Thursday 28 July 2016

Triple H - The King Of Kings

Image Source: Amazon
Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 359 Minutes
Certificate: 18
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: May 19 2008

By 2008, three-disc DVDs covering the entire career of a top name had become the norm, so when it was announced that Triple H would be receiving the profile treatment, there laid the potential for an outstanding release, considering the number of great matches he has had.

As it turned out, though, The King Of Kings would be a two-disc compilation with only eleven bouts, and in an early example of WWE trying to avoid repeating content, several key matches were omitted. This means that whilst this DVD is an entertaining release, it doesn't come close to achieving its potential.

Accompanied by pre-match comments from HHH, King Of Kings (I can't use the DVD acronym in this case) opens with his official WWF debut as the blueblood Hunter Hearst Helmsley, defeating John Crystal in a squash from a 1995 episode of Raw. In terms of the significance of particular matches on H's career, this starts promisingly enough with his first Intercontinental Title win over Marc Mero (Raw, 1996), his 1997 King Of The Ring triumph over Mankind and his WrestleMania XIV battle with Owen Hart for the European Title, all of which are enjoyable to watch and which allowed HHH to take another step up the proverbial ladder.

Speaking of ladders, though, his famous IC Title Ladder scrap with The Rock (SummerSlam 1998) is not here, which is bizarre as that bout was arguably the first true sign of his main event potential, nor is the rest of his initial DX tenure covered. Instead, we jump to him capturing his first WWF Title over Mankind from a 1999 episode of Raw (there's an interesting back-story to that if you believe the rumours, namely, the title went from Steve Austin to Mankind at SummerSlam to HHH the next night because Austin allegedly refused to directly lose to Hunter; either that or Austin's knee injury necessitated those events or that special ref Jesse Ventura had to endorse a babyface winner, so make up your own mind). Then, it's HHH vs. Austin from No Mercy 1999 in an underrated brawl (the outcome may dispel one of the aforementioned theories), and a superb HHH vs. Cactus Jack Hell In A Cell war from No Way Out 2000 (although their previous Street Fight at Royal Rumble 2000 was arguably more pivotal to H's career and thus should have been here too).

Many HHH fans regard 2000-2001 as the peak of his career, so it's a questionable decision that we get no further matches from that era. Instead, we see HHH win the 2002 Royal Rumble (but not the resultant WrestleMania X8 title win over Chris Jericho, which speaks volumes about the quality of that match) before we get a chapter from the epic HHH-Shawn Michaels rivalry. Strangely, their least memorable match is the one featured here; whilst their Three Stages Of Hell battle from Armageddon 2002 isn't as bad as some would have you believe, it's definitely the weakest PPV encounter of their series.

I mentioned 2000-2001 as being HHH's artistic peak, but 2003 arguably marked his career low, with virtually no memorable matches besides a year-closing scrap with Shawn. Perhaps realising this, WWE chose to jump a whopping 2 1/2 years ahead (skipping the entire Evolution run) to Vengeance 2005 and a fantastic Hell In A Cell war with Batista (arguably The Animal's best ever match). Since HHH and Randy Orton have fought so often, it's ironic that he's the only Evolution member who isn't featured here, as we next see H battle Ric Flair at Survivor Series 2005 in a compelling yet unnecessarily violent Last Man Standing match (the amount of blood that Flair loses here is ludicrous). Finally, we get a forgotten gem as HHH takes on John Cena and Edge at Backlash 2006, which sees H spill a ton of blood himself towards the finish.

No, the DX comeback isn't covered, and the release date means that there are no bouts from 2008, which would be a great year in the ring for The Game. The DVD is rounded off by some bonus segments, including a rare indie bout from 1992 (HHH, then competing as Terra Ryzing, and Jim Ross commentate on this one as he faces Flying Tony Roy; by the way, what a ring name that is) and a Hog Pen bout with Henry Godwinn from In Your House 5 (Hunter suffers a nasty cut to his back at the end of this one).

Triple H is amongst the divisive wrestlers you will find, with some admiring his all-around talents and others expressing disgust at his (alleged) political manoeuvrings. Regardless of your opinion, though, nobody can deny that this had the potential to be fantastic, and the end product is only adequate. HHH does add insight with honest comments (he notes how he once told John Cena that everything he did in the ring looked terrible), and it includes the first acknowledgement of Chris Benoit on a WWE product after his 2007 tragedy. But on the whole, this is a case of "What might have been", because it only covers some of his greatest or most important matches, and leaves out many more suitable choices. Why a third disc wasn't added which would have partially resolved this issue is unknown.

Fans of Triple H will enjoy The King Of Kings, but it is an incomplete profile of HHH's career.

Overall Rating: 6.5/10 - Okay

Monday 25 July 2016

The Attitude Era Volume 3 - Unreleased coming soon on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK

Image Source:
Fetch Publicity
Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Fetch Publicity

The following story is courtesy of Fetch Publicity ...

The third volume in WWE’s Attitude Era DVD & Blu-ray series, this time bringing together previously unseen material from the period between 1996-2000. Includes “dark” matches from Monday Night Raw, non-televised matches from pay-per-view events, live events, and more never-before-released moments from WWE’s most controversial era!

Synopsis:

Match Highlights:

Germany – April 1996
Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Bret “Hitman” Hart

In Your House: Good Friends, Better Enemies – April 28 1996
Non-Televised Match
Undertaker vs. Mankind

Raw – December 29 1997
Non-Televised Match
Nation of Domination vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, Undertaker, Cactus Jack & Chainsaw Charlie

Anaheim, CA – March 13 1998
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock

Madison Square Garden – June 26 1999
Triple H vs. Big Show

Wall Street – October 25 2000
Dudley Boyz vs. T&A

Plus more action, extras and Blu-ray exclusives!

We like it because:

Arguably WWE’s most popular ever period, the Attitude Era shocked fans each and every week, and now with Attitude Era Vol. 3 Unreleased, it’s still full of surprises.

Comprised of footage from live events, dark matches, and previously unseen PPV bouts, it contains the kind of brilliant archaic action that the era was known for – not to mention some truly fascinating moments from WWE history.

Included on the set is the first ever encounter between Undertaker and Mankind, rare footage from WWE’s spiritual home in Madison Square Garden, and a never-before-televised collision between the pioneers of Attitude, The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin!

It’s an absolute must-have collection for every WWE fan – and it really is the bottom line!

For more information, click here.

The U.S. Championship – A Legacy Of Greatness

Image Source: Amazon
Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 450 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: May 9 2016

This DVD looks at the 40-plus year history of the United States Championship. Unlike previous "title" releases, which allowed fans to vote on the bouts or which included a documentary, this compilation is more basic, and provides a straightforward selection of matches, hosted by John Bradshaw Layfield (and to his credit, JBL does a good job of explaining situations and storylines, and of filling in the blanks between matches). The American flag backdrop for JBL's links is a nice touch, as is the presence of both the original and the current United States prizes during his scenes. In other production notes, it is interesting that each disc has its own mini-video playing during menus, which is not normally the case (each clips reel shows highlights of the bouts on that disc).

Disc one, which covers the 1975-1989 period (from Mid-Atlantic to Jim Crockett Promotions to World Championship Wrestling) is the weakest of the three. A rare Ric Flair-Ricky Steamboat match with Andre The Giant as referee sounds good on paper, but the grainy footage is awful, and as it's shown in a series of clips, one can't quite work out what has happened. Greg Valentine vs. Roddy Piper is better, but the presentation of the finish is poor, and why include this instead of their famous Dog Collar match from the first Starrcade? Fortunately, we do get a different memorable U.S. Title scrap, the rather violent I Quit Cage match between Tully Blanchard and Magnum TA from Starrcade 1985.

