Squared-Circle Science: A Review of History of WWE – 50 Years of Sports Entertainment

Columns, Reviews, Top Story, Wrestling DVDs

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As I’ve written before, World Wrestling Entertainment has an unwritten obligation when it comes to preserving the sport of the squared circle and the entertainment that goes along with it. The problem is that WWE doesn’t always hold up its end. But this year we’ve already had a pair of releases that has placed the spotlight on both the Mecca of professional wrestling (Madison Square Garden) and those superstars that would climb the ranks of Mid-South Wrestling before becoming household names as then-WWF superstars.

When I first learned of this History of WWE set’s development it was hard not to be skeptical. I mean how do you condense half a century of history and spread it across 3 DVDs or 2 Blu-ray Discs, and make it appeal to both new and old fans?

To distill the history of World Wrestling Entertainment in documentary form one would think you would need it to be the length of one of Ken Burns’ celebrated docs. Originally thought to be a three-hour documentary, the actual length of WWE’s 50 year is history is only two hours.

Before you cry foul believing two hours to not be enough time, the documentary, which is divided into 25 chapters, provides a good overview of the company’s humble beginnings when Jess McMahon went from being a successful boxing promoter to become a wrestling promoter with the establishment of Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) in 1952. A year later it would join the National Wrestling Alliance. Carving out a niche in the Northeast in cities like New York, Baltimore and Boston, McMahon would have a majority stake in NWA’s booking, and a decade after joining the NWA, McMahon would break away and create the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in 1963.

The establishment of the WWWF changed the wrestling landscape. WWE in its infinite wisdom when making the documentary found it best to showcase the history in macro form. While intimate details of important events would have been great, the flow and timing of the documentary may have lagged by comparison. So this macro approach helps when looking at the ups and downs of the company and the generational shifts that occurred along the way. Of those generational shits, I would have loved a segment about Coliseum Home Video and the marketing of CHV videotapes in WWF magazines for $40 each at a time when the price of commercial VHS tapes were $80 or more.

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Of particular interest to longtime wrestling fans is watching the segments on WWE Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino and the Steroid Trial that occurred in 1992. With regards to the former, while Hulk Hogan will always be remembered as the most identifiable wrestling superstar that helped build Vincent K. McMahon’s company in its early years (Note: VKM would purchase CMC from his father and expand what he considered more “sports entertainment” than wrestling beyond its Northeast designation), Sammartino was a champion’s champion and would be a top-draw attraction as the reigning heavyweight champion, holding the title for an impressive 4,040 days combined during his two title runs.

The Steroid Trial segment offers an interesting look at a dark time in the company’s history. However, it does seem to be a glossy summarization of a situation that greatly changed the landscape of the World Wrestling Federation. After all, the trial would usher in the “New Generation” era, an era where an emphasis was placed on smaller wrestlers. But while the documentary shows how Bret “Hit Man” Hart became the face of the company, we don’t see how he was ultimately pushed out of the title scene with the booking of WrestleMania IX. Considering the company was hemorrhaging money in the mid-1990s, maybe that exclusion was for the best.

For those wondering if the XFL is mentioned at all, I’ll save you the trouble of watching the documentary and let you know that it is not. Though, to be fair to World Wrestling Entertainment, the XFL was a failed enterprise of Vincent McMahon and not the company as a whole.

If there were one moment that the documentary should have touched upon it would be the Benoit tragedy. Now there was a snowball chance in hell that it would be included, but like it or not the tragedy is one of the defining moments in WWE history. Dark and ominous for sure, the tragedy more than any other event in the company’s history has and will continue to bear importance.

Life and the way WWE goes about its business forever changed after the double murder and suicide of Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy, and son Daniel. WWE programming changed. No longer were adult storylines and coarse language a weekly occurrence on national television. The tragedy also boosted the visibility of WWE’s Talent Wellness Program and how concussions caused from numerous “chair shots to the head” (which have since been banned) had an effect on Benoit’s mental stability. It would have been enlightening had there been a chapter on the Benoit tragedy in this documentary to hear from former WWE superstar Chris Nowinski and the work he has done with the Sports Legacy Institute which, with the cooperation of Michael Benoit (Chris’ father), has started the Benoit Family Fund for Brain Injury Research.

Depending on your stance on World Wrestling Entertainment, you’ll ultimately discover that the History of WWE documentary offers no groundbreaking information. While the two-hour doc is loaded with soundbites from different superstars – each one listing the years when he/she started and ended as a performer (coincidentally comments from The Rock list him as a superstar from 1996-2013) – you won’t hear any surprises. However, the doc itself moves at a smooth pace as it charts the ups and downs of the company. And of the personalities involved, I was much impressed with the comments from NBC’s Dick Ebersol when discussing the addition of Saturday Night’s Main Event to the peacock channel’s late-night programming when Saturday Night Live was on hiatus. Another good listen are the comments from Basil DeVito, Senior Advisor of Business Strategy, who enlightens the viewer on WWE’s expansion from wrestling into an entertainment business with superstar merchandise, cartoons, books and films among other avenues of revenue.

