Brock Lesnar: Eat. Sleep. Conquer. Repeat.

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 419 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: October 17 2016

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

Originally, the plan was for Brock Lesnar's latest DVD to feature a full documentary of his career, from his NCAA days to his original WWE run to his controversial exit from the company to his UFC adventures to the highlights of his WWE return. Unfortunately, while we do have some pre-match comments from The Beast Incarnate, the main documentary feature was cancelled shortly before the official DVD announcement. It's a big disappointment, because after his previous DVD Here Comes The Pain (which you can read my review for by clicking here) contained almost all of his top matches in his 2002-2004 WWE tenure, a second match collection here feels a bit shallow. There are some memorable matches on display, as you will read about shortly, but given Lesnar's part-time status, there are unlikely to be many fans who haven't seen Lesnar's output in recent years, resulting in a compilation that, without the documentary, has little reason to exist.

There is plenty of good action, though, and disc one does focus on Lesnar's original WWE run. Brock was originally on a developmental deal which saw him train in Ohio Valley Wrestling, so it's nice to have a rare OVW bout pitting Lesnar and Shelton Benjamin against the lesser-known Chris Michaels and Sean Casey from 2000. Even rarer is a non-televised scrap with Mr. Perfect from January 2002, shortly before his official WWF/WWE debut. From there, we have some slightly more memorable action in the form of a Lesnar vs. Rob Van Dam main event from Raw, at a time when Brock was far from the finished article but in the midst of a huge push nonetheless, and the disc ends with two PPV battles from 2003: a great showdown with Kurt Angle from SummerSlam, and an adequate Biker Chain scrap with The Undertaker, who would become arguably Brock's most famous opponent, from No Mercy. Discs two and three then focus on Brock's 2012-2015 WWE highlights.

From this point, the content will be familiar to anybody who owns the Best PPV Matches DVDs. Since Lesnar only has a few televised matches per year, that shouldn't be a big surprise. Nevertheless, many of the bouts are understandable inclusions: his scraps with Triple H from SummerSlam 2012 and Extreme Rules 2013 are engaging, intense brawls, and his SummerSlam 2013 battle with CM Punk was Punk's final truly great WWE encounter.

Ironically, the next two matches on the DVD were not on the Best PPV Matches 2014 collection, but they are arguably Brock's two most memorable matches since his return. Not least the first of this double-header, where Brock takes on The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX in a bout which isn't a classic by any means, but is the most talked-about match in many years due to its unforgettable result (hint: 21-1). Then, John Cena becomes the first true visitor to Suplex City in an amazingly one-sided WWE Title defence against Lesnar from SummerSlam 2014.

After that, Lesnar faces Cena and Seth Rollins in a superb three-way from Royal Rumble 2015, and his brutal clash with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 31 is another memorable spectacle, partly due to its surprise ending. After a quick, almost squash-like win over Kofi Kingston from Beast In The East, we have another one-sided battle between Brock and Rollins from Battleground 2015, before a surprisingly bloody and violent (by modern standards) Hell In A Cell war with The Undertaker from the show of the same name concludes proceedings.

The action is of a high quality throughout, at least from the end of disc one onwards, and Lesnar fans will consider this to be something of a near-complete collection of his most memorable moments since his WWE return in 2012 (although his comeback match, a UFC-esque destruction of Cena at Extreme Rules 2012, is strangely not included). The negatives about this DVD, besides the cancelled documentary, are that the action is a little too familiar, meaning that few die-hard fans won't already own most of the content featured here, and Brock's matches have become so one-sided and have such a predictable layout (as Paul Heyman would say, "Suplex, repeat, suplex, repeat, suplex, repeat" etc) that many fans have gotten tired of Lesnar's matches. They remain something of a must-see attraction, as evidenced by the reaction to his pummelling of Randy Orton at this year's SummerSlam, but it is about time that somebody conquered The Conqueror, otherwise his matches in late 2016, 2017 and beyond will only breed more resentment and apathy.

More than perhaps any other wrestler-specific DVD, this is one aimed primarily at fans of the man himself, given Lesnar's Marmite-like status (i.e. you either love his matches or you hate them). Since I am rating it from a neutral standpoint, I will say that this is an entertaining retrospective of Brock's comeback run, with some older bouts thrown in as a bonus, and that most of his key moments from 2012-2015 are here. If you're a big Lesnar fan, this is worth adding to your collection. Even so, a proper documentary could have elevated this into a package worthy of Brock's mega-star status; as it is, it is one which may only be fully appreciated by those who wish to take a trip to Suplex City.