There is interference before the finish or causing the finish of the next four matches: an exciting Magnum-Nikita Koloff showdown (before which JBL recaps their Best-Of-Seven series), a good Dusty Rhodes-Lex Luger Cage match from Starrcade 1987, a decent Dusty-Bobby Eaton bout from 1988 which has a very confusing finale, and a superior Sting-Lex Luger battle from 1989 which ends in a big schmozz between Luger and the Faction name and the Four Horsemen.

Onto disc two and the WCW era (which technically began before Sting-Luger, although for the sake of simplicity the DVD acknowledges it as it covers the 1990s), Sting vs. Rick Rude from 1991 is preceded by an angle which both ECW and the WWF would later use, as an injured Sting returns to the arena in an ambulance. Once more, though, interference mars the conclusion of a pretty good story-based bout. Even the all-babyface clash between Ricky Steamboat and Dustin Rhodes from 1993 has outside involvement from a heel Barry Windham. And the Steve Austin-Great Muta battle from Spring Stampede 1994 - a slightly underwhelming affair - has a controversial ending instigated by - you guessed it - third party interference. I'm not one of those fans who groans at a ref bump or a DQ ending, but when you see seven consecutive interference-riddled matches on a "Best Of" DVD, it becomes rather tiresome.

And, yup, the all-face meeting between Diamond Dallas Page and Eddie Guerrero for the vacant prize at Starrcade 1996 is another victim. In this case, the nWo make their presence felt by influencing the outcome of what was, up until then, a strong match, and they end up leaving both men laying, which may have set up the subsequent Guerrero-Syxx feud, but ultimately left both looking like chumps. It is a massive relief when we get a no-nonsense bout between Dean Malenko and Chris Jericho from Nitro the following April, even if it is too short to be on a compilation like this. Curt Hennig vs. The Giant reverts to the nWo interference formula, although on this occasion Sting is there to save the day. The good action on the majority of this disc is definitely hindered by the overwhelming amount of interference.

Fortunately, outside involvement plays a key role in the enjoyment of the next bout, as Goldberg looks to tear through Raven and his Flock en route to the title, in front of a hot-as-hell crowd. That it is Raven's Rules guarantees a proper outcome, and the one we get is very well-received. This has to be the highlight of the entire 1990s for the U.S. prize, or at least the highlight of the Nitro era for the title. From there, we have a pretty good Bret Hart-DDP bout from 1998, a confusing Bret-Goldberg bout from 1999 (Vince Russo had just taken creative control, so the puzzling outcome shouldn't be a surprise), an okay Lance Storm-Mike Awesome clash from 2000 (before which Awesome unnecessarily refers to the Canadian national anthem as "s--t"; another sign of Russo's writing) and Rick Steiner vs. Booker T from Greed 2001, the last ever WCW Pay-Per-View, which is a justifiable inclusion due to what was about to happen in the world of wrestling, but which has one final dose of interference at the finish. Perhaps that is the TRUE legacy of the United States Championship, at least from the mid-1980s to 2001.

With the opening of disc three, JBL explains the WWF takeover of WCW a few days after Greed, which to cut a long story short for the purpose of this review, brought the United States Title onto WWF television. The first WWF match here, a forgotten Kurt Angle-Undertaker bout, is okay but has yet another screwjob ending. Thankfully, interference takes a burden for a while as we get a very good Edge-Test battle to unify the U.S. and Intercontinental Titles from Survivor Series 2001. For a long time, this was the death knell of the U.S. crown, but it would be revived when Eddie Guerrero won a tournament at Vengeance 2003 (his triumphant moment isn't shown here, because the man he defeated was Chris Benoit), leading us to WrestleMania XX where John Cena captured the title from Big Show. This bout isn't bad, but its importance has been overstated by WWE, since Cena arguably should have already been main eventing at this point, meaning his title run only delayed his headline ascension.

After that, the next few matches skip through several years of WWE history. It is two years before the next bout (Bobby Lashley vs. King Booker, or KING BOOKKKAAAA!, in a Steel Cage from a 2006 edition of SmackDown), and nearly two more years before the subsequent battle. That one, MVP vs. Matt Hardy from Backlash 2008, is a good match that culminated a long storyline between champion and challenger stretching back many months, and included everything from a basketball game to a cameo by Evander Holyfield to an uneasy reign as WWE Tag Team Champions. Before John Cena's Open Challenge (more on that shortly), the MVP-Matt storyline was arguably the high point for the United States Title during the WWF/WWE years.

Next up, it's a fairly good MVP vs. Kofi Kingston from 2009 (they have a promo beforehand, and it's so weird to hear Kofi speaking that faux Jamaican accent now after all of his segments with The New Day using his natural voice), and then we move onto the feud between The Miz and Daniel Bryan. Since Miz's U.S. Title reign did more to prepare him for a main event run than for anybody else in the last 15 years, it would have been nice to have a Miz-as-champion match, but instead we get Miz vs. Bryan vs. John Morrison in a Triple Threat Submissions Count Anywhere bout from Hell In A Cell 2010 (phew!). To be fair, this is very exciting, a rare gem during a fairly dull period in WWE, so it's nice to revisit that match here. We suddenly jump to October 2012 and Antonio Cesaro defending his U.S. crown against Tyson Kidd in an overlooked match filled with quality from NXT, during that phase where NXT was no longer a "reality show" but had yet to truly embark on the path which would make it the hottest wrestling show around.

From there, it's a Sheamus-Rusev clash from November 2014, which was shown exclusively on the WWE Network. It's alright, but coming after a three-hour Raw, the crowd is clearly worn out and has less enthusiasm than they would have an hour or two earlier (which may explain the lack of Network-exclusive matches broadcast after Raw since then). Rusev would lose the prize to John Cena at WrestleMania 31 (we get quick highlights of that moment), and that takes us to Cena's weekly Open Challenge, which allowed a fresh opponent to face Cena each week for the title. (Quick side note: this had to be the inspiration for the DVD in the first place, given that Cena is the cover star.) Beginning with Dean Ambrose the night after Mania (this match is included on the DVD; it's a very good match, but is slightly tainted by Byron Saxton's atrocious commentary; it was so bad that Jerry Lawler was sent out during the bout to assist him), the Open Challenge guaranteed a good or a great match on Raw every week for months, with Cena's challengers including Neville, Sami Zayn, Cesaro and others, not to mention opening the door for Kevin Owens to face him in a fantastic series of PPV encounters. You have to get the Blu-ray to see one of those gems, though (Cena vs. Cesaro, the week before an even better rematch which was on the Best Of Raw & SmackDown 2015 DVD); instead, we're taken straight to Hell In A Cell 2015, and Alberto Del Rio's shock return to dethrone Cena as champion, which closes the DVD. This led to a decline in importance for the championship, save for one or two notable matches; right now, the U.S. crown is once again considered just another mid-card title.

This is a hard DVD to summarise. There are some good matches, and one or two great ones. We are shown most of the memorable moments for the title, whether that be in the form of complete bouts or references by JBL between bouts. And with the selection of matches covering four decades, two promotions (three, if you consider WCW to be different to Mid-Atlantic/NWA/JCP) and plenty of former, current and future big names, along with some nice cameos by forgotten mid-carders of the past, on paper this spells a pretty good DVD collection.

