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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The Best Of WCW Clash Of The Champions

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 393 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: August 6 2012

Clash Of The Champions was the WCW equivalent of Saturday Night's Main Event. COTC was a major television special held a few times per year, showcasing top talent and major main event matches outside of the Pay-Per-View events like Starrcade and The Great American Bash. The difference between Clash and SNME was that the NWA/WCW roster was more inclined to go out and put on a great wrestling match compared to the more entertainment-based action (which I was a huge fan of at the time, by the way) you would find on SNME. Over time, the Clash would reduce in importance, but it was a key WCW occasion for many years.

This DVD, hosted by Dusty Rhodes, showcased more than two dozen of the most memorable Clash matches from its 35 specials, spanning 1988-1997. It's not a factor worth mentioning nowadays, but the DVD was delayed by several weeks in the UK due to apparent issues between Silver Vision and WWE. Whatever difficulties the two parties had must have been significant, because this would be the final year that Silver Vision distributed WWE DVDs for the European market; from January 1 2013, that task went to Fremantle Media.

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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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WWE Tagged Classics: Austin 3:16 Uncensored, Three Faces Of Foley, Chris Jericho: Break Down The Walls and Kurt Angle: It's True

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 252 Minutes
Certificate: 18
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: September 17 2012

One of the final entries in Silver Vision's much-loved Tagged Classics series was its most packed release yet, as no less than four retro documentaries, all from the Attitude Era, were brought together on one set. The quality varies between each one, but there's a hell of a lot of entertainment to be found across the quartet of Attitude content.

Beginning with Austin 3:16 Uncensored, this 1998 VHS was the second release on Austin's career, and is based around a sit-down with Jim Ross. Austin is largely in character here, although his kayfabe answers are hardly insulting to one's intelligence. As the title suggests, Austin's language - which includes ass, b--ch, b-----d, bulls--t and one use of motherf--ker - go entirely uncensored, which was actually a selling point in 1998 (and would be in the modern PG climate, to be fair). The hour-long feature only recaps Austin's adventures from the first four months of 1998, but this does include his pre-Royal Rumble Stunners on much of the roster, his Rumble win, his confrontations with Mike Tyson, his showing in the eight-man tag at No Way Out Of Texas, his first WWF Title win at WrestleMania XIV and his clash with Dude Love from Unforgiven of that year.

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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.

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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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall Rating: 7/10 - Respectable

WWE 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).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall Rating: 8/10 - Very Good

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).

On a lighter note, Morrison rebounded by overachieving with his team alongside Miz, which went so well that it prepared Miz for an unimaginably successful solo run. The match from their double tag title-winning run comes in a non-title clash with D-Generation X leaders Shawn Michaels and Triple H from the Raw episode that celebrated 800 episodes (note that this wasn't the 800th episode; it's too long to explain). Right after the 2009 Draft split up Morrison and Miz, Johnny boy had his final ECW bout with Evan "Air" Bourne, which is the next clash featured here, and is an underrated gem of a match, and a sign that Bourne should be amongst the names that WWE could have looked to rehire ahead of this year's Brand Extension (come to think of it, WWE should rehire Morrison too, if they are legally able to do so given his Lucha Underground status).

After that, the focus for the remainder of the DVD switches to Morrison's SmackDown tenure. From May 2009 onwards for a good few months, SmackDown was a fantastic wrestling show; each week, it had one or two great wrestling matches, generally consisting of two or more from Rey Mysterio, Jeff Hardy, Edge, Chris Jericho, CM Punk and Morrison himself. The final five matches of this eight-bout DVD see the former Johnny Nitro take on each of the aforementioned names, with mixed results when it comes to wins and losses, but with each one of them being a strong wrestling encounter.

Morrison vs. Chris Jericho from Superstars is very good, and note how Y2J makes sure to remain the heel and cheats to win, which is picked up by announcers Jim Ross and Todd Grisham (the latter is an area where WWE does not succeed today). The episode of SmackDown which aired the next night featured the following match on the DVD, Morrison vs. Edge, which is superb; if not for another encounter later in the DVD, it would have been the best WWE television match of 2009. Edge makes Morrison look great, and even though the veteran comes out on top, the match greatly enhanced the younger Morrison.

Next up, Morrison scores an unlikely win over then-World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk (who was in the middle of a slow-burn heel turn) in a match which is exciting, but is inferior to Morrison vs. Edge. Morrison vs. Jeff Hardy five weeks later for the title is excellent; it's hard to envision a better situation when you have a rising star losing his big World Title opportunity, because it didn't harm Morrison one bit. (Although it has no relevance to Morrison, it's a minor disappointment that the post-match capers, where Punk completed his heel turn on Jeff, aren't included here.) The DVD ends with a bang; a genuine classic between Morrison and Rey Mysterio for the Intercontinental Title. Morrison's biggest triumph in WWE is a flawless battle, the best of many great SmackDown bouts in 2009, and had this not been the year when The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels ascended to new heights at WrestleMania 25, this would have been the undisputed Match Of The Year. (As an aside, this result was instigated by Mysterio violating the Wellness Policy, making it the third title change scenario involving Morrison that was caused by a suspension or an absence of some kind.)

