Tag Archives: WCW

My Holy Grail, Electronic WCW Monday Nitro Arena Found

Everyone has that one piece that is missing from their personal collection. You might have seen it once or twice in the wild or maybe it’s overpriced… For me that was the Electronic WCW Monday Nitro Arena from ToyBiz.

I got this wrestling ring for Christmas back in 2001, if I recall correctly. I remember using it as my main ring for my BCA figs. I just loved the whole look to the stage and if you had a Sting figure you could lower him in the ring.

Like some things from childhood they just disappear, sold at an yard sale, or thrown away. I have no idea what happened to my original ring.

When I started to seriously collect some of my favorite childhood wrestling merch the WCW Monday Nitro Arena was on the top of my list. And when I came searching the price everyone wanted for a complete in box was around $300-$400 and an incomplete or loose ring juggled in price from $100-$150 those online prices was to pricy for me and I didn’t want to hunt around trying to complete it.

While going through my saved searches on eBay and buying WWF Hasbro figs I came across a listing for the Nitro Arena – complete in box for under $200 and I couldn’t pass this opportunity up to have this ring in my collection.

Three weeks later… Thanks to the doofus taking his time shipping it out, I can now put this white whale to rest.

As the listing said, it’s complete in box. The box itself has minor damage but I’m fine with that and it did come with every piece. I’m so happy to have this wrestling ring in my collection, it brings back so many fun memories when I used to play with my figs in the living room.

With all that being said, checkout my unboxing…

Living the #FigLife Top 5 WWE Mattel Action Figures

I been buying and collecting wrestling action figures since the LJN era. My collection of JAKKS I’m very proud of but backed off when I found out Mattel took over the WWE license and thought I might as well stop with JAKKS because I really don’t want to rebuy all these figures over again… Until I bought my first Mattel and I was hooked once again. My first figure came from WWE Legends Series 5 with Macho Man Randy Savage. JAKKS never had a Savage figure and I couldn’t pass him up!

These are my Top Five favorite WWE Mattel action figures.

5. Becky Lynch (Elite 49)

I’ve always been 50/50 on Lynch but came around a year ago. I picked up her Elite 49 figure on clearance, it just looks good. She has her steampunk top hat, goggles and duster.

4. Razor Ramon (WrestleMania 32 Basic)

When I was looking for a Razor there’s a Defining Moments figure with purple ring gear, but I wasn’t looking to get anything fancy. So I found a basic with black and gold ring gear which to me is the classic Razor look. Sure he didn’t come with a vest but still a nice figure to add to my Kliq/New Generation Era collection.

3. D’Lo Brown (Elite 52)

D’Lo was my favorite wrestler in the Nation and he’s a bit underrated, he’s one of a few people in the Attitude Era that wasn’t named Hardy doing high flying moves. The Elite 52 figure is spot on, down to the protective vest.

2. Dusty Rhodes (Target Exclusive)

I skipped on buying WWE Legends Series 1 Dusty Rhodes to buy Randy Savage, years later when Target had Rhodes packaged with the WCW ring I couldn’t pass it up. Rhodes was in his NWA era ring attire with the big gold belt and by this time I was already three rings deep and having one more couldn’t hurt. But it’s the classic Dusty that I like about the figure. Cowboy ring boots, birthmark and one elbow pad. Classic!

1. Bret Hart (Defining Moments 5)

I gotta have my all time favorite wrestler. This figure is from In Your House: Canadian Stampede. Everything about this figure is awesome, he comes with a Canadian flag, sunglasses, and a leather jacket with the Hitman skull logo on the back. Everything you need to make a perfect Bret Hart figure.

Who’s Next? At this point Mattel is making everyone, as of this year X-PAC has four figures floating around and one of them is Syxx from his WCW run. But I really want to see a Gorilla Monsoon figure because Bobby Heenan has a figure out and one on the way, and I need a Prime Time Wrestling duo. Another figure I would buy is Haku in his King of the Ring attire.