However, the amount of outside interference is infuriating, and the action isn't quite as exciting as it should be, given that it covers four decades of wrestling history, essentially. Of the four title-based compilations, this is the weakest from a match quality standpoint. Perhaps this is because, compared to the Intercontinental Title, the U.S. Title has had fewer true stand-out moments, despite it being around a few years longer. And yet, there aren't that many key matches or aspects of the title's history which aren't at least acknowledged here. The Dog Collar match between Greg Valentine and Roddy Piper from Starrcade 1983 is the obvious one, but the Ricky Steamboat-Rick Rude and Steve Austin-Dustin Rhodes feuds from 1992 and 1993 respectively, and Zack Ryder winning the title from Dolph Ziggler at TLC 2011 following a lengthy chase, are arguably the only other key chapters of the title's lineage which don't get coverage here.

Considering that the U.S. Title and IC Title are often considered equals, this DVD only suggests that the IC crown is more important, even during its weaker years; for the U.S. prize, its peak years appeared to have been 1975-1987, for the significance of the championship seems to take a drop-off in the late 1980s that it doesn't quite regain; in fact, one could argue that John Cena's U.S. Title adventures in 2015 were the most important thing to happen to the title in decades. Think about it: even in the last 10-15 years, a good number of former Intercontinental Champions have gone on to become World Champion (Randy Orton, Rob Van Dam, Christian, Jeff Hardy, Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose are amongst those whose IC Title runs would help lead them to future World Titles), with Kevin Owens being a likely future World Champ; and that number would have been higher had WWE not mishandled certain reigns (Drew McIntyre, Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes etc). In contrast, the U.S. Title has only really benefitted The Miz, and MVP had he gone on to become World Champion; and its recent title history includes a five-month reign for Santino Marella. Even Dean Ambrose's almost year-long reign as champion is rarely considered an important step for the Lunatic Fringe to his current status as WWE Champion. But WCW's handling of what was supposedly its second-biggest title was insignificant enough that one could argue WWE has handled the championship better than WCW did, even though it has had plenty of low points in the last decade-and-a-half. Seriously, during the Monday Night War years, only the aforementioned Raven-Goldberg match could have been considered an important moment for the title.

But we'll discuss the importance and future prospects of the United States Championship at another time, and instead return to the analysis of this DVD. This three-disc compilation has its moments, but not enough to be considered an essential purchase. Yet its history on the whole hasn't had the number of standout matches whereby this would really be considered a disappointment, so who the hell knows what to make of this DVD? I will say that it is fun to relive several decades of history and some important incidents, such as the growth of Starrcade and the WWF purchase of WCW, and in between the unmemorable matches and the annoying finishes, there is a generous amount of wrestling action to savour. Overall, though, I would suggest that casual fans probably won't consider this to be a great three-disc set. Hopefully, its legacy will reach new heights in the years to come, but with this run-down of its legacy so far, die-hard fans and collectors are most likely to look at buying and enjoying this DVD.

Overall Rating: 6.5/10 - Okay

Friday 22 July 2016

Extreme Rules 2016

Image Source: Fetch Publicity
Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 180 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: July 18 2016

(To read a full event review of WWE Extreme Rules 2016, click here.)

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

A lot can happen in two months. Since Extreme Rules took place, we've had the comebacks from injury for Seth Rollins, John Cena and Bray Wyatt (Rollins returned at the very end of Extreme Rules admittedly) and Randy Orton's return has been announced; Roman Reigns has been suspended; and Brock Lesnar returned to UFC with a victory over Mark Hunt at UFC 200, and had a SummerSlam showdown with Orton announced, only for that match to be called into question given the news that Lesnar failed a drug test prior to the UFC fight. Oh, and WWE has just been split into two via the latest Draft, which will mark a new era for WWE.

Ironically, the term "New Era" was being pushed heavily on WWE television prior to Extreme Rules given the spotlight on NXT stars and other faces who were fresh to WWE, or performers who were being given another chance to succeed. Despite the injuries still plaguing WWE at that point, the product still had some momentum heading into Extreme Rules - the one night of the year when WWE goes "extreme" - and watching it again on DVD, the show is a good portrayal of how the emphasis on high-quality wrestling action had made WWE a more interesting place than it had been in the dark days of late 2015.

The opening match, pitting Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson against The Usos under Tornado rules, is better than I had remembered it being at the time, with plenty of innovative double-team manoeuvres and some unique, hard-hitting strikes (particularly by the Club combo). Kalisto's United States Title defence against Rusev is okay, but it's a sign of how much control WWE has lost of its audience whereby the fans repeatedly boo the attempts by officials to help a (kayfabe) injured Kalisto just before the end. It's also strange how John Bradshaw Layfield, on commentary, completely endorsed the anti-American Rusev after his title win, since he reacted like the world had come to an end when Rusev first snatched the prize in November 2014.

The New Day vs. The Vaudevillains is a standard tag team affair with some convincing false finishes, and opens with a typically entertaining New Day promo. Up next, though, is the highlight of the show, as The Miz, Cesaro, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn put on one hell of a show in a Fatal Four Way clash for the Intercontinentnal Championship. This lengthy collision features all sorts of big moves, close near-falls and eye-catching multi-man spots, before a red-hot audience. I think it's been slightly overrated by some since the bout took place, but it is a perfect example of what a mid-card match on a PPV event should be. Hopefully, showings like this will help at least some of the entrants to progress up the card in the post-Draft era; they all proved on this night that they wouldn't look out of place in the main event scene (or back in the main event scene, in the case of The Miz).

The Asylum match between Dean Ambrose and Chris Jericho was heavily panned at the time, due to it lasting 26 minutes, the emphasis on weapon-based action (despite this show being Extreme Rules) and the lack of crowd interest. Watching it again, I certainly don't think it is a bad match, and while the crowd does go quiet for lengthy periods, it's still a better atmosphere than we've seen in many other big matches. Had they taken out the middle portion (so to jump from, say, the kendo stick shots to the revelation of the thumb tacks, with Ambrose's cage-top elbow drop thrown in near the end), this would have seemed a lot better; however, those who immediately class it as one of the year's worst matches are being too harsh, in my opinion.

The Women's Title Submission bout between Charlotte and Natalya remains a disappointing affair, compared to what these two have achieved in previous matches. In this case, an extra few minutes would have made a big difference, and the creative let them down too (especially since the interfering Dana Brooke, wearing a Ric Flair-style robe, came out too early albeit off-camera, making Natalya look ridiculous for not noticing here despite looking right at her!). The main event between Roman Reigns and AJ Styles for the WWE World Heavyweight Title under Extreme Rules is a superb headline attraction; Styles takes some wild bumps, particularly for a near-40 year old who apparently has pretty serious bac issues, and Reigns holds up his end of the bargain with flawless execution and plenty of big moves, in spite of the dominantly anti-Roman crowd. The post-match return of Seth Rollins ends the show with a bang, and set up the Rollins-Reigns feud which, at Money In The Bank, would bring in Dean Ambrose and set up the all-Shield main event at Battleground this Sunday.

The bonus material here consists solely of the Kick-Off Show match between Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler, under No Disqualification rules. This is a decent match which puts Corbin over as an uncaring heel, although it's clear that their feud should have ended here, with a truncated and enjoyable clash that the audience were interested in. Dragging this feud out until Money In The Bank hurt both, as it resulted in the complete opposite: an unnecessarily long, slow, less exciting match that was greeted with "Boring!" chants. Fortunately, the Corbin-Ziggler marriage still worked here, as Baron picked up an important win over the Show-Off.