Watching this, I tried to work out why SmackDown in 2009 felt better than Raw does today, even though both boasted or currently boast great matches every week (and Raw had the full roster prior to the latest Draft). Besides the superior creative for SmackDown seven years ago, and two top bouts in two hours being better than one or two great matches over the course of three hours, the main thing I noticed here was the selling. Matches start fast-paced but slow down as the competitors have taken a visual beating, and the wear and tear is evident in the final few minutes of each match. Wrestlers looked strong, even in defeat, and results had an impact on future developments. Selling is the key, whereas today Dean Ambrose or Seth Rollins will have a great 20-25 minute match but won't look any worse for the wear at the end, meaning that the matches have less of an impact. If wrestlers today did a better job of selling, the product would seem a lot better. And matches today have that 50/50 feel to them, rather than being a case of who is the best on the night wins, and goes on to achieve bigger things.

Returning to the DVD subject: this is a fantastic look at part of Morrison's career, especially the 2009 bouts. There isn't one weak match on the DVD, and besides the good-but-not-great tag bout, they are all either very good, excellent or, in the case of Morrison-Mysterio, classic. It's hard to believe from watching this that Morrison ultimately did not end up capturing either the WWE or World Heavyweight Titles. Certainly, a 2010 push for the gold seemed assured, and Morrison becoming champion of the SmackDown brand would have been greatly welcomed by fans. Somehow, it didn't happen, and so Morrison's fans are left hoping for a day when he might return to WWE, having left in late 2011, and become World Champion then. Otherwise, fans of the current Johnny Mundo can still enjoy his work on Lucha Underground.

Nevertheless, considering that the single-disc nature of this DVD makes this seem less important than most DVDs released around the same time, and despite the disappointing absence of any pre-Morrison content, this is an excellent wrestling DVD that provides a nice look back at a great time for wrestling action on SmackDown, and a look at someone who seemed destined to achieve great things. Who knows whether he will in future?

Overall Rating: 8.5/10 - Excellent

Macho Madness: The Randy Savage Ultimate Collection

Image Source: Amazon

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.

Ignoring Randy's pre-WWE adventures in several territories, Macho Madness (which, incidentally, has superb colourful artwork which the Macho Man probably would have been proud of) opens with Savage's Madison Square Garden debut against "Quick Draw" Rick McGraw. Bouts with Ricky Steamboat and Hulk Hogan from late 1985 are a cool preview of his future rivalry with those men, before Savage's WWF tenure begins proper with his enjoyable Intercontinental Title win over Tito Santana from February 1986. Since this was the era of one PPV event per year, Randy's year-plus reign, which got him over huge with fans despite his heel status, is remembered for one match, which had to be included here: his classic WrestleMania III battle with Steamboat, which was the greatest WWF match in the first few decades of its history. Before this, though, we get a bout of historic curiosity as he battles Bruno Sammartino, then approaching the end of a phenomenal career himself.

From there, we get clips of the formation of the Mega-Powers (featuring a ludicrously hammy expression by Hogan and their legendary quasi-handshake), before a battle with The Honky Tonk Man on The Main Event, the same show which saw the infamous "twin referee" hullaballoo that unseated Hulk as WWF Champion. Speaking of main events, that takes us to the main event of WrestleMania IV, where Savage (in the final of a tournament caused by said scandal) won his first WWF Title from "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, and a rematch inside a steel cage from MSG, the latter of which is very good. We then see The Mega Powers face The Mega Bucks (DiBiase and Andre The Giant) from SummerSlam 1988. It all seemed that things were rosy between Savage and Hogan.

But in reality, the seeds were being sown for one hell of a break-up, with the paranoid Savage believing that Hulk wanted to take away his beloved Miss Elizabeth. That brings us to their great WrestleMania V main event, which is nostalgic fun all the way. We later see them clash again in a SNME bout that includes a cameo by Smoking Joe Frazier, and after that we get a forgotten Savage match from WrestleMania, as he and Sensational Sherri face Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire at WM VI (Dusty's music is inexplicably replaced by the UK Wheel Of Fortune theme, which spoils the presentation).

Savage, by now known as the Macho King, would then direct his attention towards The Ultimate Warrior, and here we get to relive their classic Career match from WrestleMania VII, with the post-match scene (a Savage-Liz reunion) providing a true WrestleMania moment. This leads to their on-screen wedding ceremony from SummerSlam 1991 (which is included as a DVD extra), but hold on! Their fabulous day was ultimately spoiled by the evil Jake Roberts, and after clips of Jake's shocking snake bite attack on Savage, we see Macho get revenge against Roberts at This Tuesday In Texas, which is intense and exciting but could have benefitted from lasting a few minutes longer.

