DVD Preview: WWE Double Feature: No Mercy 2017 & Hell In A Cell 2017

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Fetch Publicity

The following story is courtesy of Fetch Publicity ...

The latest Double Feature DVD from WWE, combining two exciting Pay-Per-View events. From the Raw brand is No Mercy, headlined by the huge clash between “The Beast” Brock Lesnar and “Monster Among Men” Braun Strowman. And from SmackDown LIVE comes Hell in a Cell, which sees Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn do battle inside the demonic 20-foot steel structure.

Visit our DVDs sub-page for full article by clicking here

DVD Review: Fight Owens Fight – The Kevin Owens Story

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 416 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: July 3 2017

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

Depending on who you speak to, Kevin Owens is either the most entertaining wrestler of all-time, one of the best in-ring performers in the world today, or just some out-of-shape guy who would never have been hired in the good old days (cough cough, Vince Russo). In all seriousness, whilst some of the praise that Owens receives occasionally goes a little over-the-top (the man can do no wrong on Twitter, seemingly), there's no denying that he's one of the true highlights of today's WWE product. He's one of the reasons why NXT became such a hot brand, he helped Raw remained bearable during the shaky years of 2015 and 2016, and he's currently doing his bit to convince SmackDown fans to keep tuning in despite Jinder Mahal being the WWE Champion. Add to that his legacy on the independent circuit as Kevin Steen (namely, his legendary feud with El Generico, which came to WWE as Kevin Owens went to war with Sami Zayn), the fact that he still has many years left in the wrestling business, and the charisma and humour which made JeriKO one of the most entertaining WWE acts in years, and you have plenty of evidence to not only support Owens' popularity in spite of his heel status, but also to justify the release of this new DVD on the pioneer of the Pop-Up Powerbomb.

Fight Owens Fight opens with a documentary covering Kevin's life and times, from his extensive time spent on the indies to his NXT/WWE arrival to his key moments and matches since then. I never like to scrutinise a documentary to the nth degree (unless the feature demands it, such as the infamous Rise & Fall Of ECW), since it provides spoilers on revelations and comments which fans would not have known about. Instead, I'll quickly state that while a bit on the short side, the main feature should be very satisfying to KO fans, as it covers his pre-WWE adventures as much as one could expect (including his association with Sami Zayn/El Generico prior to joining WWE, which the announcers often refer to but never truly explain), as well as capturing his high points since coming to WWE in late 2014. Along the way, there are plenty of talking head comments from those who you would expect (Sami Zayn being an obvious example), as well as a few surprises too. And so ends disc one, with a captivating, entertaining and encompassing look at Kevin Owens' history to date.

Visit our DVDs sub-page for full article by clicking here

DVD Preview: Fight Owens Fight – The Kevin Owens Story

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Fetch Publicity

The following story is courtesy of Fetch Publicity ...

For the first time ever, WWE Home Video takes you through the journey of Kevin Owens and his fight to get to the top of sports-entertainment. Hear from “The Prizefighter” himself as he talks about his career on the independent scene, getting to NXT, and his road to becoming the WWE Universal Champion. Welcome to The Kevin Owens Show!

Visit our DVDs sub-page for full article by clicking here

DVD Review: WWE Double Feature: Elimination Chamber 2017 & Fast Lane 2017

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 363 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: May 1 2017

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

WWE are now releasing solo-brand DVDs as part of a twin-disc set, which makes a lot of sense given that we now receive approximately two supershows per month, between the biggies like WrestleMania and SummerSlam. This particular Double Feature set is a cool one as it shows how both brands set the stage for their major matches at WrestleMania 33, although from an in-ring and booking standpoint, there's a lot left to be desired.

Beginning with Elimination Chamber, then, and the best way I can describe this card is that it was a one-match show. That match is, of course, the Elimination Chamber clash for the WWE Championship. It's in the top five Chamber matches of all-time as everybody involved (defending titleholder John Cena, AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, The Miz, Baron Corbin and Dean Ambrose) gets a chance to shine and puts forth maximum effort, all within a new-look Chamber which allows for more spots, and slightly safer risk-taking, than ever before. This is one of the year's best matches so far, and I can see the participants in the 2018 Chamber match struggling to top this one next year.