Extreme Rules was a really good show, one of the better supershows of 2016, so the DVD is worth owning. There's a great Fatal Four Way match for the IC Title, a strong main event for the WWE Title which ends with a big return, and some worthwhile action elsewhere on the card. The success of this event would be overshadowed by the major hype for the subsequent Money In The Bank event, which featured official comeback matches for Rollins and Cena, but when the time comes to review the top cards of 2016, there's a good chance that Extreme Rules will sit amongst those shows.

Overall Rating: 7.5/10 - Good

Thursday 21 July 2016

Mick Foley's Greatest Hits & Misses - Hardcore Edition

Written By: Mark Armstrong

(2004 Edition)

Image Source: Amazon
Running Time: 389 Minutes
Certificate: 18
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: March 8 2004

Since the majority of the 2007 Hardcore Edition was a re-release of the 2004 original, this review will cover both versions.

The initial two-disc compilation on the life and times of Mick Foley included more than a dozen of his matches, spanning seven years and four promotions. The King Of Hardcore left an indelible mark on wrestling prior to his first retirement(s) in 2000, and this is reflected by the quality of the action on display here, as this is a non-stop hardcore thrill ride. Foley himself serving as the informative and often amusing host is an added bonus.

The collection kicks off with two WCW bouts. Cactus Jack vs. Vader from a 1993 edition of WCW Saturday Night is notable for some brutally stuff offence, requested by Foley himself, which would result in Mick suffering a broken nose and WCW heavily editing the bout on television (the uncut version is the one we get here). Following this, Cactus and Maxx Payne battle The Nasty Boys in a hellacious Chicago Street Fight from Spring Stampede 1994, with Foley taking two painful-looking blows near the end (Mick being shoved off the ramp so that he landed hard back-first on the concrete floor, and Jerry Sags tw-tting him full-force in the side of the head with a shovel.

We're then told the story behind Cactus Jack's ECW promo (Jack was working for the then-Eastern Championship Wrestling between WCW dates) where he spat on the WCW Tag Team Title to try and convey his sense of lost pride. WCW understandably felt miffed that one of its titles would be treated in such a manner; regardless, it expedited the process of Foley leaving WCW in the autumn of 1994.

Whilst all of the four ECW bouts here have a similar theme (namely, brutal hardcore violence), each one has a standout aspect. Cactus vs. Sabu from 1994 is notable for its "dream match" feel (Foley acknowledges that the match didn't quite match expectations at the time); Cactus vs. Sandman from 1995 sees Sandman legitimately knocked out, which adversely affected the finishing sequence (that this was a Texas Death match made things more awkward in this situation); Cactus and Raven vs. Terry Funk and Tommy Dreamer from November To Remember 1995 features breath-taking bloodshed and came shortly after an incident where a burning towel temporarily set the Funker on fire; and Cactus vs. Mikey Whipwreck from 1996 was Foley's ECW swansong, with fans showing true respect for Cactus despite his heel status. In between, we also get a short bout from Smoky Mountain Wrestling as Cactus faces Chris Candido.

Disc two focuses on his WWF tenure which he began under the mask of Mankind. We do not get any of his 1996 scraps with The Undertaker, so the first WWF bout is a great bout against Shawn Michaels from In Your House X: Mind Games. After that, we jump to 1997 where a superb angle sees Mankind and Dude Love introduce Cactus Jack for a very good Falls Count Anywhere war with Hunter Hearst Helmsley, who would soon transform into Triple H.

The year 1998 is first spotlighted by a fantastic hardcore battle with Terry Funk, where Foley first competed under his real name, which is followed by a so-bad-it's-good dance celebration with an OTT performance by the previously-reserved Vince McMahon. Steve Austin's guest commentary during this one is another highlight. This all leads to Dude Love vs. Austin from Over The Edge 1998 which is one of my favourite ever matches; few bouts provide more fun and pure entertainment than this one.

From there, we revisit the most famous match of Foley's career and one of the most memorable matches of all-time, as Mankind and The Undertaker battle inside, on top of and through the Hell In A Cell in an unbelievably brutal match from King Of The Ring 1998. This one has never been topped (despite Shane McMahon leaping from a taller HIAC structure at WrestleMania 32), which considering the plethora of injuries Foley suffered that night, is probably a good thing.

The next featured match is Mankind's first WWF title win over The Rock in a Raw match that proved pivotal during The Monday Night War (Steve Austin's interference elicits such a loud crowd pop that it was only on a later viewing that I heard announcers Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler calling that moment). Since their I Quit rematch from Royal Rumble 1999 isn't included, the final bout on the main feature is Cactus vs. Triple H in an outstanding Street Fight from Royal Rumble 2000 that allowed Foley to go out on a high come his first (and second) retirement shortly afterwards, and which played a major role in establishing HHH as a true main event player. If only WWE could instigate such a scenario to benefit Roman Reigns today.

There are two bonus bouts which gave humorous alternate commentary from Foley and Jonathan Coachman: Cactus vs. Sting under Falls Count Anywhere rules from WCW Beach Blast 1992 (which Foley considered his best match to date at that point) and a Cactus-Sabu ECW rematch (during which Sabu tries several times to break a glass bottle on Jack's skull only for the glass to repeatedly fail to shatter, which must have hurt like hell). We also get plenty of interviews and angles from Foley's career, including his famous Cane Dewey promo from ECW in 1995.

Obviously, not everybody will appreciate or like hardcore wrestling. If you do, though, you will find this DVD to be a virtually flawless tribute to the unforgettable career of Mick Foley with memorable moments and great action throughout. Despite some omissions, this is a phenomenal compilation on Mrs Foley's Baby Boy.

Overall Rating: 10/10 - Perfect

(2007 Edition)

Image Source: Amazon
Running Time: 540 Minutes
Certificate: 18
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: April 23 2007

The Hardcore Edition includes four more matches from Foley's comeback runs in 2004 and 2006. They are all of the hardcore violence genre, which should be no surprise to Foley fans. It does mean that some "regular" bouts from Mick's return (like The Rock & Sock Connection vs. Evolution from WrestleMania XX) aren't here, but those who enjoy this style of wrestling will be happy with the choices.

The first "new" encounter is Foley against Randy Orton from Backlash 2004, one of the best hardcore bouts ever and arguably Orton's greatest match; Foley says that this became the defining bout of this career. We get a similar scrap with Edge from WrestleMania 22 which is a bit rushed, but has the classic ending of Edge Spearing Foley through a flaming table.

A six-man war from ECW One Night Stand 2006 provides a breathtaking amount of bloody violence and a rather rude pinning predicament to end the bout. The last match, an I Quit bout between Foley and Ric Flair from SummerSlam 2006, is pretty good but has been forgotten by fans in retrospect, perhaps because of the disappointing and confusing finish.

The first two extra matches were Match Of The Year contenders; the last two, not so much. On the whole, though, the bonus bouts (which have alternate commentary from Foley and Joey Styles) enhance an already-fantastic set. It's not for everyone (to quote the original ECW), but any fans of hardcore wrestling will truly love this; the three-disc version really is the definitive Mick Foley collection.

Overall Rating: 10/10 - Perfect

Tuesday 19 July 2016

WWE Extreme Rules 2016 now available on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK

Image Source: Fetch Publicity
Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Fetch Publicity

The following story is courtesy of Fetch Publicity ...

The New Era takes competition to the extreme at Extreme Rules! In a rematch from their epic encounter at Payback, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns puts the richest prize in sports-entertainment on the line against “The Phenomenal One” AJ Styles in an Extreme Rules Match! The family feud between the Flairs and the Harts writes another chapter as Natalya challenges for the WWE Women’s Championship against Charlotte in a Submission Match. And for the first time ever in WWE history, Chris Jericho and Dean Ambrose face each other in a match more twisted than “The Lunatic Fringe” himself… an Asylum Match!

