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 #12

The 2019 edition of the Royal Rumble is tonight from Chase Field in Phoenix. With it being Royal Rumble day, you know what that means, time for the twelfth edition of "Wacky Wrestling VHS Boxes". For those who aren't familiar, this is where I chat a little bit about classic wrestling VHS tape covers using scans I've found on the internet.

So, without further adieu, here are four more classic WWF VHS tapes you may (or may not) remember.

King of the Ring 1994

Scan credit: The Canadian Collection

This tape brings back memories for me. The library in town was still in it's original location, which was half of an old house in the middle of town, and it had a decent selection of WWF tapes. Most of the time they'd be rented out but I could always find one or two on the shelf at any given time. This was one of them. I rented this tape who knows how many times and enjoyed it every time I watched it. I remember watching it for the first time and being amazed at how Razor Ramon, who was guest commentator Art Donovan's pick, made it to the finals and how the Bret Hart vs. Diesel match was early on in the show, which would make sense later on in the show. 

When I first saw this tape available on the library shelf, the "champion vs champion" match and also the Roddy Piper vs. Jerry Lawler match advertised on the front is what grabbed me, also there's the giant classic King of the Ring logo, which I honestly miss. The back of the case has the tournament bracket and also mentions the Tag Team Title match with Yokozuna & Crush going up against the Headshrinkers. The tournament itself is pretty fun and the Bret/Diesel match may be my favorite one they ever did against each other, but Roddy Piper vs. Jerry Lawler is quite possibly the worst WWF/WWE main event match ever.

Paul Bearer's Hits from the Crypt (1994)

Scan credit: VHS Wasteland

This is a weird one. As you can probably tell by the title, this particular tape is hosted by Paul Bearer and features a very unique collection of matches, as is the norm with these compilation tapes. Honestly, I was hoping to see Paul Bearer featured a little more prominently on the cover instead of Lex Luger but still, it grabs you. The match line-up is all kinds of bizarre with the highlight being Randy Savage and Lex Luger teaming up against Yokozuna and Crush. There's also a weird six-man tag with Men on a Mission & Doink against The Quebecers & Jeff Jarrett. Look at the back, the featured matches are listed on a tombstone! That's pretty cool. I know that this tape is on the WWE Network and I think I'm going to have to make a point to watch it.

Action Zone (1997)

Scan credit: VHS Wasteland

By the mid-90s, the WWF was starting to cut back on the amount of tapes that were coming out, especially from Coliseum Video. However, some third party distributors were able to put tapes out featuring WWF action with the Coliseum Video and WWF branding on them. This is one such tape. The matches here look like they're probably somewhere from the late spring/early summer of 1996 just going by the names involved. Also, it's hard to believe the Bushwhackers were still around in 1996. The box itself comes across as pretty generic and the photo on the front sort of gives away the result of one of the featured matches. I've never seen this tape but it's one I'd like to see if I can find sometime.

Wrestling Tough Guys (1990)

Scan credit: VHS Wasteland

Finally, here's a "Collector's Series" tape that was released in 1990. The theme here is "tough guys" so you've got people like Ronnie Garvin, Jim Duggan, and the Powers of Pain featured. It's also a short tape, clocking in at just under 60 minutes. Much like the previous tape, the box art feels a bit generic with a giant picture of Warlord clotheslining one of the Bushwhackers and then photos of headlocks being used in matches on the back. There is one match I'm interested in though, that being Ronnie Garvin vs. Haku, that sound like it would be one heck of a fight.

Well, there's four more classic wrestling tapes that honestly have nothing to do with the Royal Rumble tonight. Anyway, the Rumble should be a good show and I'm really looking forward to the Finn Balor vs. Brock Lesnar match along with both Rumble matches.

Wacky Wrestling VHS Boxes #11

So, I meant to post this the day of Survivor Series back in November, however, I was stuck in my blog "doldrum" so to speak during that time. So instead, this will be a month late and tonight is the annual "WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs" event (and honestly one of my favorites of the year). What better way to talk about that, than talking about some old wrestling tapes.