After that match, Savage's retirement had officially been overturned, leading him to face Ric Flair in an underrated WWF Title bout from WM VIII, which was also preceded by a great plot-line as Flair suggested a past relationship with Elizabeth ("She was mine before she was yours!"). The next few matches are rare bouts from 1992: a very good European Rampage showdown with Shawn Michaels, and a fun tag bout as Savage and Bret face Shawn and Flair. The last WWF bout here is an unsuccessful WWF Title challenge against Yokozuna from February 1994. I was hoping that Randy's final high-profile WWF match - his WrestleMania X Falls Count Anywhere battle with Crush - would be here, but it wasn't to be. Instead, the collection moves onto his WCW tenure.

The first WCW bout is a forgettable bout with Flair from Bash At The Beach 1995, the Lifeguard stipulation for which is quite confusing (no surprise for a WCW match). After a later Savage-Flair bout from an early 1996 edition of Monday Nitro, we then revisit what was arguably Savage's best WCW feud with Diamond Dallas Page, as he and DDP collide in stipulation from The Great American Bash 1997. The DVD culminates with Savage and Sid Vicious facing Kevin Nash and Sting at Bash At The Beach 1999, which has another confusing set of rules (whomever gets the fall leaves as WCW World Champion, meaning that Nash could lose the gold to his own partner; this scenario was used to instigate David Arquette's risible reign as titleholder the following year). The DVD extras include plenty of classic Savage interviews, and the cheesy-but-great tribute video before the Macho-Liz wedding from SummerSlam 91.

Although the WCW selections are hit-and-miss, the WWF choices are as good as they could be (incidentally, Randy's last ever match, a one-off six man tag appearance in TNA, is unsurprisingly not even mentioned), resulting in as good a Savage DVD as one could expect from an in-ring standpoint (and some of the matches are absolute classics). It does have its flaws and some minor omissions but on the whole, WWE took the high road and provided Savage fans with a worthy retrospective for the legendary, one-of-a-kind Macho Man.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10 - Excellent

The Self-Destruction Of The Ultimate Warrior

Image Source: Amazon

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.

They include Warrior's initial feud with Hercules (which are slated), his memorable Intercontinental Title win over The Honky Tonk Man at SummerSlam 1988, his feud with Rick Rude (Rude is praised), his battles with Andre The Giant (slated; Andre isn't held accountable) and his career-making WWF Title win over Hulk Hogan from WrestleMania VI (the significance of which is acknowledged in full, although the breakdown of Hogan "passing the torch" is questioned by those who know the inner workings of the business and who realise how Hogan operates; hell, even Hulk explains his true motives about this moment in his autobiography).

Warrior's WWF Title reign is only briefly covered, as is his incredible Career match with Randy Savage from WrestleMania VII, before we tackle the circumstances of Warrior's firing after the Hogan/Warrior vs. Triangle Of Terror main event from SummerSlam 1991. In short, Warrior supposedly demanded a certain amount of money or he wouldn't compete; Vince complied, but fired him after the bout (I'll refer back to this later).

Then, we jump to Warrior's surprise return at WrestleMania VIII (one of the best returns ever in my opinion) and his bizarre feud with Papa Shango (Mean Gene Okerlund praises the storyline but slams the resultant matches), before his second firing in late 1992 is explained simply by Vince: "We had a stringent drug-testing policy, and there was a violation." Beforehand, the confusion over whether the "real" Warrior was back due to his muscle shrinkage is discussed superficially, but this provides the true reason for Warrior's drastic change in appearance.

After covering Jim Hellwig changing his name to Warrior in a condescending fashion (I assume that Warrior did this so that he could use the Warrior name for merchandising and other projects), we come to his third and final WWF run from 1996, which didn't last long. After HHH and Jerry Lawler explain their difficulties with Warrior (I'll come back to this, too), we're told that Warrior was fired again because he no-showed several dates, although the graphic used to illustrate this was apparently doctored to suit WWE's point of view. Hmm ...

Then, it's onto his best-forgotten WCW run, beginning with a counterproductive and lengthy Nitro interview and culminating in a comically bad match with Hogan from Halloween Havoc 1998 (Hulk refreshingly takes the heat for this), which existed solely for Hogan to get revenge for WrestleMania VI (seriously). After covering his lawsuit win over the WWF concerning the Warrior trademark, and his work as a public speaker (again condescendingly), the main feature closes by examining his legacy, with some running him down a bit more (Ric Flair comes across as abrupt and rude here), whereas others do praise him for his good qualities.

