Top 20 WWE YouTubers

1. MrBigred1990
2. MRWRESTLING1980.
3. xswantongirlyx
4. THEHBKREBEL
5. Shaun Blackford
6. TotalNonstopAttitude
7. Joanne Hunter
8. 2004punk
9. Stevie Breech
10 vintomania
11. Paul Martin Belts
12. WWFman007
13. JayJay3628
14. cm4tv
15. wrestlemaniac1130
16. DeseanROKS10
17. quantrix 05
18. MRattitudeEra316
19. James Lines
20. undertakerslargestfan

WWE Elite Figure Checklist

Elite Series 1

Edge
Mvp
Cm Punk
Rey Mysterio
The Undertaker

Elite Series 2

Ted Diabise
Matt Hardy
Randy Orton
R-Truth
Triple H
Batista

Elite Series 3

Santino
John Cena
Shawn Michaels
Christian
The Miz
Cody Rhodes

Elite Series 4

John Morrison
Kofi Kingston
Chris Jericho
Big Show
Finlay
Kane

Elite Series 5

Dolph Ziggler
Vladimir Kozlov
Jack Swagger
Chavo Guerrero
Rey Mysterio
Mark Henry

Elite Series 6

Batista
Goldust
Cm Punk
JTG
Shad
Matt Hardy

Elite Series 7

Triple H
John Cena
Tyson Kidd
David Hart Smith
Shawn Michaels
Hornswoggle

Elite Series 8

Drew Mcintyre
The Undertaker
Evan Borne
William Regal
Sheamus
Edge

Elite Series 9

Zack Ryder
Kofi Kingston
The Miz
Randy Orton
Mvp

Elite Series 10

Ted Diabise
John Morrison
R-Truth
Big Show
Kane

Elite Series 11

Wade Barret
Rey Mysterio
Christian
John Cena
The Miz

Elite Series 12

Alberto Del Rio
Justin Gabriel
Daniel Bryan
Randy Orton
Papa Shango
Kane

Elite Series 13

Dolph Ziggler
Cody Rhodes
Rey Mysterio
Big Show
Sheamus
Edge

Elite Series 14

The Undertaker
Alberto Del Rio
The Rock
John Cena
King Booker
Big Bossman

Elite Series 15

Yokozuna
Sin Cara
Rey Mysterio
R-Truth
Evan Bourne
Mark Henry

Elite Series 16

Heath Slater
Ezekiel Jackson
Randy Orton
Kevin Nash
The Rock
Cm Punk

Elite Series 17

Kofi Kingston
Zack Ryder
Mankind
Sheamus
Kelly Kelly
John Cena

Elite Series 18

Jerry "The King" Lawler
The Undertaker
Wade Barret
Brodus Clay
Rey Mysterio
Sin Cara

Elite Series 19

Shawn Michaels
Miss Elizabeth
Dolph Ziggler
Daniel Bryan
Brock Lesnar
Kane

Elite Series 20

Chris Jericho
Cody Rhodes
Santino
John Cena
Cm Punk

Elite Series 21

Alberto Del Rio
Honky Tonk Man
Randy Orton
Rey Mysterio
Ryback
AJ Lee

Elite Series 22

The Giant
Big Show
Damien Sandow
The Rock
Tensai
Kane

Exclusive: Latest on WWE Raw 20th Anniversary DVD Box Set, More Plans

As of latest word, the WWE DVD release celebrating the 20th anniversary of Monday Night Raw this year is going ahead. This has been slated to be a “box set” release and is speculated to be more than the norm 3-DVD/2-BD releases seen throughout the year. There are currently no further details on how many discs will comprise the set.

What we do know, as of now, is that it’s on the way for December 2013 in both DVD and Blu-ray formats with the name “WWE: Raw 20th Anniversary Collection“.

---

We have also heard that for the SummerSlam DVD release this year, along with the standard DVD and the Blu-ray there may be a 2 disc DVD version (possibly store exclusive) which contains the extras usually only present on the Blu-ray. That being selected matches and segments from the Raw and Smackdown episodes leading into the PPV.

For those wondering, we can confirm that this year’s Survivor Series event will make it to Blu-ray format. Survivor Series has been released on Blu-ray only twice to date in the US.

---

A summer sale is running this weekend only at here at WWEShop.com.

Selected items are with up to 60% off. The DVD deals found in there include the SummerSlam 2009, 2010 and 2011 DVDs for $4.99 each, SummerSlam 2012 on DVD for $9.99 or on Blu-ray for $11.99, and volumes of the SummerSlam Anthology set for $29.99 each.

---

Yesterday the full content of “Straight to the Top: The Money in the Bank Ladder Match Anthology” was revealed, ahead of its release in October.

