#16 - 5 Coliseum Videos You Should Watch!

I am an avid DVD/VHS collector! I probably spend at least $250 a year in WWE DVD's. Every release that peaks my interest, I buy! If I don't know if they are worthy to buy, I download it and then decide. I watch everything. One thing I am very proud of is my collection of Coliseum Home Videos. For years, I have searched St. John's to find people selling these rare gems. I had a nice collection built but it really took off in 2007 in terms of old school Coliseum Videos.

Our local video store in Bonavista was took over in recent years by the owner's son who changed business models to focus more on computer repair and sales. So this left me waiting for years to get a chance at buying the tapes I had rented so many times as a child. I was actually driving home from work one day and passed the store, Like a sixth sense, I saw a basket outside their store with a recognizable logo on the basket's contents ... They were finally selling off their wrestling tapes!!! With the skill of Stone Cold Steve Austin, I threw my pickup into reverse and pulled into the store's parking lot like a maniac.

The contents was magical ... the first ever Survivor Series, WrestleMania's, Royal Rumbles, and those classic compilation tapes Coliseum Video released. They even had many WCW releases from 1994-1995! I was like a kid in the candy store. I picked up Halloween Havoc 1994 (great card and a tape I watched many of times) and the first Survivor Series (for its historical significance and because I hadn't seen that event in ages)

I can say this much, thank God I was working because every time I had cash in my pocket, I was back at that store building my collection. With a few exceptions, I had my pick of the tapes and I loved it. The VCR will never die in my house because of these great tapes!

Sure, you can download these tapes now off your local torrent site, but there's something extra about picking the tape out of your collection and putting it into the VCR. So that is why I am going to give you five "Coliseum Videos" you should go out of your way to watch and why!

Hope you guys enjoy, have had the chance to watch these releases and hope to hear some comments!

5) Grudges, Gripes and Grunts

A great tape for the era it came from. 1993 was a transitional period in the WWF. Stars leaving and stars debuting seemed to be happening on a regular basis. This tape, until the Macho Man DVD was released in 2009, was the only place to get a superb tag team match... HBK and Ric Flair vs Macho Man and Bret Hart. Also for the Hogan marks, we receive a rare match in the Mega Maniacs (Beefcake and Hogan) in a "tune up match for WrestleMania 9" facing the Beverly Brothers. While it was not a mat classic, it is still cool to see Hogan working with other talents. Also we are given the gem of "Wrestling Lessons with the Steiners". A fun tape to watch, with Macho Man hosting as well

4) WWF World Tour (1989-1990)

Now this tape is fun to watch! We get Hulk Hogan vs Macho Man from Paris, France , Ultimate Warrior vs Ted DiBiase for the WWF Title from Japan (with a rare home video appearance by Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura on commentary) AND a Rougeaus - Rockers match also from Paris. This tape is great for the rarity of the matches as I think the only one re-released by the WWE may have been Warrior and DiBiase, which I think is on WWE Classics Online.

3) The Hart Foundation (1987)

I bought this tape because it was in tremendous shape and in fact, became the oldest tape I own! As I watched this tape, I was greeted with quality match after quality match. I also have something that no other WWE DVD boasts ... The Harts winning their first tag titles! This tape shows us an in depth analysis of the first few months the Harts were champions and their tag team run, which is great to look back on now. This tape also shows Mean Gene visiting the Hart Foundation offices which is hilarious! I recommend this tape to any fan of Bret Hart or that era of pro wrestling. You won't be disappointed!

2) SuperTape (1990)

During the 1980s, the WWF were releasing a series called the Best of the WWF and had numbered them by Volumes. In an effort to only make the name sound better, they started the SuperTape series that went two years. The first volume of this tape was great and had everything you'd look for!

• The tape opens with a hard hitting match between Ronnie Garvin and Mr. Perfect
• Followed by some comedy with Mean Gene trying to find the home of the Bushwhackers and a profile on that tag team * You've probably seen portions of these segments as Gene dresses up like a Bushwhacker which is quite funny
• A Bobby Heenan profile
• More great wrestling between Ted DiBiase and Jake Roberts
• A rare gem between Tito Santana and Rick Rude

To close things off, we have the only release of the No Holds Barred tag team Steel Cage return match ... Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake vs Macho Man and Zeus which in my books, isn't a bad match! This tape has great highlights and is another recommendation if you can find a copy either on VHS or on a torrent site

THE #1 TAPE is ... HULKAMANIA 6

If you are not a Hogan mark, you will not like this choice. In my opinion, this tape was what a Coliseum Video profile should be! We are treated to ... 

• Rare matches against the Undertaker, the Macho Man Paris match (again) and a tag match with Jim Duggan against Slaughter and Iron Sheik
• We receive the classics against King Kong Bundy and Sgt. Slaughter at WrestleManias
• A JAPAN HOGAN MATCH! His match with Stan Hansen from the WWF - All Japan Wrestling Summit in April 1990 was included on this set, which was amazing and proof that Hogan could wrestle a decent match under the Japanese style
  This was just a great tape from top to bottom and when thinking of it's style, compares to the Chris Jericho DVD set that was released in September. Jericho gave us matches from every era of his career as did Hogan in this set. I recommend this tape and Hulkamania 4 from the Hulkamania series as tapes to watch