Undertaker 15-0

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 183 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: March 17 2008

The undefeated WrestleMania Streak of The Undertaker was truly legendary. Before Brock Lesnar ended it after Mania XXX, the record had turned into one of the true highlights of each WrestleMania, mainly due to the outstanding performances by Undertaker and his opponent. In 2012, WWE released a DVD covering the first twenty matches of the Streak, and the final six matches of that release are almost all classics, illustrating just how vital a part of WM that the Streak was. (You can read my review for the 20-0 DVD by clicking here.)

It's easy to forget, though, that The Streak wasn't always a priority for WWE and, in fact, it wasn't until Taker's 13th Mania match with Randy Orton that the undefeated record was first used as a selling point. Therefore, this DVD, the first on Taker's then-perfect WM record, charts his first fifteen battles on the grand stage, and the combination of the reduced importance on his winning run for so many years and the limitations of the original Undertaker character's ring style, not to mention his generally large and cumbersome opponents, make this less of a guilty pleasure than 20-0.

Beginning with a near-squash win over Jimmy Snuka at WrestleMania VII, the second bout against Jake Roberts from WM VIII is alright, though by no means a classic. (There's a story behind that match: Jake really wanted to leave the WWF and Vince McMahon said no, so Jake said he would no-show Mania VIII unless he was guaranteed a contract release afterwards, which is what happens - and Jake regrets that stance today. Also of note is how he was asked to allow Taker to kick out of his usually-devastating DDT, so Roberts ensured that he took a long pause before covering him after DDT #1, and he went after Paul Bearer after hitting DDT #2, before Taker recovered and beat him. Well, you know what they say: never trust a snake!)

Match three is Taker's worst WrestleMania match ever, although that's down to the extremely limited Giant Gonzales being his opponent. It's a cool spectacle, but as a match it is pretty poor (some say it was the worst match of what they consider the worst WM ever, which is an unwanted honour to have), and the finish sucks too; it's the only WM match that Taker won on a technicality. Taker vs. King Kong Bundy from WM XI is slightly better, and it's worth pointing out how Vince McMahon, on commentary, is the first to acknowledge Taker's unbeaten record at that stage.

Taker vs. Diesel from WM XII is very good by the standards of the time, and shows that despite criticisms of Kevin Nash and his work, his performances were strong as he was preparing to leave the WWF (Diesel would have arguably the Match Of The Year with Shawn Michaels at the subsequent In Your House). Taker vs. Psycho Sid for the WWF Title at WM 13 has its moments but is a substandard main event overall; not helping its cause was having to follow the classic Bret Hart-Steve Austin Submission match, and the craziness involving Shawn Michaels "losing his smile" which partially led to this happening (Shawn on commentary buries Bret Hart more than he focuses on the match itself). Side notes: Jim Ross on commentary also acknowledges Taker's perfect record thus far, and this is the last occasion where Undertaker wore his original black-and-grey attire.

Moving into the Attitude Era, Taker vs. Kane at WM XIV culminated the superb storyline between the two brothers, and their match is a strong big-man affair. Taker vs. Big Boss Man at WM XV, on the other hand, is the worst Hell In A Cell match ever; a plodding affair which didn't even come close to matching previous HIAC classics (Big Boss Man being hung afterwards is thankfully removed). Much better is Taker vs. Triple H from WM X-Seven: it's a great brawl, and part of the reason why WM X7 is considered the best WWF/WWE supershow of all-time. Afterwards, JR emphasises that Taker is now 9-0 at Mania.

Taker himself acknowledges his winning run after he vanquishes Ric Flair at WM X8 in a fun No Holds Barred match. That being said, it still felt like Taker had passed his prime, which explains his low-card position for a Handicap match against Big Show and A-Train, which is okay but nothing more. Taker was meant to team with Nathan Jones (who?), but WWE took him out of the match due to his lack of talent, although he pops up just before the finish here. Taker vs. Kane at WM XX marked the return of his Phenom persona (I should have pointed out that Taker's character morphed into the American Bad Ass, a biker, from 2000 to 2003) and has a great entrance, but the match itself is an anticlimax, lasting less than ten minutes.

The Streak finally becomes official at WM 21, due to Randy Orton (the Legend Killer) vowing to beat Taker at the 2005 WrestleMania so that he would have killed the winning record. The match is really good, but had it been given a few more minutes, it may have ended up being a contender for Match Of The Year. Which is more than can be said for Taker vs. Mark Henry at WM 22 under Casket rules; Taker's performance is typically strong and he pulls off some jaw-dropping moves, but the generally-dull Henry is too much of an obstacle to overcome, and this ultimately ends up being unmemorable. The DVD ends with Taker's first classic WrestleMania encounter against Batista from WM 23, which surpassed expectations by a wide margin.

Despite Taker going 15-0 at this point, the great match with Batista and his superb 2007 in general meant that the Streak, really, was just getting started. Unfortunately for owners of this DVD, this release was brought out before WM XXIV, meaning that his phenomenal main event there with Edge, and his future Match Of The Year contenders/winners with Shawn Michaels, Triple H and CM Punk are obviously absent. Consider this DVD to be the beginning of The Streak's rise to importance, even though nearly three-quarters of Taker's winning record are covered here.

If you're an Undertaker fan, you'll enjoy reliving his evolution on the biggest stage of them all, but those seeking high-quality wrestling action probably won't be satisfied. That the 20-0 DVD includes all of the action here plus five classic matches obviously makes that a more enticing prospect to own (and WWE also released a 21-1 version in 2015 which included Taker vs. Punk and the Streak0breaking bout with Lesnar), but it's still a nice little compilation to own if you're a collector, or if you're a longtime fan of the Dead Man.

