Monday Night War - Shots Fired covers the first ten episodes of
the WWE Network series, with additional analysis provided by Renee Young,
Triple H and Sting.
Told by many of the key players, current WWE roster and
featuring archive interviews from some of those involved, it’s entertaining and
informative to watch, giving some insight into the behind-the-scenes world of
both WWE and WCW and the journey they all took through the era.
Monday Night War, alongside previous WWE documentaries covering
the subject, is as close as WWE will probably get to telling the complete truth
about what went on, albeit occasionally casting WWE in the dual role of
unfortunate victim and all-powerful monolith, with WCW occupying the position
of upstart and loudmouth agitator. For
fans of the various autobiographies (WWE published and otherwise), books on the
topic (including RD Reynolds and Bryan Alvarez’s The Death of WCW) and the many
other sources, Monday Night War is a fine addition to the narrative of the
period and, quite rightly, became one of the most popular and talked about
original products from the WWE Network.
With disc one presenting the first two episodes, we see the
story from the evolution of WWE, the creation of Ted Turner’s WCW and the
moment that would define a generation - the birth of the nWo.
Episode One plays out, for the most part, as a history of the
immense success of WWF into the 90s, highlighting the distance between it and
its nearest competitor, before Ted Turner acquired it.
With Turner talking about the struggles of running a successful
wrestling promotion and various commentators talking about the decline of WWE -
formulaic and tired, it was clear that evolution was needed, leading to the
birth of Monday Night Raw - a live television programme that would change the
industry forever.
With the focus on younger, technically gifted wrestlers, Hogan
and McMahon would part ways and WWE would be without its biggest star, driving
forward with fresher ideas and growing popularity, spiralling costs and new
challenges.
WCW, on the other hand, would find itself in the hands of Eric
Bischoff, moving from announcer to Executive Producer, amongst his many
roles. He would turn it from a “Southern
promotion” to a contender, with focus on improving its quality at all levels,
bringing on board recognised WWF names, from commentators to stars. It was inevitable that going head-to-head
would happen, and WWE Nitro would eventually be born, dirty tactics would come
into play and the unthinkable, in the televised wrestling business, would
happen… but, it sure made good television!
Episode One’s post episode analysis features Renee Young
talking to Triple H and Sting. Giving
Sting a chance to talk about his experience of the time and hearing Triple H
offer a remarkably candid insight into the business during the Monday Night
Wars makes for compelling viewing and, with each episode of the series offering
the same post-episode panel, it’s certainly worth watching these to see how
their respective recollections develop, though they do feel a bit short -
perhaps there’ll be an uncut series of these discussions released in the
future..
Episode Two recaps the origins of the nWo as WCW’s ratings
starting to improve and the acquisition of the biggest names in WWF continued.
Still spoken about with reverence today, the original
incarnation of the nWo, from The Outsiders, to the introduction of “the third
man” and beyond was the period that transformed WCW’s fortunes and catapulted
it securely ahead of WWF.
WWF and WCW were both suffering, with WWF presenting its
cartoon wrestling in with the mix of captivating performers, whilst WCW, though
successful, was seen as the home of the old guys. To hear Kevin Nash and Scott Hall talk with humour
and razor-sharp insight into what drove them from the comforts of WWF to the
competition shows two men who are all business - as is often said, “you can
make friends or you can make money.”
With Bischoff moving towards a less-cartoony approach to
wrestling storylines and the fans perceiving this as an invasion, McMahon would
move the fight into the courts and WWF would itself falling behind WCW week
after week.
With Nitro being broadcast live, it was a perfect opportunity
for Bischoff to create an element of surprise.
The biggest of these surprises was, clearly, Hulk Hogan becoming a
member of the nWo after years of preaching prayers and vitamins. Three guys, made huge by WWF would make WCW
even bigger.
In response, WWF would fire back with some… interesting ideas,
but be unable to unseat the nWo rollercoaster, but it would be WCW and its
inner workings that would lead to its own derailment.
As WCW Nitro gave wrestling an edge that, at this level, hadn’t
been seen before, WWF was continuing its stale, family friendly product. Appealing to a much older audience, WCW found
itself, thanks to the nWo, as the cool alternative.
With success, however, came a desire to be even bigger and the
risks that Bischoff took paid off, whilst others led to overexpansion and
dilution of the concept that had made them a success, though this wouldn’t,
initially, alter the course that WCW was upon.
WWF, however, was far from dead and buried, with the birth of
the Attitude Era, and this was where the fight turned into a war.
With the post-episode panel, Sting reflects on whether he was
really supposed to be the third man, whilst Triple H looks at Sting’s position
in WCW. Sting gets time to talk about
the Bash on the Beach and the famous Hogan moment and both men talk about the
difficulties of staying popular as a character.
It’s easy to look upon the Monday Night War as two moments -
the origin of the nWo and the Attitude Era.
Whilst elements of the relevant stories were definitely era-defining,
it’s worth taking time to reflect on a lot of the product outside of this and
seeing the ebbs and tides that they would still suffer.
The first two episodes of Monday Night War - Shots Fired set up
a groundbreaking series that reveals a lot of what, to many casual fans, wasn’t
commonly known, with those involved and the members of the current WWF roster,
offering their insights. Involving
behind-the-scenes personnel - Michael Hayes and Jim Ross amongst them - along
with the key players is a masterstroke, though it would have been good to hear
from Bischoff and others in something other than archive footage.
Though the post-episode panels are interesting, they are do
feel about short with their runtime of around seven minutes. That said, with twenty episodes to cover,
this would provide nearly two hours of additional insight.
Disc One of Monday Night War - Shots Fired sets up an era in
wrestling that many consider pivotal and divisive. Providing viewers with a look behind the
business thinking from both companies and attitudes towards what was
transpiring from employees, it’s a must see for any serious wrestling fan.
There are reviews to come of the other discs of this series but you can order this DVD (or Blu Ray set) NOW by clicking THIS link
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