Overall Rating: 7.5/10 - Good

Elimination Chamber 2015

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 186 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: July 27 2015

(To read a full event review of WWE Elimination Chamber 2015, click here.)

Elimination Chamber, once WWE's final PPV stop before WrestleMania, was a definite B-show in 2015; in fact, it was only announced less than three weeks beforehand. The card still ended up delivering some memorable action and a major upset victory, but rewatching the show on DVD (which incidentally is a UK exclusive), one can't escape the feeling that it was still a card of lesser importance.

The opening Tag Team Elimination Chamber match for the doubles titles has its moments, with some quite frankly insane stunts, but a couple of spots appear to be the subject of wrestler confusion (as in, the performers themselves didn't know where to be at some points), and the finish is a bit anticlimactic, resulting in an opener that is good but by no means great. The three-way match for the Divas Championship is okay, but Nikki Bella vs. Paige vs. Naomi won't exactly be brought up at the end of the year as a vintage showcase of the women's division.

In contrast, John Cena vs. Kevin Owens is a very good back-and-forth battle, which has the shocking conclusion of Owens - in his first match on the main roster - pinning 15-time World Champion Cena clean as a whistle, thus allowing KO to arrive with a bang. After that unforgettable battle - undoubtedly the highlight of the show - fans are slow to react to Neville vs. Bo Dallas, seemingly switching off altogether when Dallas is on the offence; that aside, the match is inoffensive filler.

The Intercontinental Title Elimination Chamber match unfortunately degenerates into a mess: Mark Henry's pod is broken open, forcing him to enter proceedings early, and at one point the action almost stops entirely, as it's clear that nobody has a clue what is supposed to happen next, presumably due to Henry's forced early entry. The participants were fortunate not to be performing in a smarky town like Philadelphia or New York, otherwise the reaction to these scenes could have been very nasty indeed (as it is, the fans appear to be just as confused as the competitors). At least they react positively to Ryback's victory, and to the post-match endorsement of The Big Guy by Daniel Bryan.

Lastly, Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose is an enjoyable main event, but the earlier B-show feel of this card is evidenced by the disqualification finish, which is clearly a tool to allow this feud to continue until the next PPV event, which would be Money In The Bank. On the plus side, the action was good and the fans reacted well to the tease of Ambrose winning the WWE Title, as well as reacting very positively to the post-match appearance by Roman Reigns. In hindsight, the enthused Corpus Christi crowd is one of the big positives about the entire show.

The DVD has a bonus Kick-Off Show match between Stardust and Zack Ryder (during which Jerry Lawler comes extremely close to making a rude joke involving fellow announcer John Bradshaw Layfield), as well as two interview segments involving Ryback and The Bellas. The menu music appears to be a slight re-mix of the old InsurreXtion theme, which may or may not be picked up on by fans who were watching the product during the Attitude Era.

While Elimination Chamber surpassed its fairly low expectations due to the Cena-Owen clinic and some standout moments elsewhere on the card, this is definitely a secondary PPV event. It was tough to watch the card back on DVD, to be honest, because so much of the show feels like filler. This is worth owning to see Owens become a real star with great assistance from Cena, but otherwise it's probably not worth you splashing out on this DVD.

Overall Rating: 6/10 - Reasonable

Royal Rumble 2016

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 182 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: March 21 2016

(To read a full event review of WWE Royal Rumble 2016, click here.)

The 29th annual Royal Rumble's greatest achievement was arguably that the Rumble match itself was better and more well-received than the previous two Rumbles, the backlash to which bordered on riot-level after the omission of Daniel Bryan in 2014 and his early elimination in 2015, along with wins for Batista and Roman Reigns. That aside, there's still enough entertainment on offer that you should enjoy the Rumble '16 DVD.

After a short segment that shows The McMahons arriving at the arena (as brief as it is, Vince McMahon is nevertheless on comedy form here), the Rumble PPV kicks off with a very good Dean Ambrose-Kevin Owens Last Man Standing match, one of Ambrose's best WWE battles to date. Following that, The New Day vs. The Usos is decent, although the fan reaction to the then-heel New Day borders on ridiculously positive, given that John Cena or Roman Reigns (more on him later) would be booed out of the building if they behaved in the same fashion.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Kalisto is alright to watch; that being said, Kalisto's second upset United States Title win over ADR arguably marked the moment when Del Rio's career entered a real decline, since the momentum generated by his upset win over Cena at Hell In A Cell 2015 appeared to have been squandered. Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch isn't quite as good as you would perhaps expect, but it is still watchable nonetheless. Two titbits here: as crude as it was, a spectator doing a certain arm-signal (in a joking fashion) to show his displeasure for Charlotte made me laugh, and Ric Flair's forced kiss on Becky during the match is present, despite it being taken out of the Network replay of Rumble, which is interesting.

