Top 50 Superstars of All Time

Eagerly awaited the release. Even debated the official list and contents online weeks before. Had a slightly harder than usual time finding it. Walmart didn't have/carry/care about it, Best Buy told me they're "getting out of the DVD/CD business, before I finally found a copy in FYE (For Your Entertainment music store). I completely forgot everything I wrote or read about it and honestly could not remember how the list went. My off the top guess was Stone Cold Steve Austin. But the main reason I was so amped to get this set was for the focus chapters on my dudes Lou Thesz and Buddy Rogers. O.G. kush. I was really hoping to get a match or two as well. So imagine my utter delight when I finally cracked the seal and saw a Lou Thesz versus Argentina Rocca match get top billing! Here's one thing I don't understand - this is the second DVD set I've bought recently ("Highflyers" being the other one) that doesn't come with a DVD insert. No track list, just a blank folder where a slip or cardboard insert SHOULD go.
THREE-DISC DVD set, Approx running time 9 hours
First impression of the disc was sheer elation. It's another slick, WWE-styled video countdown package with straight man Todd Grisham playing MC. Grisham has always been a fave of mine because he has a cooly detached persona that doesn't take himself or the more bizarre aspects of wrestling too serious. He's better than Todd Pettengill at least. Right away Grisham is warning us there will be controversy, this was intended, please don't shoot the messenger. The countdown opens with a throwback to Killer Kowalski and already things are exactly as I hoped for. This is the kind of stuff we don't see enough of on WWE Classics on demand. We mostly get stuff from the 80's and 90s. Very rarely from the late 70s but little else. And with Kowalski being recognized as the man who spawned the Triple H bloodline it's only right he open the disc. It's on from there.


The seamless transition between genres and eras continues with Batista bringing it to the new school, and then mixing the two when late 80s Rick Rude gets the nod for the 48th spot. Jeff Hardy was mixed up with Dory Funk Jr, Bob Backlund and Nick Bockwinkel, providing a very stark contrast. Seeing the WWE review of his career, it really seems to put over his TNA turn as the "Anti-Christ" of wrestling and keep it all in context (the sacrificing of his body for the fans, general insanity and whatnot). Very cool. In-studio comments are provided by a host of voices, but for the new school, John Cena, Kofi Kingston and the Miz provide soundbytes on almost all of the chapters. Santino provides some genuine laugh-out-loud comments as well. They pretty much put over what we suspected with the Kane push by admitting his latest title run is more of a tribute to his general long term reliability and durability than a surprising surge of talent or popularity. Kane gets #43 tonight.
Everybody gets their 60 to 90 second shine on this disc and watching the flow of the show it's hard to really dispute their claims. And it seems to be a really close family affair as well, as pretty much everybody that kept it real to the McMahon family through time continues to get their shine. Moolah, Blassie, Slaughter, Patterson and Gorilla Monsoon are all represented in some fashion. Even guys who are selling themselves elsewhere get love, as I thought Kurt Angle and Mick Foley were very well represented here. In context with the flow of the disc, it's even hard to disagree with inclusions like Randy Orton. He is only the second of 2010 WWE wrestlers to be included, even though he comes in at an extremely high #29 (after Big Show at #40). The chapters I was waiting most for were the Buddy Rogers, Thesz and Sammartino chapters and they did not disappoint. #35 (Rogers), #24 (Sammartino) and #21 (Thesz) is good honest placement too. But the "tie" rating for Flair/Rhodes was a little suspect. Are they giving Dusty his final "win" over Flair by putting them both on the same historical plateau? Or are they implying Flair damaged his legacy by overstaying his welcome? If time ended in the late 80s and you only had issues of PWI magazine to live by, Ric Flair would forever (and rightfully) have been considered the all time hands-down Greatest of All time. If he died in another plane crash crash or went out like Magnum TA, he would have been James Dean/Jimmy Hendrix/John Lennon. Now he's tied at #17 with his eternal arch nemesis. Sweet WWE vindication.

