Monday 23 January 2017

TLC 2016 coming soon on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK

Image Source: Amazon
Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Fetch Publicity

The following story is courtesy of Fetch Publicity ...

With tables, ladders, and chairs surrounding the ring and the WWE World Championship suspended high above, AJ Styles heads into his first TLC match defending the title against "The Lunatic Fringe" Dean Ambrose. The rivalry for the Intercontinental Championship reaches new heights as The Miz defends his title against Dolph Ziggler in a Ladder Match. The women of the blue brand get their chance to shine when Becky Lynch defends the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship against Alexa Bliss in a Tables Match. Plus more!

Synopsis:

Match Listing:

WWE Championship TLC Match
AJ Styles (Champion) vs. Dean Ambrose

Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match
The Miz (Champion) vs. Dolph Ziggler

SmackDown Women's Championship Tables Match
Becky Lynch (Champion) vs. Alexa Bliss

SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match
Heath Slater & Rhyno vs. Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton

Chairs Match
Baron Corbin vs. Kalisto

No Disqualification Match
Nikki Bella vs. Carmella

Plus, more action, extras and Blu-ray exclusives!

We like it because:

TLC is always one of the most exciting nights of the year for WWE. But this event has special meaning, as it finishes off 2016’s incredible run of pay-per-view events from SmackDown Live!

WWE Champion AJ Styles also caps off what is arguably the most impressive debut year in WWE history with another stunning performance, battling the former champ Dean Ambrose in a TLC match four months in the making. Styles shows the world just why he’s WWE Champion – and why 2017 could be just as phenomenal.

The Miz and Dolph Ziggler’s epic rivalry comes to a conclusion in dramatic, bone-crunching style – a highly-innovative Ladder Match. Just when it looks like Miz and Dolph couldn’t possibly find new ways to punish each other, they pull out something new to stun the WWE Universe.

Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss’s Tables Match is also great enough to rival anything happening in the Raw’s women’s division – proof that the female Superstars from WWE’s blue brand are just as capable of groundbreaking action.

With all this and much more, TLC is another must-own pay-per-view event!

TLC 2016 will officially be released on DVD and Blu-ray on Monday February 6 2017.

For more information, click here.

Friday 20 January 2017

Survivor Series 2016

Image Source: Amazon
Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 197 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: January 23 2017

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

The 30th annual edition of Survivor Series was an unusual show, both in terms of fan expectations beforehand and what transpired on the night. In the run-up, it felt like a series (no pun intended) of potentially exciting yet ultimately inconsequential elimination bouts between the Raw and SmackDown brands, along with a rematch from WrestleMania XX in 2004 as Goldberg made his long-awaited return to collide with Brock Lesnar in what was the real draw for the card. On the night, however, the inter-brand collisions exceeded expectations overall, and Goldberg vs. Lesnar was certainly a memorable encounter if not for the reasons that anybody expected going in.

The opening five-on-five women's match is pretty good, and once again provides evidence as to how much the female division has grown in recent times when one considers the paltry time and interest allocated to the Divas' battles at Survivors events in the past (I remember that more than one were nothing more than an excuse for the announcers to make jokes). Next up, The Miz vs. Sami Zayn for the Intercontinental Championship is one more reason to suggest that Miz had an incredible comeback year in 2016, although the dodgy finish at a Survivors show in Canada elicted some groans on the night.

Possibly the biggest disappointment of the card was the five-teams vs. five-teams battle. Initially evoking memories of the classic elimination battles from the early Survivors cards which spotlighted the then-stellar tag team division, this incarnation was pretty rushed and, whilst having some eye-catching spots, didn't come close to matching the incredible battles from the late 1980s starring the likes of The British Bulldogs, The Hart Foundation and Demolition. Although it basically had a last-minute set-up, Brian Kendrick vs. Kalisto for the Cruiserweight Championship was a strong effort, featuring an insane Salida Del Sol off the ring apron by Kalisto. Again, though, a frustrating finish negated the hard work that went into the match.

