DVD Review: 30 Years Of Survivor Series

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 437 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: October 23 2017

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

Survivor Series is the second longest-running Pay-Per-View event in WWE history, behind only WrestleMania. It was there when Hulkamania was running wild, when Attitude was all the rage, and when John Cena and Batista were establishing themselves as the leaders of the Ruthless Aggression era. Even today, Survivor Series has major significance, enhanced by major moments in recent years involving The Rock, Sting and Goldberg.

This latest DVD offering from WWE covers the three-decade history of Survivor Series, released just in time for the 31st instalment on November 19 in Houston. The main focus of this compilation is a feature lasting just over an hour, which highlights what are considered to be the 30 top moments in Survivor Series history (though the programme itself doesn't state this; the DVD box art does, though). This is followed by a series (no pun intended) of matches spanning the years 1988-2016.

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DVD Preview: 30 Years Of Survivor Series

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Fetch Publicity

The following story is courtesy of Fetch Publicity ...

On Thanksgiving Day thirty years ago, WWE's second pay-per-view event was born with a new twist. In the early days, teams of five strived to survive. Over the course of the next three decades, Survivor Series evolved into one of the greatest spectacles on the WWE calendar, where championship matches, iconic face-offs and unforgettable moments take place. Join us as we countdown the 30 greatest moments from 30 remarkable years of Survivor Series.

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DVD Review: WWE Unreleased 1986-1995

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 501 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: September 4 2017

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

Following on from last year's similar WWE The Attitude Era Volume 3 - Unreleased, which featured previously unseen matches from 1996-2000 (not necessarily all from the Attitude Era, but you can read more about that in my review here), we now have a new release covering hidden gems from 1986-1995.

Hosted by Charly Caruso and legendary personality Sean Mooney, Unreleased is a straight-up collection of bouts which only the live crowd will have seen. No matches here had previously been televised; all of these were only seen by those in attendance. It's possible that some of these bouts were intended to be broadcast, but if so, they obviously weren't.

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DVD Preview: WWE Unreleased 1986-1995

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Fetch Publicity

The following story is courtesy of Fetch Publicity ...

This is a three-disc collection of never-before-seen matches from WWE’s golden era and New Generation! Features action from legendary Superstars such as Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Macho Man Randy Savage, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Bret “Hitman” Hart, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker!

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DVD Review: Kurt Angle - The Essential Collection

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 531 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: July 31 2017

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

Kurt Angle is one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all-time. Mixing his previous outstanding amateur wrestling ability, style and credibility with his desire to learn allowing him to quickly pick up the pro style along with unseen charisma and a great sense of humour, all during one of the hottest periods in wrestling history, Angle quickly established his legacy as one of the very best in record time. His return to WWE in early 2017 was hugely anticipated, and fans immediately gravitated back to the legendary Olympic gold medallist.

Therefore, it was inevitable that a DVD celebrating Angle's big return would be released, and so we have this collection of matches from 1999-2006. You can't really go wrong with a Kurt Angle match compilation, and this is proven to be the case as this is one of the best WWE DVDs that you will see. We also get pre-match comments from Angle who discusses how pivotal specific bouts were to his career, though they do occasionally border on being slightly self-indulgent at times. But more often than not, they're insightful, and a welcome aspect of the feature (this incidentally does not have any bonus material).

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DVD Preview: Kurt Angle - The Essential Collection

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Fetch Publicity

The following story is courtesy of Fetch Publicity ...

It’s true! It’s true! Kurt Angle has had some of the most epic matches in WWE history. Now for the first time ever, you can watch them all with Kurt Angle: The Essential Collection! Relive all of his rivalries with Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, John Cena, Edge, Shawn Michaels, Triple H and more in this complete collection.

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DVD Review: WrestleMania 33

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 569 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: June 5 2017

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

WrestleMania 33 has finally hit DVD. WrestleMania remains the WWE DVD to own each year, regardless of whether the event is good or bad. Fortunately, WM 33 had more to like than to dislike, and while it's not a flawless show by any means, it is an improvement over WM 32 and contains several memorable moments, all of which justify a purchase even before you consider the Hall Of Fame ceremony being included, as is tradition.

The opening video is spectacularly produced in line with the "Ultimate Thrill Ride" theme, and the first match - AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon - is a belter which greatly exceeds expectations. Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens for the United States Championship is another enjoyable match, though a shade below being considered a Match Of The Year candidate. The Raw Women's Championship four-way, meanwhile, feels rushed and, whilst a commendable effort by all involved, it's inferior to the Women's Championship three-way from WM 32.

