WWE Live In The UK: November 2014

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 349 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: February 9 2015

The November 2014 UK television tapings were meant to coincide with the launch of the WWE Network in the United Kingdom. Meant to, but ... approximately twenty minutes (twenty minutes!) before said launch, it was abruptly cancelled. Cue much disappointment and loud chants of "Where's our Network?" to Triple H and Stephanie McMahon during their in-ring appearances. Even Vince McMahon made a surprise (and non-televised) appearance to chastise fans for their anger at WWE and its lack of Network presence in the UK. Oh, dear.

Back to the shows, though (which were in Liverpool again, meaning that I was present). Raw, to  be honest, doesn't include much in the way of must-see material. It builds nicely to the Team Cena vs. Team Authority main event for Survivor Series, and we see Damien Mizdow demonstrate why his stunt double gimmick was brilliant, but otherwise the show is no different to any other episode from the time. We do get to see John Cena call the Authority "w--kers", which he may not have done had he known what that really means (he should since one of his signature moves is the "Five-Knuckle Shuffle"). But in these times before the likes of Kevin Owens, Neville and Sami Zayn, Raw was occasionally a slog to watch for three full hours (some still say it is, but at least we get better wrestling on a weekly basis than we did back in 2014). This isn't a terrible edition at all, but it's probably average at best.

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WWE Live In The UK: May 2014

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 333 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: August 11 2014

The May 2014 tapings in London coincided with a strange time in WWE. We had all the hullabaloo surrounding CM Punk leaving WWE after the same Royal Rumble which saw Batista triumph at the expense of an excluded Daniel Bryan to mass fan protests, and even when Bryan won the WWE World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania XXX, the same night saw the end of The Undertaker's Streak at the hands of Brock Lesnar. The after-effects of Mania were still being felt in London, but this fresh, unfamiliar feeling led to a strong atmosphere and some new storylines which evolved during the London shows.

Raw doesn't have a great match, but Seth Rollins (still in The Shield, for two more weeks anyway) vs. Batista is good, as is John Cena vs. Luke Harper (this is much better than I remembered it at the time), and the Intercontinental Title Number 1 Contender Beat The Clock Challenge has its moments. An announcement about the future of the injured titleholder Bryan doesn't reveal much (he would end up having to vacate the gold), Sheamus vs. Cesaro is a strong match, and an angle involving Adam Rose and Jack Swagger saw the London audience go crazy, in a humorous way, for Rose. This continued in the post-show angle, which is included on the DVD, of Rose, Bad News Barrett and Triple H generally larking around to entertain the crowd. From an entertainment standpoint, the show and the untelevised capers are well worth watching.

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WWE Live In The UK: November 2013

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 278 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: February 3 2014

The biggest change to WWE television prior to the November 2013 TV tapings in the UK was the formation of The Authority, with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon being the heel owners with Randy Orton as their personally chosen heel WWE Champion. Therefore, the Manchester tapings take an immediate hit when we discover that The Authority aren't present. Orton is, though, as is Kane (the recently-appointed Director Of Operations), and so are all of WWE's biggest full-time names.

Raw is decent; it's not as good as the London show was in April of the same year, but it has its moments such as the Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes/Goldust match (and the post-match angle involving Orton and Big Show), John Cena vs. Jack Swagger/Antonio Cesaro (you may notice a theme here) with a post-match run-in between Cena and Alberto Del Rio, and in the best part of the tour, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan vs. The Shield, followed by a wild and unexpected brawl between The Shield and The Wyatt Family in a preview of their great 2014 matches. Overall, not a great show, but it did have a number of highlights.

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WWE Live In The UK: April 2013

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 300 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: July 15 2013

Live In The UK: April 2013 packs in a whopping five shows, not including the NXT episode from Orlando for obvious reasons. If you had watched the episodes as they aired in the US with commercials, your weekly viewing on this occasion would have been a whopping eight hours! (Nine, with NXT.) Fortunately, these DVDs do not include non-WWE commercials, so the running time is significantly chopped, although we do still get Raw, Main Event, Superstars, SmackDown and Saturday Morning Slam in their entirety.

