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FIVE DVDS WWE CAN PRODUCE TO CONTINUE THEIR CURRENT TREND OF GROUNDBREAKING PROJECTS

Wrestling fans love to complain. That's a fact of life. Unfortunately, many times today, WWE gives them a lot of reasons to express why they hated what was presented to them and what they would have done to make it better...except for one area of current day WWE, their DVDs.

Although WWE doesn't always hit grandslam home runs with their titles, they have released a series of terrific DVDs in the form of titles about ECW, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Rob Van Dam, and others. They have done a good job utilizing their library and producing documentary style features to augment their collection of matches.

With the recent Ultimate Warrior release and forthcoming titles about Bret Hart, Superstar Graham, and Jake Roberts, among others, there will be a lot more fun stuff to come, but here's a few suggestions for WWE's Home Video department to continue that trend of groundbreaking projects that get their most cynical fans excited and talking:

The Man They Call Vader: Silly antics against fan websites aside, WWE signing Leon White to a legends contract gives them the opportunity to focus on what many fans have long felt was one of the greatest big man wrestlers ever. They can do a documentary look at White, then and today, discussing his football background, the evolution of his persona, his runs in different companies and spotlight his feuds with Sting and Mick Foley, among others. The crown jewel of the DVD would be matches against Sting (Superbrawl III strap match), Mick Foley (Halloween Havoc '93 Texas Death Match) and Ric Flair (Starrcade '93) among others. They could delve into his matches in the WWF against Shawn Michaels and show the story behind his arrest in Kuwait for manhandling a talk show host. With comments from Foley, Ron Simmons, Jim Ross, Michaels, Eric Bischoff and others, we could see an interesting look at a talent that is sometimes forgotten but helped hold WCW together in 1992 and 1993.

Triangle: Matt, Edge, and Lita: Now that WWE has closed off the book on the feud and everyone has seemingly gone their own ways, it’s time to milk that cash cow one last time. Although WWE never really got the juice a lot of fans thought they could get out of the feud, they could play off the reality of the situation. The highlight of the DVD would be a “never before seen” inside look featuring interviews with all of the parties involved as well as close friends Hurricane, Christian, and other WWE management members discussing how it was handled. They can even acknowledge they made a mistake letting Matt go. They can show old footage of Hardy and Edge against each other, clips of their books discussing their friendship, and all of the matches and angles that were involved in the feud. If they wanted to, they could even throw a few grand at ROH and feature Hardy’s matches “on the lowly indy circuit” where he buries WWE on the mic for good measure. With the angle taking off because so many fans legitimately cared for Hardy, they can take that reality and legitimate emotional outpouring and use it to some DVDs.

Barbed Wire City – ECW’s Craziest Matches: Everyone in WWE thinks that ECW was nothing but violent crap, so let’s use that footage to make some money. Take all of ECW’s most violent bouts, centerpieced by their barbed wire matches, slap a MA rating on the box and recreate some Rise and Fall of ECW sales numbers. Have Paul Heyman discuss the emotional depths of the performers who were willing to put their bodies on the line for ECW and have Tommy Dreamer and others give a injury by injury account of what they went through and the toll it took. Show how gritty the business can be but at the same time, how amazing some of those matches were. Sabu vs Funk, The Funks vs. Public Enemy, Raven vs. Dreamer, and Brian Lee vs. Tommy Dreamer are just some of the feuds and matches that would be highlighted here.

Greatest Tag Teams of the 1980s: As a companion piece to the Greatest Wrestlers of the 80s, it’s time to profile some awesome teams. Do feature profiles on The Rockers, The East/West Connection, Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson, The Midnight Express, The Road Warriors, The Rock N’ Roll Express, The Hart Foundation, The Dream Team, The British Bulldogs, The Rougeaus, Demolition, The Powers of Pain, and other prominent teams. Do a sidebar piece on the history of tag teams and one on stars that used tag teams to become greatest stars. Use current WWE stars to talk about how these older teams helped inspire them to become the stars they are. Use old and new footage to show similarities in today’s teams and the older ones. There is a wealth of matches that can be used in that library, to the point I can’t even begin to pick out great matches from that era.

Monday Night Wars - Cruiser Warfare: Something of a sequel to the Monday Night Wars, this documentary would focus on the Cruiser style that became extremely popular in WCW during that time period and how it helped pave the way for the Jerichos, Benoits, and Guerreros of the world to become top stars. They can look back at the history of Junior heavyweights and names like Les Thornton and Brian Pillman and Jushin Liger, then jump into how ECW provided the smaller talents a place to show off their work – which led to them being hired by WCW. They can show how Sean Waltman, as the 1-2-3 Kid, changed the playing field for smaller talents and have guys like Dean Malenko discuss how hard the 1980s were for smaller talents to make a living. They can talk about how WCW used them and them discarded their importance, which led to the Radicals heading for the WWF. If they treat it as a serious subject, it could be something special. Again, there is a wealth of matches that can be used with the likes of Rey Mysterio, Dean Malenko, TAKA Michinoku, Sean Waltman, Juventud Guerrera, and so many more. The Cruiserweights have always been the work horses of the current era of the business, so show that.

Just a few ideas on what WWE could do to continue the trend of great DVDs, something that has been their biggest strong suit over the last several years.

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