Survivor Series 1988

Scan credit: Canadian Collection

The Survivor Series started off in 1987 as a new pay-per-view event designed to piggyback off the success of WrestleMania III and the Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan match that headlined it. It was also run in opposition to the first NWA/JCP pay-per-view event, Starrcade 1987. The 1988 version of the event featured the Mega Powers co-captaining a team against a team co-captained by the Big Boss Man and Akeem, collectively known as the Twin Towers. The most notable thing to come out of this show was the big tag team double turn of the Powers of Pain and Demolition, with Mr. Fuji turning on Demolition and joining up with the Powers of Pain to be their new manager. This led into a match at WrestleMania V between the two with Fuji teaming with the Powers of Pain to challenge Demolition for the tag titles.

I recently watched this event all the way through for the first time and it was an ok show, nothing too insane but provided a good base for some of the event going into WrestleMania 5 the upcoming spring. The VHS covers for the early Survivor Series shows weren't all that impressive either, with this one just showing Hogan and Savage on the front. One other thing I always found interesting was that Coliseum Video labeled the Survivor Series starting with this one as the "2nd Annual" Survivor Series. That would get confusing a bit down the line in the early 90s when it was the "5th Annual" and "6th Annual" on the spine.

WWF Terminators (1996)

Scan credit: Canadian Collection

In the mid-90s, WWF compilation tapes like this seemed to be really hard to find. The only tapes that seemed to be found in video stores and retail stores were the pay-per-view tapes from the "big five". If memory serves me right, tapes like these, were mail order only through the WWF Magazine. This particular tape is a whole lot of matches from early 1996 and includes the infamous football themed "Raw Bowl" match where wrestlers fought in football jerseys. 

While I always liked the tapes of the pay-per-view events, getting to see some of these more rare compilation tapes is a treat for me. I was able to acquire a DVD copy of this tape via someone on a wrestling message board about ten years ago. The first half of the tape is lots of stuff from Raw tapings in early 1996 but my favorite part was the second half with random matches taped before Superstars tapings and a couple really odd matches with Ringmaster (aka Steve Austin) against Fatu and Jake "The Snake" Roberts against Tatanka. This is something I would try to recommend to watch if you can find it.

WCW Halloween Havoc 1995

Scan credit: The Canadian Collection

WCW always had their hits and misses but one thing they always knew how to do right was Halloween. Take for example this box for the 1995 edition of Halloween Havoc. This box just screams "halloween". You've got Hulk Hogan smashing a jack-o-lantern with his bare hands and a funky looking background to boot. On the back The Giant is striking his best "mummy" pose and the match listing is bordered in some type of mystery ooze. 

The event itself wasn't really anything to write home about and is known for the infamous Monster Truck Match between Hulk Hogan and The Giant which culminated in Hogan throwing Giant off the roof of the arena. The actual match between the two occurred shortly thereafter and featured the debut of the Yeti, who proceeded to accomplish absolutely nothing. It's really no stretch to say that the box of this tape may actually be better than the event itself. 

WWF Survivor Series 1991

Scan credit: The Canadian Collection

Whenever I see this cover, I always think it has to do with Halloween but it doesn't. The 1991 Survivor Series tagline was "The Gravest Challenge" as the main event featured Hulk Hogan defending the WWF Title against the Undertaker. The box just has a spooky feel to it with the tombstone in the background, the dark leaves, etc. It's one of those boxes where the artwork just absolutely grabs you and that was the case for a number of VHS boxes during this time. Whoever was in charge of the artwork was on the top of their game!

This event holds the distinction of being the first Survivor Series to have a WWF Championship match. The match itself set off a chain reaction of things, starting with Ric Flair interference in the match which lead to a Hogan/Undertaker rematch a week later at a special Tuesday night pay-per-view. That match, and the chaos in it, led to the title being vacated and being given to the winner of the 1992 Royal Rumble match (which is a classic). That was such a fun time period and probably the peak of that whole early 90s era.