The DVD has some bonus segments, as well as five complete matches: an early WWF squash win, his IC Title win over Honky, his WM VI main event with Hogan, his Steel Cage battle with Rude from SummerSlam 1990, and his Career match with Savage from WM VII (disappointingly, the post-match scenes which elevated the impact of this moment aren't shown here).

This DVD essentially exists to inform people of what The Ultimate Warrior was really like, at least according to WWE. The tone is almost always negative, from The Brooklyn Brawler counting his concussions to Bobby Heenan repeatedly slating Warrior as if he had committed a murder. Nevertheless, it is presented in an entertaining and often light-hearted manner, and at least when it came to his firings, the documentary is telling the truth. Yes it may be negative, but the content is truthful.

However, the impact of this DVD would take an unexpected turn.

Warrior was (understandably) unhappy with this DVD and after some controversial remarks about some past and present WWE personalities, he sued WWE once again. Details of the settlement are unknown, but needless to say Warrior remained angry, turning down an offer to be the star inductee in the 2010 Hall Of Fame class. But after extended communication with HHH and Vince, following his appearance in the WWE 2K14 game (which came after other videogame appearances, by the way), Warrior would end up accepting a 2014 HOF induction, thus returning to the "WWE Family". Sadly, as most will know, Warrior shockingly passed away just days later.

It is nevertheless fascinating to watch this DVD after Warrior ultimately returned to WWE (one condition of his comeback was for a new DVD to cover his true legacy, which I will review in the near future). For instance, Vince McMahon says he "couldn't wait to fire" Warrior in 1991, and HHH called him the most unprofessional person he ever worked with. Plus, the DVD essentially portrays Warrior as a negative influence, almost a cancer, on the company. Now, though, Warrior has a Hall Of Fame award named in his honour and is presented as an all-time great? Not to mention that WWE never disclosed on the DVD why they kept bringing him back despite their troubles with him (in a nutshell: business was struggling).

Overall, this DVD is undoubtedly fun to watch, and is largely an honest account of how difficult Warrior could be. However, its rating drops due to WWE changing tack once Warrior "came home" and presented an alternative history of his career, with the negativity trimmed way down. (Would the DVD have been so negative if Warrior hasn't been at odds with the company?) What is The Ultimate Warrior's true legacy? I guess it's up to the fans to decide that.

Overall Rating: 7/10 - Respectable

Triple H - The King Of Kings

Image Source: Amazon

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.

Accompanied by pre-match comments from HHH, King Of Kings (I can't use the DVD acronym in this case) opens with his official WWF debut as the blueblood Hunter Hearst Helmsley, defeating John Crystal in a squash from a 1995 episode of Raw. In terms of the significance of particular matches on H's career, this starts promisingly enough with his first Intercontinental Title win over Marc Mero (Raw, 1996), his 1997 King Of The Ring triumph over Mankind and his WrestleMania XIV battle with Owen Hart for the European Title, all of which are enjoyable to watch and which allowed HHH to take another step up the proverbial ladder.

Speaking of ladders, though, his famous IC Title Ladder scrap with The Rock (SummerSlam 1998) is not here, which is bizarre as that bout was arguably the first true sign of his main event potential, nor is the rest of his initial DX tenure covered. Instead, we jump to him capturing his first WWF Title over Mankind from a 1999 episode of Raw (there's an interesting back-story to that if you believe the rumours, namely, the title went from Steve Austin to Mankind at SummerSlam to HHH the next night because Austin allegedly refused to directly lose to Hunter; either that or Austin's knee injury necessitated those events or that special ref Jesse Ventura had to endorse a babyface winner, so make up your own mind). Then, it's HHH vs. Austin from No Mercy 1999 in an underrated brawl (the outcome may dispel one of the aforementioned theories), and a superb HHH vs. Cactus Jack Hell In A Cell war from No Way Out 2000 (although their previous Street Fight at Royal Rumble 2000 was arguably more pivotal to H's career and thus should have been here too).

Many HHH fans regard 2000-2001 as the peak of his career, so it's a questionable decision that we get no further matches from that era. Instead, we see HHH win the 2002 Royal Rumble (but not the resultant WrestleMania X8 title win over Chris Jericho, which speaks volumes about the quality of that match) before we get a chapter from the epic HHH-Shawn Michaels rivalry. Strangely, their least memorable match is the one featured here; whilst their Three Stages Of Hell battle from Armageddon 2002 isn't as bad as some would have you believe, it's definitely the weakest PPV encounter of their series.