We can confirm that the total runtime for the DVD is approximately 6 hours and 30 minutes. The Blu-ray edition has almost 2 hours of extra footage which are the bonus cash-in segments. That takes the total runtime of the Blu-ray to approximately 8 hours and 29 minutes.

---

On the TNA DVD front, ShopTNA.com has several newly added DVD for the US market including One Night Only: X-Travaganza, Joker’s Wild, Genesis 2013, and Lockdown 2013.



The Joker’s Wild DVD is released to the UK next week over at TNADVD.co.uk.

---

The Mick Foley “For All Mankind” documentary is now streaming on Netflix in the US.

---

A few WDN readers have let us know that their orders for the Money in the Bank 2013 Blu-ray with Walmart have shipped out, which looks to confirm the product was not listed on their website in error. It’s also now up on BestBuy.com so the status of ‘store exclusivity’ is unknown right now. Money in the Bank 2013 is officially released this Tuesday.

---

We’re 17 days away from the release of WWE’s new Madison Square Garden set and you can pre-order yours on DVD or Blu-ray format by clicking here.

Check out these new product shots, courtesy of WrestlingSuperStore.com.

---

The UK versions of ECW Unreleased Vol. 2 are shipping out now from WWEDVD.co.uk.

---

Check these Amazon deals on WWF DVDs, all up for grabs from $3 to $14 each!



The Rock: The People’s Champ ($3.02 used)
Funniest Moments ($3.10 used)
Behind Tough Enough ($3.11 used)
The Rock: Just Bring It ($3.33 used)
Best of WrestleMania 1-14 ($3.99 used)
Before They Were Superstars ($4.74 used)
The Rock: Know Your Role ($4.99 used)
The Rock: Just Bring It [2 Disc] ($5.74 used)
Triple H: The Game ($6.48 used)
Hardy Boyz: Leap of Faith ($6.92 used)
Unforgiven 2001 ($8.99 new)
Stone Cold Steve Austin: What? ($9.19 used)
Rebellion 2001 ($9.38 used)
King of the Ring 2000 ($9.98 used)
Best of Raw Vol. 1 ($9.99 used)
Best of Survivor Series 1987-1997 ($10.79 used)
Eve of Destruction ($10.97 used)
nWo: Back in Black ($12.11 used)
SummerSlam 1999 ($12.69 used)
Three Faces of Foley ($13.88 used)
Undertaker: This Is My Yard ($14.35 used)
 

  Expiring now! The WWE/WWF DVDs below are ending on eBay, so grab a deal...

WWE DVD Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Stor...

$4.25

WWE : Payper View Wrestling DVD's LOT (25) RAW and SMACK...

$89.00

Full Content for WWE ‘Straight to the Top: Money in the Bank Anthology’ DVD

The full content of Straight to the Top: The Money in the Bank Anthology can now be unveiled! The DVD and Blu-ray collection contains every Money in the Bank Ladder Match to date. On top of that, extras in the Blu-ray edition are every briefcase “cash-in” segment for a WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship match.

You can pre-order a copy of the MITB Anthology now for October 29th by clicking here. The UK gets it shortly afterwards on November 4th via WWEDVD.co.uk.

DISC 1

A Revolutionary Concept

1st Ever Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Edge vs. Christian vs. Kane
WrestleMania 21 · April 3, 2005

Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Ric Flair vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Matt Hardy vs. Finlay vs. Bobby Lashley
WrestleMania 22 · April 2, 2006

Ladder to Success

Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Jeff Hardy vs. King Booker vs. Finlay vs. CM Punk vs. Mr. Kennedy vs. Matt Hardy vs. Randy Orton vs. Edge
WrestleMania 23 · April 1, 2007

Ultimate Opportunist

Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Chris Jericho vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. John Morrison vs. Carlito vs. CM Punk vs. MVP vs. Mr. Kennedy
WrestleMania XXIV · March 30, 2008

Avoiding Obstacles

Money in the Bank Ladder Match
CM Punk vs. Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. Finlay vs. Christian vs. Kane vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Mark Henry
WrestleMania 25 · April 5, 2009

DISC 2

New Stars on the Horizon

Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Kane vs. Christian vs. Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. Matt Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Evan Bourne vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Jack Swagger vs. Dolph Ziggler
WrestleMania 26 · March 28, 2010

Inaugural Event

SmackDown Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Big Show vs. Kane vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Christian vs. Matt Hardy vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Cody Rhodes
Money in the Bank · July 18, 2010

Raw Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Randy Orton vs. John Morrison vs. Evan Bourne vs. Mark Henry vs. Edge vs. Chris Jericho vs. The Miz vs. Ted DiBiase
Money in the Bank · July 18, 2010

