John Cena: Word Life

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 186 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: July 19 2004

It's hard to imagine now, but there was a time when John Cena was the coolest cat in WWE with adult fans, particularly males, lapping up his every word. Yes, in 2003 and 2004, Cena was cooler than the other side of the pillow (Family Guy reference) and a real rising star, which is why WWE released this DVD of Cena prior to his permanent main event ascension.

Unlike most profile DVDs of the era, though, Word Life is based solely on showcasing Cena's rap promos. They would generally involve insults towards whomever is the target of Cena's wrath, a fair amount of swearing (Cena would usually allow the crowd to finish raps with a particularly naughty word) and some sort of references which wouldn't be acceptable in 2016 (although they shouldn't have been then either, if you think about it). In between are some in-character clips of Cena hanging out with friends and discussing aspects of what, admittedly, was a fairly short career at that point.

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WWE Best Pay-Per-View Matches 2011

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 422 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: March 26 2012

The Best Pay-Per-View Matches series returned to DVD to cover the big encounters of 2011. This time, the structure was more logical by focusing on the year as a whole rather than a "season". The downside is that WWE chose to release this collection at the tail end of 2011 in the U.S. (meaning, the very beginning of 2012 in the UK), all of which meant that Survivor Series and TLC, the final two supershows of the year, were held too late to be covered in this DVD. This is a trend that has continued ever since, and hopefully one which WWE will end at some point; if you're recapping the year's best matches, you can't justifiably ignore two major shows that close the annum out.

That aside, the 2011 set is a very good round-up of top-drawer matches. Disc one opens with two great Edge matches: a singles battle with Dolph Ziggler from Royal Rumble, and an Elimination Chamber scrap (at the event of the same name) against Rey Mysterio, Kane, Wade Barrett, Drew McIntyre and Big Show. The Chamber bout in particular is excellent, and an example of how this match can still provide thrills and spills in a PG environment.

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Twist Of Fate - The Matt & Jeff Hardy Story

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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.

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

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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).

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John Morrison: Rock Star

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 168 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: May 10 2010

With three-disc sets being the norm nowadays, even for compilations undeserving of the extended treatment, it was good to see a change in the formula for this single-disc release on John Morrison, at a time when he was one of WWE's top rising stars. This DVD brings together eight Morrison matches, along with comments from Morrison about his career and about his passions outside of the ring, such as parkour (which would later be used as part of his character) and surfing. The DVD tries to show Morrison's sense of humour in segments on The Dirt Sheet and answering fan questions, although the clips from the Dirt Sheet (which he sued to host on WWE.com with The Miz) are mostly embarrassingly unfunny, and the humorous answers only provide mild chuckles.

The real purpose of this is to demonstrate Morrison's wrestling ability. We aren't really enlightened into his career prior to becoming John Morrison (he co-won Tough Enough in 2003, trained in OVW after that for around a year, had a short-lived run as Eric Bischoff's assistant Johnny Nitro on Raw before returning to OVW, came back to the main roster alongside Joey Mercury and then-girlfriend Melina as part of the dynamic MNM act in 2005, had a decent solo run from 2006-7 and after becoming ECW Champion at Vengeance 2007, as a replacement for Chris Benoit on that fateful weekend, he shortly renamed himself John Morrison in a segment on ECW which is included as a DVD extra), so the first bout comes from Morrison's ECW Title reign; or, more accurately, the end of this run. His title-losing effort to CM Punk is a tremendous match, though, and probably the best ever match on WWE's ECW show. Given that he originally became champion due to Benoit's absence, which led to a raid of Benoit's doctor Phil Astin's surgery and the enquiry into what would become the Signature Pharmacy scandal, it is slightly ironic that Morrison was amongst those caught up in the scandal, meaning that this title loss was necessitated by his resultant suspension (and Punk, the noted straight-edge wrestler, was the man who beat him).

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Macho Madness: The Randy Savage Ultimate Collection

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 539 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: July 21 2009

While the likes of Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper and Bret Hart would made WWE returns after their WCW stints, one legendary figure who never did resurface in WWE was Macho Man Randy Savage. For reasons that have never been publicly confirmed, Savage remained an outsider to WWE, with even a hint of a return seeming unthinkable. So, when WWE announced that it would release a Randy Savage DVD in 2009, there was a fear that it would not do the great man's career justice, and even that it could be a burial to resemble the Self-Destruction Of The Ultimate Warrior DVD.