I mentioned 2000-2001 as being HHH's artistic peak, but 2003 arguably marked his career low, with virtually no memorable matches besides a year-closing scrap with Shawn. Perhaps realising this, WWE chose to jump a whopping 2 1/2 years ahead (skipping the entire Evolution run) to Vengeance 2005 and a fantastic Hell In A Cell war with Batista (arguably The Animal's best ever match). Since HHH and Randy Orton have fought so often, it's ironic that he's the only Evolution member who isn't featured here, as we next see H battle Ric Flair at Survivor Series 2005 in a compelling yet unnecessarily violent Last Man Standing match (the amount of blood that Flair loses here is ludicrous). Finally, we get a forgotten gem as HHH takes on John Cena and Edge at Backlash 2006, which sees H spill a ton of blood himself towards the finish.

No, the DX comeback isn't covered, and the release date means that there are no bouts from 2008, which would be a great year in the ring for The Game. The DVD is rounded off by some bonus segments, including a rare indie bout from 1992 (HHH, then competing as Terra Ryzing, and Jim Ross commentate on this one as he faces Flying Tony Roy; by the way, what a ring name that is) and a Hog Pen bout with Henry Godwinn from In Your House 5 (Hunter suffers a nasty cut to his back at the end of this one).

Triple H is amongst the divisive wrestlers you will find, with some admiring his all-around talents and others expressing disgust at his (alleged) political manoeuvrings. Regardless of your opinion, though, nobody can deny that this had the potential to be fantastic, and the end product is only adequate. HHH does add insight with honest comments (he notes how he once told John Cena that everything he did in the ring looked terrible), and it includes the first acknowledgement of Chris Benoit on a WWE product after his 2007 tragedy. But on the whole, this is a case of "What might have been", because it only covers some of his greatest or most important matches, and leaves out many more suitable choices. Why a third disc wasn't added which would have partially resolved this issue is unknown.

Fans of Triple H will enjoy The King Of Kings, but it is an incomplete profile of HHH's career.

Overall Rating: 6.5/10 - Okay

Mick Foley's Greatest Hits & Misses - Hardcore Edition

Written By: Mark Armstrong

(2004 Edition)

Image Source: Amazon

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.

The collection kicks off with two WCW bouts. Cactus Jack vs. Vader from a 1993 edition of WCW Saturday Night is notable for some brutally stuff offence, requested by Foley himself, which would result in Mick suffering a broken nose and WCW heavily editing the bout on television (the uncut version is the one we get here). Following this, Cactus and Maxx Payne battle The Nasty Boys in a hellacious Chicago Street Fight from Spring Stampede 1994, with Foley taking two painful-looking blows near the end (Mick being shoved off the ramp so that he landed hard back-first on the concrete floor, and Jerry Sags tw-tting him full-force in the side of the head with a shovel.

We're then told the story behind Cactus Jack's ECW promo (Jack was working for the then-Eastern Championship Wrestling between WCW dates) where he spat on the WCW Tag Team Title to try and convey his sense of lost pride. WCW understandably felt miffed that one of its titles would be treated in such a manner; regardless, it expedited the process of Foley leaving WCW in the autumn of 1994.

Whilst all of the four ECW bouts here have a similar theme (namely, brutal hardcore violence), each one has a standout aspect. Cactus vs. Sabu from 1994 is notable for its "dream match" feel (Foley acknowledges that the match didn't quite match expectations at the time); Cactus vs. Sandman from 1995 sees Sandman legitimately knocked out, which adversely affected the finishing sequence (that this was a Texas Death match made things more awkward in this situation); Cactus and Raven vs. Terry Funk and Tommy Dreamer from November To Remember 1995 features breath-taking bloodshed and came shortly after an incident where a burning towel temporarily set the Funker on fire; and Cactus vs. Mikey Whipwreck from 1996 was Foley's ECW swansong, with fans showing true respect for Cactus despite his heel status. In between, we also get a short bout from Smoky Mountain Wrestling as Cactus faces Chris Candido.

Disc two focuses on his WWF tenure which he began under the mask of Mankind. We do not get any of his 1996 scraps with The Undertaker, so the first WWF bout is a great bout against Shawn Michaels from In Your House X: Mind Games. After that, we jump to 1997 where a superb angle sees Mankind and Dude Love introduce Cactus Jack for a very good Falls Count Anywhere war with Hunter Hearst Helmsley, who would soon transform into Triple H.

The year 1998 is first spotlighted by a fantastic hardcore battle with Terry Funk, where Foley first competed under his real name, which is followed by a so-bad-it's-good dance celebration with an OTT performance by the previously-reserved Vince McMahon. Steve Austin's guest commentary during this one is another highlight. This all leads to Dude Love vs. Austin from Over The Edge 1998 which is one of my favourite ever matches; few bouts provide more fun and pure entertainment than this one.

From there, we revisit the most famous match of Foley's career and one of the most memorable matches of all-time, as Mankind and The Undertaker battle inside, on top of and through the Hell In A Cell in an unbelievably brutal match from King Of The Ring 1998. This one has never been topped (despite Shane McMahon leaping from a taller HIAC structure at WrestleMania 32), which considering the plethora of injuries Foley suffered that night, is probably a good thing.

