Required Viewing #1

This is a new feature I've been thinking about doing for a little while now, it's all about documentaries, and older PPV's that should not be missed by any wrestling fan.

THE UNREAL STORY OF PRO WRESTLING - 1998


This is a documentary that aired in 1998 on A&E. It is narrated by Steve Allen and covers wrestling beginnings all the way up to the Monday Night Wars. Much of the current footage was shot in 1997 from both WWF and WCW.

It talks about wrestling as a legitimate sport post Civil War, but controversy and long match times killed it, only to be replaced with performers, who used to wrestle on the road in carnivals.  The carnival operators carved out territories for themselves and became promoters. In The 1920's The Gold Dust Trio of wrestler Ed "Strangler" Lewis, manager Bill Sandow and promoter "Toots" Mondt formed and they made wrestling what it is today, putting multiple, shorter, more exciting matches on one card. Mondt developed an array of flashy crowd pleasing moves, many of which are still used today. But it's popularity didn't last long when a scorned promoter spilled the beans about it being fake. But the late 40's saw wrestling's rebirth when it came to television.

There are so many legends talking about the old days, Lou Thesz, Harley Race, "Killer" Kowalski, Verne Gagne, Classy Freddie Blassie, The Fabulous Moolah, Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Hulk Hogan, everyone in this. And they talk about the careers of some of the greats, like Lou Thesz, Gorgeous George, Buddy Rodgers, they ever talk about a man named Handsome Jim Londos, who wasn't very talented in the ring but was still able to get over with the fans, especially the women because of his good looks, now who does that sound like?

This is a great documentary and should not be missed, it is available on Netflix.