Raw in the UK finally feels important on this release, as WWE brought over a generous number of big names. The clear highlight of the show, and the DVD, is the six-man pitting The Undertaker, Kane and Daniel Bryan against The Shield, but we also see a good bout between Chris Jericho and recently-crowned World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler, an appearance by Triple H to answer Brock Lesnar's challenge by dropping Paul Heyman with a Pedigree (Lesnar never made the trip), and a cameo by Mick Foley in an angle with Ryback (during which Ryback hits Foley with the hilarious yet cruel insult "You fat, pathetic lazy b-----d!"). Add to that some decent under-card bouts and this occurring at the peak of the "Fandangoing" craze, and you have a very memorable Raw from the UK for a change. The only downside is how John Cena, in Super-Cena mode, manages to fight off The Shield and Ryback at the end of the show. Senseless.

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WWE Live In The UK: November 2012

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 328 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: February 25 2013

Much had changed in WWE by the time that the November 2012 UK tour took place. NXT was being operated out of Orlando, far away from big arenas and without a never-ending "Redemption" theme. Main Event had debuted in the US (it wouldn't air in the UK for a very long time), but despite initial involvement from key players, soon evolved into another Superstars-esque filler show (this is Vince McMahon's philosophy, incidentally). Most notably, though, Raw was now three hours long, which as many current fans will tell you, is a big hindrance in being able to put together a consistently entertaining show. At this point, though, the three-hour running time was still a novelty, and it wasn't as big an issue as it would be in future years.

As obvious as it may sound, the only difference on this DVD at least with Raw being three hours was that it was longer. By that, I mean that we just receive an extra 40-45 minutes of content rather than there being better or longer matches and segments. Therefore, it probably isn't a big surprise for me to state that the Raw taping on this DVD isn't exactly a classic episode.

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WWE Live In The UK: April 2012

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 251 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: August 6 2012

The April 2012 UK tapings were held at a time when WWE had finally given up on its brand extension. Sure, SmackDown talent had been appearing weekly on Raw since August 29 2011 (besides the Liverpool tapings, funnily enough), but it was done under the proviso that the rosters would remain separate. By this point, though, it was clear that the split was pretty much over, meaning that anyone could appear on either show and it wouldn't raise eyebrows.

Therefore, you would assume that these latest tapings in London would be the best yet, but - ah! - you'd be wrong. Raw is largely uneventful, albeit entertaining: CM Punk vs. Mark Henry under No Disqualification rules is surprisingly enjoyable, and there's good interplay between Punk and Chris Jericho afterwards. Brock Lesnar (pre-taped) and John Cena cut strong promos to hype their Extreme Rules match on PPV (Lesnar's return bout in WWE), and Daniel Bryan renames his finisher the Yes Lock to a huge pop from the fans, who despite his heel status were quickly joining what would be known as the Yes Movement. Otherwise, though, the show feels a bit blah, including the Cena-Tensai Extreme Rules main event. NXT is not much better, and it lacks a standout match like Trent Baretta vs. Tyson Kidd from Liverpool. This would be the last NXT taping (in its original form) to be taped in the UK, as the show would be revamped in June 2012 and largely based out of Orlando, Florida; I think it's safe to say that this decision paid off.

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WWE Live In The UK: November 2011

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 263 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: February 20 2012

As a Liverpool resident, it was an exciting prospect when WWE decided to tape Raw and SmackDown from Liverpool for the first time ever in November 2011. During the days when Bret Hart ruled the roost, or during the Attitude Era, it seemed unthinkable that Raw would air just a few miles away from my home. Therefore, I had to attend the shows; but is it a necessity to own the DVD featuring said shows?