The Rumble match itself has plenty of highlights, not least the debut of The Phenomenal One himself, AJ Styles. I won't divulge too much here for those who haven't watched the Rumble match yet (although the DVD sleeve is a giant hint, and a reason why the DVD department need their heads checking), but as mentioned earlier, the reaction to the match was more positive than it had been for a few years, which is a good thing, right? Not for Reigns, though, the booking of whom made the initial boos to him twice as loud, and arguably Reigns hasn't recovered from the presentation of his character yet, despite his success in WWE continuing beyond this show. The only DVD extra is a filler four-way tag qualifier for the Rumble match, which achieves nothing given how poor the winners would ultimately perform in the big match.

So, should you buy this DVD? Well, I can recommend it as an overall programme more than the previous couple of Rumbles, but it is far from the best Rumble match that you will see. If you have a few quid to spare, it's not a bad show to invest in, but if you only buy a few WWE DVDs a year, you may want to save your money for the WrestleMania three-disc compilation.

Overall Rating: 6.5/10 - Okay

SummerSlam 2016

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 265 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: October 10 2016

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

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

SummerSlam 2016 had a bit of everything, really. There was a classic match, a controversial ending to the main event, a crowd which occasionally seemed more interested in hijacking the show, a let-down of a title match, some good mid-card matches, a few surprises and a couple of title changes. All of this applied to the 29th annual SummerSlam, and watching it back on DVD is therefore an intriguing and entertaining viewing experience.

The opener, between Enzo Amore and Big Cass and Jeri-KO, is a fun start to proceedings; in hindsight, it's amazing to think that just eight days after kicking off this PPV, Kevin Owens would win the Universal Championship (more on that later). Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte for the Women's Championship is good but inferior to their previous meeting on Raw, partly due to the baffling spot that saw Sasha's neck almost broken by Charlotte (calling her careless is incorrect if dropping her almost head-first was actually the plan, as daft as it sounds), with the shock outcome almost causing the Brooklyn crowd to turn on the show less than an hour in. A backstage segment involving The Club and Finn Balor keeps the audience positive; it sounds like the hardcore fans in attendance lose their minds at a potential full-on Bullet Club reunion in WWE, to the point where there may have been - ahem! - some discarded items after this skit ended within the audience, if you know what I mean. (If you don't, please don't ask me to explain that!)

Never mind, back to the show: The Miz vs. Apollo Crews for the Intercontinental Title serves its purpose, although it is little more than filler really. The same cannot be said for John Cena vs. AJ Styles, which is an absolute classic: upon second viewing, it is just a tad below the unbelievable Shinsuke Nakamura-Sami Zayn clash from NXT Takeover: Dallas, but on the main roster, Cena vs. Styles 2 remains the Match Of The Year, and the surprise clean win for AJ caps off an outstanding battle. The New Day vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, on the other hand, is a second-rate match with an awful finish, not helped by the unnecessary involvement (for the second SummerSlam running) of Jon Stewart.

Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler for the WWE Title is a better match than I remembered it being, although the crowd giving it the silent treatment most of the way doesn't help. Either they weren't interested because Ziggler had little chance of winning, or they weren't interested because there was no heel for the smarky fans to cheer for. Mind you, it's clear from the presentation that this wasn't meant to be the show-stealer; we don't even get a post-match replay for what was a clever finishing sequence. The SmackDown six-women match is memorable for the surprise return of Nikki Bella, as the blue team ladies prove that there's more to WWE women's wrestling than Charlotte and Sasha.

I wrote a lot about how the crowd nearly spoiled the Universal Title match between Seth Rollins and Finn Balor in the aforementioned original review of this event, so I won't repeat myself here; needless to say, a really good match feels a little less exciting due to an ungrateful audience in Brooklyn (who, by the way, were very quiet for most of the other matches, which combined with their reaction to Seth-Finn tells me that WWE may regret bringing SummerSlam back to Brooklyn in 2017). Also, we weren't to know until 24 hours later that Balor suffered a torn labrum during this match which forced him to immediately vacate his newly-won crown, shelving him until early next year. Oh, dear.