And now a word from Lawrence of The Awesome 80’s Podcast on his top 3 favorite wrestling action figures.

Thanks Doiner for including me in this column. I was a hardcore collector from 1990-2005. Although I do have some of the early WWF figures they didn’t capture my heart at the time. After I was collecting for a few years I stopped opening all figures and kept them in their packaging. If I really wanted to open one I would buy doubles but even then I found I would have a tough time allowing myself to open the package. I found I got more joy out of holding the unopened package and looking at them than I did playing with an opened one.

If anyone is looking for gift ideas I have always regretted opening the 1990 WCW set and am willing to take donations of any of those figures. Enjoy my Top 3 list below and feel free to comment about your favorites. My favorites are all about sentimental value and not which ones looked the coolest or had the best moves.

3. Shawn Michaels (Road to WrestleMania 22 – Series 1)

Shawn Michaels as Hulk. This figure makes me laugh and reminds me of the promo HBK delivered right before their 2005 Summer Slam match where Shawn over sold everything and made Hulk look like an asshole. If you haven’t watched this match or haven’t watched it in a while as a wrestling fan you owe it to yourself to check it out.

2. Mick Foley’s Triple Threat

I was a huge Foley mark since his 1991 WCW run. So I was the worst to be around when he was at his peak in WWF from 1998-2002. I loved everything Foley did and I wasn’t shy about telling everyone I saw. When this set got released I was full on mark mode. It is of course still sitting in my collection, unopened.

1. Jim Ross (Ringside Collection Series 2)

I was also a big JR mark. This is my #1 because I searched for over 6 months to find this figure. Every Wal*Mart or Toys R Us I passed I had to stop to try to find it. The fleeting moment of joy I had when I found it and held it in my hands was a euphoric feeling for all of 10 seconds. I have four of this figures currently sitting in my basement you guessed it all unopened. Special shout out to my college girlfriend who also had to stop at everyone of those Wal*Mart’s, Toys R Us and oh ya I forgot we also stopped at every K B Toy stores.

Honorable mention to the WCW 1990 set. This was the first set that I hardcore collected. I still have the entire set in my collection but I opened them all to book shows using the WCW ring I had. Special shout out to the spring loaded ring platform.

Official Cover Artwork For WWE Diamond Dallas Page: Positively Living’ Blu-Ray

Synopsis

At age 35, DDP attempted to become a wrestler, something everyone told him was impossible. After years of hard work, DDP ended his career a three-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion.

Since exiting the ring, DDP is now known the world over for his DDP Yoga, a life-changing exercise tool. DDP has mentored both Scott Hall and Jake Roberts to sobriety. A relentless worker with a passion for life, this is the true story of Diamond Dallas Page.

Look for Diamond Dallas Page: Positively Living’ to hit home video on March 21st.

Source: WDNetwork

WWE: Eric Bischoff – Sports Entertainment’s Most Controversial Figure

WWE finally updated their Beyond the Ring section on the WWE Network. There you will find a lot of their home video releases… in other words, home video release I’m not willing to buy.

Starting off the documentary with the intro I got a bad feeling because a lot of the sound bites and footage came from The Monday Night War: WWE Raw vs. WCW Nitro (2004) DVD, so I thought this was going to be a rehash but was I wrong. All new interviews with Eric Bischoff and I was surprised seeing Sonny Onoo being interviewed. But here’s the break down… Majority of the stories from Bischoff running WCW have been told before but there is a couple things that caught my eye. Like Bischoff blaming himself for not bringing up talent and elevate them to the main event level. He was mostly talking about cruiser weights like Jericho, Kidman, Guerrero, Malenko etc. Another point Bischoff made was about the PPV revenue because at the end of the day that money went to Turner Broadcasting and Time Warner and not to WCW.

Overall… I find this documentary okay, because I heard a lot these stories about Bischoff, WCW, and Monday Night War before. A lot of rehashing but it does give you a good history of 90’s wrestling and how WCW beat WWE for like 84 weeks in a row. Just watch it on the WWE Network.