Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19850 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-02-20
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Formats: Box set, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 7
• Running time: 936 minutes

Customer Reviews

Excellent WWF Nostalgia
Back in the 80's and early 90's the World Wrestling Federation was my favourite TV show. Every weekend I would look forward to Wrestling Challenge and Superstars Of Wrestling and the ocassional events like Summerslam and Survivor Series, where all the feuds that had built up during the weekly shows would come to a head. Of all these events the main one was WRESTLEMANIA, where we see 3-4 hours of non stop Wrestling action.
Later in the 90's I lost interest in the WWF as many of the stars left and the storylines became extremely far-fetched and weak. Now, after many year of not even thinking about the WWF I've been drawn back into those nostalgic days of my youth when American Wrestling ruled the world!

The best Wrestlmania's of this particular set are Wrestlemania 1, 3 and 5. WM 1 is where it all began. This is where the legend was born. It's historical value alone makes it a must for any WWE fan, past or present. The action in these early Wrestmamia's frequently leaves a lot to be desired, yet the point of Wrestlemania 1 especially, is that it defined what the WWF was and what it was to become. Wrestlemania 3 was a brilliant event. The drama of the Andre/Hogan match was at the time, like nothing I had ever seen. The atmosphere at the event, with more than 97,000 fans packed into the Silver Dome is bursting with electricity throughout, and even on the DVD, nearly 20 years later, you get a massive sense of what an awesome spectacle this event was.
The two poorer Wrestlemania's of the set, 2 and 4, still have their fair share of highlights but Wrestlemania 2 suffered from having three seperate events held at differant venue's, while 4 suffered by having an over-long and tedious knock out tournament to decide the Championship. WM 4 was held at Trump Towers and unfortunatly the atmosphere was completely flat - I think there is definatly a sense of let-down with WM 4, after the record-breaking brilliance of WM3. Even with Jesse "The Body" Ventura's commentery, Wrestlemania 4 remains a slog.
However, the set end on a high note with Wrestlemania 5. Again held at Trump Towers, the atmosphere at WM5 was much improved (though still strangely reserved for a wrestling event, LOL) and the storylines surrounding many of the matches was better. The Championship matches of Demolition Vs Powers of Pain, Ultimate Warrior Vs Ravishing Rick Rude and Hulk Hogan Vs Macho Man Randy Savage were all strong and in the case of the final match, very powerful. Savage and Hogan had been built up over the preceding year to be like brothers, so when Savage then went bad and attacked Hogan it was like the ultimate betrayal. It was literally brother Vs brother and Randy Savage was such an awesome wrestler that he always was always great value (his IC title match with Ricky Stemaboat at WM3 was and remains one of the most fantastic wrestling matches of all time)

Another highlight of these trips down memory lane is the inspired commentery's from Jesse Ventura. I was apprehensive when I brought the set, as to whether the original commentery from Jesse and the late, great Gorrila Monsoon would have been left in tact, so it was to my great pleasure to find they had been. Listen as the set goes on to how Jesse grows into his character. In the first Wrestlemania he is fairly average (but still good) but by WM 5 he is totally outrageous and very funny with many of his comments. His comments in the final match of WM 5 are priceless. I've long believed that the popularity explosion of the WWF in the mid 80's was down to Jesse's comments. It was something so fresh and original to have a commentator that was rooting for the bad guys to win! ;)

One minor complaint about this set is that some of the original entrance music has been removed for some odd reason. The music of tag team Demolition was one of my favourite's as a kid, so I was pretty underwhelemed by its removal. Another minor complaint is the absense of extra's. All you get with this set is the events themselves and thats it - Though I guess Wretlemania kinda stands up on its own terms and doesn't need extra's.

In closing, if you grew up in the "glory days" of WWF wrestling of the 80's and early 90's, this set is an absolute must. I'm sure anybody whose a fan of the modern day WWE will be very, very underwhelmed, because you really had to see the storylines unfold originally for the matches to mean much. These were strong storlines and very strong characters. Many of the storylines/feuds ran for 6-12 months at a time. The titles only changed rarely, so when they did it was always powerful and shocking. This set absolutely brought back all those feelings of nostalgia for my childhood and for a time when Wrestling Ruled My World! Excellent!

GREAT!
Some of the best wrestling matches and superstars here with this DVD! This is when the WWD/WWE was top of the wrestling world and world!!! Its a lot different now and they go far to over the top now with story lines which are not that good! Some classic matches here in ths box set and thats all I am going to say about this, but its fun and worth the money!!!

Wrestlemania 1 to 5
I bought this item because my son and daughter started to watch WWE on TV.
I used to watch WWF as it was known in the early Eighties, and I was telling my kids about the wrestlers I remembered.
Roddy Piper and Bret Hart were two of my favs along with Davy boy smith, Brutus Beefcake and some that I was not keen on Mr perfect, a younger triple H even the Undertaker.
I have enjoyed watching these dvds and remembering the 'good old wrestlers of the past' and I hope to buy some more in this collection.