Overall Rating: 6.5/10 - Okay

The History Of The Hardcore Championship 24:7

Image Source: Fetch Publicity

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 431 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: September 5 2016

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

If you ask any fan of the Attitude Era in the WWF/WWE about the ten things that they miss the most from that wild and crazy time, there's a good chance that they will mention the Hardcore Championship. Originally designed as a joke prop for Mankind, with that representing false hope provided by Vince McMahon in the storylines, the title soon evolved into a platform for some increasingly brutal and very competitive battles, and with a later rule change, it became a source of true entertainment and creativity. The Hardcore Title had its up's and down's over its near four-year history, and they are all covered in this new DVD.

The DVD is presented by three former Hardcore Champions in a round-table, discussion-style setting. Mick Foley and Rob Van Dam are understandable hosts, but I was surprised to see Raven as the final host: sure, he held the battered gold 27 times (or 39, as he states), but since he was a vocal critic of WWE after leaving the company and even tried to sue the organisation in 2008, it's a surprise that a) he would be asked, and b) he would agree to it. Tommy Dreamer has a cameo appearance with his voice introducing the hosts. Their discussions are both frank and humorous throughout, and make this DVD stand out from others; it feels more like a reunion of old friends rather than a serious wrestling chat, which is a good thing.

As for the matches: well, I am not going to break down each one bout-by-bout, because there's tons of them! There are literally dozens of matches on the set, although this is partly because some are very short, especially around 2000-2001, so three or four matches equate to the same time span as, say, one match on a "normal" DVD. It means that the true stand-out matches are fewer in number, but it ensures a very comprehensive catalogue of Hardcore Championship adventures.

Picking out the key moments, then, we have the segment where Mankind was first awarded the title, and some of his early defences as the Hardcore rules (No Holds Barred and Falls Count Anywhere) are established. A highlight comes from Road Dogg vs. Al Snow on January 4 1999 (the night that Mankind became WWF Champion for the first time, coincidentally), with the match featuring plenty of violent moments and ending up outside within the snow-covered surroundings of the arena. The creativity of both the weapons and the locations shine in a Snow-Bob Holly clash from St. Valentine's Day Massacre which ends up in the Mississippi River during a very cold time of the year. Some of Holly's early title defences are also included as he officially morphs into Hardcore Holly.

Strangely, there is a six-month gap on the main DVD before the next match, which means that we don't get the first Hardcore Title match at a WrestleMania or some of the subsequent Snow-Holly brawls. Instead, we jump to SummerSlam 1999 and Al vs. Big Boss Man, which is good but is overbooked Vince Russo-style (yes, Russo was a WWF writer back then), from Road Dogg providing unnecessary commentary to the Blue Meanie and Stevie Richards trying to kidnap Pepper post-match (Pepper was Al's dog who Boss Man would later cook and have Al unknowingly eat; seriously, that happened). We get a rare Jakked match of Snow vs. Steve Blackman, with the most notable aspects arguably being a completely forgotten storyline where Blackman had a problem with a WWF security guard, and announcers Michael Cole and Michael Hayes discussing Mark Henry's sex addiction storyline, where he had just admitted to losing his virginity at the age of eight to his sister; I can't believe I am even writing that, let alone that this made the WWF airwaves (even weirder, the commentators who actually sit at ringside for this match are Kevin Kelly and Terry Taylor, not Cole and Hayes).

As we enter 2000, the title takes on a less prominent role as wrestlers further down the ranks compete for the title, and the matches are shorter too with some literally lasting a matter of moments. However, the entertainment value would increase as Crash Holly announces the title would be defended 24/7, meaning 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That would lead to all sorts of hilarious title defences with plenty included here, as we see it defended in the car park, at an airport, in a children's playcentre (my personal favourite) and even at a circus. But the 24/7 moment which got the biggest laugh out of me was Gerald Brisco pinning Crash while he was asleep with a finger-poke, complete with the announcers whispering the crowning of a new champion and Brisco's classic slow-motion and silent celebration. Fortunately, we are spared the Brisco-Pat Patterson Hardcore Evening Gown match at King Of The Ring 2000, which went too far in trying to provide bizarre entertainment and was one of the worst moments of the entire Attitude Era, at least from the standpoint of being embarrassing. (We also don't get the chaotic Hardcore Battle Royal from WrestleMania 2000, which is a slight disappointment.)

The title got a bit more serious once Steve Blackman became champion (his SummerSlam 2000 showdown with Shane McMahon, featuring insane falls by Shane and, to a lesser extent, Blackman at the finish, is here); as Jim Ross notes on commentary, few challenged Blackman via the 24/7 rule because of how dangerous he was (a nice touch, when you think about it). But the 24/7 rule returns when the likes of Raven and Big Show would capture the gold, as we see in matches from late 2000 and early 2001. It was at this point when one couldn't keep count of title changes, as the belt would swop hands several times per show, and that was just on Raw and SmackDown (there were also tons of house show title changes for the same reason, hence Raven having dozens of title reigns to his credit; funnily enough, Hardcore Holly apparently only ever held the title six times), so the belt was losing some of its prestige, not to mention how the matches would degenerate into complete clusters (as seen here in one three-way on Raw, and that's with Big Show defending against The Rock and Kurt Angle). It could still be entertaining, though, as we see in a daft Triple Threat showdown between Raven, Big Show and Kane from WrestleMania X-Seven; whether it's Kane accidentally running over Raven's ankle with a golf cart or Show spending ages locking a cage that Kane immediately breaks open, this is an example of when wrestling can be so bad that it's good.

