WWE: The Monday Night War: Volume 2 - Know Your Role Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

WWE: The Monday Night War: Volume 2 - Know Your Role Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman September 15, 2015

WWE Home Video is pushing its "Monday Night War" releases rather hard, and for good reason. Not only does volume two arrive a mere two months after the first -- practically no time at all in the world of home video releases -- but it's just as packed as the original, too. Not content to rest on the brand, the popularity of the era, and a big old picture of The People's Champ on the cover and simply fill a few discs with Monday Night War matches, WWE Home Video has instead created a set that's just as comprehensive as the first, offering three discs worth of lengthy and insightful documentary storytelling that's perhaps a little more focused than the first in terms of getting down into some of the nitty-gritty details but certainly no less entertaining and informative. Simply put, there's no better way to dive, and dive deeply, into professional wrestling's most storied era, where its best performers, its most groundbreaking innovations, its most important evolutions, and best example of pure entertainment reside.

Winning

At around 10 hours in length, there's an avalanche of information to be found throughout volume two. Narrator Keith David, with the help of recently minted interviews and hours upon hours of vintage highlights from the Monday Night Wars, pieces together the intimately detailed story of the battle for ratings supremacy that played out every Monday night between Vince McMahon's long-established WWE (then WWF) wrestling powerhouse and the upstart WCW, funded by broadcasting mogul Ted Turner and his endlessly deep pockets. Volume two examines characters and key moments from the wars, including Chris Jericho's WWE debut, which marked a key defection for WWE that had seen seemingly countless superstars leave for the more lucrative pastures of WCW. The piece looks at the importance of cruiserweight wrestlers in the shadow of the larger-than-life figures who dominated the WCW and the rise of female wrestlers known as "Divas." The rise of the more extreme and independently minded ECW as a third option comes into play, as does both Paul Heyman's influence on the wrestling landscape and the WWE's transition from cartoonish entertainment to the more serious, more rowdy goings-on in what would become the The Attitude Era. The feature looks more closely at several stars and crossover athlete appearances, including Chris Jericho, The Rock, The Kliq, D-Generation X Dennis Rodman, Karl Malone, and Mike Tyson. The feature winds down with a detailed look inside the WCW's demise and WWE's victory in the Monday Night Wars.

Monday Night War Vol. 2: Know Your Role boasts a quick pace and a seemingly endless pool of information, and it comes in waves, not drops. While there's a bit of repeating both between volumes one and two and within some of the segments in volume two itself, crossover information is only presented to help set the stage or better define a person or key moment. This is a complex, richly detailed journey that boasts high end production values -- particularly under Keith David's pitch-perfect verbal guidance -- and, for wrestling fans, oodles of must-see moments that aren't fit for simply reliving the Monday Night Wars, but seeing them in a whole new light and learning new secrets, tricks of the trade, and the inside baseball that played out beyond the squared circle. The film is presented in a storytelling manner that's more than David and vintage video but also a plethora of professional wrestling talent to color the journey. Interviewees include, amongst many more, The Rock, Christian, Chris Jericho, The Miz, CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, JBL, Daniel Bryan, Booker T, and Hulk Hogan.

The Following segments and sub-segments comprise Monday Night War Vol. 1: Shots Fired (Note that each segment ends with a recap with Eric Bischoff).

Disc One:

Monday Night Jericho (57:37)

• Humble Beginnings
• Cruiserweight Division
• Creating a Character
• Countdown to the Millennium
• Lone Wolf
• Breaking Into the Main Event

The War Gets Extreme (57:34)

• Eastern Championship Wrestling
• Taking It to the Extreme
• Talent Raids
• ECW Comes to Pay-Per-View
• WWE Ushers in the Attitude Era
• Financial Struggles

The War Gets Electrified (1:00:48)

• Samoan Lineage
• Rocky Maivia
• Rocky Sucks
• People's Champion
• Corporate Champion
• Rock N Sock
• Hollywood

Divas Gone Wild (53:45)

• Special Attraction
• Alundra Blayze
• Birth of the Divas
• Divas Get Attitude
• Rebirth of the Women's Championship
• Stephanie McMahon
• Lita vs. Trish Stratus

Disc Two:

The War Goes Mainstream (59:03)