So theres another batch of old wrestling video tape boxes. I'm going to try to get another round of these out for Royal Rumble but since that's only about six weeks away, I may just hold off until WrestleMania weekend.

Wacky Wrestling VHS Boxes #10

SummerSlam is here! And you know what that means, time for another entry in the Wacky Wrestling VHS Boxes series. Along with the usual WWF old school goodies, I found some more obscure scans online from classic NWA/JCP and a weird tape from Japan.

The Wrestling Classic (1985)

Scan credit: VHS Wasteland

The Wrestling Classic was the first widely distributed pay-per-view event in company history and featured a 16-Man elimination tournament along with a WWF Championship match between Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper. I've watched this event a couple times and each time I never really was impressed. Most of the tournament matches are very short, maybe only a few minutes each and the Hogan/Piper match was decent.

The box here is pretty straight forward as were most of the early WWF tapes from this time. The interesting this about the title of the tape though is "Wrestlevision". I'm not sure if that was a line of tapes they had planned but this was the only tape released with this banner. The back is pretty basic but makes the claim that Hogan is the "9th WWF World Champion" and this is a true statement if you combine Bruno's reigns as one, ignore the Antonio Inoki win, and also the fact that the title was held up for a month during Bob Backlund's run. The back also has the list of participants in the tournament and judging by the way the list is ordered, it's easy to see who they were pushing at the time.

Anyway, if you haven't seen this particular event before, I think it's worth at least one watch just for historical reasons.

Biggest, Smallest, Strangest, Strongest (1985)

Scan credit: VHS Wasteland

Going from a pretty basic looking video box to this crazy looking and eye catching box, here's a tape called "Biggest, Smallest, Strangest, Strongest". While I've never seen the tape itself (I think it might be available on WWE Network) from the notes I found, it's pretty much a highlight tape designed to showcase some of the more unusual happenings from the WWF in the 1980s. The matches that are featured show Gorilla Monsoon, Hillbilly Jim, and Ivan Putski in action plus two midget matches (that's what they were called back then).

The case design is pretty eye catching with lots of photos both on the front and the back showing some of the craziness that one would be likely to find should they rent this tape. The back is interesting though mentioning some of the skits that are included but also claims that Pampero Firpo, Bepo Mongol, and Grand Wizard are shown. I find that pretty random at least from a WWF tape in the 80s.

WING Scaffold Match (1992)

Scan credit: VHS Wasteland

Well, this looks pretty bizarre. I saw this scan on VHS Wasteland and I knew I just had to talk about it. I mean, where else but Japan will you see a VHS cover showing a guy hanging off the side of a scaffold? WING was the offspring of Japanese hardcore wrestling promotion FMW and only lasted a few years before shutting down. During their run, people such as Mr. Pogo, Manami Toyota, Great Sasuke, Dick Murdoch, The Bruise Brothers, Ivan Koloff, Miguel Perez Jr., Bill Dundee, and The Headhunters wrestled there. Shortly after shutting down, the IWA emerged from the ashes of WING.

As for this tape, while I've never actually seen it, I had to do some research on what was included. From that I found it's a compilation tape of the main event matches from the March 11, 1992 and March 13, 1992 shows featuring matches such as Mr. Pogo against Kanemura, Ivan Koloff against Mitsuteru Tokuda, and Miguel Perez Jr. (of WWF Los Boricuas fame) against The Iceman in a scaffold match.

1992 Battle of the WWF Superstars

Scan credit: VHS Wasteland

Battle of the Superstars was a series that Coliseum Video and the WWF put out for a few years in the early 90s and consisted of matches filmed exclusively for video. The one thing about these tapes is that they have lots of interesting matches, like Randy Savage against Berzerker. There are also some interesting multi-man tag matches on here like Jim Duggan, Sgt. Slaughter, and the Bushwhackers teaming against the Beverly Brothers and Nasty Boys but the one match on here that sounds really fun is Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper going against Ric Flair and the Undertaker.