Around this time, former ECW talent entered the WWF due to the demise of that promotion, and subsequently the action in the Hardcore division became a lot more intense and serious. Rhyno vs. Raven from Backlash 2001 is an awesome little battle, including a great spot where Rhyno Gores himself into a shopping trolley, and Rob Van Dam's matches take the division up to an even higher level. RVD vs. Jeff Hardy from Invasion 2001 is fantastic and arguably the best Hardcore Title match ever, and Van Dam vs. The Undertaker from Vengeance 2001 saw the title reach its most prestigious level to date; besides the Undisputed Title mini-tournament on the same show, this was the most important match on the card. But once Undertaker lost the title in early 2002 to Maven (thanks to interference from The Rock, if you require an explanation for a result that looks strange on paper), the 24/7 rule re-entered play, but there were even more pointless title changes, less creativity in terms of locations and props (besides Goldust's gold-coloured weapons) and wrestlers on the very low end of the roster were competing for it. Besides the fun series of title swops at WrestleMania X8 (one of which saw The Hurricane fly into the backstage area on a rope to win the title), the last six-seven months of the championship were uneventful and had a seen-it-all-before feel to it. In spring and summer 2002, the title achieved very little in terms of entertainment value (partly because the Brand Extension halved the roster, meaning that less valued names were competing for it), so in hindsight it made sense that the championship would be retired, which we see in the DVD's final match, RVD vs. Tommy Dreamer on the August 26 2002 episode of Raw in an Intercontinental Title vs. Hardcore Title unification match (which emanated from Madison Square Garden, so at least the title left on something of a high).

This is a very enjoyable collection. This is definitely not one that you would watch if you expect classic wrestling action; it is essentially a giant highlight reel of people whacking each other with various objects, some being more dangerous than others (like a glass jar), others being on the lighter side (like a tub of bananas), and the actual wrestling is almost non-existent in certain matches. This is all about entertainment, and especially from the 2000 matches onwards, you can't help but crack a smile at some of the situations that the title finds itself in. From there being two matches at once due to the nature of the 24/7 rule, or matches that begin in a bouncy castle, the Hardcore Championship didn't take itself so seriously that the action couldn't end up practically anywhere, and with anybody trying to win it, whilst being entertaining enough that one didn't have the time to grasp how ludicrous the concept was when it could change hands with one participant being asleep, as noted earlier. When fans say that wrestling isn't that fun to watch anymore, light-hearted moments like this are part of the reason why. Sure, you won't get 20-25 minute straight wrestling clinics here, but many fans would take matches ending near a river bank or bouts that involve a ball pool over those on most days of the week. Okay, maybe not that often, but you get the point.

Many still wish for the Hardcore Title to return. I would like to see it come back too, but wrestling has evolved so much since the Attitude Era that a lot of modern fans may frown upon its return, not to mention the PG rating that would scupper the title's more brutal moments. I would suggest that it could return as the 24/7 Championship; one that could be defended 24/7 as it once was, but without needing the sort of violence provided by the likes of Al Snow and Hardcore Holly. If it were played purely for laughs, and the locations were creative and had thought put into them, then the 24/7 Title could be a light-hearted part, and a relevant little portion, of the three-hour Raw show. It would also give under-utilised talent something worthwhile to do that would stand out, rather than generic matches that nobody is interested in. Given the choice between straight wrestling matches involving Darren Young and Titus O'Neil, as per their current dull feud, and 24/7 bouts between the two, I know which one I would rather see.

One final disclaimer for those watching the DVD: I've mentioned that I didn't focus on every single match due to the sheer number, but I have to point out that there are a lot of unprotected weapon shots to the head here, which some might find uncomfortable to watch given what we know now about concussions and head trauma in wrestling (although common sense dictates that plenty of chairshots would cause long-term head damage). Of course, this has been outlawed in the WWE of today so there's no chance that this sort of violence will return to Raw or SmackDown, even if the product were to reintroduce its TV-14 rating, but it could be off-putting to some viewers. Mind you, it probably won't be a problem to many of the older fans who watched the Attitude Era shows and didn't bat an eyelid at such brutality.

And that's who this DVD is aimed at. If you're a fan who loved Raw Is War and SmackDown in the Attitude Era and misses the carnage that the shows provided back then, you'll get a real kick out of this compilation. You may feel by the end that you've seen enough Hardcore Championship matches to last a lifetime, and as noted only a small percentage are genuinely good matches. But between the plethora of bouts, the range of diverse characters and the undeniable entertainment provided by the 24/7 rule shenanigans, it's safe to say that Attitude Era fans will really enjoy this DVD, and will be transported back to a time when certain matches could start anytime, literally anywhere, and with absolutely no rules involved.

Overall Rating: 7.5/10 - Good

Twist Of Fate - The Matt & Jeff Hardy Story

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 342 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: June 16 2008

Following Leap Of Faith, it would be several years before another Hardyz DVD. By the time Twist Of Fate came out, both Matt and Jeff had left WWE and returned, having gone through numerous trials and tribulations, but both seemed to have real potential in singles competition as 2008 began.

Intriguingly, we have two documentaries, one for each brother. Matt's is better as it recaps the TLC era of Hardy matches and runs through their Teenage Wrestling Federation and Omega in more depth than Jeff's feature does; plus, his documentary is around 15 minutes longer. The highlights of Matt's feature come as we go through the Version One character, his feud with MVP and, between those, a lengthy look at the real-life controversy involving Matt, Edge and Lita.