Synopsis:

Matches:

Extreme Rules Match For The WWE World Heavyweight Championship 
Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles

Fatal 4-Way Match For The Intercontinental Championship
The Miz vs. Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn

Submission Match For The Women’s Championship Match
Charlotte vs. Natalya

WWE Tag Team Championship Match
The New Day vs. The Vaudevillains

Asylum Cage Match
Dean Ambrose vs. Chris Jericho

United States Championship Match
Kalisto vs. Rusev

Plus more action, extras and Blu-ray exclusives!

We like it because:

Extreme Rules is also the one night when WWE throws the rulebook out of the window, and puts its top Superstars to the test in a whole manner of innovatively brutal match-ups! The result is the most high-octane and hard-hitting event of the year, as the Superstars of the New Era fight to prove who is the most extreme!

Roman Reigns and AJ Styles put on a hardcore classic in their battle for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship – with a shock ending that changes the face of the WWE title race!

Meanwhile, Chris Jericho and Dean get seriously crazy in the first ever Asylum Match – complete with barbed-wire 2x4s, nunchucks, and even a straitjacket – and The Miz, Cesaro, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn steal the show in a four-way war over the Intercontinental Championship. Packed with lighting quick exchanges, dramatic near falls, and jaw-dropping moments, it perfectly sums up the electric action we’ve come to expect from the New Era – truly extreme!

For more information, click here.

Monday 18 July 2016

WrestleMania 32

Image Source: Amazon
Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 533 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: June 6 2016

(To read a full event review of WWE WrestleMania 32, click here.)

For the thirty-second time, WWE presented WrestleMania on April 3 2016 from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and this would be the most attended WWE show of all-time with an announced attendance of 101,763. In the ring, though, the reaction to WrestleMania ranged from mixed to only slightly positive, with some crapping all over the event in general. At the time, I thought the action was pretty good but that the creative decisions were questionable, and whilst there were some strong outings, there were no true classic WrestleMania matches. So, how does the event hold up on DVD a few months down the line? As it turns out, little has changed.

The opening seven-man Ladder match for the Intercontinental Title remains a thrilling attraction, although Zack Ryder's shock win loses impact knowing that his reign would ultimately last 24 hours. AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho is another very good match between the two veterans, which would have seemed better had the crowd reaction been stronger. Jericho's win seemed odd at the time, and seemed even stranger when Styles became number one contender to the WWE Title the following night on Raw by pinning Y2J himself. It seems this result was a way of Vince McMahon once again proving that those who made their names outside of WWE are "inferior" to his talent, in the same way that Sting lost to Triple H at WrestleMania 31.

The New Day vs. The League Of Nations was clearly a set-up for the post-match fracas involving Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley and Steve Austin. That perhaps explains why the LON won, but giving New Day different opposition and letting Sheamus and friends just have that angle to themselves with Austin and pals might have been better; despite the Booty-O's cereal entrance, the entire segment felt a bit pointless, especially without the Tag Team Titles at stake. The three-legend cameo is fun, although it's easy to understand why people weren't happy at several current names being easily dropped by former icons. Either way, the LON winning was silly (one fan's head went into his hands), especially since it marked New Day's only PPV defeat since their Tag Team Title reign began at SummerSlam 2015.

The much-anticipated No Holds Barred Street Fight between Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose was considered a big disappointment at the time. On second viewing, the match itself is not that bad, but the ending is abrupt; it feels like the last five minutes are suddenly taken away with the drop of an F5 onto several chairs. Yes, the bout was a let-down, but had it been given sufficient time (and bear in mind how long this card lasted), it probably would have been fondly remembered. On the other hand, the three-way between Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch remains a great match, possibly the strongest of the evening, and ushered in a new era for women's wrestling on the main WWE roster, along with the re-introduction of the WWE Women's Championship. Charlotte winning remains a let-down, though, and fans are still waiting for Sasha's big moment (will it come at SummerSlam?).

The Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon inside Hell In A Cell is much better when watching it again, perhaps because the slow pace is to be expected, meaning that the big spots (of which there are plenty) have a bigger impact, none more than Shane's death-defying elbow drop off the top of the cage. It did culminate the most poorly-written major storyline in WWE, perhaps ever, and the fact that Shane has been in some measure of control ever since despite losing has never been properly explained. By the way, how ironic is it that Shane's whole purpose for returning in storyline terms was to run Raw, and now ultimately he's ended up with SmackDown, meaning that in the long run, nothing changed?

The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal has its moments but lasts a bit too long, and the majority of its content and entrants are filler. The segment between The Rock, The Wyatt Family and John Cena is entertaining, but again lasts a little too long. I don't have the same feeling of anger that others do about the Wyatts being "buried" here, but one can certainly understand why fans would feel that way after watching this angle. Finally, Triple H vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE Title is actually not as bad as people would have you think; the crowd are definitely into it, the majority are just not into supporting the babyface Roman Reigns. That being said, it is the least exciting main event at Mania since The Miz vs. John Cena from WM XXVII, meaning that this Mania has an average conclusion, rather than the feeling of excitement after watching Daniel Bryan and Seth Rollins capture WWE's top prize at the previous two Manias.

So, the main card of WrestleMania 32 is definitely enjoyable to watch the second time around. Because it's on DVD, you almost have to break up your viewing sessions of the five-hour card, unlike the live version which was one long slog, and which came after a two-hour Kick-Off show, meaning that you're not exhausted and checking the time during the last few segments of the event. However, it is far from the best WrestleMania you'll ever see. The entertainment and the spectacle of the record-breaking crowd, along with the star-studded appearances, some very good matches and that elbow drop by Shane make it a worthwhile WrestleMania, but if you're ranking this alongside other Mania shows, the best you could probably hope for is to put it in the top ten; it will never unseat Mania X-Seven as the best WM of all-time.

The only noticeable edit on the main card is the overdubbing of Thunderstruck by AC/DC with a generic track during the brief Dallas Cheerleaders dance performance prior to The Rock's entrance. What have been brutally edited, though, are the three Kick-Off Show matches included on the DVD, as is the norm. Presumably due to Mania lasting five hours, of the three bonus bouts (Kalisto vs. Ryback, Team Total Divas vs. Team B.A.D. & Blonde and The Usos vs. The Dudley Boyz), Ryback is the only performer whose entrance is included here, and for his bout and the ten-women match, on the night a commercial break interrupted both encounters, but it feels like a couple of minutes have been chopped from the second part of each match, in order to squeeze them onto this set. For those involved in Kick-Off Show bouts, not only did they only compete at WM 32 on a technicality, but their matches have been edited to shreds on the home video release. No wonder Ryback was miffed, eh?

Fortunately, the WWE Hall Of Fame 2016 induction ceremony is here in full, although the inductions of Jacqueline and Stan Hansen are swopped around so that discs two and three each have the "correct" running time. I would recommend to WWE that WrestleMania is released on a four-disc DVD next year, because if the plan going forward is for Mania to last five hours each year, then the DVD will seem so edited down (as this one is) that fans would be better off just having the WWE Network and watching everything from Mania weekend on there (which incidentally has the two-hour Kick-Off Show in full). Also inducted were The Godfather, The Fabulous Freebirds (whose long induction is the highlight of the show and includes some great stories), Big Boss Man (posthumous induction), Snoop Dogg (celebrity inductee), Joan Lunden (Warrior Award recipient) and Sting, who announces his retirement at the end of his speech. This is an entertaining HOF ceremony though not quite the best that we've seen, although it is surreal to see Ric Flair, who is supposed to be inducting Sting, turn his speech into a mini-HOF induction for himself; at one point, it feels like he is inducting Ricky Steamboat rather than The Stinger.