The same cannot be said for the men's Raw vs. SmackDown Survivors match, which if not a classic is pretty damn close. Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman vs. AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt and Shane McMahon is superb, lasting close to a full hour and featuring a ton of stand-out spots and generally topnotch action. Even minor details like the massively-over Y2J reminding Ambrose that he still owed him $15,000 for damaging his jacket back in the spring were nice touches, and capping off with a surprising finish, the match is one of WWE's best of 2016, with the only negative being when it appeared that Shane had suffered a serious injury prior to his elimination (sorry for the spoiler, but let's be honest: who thought that Shane would have been a sole survivor?).

Then we come to the main event: Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar. Depending on your opinion, this was either a tremendous moment providing shock value almost to the level of Lesnar ending The Undertaker's Streak at WrestleMania XXX or it was a complete disaster which damaged Lesnar's reputation, partly due to that very Streak-snapping victory, and showed that WWE has his priorities wrong. I prefer to sit on the positive side of the fence because, undoubtedly, it created one hell of a buzz, and ensured that the eventual Goldberg-Lesnar rematch (presumably at WrestleMania 33) will be even bigger and, without question, longer.

The DVD includes two bonus matches from the Kick-Off Show: a six-man tag match from the Cruiserweight division, which gets a nice response from the Toronto crowd, and Kane vs. Luke Harper. There are also bonus segments, and the Blu-ray also throws in the Goldberg-Lesnar face-off on Raw six days prior to Survivors.

I should mention that like SummerSlam, and like the forthcoming Royal Rumble, the Survivor Series card lasts (or was meant to last) four hours, which obviously means a longer running time for the show than normal, but it also means that certain matches were clearly stretched out to last longer than usual in order to cover the extended running time. Having watched it in its entirety again, it's clear that the show could easily have been squeezed into three hours had WWE gone down that route. And it probably would have been better if they had, as some matches were unnecessarily long (besides the men's elimination match, since that succeeded partly because it went so long). Conversely, and ironically, the biggest complaint about Goldberg vs. Lesnar was that it didn't last long enough.

Overall, though, one should really enjoy Survivor Series 2016 on DVD. The card as a whole may have worked better as a Network special rather than one of the "Big Four" PPV events, but there's still plenty of good action to savour, with an outstanding elimination match and an unforgettable main event spectacle. Assuming you can take the show and just enjoy it for what it is, then this is a WWE DVD that you will probably want to own.

Overall Rating: 7.5/10 - Good

Friday 13 January 2017

WWE Best Pay-Per-View Matches 2016

Image Source: Amazon
Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 539 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: January 16 2017

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

For the seventh year, WWE presents its top supercard matches of the year on DVD (although the original release covered the 2009/2010 season, from Backlash 2009 to WrestleMania XXVI; you can check out previous reviews within this series using the links on the right). Since the series began at the end of the 2000s, a lot of things have changed in WWE, not least the roster and its leading stars. However, what hasn't changed is that you can usually count on there being some pretty strong matches on the vast majority of Pay-Per-View events. In 2016, there were perhaps more stand-out PPV showdowns than ever before in WWE, and many of them are included in this collection.

Hosted by Lita, the set fittingly kicks off with the first PPV match of the year, that being a very good Last Man Standing clash between Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens for the Intercontinental Championship from Royal Rumble. From there, we're shown a quick montage of every match from the Rumble event and, throughout the set, similar round-ups are shown for every featured PPV event, as was the case on the 2015 collection (which is a nice touch as it packs a lot of moments into a short, neat and tidy series of clips). After that, we head to Fast Lane for two matches: AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho, which was a strong effort in their underrated feud, and Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Brock Lesnar with the WrestleMania 32 WWE Title shot at stake. The latter is better than I remembered it being, although the result was never in doubt, and strangely enough the Reigns-Triple H feud which had begun in November 2015, and generated some excitement over the winter through various angles, was suddenly turned on by hardcore fans once it became official that the two would collide at WrestleMania (how bizarre ... wink wink).

