WWE: The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro - DVD Review

***SYNOPSIS***

WCW was a long-standing rival of WWE and attempted to take the battle to Monday nights with Monday Nitro, a show that competed directly with Monday Night Raw for 6 years, creating a wealth of famous in-ring moments for sports entertainment fans. Now, for the first time ever, the greatest moments and matches in the history of Monday Nitro are collected in The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro, a 3-disc set that captures the best of WCW from the show that almost ended WWE.

DISC ONE

WCW History Lesson

Flyin' Brian Pillman vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
September 4, 1995

Hulk Hogan vs. Big Bubba Rogers
September 4, 1995

"Macho Man" Randy Savage & Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson
January 8, 1996

"Rome wasn't built in a day."

WCW World Tag Team Championship Match
Sting and Lex Luger vs. The Road Warriors
February 5, 1996

Parking Lot Brawl
Lord Steven Regal vs. Belfast Bruiser
April 29, 1996

Eddie Guerrero vs. Ric Flair
May 20, 1996

Scott Hall Nitro Debut
May 27, 1996

Kevin Nash Nitro Debut
June 10, 1996

Migrating to Hot'Lanta

WCW World Tag Team Championship Triangle Match
Sting & Lex Luger vs. The Steiner Brother vs. Harlem Heat
June 24, 1996

nWo is Taking Over
July 8, 1996

nWo Awoke a Sleeping Giant

The Outsiders attack WCW Superstars
July 29, 1996

Sting & Lex Luger vs. The Outsiders Scott Hall & Kevin Nash
August 12, 1996

nWo takes Over
August 26, 1996

"Sting" attacks Lex Luger
September 9, 1996

The Enigmatic Sting

Sting walks out on Nitro
September 16, 1996

Rowdy Roddy Piper confronts Eric Bischoff
November 18, 1996

Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Dean Malenko
December 30, 1996

DISC TWO

Badda Bang!

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Mark Starr
January 13, 1997

Harvey Schiller suspends Eric Bischoff
March 3, 1997

Sting attacks the nWo
March 17, 1997

The High- Flying Cruiserweights

WCW Cruiserweight Championship Match
Syxx vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.
April 21, 1997

WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match
Hollywood Hulk Hogan vs. Lex Luger
August 4, 1997

Disregard for Tradition & Authority

nWo mocks the Four Horsemen
September 1, 1997

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Buff Bagwell
September 29, 1997

Sting Saves DDP from the nWo
October 27, 1997

Sting vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage
February 2, 1998

Jericho's 1004 Holds
March 30, 1998

Who's Next?

WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match
Hollywood Hulk Hogan vs. Goldberg
July 6, 1998

WCW World Tag Team Championship Match
Kevin Nash & Sting vs. Scott Hall & The Giant
July 20, 1998

Non-Title Match
Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Chris Jericho
August 3, 1998

WCW Cruiserweight Championship Match
Juventud Guerrera vs. Billy Kidman
September 14, 1998

Tradition Returns!

Ric Flair Returns to the Four Horsemen
September 14, 1998

WCW United States Championship Match
Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Diamond Dallas Page
October 26, 1998

Ric Flair vs. Eric Bischoff
December 28, 1998

DISC THREE

Cracks in the Armour

WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match
Kevin Nash vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan
January 4, 1999

Goldberg Spears The Hitman
March 29, 1999

WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match
Sting vs. Diamond Dallas Page
April 26, 1999

Solidifying a Legacy

Eddie Guerrero vs. Juventud Guerrera
June 21, 1999

Hulk Hogan & Goldberg & Sting vs. Kevin Nash & Sid Vicious & Rick Steiner
August 9, 1999

Billy Kidman vs. Diamond Dallas Page
August 16, 1999

WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match
Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Goldberg
December 20, 1999

WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match
Kevin Nash vs. Sid Vicious
January 24, 2000

Last Ditch Effort

The Bischoff & Russo Era Begins
April 10, 2000

Steel Cage Match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match
Jeff Jarrett vs. Diamond Dallas Page
April 24, 2000

Tag Team Ladder Match
3 Count vs. Jung Dragons
July 18, 2000

WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match
Booker T. vs. Lance Storm
August 7, 2000

Triple Cage War Games Match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship
September 4, 2000

Vince McMahon Buys WCW
March 26, 2001

Sting vs. Ric Flair
March 26, 2001

Celebrating WCW

***VIDEO QUALITY***
The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro arrives on DVD with a 480i transfer utilized in the aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The majority of the presentation consists of the original television aspect ratio of Nitro with a plated steel filler image on the sides of the image to fill out the screen on HDTVs without sacrificing the original footage and stretching it. Colors were were strong with some light bleeding in the mid 90's footage concerning reds, otherwise the outlandish colors of the "Macho Man" Randy Savage's outfits(R.I.P.) to Stings face paint really stood out. Keep in mind that Nitro was never filmed nor presented in HD so while the image is consistently clean and has decent detail this isn't a tour de force perfomer. The newly filmed segments with DDP on a set exhibited solid black levels and a pleasing color palette. Overall the presentation continues WWE's solid run of work. 8/10

