Review for WAR GAMES: WCW'S MOST NOTORIOUS MATCHES

Wargames is one of the best concepts ever created in wrestling. A mix of the royal rumble and a cage match it was just amazing and this new three disk. Introduced by Dusty Rhodes who features throughout with some wonderful comments on the history of the match and its creation at times it really does feel like a ten-fifteen minute featurette stretched out with the matches. However, listening to his stories are wonderful and he is definitely the best person for this set.

Over the three disks it features fourteen of the Wargames matches. This is where I say... I wish it didn't. I love the match, I really do, but after you have watched one or two of these matches it really is like watching any other match over and over again. It is true that some of these matches are a lot more spectacular than others. The first five feature The Roadwarriors so you know that I'm going to love them. They also feature Ric Flair and the rest of the Four Horsemen as well as The Fabulous Freebirds and Wargames creator Dusty Rhodes. Personally if the disk had finished after these four I would be happy with it as the first couple are amazing and a great look back at some wonderful talent.

This is not to say later ones are bad. They are not. The truth is none of the matches are bad, though 1993's which features The Shockmaster and 1998's which features Warrior making a ludicrous entrance are both hilariously bad and the 2000 one which was featured on Nitro was proof, if proof was ever needed, that WCW were so desperate in those last years that they would give away a match like this for free just to try and bring in some ratings. The match started out as a way to end multiple feuds, particularly those in factions (similar to the Hell in a Cell or Cage match) but the match later became the signature of the Fall Brawl PPV and it features all of those from 1993 to 1998. Afterwards the match was dropped for some reason and those matches are all featured here which is nice.

What is amazing when looking at this set is the sheer talent that competed in them. They read like a Who's Who of Wrestling: Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Dusty Rhodes, Steve Austin, Brian Pillman, Sting, Terry Funk, Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Roddy Piper, Bret Hart, Diamond Dallas Page, Rick Rude, Curt Hennig, Randy Savage, Vader, Booker T, Davey Boy Smith, Sid Vicious, Goldberg, Road Warriors, Steiner Brothers, The Fabulous Freebirds, The Midnight Express, Samoan Swat Team... and that's not all of them.

The War Games is certainly one of the best match concepts ever created and looking at things like the Elimination Chamber, you can see where they got the idea for it. This set does a great job at looking back at what the match represented and though I do feel that including so many matches and not interviewing other people (possibly people involved with certain matches, Flair, Austin etc) would have been nice, it is certainly a good disk and Dusty Rhodes makes you understand why it was one of the most popular and notorious matches in wrestling history.