• Hulk Hogan's Influence
• Reality Based Television
• Dennis Rodman
• Mike Tyson
• WCW Goes Late Night
• Pop Culture Explosion

Building an Army (1:00:02)

• More Than a One-Man Show
• WCW Assembles Their Roster
• New Generation
• Faction Warfare
• Breakout Stars
• Creative Control
• Big Show Jumps Ship
• Decline in Programming

The Kliq (59:05)

• Bonds Begin to Form
• Triple H Comes Onboard
• Locker Room Heat
• Curtain Call
• Outsiders Defect to WCW
• The Formation of D-Generation X
• A New Leader Emerges
• Enduring Legacy

Disc Three:

Mistakes on the Battlefield (59:56)

• Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair
• Eric Bischoff's New Direction
• Ric Flair's Diminished Role
• Becoming One of the Boys
• "We Want Flair!"
• Fatal Mistakes

The Fall of WCW (1:01:53)

• The Rise of WCW
• Russo RAW
• Standards and Practices
• Vince Russo Joins WCW
• Radicalz
• Reset Button
• Bash at the Beach
• Acquisition

Life After Wartime (1:01:18)

• The War Begins
• Management Changes
• Mr. McMahon Purchases WCW
• The Final Nitro
• Invasion
• nWo Comes to WWE
• Eric Bischoff -- RAW General Manager
• Then, Now, Forever

WWE: The Monday Night War: Volume 2 - Know Your Role Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Monday Night War Vol. 2: Know Your Role's 1080p transfer is virtually indistinguishable from that seen on volume one. The image features the same fluctuation in quality between the HD interview clips. Some are naturally sharp, some unnaturally sharper, some are softer and a bit murky, and some suffer from bad green screen highlighting. Colors are largely satisfactory but do waver between crisply vibrant and a bit dull. Light-to-moderate noise, banding, macroblocking, and other maladies interfere. The vintage material has been reformatted to fit the 1.78:1 display, sacrificing original content integrity to match up with the HD interviews and fill the HD TV screen. Fortunately, the images don't appear to suffer from unbearable stretching. The older clips, upconverted to 1080i, suffer from a myriad of technical flaws associated with the material that cannot be remedied with a mere upconversion. The score reflects only the newer HD material.

WWE: The Monday Night War: Volume 2 - Know Your Role Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Much like its video counterpart, Monday Night War Vol. 2: Know Your Role's Dolby Digital 5.1 lossless soundtrack cannot be distinguished from the previous release. Both programs follow the exact same formula, with the same narration and the same mixture of old and new audio elements. Narration and interview clips sustain the program, both presenting well enough with strong vocal clarity and natural center placement. Older clips from ringside commentary or vintage interviews see a little drop off in raw quality, but that's to be expected. Support elements like music and in-ring ambience are presented well enough though almost always give way to the dominant dialogue elements.

WWE: The Monday Night War: Volume 2 - Know Your Role Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Monday Night War Vol. 2: Know Your Role contains the following bonuses, all on disc three and located under the "Blu-ray Exclusives" tab.

• Paul Heyman Calls into the Show (1080i, 3:07): LiveWire -- October 5, 1996.
• Hulk Hogan WCW Contract Signing Parade (1080i, 13:14): June 1994.
• Stone Cold Steve Austin & Mike Tyson Q&A (1080i, 17:51): Post-WrestleMania XIV Press Conference -- March 29, 1998.
• Dennis Rodman & Hollywood Hogan vs. Karl Malone & DDP Contract Signing (1080i, 16:24): Bash at the Beach Press Conference -- June 18, 1998.
• Scott Steiner Thinks WCW Sucks (1080i, 10:03): Nitro -- February 7, 2000.
• ECW World Heavyweight Championship Match (1080i, 3:02): Mike Awesome vs. Tazz. ECW on TNN -- April 14, 2000.

WWE: The Monday Night War: Volume 2 - Know Your Role Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Monday Night War Vol. 2: Know Your Role is a direct continuation of the previous Monday Night Wars release. It follows the same structure and continues with an awe-inspiring amount of content. This is essentially the second half of what is a 20-hour documentary on the most influential and entertaining era in professional wrestling's storied history. It's very well done, endlessly engaging, and quickly paced even considering its sheer bulk. Technically, this package is practically identical to the last. It's fine for what it is and WWE Home Video has put content first, and rightly so. Highly recommended.