***AUDIO QUALITY***
Audio is provided by a Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track. This is a crisp and clean track with solid dialogue reproduction. Music cues and crowd effects exhibited decent separation in the front speakers. The match commentary was consistently clear and it was great to hear Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and his quick wit. 7.5/10

WORLD EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK PHOTOS - WWE: The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro

Hi all, here are some World Exclusive pics of the package contents at the upcoming WWE: The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro 3-Disc DVD set to release on Tuesday June 7, 2011. Please note that there once again is no insert or content listing with this product.

WORLD EXCLUSIVE FIRST REVIEW - WWE The Big Show: A Giant's World 3-Disc DVD

***SYNOPSIS***

Big Show lays claim to the title of World s Largest Athlete and anyone who doubts it may be on the receiving end of his devastating knockout punch. The 7-foot giant has been a staple of the Sports Entertainment scene since his WCW debut in the 90s, and has battled some of the all-time greats, including Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Sting, Undertaker, Triple H, John Cena, and more. He's also cast his enormous shadow in the worlds of television and movies with roles on Royal Pains, Saturday Night Live, The Waterboy, MacGruber, and Knucklehead.
Now for the first time ever, Big Show s mammoth career will be highlighted in a DVD set. This 3-disc release will include a never-before-seen documentary on the life and times of Big Show featuring new candid interviews where Show discusses how a giant lives in an average-sized world, his sports entertainment career and more.

***MOVIE REVIEW***

I'll start by saying that I personally have always respected and enjoyed The Big Show but was surprised they were going to release a 3-Disc DVD on his career. Well those feelings of surprise were easily erased when I put in Disc 1 and started the main feature that runs at (59min59sec) I was enjoying what was the most refreshingly candid and fast paced documentary that WWE has provided in quite some time. We start as usual from the beginning but this is no usual childhood story. When Paul Wight (The Big Show) was 9 years old he developed a tumor on his Pituitary gland that caused growth hormone to secrete. He was 6' 4" when he hit 12 years old. The first 20 minutes or so are focused on his upbringing that included his hard working but caring Father, Aunts & Uncles, and Cousins. They are all interviewed here except sadly his Father whom passed away when Paul was in college playing Basketball, the pain from the loss and the surgery that removed the tumor but in turn caused his weight to gain more rapidly played into his decision to quit Basketball and school.


He was playing a charity Basketball game for Danny Bonaduce when he was noticed by Hulk Hogan who of course saw dollar signs, the rest as they say is history. The rest of his career is looked at with some great insight from The Big Show himself as well as new interviews from HHH, Edge, Pat Patterson, John Cena, William Regal, and Chavo Guerrero, even Henry Winkler for a brief moment We are for once thankfully spared from having to hear from Matt Striker in any interview segments. HHH has some very funny stories about The Big Show that he shares with us. One of the best parts of the documentary is to see in detail how the man has to travel to keep healthy and keep this going for a few more years. He has a personal driver that picks him up at the airport in his tour bus and then they are driven to the shows fro rest of the week and then flies back home.


The extras on the first disc are well worth taking your time to watch , we even learn how Vince McMahon came up with name "The Big Show". The matches that are included are fun to watch. I especially enjoyed his match from the 2002 Royal Rumble versus Brock Lesnar in MSG. It was a quick paced match and it was great to see what a powerhouse Lesnar was. We also get the official weigh in from RAW and the match at WrestleMania XXVI between Show and Floyd "Money" Mayweather , it was a great spectacle. Overall this is a fun and informative set that should be in every fans collection. 9/10

***VIDEO QUALITY***
A Giant's World arrives on DVD with a 480i transfer in the aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The documentary and recently shot interviews segments are very crisp. Colors are well saturated and I didn't notice any signs of bleeding. Black levels were solid throughout. The many never before seen still photos from his childhood show good detail. There are matches and segments from the WCW era , WWE Attitude era, that were shot in standard definition due to the technology at the time. These segments are presented in their original 1.33:1 aspect ratio with a split Big Show logo on the sides where black bars would usually be to fill your HDTV. The older footage is still very good with some spots of softness in 1995-96 WCW stuff. Overall this is a great presentation. 8/10


***AUDIO QUALITY***
Audio is provided by both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo tracks. The main documentary is in 5.1 but it is a front heavy presentation with decent stereo separation from music cues. Surround usage was nil. The extras on Disc 1 and all of Disc 2 and Disc 3 are 2 channel presentations. For all 3 discs the dialogue and commentary was crisp and clean. A strong if underwhelming presentation. 7/10