The cover of the tape really sort of grabs you with the big Battle of the Superstars logo, Jake the Snake choking out Roddy Piper and all kinds of craziness. The back is just as wild with Bret Hart punching the Mountie in the stomach, the listing of most of the matches, and some other stuff. This is really, really and eye catching tape cover.

War Games: Bash 87

Scan credit: VHS Wasteland

"Let the War Games .... begin!"

Hearing that during when WCW was about to put on what was probably their signature match would give me chills. I got those same chills and excitement last November when NXT brought back War Games and had one of the most insane matches I've ever seen. The original concept however debuted in Jim Crockett Promotions in 1987 during the Great American Bash tour.

For 1986 and 1987, Turner Home Entertainment released compilation tapes of some of the top matches all around the tour. This particular tape contains both War Games matches from the tour along with other top matches such as Dick Murdoch against "Dr. Death" Steve Williams in a Texas Death Match, Rock-N-Roll Express vs. the Midnight Express, and Ric Flair vs. Jimmy Garvin in a Cage Match among others.

The artwork on the front of this tape with the fencing and the drawings of the War Games combatants is really cool. The one thing though I never liked with WCW/NWA tapes is that the back didn't have the match list. It had a summary and write-up more along the lines of what you'd see on the back of an actual movie.

With that, I'll put the bow on this entry in the Wacky Wrestling VHS Boxes series. I hope everyone enjoys SummerSlam tonight with Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns (again ... ugh), Ronda Rousey vs. Alexa Bliss, and A.J. Styles vs. Samoa Joe. It should be a pretty interesting show.

The Yard Sale Cards: Wrestling

This weekend just happens to be a big weekend in the world of WWE with both NXT Takeover and Money in the Bank happening in Chicago. The Money in the Bank event over the last few years has sort of begun to fill the void of a mega-event in between WrestleMania (March/April) and SummerSlam (mid/late August), a spot that was held in the 90s by King of the Ring. I figured this would be as good a time as any to show off some of the wrestling cards from the yard sale lot.

Speaking of WrestleMania, I'll start with these 1993 Coliseum Video WrestleMania tear off cards. As with most Coliseum Video stuff from this time, these were most likely handed out as free gifts when you rented a WWF tape. 

Not only were there the loose cards, but there were also some of the panels still in tact. If the prices for the uncut panels on COMC and eBay are to be believed, then I could probably sell some of my extras off and cover my yard sale costs.

Next up are some postcards from Coliseum Video. In addition to the Bret Hart and Crush postcards, there are also Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Undertaker, and Steiner Brothers cards as part of the six card set.

These cards are tiny but they're cool. Again these were distributed by Coliseum Video. I've got four of the five cards in the set, the only thing missing is the Undertaker card.

Here are some stickers. These look like they're more recent, as in possibly released in 1994, as opposed to 1993 like most everything else was so far.

There were a ton, I mean a TON of duplicates of this five card Bret Hart set that chronicles both his tournament win at King of the Ring 1993 and his WWF title win at WrestleMania X. Interestingly enough, these are not in chronological order. 

Moving on from the Coliseum Video cards, there was also a good amount of variety featuring the sets put out by Classic in the early 90s. This blue bordered set was the last set that Classic produced from 1991. I think my two favorite cards here are the Ricky Steamboat card which captures him breathing fire and the Sensational Sherri card right next to it in which she looks like an extra from the set of CATS.

Classic only made WWF sets for three years, 1989, 1990, and 1991. These cards are from the inaugural 1989 set. I still forget some times that Barry Windham had a very brief WWF run in 1989.

These cards look like they're tear outs from the WWF Magazine and after a bit of research on TCDB, it turns out that the Jim Ross card is. The other cards I can't find any record of on quick search on TCDB, COMC, or eBay. I might have to do some more digging to see what I can find.

WWF cards weren't the only thing included. There was also a good amount of WCW cards from the early 90s, back when WCW wasn't exactly at the top of its form. These are from the 1991 Impel WCW set and if I can remember correctly, after I sorted them I think I came up about 10-12 cards short of a full set.