For those unaware, Matt and Lita had been an item since 1999, and Edge was longtime friends with both. While Matt rehabilitated a knee injury in 2004-2005, Lita and Edge had an affair (Edge was married to another woman too). When Matt discovered the truth, he ended his relationship with Lita and told fans what had happened online. WWE then very harshly sacked Matt, leaving Lita and Edge unpunished. As fans justifiably slated WWE, Edge and Lita, the company decided to firstly put the devious duo together on-screen, and then to bring back Matt for a worker shoot feud with his former friend and girlfriend.

This section does a good job of covering the situation from start to finish, and whilst it's fair to say that the feud didn't quite meet expectations (largely because Matt lost), it was undeniably gripping to watch. Some argue that Matt never truly recovered from the real-life break-up, with his regrettable incidents in later years partly being attributed to the pain of his split from Lita. But he is now happily married to another lady (and a wrestler too, Reby Sky), and they have a son (as TNA fans will know), so at least he is now in a better place. After covering the Hardyz reunion in 2006/7, the first doc ends with Matt going through his feud so far with MVP, and his plans to win the United States Title and, eventually, the World Title. Why WWE didn't wait until after Matt beat MVP for the U.S. Title to release this DVD, I don't know.

As for Jeff: their shared history means that his feature only stands out due to a section on his music and his home (which would soon burn down, incidentally), his drugs-related exit from WWE in 2003, a brief mention of TNA as he talks about his stint away, his 2006 return to WWE after proving he was clean (which ignores his 2007 Wellness Policy violation), and his rise up the ranks in late 2007/early 2008 which made him the hottest star in the company and a sure-fire future WWE Champion.

The two main features are entertaining, but it probably would have been better to present this as one long documentary with occasional shifts to Matt and Jeff, due to the level of shared content. They are still worth watching, although WWE would have been better waiting another year to release this set because, by then, both Hardyz had won three singles titles between them (Jeff would win the WWE Championship at Armageddon 2008).

Matt's disc largely features singles matches. His Vengeance 2004 No Holds Barred clash with Kane, occurring at the height of a bizarre storyline also involving Lita, is decent; better is the superb Steel Cage battle with Edge from Unforgiven 2005 as part of the aforementioned reality-based love triangle storyline. We then get two SmackDown bouts with Joey Mercury (a qualifier for the 2007 Money In The Bank Ladder match, which features hilarious guest commentary from King Booker) and Mr. Kennedy, which is a really good match. The only doubles clash on Matt's disc is a 1999 bout from Omega, as The Hardyz face The Serial Thrillers, complete with commentary from both Hardyz, Gregory Helms and Shannon Moore.

Jeff's disc has two Hardyz matches: the great Royal Rumble 2000 Tables scrap with the Dudleyz and a strong outing against Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch from Judgment Day 2007. In singles, we see him face and beat Triple H twice (SmackDown circa 2001 and Armageddon 2007), although neither bout holds a candle to the matches they would have in the future. We also see Jeff face Johnny Nitro in a thrilling Steel Cage match at New Year' Revolution 2007, against Shelton Benjamin in his MITB qualifier (during which Shelton nearly breaks his neck) and opposite Umaga in an exciting bout with an amazing finish, back in the Cage from the 2008 Raw Roulette (exactly a year after the NYR Cage match, funnily enough).

There are some notable omissions here: none of the Ladder/TLC bouts are included (although they have admittedly been released many times before), and the WrestleMania 23 MITB bout is also absent (bear in mind that both brothers' qualifying matches for the 2007 MITB scrap are here). What's more, the Jeff-Umaga bout helped to promote Jeff's big WWE Title showdown with Randy Orton at Royal Rumble 2008, but that major encounter has also been left off the set. On the whole, though, the matches are pretty good, despite not being a definitive history of their careers by any means.

There are some bonus segments (such as a tour of Matt's house), and a couple more are hidden by pressing arrows at certain points on the menus (these are known as Easter Eggs). One involving Matt, Jeff, Helms and Moore is noteworthy because it's about toasting their friendship with beers, and during this Helms unnecessarily slags off CM Punk (who hadn't yet become a main eventer in WWE), calling him a dweeb for not drinking, which is backed up by the others in the room. It's a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, but it's an insight into how certain wrestlers treated Punk due to his Straight-Edge lifestyle. Not that Punk would be bothered, to be fair. Ironically, Punk ended up becoming a bigger star than all of those in this segment, and certainly a much bigger star than Helms ever was.

Twist Of Fate is enjoyable but by no means a classic. It does perfectly illustrate the potential that both Hardyz had in singles around the spring of 2008. For Matt, a United States Title win would indeed come, and would be followed by an ECW Championship later that year. But a heel turn on Jeff in 2009 would end up harming his career in the long-run, for despite beating Jeff at WrestleMania 25, he would never come close again to achieving his full potential in WWE, and left under acrimonious circumstances in 2010 following a suspension and some baffling online videos. Jeff, meanwhile, would achieve great success as a solo star; because the rest of his WWE run is covered on My Life, My Rules (which I will review soon), I won't go into what came next for him, only to note that by the time this DVD was released, he had lost much of his momentum due to a (second) Wellness Policy violation.