Other minor notes: the menu music for this DVD is the same one that has been used since the WM XXVII DVD, which whilst representing some nice continuity, could suggest that it's time for a change (it's not like the theme is even used on television, meaning it is nowhere near as iconic as the classic WrestleMania themes used in the 1990s). The artwork is as good as you would expect, with many photographs from the card on the digipak; it should be noted that this underlines which matches mattered most to WWE, although oddly there is only one picture from Lesnar vs. Ambrose, and three from the (pre-show) Usos vs. Dudleyz clash. And there are no additional extras due to the run-time for both Mania and the Hall Of Fame, which is another reason why I hope for a four-disc release of WrestleMania on DVD next year.

So, should you buy this DVD? If you're a collector, then yes; if you haven't seen the Mania festivities from this year, absolutely; and if you buy wrestling DVDs simply based on whether they're entertaining, then you should find this to be a wise purchase. If you own the Network, though, then there is no exclusive content here that warrants a purchase (not to mention the edited-down Kick-off matches), and if the card left a bad taste in your mouth at the time, then it probably won't be that much better to watch the second time around, even though some bouts seem better than they did during the live presentation. Therefore, as the rating below indicates, this is an undeniably fun wrestling DVD set, but Network subscribers should have a think about whether this DVD is really worth buying.

Overall Rating: 8/10 - Very Good

Thursday 14 July 2016

WWE From The Vault: Shawn Michaels

Image Source: Amazon
Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 360 Minutes
Certificate: 18
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: August 11 2003

One of the earliest WWE DVDs to provide a career-spanning selection of matches in their entirety, From The Vault provides seven major bouts from Shawn Michaels. While seven is a paltry number, even for a two-disc release that was released early into Shawn's second proper WWE tenure, it is nevertheless a great wrestling compilation due to the fact that the action on display is topnotch throughout. Each bout is preceded by comments from Shawn (which in hindsight look like they were all filmed within around twenty minutes).

An AWA tag team bout pitting The (then-Midnight) Rockers against Buddy Rose and Doug Somers is a typical doubles match for the era with added athleticism (by Shawn and Marty Jannetty) and a surprisingly high amount of blood spillage. We then jump right ahead to the classic WrestleMania X Ladder bout, the match where Shawn truly established himself as a future superstar despite losing to Razor Ramon.

The next three matches are all from 1996, starting with Shawn's Iron Man scrap with Bret Hart from WrestleMania XII. This is one of the most divisive matches in history; fans either love it or hate it. Depending on your point of view, this is either the highlight of the DVD or an entirely skippable 75-80 minute portion of the release. Whatever your opinion, it's hard to argue its inclusion since it officially kicks off Shawn's main event run in the WWF.

Disc two opens with a fantastic No Holds Barred battle against Diesel from In Your House VII (which has alternate commentary from Shawn and Kevin "Diesel" Nash). By WWF standards, the violence on display was ahead of its time, and from a brutality standpoint, this was the first hint of what was to come in the Attitude Era. Then, it's Shawn vs. Mankind from In Your House X, which is slightly overrated in my opinion, but nevertheless is one hell of a brawl.

We then fast-forward to In Your House: Badd Blood from October 1997, and the classic first-ever Hell In A Cell war with The Undertaker (who knew that they would top this effort in the future?). Finally, we see Shawn's comeback match from an injury-enforced retirement against Triple H from SummerSlam 2002, which is simply awesome.

There are no bonus matches, but there are plenty of segments, most of which are linked to the featured bouts (the hype video for HBK vs. HHH from SummerSlam 2002 is an underrated gem), although there are some other angles thrown in, such as the iconic moment when Shawn broke up the Rockers tandem on Brutus Beefcake's Barber Shop set in 1992.

This is a fantastic wrestling DVD. The only downside is that it was released in 2003; a modern-day release comprising three or four discs, including Shawn's top matches from his 2002-2010 run, would be a contender for Best Wrestling Compilation Ever. As it is, though, it remains a superb twin-disc DVD, and this set the tone for many great collections of this nature in the future.

Overall Rating: 9/10 - Outstanding

Monday 11 July 2016

WWE: Superstar Collection - Daniel Bryan

Image Source: Amazon
Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 89 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: February 10 2014

The final Superstar Collection release focused on Daniel Bryan. This compilation on Bryan kicks off with his exciting NXT debut against Chris Jericho. We see The Miz in his greatest ever match opposite Bryan with the us title at stake from Night Of Champions 2010, before his Money In The Bank Ladder match triumph from MITB 2011. After a showdown where he challenges Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Title, both end up in a steel cage at Royal Rumble 2012, this time alongside Big Show and this time with Bryan defending the crown to close the DVD (oddly, Bryan's World Title win over Show from TLC 2011 via a MITB cash-in isn't here).

Based on match quality, this is the best of the four Superstar Collections. That being said, the best matches have been released on previous compilations, and the other bouts aren't quite good enough to justify a purchase on their own.

However, all four SC DVDs are at a budget price and are good to watch without having to overthink storylines, expect major spots or reflect upon drawn-out feuds. At that cost, they are designed to be mini-profiles, and so all are worth a gander. Hopefully, we'll get a UK release of the other Superstar Collections (amongst them the spotlights on Shawn Michaels, Kofi Kingston and Zack Ryder), but for now any of these will be a nice way to fill time on your next Bank Holiday Monday.

Overall Rating: 7.5/10 - Good

WWE: Superstar Collection - Sheamus

Image Source: Amazon
Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 90 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: February 10 2014

Amongst the four performers who got a UK release for their Superstar Collection, Sheamus is the only one who hasn't had a separate DVD release. Therefore, his mini-compilation is more comprehensive than the others.

We get his first two WWE Title victories (against Cena in a Tables bout at TLC 2009 and against Cena, Edge & Orton at Fatal 4 Way 2010 in - yes- a four-way bout), as well as his King Of The Ring tournament-winning match against John Morrison from November 2010, a successful United States Title challenge opposite Daniel Bryan from March 2011, and the closing moments of his triumphant Royal Rumble 2012 performance. Match quality is pretty high across the board and each bout is a justifiable inclusion. Strangely, though, we don't get his World Title win over Bryan from WrestleMania XXVIII (which did only last 18 seconds, after all).

Since this is the only Sheamus DVD to date, this has the most appeal of any of the Superstar Collections which got a UK release. Of course, it helps if you're a fan of the Celtic Warrior, but even if you're not, this is a good recap of (most of) the key moments from Sheamus' early years, and a reminder that he was a genuinely important and appreciated part of WWE before his career was reduced to battling off chants of "You look stupid!"

Overall Rating: 7/10 - Respectable

WWE: Superstar Collection - Randy Orton

Image Source: Amazon
Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 87 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: September 2 2013

Randy Orton's three-disc Evolution Of A Predator (released around a year before this low-cost compilation in the States) covered most of his biggest matches to date, meaning that the match choices on this Superstar Collection are of the less-memorable variety.

That being said, his battle with Triple H at The Bash 2009 (under Three Stages Of Hell rules) and his scrap with both HHH and Cena a month later at Night Of Champions 2009 are both worth watching, although they came at a time when Orton's feuds with both men had entered overkill (little did we know that we'd get four more PPV matches between Orton and Cena in 2009 alone).

Orton vs. Ted DiBiase from a March 2010 edition of Raw is an odd inclusion, since it's not a particularly strong outing (their previous meeting around eight months earlier was far better). Finally, we revisit the great Orton-Christian rivalry from 2011 which had the World Heavyweight Title at stake, in this case their very good battle at Capitol Punishment.