Speaking of Mania, the biggest WWE show of 2016 (or ever, based on attendance) is represented by three bouts: the opening IC Title Ladder war, which is superior to a similar match at WM 31; the Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch three-way for the newly-reborn WWE Women's Championship which, questionable outcome aside, is thrilling and played a key role in the evolution of female performers in WWE; and The Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon inside Hell In A Cell. In the case of the latter, it's watchable but a bit slow, understandably considering the participants, and although it isn't as bad as some would have you believe - it's pretty good, actually - it really is memorable for one spot, although it's a pretty damn amazing spot (I won't spoil it here). Nevertheless, if we're talking match quality, then it probably shouldn't be here, especially since no pre-match promo videos are included which would explain the high stakes involved nor the significance of Shane's shocking return to WWE the night after Fast Lane. (Mind you, since WWE would renege on one of the key stipulations of this contest, perhaps that was by design). This also marks the first time since 2011 that the WrestleMania main event isn't included on the Best PPV Matches set, which speaks volumes about the ultimate reaction to HHH vs. Reigns, I'm sure. (By the way, the WM highlights package from the live card is used again here, minus the Flo Rida part.)

From there, it's onto Payback and a really good Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn match, which the two would actually top at Battleground (the rematch isn't included here). After that (well, after the run-down of Payback, which weirdly emphasises the very serious injury that Enzo Amore suffered in the opening contest), we revisit Extreme Rules and although the superb IC Title Fatal Four Way isn't included, the main event between Roman Reigns and AJ Styles for the WWE Title is, and the match - held under Extreme Rules - may be WWE's best PPV main event of the whole year, plus there is a big surprise after the bout concludes. Money In The Bank is covered by another fine MITB Ladder match, which admittedly slows down a bit too much towards the finish, and the Roman Reigns-Seth Rollins headline attraction, which is part of a wider series of events at MITB which created a unique bit of history, although again I won't act as the spoiler here.

Arguably the best women's match of the year in WWE saw Charlotte lose her Women's Championship to Sasha Banks on July 25; however, that match took place on Raw, so it isn't eligible to be included here. Therefore, we instead get the tag team match from the night before at Battleground, as Charlotte and Dana Brooke face Sasha and Bayley (the latter making a one-off appearance prior to her official promotion from NXT, and she receives maybe the loudest pop ever for a female competitor in WWE). Battleground is also covered by the all-Shield three-way main event, which is a draw in its own right, but is also crucial to the future direction of the WWE Championship, since the second Brand Extension and Draft had been launched just days prior to that particular card.

This is very important because, although the roster split happened in July, it essentially made it a year of two halves for WWE, especially on PPV. By the time of the next show, SummerSlam, the New Era (the second New Era of the year in WWE, amusingly) had become fairly established, and both brands were out to impress at the biggest event of the summer. Whilst SummerSlam didn't quite live up to high expectations, we do get the show's two best matches on this collection, the first being my personal pick for the Match Of The Year on the main roster, AJ Styles vs. John Cena. Yes, Cena only appears once on the entire DVD due to his schedule being reduced as he looks to follow in the footsteps of The Rock and make it big outside of WWE; nevertheless, he gives maximum effort here, as does Styles, who by this point and especially after this match had become arguably the hottest wrestler in the company. The other SummerSlam bout is Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor for the newly-created Universal Championship, which is unfortunately spoiled by the Brooklyn crowd massively overreacting to what was considered a lazy and ugly design for the title itself. Watch it on mute or with music playing and you'll enjoy it a lot more; otherwise, you'll find yourself cursing about the Brooklyn audience (and since SummerSlam 2017 will be in Brooklyn as well, it's possible that another match will get the same treatment for some unknown reason this August).

