If your like me and were a fan of wrestling and the regional leagues especially the Dallas, Texas based "World Class Championship Wrestling" founded by ex wrestling legend Fritz Von Erich then this doc "The Triumph and Tragedy of World Class Championship Wrestling" is a must watch. As interviews and highlight clips are shown telling the story of the up and downs of the league the highs and lows. Told is the rise of Fritz's sons Kevin, David, and Kerry, who rose to stardom only many of them fell to tragic means. And shown were how heels and rivals and feuds impacted the league. The doc is a like a history filled lesson of the Texas based territory. Telling of the many bad things that happened as many fans felt the territory was cursed still shown and documented are the many good moments that made this a legendary territory. Overall from early Rasslin times to the heyday of the eighties fame with "World Class" this doc is a must watch for any old wrestling buff and especially fans of the Von Erich territory.

WCCW was an extremely popular wrestling promotion the late 70s, early 80s featuring some of the best characters and gimmicks in wrestling and providing patrons with stunningly good promos and some exhilarating wrestling. But a series of deaths, injuries, poor booking decisions, and strong competition derailed the promotion and eventually sent them out of business.

This documentary focuses mainly on the first family of WCCW, the Von Erichs, with a lot of interviews with Kevin, the only living Von Erich.

The documentary does a great job of capturing the popularity of the promotion and the things which made it unique and innovative for its time. These included cutting edge promos and filming techniques and a good understanding of how to use TV to sell wrestlers and rivalries.

The chronology in this is all over the place and the facts on some incidents, specifically the death of David Von Erich, are lacking to say the least. But it does the job it set out to.

On the first disc we see a lot of the innovative promos and interviews that helped make WCCW what it was.

There are several matches on the second disc. Watch out for a young, fully haired King Kong Bundy taking on Fritz Von Erich, a very entertaining NWA Heavyweight Championship match between Kerry Von Erich and Ric Flair which triggered the feud between the Von Erich's and the Freebirds. There are three matches from that classic feud. And later on a very young Rick Rude teams up with One Man Gang against Bruiser BRody and The Missing Link.

Also included a very old match pitting Duke Keomuka and Ricky Starr in a 2 out of 3 falls match. Chris Adams and Sunshine taking on Jimmy Garvin and Precious in a mixed tag match. The Garet Kabuki vs Kamla. THe Fantastics taking on the Midnight Express and Bruiser Brody vs Abdullah the Butcher.

Despite a sizeable segment of the documentary talking about Kerry Von ERich's NWA Title win over Ric Flair, it's not on the DVD. Overall a solid group of matches and an entertaining but not always factual documentary. Reasonable effort.