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DVD Preview: WrestleMania 33

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Fetch Publicity

The following story is courtesy of Fetch Publicity ...

Welcome to WrestleMania, “The Ultimate Thrill Ride”! Brace yourself for incredible twists, unexpected turns, and unbelievable excitement! “The Beast Incarnate” Brock Lesnar challenges Goldberg for his Universal Championship – the richest prize on Raw. The intense rivalry between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt comes to a head over SmackDown Live’s WWE Championship. Bayley defends the Raw Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, and Nia Jax in a Fatal Four Way elimination match. “The Architect” Seth Rollins gets his chance at revenge as he takes on “The Game” Triple H in a Non-Sanctioned Match! And Roman Reigns faces one of the biggest tests of his career when he takes on Undertaker in a No Holds Barred Match! Plus, action from all your other favourite WWE Superstars, including all three pre-show matches!

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DVD Review: WWE: Best Of 2000s

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 666 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 4
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: April 24 2017

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

WWE's latest compilation brings together a plethora of impactful matches from 2000-2009, spread over four discs and more than eleven hours (check out the actual number of minutes for this DVD above). It's a weighty collection compared to other DVDs on the market, but that's okay because, to truly showcase the best of the decade, three discs simply wasn't enough given the length of some matches here. Oh, and many of the matches are superb, making this a truly epic DVD set.

Hosted by Mick Foley (who sort of reprises his old Commissioner gig with one-liners and suitably nostalgic props, along with guest appearances by current WWE stars), the DVD opens proper with Triple H vs. Cactus Jack, a belting Street Fight from Royal Rumble 2000 for the WWF Championship. Foley at the time cited this match as one of his very best, and almost everybody agrees that this bloody war truly put HHH on the map, having slightly struggled to gain acceptance as a main event heel. Next is the original TLC clash between Edge and Christian, The Hardyz and The Dudleyz from SummerSlam 2000, which is simply amazing; the rematch at WrestleMania X-Seven arguably topped it, but regardless this was unbelievable, and the deserving Match Of The Year in most polls.

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Battleground 2015

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

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

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

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

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

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Brock Lesnar: Eat. Sleep. Conquer. Repeat. coming soon on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Fetch Publicity

The following story is courtesy of Fetch Publicity ...

Since day one, Brock Lesnar has conquered every obstacle in his path of destruction. He has claimed championships, taken opponents to Suplex City, and put an end to The Undertaker’s undefeated WrestleMania streak. Witness Brock Lesnar’s greatest matches and moments and see why he lives by the mantra of EAT. SLEEP. CONQUER. REPEAT. Featuring 14 of “The Beast’s” biggest matches since his return to WWE in 2012, plus classic – and previously unseen – matches from his original run with the company and his OVW tenure before it.

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WWE Best Pay-Per-View Matches 2015

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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.

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WWE Best Pay-Per-View Matches 2013

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 435 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: January 13 2014

Once more, WWE has released a compilation focusing on the year's best Pay-Per-View encounters (well, those of the first ten months, anyway; and the match choices are always those of WWE, meaning some fan favourite bouts don't get a look-in). Renee Young takes over hosting duties here, with PPV posters to assist her, erm, links, and the artwork has a slightly grandiose theme highlighting WWE's biggest names ... except for Brock Lesnar. That Lesnar isn't included is unusual, and perhaps emphasises how his star doesn't shine quite as bright as it should presently. We don't get any promo videos for matches this time, which is a slight dampener.

Onto the action, though, and we have CM Punk vs. The Rock from Royal Rumble. Whilst a fun match to watch, that part-timer Rock was chosen to end Punk's 434-day WWE Title reign PO'd the hardcore fans to a great extent, especially with John Cena winning the Royal Rumble to set up Rock-Cena 2 as the main event for WrestleMania 29 (I personally didn't have a problem with the decision, although the fact that the People's Elbow was the move to finish Punk off ruined one's suspension of disbelief). After that, Elimination Chamber (an underrated show, in my opinion) gives us John Cena, Ryback and Sheamus vs. The Shield, a watchable yet fairly pointless match with a surprising outcome (at the time, anyway).