I'll conclude the Hardyz tale in the My Life, My Rules review, but I'll just say that despite its flaws, Hardy fans should really enjoy this particular set, and it's hard to believe from watching this that Matt never did get to ascend to the main event level in WWE. Mind you, had Matt not left WWE, we wouldn't have ended up having the Final Deletion in TNA, so I suppose that's a positive.

Overall Rating: 7/10 - Respectable

WWE Battleground 2016 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 ...

For nearly two years, The Shield was one of the most dominant factions in sports-entertainment. Now, for the first time ever in WWE history, all three members of The Shield collide when WWE World Champion Dean Ambrose faces his former brothers, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, in a Triple Threat match for the title. The rivalry of the summer heats up as The Club (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) goes head-to-head with John Cena, Enzo Amore and Big Cass in a Six-Man Tag Team match. Plus, “The Viper” Randy Orton returns to WWE as a guest of Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel to discuss his SummerSlam match against “The Beast Incarnate” Brock Lesnar. WWE Superstars risk it all on the battlefield at WWE Battleground!

Synopsis:

Match List:

Triple Threat Match for the WWE World Championship
Dean Ambrose (Champion) vs. Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns

Six-Man Tag Team Match
John Cena and Enzo & Cass vs. The Club

Intercontinental Championship Match
The Miz (Champion) vs. Darren Young

United States Championship Match
Rusev (Champion) vs. Zack Ryder

Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens

Six-Man Tag Team Match
The New Day vs. The Wyatt Family

Sasha Banks & Mystery Partner vs. Charlotte & Dana Brooke

Plus more action, extras and Blu-ray exclusives!

We like it because:

As the last Pay-Per-View before WWE officially began its “New Era” with an all-new brand split, Battleground was a historical event for sports-entertainment.

The long-anticipated match between all three members of The Shield was just as explosive as the WWE Universe imagined. And with the winner taking WWE’s most prestigious championship to either Raw or SmackDown, the result of match goes on to the shape the future landscape of WWE.

There’s even more great action – including a Match Of The Year candidate between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn – plus a genuine feel-good moment as “The Boss” Sasha Banks is joined by a huggable mystery partner.

The return of Randy Orton on Chris Jericho’s talk show is also a huge moment, laying the foundations for his SummerSlam match with Brock Lesnar, one of the biggest main event match-ups in recent WWE history.

Don’t miss out on this incredible event!

WWE Battleground 2016 will officially be released on DVD and Blu-ray on Monday September 19 2016.

For more information, click here.

WCW's Greatest Pay-Per-View Matches - Vol. 1

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 437 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: May 5 2014

Back in 2003 or 2004, the concept of a compilation featuring the top Pay-Per-View encounters from the rich history of WCW would have been extremely tantalising. By the time such a DVD was released in 2014, though, so many classic WCW battles had already been released and interest in the WCW brand lies solely with longtime fans wishing for a slice of nostalgia, which reduced the appeal of the three-disc set.

However, whilst the collection feels like it was released a decade too late, this is still a very enjoyable DVD compilation. Around 80-85% of the content has already been seen on past DVDs, but that fact doesn't hinder the entertainment value of this set too much.

Hosted by Booker T, the DVD begins with Ronnie Garvin vs. Ric Flair from Starrcade 1987, the first official NWA/JCP PPV (Starrcade had first aired on closed-circuit television in 1983); Booker notes that the WWF aired the inaugural Survivor Series on the same night solely to ensure that Starrcade 87 would not be a huge success. This competition would continue via television in 1988 and 1989, but that's another story. Garvin vs. Flair is okay, but the negative reaction to babyface NWA Champion Garvin is a sign that fans rejecting a top babyface was happening long before the days of John Cena and Roman Reigns. This was also held in a cage, as most Starrcade main event matches were in those early years.

Dusty Rhodes vs. Barry Windham from The Great American Bash 1988 and Dusty teaming with Sting against The Road Warriors (in a rare heel role) from Starrcade 1988 are okay, but neither can hold a candle to the first really good match on the DVD, a classic Ric Flair-Ricky Steamboat showdown from Chi-Town Rumble 1989 in the first of their epic trilogy. Given how many great WCW matches were held on PPV in 1989, Lex Luger vs. Brian Pillman from Halloween Havoc is perhaps an odd selection. Definitely worthy of inclusion is Flair vs. Sting from The Great American Bash 1990, which officially marked Sting's permanent ascendancy to the main event level and closes disc one on a high note.

Lex Luger vs. Barry Windham from The Great American Bash 1991 has a weird feel to it as it comes on the heels of Ric Flair leaving WCW; envision a WWE PPV held days after John Cena leaving the company on bad terms and you have an idea of the vibe in the air here. Even without Flair, though, WCW could still provide great supershow battles as evidenced by the next two bouts: a fantastic Jushin Liger-Brian Pillman match from Superbrawl II, and an incredible War Games between Sting's Squadron and The Dangerous Alliance at Wrestle War 1992.

Next up, we finally get an unreleased match, and it's a very violent battle between Vader and Cactus Jack from Halloween Havoc 1993, during which Vader lands with all of his weight on Cactus on the hard ramp in a spot which Mick Foley says in his first autobiography Have A Nice Day that he came up with to deliberately suffer a career-ending injury, having been so miserable in WCW at the time (as we know, Foley would continue wrestling long beyond HH 93). We then get a good Steve Austin-Ricky Steamboat clash from Bash At The Beach 1994, and there's a real big-fight feel to Flair vs. Hulk Hogan from Halloween Havoc 1994 (Muhammad Ali is in attendance for this one), although their initial meeting at BATB 94 was arguably the bigger match and thus perhaps should have been here instead.

