WCW side

of this now legendary era in professional wrestling.

Now, this set is titled "The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro", however this isn't always the case. My only complaint with this long

overdue look at WCW Nitro is that they included some pretty terrible moments here, that quite frankly, have no business being

on anything called the "Very Best of...". The DVD goes in chronological order and tells the history of WCW Nitro by showing

matches and memorable moments. I wish they hadn't gone this route because in giving a history lesson on Nitro, WWE has

included some moments and matches that are terrible. Why not just put together a collection of matches and moments that

are truly the "Very Best" from the show? This set could've been used to celebrate Nitro, instead it's a history lesson that includes

horrendous moments that should've been left out to allow for more memorable matches and moments to be included. For example,

WWE included the tedious in-ring speech from Vince Russo, Jeff Jarrett and Eric Bischoff in April of 2000 where they took the titles away from all

the title holders and hit the reset button on WCW. It's a long, boring segment of mic work that, while it does have historical significance (just

listen to what Russo, Jarrett and Bischoff say, and you'll know why WWE wanted to include this), it has no business on a "Very Best of"

Nitro collection. Also, we have to see footage of Vince buying WCW and gloating over his victory of winning the Monday Night Wars. Vince,

we get it, you won! Why not let WCW and it's fans have their time to reflect back on Nitro without reminding everyone the WWE is the

dominate force in wrestling? Plus, there are a few matches I wouldn't have included here to represent the best of Nitro. Sting vs Ric Flair

from the final Nitro is important, again for historical significance, but it's simply a terrible match from these two. They wrestled better

matches on other editions of Nitro, why not include one of those? Sid vs Kevin Nash? Yeah, you get the idea...

With all this aside, this is a pretty good collection worth picking up. It'll bring back a ton of memories for fans like myself who tuned in

back in the 90s and will expose new fans to what the Monday Night War was like from the WCW side of things. Diamond Dallas Page

hosts the DVD and thankfully he's not WWE's corporate puppet in this one! DDP said in interviews leading up to this release that he

had WWE change the script that they wanted him to read because he felt it was loaded with BS. DDP doesn't introduce every match

or segment, but when he does talk, he gives an honest perspective on what was happening in WCW at the time. I can't tell you how

refreshing this is on a WWE produced WCW release!

So, overall this is a must buy for serious wrestling fans. You're going to get a collection containing, I would guess 70% of what I would

call the "Very Best" of Nitro, plus some poor historical filler, but the good out weighs the bad here. Sting vs Macho Man Randy Savage,

Rey Mysterio vs Dean Malenko, Brian Pillman vs Jushin "Thunder" Liger, Syxx vs Rey Mysterio, Bret Hart vs DDP, Hogan vs Goldberg, the

debuts of Scott Hall & Kevin Nash, Sting walking out on Nitro, Flair returning to the Four Horsemen, nWo taking over... these are all

great matches and classic moments! As I write this review, the DVD is listed in the top 40 of Amazon's overall sales chart. I'm hoping the

success of this release will convince WWE to release more Nitro and other WCW events (Clash of the Champions, Starrcade, Halloween Havoc, etc..)

because it's clear that fans still remember and respect WCW... even if WWE doesn't.