Rusev vs. Roman Reigns doesn't happen; instead, we get a brawl which is hard-hitting, but still feels like an inadequate substitution for a major match on the second biggest show of the year. Lastly, Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton turns into an amazingly violent fight which undoubtedly damages Orton (it also literally damaged him physically, given the injuries he suffered which forced him to miss Backlash the following month), but doesn't half leave a lasting impression of Lesnar being an uncaring, vicious bad-ass (which we knew already, to be fair). On the night, the finish was a bit frustrating, but when watching it back on DVD, it certainly gives us a memorable ending to this stacked PPV event. (Unfortunately, Lesnar's legitimate post-match brouhaha backstage with Chris Jericho, who hadn't been informed of the ending and believed that Lesnar had gone into business for himself to hurt Orton, is not included as a DVD extra, nor will it likely ever be.)

With this being a four-hour show for the second year running, the card is fortunately stretched onto two discs, unlike recent WWE PPV events which have gone north of three hours. And unlike SummerSlam 2015, we get some special features, those being the three Kick-Off Show matches: a 12-man tag involving six SmackDown teams, Sami Zayn and Neville battling The Dudley Boyz (which would be The Dudleyz' last WWE match, as it turned out), and the first chapter in the Best-Of-Seven Series between Sheamus and Cesaro, which is actually one of the best matches of the night (a whopping 13 matches were held that evening in Brooklyn, believe it or not). Mind you, the entrances are removed, the post-match scenes are cut very short, and it appears that some match footage has been taken out when the matches return from the inexplicable commercial breaks (I'd have to rewatch this show on the Network to know for sure). There are no other noticeable edits (I wish WWE had edited some crowd chants out, especially from Rollins-Balor, which has to be a first), but eagle-eyed (well, eagle-eared) fans may recognise the old InsurreXtion theme as the menu music on this DVD.

SummerSlam was such a long, at times overwhelming show that when it was first held, it was a little hard to rate it. There was some good, bad, very good, very bad and occasionally ugly, along with some odd booking decisions and an attention-seeking audience. Therefore, watching the event on DVD (where you can take pauses rather than watching the entire thing in one go) makes for a more enjoyable viewing experience. Granted, it wasn't the all-time classic card that we had hoped for, but there's no doubt that it provided plenty of memorable moments, if not all for the right reasons. Cena-Styles 2 and the brutal ending to Lesnar vs. Orton are the main reasons for you to get this DVD, but there is plenty of entertainment to be found elsewhere across the two discs. Just try to ignore the crowd during the Universal Championship match.

Overall Rating: 7/10 - Respectable

Battleground 2015

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 177 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: September 14 2015

(To read a full event review of WWE Battleground 2015, click here.)

Battleground 2015 is one of those cards which, in hindsight, has slipped a little under the radar, perhaps because its main event was primarily used to set up the headline clash at SummerSlam the following month. However, when reliving the show, Battleground is definitely one of WWE's better cards of the year with some great in-ring action, making for an enjoyable DVD release.

Randy Orton vs. Sheamus is a good opener, enhanced by the strong atmosphere since the show was held in Orton's hometown of St Louis, Missouri. After WWE tries to remind us that Stephanie McMahon alone was responsible for what would become the revolution of women's wrestling in the company (which couldn't be further from the truth), we have a standard WWE Tag Team Title match between The Prime Time Players and The New Day, at a time when New Day were in the process of becoming the incredibly entertaining trio act that would result in their popularity exploding.

Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt is a very good match, and a forgotten reminder in the face of the anti-Reigns sentiment that Roman can more than hold up his end of the bargain in a straight match. The women's three-way between Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Brie Bella was a decent start to the revamp of the female division on the main roster, and John Cena vs. Kevin Owens, whilst a shade inferior to their Money In The Bank collision, is still an excellent battle and a fitting way to end their incredible three-match series. Many fans were up in arms over Owens losing the rubber match - and losing via submission as well - but it wasn't exactly an unpredictable result, and to say that this alone "buried" KO is ludicrous.