Another brief Todd Grisham interlude again warns the viewer about pending controversies regarding the listing, before throwing to Hulk Hogan at #23 (behind Savage, Piper, Andre, Hart and Race noticeably). Interesting. They focused mostly on his 80s run in the pure Red & Yellow. I was shocked to see Gorgeous George come in the Top 20 (#13) and he was the last of that real distant era to come in that high. Notable WWE mid-carders/vague main eventers Mr Perfect, Ted Dibiase and Ricky Steamboat all clocked in way higher than they should have while the Eddie Guerrero entry was more sentimental than anything. Yet his profound influence on the current wrestling hemisphere cannot be overstated and Guerreros inclusion (at #11 - just ahead of Triple H) makes as much sense as putting Harley Race (NWA champion 1970s version) at #6. Very high praise. Having The Rock, Bret Hart and Stone Cold at #5, 4 and 3 is really just the icing on the cake, and I'm thinking it makes perfect sense now to have Undertaker clock in at #1. Instead, the Dead Man comes in at #2 and suddenly it all makes sense - Shawn Michaels is the single greatest WWE Superstar of All Time.
It's not a popularity contest (see "Helms disses Shawn Michaels" with 10 pages of replies on any messageboard). It's not the 50 Greatest "Wrestlers" of all time (JYD and Gorgeous George have their own chapter). It's not the guy who sold the most (Austin), rocked the belt the longest (Sammartino, Moolah) or worked the hardest (Angle). As Todd Grisham stated many times - this was not "our" list - it was compiled by the hearts and minds of the WWE solar system. The stars of todays industry, the 2010 locker room. This is their list of 50 Names in this Business we Respect the Most. So it all makes sense. Seeing guys like Miz and Cena offering their insight on guys like Buddy Rogers and "Superstar" Billy Graham like they just watched them compete, reminds you who the real biggest WWE fans are. Overall I loved this show and I will definitely rewatch it again in the near future. It's like an ill wrestling mixtape you can just keep in your player all day.
The matches are awesome too. The Lou Thesz versus Argentina Rocca match is everything I was hoping for. I'd really like to hear what you think about watching stuff like this, if you even could. I just think it's an ill snapshot of a point in time when this thing of ours was at its purest peak. You really have to watch or understand amateur wrestling to grasp what they were trying to do with the pro wrestling product. It makes you remember or understand seemingly archaic rules like no striking or choke holds. It's an off shoot of amateur wrestling (hence the whole "lock-up" routine to begin with) and was more of an exhibition of a real physical fighting style. Like an elaborate sparring session between two high class grapplers. Which brings me to my point, the whole thing with that early-early era shit I'm always preaching, it's almost come full circle today. Rewatching this Thesz/Rocca match with a 2010 inside MMA viewers eye it's remarkably similar. Traditional pro wrestling fans may never grasp this kind of match, but an MMA aficionado may recognize it a little more. Like the front guillotine attempt by Rocca or Thesz slick scramble into a triangle arm lock spot. It all just seems much more factual, while still maintaining to sprinkle in a little razzle-dazzlin pro 'rasslin magic dust (like Rocca suddenly springing into a handstand neckscissor takedown ala Trish Stratus). Allot of current talent takes this thing into consideration as the popularity of MMA continues to infuse itself into todays pro wrestling product. Plus it was cool to see Lou Thesz playing the heel and winning the match with his Thesz press (the move Stone Cold emulates) after the only Irish-whip off the ropes spot of the entire match. And the added momentum from the pitch made sense in that context. Or is it just the SOUR DIESEL I'm smoking talking???

The rest of the matches are a blast too, going in nice chronological timeline order. Two Wrestlemania matches, Fabulous Moola from 1975, Hart beats Flair for the title in 92, Halftime Heat 99 and a few multi-man tag matches (where they can cram as many names off the list as possible in one match) fill it all out. Climaxes with Undertaker versus Michaels (#2 versus #1) from 2008. Here's the complete match breakdown as they run on the disc: NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match
Lou Thesz vs Argentina Rocca
Buffalo, NY
NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match
Jack Briscoe vs Dory Funk Jr.
Championship Wrestling from Florida
Women's Championship Match
The Fabulous Moolah vs Susan Green
Madison Square Garden - June 16, 1975
Gorilla Monsoon vs Muhammad Ali
Philadelphia, PA - June 2, 1976
NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match
Harley Race vs Terry Funk
Championship Wrestling from Florida - February 6, 1977
Boxing Match
Gorilla Monsoon vs Andre The Giant
Puerto Rico - September 23, 1977
WWE Championship Match
"Superstar" Billy Graham vs "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes
Madison Square Garden - September 26, 1977
WWE Championship Match
The Iron Sheik vs Hulk Hogan
Madison Square Garden - December 28, 1984
Six Man Tag Team Elimination Match
Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Rowdy Roddy Piper & Junkyard Dog vs Randy "Macho Man" Savage, "The King" Harley Race & Adrian Adonis
Madison Square Garden - February 23, 1987
"Ravishing" Rick Rude vs Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat
Madison Square Garden - December 26, 1987
AWA Heavyweight Championship
Jerry "The King" Lawler vs "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig
AWA - August 13, 1988
No Disqualification Match
Jake "The Snake" Roberts vs "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase
Madison Square Garden - December 28, 1989
WWE Championship Match
Ric Flair vs Bret "Hit Man" Hart
Saskatoon, CN - October 12, 1992
Empty Arena Match for the WWE Championship Match
The Rock vs Mankind
Halftime Heat - January 31, 1999
Fatal 4-Way Match for the WWE Championship
Stone Cold Steve Austin vs The Rock vs Undertaker vs Kurt Angle
Smackdown - December 7, 2000
Eight-Man Tag Team Match
Undertaker, Kane, Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy vs Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Edge & Christian
RAW - April 23, 2001
Edge & Triple H vs Kurt Angle & Chris Jericho
Smackdown - May 16, 2002
Eddie Guerrero vs Big Show
Smackdown - April 15, 2004
Triple Threat Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Kurt Angle vs Rey Mysterio vs Randy Orton
WrestleMania 22 - April 2, 2006
John Cena & Shawn Michaels vs Undertaker & Batista
No Way Out - February 18, 2007
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Edge vs Undertaker
WrestleMania XXIV - March 30, 2008
Overall I give this Disc a 5 out of 5, I don't even care. We can argue placement and politics forever, but the fact is we can't dispute who THEY respect the most. I don't even know how long the thing runs, it felt like I could have watched it forever. Everybody had their little 60 to 90 second blurb that put them all over as potential #1 picks. Just superb production, ill throwbacks and interesting commentary. The only thing I hate is editing out "WWF" mentions or blurring the logo like in some of the early 2000's stuff. Just distracting. Other than than, highly enjoyable and I'm glad to own it.
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