Visit our DVDs sub-page for full article by clicking here

DVD Review: Finn Balor: Iconic Matches

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 73 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: April 17 2017

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

The Iconic Matches series continues with Finn Balor. It's a cheap and cheerful series of WWE compilations, featuring just a couple of bouts at a bargain price. It's also debatable as to whether the matches in question are truly "iconic". However, all three showdowns included on the Finn DVD are worth watching, and the timing of its release is clever since Balor has just returned from a long injury lay-off (although he may now be looking at more time off following a concussion suffered at the hands, or the forearm, of Jinder Mahal on Raw this past Monday).

The first match pits Balor against (Adrian) Neville from NXT Takeover: Rival from February 2015, which is a superb encounter, and Neville's last major scrap before departing the NXT brand. Next up is Balor vs. Tyler Breeze from NXT Takeover: Unstoppable from May 2015, a clash which is a fine start to what was a(nother) exceptional Takeover event, and a demonstration as to what Breeze can do if given the opportunity (which he rarely is on the main roster). Finally, it's Finn challenging Kevin Owens for the NXT Championship at Beast In The East from July 2015, and in the intimate surroundings of Tokyo's Budokan Hall, a venue synonymous with Balor while he competed in New Japan Pro Wrestling as Prince Devitt, there's a big-fight feel to what is another strong battle. Incidentally, Balor is the Demon for all three of these bouts, so if you're a fan of the Demon persona (and who isn't?), this is an added treat to the action on offer.

Visit our DVDs sub-page for full article by clicking here

DVD Preview: WWE Double Feature: Elimination Chamber 2017 & Fast Lane 2017

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Fetch Publicity

The following story is courtesy of Fetch Publicity ...

Featuring not one but two Pay-Per-View events from the Road to WrestleMania, WWE Home Video presents over 6 hours of WWE action, Elimination Chamber 2017 and Fast Lane 2017 Double Feature!

WWE Champion John Cena hopes to continue his championship reign against AJ Styles, Baron Corbin, Dean Ambrose, The Miz and Bray Wyatt inside the punishing structure known as the Elimination Chamber! “The Viper” Randy Orton continues his Road to WrestleMania as he takes on Luke Harper! And the WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship is on the line as Alexa Bliss takes on Naomi. Who will escape with their hand raised at Elimination Chamber?

Visit our DVDs sub-page for full article by clicking here

DVD Preview: Finn Balor: Iconic Matches

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Fetch Publicity

The following story is courtesy of Fetch Publicity ...

Relive three iconic matches from Finn Bálor‘s time in NXT and discover why his quiet, deadly precision and his periodic transformation into the terrifying "Demon King" has made Finn Bálor a firm fan favourite with the WWE Universe!

Visit our DVDs sub-page for full article by clicking here

DVD Review: Roadblock: End Of The Line 2016

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 179 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: March 6 2017

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

Since the Brand Extension, there has been a theme with the single-brand PPVs, and the single-brand television output for that matter. Whilst SmackDown has largely impressed despite having a fairly small crew of wrestlers to mix and match with, Raw has generally been a case of "good but not great" even though it boasts a more star-studded roster, partly due to the occasionally questionable creative decisions relating to the red brand (such as Triple H turning on Seth Rollins in spectacular fashion in August 2016, only for HHH to not appear on Raw to address the situation for more than five months). Roadblock: End Of The Line, like Clash Of Champions and Hell In A Cell before it, is a good snapshot of the Rad brand in general, as despite some strong in-ring action, the card ultimately feels underwhelming as a whole.

Before I begin the review proper, I should mention that this was the second Roadblock event of the year, following the Network special in March 2016. As such, note that this DVD is for the Raw-brand PPV, not the March event headlined by Triple H vs. Dean Ambrose (incidentally, the original Roadblock show would have made an excellent DVD extra if this were a two-disc release, but it was not to be).

