For Life Or Just A Few Years Of Glory – NWO: The Revolution Reviewed

In the late 1990’s wrestling was all the rage. And for the briefest moment in time, the rage was caused by World Championship Wrestling and their band of former World Wrestling Federation stars, the New World Order.

I remember describing the NWO to my girlfriend at the time as this – you have your good guys, your bad guys and then the EVEN worse guys. That’s the NWO.

And yes, that’s right. I was watching wrestling AND had a girlfriend.

The NWO helped WCW dominate the Monday night wrestling wars for a good two years, and nearly helped put the WWF out of business. However, poor planning and stoylines and complete mismanagement eventually led WWF to purchase their rival, and along with it, all the NWO footage and trademarks, which is now on display in the new Blu-Ray/DVD collection NWO: The Revolution. Check out the trailer below and then hit the jump to read our review.

This isn’t the first time WWE has put together a DVD documentary on the NWO. Back in 2002, when the company brought Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall back to the company, and had hired former WCW mastermind Eric Bischoff as well, they put together NWO: Back In Black, which focused on those main players. This new collection relies on previously filmed interviews from Hogan, Bischoff and Hall, who are no longer in the company, to get their perspective, so some of the footage in NWO: The Revolution is familiar to longtime fans. However, where the new documentary is superior is the extra players who help tell the story of the famous faction. Among them are Booker T., the Big Show, X-Pac, Ted Dibiase, Dusty Rhodes and son Cody, Arn Anderson and, perhaps most shockingly, former WWE and WCW writer Vince Russo.

All this adds up to yet another solid WWE documentary. There’s no attempt at hiding the fact that when the NWO was at its hottest WCW was dominating the business. Fans get an insight into the politics that went on behind the scenes, of various talents desperate to be a part of the faction, the innovate interviews and videos, the crossover success the NWO brought WCW with appearances from Dennis Rodman, Karl Malone and (for better or for worse) Jay Leno. The documentary also covers the failed attempt to relaunch the concept under the ownership of WWE, long after its expiration date.

Watching NWO: The Revolution was a trip back in time for me – back to when the even worse guys were the ones to watch. Longtime fans will enjoy the nostalgia, while newer wrestling fans will be left wishing they’d been around the first time, back when the business was just…too…sweet!

You can order NWO: The Revolution here.