The next featured match is Mankind's first WWF title win over The Rock in a Raw match that proved pivotal during The Monday Night War (Steve Austin's interference elicits such a loud crowd pop that it was only on a later viewing that I heard announcers Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler calling that moment). Since their I Quit rematch from Royal Rumble 1999 isn't included, the final bout on the main feature is Cactus vs. Triple H in an outstanding Street Fight from Royal Rumble 2000 that allowed Foley to go out on a high come his first (and second) retirement shortly afterwards, and which played a major role in establishing HHH as a true main event player. If only WWE could instigate such a scenario to benefit Roman Reigns today.

There are two bonus bouts which gave humorous alternate commentary from Foley and Jonathan Coachman: Cactus vs. Sting under Falls Count Anywhere rules from WCW Beach Blast 1992 (which Foley considered his best match to date at that point) and a Cactus-Sabu ECW rematch (during which Sabu tries several times to break a glass bottle on Jack's skull only for the glass to repeatedly fail to shatter, which must have hurt like hell). We also get plenty of interviews and angles from Foley's career, including his famous Cane Dewey promo from ECW in 1995.

Obviously, not everybody will appreciate or like hardcore wrestling. If you do, though, you will find this DVD to be a virtually flawless tribute to the unforgettable career of Mick Foley with memorable moments and great action throughout. Despite some omissions, this is a phenomenal compilation on Mrs Foley's Baby Boy.

Overall Rating: 10/10 - Perfect

(2007 Edition)

Image Source: Amazon

Running Time: 540 Minutes
Certificate: 18
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: April 23 2007

The Hardcore Edition includes four more matches from Foley's comeback runs in 2004 and 2006. They are all of the hardcore violence genre, which should be no surprise to Foley fans. It does mean that some "regular" bouts from Mick's return (like The Rock & Sock Connection vs. Evolution from WrestleMania XX) aren't here, but those who enjoy this style of wrestling will be happy with the choices.

The first "new" encounter is Foley against Randy Orton from Backlash 2004, one of the best hardcore bouts ever and arguably Orton's greatest match; Foley says that this became the defining bout of this career. We get a similar scrap with Edge from WrestleMania 22 which is a bit rushed, but has the classic ending of Edge Spearing Foley through a flaming table.

A six-man war from ECW One Night Stand 2006 provides a breathtaking amount of bloody violence and a rather rude pinning predicament to end the bout. The last match, an I Quit bout between Foley and Ric Flair from SummerSlam 2006, is pretty good but has been forgotten by fans in retrospect, perhaps because of the disappointing and confusing finish.

The first two extra matches were Match Of The Year contenders; the last two, not so much. On the whole, though, the bonus bouts (which have alternate commentary from Foley and Joey Styles) enhance an already-fantastic set. It's not for everyone (to quote the original ECW), but any fans of hardcore wrestling will truly love this; the three-disc version really is the definitive Mick Foley collection.

Overall Rating: 10/10 - Perfect

WWE From The Vault: Shawn Michaels

Image Source: Amazon

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.

The next three matches are all from 1996, starting with Shawn's Iron Man scrap with Bret Hart from WrestleMania XII. This is one of the most divisive matches in history; fans either love it or hate it. Depending on your point of view, this is either the highlight of the DVD or an entirely skippable 75-80 minute portion of the release. Whatever your opinion, it's hard to argue its inclusion since it officially kicks off Shawn's main event run in the WWF.

Disc two opens with a fantastic No Holds Barred battle against Diesel from In Your House VII (which has alternate commentary from Shawn and Kevin "Diesel" Nash). By WWF standards, the violence on display was ahead of its time, and from a brutality standpoint, this was the first hint of what was to come in the Attitude Era. Then, it's Shawn vs. Mankind from In Your House X, which is slightly overrated in my opinion, but nevertheless is one hell of a brawl.

We then fast-forward to In Your House: Badd Blood from October 1997, and the classic first-ever Hell In A Cell war with The Undertaker (who knew that they would top this effort in the future?). Finally, we see Shawn's comeback match from an injury-enforced retirement against Triple H from SummerSlam 2002, which is simply awesome.

There are no bonus matches, but there are plenty of segments, most of which are linked to the featured bouts (the hype video for HBK vs. HHH from SummerSlam 2002 is an underrated gem), although there are some other angles thrown in, such as the iconic moment when Shawn broke up the Rockers tandem on Brutus Beefcake's Barber Shop set in 1992.

This is a fantastic wrestling DVD. The only downside is that it was released in 2003; a modern-day release comprising three or four discs, including Shawn's top matches from his 2002-2010 run, would be a contender for Best Wrestling Compilation Ever. As it is, though, it remains a superb twin-disc DVD, and this set the tone for many great collections of this nature in the future.