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WWE Best Pay-Per-View Matches 2012

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 385 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: March 4 2013

The Best Pay-Per-View Matches series would continue on to cover 2012, one of the most memorable years in recent times for WWE. Two huge WrestleMania matches, the return shortly afterwards of a major star, the year-long WWE Title run of the Best In The World, the entertainment provided by Team Hell No and the arrival of The Shield were just some of the reasons why there's a lot to remember about 2012. Much of it happened on Pay-Per-View, and a lot of that is covered here. Scott Stanford is again on hosting duties, and the artwork is a nice nod to the old-school wrestling posters from the 1970s and before. What's more, some promo videos are again included to explain why certain matches are happening, which is always a good thing.

We begin as ever at Royal Rumble, with CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler. It's a good match, but it's overshadowed by Punk's feud with special referee/enforcer John Laurinaitis, in Big Johnny's only appearance on the DVD, incidentally. The upshot is, Ziggler looks a bit weak as Punk has him beaten several times before finally finishing him off. Next up, the World Heavyweight Title Elimination Chamber had the potential to royally suck, but it ends up greatly exceeding expectations, and momentarily makes one believe that Santino Marella could indeed become the World Heavyweight Champion. Disc one closes with the outstanding Hell In A Cell war between The Undertaker and Triple H from WrestleMania XXVIII, refereed by Shawn Michaels and containing enough drama and action to justify why most people considered this to be the best match of the entire year.

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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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WWE Best Pay-Per-View Matches 2009/2010

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 356 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: August 16 2010

Considering the importance of major supershows to the WWF/WWE, it's surprising that it took so long for them to begin a regular DVD series focusing on the top PPV battles of a given period. Nevertheless, the first such collection covered the 2009/2010 season, which means Backlash 2009 to WrestleMania XXVI in this case. Future editions of the series would take a more logical route of simply covering the year from January onwards. This meant that some events would be strangely ignored - but we'll cover that in a future review.

Anyway, on this DVD, we kick off with an outstanding Last Man Standing (that sounded weird) clash between John Cena and Edge from Backlash, which was their final major showdown against one another. After that, we go to that card's opening match, a fun Jack Swagger-Christian battle for the ECW Title. Then, we have a Judgment Day main event between Edge and Jeff Hardy which is far better than people give this credit for, and this being so different to the Cena LMS bout, yet with both still being of a high quality, illustrates just how damn good Edge really was. (By the way, many of the matches included here have their corresponding video promo packages shown beforehand, which is a nice touch.)

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Undertaker 15-0

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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. What's more, after the first couple of matches, most of the remaining bouts are only partially complete, meaning that one is even less inclined to purchase this ahead of the more recent (and complete) 20-0.

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The Attitude Era Volume 3 - Unreleased now available on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Fetch Publicity

The following story is courtesy of Fetch Publicity ...

The Attitude Era Volume 3 - Unreleased is now available in the UK on both DVD and Blu-ray.

The third volume in WWE’s Attitude Era DVD & Blu-ray series, this time bringing together previously unseen material from the period between 1996-2000. Includes “dark” matches from Monday Night Raw, non-televised matches from pay-per-view events, live events, and more never-before-released moments from WWE’s most controversial era!

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The Attitude Era Volume 3 - Unreleased coming soon on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Fetch Publicity

The following story is courtesy of Fetch Publicity ...

The third volume in WWE’s Attitude Era DVD & Blu-ray series, this time bringing together previously unseen material from the period between 1996-2000. Includes “dark” matches from Monday Night Raw, non-televised matches from pay-per-view events, live events, and more never-before-released moments from WWE’s most controversial era!

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WrestleMania 32

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 533 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: June 6 2016

(To read a full event review of WWE WrestleMania 32, click here.)

For the thirty-second time, WWE presented WrestleMania on April 3 2016 from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and this would be the most attended WWE show of all-time with an announced attendance of 101,763. In the ring, though, the reaction to WrestleMania ranged from mixed to only slightly positive, with some crapping all over the event in general. At the time, I thought the action was pretty good but that the creative decisions were questionable, and whilst there were some strong outings, there were no true classic WrestleMania matches. So, how does the event hold up on DVD a few months down the line? As it turns out, little has changed.

The opening seven-man Ladder match for the Intercontinental Title remains a thrilling attraction, although Zack Ryder's shock win loses impact knowing that his reign would ultimately last 24 hours. AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho is another very good match between the two veterans, which would have seemed better had the crowd reaction been stronger. Jericho's win seemed odd at the time, and seemed even stranger when Styles became number one contender to the WWE Title the following night on Raw by pinning Y2J himself. It seems this result was a way of Vince McMahon once again proving that those who made their names outside of WWE are "inferior" to his talent, in the same way that Sting lost to Triple H at WrestleMania 31.

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