Coliseum Video WrestleMania Cards

In lieu of doing another wrestling VHS box post, I felt like I should maybe come up with something a little bit different this time. So, I thought it'd be fun to look at the first eight WrestleMania events, which are chronicled in a set released through Coliseum Video, the WWF's home video distributor at the time, in 1993.

These cards are pretty basic with some artwork detailing the event, like this one from the first WrestleMania in 1985. The back gives a brief description of the event. These cards came in three card panels that were given out as a free gift when you rented a WWF tape from your local video store.

Some of the cards would feature artwork very similar to the VHS box cover, others like these from WrestleMania 2 and WrestleMania III featured generic pictures or posed shots. The one thing I don't really like about the WrestleMania 2 card is the fact they didn't use the giant red "2" from the original logo.

WrestleMania IV and V were odd in that they were held in the same venue, Trump Plaza (aka the Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall) in back to back years, 1988 and 1989. Also, WrestleMania IV was interesting in that it was the beginning of the year long story between Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage which led to them facing each other at WrestleMania V for the WWF Title.

In 1990, the WWF went across the border for WrestleMania VI and ran the Skydome in Toronto to feature the title vs. title showdown of Hulk Hogan against Ultimate Warrior. For this card, I wish they would have used the VHS artwork instead of just a generic Ultimate Warrior picture. The VHS cover is awesome with a space background and the two just looking as crazy as humanly possible.

These two are some of my favorite early WrestleMania shows. I've already detailed my love for WrestleMania VIII in the original VHS box posts but I think often WrestleMania VII gets overlooked. It's got a great match between Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage, the WrestleMania debut of the Undertaker, and the final pay-per-view match of the original Hart Foundation. There's also the main event with Hulk Hogan facing Sgt. Slaughter.

Completing the nine-card set is this promo card of WrestleMania IX. When these cards were produced, the event had yet to take place but going back and looking at it now, it was a very unique show with a Roman coliseum theme to it. While I think it gets a bad rap as the "worst WrestleMania ever" in a lot of countdowns (WrestleMania 11 and WrestleMania 32 are far worse), it's a fun show to watch. 

That does it for a quick look at these WrestleMania cards from Coliseum Video. I hope everyone enjoys the marathon show that WrestleMania will be this year!

Wacky Wrestling VHS Boxes #5

Tonight is SummerSlam, WWE's self-proclaimed biggest party of the summer. As is tradition here, anytime one of WWE's four tent pole events happens, I look at some old wrestling video boxes. For this installment, I'm going to go way back in the archives and check out some of the old non-PPV tapes that Coliseum Video released. Let's dive in!

Even More Unusual Matches (1987)

For the majority of their early releases, Coliseum Video issued tapes in these large, plastic clamshell cases, similar to what Disney would release their tapes in during the 1990s (Lion King for example). This particular tape was a sequel to one of the first round of tapes released by Coliseum Video and the WWF in 1985 and contains all sorts of crazy matches taped in arenas in Canada and the U.S., however most of the matches came from the monthly Madison Square Garden shows that were broadcast on the MSG Network. Some of the more fun matches on this tape include Randy Savage vs. Bruno Sammartino in a Lumberjack Match, a Bunkhouse Battle Royal, and a series of Texas Death Matches between Hulk Hogan and Harley Race. Personally, I like these older tapes more than the more common ones from the early 1990s as these are much harder to find in playable condition and just in general, they are a lot of fun to watch.

Inside the Steel Cage (1986)

Long before TNA Wrestling (or Impact Wrestling or whatever they're called these days) had their annual all cage match show, there was this tape chronicling some of the best cage matches from around the WWF. In particular, there are a few matches on here that haven't really seen the light of day much on current DVD and Blu-Ray releases such as Andre the Giant vs. Kamala from Toronto and a tag team cage match with Randy Savage & Adrian Adonis facing Bruno Sammartino & Tito Santana. Any tape from this era featuring a cage match also has to include the extremely overrated, at least in my opinion, Don Muraco/Jimmy Snuka cage match where Snuka dives off the top of the cage. As I mentioned previously, these older tapes are really a lot of fun to watch, if you can find them that is.

Andre the Giant (1985)

This particular tape I picked up years ago at the local flea market and I've watched it maybe once. For modern fans, this should look familiar as it was re-released in the late 90s on both VHS on DVD, which makes it the only Coliseum Video tape that wasn't a pay-per-view to be re-issued. The tape is only an hour long but there are a lot of things stuffed in here, especially an especially hard to find boxing match against Gorilla Monsoon from Puerto Rico. 

