Review of WWE: The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA (2 Discs)

Introduction

The American Wrestling Association, the AWA, was a professional wrestling organisation that ran in Minnesota between 1960 and 1990. It was founded by Verne Gagne, an Olympic-calibre amateur wrestler, and was undoubtedly one of the hotbeds of wrestling during the territorial days, when each promoter ruled a major United States city, and a gentleman`s agreement meant that no-one tried to promote in someone else`s territory.

Enter Vince McMahon.

In 1982, McMahon purchased the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) from his father, and almost immediately began breaking the unwritten rules of the territory system. He sold WWF television shows to stations outside of his New York market, and produced WWF videotapes for a national audience. He also coined the phrase "sports entertainment", and moved away from promoting technical wrestling contests. Instead of his father`s clean-living, all-American champion Bob Backlund, McMahon used the charismatic but unskilled Hulk Hogan as the WWF`s leading man.

Up until 1983, Hogan had been a major star in the AWA, coming off the back of his appearance as "Thunderlips" in Rocky III. The AWA crowd were desperate to embrace Hogan as their champion, but Gagne was reluctant to have such a punch-kick wrestler as his promotional figurehead, feeling it sullied the legacy of the title.

In the end, well aware of his own worth, Hogan defected to the WWF in 1983, and became the superstar that we now all know him to be. Unfortunately for Gagne, his business went in the opposite direction, with many of Hogan`s AWA colleagues also tempted by the razzamatazz of the WWF. These included notable stars Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Curt Hennig, Jesse Ventura, and announcer Gene Okerlund. Like so many others, the AWA fell in the wake of the WWF`s aggressive national expansion.

This two-disc DVD set, then, looks back at the highs and lows of the American Wrestling Association, and Verne Gagne himself, and chronicles how wrestling would be different, had it not been for the "Spectacular Legacy of the AWA".

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL, and is very good for a DVD of this genre. The documentary looks very similar to previous WWE releases, which is quite the compliment. The new interview footage looks excellent, and even the archive footage, mostly from the 1970s and 80s, looks much better than it has any right to. Speaking of which, the archive footage is an absolute treat, especially for UK fans, to whom this footage has never previously been available.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and is also very good for a DVD of this genre. The story of the company is told through interviews with a wide range of participants, from Verne and son Greg Gagne, to Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan, via a multitude of others. Each word is easily intelligible over the background music, which sets the tone for each chapter of the presentation.

Features

The set`s extras span over both discs, with a number of unused interview segments, as well as archive TV moments, on Disc One. Some of the former are tremendous stories of what happened behind the camera, such as the ribs (practical jokes) the wrestlers pulled on each other. Particularly fascinating to listen to is Nick Bockwinkel, who tells stories of three of the most well-known wrestlers of their generation, Lou Thesz, The Crusher, and "Nature Boy" Ric Flair.

The in-character interviews from the AWA`s TV shows are also fascinating pieces of footage. It is wonderful to see such early footage of Bobby Heenan, who is just as entertaining as in his WWF pomp. There is also a hilarious segment with "Mad Dog" Vachon, after which you will never again have to ask how he got that moniker.

On to Disc Two, where there are thirteen matches to view, although sadly, only five are shown in full. The first of those five is the opening bout on the DVD, with Nick Bockwinkel and Ray "The Crippler" Stevens facing Jim Brunzell and Greg Gagne. The bout is noted as taking place in 1971, but in all actuality, it is believed to have been held in 1974. In any case, it looks fabulous for a match of this age, even though the in-ring action is a little basic. That said, the crowd are very into bout, and the pre and post-match antics of Bobby Heenan are tremendous.

Verne Gagne`s match with Baron Von Raschke is an interesting contest, which appears to have been originally recorded on film. Gagne and his son Greg provide commentary here (sounding as if it was specifically recorded for this DVD), which means that it is done as if the contest was wholly legitimate - not necessarily a bad thing when compared to the inane commentary on current WWE shows. The match itself isn`t up to much, but such rare footage is a real treat.

Ray Stevens returns in the next match (a 2/3 falls encounter), teaming with Pat Patterson against Frankie Hills and Billy Robinson. The latter is a native of Wigan, and is known as one of the toughest men from that generation of wrestling. He was also a tremendous technical wrestler, and this match is worth watching for Robinson`s masterclass alone.