Visit our DVDs sub-page for full article by clicking here

DVD Preview: Royal Rumble 2017

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Fetch Publicity

The following story is courtesy of Fetch Publicity ...

For 30 years, Royal Rumble has been a stepping stone for superstars to rise to legendary status by getting the chance to headline WrestleMania. Which superstar from Raw or SmackDown will take their career to the next level? “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles and John Cena write the next chapter in their historic rivalry in a match for the WWE World Championship. WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens faces challenger Roman Reigns with Kevin Owens’ best friend suspended high above the ring in a shark cage! And WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair looks to extend her famed Pay-Per-View winning streak against Bayley! Buckle up, because we are now on The Road To WrestleMania!

Visit our DVDs sub-page for full article by clicking here

Hell In A Cell 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 ...

For the first time ever, the leaders of the Women’s Revolution make history inside Hell In A Cell as WWE Raw Women’s Champion Sasha Banks defends her title against Charlotte Flair. “The Bulgarian Brute” Rusev and United States Champion Roman Reigns bring their rivalry to an end inside the demonic structure. WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens enters his first Hell In A Cell match and looks to continue his Kevin Owens Show against “The Undisputed Future” Seth Rollins. Plus more as the Superstars of Raw go to hell and back at Hell In A Cell!

Visit our DVDs sub-page for full article by clicking here

Hell In A Cell 2016 announced for 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 ...

WWE Hell In A Cell 2016 is officially coming to DVD and Blu-ray in the UK.

For the first time ever, the leaders of the Women’s Revolution make history inside Hell in a Cell as WWE Raw Women’s Champion Sasha Banks defends her championship against Charlotte Flair. “The Bulgarian Brute” Rusev and United States Champion Roman Reigns bring their rivalry to an end inside the demonic structure. WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens enters his first Hell in a Cell match and looks to continue his “Kevin Owens Show” against “The Undisputed Future” Seth Rollins. Plus more as the Superstars of Raw go to hell and back at Hell in a Cell!

Hell In A Cell 2016 will be available to purchase on DVD and Blu-ray from Monday January 2 2017.

Payback 2016

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 192 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: June 27 2016

As annoying as WWE's repeated statements of it being "A New Era" were and are, there's no doubt that the WWE product has improved since WrestleMania 32. The first post-Mania PPV event, Payback 2016, is a fine example with several really good matches, all of which make for a very enjoyable wrestling DVD.

It starts on a sour note, admittedly, with Enzo Amore suffering a frightening concussion that results in the tag match between Enzo/Big Cass and The Vaudevillains being abandoned (fortunately, Amore ultimately needed a few weeks to recover; judging by the impact, Enzo could have been a lot worse off). The always-rowdy Chicago crowd was clearly shook up, as were the announcers. Thankfully, things get back on track in a big way with a great Kevin Owens-Sami Zayn battle, and KO sticks around to provide some amusing commentary on another strong match between Cesaro and The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship. Chris Jericho vs. Dean Ambrose is an other worthy match but, on this night, the preceding matches (as well as one later on in the show) overshadow the efforts of Jericho and Ambrose.

Visit our DVDs sub-page for full article by clicking here

Clash Of Champions 2016

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 185 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: November 21 2016

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

Since the second WWE brand extension came into effect in July, the Raw and SmackDown brands have experienced mixed fortunes. The blue brand has enjoyed a resurgence of sorts due to its newly-live format, its focus on highlighting all of its characters regardless of stature, despite the limited ranks, and a generally logical, wrestling-based approach. The red team, on the other hand, haven't exactly experienced a boom period: the three-hour format of the weekly show has become even more of a struggle with fewer wrestlers to mix and match with, a large number of performers have either seen their fortunes remain exactly as they were pre-Draft or enter a decline (some greater than others), and the continued focus on authority figures has ensured that fans are always expecting some sort of interference or screwiness to hinder the generally-strong efforts put forth by its talented roster.