The rest of the DVD is taken up by matches from solo-brand PPVs, which returned for the first time since 2007 in light of the new Brand Extension. Backlash, a SmackDown-only card, was predicted to be a big disappointment, but it ended up being surprisingly good, with such fun outings as the six-woman match included here for the brand new SmackDown Women's Championship, which proved that the WWE women's movement isn't solely confined to Charlotte, Sasha and Bayley. Clash Of Champions, a Raw-only effort, was less acclaimed, but it did feature a great match of its own, as Cesaro and Sheamus concluded their Best-Of-Seven Series in spectacular fashion; dodgy ending aside, this bout is well worth watching. The smart match choices by the DVD team continue with a brilliant IC Title vs. Career match between The Miz and Dolph Ziggler from No Mercy, which was so good that people were disappointed that an IC Title match didn't main event a PPV for the first time since the historic SummerSlam 1992. A Women's Title match would get that honour, however, at Hell In A Cell as Charlotte and Sasha collided inside the massive cage. That being said, although the match is watchable, it is a shade below their previous efforts, and a slightly blown ending and unpopular outcome mean that it serves as a bit of an anticlimactic end to the DVD.

As is tradition, the last two months of the year aren't included within the collection, so that the DVD can be available in the first few weeks of the new year. I've always found that to be irksome, but especially for the 2016 set due to the introduction of new PPV events. This means that Survivor Series, TLC and Roadblock: End Of The Line are all ignored and, while you could argue that the absence of Roadblock isn't a big deal (The New Day vs. Cesaro and Sheamus was the best match on the card and had some historical significance, but the rest of the show was missable), TLC delivered a few gems, and Survivor Series gave us one of the best Survivors elimination matches ever in the form of the men's Raw vs. SmackDown battle that almost lasted a full hour. Not to mention the memorable and controversial Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar main event, and since that bout lasted 86 seconds, it surely wouldn't have taken much effort to throw that on at the end of the set, would it?

Those gripes aside (and I do hope WWE finally addresses this for the 2017 set, although I don't have high hopes that they will), this is a really entertaining and varied collection of matches. It acts as a cool demonstration of how WWE changed over 2016, from the injury-ridden and creatively-challenged first few months being offset by some strong in-ring performances, to the debuts of new faces and returns of old names to deliver memorable matches and moments over the spring and summer, to the Brand Extension changing everything in WWE and allowing more performers who were under-utilised to shine, with others also stepping up in an attempt to make their mark and become a vital part of WWE going forward. From an in-ring standpoint, there aren't any bad matches on the whole DVD; The Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon is the only match which one may describe as weak, but this was always going to be more about the spectacle than the in-ring mechanics. As for notable exclusions: I mentioned the IC Title match from Extreme Rules and the Zayn-Owens rematch from Battleground but, otherwise, WWE have mostly made some smart picks for the matches here. You could argue about the first Cena-Styles clash (no pun intended) from MITB and Miz vs. Ziggler from Backlash, but since their superior rematches are on the DVD, such complaints are mild at best. The only real complaint I have about the match selection is the lack of contests from the November and December PPVs, which I've already addressed. Strangely enough, the fact that Backlash and No Mercy haven't been released on DVD adds more prestige to this set, since it includes some bouts that you won't find on another DVD at present (although all PPV events are obviously on the WWE Network).

Overall, I would definitely recommend this DVD from a match quality standpoint. It may not be as essential a purchase as previous editions were in the pre-Network days, but it is a shining example of how, based solely on the athleticism and in-ring skill, WWE has arguably its most talented roster ever right now, and many of its top stars - as well as some lesser names - delivered in a big way at some point on Pay-Per-View in 2016, as demonstrated here.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10 - Excellent

Monday 9 January 2017

Survivor Series 2016 coming soon on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK

Image Source: Amazon
Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Fetch Publicity

The following story is courtesy of Fetch Publicity ...

After 12 years in exile from sports-entertainment, Goldberg brings devastation back to the WWE ring for the long-awaited rematch against “The Beast Incarnate” Brock Lesnar. On the 30th anniversary of Survivor Series, fantasy warfare just got real! And for the first time since the Brand Extension, Superstars from both RAW and SmackDown Live go head-to-head in traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination matches – the ultimate battle for brand supremacy!