These black border cards are also from 1991 but were put out by Championship Marketing. I've seen the Impel ones numerous times and while they're kind of funky and have that 90s vibe, these definitely seem a bit more on the serious side. I think the black borders give them an edgier feel and the photography doesn't seem as cheesy as well.

Also, here's a set I wasn't aware of until I pulled the cards out of the box, that being this 1995 CARDZ WCW set. I really, really like it but I think my favorite part of the set has to be the cards of the pay-per-view posters. Those are super cool. 

This box provided a nice array and some new and definitely unique additions to my wrestling card collection. Who knew there were so many WWF oddball cards in the mid-90s? The WCW Impel cards I could've lived without but still, if I can complete the set, I'll probably binder it up but it's not a priority. Hope everyone enjoys the wrestling this weekend!

Wacky Wrestling VHS Boxes #9: Another WrestleMania Edition

It's WrestleMania Sunday and you know what that means .... time once again for a trip back in the time machine to look at some old WWF VHS boxes! I found a bunch more scans online and picked out a bunch more of WrestleMania VHS covers to examine. 

WrestleMania 2 (1986)

Scan credit: VHS Wasteland

I know I actually used to own this tape sometime back in the early 2000s but I can't remember exactly when. It had to have been around 2001 because I clearly remember making a homemade VHS cover for my copy of WrestleMania 17 I taped off pay-per-view based on this box. Anyway, when I first watched this show, I thought it was kind of boring but it's a show that has definitely grown on me.

The unique thing about this show is that it's the first (and only) time that the WWF broadcast a show on pay-per-view from three different venues. I always thought that the first half of the show is pretty dull with all the undercard matches from the New York being four minutes or less and the Roddy Piper vs. Mr. T boxing match being pretty boring, but the matches got better starting with the NFL vs. WWF battle royal in Chicago and the British Bulldogs vs. Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake match, which seems to get overlooked at lot. The LA portion has some really fun matches with Ricky Steamboat against Hercules, The Funk Brothers against Tito Santana and the Junk Yard Dog, and, of course, the main event of Hulk Hogan against King Kong Bundy, which I always thought was a bit of an odd choice.

WrestleMania IV (1988)

Scan credit: The Canadian Collection

I don't know why, but there's something I've always kind of liked about this particular WrestleMania. Maybe it's the setting in the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City (called Trump Plaza by the WWF), maybe it the funky opening graphic with the casino slot machine, maybe it's the fact it's got a little bit of everything from a 16-man tournament, to a battle royal, to completely random undercard bouts. It's just a fun show to watch. This being the first WWF show that was nearly four hours long, when it was released it was split into two tapes, and look at that price ... $59.95 for two tapes? Sign me up! Plus, how could you not love the fact there was a pop-up Hulk Hogan in the middle of the case. Don't believe me?

Scan Credit: The Canadian Collection

I rented this show when I was a kid from the local Blockbuster Video and I remember being fascinated with the show. So much, in fact, that I built a set and an entrance ramp out of K-NEX toys for my wrestling figures. In the realm of the WWF, this show started the year-long Mega Powers storyline with Randy Savage winning the tournament to capture the WWF Championship with the help of Hulk Hogan. Over the next year, the two teamed together with the seeds of jealousy slowing being sewn here and there. Finally, near the beginning of 1989, on an episode of Saturday Night's Main Event if I'm not mistaken, Savage turned heel and attacked Hogan in the locker room as Hogan was looking after and injured Miss Elizabeth in the locker room. Savage's attack on Hogan cemented him a a bona-fide heel which led into the main event of WrestleMania V. Speaking of which ...