The very odd tag team of Verne Gagne and Mad Dog Vachon then face future Governor Jesse Ventura, and Adrian Adonis. In the pre-match interview, Ventura is simply amazing, and it isn`t difficult to see why he was so successful in politics. This is a complete brawl of a match, joined mid-way through the bout.

An AWA championship match is next, with Verne Gagne putting up his belt against Nick Bockwinkel. This footage is really of the finish to the match only, but it appears to be a very old-school, technical encounter, which is what you would expect from these combatants.

In another clipped encounter, Ventura and Adonis face Brunzell and Greg Gagne, in a match which is played out in front of a tremendously hot crowd. It is also a good match, as is the proceeding encounter, where Bockwinkel defends his AWA championship against Hulk Hogan, from 1982 (also clipped). This is a different bout from the one that is featured on the Hogan "Anthology" set, and is a tremendously historic piece of footage, which makes you wonder why Verne Gagne was so loathed to put the title on "The Hulkster".

In a match which appears to be a bad clash of styles, Ventura faces Baron Von Raschke (clipped), before Hogan returns to face Mr Saito and Mr Hatori in a handicap match (clipped). This bout is most notable for the appearance of "Dr.D" David Schultz, famous for being fired from the WWF for slapping American TV host John Stossel, when Stossel insinuated that wrestling wasn`t legitimate. To this day, Schultz is adamant that he was only following Vince McMahon`s instructions.

In a match from 1985 - when the AWA was beginning to fade - The Road Warriors and Paul Ellering face The Crusher, and the father and son pairing of Curt and Larry Hennig (clipped). This is great early footage of The Road Warriors.

Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty (then known as The Midnight Rockers) then face Buddy Rose and Doug Somers in a cage match. This is a great, bloody match, which highlights just why they were one of the best teams of the 1980s.

In a match from 1987 (just one year before his departure for the WWF), Curt Hennig gets a shot at Nick Bockwinkel`s AWA title. Unfortunately, this is not their famous one-hour long encounter, but it is still a very good match indeed, tremendously paced, telling a great story of the youngster versus the veteran. If anyone had forgotten, this match showcases just how brilliant Curt Hennig was.

The final bout on the DVD is one that was originally included on the "Greatest Wrestling Stars of the 80s" set, as Jerry "The King" Lawler faces Kerry Von Erich in a match to unify the AWA and the WCCW (Dallas, Texas) championships. At this point, neither title meant a great deal compared to the WWF or NWA titles, but even so, this is a pretty good match which features quite the ending.

Conclusion

With their "Monday Night Wars" and "Rise and Fall of ECW" documentaries, the WWE has often chosen to bend the truth a little to suit its own wishes. In the case of the former, the WWE cried foul when Eric Bischoff used Ted Turner`s muscle to almost put the WWE out of business in the mid 90s, but of course, it was entirely different when Vince McMahon used even more aggressive tactics, breaking all the rules of wrestling territories, a little over a decade earlier.

That kind of revisionist history serves a purpose, in that we can see just how much the company wants to pull the wool over people`s eyes. But productions such as these, including the one under review here, are so much better off for a little honesty. And thankfully, "The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA" provides more of that than we had any right to expect.

Although it initially puts over Gagne`s successes as both a wrestler and a promoter, the documentary soon divides into two camps: The Gagne vision of wrestling vs The McMahon vision of sports entertainment. The Gagnes still seem to believe that it was the underhanded tactics of McMahon that put them out of business, while most others see McMahon as a visionary, in terms of where a once-regional wrestling company could go. This dynamic makes for fascinating viewing throughout the production.

Away from that, we also get a great look at some of the AWA`s top stars, such as Mad Dog Vachon, Ray Stevens, Nick Bockwinkel, The Crusher, and Baron Von Raschke, who are not well known to most UK fans. However, even more knowledgeable viewers will delight in hearing more about these wrestlers, from the people that worked so closely with them.

Overall, "The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA" is an excellent documentary, which is a must see for anyone with an interest in wrestling, pre-1990s. There is enough here to satisfy AWA followers, and to teach new fans about how much the AWA meant to pro wrestling in this time period. Much like the documentary, the extras include some incredible footage, even if the bout choices could have been a little better. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed the Bockwinkel vs. Hennig match in particular, and it is a contest that I will no doubt go back to watch many times in the future.

With typically high production values also available here, "The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA" gets a hearty thumbs up.