Visit our DVDs sub-page for full article by clicking here

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.

Visit our DVDs sub-page for full article by clicking here

WWE Best Pay-Per-View Matches 2015

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 503 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: January 18 2016

And so we come to the most recent WWE PPV round-up collection, which (obviously) focuses on supershow action from 2015. The artwork is slightly generic, but the use of different wrestlers on each of the disc's menus emphasises the new talent which has risen up the WWE ranks, as well as the veterans who gave us memorable matches on PPV. And we get plenty of them here: 2015 was one of WWE's best years on Pay-Per-View ever from a match quality standpoint, and a great number of the really good encounters are here.

We have a host once again, this time being Corey Graves. There aren't any pre-match promo videos, but each PPV covered has a recap video showing most of the match highlights, which is a nice touch that should be repeated in future sets (although some don't half drag on). And whilst this DVD was released to the US market (unlike that of 2014), there was still no Blu-ray version, meaning that this collection once again exceeds the 8-hour mark, giving us more matches. Too many matches? I'll let you be the judge of that. Also, the on-screen watermarks are not present here, but strangely the frame-rates seem slower on certain DVD players for this collection, which I cannot explain.

Visit our DVDs sub-page for full article by clicking here

Battleground 2016

Image Source: Fetch Publicity

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 192 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: September 19 2016

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

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

There was a danger that Battleground would have been a forgettable PPV, coming as it did just days after the Draft and right before the Raw and SmackDown rosters were officially re-introduced, meaning that much of the PPV card involved matches and storylines which could go no further beyond the show, with so many wrestlers assigned to opposite brands. However, the show succeeded due to a number of memorable matches and moments, and you can now relive the card on DVD.

For those who haven't seen Battleground, I won't spoil the identity of Sasha Bank's mystery partner in her battle against Charlotte and Dana Brooke, but it is a nice feel-good moment and the bout itself is a good one. It feels like forever now since The New Day took on The Wyatt Family, although Xavier Woods gets a rare chance to shine as part of his fear of Bray Wyatt, and Rusev vs. Zack Ryder is okay, albeit nothing special. Next up, we have an outstanding bout between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn which draws a line under their feud (for now). It wasn't quite the Match Of The Year, in my opinion, due to some slow periods early on and noticeable non-selling towards the end, but it is still a strong encounter and unquestionably the best on this particular PPV, as well as a fitting way to close a rivalry that we are told will probably never truly end.

Visit our DVDs sub-page for full article by clicking here

Weekly Wrestling Thoughts (September 2 2016)

Image Source: Fansided

Written By: Mark Armstrong

I noted last week, during an extremely eventful SummerSlam weekend along with its wealth of fall-out, that this current week wouldn't be anywhere near as exciting. While that proved to be the case, there has still been plenty going on in wrestling, including a major angle and an unsurprising departure from the WWE roster, so let's get to my thoughts on another week in the wacky world of wrestling.

Before I begin, it was sad to hear that Mr. Fuji had passed away at the age of 82. Although Fuji was an accomplished wrestler and a multi-time Tag Team Champion in the WWWF, I knew him more as a devious, evil yet entertaining and almost lovable rogue manager from the boom period of the late 1980s for the WWF. He managed the likes of Demolition and Yokozuna to championship gold, playing a vital role in Yoko's first WWF Title win at WrestleMania IX, and cutting a humorous promo on Hulk Hogan to set up Hogan's impromptu title win ("Come on, ya yellow-belly, come on!"). He was also well-known for practical jokes, some of which went a bit extreme (Roddy Piper recounted one such tale on a Q&A tour in 2014, which involved Fuji, another Japanese wrestler and a dog, which is probably best not repeated here). But Fuji was unquestionably a legendary name, and fittingly entered the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2007. RIP Mr. Fuji.

Visit our Wrestling sub-page for full article by clicking here