Overall Rating: 9/10 - Outstanding

The Undertaker: He Buries Them Alive

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 60 Minutes
Certificate: E
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: April 12 2004

This DVD is a re-release of the original mid-1990s video (yes, video), and was brought out once again to capitalise on the return of the original Undertaker character at WrestleMania XX. All five bouts on this one-hour feature were held in 1994, a year which saw the initial revamp of his persona upon his return from a long absence at SummerSlam, by which point the gimmick had already reached legendary status. His ring work, however, was still years away from truly impressing the WWF fan base. Hence, don't expect to see classic matches here.

From a storyline standpoint, the biggest match here is The Undertaker vs. The Undertaker from that same SummerSlam. The plot leading into this was pretty fun, at least by 1994 standards, but the match isn't exactly a five-star bout, although it's not as bad as some people say it is. Taker vs. Kwang is a rare DVD appearance for the masked warrior, who was played by the future Savio Vega.

The Phenom faces Jim Neidhart in a scrap which is designed to promote his Casket match with Yokozuna at Survivor Series 1994, the closing minutes of which we get here. (By the way, despite the title of the release, there are no Buried Alive matches here; that stipulation didn't arrive until 1996.) Bizarrely, though, the Anvil bout is shown after the Yoko match, which makes no sense in terms of chronology. Finally, it's Undertaker vs. Jerry Lawler under Casket rules, which also found its way onto the King's DVD last year.

And that's it. Even those who have criticised some of Undertaker's recent WrestleMania encounters will have a new appreciation for those bouts after watching this compilation, as they realise just how different the Dead Man's matches were back in the "New Generation".

In fairness, though, this embodied the standard WWF action at the time, and those who attended shows back then were there to see the Undertaker character itself rather than to see him deliver stunning wrestling matches. For fans of the mid-1990s era WWF, and of course Undertaker supporters, this budget release is a decent addition to your DVD collection. Otherwise, only watch this compilation if you can maintain low expectations.

Overall Rating: 4.5/10 - Below Average

Bobby The Brain Heenan

Image Source: Amazon

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.

A relatively short documentary covers Heenan's life and times, with only a minor focus on his pre-WWF days. His stint in the World Wrestling Federation is covered extensively, but it still feels like even this section should be longer. For instance, we get a strong analysis of his fantastic presenting combination on Prime Time Wrestling with Gorilla Monsoon and their unmatched chemistry, but a chapter on The Bobby Heenan Show - a gimmick talk show during PTW - receives almost as much air time as his managerial highs and lows in the WWF (and certainly more than his runs elsewhere, including the AWA).

His WCW commentary run is covered fairly quickly, before we jump to Heenan's unfortunate health troubles as he was diagnosed with throat cancer in the early 2000s, and has suffered a catalogue of problems since. He returned to conduct a classic speech upon his induction into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2004, but by the end of the decade, his greatest gift - his voice - had been taken away. Heenan sadly remains in poor health, having recently suffered a fall, but he battles on today.

As well as his family, other contributors to the documentary include Vince McMahon, Pat Patterson, the late Nick Bockwinkel, Arn Anderson and others. And while it definitely should have been at least 20-30 minutes longer, the main feature does contain plenty of entertaining archive footage, largely based on the quick wit and magnetic heel heat of The Brain. As good as Paul Heyman is today, even Heyman the manager cannot compare to the legend that is Bobby Heenan, as the evidence here shows.

The DVD includes bonus stories (including a funny tale by Bockwinkel concerning a live interview on AWA television), some very entertaining segments involving typical Heenan/Monsoon interplay, a few rare Heenan matches (Heenan vs. Ultimate Warrior with a Weasel Suit stipulation is the highlight, although it is weird to see heel manager Heenan actually pick up a cleanish victory in one of the earlier bouts) and two bouts which are here for Heenan's commentary, the 1992 Royal Rumble match (featuring the greatest ever heel commentary performance from The Brain) and the aforementioned Gimmick Battle Royal from WM X7. The DVD is rounded off by Heenan's brilliant HOF 2004 speech, one of the best ever Hall Of Fame moments.

A DVD on a non-wrestler is always a tricky one to pull off, simply because it cannot rely on the strength of the matches. This DVD does a decent job at preventing such flaws by keeping the Heenan-as-a-wrestler matches to within an hour or so of air time, as the two most memorable bouts on the release only involve Heenan from the announce booth. The bonus stories, segments and the HOF speech add further weight to this DVD. Unfortunately, though, the documentary is too short and lacks context in some sections (such as Heenan's WCW run), as well as lacking depth and time in the key chapters. With a 90-minute documentary and some more segments, this could have been a really strong DVD but, as it is, the set is just okay. It's entertaining, no question - it has to be with Heenan as the focus - but it needed more time and additional material for this release to be a perfect tribute to the legend that is Bobby The Brain Heenan, the greatest manager ever, the greatest heel announcer of all-time, and arguably the funniest wrestling personality that ever lived.