Synopsis:

Match Listing:

Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg

5-on-5 Elimination Match
Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman vs. AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton, Dean Ambrose & Shane McMahon

Intercontinental Championship Match
The Miz (Champion) vs. Sami Zayn

10-Team Elimination Match
The New Day, Cesaro & Sheamus, Enzo & Cass, The Shining Stars & Gallows & Anderson vs. Heath Slater & Rhyno, American Alpha, Breezango, The Usos & The Hype Bros

Cruiserweight Championship Match
Brian Kendrick (Champion) vs. Kalisto

5-on-5 Elimination Match
Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Nia Jax & Alicia Fox vs. Becky Lynch, Natalya, Alexa Bliss, Naomi & Carmella

Plus, more action, extras and Blu-ray exclusives!

We like it because:

As one of WWE’s “Big Four” Pay-Per-Views, Survivor Series is always a landmark event – but with “The Beast” Brock Lesnar and Goldberg facing off, this one will go down as one of the biggest moments in sports-entertainment history!

Already an infamous, highly-controversial main event, it’s a must-own match – one you’ll want to watch time and time again to to see if you can actually believe what happened!

There’s also blistering action in the traditional elimination matches. The women’s match is further proof of how far the division has come – and how incredibly talented WWE’s female Superstars are.

The men’s match delivers some fantasy warfare too, as the very best of Raw and SmackDown face off in an epic war – with such dream moments as Universal Champion Kevin Owens vs. WWE Champion AJ Styles, Braun Strowman battling his former leader Bray Wyatt, and a shocking reunion from The Shield!

Don’t miss out on this awesome and historic event!

Survivor Series 2016 will officially be released on DVD and Blu-ray on Monday January 23 2017.

For more information, click here.

Thursday 5 January 2017

WWE Best Pay-Per-View Matches 2016 coming soon on DVD in the UK

Image Source: Amazon
Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Fetch Publicity

The following story is courtesy of Fetch Publicity ...

The WWE Universe witnessed some of the greatest matches of The New Era in 2016. Dream matches were realised, members of The New Era stole the show, and legends showed the world they’ve still got it. In this exclusive collection, relive the best 2016 had to offer with WWE’s Best Pay-Per-View matches of 2016. Experience the spectacle of the Hell In A Cell Match between Shane McMahon and The Undertaker, the incredible athleticism of AJ Styles and John Cena in their SummerSlam classic, all three members of The Shield finally going at it, and the Women’s Revolution upping the level of competition at WrestleMania, plus much more!

Synopsis:

Match Highlights:

Royal Rumble 2016 – January 24 2016
Last Man Standing Match for the Intercontinental Championship
Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens

WrestleMania 32 – April 3 2016
Triple Threat Match for the WWE Women’s Championship
Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch

WrestleMania 32 – April 3 2016
Hell In A Cell Match
Shane McMahon vs. The Undertaker

Payback 2016 – May 1 2016
Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens

Battleground 2016 – July 24 2016
Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship
Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins

SummerSlam 2016 – August 21 2016
John Cena vs. AJ Styles

Clash Of Champions 2016 – September 25 2016
Match #7 in the Best Of Seven Series
Cesaro vs. Sheamus

Hell In A Cell 2016 - October 30 2016
Hell in a Cell Match for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship
Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte

Plus much more action!

We like it because:

2016 was an incredible year on Pay-Per-View for WWE, which makes this an incredible DVD collection!

There’s groundbreaking action from WWE’s female Superstars – with the matches included on this set showing that the women of WWE are part of the fastest-rising division in sports-entertainment – and fantasy warfare as John Cena brings out “Big Match John” to take on the “Phenomenal One”, AJ Styles.

There’s also history-in-the-making as Shane McMahon returns to WWE to battle The Undertaker in a jaw-dropping Hell In A Cell match at WrestleMania – featuring one of the greatest “WrestleMania moments” of all-time – plus more brutal hardcore action in Last Man Standing, Extreme Rules and Ladder matches.

The brand split and New Era also saw Superstars up the ante, as they fought to prove that Raw and SmackDown was the dominant brand on PPV, ushering in a generation of young talent who delivered high-speed, hard-hitting matches. Performances from the likes of Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Finn Balor proved that not only was 2016 an amazing year on PPV, but they’re the future of WWE!

WWE Best Pay-Per-View Matches 2016 will officially be released on DVD on Monday January 16 2017.

For more information, click here.