A planned Intercontinental Title match between Ryback, The Miz and Big Show was cancelled due to Ryback suffering a staph infection. In its place, we have a short Miz heel promo which, while less entertaining on second viewing than it was at the time, is still an example of why Miz has been one of WWE's best and most underrated talkers of the last few years. Finally, Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar is a near-squash that regrettably makes Rollins look extremely weak, although it does end with the surprise return of The Undertaker, which elicits a huge pop from the audience, and the post-match capers not only marked the first Undertaker-Lesnar interaction since the Streak was broken at WrestleMania XXX, but it was the set-up for their big rematch at SummerSlam the following month. From a match quality standpoint, it was the worst (or second-worst) WWE PPV main event of the year due to the lay-out, but the finish definitely had fans buzzing.

Unlike most DVDs in this era, we have a couple of extras on this release. They're not must-see, mind you: King Barrett vs. R-Truth from the Kick-Off Show is just another match, really, and neither the Team PCB nor The New Day backstage promos are particularly worth watching (a rarity in the case of the latter). A few extras are better than one or none, though.

I wouldn't necessarily suggest that you should rush out and buy this DVD. If you're looking to only own WWE's best PPV events of the year, though, Battleground 2015 is a pretty good option with a superb Cena-Owens match, some strong action in the Orton-Sheamus and Reigns-Wyatt battles, and while the match is largely unspectacular, the ending to Rollins-Lesnar is definitely memorable.

Overall Rating: 7/10 - Respectable

TLC 2015

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 183 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: February 22 2016

(To read a full event review of WWE TLC 2015, click here.)

TLC 2015 occurred at a time when the WWE product was at a pretty low level. A combination of absences for top talent, poor casting in main event situations and generally dull writing meant that TLC was predicted to be a catastrophe of an event. Fortunately, though, the wrestlers delivered on the night, and the show closed with a memorable angle that temporarily reduced the fan hatred towards Roman Reigns, all of which makes this a pretty entertaining wrestling DVD to watch.

The opening three-way tag Ladder match between The New Day, The Lucha Dragons and The Usos widely surpasses expectations, and features an incredible Salida Del Sol by Kalisto which was arguably the most memorable spot of the entire year in WWE. The subsequent Ryback vs. Rusev bout suffers from an uninteresting plot whereby Ryback looks like an idiot for repeatedly falling for Lana's attempts to make out that The Big Guy had injured her. As for Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger: their Chairs match was as good as you could expect, and given the staleness of both men's characters at this point (even though ADR had only returned to WWE two months prior), it's a pleasant surprise, even if the "CM Punk!" chants put a dampener on it.

The eight-man tag team elimination Tables match between Team ECW (The Dudleyz, Tommy Dreamer and Rhyno) and The Wyatt Family is a fun, hardcore brawl that evokes memories of the original ECW as much as one could have given the PG climate (although we're given a flaming table tease just before the finish). Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose is a really good match that would have been better, had they been given a few more minutes to play with. Charlotte vs. Paige is better than their overly long Survivor Series battle, but as this was during Charlotte's slow-burn heel turn, and at a time when Paige was definitely still a heel, fans seem unsure who to cheer for, resulting in a weak atmosphere.

The main event between Sheamus and Roman Reigns under TLC rules was a match that the die-hards simply didn't want to see, and the chants early on are disrespectful since they occur so early that the two combatants aren't given a chance to put on a show, regardless of whether it was a must-see match or not. That being said, both men put in a great effort, and near the end, the crowd is definitely drawn in by the sheer graft shown by Sheamus and Reigns. And the post-match angle, as alluded to earlier, finally reversed anti-Reigns fan sentiment, which led to his WWE Title win the next night on Raw to a very popular crowd response, in Philadelphia no less (and drawing a high rating in the process). It's just a shame that it couldn't be maintained, eh?

The only DVD extra is a Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch match from the Kick-Off Show. I use the word "only" because it's the solitary extra, as Banks and Lynch put on a decent match (though time restrictions prevent them from reaching the heights of their NXT Unstoppable match the previous May). By the way, this is the one instance where I am happy that WWE omitted the wrestler entrances, as Sasha's included her and Team B.A.D. members Naomi and Tamina performing a Christmas rhyme that was so poorly written that it was one of the most embarrassing moments of the entire year. Fortunately, that abomination on one's hearing is not on this DVD.

Normally, a DVD like this would only get an above-average rating from me. But given how badly the WWE landscape seemed at the time, the fact that this show featured several big positives and plenty of enjoyable action makes this one of WWE's better shows to own. And for Roman Reigns fans, it's evidence that under the right circumstances, The Big Dog could and would be expected as the Main Man in WWE.

Overall Rating: 7/10 - Respectable