The answer is: possibly not. Raw was decent but nothing more, although Zack Ryder teaming with John Cena against Awesome Truth in the main event seemed like the first sign that WWE was really going to give Ryder the push that, really, he had earned by this point. (That didn't really happen, but never mind.) Dolph Ziggler vs. John Morrison is good, and we get a Kevin Nash appearance too. Otherwise, the show has that "filler" feeling to it, and even CM Punk only appears to cut a promo rather than to have a match. Incidentally, this was during the push for the "Never Before, Never Again" combo of Cena and The Rock at Survivor Series 2011, and it should come as no surprise that Rock does not appear in any form on this show. (He did the next week, though ... in America.)

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WWE Live In The UK: April 2011

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 282 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: July 18 2011

WWE had regained some of its edge by April 2011, largely due to the return of The Rock and the associated relaxing of certain aspects of the PG era. This resulted in Raw seeming a bit more unpredictable in the aftermath of WrestleMania XXVII, evidenced in the opening segments here which see R-Truth unexpectedly turn heel on John Morrison in a surprisingly aggressive manner. Truth even smokes a cigarette and blows the smoke into Morrison's face, and as UK residents will be aware, smoking is banned inside public places nowadays, so this was an eye-opener (in saying that, WWE probably just didn't realise the UK laws on smoking; perhaps they did when this part of the segment was originally cut from UK replays on Raw).

Otherwise, the show isn't that memorable. A main event between Randy Orton and CM Punk is superior to anything which took place on either of the UK Raw episodes from 2010, and there's a painful-to-watch segment involving the now-unbearable Michael Cole, Jack Swagger, Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler and The Queen (it isn't hard to deduce that it wasn't really Queen Elizabeth II). Otherwise, Raw had only slightly improved from its state of affairs five months earlier, resulting in a show that's only slightly above average.

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WWE Live In The UK: November 2010

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 250 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: March 28 2011

The Nexus storyline was one of the best WWE plots in years when it first began in June 2010. Out of nowhere, the first group of NXT rookies suddenly destroyed John Cena, CM Punk and others while wrecking the ring and generally causing chaos. This invasion was designed for the newcomers to take control of WWE through sheer destruction. The hugely intriguing storyline took a big hit when they lost to Team WWE at SummerSlam, and the excitement had gone by the autumn months. In a last-ditch attempt to save Nexus, John Cena was made a reluctant member of the faction, with his fate to be determined in a major match between Wade Barrett and Randy Orton at Survivor Series.

It is on the road to SS where the November 2010 UK tour took place, and the Free Or Fired bout (if Barrett became WWE Champion, Cena would be free from Nexus, but if Orton retained, Cena would be fired; oh, and Cena was refereeing said match) is the focus of most of the television here. Raw builds to said bout with Cena refereeing a 10-man match involving Nexus, and he also gets a chance to face rebelling Nexus member David Otunga (another "two-in-a-row" series on UK tours). To be honest, the rest of Raw is pretty uneventful, with the only highlight being a (very entertaining) Teatime segment as Santino Marella and the now-comedic Vladimir Kozlov trying to make peace with Sheamus, but failing miserably. The sight of Divas wearing Liverpool kits made me smile, as did the unspoken irony of the Man United-clad side having to cheat to win.

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WWE Live In The UK: April 2010

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 291 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: July 19 2010

Live In The UK returns to cover the April 2010 tour, which was perhaps most memorable for the fact that the Raw crew ended up being stuck in Dublin, Ireland due to the volcanic ash incident. (You might remember it for Mark Henry being arrested in an incident involving Chavo Guerrero and some fans wanting autographs; when I heard the full details, it didn't surprise me one bit that the "heels" in this scenario were the often-grumpy Henry and Chavo.)

WrestleMania XXVI had just gone down (I went to that Mania too), and with it, we lost Shawn Michaels to retirement. Add to that The Undertaker having his traditional break from television, and Triple H being absent due to injury (which in hindsight marked the beginning of the end of his full-time career; he competed shortly afterwards at Extreme Rules, but has only wrestled occasionally since), and the roster was looking a bit thin for this tour. It's therefore unsurprising that besides one or two moments, these tapings aren't particularly memorable.

