A WWE - The Spectacular Legacy of the AW (DVD, 2006)

This history of the AWA is quite good with excellent anecdotes from the men who were there. The AWA provided a look at a much more entertaining period of wrestling that set the stage for the current WWE high tech productions. Despite Vince McMahon's denial of knowledge about the Hulk Hogan et al events that sent many main wrestlers to the WWF and the obvious bias toward the WWE point of view, this is a surprisingly decent acknowledgment of the contributions that Verne Gagne's organization gave to the entertainment industry. A third disc with more matches and promos would have been appropriate. After all, the American Dream dvd package had three discs on one wrestler. Full matches aren't practical all the time. I would recommend this dvd to any long time wrestling fan and to current fans. The current fans would gain a greater appreciation of how pro wrestling moved into the future.

I feel I need to begin this review by telling you that before I saw this DVD, I was not a fan of the AWA, and in fact all I knew of the AWA was that at some point the Road Warriors had their Tag Team Championship. Now, I bought this DVD in a 3 pack DVD set with Dusty and Superstar Billy Graham. You know the metal box set you can get at most DVD stores.

I watched this DVD and I was absolutely, 100% as sure as anything an instant fan of the AWA. This documentary covers everything from Verne Gagne's amazing career as an amateur wrestler, the Olympics, his beginnings as a pro and the eventual break away from the NWA. From there it goes into the stars he helped make in the AWA such as Baron Von Raschke, The Crusher, Superstar Billy Graham, Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels and SO many more. It covers everything from Vince branching his WWF promotion and paying AWA MEGA stars a HUGE paycheck to walk out of the AWA. During this segment Vince on camera says "I've always encouraged talent to finish out their dates" which any wrestler will tell you isn't a whole truth. It goes into detail on how he aquired Hulk Hogan, Bobby Heenan, Andre the Giant, Mean Gene Okerlund and many many more from the AWA.

It shows how Vince ran the first WrestleMania with (and how it would have failed miserably if he didn't have) a locker room filled with AWA talent. It covers the feuds with Verne and Nick Bockwinkle, Hogan and Bockwinkle, Verne's retiring with the title (and being the first to do so) and everything up to the semi-huge Superclash show. I just don't know how to describe to you how great this DVD is. This LITERALLY covers EVERY part of the AWA from the highest of highes, to the lowest, crushing blows that eventually led to the downfall of the AWA. Politics, sharks (not Discovery Channel, McMahon), bankruptcy and just so much that cause the AWA to fold.

In a nutshell this DVD covers everything from the AWA's creation, to Verne being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Look, just buy this DVD!!! If you're a wrestling fan, a wrestling purist, a student of the game, a casual fan or even a newbie to the sport (and yes this DVD shows you the SPORTS side!!) then you will LOVE this DVD.

Other than the fact that the WWE, as usual, plays fast and loose with dates (i.e., the AWA was definitively formed in 1960, not 1957 as the DVD claims) and takes a few historical shortcuts (I could have sworn that Ed Carpentier also hold the title? Where's he?), this is a more-than-worthwhile disc for long-term wrestling fans. Plenty of great footage and interviews with Verne and Greg Gagne, Larry Hennig (who can ALWAYS be counted on to contradict everything that Verne says), Nick Bockwinkel, Bobby Heenan, and all of the pivotal acts. They cover the fact that Verne trained a bunch of the greats, promoted even more of them, and paid none of them fairly. A very good match disc as well. Most interesting is the debate over what killed the AWA. Opinions vary greatly, but most (except for Verne, grand legend of wrestling that he is) seem to understand that it was the lack of money paid to talent which ultimately spelled the demise of the Association. Kudos to Vince and his incredible production team for a well-produced and mostly-accurate disc. 4 out of 5 stars.

This is a great video for any fan. It shows a very rich history of a promotion that provided the wrestling industry with many of its most popular stars. The only thing that bothered me about this video was that it was extremely biased towards the WWE. This should be expected since WWE produced it. I felt that the video focused on how the company came to its demise rather than its "Spectacular Legacy".It would seem that the title of the documentary should have been titled "The Rise and Fall of the AWA". This would fit better with the documentary.
Anyways, it was very insightful and it had good extras.

This video was great to watch. If you are a history buff of professional wrestling, then this is one of the must have dvds for your collection. Learning the story of Verne Gagne and some of the wrestlers that came through his organization was a real treat for any 1980's wrestling fan.