Onto disc three and we come to a landmark match: that main event from Bash At The Beach 1996 (you know the one) which sees the official formation of the new World order. Strangely, besides making a cameo later on, we don't see Hollywood Hulk Hogan again on the main DVD, which is odd given that he is the main cover star (some would say that this isn't a bad thing). The topnotch action doesn't end there, though, as we get an intense brawl between Randy Savage and Diamond Dallas Page from Spring Stampede 1997 and the classic Eddie Guerrero-Rey Mysterio Jr battle from Halloween Havoc of the same year.

The next few matches have a filler feeling to them (Booker goes a long time between introducing bouts during this section, suggesting these matches may have been a late addition), but at least Bret Hart vs. Randy Savage (Slamboree 1998) and Chris Jericho vs. Juventud Guerrera (Road Wild 1998) are first-time releases. A more familiar match is Goldberg vs. DDP from Halloween Havoc 1998, an infamous match due to that particular PPV running overly long to the point that most fans didn't see it; re-airing it on Nitro the next night earned the show its final ratings win over Raw during The Monday Night War, but upset the fans who had already paid for the match, since this meant that millions more saw it for free.

It's telling that no matches from 1999 are included (the Blu-ray does include Savage vs. Dennis Rodman from Road Wild 99) so we jump right to Jeff Jarrett vs. Booker T at Bash At The Beach 2000, a good match overshadowed by the bizarre situation earlier that night involving Jarrett, Hogan and Vince Russo (a planned Jarrett-Hogan bout didn't happen with Jarrett laying down, Hogan walking out as if it were a shoot, and Russo cutting a genuine shoot interview on Hogan; nobody knew what was real and what wasn't, with the consensus being that Russo's promo wasn't planned and with that leading to a later lawsuit, but confusingly Hulk has since said he didn't even know Jeff would lay down despite Eric Bischoff saying that he did, so who the hell knows for certain?). The DVD ends with an exciting six-man Ladder match from Starrcade 2000 and, fittingly, the final PPV match in WCW history as Scott Steiner battles DDP at Greed in March 2001 (during which Steiner berates fans with a very offensive f-word more than once), with WCW having run its final show under WWF control eight days later.

I really enjoyed this collection a lot more than I thought I would considering that much of the content had previously been released. If you wanted to pick hairs, another Flair vs. Steamboat match, Flair vs. Terry Funk from 1989, Sting/Flair vs. The Steiners from 1991, another Rey Mysterio cruiserweight stunner and Goldberg vs. Steiner from Fall Brawl 2000 should have been included, and for historical purposes Hogan vs. Sting from Starrcade 1997 should have been here too, despite the blown finish (which is a story in itself that I'll recount another time), but one can't complain too loudly about what we get here. There is enough material in the archives to warrant a Volume Two, and the name implies that a sequel would be forthcoming, but the fact that all WCW PPVs can be viewed at one's leisure on the WWE Network makes a second release less likely.

Even if there isn't a follow-up, though, this is a great introduction to WCW for newer fans and a fun trip down memory lane for longtime followers, and a nice reminder that there was far more to the history of WCW than Nitro, The Monday Night War and the weekly adventures of the nWo.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10 - Excellent

WWE Tagged Classics: Hardy Boyz - Leap Of Faith & Lita - It Just Feels Right

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 309 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: March 19 2012

With the Hardyz having generated plenty of buzz recently for their feud in TNA (which so far has included an unusual contract signing and the bizarre yet undeniably compelling Final Deletion match), it seems like a good time to provide a retro DVD review based on Matt and Jeff/Brother Nero.

Leap Of Faith, originally released in late 2001, largely focused on the careers of the Hardy brothers during the TLC era, along with some coverage of their upbringing and their early days in the WWF. Since their pre-WWF adventures are also covered on the 2008 DVD A Twist Of Fate, which I will also be providing a review of shortly, I'll just mention here that this release does a decent job of telling the story of the Hardyz prior to them becoming famous, as well as detailing some of their passions outside the ring, like Jeff's fondness for dirt-biking (which actually left him with a broken leg not so long ago).

Onto the crux of Leap Of Faith, then: we're guided through the Hardyz' biggest matches from 1999 to 2001, which included their first WWF Tag Team Title win over The Acolytes in July 1999, their breakthrough Ladder match opposite Edge and Christian at No Mercy 2000, their Tables scrap with the Dudleyz from Royal Rumble 2000, the three major matches in the Hardyz/Dudleys/E&C feud (Ladder match at WrestleMania 2000, TLC at SummerSlam 2000 and TLC II at WrestleMania X-Seven), and their second WWF Tag Team Title win over E&C in a Steel Cage match from Unforgiven 2000. These battles get plenty of coverage, some more than others, as the Hardyz talk through their memories of each big match and the impact on their careers where applicable, along with comments from Edge, Christian, Mick Foley, Bubba Ray Dudley (where is D-Von?), Jim Ross and others. Lita also provides comments throughout the presentation; I'll come back to her a little later.

Since this was before the era of three-disc DVD compilations and the Hardyz were still young in the wrestling business at this point, Leap Of Faith is as good a one-hour feature on Matt and Jeff as you could have asked for at the time. Adding to the appeal of LOF are some bonus matches, with the aforementioned Hardyz-Acolytes bout, the No Mercy 1999 Ladder match and the first two TLC matches shown in their entirety; the first of these is a basic doubles bout, but the Ladder-related scraps are simply amazing. It's hard to say one is better than the other, because they are all fabulous and each one set a new bar for the next one to follow, making it unfair to say, for instance, that TLC II is superior to the No Mercy scrap because of the additional bodies, tables, chairs and stunts. I would say, though, that much of the commentary for the original Ladder bout centred on Terri Runnels' "services" going to the winner and Jerry Lawler getting horny at the prospect, which weighs the presentation of that particular match down a little.

