WWE DVD Review
"War Games: WCW's Most Notorious Matches"
Released: June 25, 2013
Review by James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

Last week, I only planned to watch the first disc of WWE's new War Games-themed DVD. Then, after finding Bruce Mitchell ringside 25 years ago in the Greensboro Coliseum, I was compelling to watch the second disc. Then, the third disc. See, it's hard to mess up the story of War Games.

Going for a "USA Today" recap of what corporate-backed WCW eventually did mess up, WWE told a good story about the history of the two-ring, five-on-five battle narrated by the match's brainchild, Dusty Rhodes.

Included are the big matches featuring all the big names - Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger, the Road Warriors, and later Hulk Hogan, Sting, Kevin Nash, Curt Hennig, Flair again, and Dusty again - plus a prophetic scene where Paul Heyman pulled "Stunning" Steve Austin aside before a War Games match in 1992 and told him: "You're the man."




As for the "documentary" portion of the DVD, Dusty's stories and commentary on War Games probably could have been its own home video release (complete with the usual Dusty Embellishments). But for the purposes of this DVD, Dusty provided ample insight on a match that accentuated the NWA's top feuds in the 1980s before WCW inherited War Games and eventually drove the concept into extinction.

By the way, if you miss the sound of Jim Ross's voice on weekly WWE television, the DVD is worth picking up just to hear some of Ross's 1980s work where the passion in his voice made you want to jump inside the cage and fight with Dusty (or against Dusty, depending on your viewpoint).

Overall, the DVD effectively highlights the Dusty Rhodes vs. Four Horsemen feud that was riding high in the late 1980s, prompting the NWA to turn War Games into its own live-event brand. Sure, the formula was the same - Dusty and Double A started, the heels got the coin toss advantage, and the faces eventually sent J.J. Dillon to the hospital - but it worked. It was hard not to screw up.

But, as WWE and Dusty detail in the DVD, War Games was eventually watered down, overcomplicated, convoluted, and no longer held the importance it once enjoyed. By the end of Disc 3, it's clear that WWE and Dusty were not only telling a story about the Rise and Fall of War Games, but also how changes to the match coincided with decisions made by WCW that eventually put the company out of business.

As the re-tellers of history, it was a subtle way for WWE to "highlight" the demise of WCW, which contrasted the not-so-subtle blood & simulated violence presented in the War Games matches.

For Dusty Rhodes and viewers of this DVD release, the War Games concept comes alive again, making you wonder if there could be a second life for two cages, 10 men, and PG-friendly simulated violence in 2013.

[ FYI: War Games can be found in retailers and online through Amazon.com ]

[Graphic (c) WWE]

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