Since Orton has only had one proper DVD release, this compilation is a nice little profile of The Viper. The action is good enough on the whole to warrant a purchase if you're looking for a way to spend that last fiver.

Overall Rating: 6.5/10 - Okay

WWE: Superstar Collection - John Cena

Image Source: Amazon
Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 91 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: September 2 2013

In 2012, a series of budget DVDs on specific performers were released in the US and Australia, followed by a partial release for the U.K. market in 2013 and 2014. Only four of the original series were made available to British fans, with the focus being John Cena, Randy Orton, Sheamus and Daniel Bryan. The DVDs provide a mixture of memorable and not-so-memorable matches, mostly from PPV events.

Beginning with the extended highlight of John Cena's career, we get his fairly good Armageddon 2008 match with Chris Jericho, followed by his Survivor Series 2009 three-way win over Shawn Michaels and Triple H, which is also a strong match. It has an unpredictable start, which ultimately lead to nothing (a rumoured Shawn Michaels-Triple H feud for 2010 didn't happen).

Cena vs. Randy Orton from the Slammys 2009 episode of Raw felt like a joke at the time, since they had just completed in their "last match ever" against one another less than two months earlier. Finally, we get Cena battling The Miz and John Morrison for the WWE Title in a cage from Extreme Rules 2011, which has its moments but is far from a classic.

Cena fans will enjoy this short tribute to the top WWE star of the last decade-and-a-bit, but with only four matches, none of which are Match Of The Year contenders, it's not a must-own by any means.

Overall Rating: 6/10 - Reasonable

Thursday 7 July 2016

The Undertaker: He Buries Them Alive

Image Source: Amazon
Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 60 Minutes
Certificate: E
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: April 12 2004

This DVD is a re-release of the original mid-1990s video (yes, video), and was brought out once again to capitalise on the return of the original Undertaker character at WrestleMania XX. All five bouts on this one-hour feature were held in 1994, a year which saw the initial revamp of his persona upon his return from a long absence at SummerSlam, by which point the gimmick had already reached legendary status. His ring work, however, was still years away from truly impressing the WWF fan base. Hence, don't expect to see classic matches here.

From a storyline standpoint, the biggest match here is The Undertaker vs. The Undertaker from that same SummerSlam. The plot leading into this was pretty fun, at least by 1994 standards, but the match isn't exactly a five-star bout, although it's not as bad as some people say it is. Taker vs. Kwang is a rare DVD appearance for the masked warrior, who was played by the future Savio Vega.

The Phenom faces Jim Neidhart in a scrap which is designed to promote his Casket match with Yokozuna at Survivor Series 1994, the closing minutes of which we get here. (By the way, despite the title of the release, there are no Buried Alive matches here; that stipulation didn't arrive until 1996.) Bizarrely, though, the Anvil bout is shown after the Yoko match, which makes no sense in terms of chronology. Finally, it's Undertaker vs. Jerry Lawler under Casket rules, which also found its way onto the King's DVD last year.

And that's it. Even those who have criticised some of Undertaker's recent WrestleMania encounters will have a new appreciation for those bouts after watching this compilation, as they realise just how different the Dead Man's matches were back in the "New Generation".

In fairness, though, this embodied the standard WWF action at the time, and those who attended shows back then were there to see the Undertaker character itself rather than to see him deliver stunning wrestling matches. For fans of the mid-1990s era WWF, and of course Undertaker supporters, this budget release is a decent addition to your DVD collection. Otherwise, only watch this compilation if you can maintain low expectations.

Overall Rating: 4.5/10 - Below Average

Wednesday 6 July 2016

Living On A Razor's Edge - The Scott Hall Story

Image Source: Amazon
Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 436 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: July 4 2016

The latest WWE DVD features a career retrospective documentary, along with a selection of memorable matches for the subject in question. The usual stuff, right? Actually, no. This set on the life and times of Scott Hall is very different from your usual profile of a legendary wrestling performer due to the topics covered in the main feature.

Yes, the documentary does look back at Hall's in-ring adventures, from his beginnings in the wrestling industry to his early days in Kansas City and the AWA, his original WCW stint as The Diamond Studd, his very successful WWF tenure under the name Razor Ramon, his unforgettable contributions to WCW upon his return as a founding member of the groundbreaking nWo faction, his short-lived 2002 return to the WWF and his 2014 WWE Hall Of Fame induction. The key matches and moments are recapped, although I personally felt that the Razor section was a little bit on the short side, and the recap of his nWo involvement was even more brief; the first two years for the new World order, from Hall's initial promo upon his Nitro debut/return to the summer of 1998 (around which time the faction splintered into two) are all handled within a few minutes, and whilst the impact of the faction and the rise of Hall's status are analysed, it still doesn't quite explain why the nWo was so crucial, from the Hogan heel turn to Nitro battering Raw in the ratings from then on until April 1998. So, whilst the documentary covers the main highlights of Hall's career from an in-ring standpoint (complete with sit-down contributions from Hall, several of his family members, his Kliq buddies Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels, Triple H and X-Pac, and other personalities like Hulk Hogan, Vince McMahon, Dusty Rhodes and Eric Bischoff, it would be considered a slight disappointment, or at least a bit brief, if we were judging it solely on the retelling of his big matches and moments.

However, the documentary is about far more than the wrestling side, as it examines Hall's well-known personal problems in relation to drinking. Although his alcohol addiction is first referred to during the recapping of his 1998 "Last Call" storyline in WCW, it is only implied that Hall had real-life issues at this point. In reality, Hall had several arrests between 1998 and 2000 as well as other regrettable backstage incidents, which led to Hall being fired from WCW in 2000. In addition, the subject of the Plane Ride From Hell (which is a story in itself) is not broached, meaning that the exact reason for his 2002 termination from WWE is not mentioned. However, Hall's subsequent troubles from 2002 to 2012 are covered in-depth, and the footage, stories, opinions and images from this decade of Hall's life are at times excruciatingly candid. Little did most people know that the source for much of Hall's excess drinking, brought on by depression, was an incident long before Hall jointly founded the nWo, his Ladder match with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania X or even his initial exposure in the AWA.

In 1983, whilst working as a bouncer at the Doll House strip club in Orlando, Florida, Hall was involved in an altercation with a man who, he quickly learned, had a gun in his possession. The attacker was attempting to shoot Scott, but Hall commandeered the gun and attempted to pistol-whip him. Instead, he ultimately shot and killed the man. Hall was charged with second-degree murder but was not convicted as it was considered an act of self-defence. However, the dark incident (which was only revealed on a 2011 ESPN documentary, although that isn't mentioned here) remained a black cloud over Hall's life, and he spent decades pondering the moment and carrying guilt over what had happened, even though under the circumstances, Hall would have been killed himself had he not tried to defend himself in this manner. It was something that Hall told few about in the business, hence why it only came to light in the last few years, and Shawn acknowledges that it was only touched upon as opposed to ever being discussed in detail, which played a part in Hall carrying the weight of the shooting for so long.

But without this being public knowledge, the perception of Hall outside the ring was that of a buffoon, whose uncontrollable drinking habits had affected his ring work, his marriage and his health. For years, all people heard about was Hall's drinking and arrests stemming from disorderly conduct. At best, he became a punch line for darkly comical jokes. At worst, he was considered the next probable wrestling statistic to die years before his time. He arguably hit rock bottom in 2011 when, working on an independent show for Top Rope Promotions, he appeared in an awful physical condition and needed assistance just to stand up straight. Footage of the moment is shown here, and is hard to watch when you see how far Hall had fallen. Up until around 2012-2013, Hall seemed beyond help despite WWE's assistance through its paid rehab for all employees past and present when required. Triple H acknowledges that he was no longer advised to take calls from Hall because his situation seemed irreparable.

