WWE Top 50 Superstars of All Time review (DVD) ★★★

Review by Adam Stephen Kelly
UK Certification 15 | UK RRP £29.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 508 minutes

Hosted by Todd Grisham, WWE's three-disc Top 50 Superstars of All Time release spans just about every era in professional wrestling and covers every major star from the past and present in the journey to discover who really is the finest of them all. But does this set legitimately settle the debate about the industry's biggest and best? I don't think so.

As Grisham mentions at the top of the two-and-a-half-hour countdown (and continues to do so throughout), the 50 Superstars featured were selected by the current WWE locker room and so there would undoubtedly be a few controversies. After hearing this I was anticipating the argument of a few of the choices as they were presented to me, but I could never have foreseen just how utterly ridiculous the list is. Love him or hate him, out of all the votes, how on earth could Hulk Hogan end up not making the top 20? How on earth could Ric Flair not make the top 10 and come second place to the likes of Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio, especially after the whole Hall of Fame hoopla in 2008? Great talents though they were and are, Guerrero and Mysterio will never, ever be as revered as Flair and Hogan. Any list comprised of the so-called greatest Superstars of all time is nothing but a joke when the Hulkster and the Nature Boy aren't both in the top 10.

A few wrestlers, managers and even Hollywood film-makers from now and then show their faces to discuss the Superstars as they crop up, talking over a three or four-minute video package that highlights their careers. It's standard stuff and unfortunately not very insightful. I found myself enjoying the appearances of Hall of Famers and icons of yesteryear to talk about others than the actual list itself.

The countdown just seems a little too 'politically-motivated' for my tastes, which is why the match selection on the other discs is far more entertaining than the main feature.

EXTRAS ???? The documentary stands alone on the first disc, while the other two are packed full with the following 21 matches that contain some of wrestling's greatest names:

NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Lou Thesz vs. Argentina Rocca
NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Jack Brisco vs. Dory Funk Jr.
Women's Championship: The Fabulous Moolah vs. Susan Green
Gorilla Monsoon vs. Muhammad Ali
NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Harley Race vs. Terry Funk
Boxing Match: Gorilla Monsoon vs. Andre the Giant
WWE Championship: Superstar Billy Graham vs. Dusty Rhodes
WWE Championship: Hulk Hogan vs. The Iron Sheik
Tag Team Elimination Match: Ricky Steamboat, Roddy Piper & Junkyard Dog vs. Randy Savage, Harley Race & Adrian Adonis
Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat
AWA Heavyweight Championship: Jerry Lawler vs. Curt Hennig
No Disqualification Match with Virgil banned from ringside: Jake Roberts vs. Ted DiBiase
Ric Flair vs. Bret Hart
Halftime Heat: The Rock vs. Mankind
SmackDown – WWE Championship Fatal 4 Way: Steve Austin vs. The Rock vs. The Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle
RAW: The Undertaker, Kane & The Hardy Boyz vs. Steve Austin, Triple H, Edge & Christian
SmackDown: Edge & Triple H vs. Kurt Angle & Chris Jericho
SmackDown: Eddie Guerrero vs. The Big Show
WrestleMania 22 – World Heavyweight Championship Triple Threat Match: Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton
No Way Out 2007: John Cena & Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker & Batista
WrestleMania 24 – World Heavyweight Championship: Edge vs. The Undertaker

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