Fortunately, the compilation was mostly a fitting tribute to the career of the Macho Man. No, there isn't a documentary (this wouldn't come until 2014, several years after his tragic death), and Matt Striker and Maria were a bizarre choice to present the DVD (actually just Maria, playing that confused little girl character, since Striker's knowledge of wrestling history and topnotch Savage impressions make him a tolerable host), but this collection of matches does display why Savage was and is held in such high regard.

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The Self-Destruction Of The Ultimate Warrior

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 186 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: October 17 2005

This DVD was and is one of the most fascinating ever released by WWE, largely because of the decidedly negative tone towards The Ultimate Warrior and his career. It is perhaps more intriguing to watch this years later because of how much WWE has changed its attitude towards Warrior's legacy in recent times.

The 90-minute documentary covers Warrior's in-ring career - but with a twist. Around 80-90% of the comments by a pretty star-studded cast of talking heads (Vince McMahon, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Triple H and many more) are negative, at times almost cruel. After covering his early years in various territories (during which Jim Ross suggests that Warrior couldn't cope in Bill Watts' Mid-South group), it jumps to his first WWF run (1987-1991), with chapters on his name change (he was previously known as The Dingo Warrior), his iconic theme tune, his Parts Unknown hometown and his unique interview style (this section is hilarious, by the way), as well as his in-ring adventures.

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Triple H - The King Of Kings

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 359 Minutes
Certificate: 18
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: May 19 2008

By 2008, three-disc DVDs covering the entire career of a top name had become the norm, so when it was announced that Triple H would be receiving the profile treatment, there laid the potential for an outstanding release, considering the number of great matches he has had.

As it turned out, though, The King Of Kings would be a two-disc compilation with only eleven bouts, and in an early example of WWE trying to avoid repeating content, several key matches were omitted. This means that whilst this DVD is an entertaining release, it doesn't come close to achieving its potential.

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Mick Foley's Greatest Hits & Misses - Hardcore Edition

Written By: Mark Armstrong

(2004 Edition)

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Running Time: 389 Minutes
Certificate: 18
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: March 8 2004

Since the majority of the 2007 Hardcore Edition was a re-release of the 2004 original, this review will cover both versions.

The initial two-disc compilation on the life and times of Mick Foley included more than a dozen of his matches, spanning seven years and four promotions. The King Of Hardcore left an indelible mark on wrestling prior to his first retirement(s) in 2000, and this is reflected by the quality of the action on display here, as this is a non-stop hardcore thrill ride. Foley himself serving as the informative and often amusing host is an added bonus.

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WWE From The Vault: Shawn Michaels

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 360 Minutes
Certificate: 18
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: August 11 2003

One of the earliest WWE DVDs to provide a career-spanning selection of matches in their entirety, From The Vault provides seven major bouts from Shawn Michaels. While seven is a paltry number, even for a two-disc release that was released early into Shawn's second proper WWE tenure, it is nevertheless a great wrestling compilation due to the fact that the action on display is topnotch throughout. Each bout is preceded by comments from Shawn (which in hindsight look like they were all filmed within around twenty minutes).

An AWA tag team bout pitting The (then-Midnight) Rockers against Buddy Rose and Doug Somers is a typical doubles match for the era with added athleticism (by Shawn and Marty Jannetty) and a surprisingly high amount of blood spillage. We then jump right ahead to the classic WrestleMania X Ladder bout, the match where Shawn truly established himself as a future superstar despite losing to Razor Ramon.

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Bobby The Brain Heenan

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 279 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: February 14 2011

As the title suggests, this two-disc set looks at the career of Bobby Heenan, the greatest manager and one of the greatest announcers in wrestling history.

Heenan's success relied on his pest-like heel tactics on behalf of his clients, his first-class promo skills, the huge bumps he would take to make the babyfaces look good and - of course - his quick wit and stand-up comedy-level sense of humour and delivery. He was tailor-made for the eras in which he worked, having gotten his start in the early 1960s, then staying in the AWA for many years at the side of legendary AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel, before his legendary run in the WWF. He began announcing full-time in 1991, and after a lengthy stay in WCW, he returned to the WWF for one night only to call the Gimmick Battle Royal at WrestleMania X-Seven.

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WWE Live In The UK: April 2012

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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