Also acting as Hardy extras are Matt and Jeff's Unforgiven 2000 championship win over E&C in full (I never noticed until this viewing that one side of the cage has a platform, making it safer for Jeff to fling himself off in death-defying fashion), and a peculiar inclusion of The Hardyz and Lita vs. Steve Austin, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. The result is a surprise but, coming early in Austin's heel run, the post-match scenes are shocking, and not necessarily in a good way. The theory is understandable - build heel heat on Austin, who fans still wanted to cheer - but having Lita take a clothesline and a Pedigree from HHH, and then multiple chairshots to the back and a Stone Cold Stunner by Austin is pretty hard to watch nowadays. The WWF of 2001 had a very different attitude on violence towards women than WWE does today, and whilst many fans complain about the PG rating nowadays, this is one area where the WWF/WWE has definitely improved. Chyna was perhaps understandable since she competed with male wrestlers, but having Lita take a beating like this is hard to justify, and ends disc one on a sour note (well, besides some home video footage of the Hardyz from over the years).

Focusing properly on Lita now: the second disc, It Just Feels Right (what a crap name), is based around her career. Unlike most female profiles during the Attitude Era, this one (released in 2001 as well, before the Matt and Jeff set, funnily enough) actually focuses on her as a human being and a competitor, rather than as merely a sex object. Yes, sexuality is covered in a lengthy section near the end as we go behind the scenes of some photo shoots, but the majority of this looks at how she wanted to become a wrestler after seeing the "Mexicans" (WCW goes uncredited at this point despite it being the real source of interest for Amy Dumas to become a fan; weirdly, WCW is briefly mentioned later on), her intriguing journey from an oblivious girl looking to somehow become a wrestler and actually achieving her goal within a year or so, her short tenure in ECW as Miss Congeniality (no footage is shown, since WWE hadn't yet acquired the rights to the ECW video library), and her eventful first eighteen months in the WWF as - yes! - Lita.

The chronology is all over the place during this documentary, at least within the WWF section: after covering her early days alongside Essa Rios (who provides comments, in Spanish) and her alignment with the Hardyz, we suddenly jump ahead to her involvement in TLC II at Mania X7, before going back to her first Women's Title victory over Stephanie McMahon from August 2000. This would presumably have ended the feature, but instead we cover some more highlights of her career, from a tough match with Ivory at Survivor Series 2000 that saw her receive a nasty cut to her title challenge against Chyna at Judgment Day 2001 (which would prove to be Chyna's last ever WWF match). There's also footage of her filming commercials alongside Matt and Jeff, and a section on her friendship and on-screen romance with Matt. Strangely, though, while this love story (which on-screen came out of a way-too-long and not believable plotline whereby Dean Malenko was trying to seduce Lita, which is also covered on this documentary) obviously mirrored the real-life relationship between Matt and Lita, but their actual relations are not referred to. This is a weird decision, since diehard Hardy and Lita fans (who will have bought the original DVD) would obviously have been aware of this.

That aside, the documentary is worthwhile, and the most flattering feature yet on a female during the Attitude Era. The bonus matches cover that fine line between Lita as the fearless performer and Lita as eye candy: an intergender bout from Fully Loaded 2000 (Team Extreme vs. T&A and Trish Stratus) is pretty good; Lita vs. Jacqueline under Hardcore rules is alright; and Lita vs. Molly Holly is decent. Then, there are the matches that provide sex appeal, like Lita vs. Trish under Strap and (of course) Bra & Panties rules. A six-person match from Armageddon 2000 (Team Extreme vs. The Radicalz) isn't as good as the Fully Loaded bout, and again raises questions as to how the WWF willingly allowed females (Lita in this case, obviously) to take such a beating from male performers. Lita vs. Malenko exists to set up Lita and Matt's first on-screen kiss, and for some reason a Jeff Hardy-Big Show match is thrown on here, despite Lita's only real involvement being a moonsault to Show. (This bout has an interesting finish: all three members of TX pummel Show, cover him at once - with Jeff's shoulders also down - and the referee Jimmy Korderas providing a fast three-count. It all makes no sense in a regular bout, until Michael Cole provides the missing piece by saying that Korderas wasn't happy with Show shoving him moments earlier. Suddenly, it all makes sense, by WWF standards, and is a little reminder of the mini-moments that are missing from WWE television today). There's also more clips from behind the scenes of photo shoots, a picture collage and more home video clips.

Lita fans will have loved this at the time, and probably would do today, as well. That being said, the biggest thing I took from it is just how much the WWF based its female division from 1998 right up to around 2007-2008 on sexuality. That's stating the obvious, I know; but comparing it to today's WWE, whereby Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Bayley are putting on genuinely great matches that steal the show and are threatening to main event PPV events, and with all being treated as real athletes and women with integrity, the WWF's portrayal of females back then is questionable at best and almost offensive at worst (I haven't even mentioned storylines where rape was implied and where a woman's sexual services were quite literally at stake for the winner). Of course, all of this seemed normal back then, but it does show how times have changed. By the way, I don't have a problem with the sexual, raunchy side of WWF television during that era - you won't see me complaining that Lita's thong was popping out of her trousers - but comparing how females were treated back then to how they are today is like night and day.

