Mt. Killamanjaro — @MikeKillam
nWo: The Revolution
There’s a very short list of phenomena in pro wrestling that are more iconic, more game-changing than the New World Order. The nWo was more than a “fake wrestling” concept, and it transcended the industry into popular culture. When I was in grade school we didn’t have Team Jacob or Team Edward. Instead it was Team Austin or Team nWo; you had to be one, and you couldn’t be both.
Unfortunately, the WWE’s new DVD and Blu-Ray documentary “nWo: The Revolution” is a shell of the late 90’s, and fails to capture the true spirit and impact of the New World Order.
In any documentary, the goal should be to review the source material, while casting it in a new light and unveiling never-before-seen angles. I should be able to say “Wow! I didn’t know that!” quite a few times. This set is more geared towards WWE’s young fans that don’t know anything about the NWO, or the rise of WCW at the end of the 20th century. The documentary itself is only about an hour long, and only serves as a suitable review of the times, rather than a fresh perspective.
There are a few interesting comments made by Cody Rhodes, whose father the “American Dream” Dusty Rhodes was heavily invested in WCW during the time. It was nice to see WWE once again talking up Sting and his legendary career in pro wrestling. They took advantage of what’s left of their Legends deal with Kevin Nash for some new interview material, but for obvious reasons everything from Scott Hall, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff is straight from the nWo release in 2002. At least that DVD was relevant. There are certainly a couple of gems hidden in this set, from guys like Big Show, but any wrestling fan worth his salt has already seen most everything the collection has to offer. There is very little new material to be found.
Discs two and three, or just disc two if you pick up the Blu-ray edition, feature over 15 matches from nWo’s history, and are really the only thing worth buying the set for. They start with the Hogan reveal at the infamous WCW Bash at the Beach, and go all the way through Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s tag team match on Raw is War.
If all you’re looking for is a good collection of wrestling matches, “nWo: The Revolution” might have some appeal. But without Scott Hall or Eric Bischoff shedding some new light, or telling some never-before-told stories, there’s just nothing worth coming back for. WWE could have easily put together hours and hours of documentary material, much like they did with the phenomenal “Greatest Rivalries” release, had they wanted to spend the time or resources to make it happen. You can blame TNA for the lack of Bischoff and Hogan, which is fair, but I also question their decision to make a new nWo product AT ALL with nothing new to offer. It feels out of place, and honestly…pointless.
Save your money, and wait for my review of the WWE’s Attitude Era release later on this month. If you really want to experience some nWo nostalgia, pick up WWE ’13 and make the characters yourself. They’ll probably have more substance than “nWo: The Revolution”.