Fortunately, things would soon take a turn for the better. Hall finally opened up about the 1983 incident that shaped his future woes, which assisted the rehab process because his counsellors could identify the true root of the problems and work on helping Scott to put that fateful night behind him, thus making him less inclined to drink. What really made the difference, though, was that Diamond Dallas Page invited Hall to stay at his home. Through his DDP Yoga programme and generally positive and logical advice on health, DDP had helped Jake Roberts recover from his own addiction problems, and Jake's health and physical condition had improved greatly. When Hall finally accepted Page's invitation, the Bad Guy was bloated and in a wheelchair, almost unable to stand up. Within a few months, Hall had dropped weight, was in shape and had largely kicked his drinking habits. Hall's life (and Jake's too) had undergone a remarkable transformation, so much so that Hall was eventually invited back into the WWE fold, with Hall (and Jake) inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2014. Since then, Hall has made occasional appearances for WWE and hopes to work more closely with the NXT talent at the WWE Performance Center. More importantly, he has put his alcoholism and health problems behind him, and is in better condition and more positive about life than he has been for a long, long time. He still can't truly forget what happened all those years ago (Hall returns to the scene of the crime to discuss what went down), but he is doing a better job of coping with it and coming to terms with the fact that it would have been his life taken that night had he not made the decision to defend himself.

All of this is utterly compelling and quite emotional to watch. Combined with candid talking head comments (those from Page and Jake are particularly vital towards the end) and gripping real-life footage (we see the initial call that DDP and Jake made to Hall, as well as his condition when Scott initially accepted the offer for Page to help him), this ends up being one hell of a documentary. Sure, the wrestling sections are enjoyable, albeit a little brief as mentioned earlier, but the chapters that cover Hall's troubles outside the ring are incredible. It's harrowing at times, but ultimately it has the happy ending of Hall putting his life-threatening problems behind him. (As an aside, Page deserves a Hall Of Fame induction at the very least for helping Hall and Jake in the manner that he did, if not something more prestigious.) I was actually surprised that WWE would even cover the darker parts of this story, although they played a key role in Hall's self-destruction, so they couldn't really be ignored. Actually, the documentary is essentially based around the 1983 shooting, as we open with Hall trying to recap what happened, then we get an explanation a little later on, and the feature continuously refers back to it when investigating the fall of Scott both personally and professionally.

This is the best documentary that WWE has produced for years, and one of the best documentaries that it has ever produced. It is a must-see.

The rest of the DVD has little in common with much of the documentary, as aside from a few bonus stories (one of which is a cool anecdote about Scott's brief time spent with ECW), the focus shifts to Scott's wrestling career. Along with all of the original Razor Ramon vignettes (as well as a series of outtakes from said segments), we get matches that span Hall's career from 1984 to 2002 (Scott's various runs with TNA are not mentioned at any point, by the way).

A squash match from Mid-Atlantic precedes a few AWA bouts, with Scott facing Michael P.S. Hayes, participating in a Battle Royal (which is not exactly a masterpiece; certain eliminations are either ignored or just plain clumsy), and teaming alongside Curt Hennig against The Long Riders in a good old-school doubles bout. There's also a segment where Scott has a verbal confrontation with Larry Zbyszko. It is rarely mentioned, but Hall was clearly positioned as a future star during his AWA stint, and this was in the mid-1980s; so it's fascinating in hindsight that it would be many years before Scott truly made waves in the wrestling business.

We get two short matches from his WCW stint as The Diamond Studd, both of which have a squash feel to them (the latter sees him team alongside DDP, who had just become a wrestler at the ripe age of 35 after years as a manager), and then the bonus material takes a step up as we approach his WWF tenure. His on-screen debut as Razor Ramon is followed by a great WWF Title bout against Bret Hart from Royal Rumble 1993 (his only World Title shot on a WWF PPV, incidentally) and the greatest upset victory ever, when he shocking lost to the 123 Kid from Raw in May 1993. After that, Razor turned babyface (not shown here), but the next match is a match taped for Coliseum Home Video (remember that?) where he challenges Shawn Michaels for the Intercontinental Title. It's a nice little gem and a good match, albeit one that's overbooked in a confusing manner, and as an aside, this must have taken place right before HBK got suspended. That suspension led to the IC Title being vacated, which would ultimately be snapped up by Razor in an entertaining match, perfect for the era, with Rick Martel (which we are treated to here). Disc two ends with THAT Ladder match against Shawn from WrestleMania X, the most famous of his career from an action standpoint. Their Ladder rematch from SummerSlam 1995 isn't here, which is a minor disappointment.

Disc three opens with Razor attempting to regain his IC Title from Diesel at SummerSlam 1994. It's a good mid-card match, as is Razor vs. Jeff Jarrett from Royal Rumble 1995. Razor vs. Goldust from the 1996 Rumble isn't quite as good, perhaps because Hall was legitimately unhappy at the Goldust gimmick (which at this early stage played up some strong homosexual tendencies; attitudes towards homosexuality were very different twenty years ago from what they are nowadays). We strangely don't get Hall's famous Nitro promo which kicked off the nWo angle, or the Bash At The Beach 1996 main event which cemented it as the biggest storyline in years, if not ever. But we do see Hall and Nash battle Sting and Lex Luger at Hog Wild 1996 and their WCW Tag Team Title success against Harlem Heat from Halloween Havoc a few months later.

From there, the focus of the DVD turns to Hall wrestling without Big Kev at his side. He battles Scott Steiner in a decent bout from Nitro, and another Monday night showdown with a then-underdog Chris Jericho has a surprising result. The best WCW match on this DVD is his WCW World Title challenge against Sting at Uncensored 1998, but arguably his greatest WCW match - his Ladder match against Goldberg from Souled Out 1999 - is not included (and has yet to be released on any WWE-produced release, for some reason). His WCW run is wrapped up by The Outsiders facing Goldberg and Sid Vicious from a late 1999 episode of Nitro (the highlight of which is commentator Bobby Heenan's ludicrous suggestion that fans should call their friends and turn up late for work the next day just to see previous enemies Goldberg and Sid team up). Completing the DVD are two short matches from Hall's 2002 WWF return: a SmackDown bout with The Rock, and his forgotten WrestleMania X8 showdown with Steve Austin (which doesn't feel like a WrestleMania match, one of many reasons for Austin walking out of the WWF/WWE twice that year, but that's another story). The Blu-ray has a few more matches, as well as Hall's 2014 HOF induction (this should have been on the DVD as well).

Coming just a few months after the release of The Kliq DVD, and at a time when compilations of 1990s personalities are the norm, there was every chance that this would be a forgotten DVD, one that would be classed as "yet another DVD on a name from the past". But whilst most in-ring achievements are tackled in the documentary and the majority of the subject's biggest matches are included within the bonus section, this DVD (the first WWF/WWE home video release on Scott Hall for 22 years, by the way) will not be quickly forgotten by those who watch it due to the refreshing and at times painful honesty of the main feature. For the amazingly candid manner in which Hall's real-life problems are tackled, the documentary is one that you should definitely buy this DVD for. The lighter content on his run as Razor Ramon and his nWo contributions, as well as some high-quality action amongst the extra matches, further boosts the prestige of this set, which will be remembered as one of the best WWE releases all year.

Overall Rating: 9/10 - Outstanding