However, the decreased emphasis on sexuality on this feature indicates that Lita was amongst the women who would force a change in WWF philosophies (along with Trish Stratus a little later on). Women like Sensational Sherri and Alundra Blayze had been straight-up wrestlers, but few took real notice. Women like Sunny, Sable and Debra were merely there for sex appeal. And Chyna was a ground-breaker, but no female has followed her path since then. However, Lita was one of the first ladies to actually get people out of their seats because they were amazed at her athleticism and her ability. The balance between ability and eye candy was perfected by Lita and Trish, and whilst it took WWE to go PG and Sara Del Ray to become a trainer at NXT before things truly changed, it is true to say that Lita and Trish really did pave the way for the likes of Sasha and Charlotte today to be respected because of their in-ring ability.

As it turned out, this period marked the peak of Lita's career, at least in terms of popularity. After suffering a serious neck injury in 2002 on the set of a non-wrestling show, she only returned in September 2003, and after an extended feud with Trish Stratus and a second injury (this time to her knee), the rest of Lita's WWE tenure was spent as the valet to former rival Edge, before her retirement at Survivor Series 2006 and well-deserved WWE Hall Of Fame induction in 2014. Of course, the partnership with Edge was instigated by a major series of events off-screen - but we'll cover that in the next Hardyz DVD review, where that particular topic receives extensive coverage.

Summing up this DVD set, then, the link between the Hardyz and Lita makes the two features an obvious companion set. If you were a fan of the Hardyz in 2001, chances were that you also supported Lita, and vice versa. By the standards of early 2000s DVDs, the features are very good, and the matches were logical selections and provided suitable evidence as to why Matt, Jeff and Lita were so popular and had achieved their respective success. Their stories were far from over, but this arguably represented the peak of both the Hardyz tandem and Lita as a performer. Any fan of Team Extreme back then will thoroughly enjoy this recap of their most memorable moments from 1999-2001. Just try not to think too much about the extent of the man-on-woman violence during the Attitude Era.

Overall Rating: 8/10 - Very Good

Money In The Bank 2016

Image Source:
Fetch Publicity

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 198 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: August 22 2016

(To read a full event review of WWE Money In The Bank 2016, click here.)

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

Hyped up as "the greatest Money In The Bank Pay-Per-View in history", MITB 2016 didn't quite surpass the outstanding 2011 card, which had several high-quality matches and was capped off by the unforgettable John Cena-CM Punk main event. It was, however, the best supershow of the year thus far, and the DVD release allows you to relive this memorable event.

The opening Fatal Four Way match for the WWE Tag Team Titles, pitting The New Day against Enzo and Cass, Gallows and Anderson and The Vaudevillains, is a good opening contest and, despite some botches near the end (one of which, by Gallows, was so obvious on the night that it has been edited out here), the participants maintain crowd interest all the way. Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler came after their rivalry had peaked, making this a satisfactory yet ultimately unwanted match to those in attendance. The women's tag bout (Charlotte and Dana Brooke vs. Becky Lynch and Charlotte) is okay but feels more like a Raw match, although it does have an unexpected twist after the finish.

Sheamus vs. Apollo Crews will be remembered fondly in the future if Crews goes onto achieve main event status in WWE; hopefully, the Draft will allow the talented Apollo to begin rising up the ranks on SmackDown. We then come to the first of three major matches on this show, the first-time clash between John Cena and AJ Styles. Supported by a hot crowd, this is an excellent encounter, featuring a topnotch performance by AJ (the layout of the match means that around 70% of the offence, and great offence at that, comes from Styles). The only black mark against it is the slightly anticlimactic finish, although it was clearly designed to set up a rematch further down the line; as Taz pointed out on his (highly enjoyable) radio show The Taz Show, WWE could have come up with a more creative way to extend the feud than what we got here.

The Money In The Bank Ladder match (this year starring Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Chris Jericho, Cesaro and Alberto Del Rio) is a tremendous spot-fest, and one of the better MITB matches to date. (I should have mentioned that the promo segment involving KO, Y2J and ADR after the Tag Team Title match is well worth watching as it contains some hilarious banter between the three men.) Rusev vs. Titus O'Neil for the United States crown is another match that would have been better on Raw, for it existed here solely to allow the crowd to recover before the main event; in this spot, the match was never likely to succeed. Finally, the main event between Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins for the WWE Title is a very good match, and another strong headline performance by the much-maligned Reigns. Rollins shines in his first match since his injury from the previous November, and post-match we get a huge moment which I won't spoil here; all I will say is that you should watch this right up until the very end of the show.

Because the MITB event lasted well north of three hours, the card has been condensed somewhat to make the DVD running time. Some advertisements during the card and the Kick-Off panel in-show reaction segment are not here, which admittedly is not a great loss. What is annoying, though, is that there are no extras whatsoever, meaning that both Kick-Off Show matches (The Golden Truth vs. Breezango and The Lucha Dragons vs. The Dudley Boyz) are absent. This is a card which really should have been released on a two-disc DVD so that the main card wouldn't have been stripped down, as slight as the cuts are to the PPV itself, the Kick-Off bouts could have been included, and some other extras could have been thrown in too. Hopefully, WWE will think about this going forward, given the rumours that three-hour+ PPV events could be the norm going forward, at least for the bigger cards.

This aside, Money In The Bank 2016 is well worth watching and, therefore, the DVD of the show is well worth owning.

Overall Rating: 8/10 - Very Good