Wrestlefest '90

The Wrestlefest series ran for most of the Coliseum Video lifespan, debuting in 1988 as a release of a house show at Milwaukee County Stadium (which is a really hard to find tape by the way) and continued with this release. By this time, the switch had been made to the oversized slip covers from the plastic clamshells. I personally prefer the slip covers and the designs are much better. Take this for example as they've taken pictures, presumably from action on the tape, and laid them against a backdrop of the crowd from WrestleMania III. I'll admit, some of the matches on here like Ultimate Warrior vs. Dino Bravo are pretty boring, but popping in a tape like this should take anyone back to being a kid again sitting in front of the TV with a big bowl of popcorn ready to watch some WWF action.

Hope you enjoyed this round of wacky wrestling tapes! Enjoy SummerSlam and there will be more tapes coming up in November when Survivor Series rolls around.

WrestleMania Week: Wacky Wrestling VHS Boxes - WrestleMania Edition!

Happy WrestleMania Sunday everyone!

As it is the biggest pro wrestling event of the year, this will be an all WrestleMania edition of the "Wacky Wrestling VHS Boxes" series. Unlike the standard four tapes I usually include in these pieces, I'll showcase five of these this time!

WrestleMania III (1987)

Starting this off comes a tape I found just recently that was buried in a crate full of books ... WrestleMania III! The main event is one of the most legendary matches ever, Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant in front of over 93,000 people (or so it's claimed) at the Pontiac Silverdome. Also on the card was Randy Savage defending the Intercontinental Championship against Ricky Steamboat in a classic, action packed bout, and Roddy Piper competing in his "farewell match" against Adrian Adonis. This was one of the early WWF tapes as well, judging by the black clamshell box. Also, look at the price on the bottom left corner ... $39.95! That's the same as $85.50 today!

WrestleMania VII (1991)

I mentioned in the first entry in this series that WrestleMania 8 was my favorite WrestleMania of all time. I wouldn't say this one is anywhere near it, but it's still a really, really good show by all accounts and right in the middle of three really good WrestleMania shows. This particular show had a "Stars and Stripes" theme to it since it took place during the Gulf War and we had Sgt. Slaughter, an Iraqi sympathizer, defending the WWF Title against Hulk Hogan. Also, there is a fantastic match between Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage in which the loser must retire. The problem is that on this tape, about five minutes of the match is cut out. I'm not sure why, perhaps to make sure the whole show fit on the tape? 

The case itself is one of the old oversized cases that the WWF did for their tapes for a few years. I really like the design on the front with Hogan and Slaughter face to face and the American flag in the background. The back is pretty basic with just the standard stock photos and the complete card. To be honest, the back of this tape and the back of the WrestleMania 8 tape look nearly identical, except for the color. The front also says that "each and every match" is complete, which as I mentioned earlier, is lies!

WrestleMania X (1994)

There are two matches on this show that make it legendary. First, there was the ladder match between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon but before that, a classic match between Owen Hart and Bret Hart opened the show. By this time, the roster had completely flipped over from the Hogan era with most of the stars from that era gone, with the exception of Randy Savage and Earthquake. This would be the final WrestleMania for both as well. There was supposed to be a 10-man tag team match as well on here but it was canceled. This is a show I could watch over and over again as it just breezes by. The box for this though seems pretty standard, at least on the front. The back also looks really squished with the giant logo and all the matches and info having to be crammed into the bottom half.

WrestleMania XI (1995)

Going from one of the better editions of WrestleMania to one of the worst, if not the worst. This show is widely regarding as one of the worst WrestleMania shows ever. In the main event, Lawrence Taylor, yes the NFL player, fought Bam Bam Bigelow. The match was better than it had any right to be, mainly because of Bigelow, but it's still lauded as one of the worst WrestleMania main events of all time. The other thing about this show is that it just didn't have that aura that WrestleMania is supposed to have. It was marred by technical difficulties throughout the show, the arena was small and dark, and when there's a match on it that Bret Hart calls "the worst match of his career", you know you've got a bit of rubbish. The box however isn't that bad. I really like the design on both the front and the back and it really makes you forget just how bad the show really is.

WrestleMania 13 (1997)

The last WrestleMania on this entry and the last one released by Coliseum Video before they went kaput later that year, this show is remembered for one match ... Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin in a Submission Match. If you just mention the words "Bret vs. Austin" to any wrestling fan, their mind immediately goes to this match. It was an all out brawl from bell to bell and has the famous ending of Austin passing out in the sharpshooter and special referee Ken Shamrock stopping the match. Words honestly can not do justice as to how great this match is, so I would advise you to seek it out in any way possible.

That being said, the rest of this show was rather unmemorable and so is this box if you look at it. My biggest issue is that a lot of the poses on the front and the back look very forced and what is Sid holding in his hand on the front cover? I think Coliseum Video knew they were on the way out and did as little as possible for the box cover. Compare it to the others I've show here and see for yourself.

Hope everyone enjoyed these old WrestleMania VHS boxes and WrestleMania week in general. Enjoy WrestleMania tonight and tomorrow is Opening Day for baseball and a return to some baseball card related fun.