WrestleMania V (1989)

Scan Credit: The Canadian Collection

As much as I like WrestleMania IV, that's how much I really don't like WrestleMania V. From the first shot inside the arena, it feels like it's just a hand-me-down show. To start with, it's held in the exact same venue as the year before and, something I don't think anyone else has ever picked up on, they used the exact same banners but just put tape over the "I" in IV. To me, that just sort of screams low rent. The card itself has a ton of random undercard matches, but there are a few decent ones including a fun Rockers vs. Twin Towers match, the first in the Ultimate Warrior/Rick Rude series which would carry on through the summer, and Owen Hart's first WrestleMania match as the Blue Blazer against Mr. Perfect.

The box itself is a mystery to me too. The front is a full-bleed design with barely a mention of Coliseum Video, except for the lower left corner. It's also a normal sized box at a time when Coliseum Video was putting all it's tapes out in oversized boxes. I always though that was kind of strange as everything before and after was in the oversized boxes (except for WrestleMania IV but that was two tapes long) up until late 1992. The front has a generic fire background with Hogan and Randy Savage and the back is pretty basic with a black background, the WrestleMania logo and the long list of all the matches on the show. I remember watching this when I first rented it and it felt interminable and it still does to this day. It ranks second on my list of worst WrestleManias, just ahead of WrestleMania XI.

WrestleMania IX (1993)

Scan Credit: The Canadian Collection

I think this show gets a lot of unnecessary grief but if you sit down and watch it and actually give it a chance, then it's not a bad show at all. Sure, it's cheesy with the Roman coliseum get-up, announcers dressed in togas, and other wacky stuff, but there are some pretty fun matches, especially the Headshrinkers vs. Steiners match, the WWF debut of Jim Ross on commentary (and the banter between him an Bobby Heenan is great), and it's got Bret Hart's first WWF Championship match at WrestleMania. The thing that makes a lot of people mad though at the end of this show is the fact that Hulk Hogan swoops in at the end of the show and beats Yokozuna in 90 seconds in an impromptu match to win the WWF title. That doesn't really bother me though as this is a fun show I really enjoy watching from time to time.

Let's look at the box though, the front is all kinds of crazy with Caesar's Palace in the background, representing the bright lights of Las Vegas, Bret Hart and Yokozuna because they face each other in the main event, Brutus Beefcake and Hulk Hogan because their in the co-main event, and ... Jimmy Hart? Not sure what warrants him being on the cover but oh well. The back is about what you would expect from a WWF tape with the match listing and some studio photos. One match that's listed that didn't take place is Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Kamala, which is a shame as I would've liked to have seen that.

WrestleMania XV (1999)

Scan Credit: The Canadian Collection

Normally I try to keep these posts in the Coliseum Video era but this particular show is special for me as it's the first wrestling pay-per-view event I ever ordered. It was the spring of 1999 and I was at the tail end of eight grade. I remember always asking my mom if I could order a pay-per-view show. Eventually, she said I could but I would owe her the price of the show, which was $30. I agreed and I ordered the show. To me, it was a new experience as I had never seen any pay-per-view event before let alone a wrestling show.

The main draw on this show was definitely Austin vs. Rock. It was the first meeting ever between the two and it had all the appeal of the Mega Powers a generation before, the two top names in the company battling it out for the top prize in the industry. Sure, there were parts of the show I was disappointed in such as the Undertaker vs Big Boss Man Hell in a Cell match and Big Show's first match for the WWF on pay-per-view but overall, I enjoyed the show and to this day it's a show I still like to revisit from time to time just to bring back the thrill of seeing my first pay-per-view all over again.

That wraps up another edition of Wacky Wrestling VHS Boxes. I know I focused more on nostalgia this time around that the actual VHS boxes themselves but sometimes this stuff just writes itself. WrestleMania this year looks like a really interesting show. I haven't had time to watch a lot of Raw and Smackdown leading into it but I've been checking out the highlights and I'm pretty excited. With the return of Daniel Bryan, the debut of Ronda Rousey, A.J. Styles fighting Shinsuke Nakamura, and Roman Reigns battling Brock Lesnar (again), it should be a fun show.

Enjoy WrestleMania everyone!

Wacky Wrestling VHS Boxes #8

It's Royal Rumble day! Hooray!