There are so many interviews included here that it’s easy to overlook the omission of one Vincent Kennedy McMahon. In hindsight I think this was a conscious decision on part of those responsible for putting this documentary together. When thinking about a sports team the coach is often seen as the face of the organization. With McMahon he lets the WWE product speak for itself; he allows his stars to be the center of attention.

The Extras: Stories that didn’t make the cut, plus a dozen or so matches and moments that help to define WWE’s history

With the documentary clocking in at two hours, the rest of Disc 1 of the Blu-ray contains 1 hour, 15 minutes of exclusive supplemental material. Among these bonus features are six stories that didn’t make it into the documentary (including Linda McMahon discussing the company’s bankruptcy in the early ‘80s) plus two matches:

Floyd “Money” Mayweather vs. Big Show (WrestleMania XXIV)

Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania XXV)

Disc 2 clocks in at 4 hours, 25 minutes with the following matches and promos:

WWE Championship Match
Bruno Sammartino vs. “Superstar” Billy Graham
Baltimore, MD – April 30, 1977

WWE Championship Match
Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant
WrestleMania III – March 29, 1987
(Note: Match shown from Arena Camera with no commentary)

Royal Rumble Match
Royal Rumble – January 24, 1988

First Episode of Raw
Koko B. Ware vs. Yokozuna
Raw – January 11, 1993

King of the Ring Finals
Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin
King of the Ring – June 23, 1996

WWE Championship Match
Bret “Hit Man” Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
Survivor Series – November 9, 1997

Tyson and Austin!
Raw – January 19, 1998

WWE Championship Match
Triple H vs. The Rock
SmackDown – August 26, 1999

Mr. McMahon Announces the Purchase of WCW
Raw – March 26, 2001

Icon vs. Icon
The Rock vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan
WrestleMania X8 – March 17, 2002

Battle of the Billionaires – Hair vs. Hair Match
Bobby Lashley vs. Umaga
WrestleMania 23 – April 1, 2007

6-Man Tag Team Match
John Cena, Batista and Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho, Big Show and Randy Orton
Tribute to the Troops – December 20, 2008

CM Punk Speaks His Mind
Raw – June 27, 2011

#1 Contender’s Match for the WWE Championship
John Cena vs. CM Punk
Raw – February 25, 2013

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Back in October I made mention of why six of the announced bonus matches would be included. While some will argue on the number of repeats, each selection has some historical significance with World Wrestling Entertainment. A majority of these picks either have to do with being the first of something (Royal Rumble, match on Raw, main events of SmackDown and NBC-telecast of Tribute to the Troops) or a milestone moment/match (the birth of Austin 3:16, CM Punk’s “Pipe Bomb!”, Hogan’s pair of Iconic matches). Personally, instead of Sammartino and Graham, I would much rather have seen Bret Hart’s championship victory over Ric Flair in Saskatoon, which would lead to WWE’s establishing the “New Generation” era. The Vince McMahon/Donald Trump feud was just ridiculous to a fault but entertaining. The Blu-ray exclusives don’t offer much, though the two matches selected (repeats as well) again reinforce WWE’s sports entertainment legacy.

WWE. Then. Now. Forever.

The History of WWE: 50 Years of Sports Entertainment release is far from perfect. The documentary is sure to appeal to the broadest fanbase, especially those who weren’t fans of the product during its boom periods in the mid-‘80s and late-‘90s. It’s a good documentary, don’t get me wrong, covering the most important events in the company’s history with a lot of good soundbites (some new, some old) from those who were there to witness the WWWF grow from a Northeast-based organization to a global phenomenon, telecast to over 153 countries around the world. Die-hard fans may be less than impressed with the documentary, despite it having a nice structure with how the information is presented.

The choices for the bonus matches don’t bother me as they would some, as I’ve come to accept that not every fan buys every DVD or Blu-ray release. Repeat matches are old hat at this point. But with a massive tape library at its disposal you’d think the research staff would do its due diligence when scouring for footage when making a package with a title that says History of WWE.

Nevertheless, the documentary was always going to be and is the selling point of this release. It may not rival the one made for the Rise and Fall of ECW DVD release, but it is an enjoyable doc. I still contend that that “missing chapter” would have been of great importance as it has changed the company as a whole from its wellness program down to what it offers fans each and every week on television.

Having been a child during the company’s first boom period in the ‘80s and in high school when it had its second boom in the late ‘90s – during the Monday Night Wars with rival WCW – I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with how the World Wrestling Federation (now Entertainment) goes about its business. Yet, I can at least acknowledge that today’s fans need to know the history of WWE so they can better understand the company’s history and evolution. This is where the Blu-ray package succeeds.

Travis Leamons is one of the Inside Pulse Originals and currently holds the position of Managing Editor at Inside Pulse Movies. He's told that the position is his until he's dead or if "The Boss" can find somebody better. I expect the best and I give the best. Here's the beer. Here's the entertainment. Now have fun. That's an order!