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WWE Live In The UK: November 2009

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 297 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: May 3 2010

On paper, the November 2009 tapings sound like they would be very memorable. Ricky Hatton as Raw guest host (remember that concept?), DX vs. JeriShow with John Cena on commentary, William Regal challenging ECW Champion Christian in his home country and The Undertaker vs. Chris Jericho on television for the first time ever all sound like a vintage tour. But it wasn't.

Raw was ailing at this point. Sure, we had John Cena, DX, Randy Orton and Legacy, the rise of Kofi Kingston and Sheamus and other notable faces. But the show had a seen-it-all-before feel to it, especially its headline feuds which for most of 2009 were all recycled. Add to that the more-annoying-than-entertaining Chavo Guerrero heel persona (in a dire feud with Hornswoggle for much of the year) and the guest show idea which had grown tired once annoying and disinterested figures began hosting proceedings, and the show was at a low point. It could provide some entertainment, but more often it was boring or frustrating.

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WWE Live In The UK: April 2009

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 282 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: July 20 2009

With WrestleMania in the rear-view mirror, WWE was back across the Atlantic for its April 2009 UK tour.

To be fair, WM 25 wasn't particularly good; besides the all-time classic that was The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels, much of the card was a disappointment. Fortunately, the television shows were still worth watching, and this set of tapings in London bridged the gap between the 2009 Draft and the era in which the roster changes would be implemented. This leads to some pretty star-studded bouts across the board, although the match quality isn't quite to the standard of the November 2008 UK tour.

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WWE Live In The UK: November 2008

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 233 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: February 9 2009

WWE were back in the UK for its November 2008 tour, which was very memorable to me as I attended both nights of tapings, and mingled with many of the wrestlers in their hotel (well, I say mingled but it was really just getting the chance to meet some of them, but there were truly spontaneous moments, such as a moment when trouble nearly kicked off between the WWE stars and a group of kickboxers, and the alleged visual of JBL being so drunk that he collapsed; all of this is true, by the way).

At this point, we were into the PG era, although it wouldn't be until 2009-10 when WWE's lack of creativity and minimal progression of mid-card stars led to fans bashing the PG nature of the product. The shows were more than reasonable at this point, if not quite to the level of, say, 1998 or 2005. Fortunately for UK fans, the crew must have been looking to prove something whilst they were in Manchester, because all three tapings are well worth watching and were the best overall set of UK tapings to date.

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WWE Live In The UK: April 2008

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 217 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: September 15 2008

The second Live In The UK DVD takes in the April 2008 tour. This was coming off a tremendous WrestleMania XXIV (I attended it so I'm biased, but even if I hadn't it was an incredible Mania to watch), which combined with the return of many stars from injury, and other recent comebacks for the likes of Chris Jericho and Big Show, raised hopes that the UK tapings would be superior to those held the previous October.

As it turned out, any improvements were only slight. Granted, Raw does feature a title change (when Beth Phoenix defends the Women's Title against Mickie James), a pretty good angle involving Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho (which helped to sow the seeds for their outstanding feud later that year), William Regal challenging for Randy Orton's WWE Title in his home country, and a first-time match between Triple H and John Bradshaw Layfield. ECW has a reunion of The Brothers Of Destruction as they tackle John Morrison and The Miz, who by now are a well-established combo as WWE Tag Team Champions. And SmackDown is alright, which even has a Batista-Undertaker main event, even if it ends in a dissatisfying manner and can't hold a candle to their other battles during this era.

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WWE Live In The UK: October 2007

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 260 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: February 11 2008

Towards the end of the Ruthless Aggression era, WWE began releasing a series of DVDs known as Live In The UK to - yes! - the UK market.

These DVDs consisted of the main roster television episodes from a specific UK tour, so for instance the first such release was based on the October 2007 UK tour. (There was a prior Live In Italy DVD from the April 2007 tour of that country, which was the blueprint for the UK version).

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