This means it's time again for another go around with some old school wrestling VHS boxes. I'd put this series on hiatus last year because I ran out of tapes to scan. While I have yet to add any new tapes to the collection, I did manage to find some good quality scans of tape covers online, so that's what this edition will consist of. I'll give full credit of where the scan came from in the caption.

In this particular edition, since it's Royal Rumble day and since the event turns 30 today, I thought there'd be nothing better than to look at some old Royal Rumble covers. I've gotten covers from most of the early Rumbles except for 1988 (which was never released on video) and 1992 (sadly, I couldn't find a good scan of the front and back cover anywhere).

WWF Royal Rumble 1989

Scan credit: The Canadian Collection

This was the first Royal Rumble event broadcast on pay-per-view and the first one with 30 participants. The prior year it was shown on the USA Network and only featured 20 entrants. I just re-watched this recently and it was a decent show, nothing special, but the Rumble match told a good story throughout. I also liked the six-man tag match and the Haku vs. Harley Race match, which got cut out of the VHS release. I hadn't actually seen this box since I rented the tape ages and ages ago from a place called West Coast Video, which had the largest wrestling selection in town. I got the tape, took it back to my grandparents house, and popped it in the VCR in the basement. That was the last time I saw this show until recently. As a matter of fact, I think that was the last tape I ever rented from that store as I'm pretty sure it closed shortly after.

WWF Royal Rumble 1990

Scan credit: VHS Wasteland

The Royal Rumble was starting to finally find it's feet by this time and 1990 was an interesting show, especially with the underneath matches. It's probably best remembered, at least by hardcore wrestling fans, for the excellent submission match between Ronnie Garvin and Greg Valentine. It also had a memorable face-off between Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior that teased their match against each other at WrestleMania 6. Also, there's a very unfamiliar voice on commentary as long-time WCW announcer Tony Schiavone called the action with Jesse Ventura. Schiavone would wrap up his WWF run soon after and head back to WCW.

WWF Royal Rumble 1991

Scan Credit: VHS Wasteland

Here we have a very strong contender for one of my favorite VHS covers of a wrestling tape ever. I mean, just look at it. How could you not call this a work of art. You've got every major star of the time rumbling down a dark alley in search of a fight. It has a very gritty, almost gang warfare aspect to it. The back though, isn't as impressive with the matches and some studio shots of the wrestlers. The design on the front though was so amazing that it was brought back the next year (1992) and ten years later (2001). It should be noted as well that the tape did not contain "each and every exciting match" as the Koko B. Ware vs. Mountie match was cut out for time. It did, however, contain the awesome opening tag match between the Rockers and the Orient Express and the historic WWF Championship change when Sgt. Slaughter beat Ultimate Warrior to set up Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter at WrestleMania VII.

WWF Royal Rumble 1993

Scan Credit: The Canadian Collection

The WWF in 1993 was in the midst of change from the Hulk Hogan era to the New Generation era. I remember the first time I watched this particular event, I didn't really like it and to be honest, I found the Rumble match kind of boring. However, this show has really grown on me and now when I'm in the mood for a show from this time period, I tend to put this on. While the Rumble match on this show is still a bit boring and predictable, the undercard is what really makes this show shine with an awesome Steiner Brothers vs Beverly Brothers match, a really good Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty match, a fun match between Big Boss Man and Bam Bam Bigelow (in what was Boss Man's final WWF pay-per-view until 1998) and a good Bret Hart vs. Razor Ramon match. This was also the last pay-per-view that Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan would call together and it was the last one  where Monsoon himself was the lead play-by-play announcer for the company as he would be replaced by Jim Ross at WrestleMania.

WWF Royal Rumble 1994

Scan Credit: The Canadian Collection

I'll wrap up this post with one of the most memorable shows (and not in a good way) of the mid-90s. This is the show most remembered for two things. First, the goofy "levitation" of the Undertaker after he was beaten by about 12 of the most random collection of heels, or bad guys, in the company. Then, there was the whole co-winner of debacle at the end of the Rumble match itself where Bret Hart and Lex Luger supposedly both touched the ground at the same time. It was a bad ending for a bad show. The box art however, kind of makes up for it with the pretty fun cartoonish drawing of everyone just battling each other. The background kind of looks like their coming out of a TV as well. Just a really fun cover for a really interesting time period.