Overall Rating: 6.5/10 - Okay

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.

Superstars is unmemorable, and by this point the show is barely worth watching or even worth WWE taping because it is so inconsequential. WWE would be better off saving its money and making these dark matches before TV tapings instead. SmackDown is (obviously) better with an entertaining six-man tag team main event, but with the brand extension now a thing of the past, SmackDown was starting to feel more than ever like the B-show to Raw, especially since SmackDown's top names (Sheamus, Daniel Bryan etc) appeared on Raw, but Raw's top names (Cena, Punk, Y2J) didn't appear on the blue brand taping. The bonus match is Shawn Michaels vs. JBL from a November 2005 Raw taping in Sheffield, England, which I recall had nothing else memorable outside of the inter-brand conflict (which was well-executed, incidentally).

The WWE product of early 2012 was much more interesting than that of a year earlier, and yet the London tapings on this DVD are almost uneventful. The best matches are only adequate as opposed to being on the right side of good, and since Lesnar doesn't appear in the arena (for the only time during his comeback month), and Chris Jericho's comments are away from the ring too, it adds to the feeling that the UK shows matter (or mattered) less than the US versions. It's far from offensive and you'll get a kick out of various matches and segments, but this is not a vintage WWE DVD whatsoever. Oh, and skip NXT.

Overall Rating: 5.5/10 - Above Average

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.)

NXT was now a fourth-rate version of Raw or SmackDown, evidenced by the big story being a potential romance between Johnny Curtis (the future Fandango) and Maxine (remember her?). It does, however, feature the best match on the DVD, a genuinely great bout between the long-forgotten Trent Baretta and the eternally-underrated Tyson Kidd. This match alone makes this edition of NXT worth watching. Superstars has its own standout match in the form of Daniel Bryan vs. William Regal, which Bryan once described as one of his favourite matches ever. This takes place just before Bryan would cash in Money In The Bank and develop into the "Yes!"-obsessed character which would eventually lead to a fan rebellion.

Speaking of Bryan, he's in action again on SmackDown in an uneventful clash with Mark Henry. Big Show intervenes and faces three jobbers at once. We also see Randy Orton face Wade Barrett and Sheamus battle Christian in two worthwhile matches, and a glimpse of the extremely short-lived alliance between Hunico, Primo and Epico. A personal highlight for me was seeing Anfield, home of Liverpool FC, shown on the big screen. The bonus match here is Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Dude Love from One Night Only 1997.

I have to mention three things which took place in the Echo Arena during those tapings which you don't see here. The ending of the Raw main event was amazingly re-taped due to some sort of error, and hilariously they somehow messed it up a second time! Watch the ending closely on this DVD and you'll realise that there's editing at work here. Also, Mark Henry actually flubbed his lines during his promo, which again is edited out. And post-SmackDown, there was a six-man match which resulted in Booker T, Randy Orton and Mark Henry all doing the Spinaroonie; it was more entertaining than it sounds.

With four really good matches (Raw is the only show lacking a true standout bout, funnily enough), this set is actually pretty decent. It's not an essential purchase by any means, but there's enough action and some intriguing feuds in development that you should find this to be one of the better Live In The UK sets.

Overall Rating: 7/10 - Respectable

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.

NXT was now in its fifth "Redemption" season, and whilst the burial commentary was gone, the show was now completely inconsequential and serves so little purpose that it's barely worth me recapping it. Likewise Superstars which is watchable, but pretty uneventful. SmackDown has a hit-and-miss segment based around Edge's real-life retirement hosted by Alberto Del Rio and featuring cameos by Edge and Christian, as well as two title matches (one of which has a title change). There's also a good opener between Rey Mysterio and the no-longer-Dashing Cody Rhodes to further their feud. Annoyingly, every single show has an extended recap of the R-Truth heel turn; once would have been plenty. The bonus material here consists of Edge vs. Christian in a Steel Cage match for the IC Title from Rebellion 2001, which is fun to watch.

These tapings were held at a weird time; it was after The Rock had returned and after the official challenge had been made for the Rock-John Cena match for WrestleMania XXVIII, but before CM Punk cut that "pipe bomb" promo and even before the great Randy Orton-Christian rivalry took over SmackDown. It felt like WWE was in transition mode (which might be true, considering that the 2011 Draft would take place the following week), resulting in tapings that were eventful, but ultimately didn't achieve much outside of Truth's heel turn. It's an okay DVD, but certainly not the best of the Live In The UK releases.

Overall Rating: 6.5/10 - Okay