Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

WWE: Very Best of Nitro Vol. 3 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 13, 2015

The WWE may have won the Monday Night Wars, but that doesn't mean Vince McMahon's sports entertainment outfit has swept the past under the rug. On the contrary, the WCW -- and to a lesser extent the ECW -- have been kept alive in a number of ways, not the least of which has been by way of a barrage of home video releases reflecting on Ted Turner's competing organization. Whether releases covering individual Superstars like Goldberg and Sting who served in the WCW for most of their careers, remembering the brand-switching antiheroes from the nWo, or highlighting the very best of WCW's Pay-Per-View, Clash of the Champions, and War Games matches, the WCW has been no stranger to the barrage of wrestling retrospective releases that have inundated the recent home video market. But perhaps greatest amongst these has been the highlight show retrospectives covering the WCW's flagship Monday Nitro program, the bread-and-butter combatant in the Monday Night Wars that went up directly against the competing RAW. Though largely a match and moment compilation with various bits of insights scattered around, the previous Nitro release impressed with its breadth of selection and countless hours of retro wrestling fun (volume one is still conspicuously absent on Blu-ray). Can a third volume possibly have anything left to offer? Of course!

Stay down!

Nitro ran around 5.5 years, plenty of time to amass a high yield selection of fantastic content that still holds up today. And considering the star power that only seemed to grow and grow until the WCW bubble finally burst, there was talent to spare and no shortage of familiar names and faces to fill up several more volumes. Volume three sees the return of WCW Superstar Diamond Dallas Page serving as host, proclaiming that, even after advocating for the previously released second volume, he's surprised -- but thrilled -- to be back for round three. Structurally, the program offers much of the same. Classic WCW matches and moments populate a long list (see below) of included full-length highlights. Context can be a little sparse, but DDP returns every now and then to offer a few insights into what's been seen and what's to come. The collection moves quickly and proves largely entertaining, featuring an incredible array of talent -- most of which will be recognizable to wrestling fans who may not have been paying attention way back when (has it really been 15 years?) -- and, of course, terrific wrestling and sports entertainment moments that together make for a treasure trove of wrestling goodness.

The Following matches and moments comprise Very Best of Nitro Vol. 3:

Disc One:

• If Luger Loses, He Must Leave WCW: Lex Luger vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Nitro -- October 2, 1995.
• WCW Television Championship Match: Johnny B. Badd vs. Eddie Guerrero. Nitro -- November 13, 1995.
• Nitro Match: Sting vs. Diamond Dallas Page. Nitro -- January 6, 1996.
• WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match: Ric Flair vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Nitro -- January 22, 1996.
• Nitro Match: Sister Sherri vs. Madusa. Nitro -- January 29, 1996.
• Nitro Match: Sting vs. Rick Steiner. Nitro -- December 2, 1996.
• Nitro Moment: The New World Order Kicks Out The Giant. Nitro -- December 30, 1996.
• Nitro Moment: DDP Chases "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Nitro -- March 17, 1997.
• Nitro Match: Lex Luger vs. Kevin Nash. Nitro -- April 14, 1997.
• Nitro Match: The Giant & Diamond Dallas Page vs. Harlem Heat. Nitro -- May 5, 1997.
• WCW Cruiserweight Championship Match: Chris Jericho vs. Juventud Guerrera. Nitro -- June 30, 1997.
• Nitro Match: Scott Steiner vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Nitro -- July 28, 1997.
• WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match: The Outsiders vs. Diamond Dallas Page & Lex Luger. Nitro -- August 18, 1997.
• Nitro Match: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Stevie Richards. Nitro -- September 25, 1997.
• Nitro Moment: nWo Takes Over Monday Nitro. Nitro -- December 22, 1997.
• Nitro Match: Eddie Guerrero & Chris Jericho vs. Chavo Guerrero & Dean Malenko. Nitro -- February 9, 1998.
• Nitro Moment: nWo Attempts to Recruit Rick Steiner. Nitro -- March 2, 1998.
• Nitro Moment: The Giant Tosses Scott Hall in a Pool. Nitro -- March 16, 1998.
• Nitro Match: Juventud Guerrera vs. Billy Kidman. Nitro -- May 11, 1998.
• WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match: Hollywood Hulk Hogan vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Nitro -- May 11, 1998.
• Nitro Moment: Lex Luger Joins The Wolfpac. Nitro -- May 25, 1998.
• Nitro Moment: Hollywood Hulk Hogan Calls Out Karl Malone & DDP. Nitro -- June 29, 1998.
• Nitro Match: Billy Kidman vs. Scott Hall. Nitro -- September 28, 1998.
• Nitro Match: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Kanyon. Nitro -- October 5, 1998.
• Nitro Moment: Bret "Hit Man" Hart Challenges DDP. Nitro -- December 14, 1998.
• Triangle Match: Goldberg vs. Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Kevin Nash. Nitro -- December 14, 1998.

