Review for US Championship: A Legacy Of Greatness

Hosted by former champion JBL, US Championship: A Legacy of Greatness gives a look at the belt and its history in the wrestling business.

The US Championship is one of the most prestigious in the world of wrestling. Much like the Intercontinental Championship, it was used as a stepping stone for many superstars to prove that they had what it took to be the man. And much like that belt, the matches were quicker, more technical and generally more memorable. Starting in the NWA and going through the WCW days it saw many famous holders including the likes of Harley Race, Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Steve Austin, Dusty Rhodes, Roddy Piper, Bret Hart and many more. Most of the people who won the belt went on to be world champions or/and Hall of Famers.

Once WWE bought WCW the belt was quickly ended during the disastrous 'Invasion' before being brought back in 2003 with Eddie Guerrero being the first champion. It is odd that they don't include that match, but it is probably due to the fact the match also involved Chris Benoit. Once in the WWE many future world champions held the belt such as John Cena, Edge, Sheamus and Daniel Bryan.

The set is split into two disks the NWA/WCW days consisting of 19 matches and WWE with 11 matches. It is surprising that the 26 years of NWA/WCW only has 19 matches whereas the 13 years in WWE has almost as many. I would have expected at least a further dozen matches from the older era, but can understand that they had to cherry pick the best of the best and there are no matches that I can think are missed out.

Highlights include a rare match between Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat from 1978. Despite the quality of the match it is fantastic and what makes this match so unique is that the special guest referee is Andre the Giant. The match is proof (if that was ever needed) that these two could always have a great match. Steamboat also has a great later match against Dustin Rhodes (who most will know as Goldust).

There is also an amazing I Quit Steel Cage match between Magnum TA and Tully Blanchard. This a fantastic match which really showed just how good the NWA was in the 1980s and how they were not afraid to show a little blood. Dusty Rhodes against Lex Luger in a Steel Cage from Starrcade 87 is also amazing and if you ever want to see some great cage matches I would always recommend the old NWA days.

From the later years of WCW, the belt was used more in the undercard and didn't feel as special. However, there were still some highlights. These include Dean Malenko against Chris Jericho putting a clinic of simply amazing technical wrestling. Stunning Steve Austin against Great Muta which should have been a miss-match mess, but instead is perfect. Those who only know Steve Austin from his brawling Stone Cold days may want to watch this as it really does show what WCW threw away by firing him. In the ring he was so smooth it was, no pun intended, stunning.

There is a great match between Raven and Goldberg. This was during the streak and was a great showing from both and really showed off Raven's ECW style. Also included in Booker T against Scott Steiner which is more notable as it is the final WCW PPV Greed.

From the WWE days they include John Cena against Big Show at Wrestlemania 20, which is a pretty good match and certainly showed just how popular he has always been. However, it is his later match against Dean Ambrose that I really enjoyed and thought both came out of the match looking amazing. The best match is a Triple Threat Submissions Count Anywhere Match between The Miz, John Morrison and Daniel Bryan which is just amazing to watch.

There are six bonus matches on the Blu-ray, bringing the total on the set of 36 matches. All are fine, but they do include a great match between Dean Ambrose and Adrian Neville also a pretty good match between Dusty Rhodes and Nikita Koloff. No reason why these could not have just inserted these into the main feature as they are all worth a watch.

US Championship: A Legacy of Greatness is a fantastic set and one that will please both old fans and new. The look back at the legacy of the NWA/WCW days is good with a look at older stars such as Sting and Ric Flair and the WWE days shows just how important it has been for the development of stars such as Daniel Bryan and John Cena. If you are a wrestling fan this is certainly one that you should pick up.