WWE/WWF: '98-'00 - Part 3

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(Disclaimer: This is the 3rd and final blog about my interest in WWE/WWF. So after this, I will be back to blogging about other things. Stay Tuned.)


The Rest of my Collection.

In Part 2 I made a blog post which included the bulk of my collection, in this post I shall talk about the other things that are still WWE related, but are not of the '98-'00 era. It all started when I began watching the WWE (1999) and it's never ending. I never intended to start a collection, let alone the one as big as mine. Most of it is tucked away in the closet, because we simply don't have enough bookshelves and/or room in our 1 bedroom apartment. I've never done a count of how many VHSs I have, or how much money I've spent over the years. Luckily, I've never gone crazy over it, the collection I have is built up over 11 years so it could be worse.

Let's start with the rest of my VHS collection:

I can't say that I watch these that often, as good as they are, they're still not "Attitude Era" material. My favourite would most likely have to be Royal Rumble '97, which I blogged about last time. The rest, eh, I could take it or leave it...the WWE had the talent, but they really couldn't do a lot of good with it. Dumbasses. I will obviously update this side of my collection one day, but I'm thinking it will be in DVD format, the WWE have been releasing old stuff lately, so it's a good idea to start that up.



The Unofficial Collection.

Unofficial is a bit of a shit word really, as the VHSs I'm talking about are genuine WWE material, they're just taped off the TV. Back in the day, I couldn't stay up 'till 1am to watch the PPVs live, so we had to timer record everything which was REALLY annoying, as I would usually have school the next day, so I could only watch it after that. It was a pain in the ass! I don't have pictures of these because quite frankly, I couldn't be bothered, they're in the closet and yeah, I'm too fat and old to be climbing over things to find shit. They're just blank videos with the name of them taped to the top and side anyway, nothing special, believe me.


DVDs.













As you can see, it's quite small compared to my VHS collection, but where it lacks in quantity, it makes up in quality. On some of these there is 6 hours of footage! It's great watching some wrestling in high quality sometimes, although watching in video format is nostalgic, it can be tedious. Here's a complete list:

• Wrestlemanias 17-24
• Tombstone: The Undertaker
• Mick Foley's Greatest Hits and Misses
• The Legacy of Stone Cold Steve Austin
• McMahon
• The Rise and Fall of ECW
• The Best of Raw
• Raw Awards Show
• Hardy's Unofficial Interviews

I didn't list the one between Hardy's and Raw because I want to talk about it in greater detail here.

Over the Edge '99.

I actually have a pretty interesting story for this one. I purchased one of my VHS's from eBay, in the description it said that there would be a little something extra to anyone who bought it. So anyway, I received it and I couldn't believe it...that "little something extra" was a DVD of the unreleased WWF Over the Edge '99. It was unreleased because tragically, Owen Hart had died at this event under horrible circumstances. However, the show went on through the night for another hour or so I believe after he had died. The DVD is actually a videotaped recording of the show the night it aired, they somehow transferred it to DVD format. Anyway, this is the only one in my collection that I didn't have at the time, so inadvertently, the person who sent this helped me complete it. Not only that, but there was also another disc, "Raw is Owen", which was the Raw the night after the tragic event happened, dedicated to Owen Hart. Bit soppy for my taste but hey, the guy died.

I have seen plenty of Owen Hart matches and he was a superb athlete, it's a shame what happened to him, but for the rest of us, life goes on. RIP.

Well, that was depressing...onto something less depressing.

My Favourite DVD.


Okay, Wrestlemania 20...what an awesome show!! I did actually watch this in my living room at 1am the night it was broadcast. This event symbolised what the WWE was about at the time, fresh talent, WRESTLING and terrific angles. Let's get into what I didn't like about the PPV.

• I was a huge Brock Lesnar fan before this event...can't say I had the same feeling after it.
• It took 1 tombstone to finish off Kane, even though 6 years earlier, it took 3.
• The Rock and Foley getting beat by Evolution. Shit match.

Those aren't deal breakers though, there was enough good stuff to keep this PPV awesome...like:

• John Cena beating the Big Show, I liked him a lot here, I thought he had talent and hoped he'd achieve a lot in his later years and it wouldn't get to his head. I was wrong, but the match was pretty good.
• Guerrero V Angle. Great ending.
• Undertaker returning with Paul Bearer.
• Jericho V Christian. Two great Canadians.
• Benoit winning the gold.

Yes, this event will always be tainted by the events that unfolded in 2007, but as a wrestling fan, it was a great PPV and was a brilliant way to start off a new era, even though the new era is shit.

The last thing I want to talk about in these blogs is what inspired me to write them in the first place. I've always had the urge to write about my experiences with watching wrestling and this blog has been a great way to do that, even though most of my friends and family aren't too keen on it, it wasn't for anyone's benefit but mine. Selfish? Meh, not really, my blog. Lol. If anyone got any kind of joy from reading these wrestling blogs, then hey it's a great bonus, but the reason I have written about wrestling in the first place is because of one man. His name is Mick Foley.


Back in 2000, I purchased Mick Foley's Autobiography "Have a Nice Day". This one book taught me almost everything I knew about wrestling and writing. It's a wrestling fan's dream, as is his equally awesome "Foley is Good". I don't know where I'd be if it wasn't for these books, I have read them about 4 times each and they never get old. I can't give it a good enough review, his way of writing things changed the way I wrote things, it's hard to explain how one person who you've never met can inspire you in so many different ways.
I learnt so much about the wrestling industry from reading these books and thus Mick Foley is my favourite author of all time. Fuck JK Rowling, as much as I love the Harry Potter novels, nothing compares to Foley. I'm sure technically, he's not on the same level as her, or someone like Stephen King, but he writes on my level, I understand his writing more than i will anyone else's.

Well, I think it's time to end the 3-part wrestling series here. I had a blast doing this, I don't care if no-one reads it, all I wanted to do was look at my collection from a different perspective and document it, I achieved that goal therefore, I am extremely happy with how it went. No-one can take away my love of wrestling, I can't say I love the current product, but that's not the point. Hopefully I will keep building this collection and look forward to many more years of good wrestling.
Thank you for reading, it's been a pleasure.

'Till next time....