Disc Two:

• Nitro Match: Bret "Hit Man" Hart vs. Booker T. Nitro -- February 22, 1999.
• Nitro Match: Goldberg vs. Ric Flair. Nitro -- March 8, 1999.
• Nitro Match: Hollywood Hulk Hogan vs. Diamond Dallas Page. Nitro -- March 29, 1999.
• Nitro Match: Sting vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Nitro -- June 7, 1999.
• Hardcore Match: Hak vs. Rick Steiner. Nitro -- June 14, 1999.
• Nitro Match: Hollywood Hulk Hogan & Sting vs. Kevin Nash & Sid Vicious. Nitro -- July 26, 1999.
• New York Evening Gown Match: Madusa vs. Mona. Nitro -- October 18, 1999.
• WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match: Sting vs. Bret "Hit Man" Hart. Nitro -- October 18, 1999.
• Texas Tornado Ladder Match for the United States Championship with Special Guest Referee Kevin Nash: Scott Hall vs. Sid Vicious vs. Bret "Hit Man" Hart vs. Goldberg. Nitro -- November 8, 1999.
• WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match: Jeff Jarrett vs. Bret "Hit Man" Hart. Nitro -- November 22, 1999.
• Texas Tornado Tag Team Match: Sting & Vampiro vs. Lex Luger & Ric Flair. Nitro -- March 27, 2000.
• WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match: Booker T vs. Mike Awesome. Nitro -- July 10, 2000.
• Triple Threat Match for the WCW Tag Team Titles: Three Count vs. Jung Dragons vs. Mark Jindrak & Sean O'Haire. Nitro -- November 6, 2000.
• Nitro Match: Booker T & Diamond Dallas Page vs. Scott Steiner & Rick Steiner. Nitro -- March 5, 2001.

WWE: Very Best of Nitro Vol. 3 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Very Best of Nitro Vol. 3 features the typical WWE Blu-ray presentation. The bulk of the material is comprised of matches and moments -- all from the SD era and here upconverted to 1080i -- presented in their original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, flanked on the 1.78:1 display by vertical bars themed here to look like steel plates. The footage holds up well, as does most material from this late 90s/early 2000s era, offering satisfactory coloring and details and not an overload of distracting issues. But the image is graded only on its newly minted HD footage, of which there is very little. The Diamond Dallas Page segments are simple but yield high end detail on clothing, faces, and the few WCW logos and materials placed across the background. Black levels are attractively deep, though Page's black pants often threaten to blend into the black background. Colors -- mostly fiery red and orange accents -- are adequately vibrant. A few older SD moments are reformatted to 1.78:1 during DDP's segments, but the main program material, as noted above, does remain untouched.

WWE: Very Best of Nitro Vol. 3 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

With only old footage and dialogue-only new material, Very Best of Nitro Vol. 3's soundtrack needs are limited, and the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack serve it well enough. Diamond Dallas Page's interludes are delivered clearly and naturally with firm and effortless center placement. Vintage clips of in-ring action, ringside commentary, and other examples of the spoken word might lack the precision nuance of the DDP footage but always play with basic intelligibility on their side. Crowd chants, music, and in-ring action effects lack the precision, spacing, and immersion of newer material but present nicely enough.

WWE: Very Best of Nitro Vol. 3 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Very Best of Nitro Vol. 3 contains several bonus matches and moment on disc two under the "Blu-ray Exclusives" tab.

• WCW Tag Team Championship Match: Scott Hall vs. The Steiner Brothers. Nitro -- October 13, 1997.
• Nitro Moment: Ric Flair Confronts Bret "Hit Man" Hart. Nitro -- January 5, 1998.
• Nitro Match: Kanyon vs. Raven. Nitro -- July 6, 1998.
• WCW United States Championship Match: Bret "Hit Man" Hart vs. Lex Luger. Nitro -- August 10, 1998.
• Nitro Match: Bret "Hit Man" Hart vs. Lex Luger. Nitro -- September 28, 1998.
• Nitro Moment: nWo Wolfpac Flips nWo Hollywood's Limo. Nitro -- October 5, 1998.
• WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match: Jeff Jarrett vs. Sting. Nitro -- May 8, 2000.
• Four Corners Match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Jeff Jarrett vs. Scott Steiner vs. Kevin Nash vs. Goldberg. Nitro -- June 26, 2000.

WWE: Very Best of Nitro Vol. 3 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Very Best of Nitro Vol. 3 doesn't break the mold but rather offers more of the same. In this case, that's a good thing. It's a no-frills release that sees only a handful of DDP interludes in-between matches and moments. The narrative, then, is a little sketchy, and even with DDP there's not a ton of context, but the good news is that the material is generally strong enough to carry itself, whether in-ring action or zany scenarios. WWE Home Video hasn't done anything special with the set, settling for the basic nuts-and-bolts approach, but it works well enough, even as it's more suited to the longtime and hardcore wrestling fan who is more familiar not necessarily with the names and faces -- many of these figures transcend their era -- but rather the details of the time in which they wrestled. Video and audio qualities satisfy requirements, and a handful of extra moments and matches are slapped onto disc two. Recommended.