Well, that does it for this round of VHS boxes. Hope everyone enjoys the Royal Rumble tonight and the first "double Rumble" in WWE history with both a men's and a women's Rumble match. Hopefully, I'll be able to find enough scans to continue this series as it's really one of my favorites to write.

Wacky Wrestling VHS Boxes #7

It's Royal Rumble day! You know what that means, it's time for another round of Wacky Wrestling VHS Boxes. These are the last of the scans of the tapes that I have in my collection so if I continue this on, it'll be pictures I've found via the internet.

Super Slams (1995)

This is one of those tapes that was released by someone other than Coliseum Video. While they produced the tape, it wasn't released by them. Regardless, these tapes always had some interesting matches and were always an easy watch since they clocked in at just around 60 minutes each. This particular tape has a pretty interesting match with Undertaker vs. Tatanka and Jeff Jarrett facing Adam Bomb. The front of the box is pretty cool with the big action shot of Jeff Jarrett getting tossed into the ropes. The back though is pretty bland with just some text and a few stills.

Global Warfare (1993)

I bought this tape long ago right off the shelf at the local Family Video, one of the few video chains still in existence. A friend and I were killing some time one day so we decided to stop in just to browse around. The place was empty aside from the guy working the desk. As we looked around, I noticed a section with a ton of VHS for rent. There was a sticker on it that said ($2.99 rental/$5.99 purchase). I had no interest in renting it as I was probably never going to go back so I just decided to buy it outright. I've watched the tape a few times since then. It's not the best tape in the world but it does have a pretty fun match between Mr. Perfect and Samu. The whole theme of the tape is that it's matches filmed around the world with songwriting tips in between each match from Jimmy Hart, which I could do without.

UFC 18: Road to the Heavyweight Title (1999)

I know this isn't a WWF tape but it didn't feel right to leave this out so I decided to include it here. I picked this up for a mere two bucks from the awesome used DVD/video/game store next to Maverick's card shop in Dayton. This is from a pretty dark period in UFC history, as they had been kicked off all major cable outlets completely due to the perceived brutality of the events and were only available if you had satellite. This was part of the "Road to the Heavyweight Title" series in which UFC determined a new Heavyweight Champion after Randy Couture vacated the belt. Quite a few big names including Pat Miletich, Tito Ortiz, Mark Coleman, and Pedro Rizzo competed on the card. It also featured Bas Rutten making his debut in the United States dispatching Tsuyoshi Kosaka via TKO.

In Your House: Ground Zero (1997)

I could be wrong on this but I believe this was the first tape that WWF distributed in house, without using Coliseum Video. By this time, Coliseum Video was starting to be phased out with the final Coliseum releases coming in November of 1997. This tape was never released in stores to the best of my knowledge and was only available by ordering through the WWF magazine. The card on this wasn't too impressive either, with Bret Hart defending the WWF title against the Patriot, a four way tag match for the Tag Team titles, and a Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker main event which was probably the best match on the whole show.

Bashed in the USA (1993)

I found this tape buried in a bin of miscellaneous stuff one day while doing some cleaning and organizing. I haven't watched it in years but I would really like to watch it someday. Maybe when I have some downtime, I'll fire up the VCR and pop this in. The line up looks pretty interesting with  a 40-man battle royal, Razor Ramon vs. Big Boss Man, and a pretty wild six-man tag. I'm not sure what the title of the tape has to do with anything though, perhaps it was released around the 4th of July? Not sure.

That does it for this round of Wacky Wrestling VHS boxes. While I've run out of tapes in my personal collection, I might continue this series provided I can find pictures of some interesting VHS boxes online. Enjoy the Rumble everyone!