Era of Awesome

SmackDown Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Kane vs. Sin Cara vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus vs. Wade Barrett vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Justin Gabriel vs. Heath Slater
Money in the Bank · July 17, 2011

DISC 3

Caution in the Wind

Raw Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Rey Mysterio vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Alex Riley vs. Evan Bourne vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. The Miz vs. R-Truth vs. Jack Swagger
Money in the Bank · July 17, 2011

Money in the Bank Ladder Match for a World Heavyweight Championship Contract
Christian vs. Sin Cara vs. Santino Marella vs. Tyson Kidd vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Tensai vs. Damien Sandow
Money in the Bank · July 15, 2012

Long Awaited Return

Money in the Bank Ladder Match for a WWE Championship Contract
John Cena vs. Kane vs. Big Show vs. Chris Jericho vs. The Miz
Money in the Bank · July 15, 2012

Money in the Bank Ladder Match for a World Heavyweight Championship Contract
Cody Rhodes vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Wade Barrett vs. Damien Sandow vs. Jack Swagger vs. Antonio Cesaro vs. Fandango
Money in the Bank · July 14, 2013

Money in the Bank Ladder Match for a WWE Championship Contract
CM Punk vs. Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton vs. Christian vs. Rob Van Dam
Money in the Bank · July 14, 2013

View From the Top

BLU-RAY EXCLUSIVES

WWE Championship Match
Edge cashes in on John Cena
New Year’s Revolution · January 8, 2006

Extreme Rules Match for the WWE Championship
Rob Van Dam cashes in on John Cena
ECW One Night Stand · June 11, 2006

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Edge cashes in on The Undertaker
SmackDown · May 11, 2007

World Heavyweight Championship Match
CM Punk cashes in on Edge
Raw · June 30, 2008

World Heavyweight Championship Match
CM Punk cashes in on Jeff Hardy
Extreme Rules · June 7, 2009

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Jack Swagger cashes in on Chris Jericho
SmackDown · April 2, 2010

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Kane cashes in on Rey Mysterio
Money in the Bank · July 18, 2010

WWE Championship Match
The Miz cashes in on Randy Orton
Raw · November 22, 2010

Bonus: Behind-the-Scenes Footage Following The Miz’s Victory

WWE Championship Match
Alberto Del Rio cashes in on CM Punk
SummerSlam · August 14, 2011

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Daniel Bryan cashes in on Big Show
TLC · December 18, 2011

WWE Championship Match
John Cena cashes in on CM Punk
Raw · July 23, 2012

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Dolph Ziggler cashes in on Alberto Del Rio
Raw · April 8, 2013

REVIEW: WWE Shawn Michaels VS. Bret Hart DVD (Greatest Rivalries)

It’s time to review WWE Greatest Rivalries: Shawn Michaels VS. Bret Hart, the DVD I’ve been looking forward to most this year. It’s released later this month in the United Kingdom (when ordering here) and the United States (over here).

If you’ve followed this website for some time you probably heard this release replaced another WWE had planned, Stone Cold VS. The Rock. I was anticipating that one for months, but in actual fact became more excited on hearing a sit down interview with Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart was in the works. After all, this rivalry became real.

So let’s now look at that main feature, in which Jim Ross conducts an interview with the two WWE Hall of Famers that many would never have thought possible. It lasts just over 2 hours.





Beginnings..

It all starts with a nice introductory video package, produced in a “story book” theme referring to the story of Shawn vs Bret. The voice over hypes up their feud saying that as both superstars achieved success in WWE their rivalry grew, evolving to the point of hatred both on screen and off. Nicely done. You gotta be ready to hear them talk after that.

JR introduces the feature and the two men sitting facing him. Almost immediately we hear a reference to Montreal, with JR saying that whilst their careers cannot be defined by Survivor Series 1997 they will certainly talk about it at length today. The feature kicks off with a look at both of their beginnings – Shawn in San Antonio, Bret in Calgary. A video package is shown which looks at how both stars got into the business. We know all this already, seen a few times in DVDs but I guess we need a bit of introductory to make the story complete.





The Rockers vs. The Hart Foundation…

Now the two sit down and discuss Bret’s perception of Shawn when he entered WWF, since Bret was already there. They look back on The Rocker’s bad boy reputation causing friction in dressing room. It’s interesting to hear that despite their rep Bret thought they were good workers and had respect for them, feeling the company needed a fresh team and another for the Hart Foundation to work with. Shawn agrees the reputation in the locker room was justified, as two young guys living their dream but thinks the talent shined through. Shawn recalls The Rockers’ plight to get in a match with the Hart Foundation but they were new, and felt frustrated they couldn’t get to them because of their size. We hear about the un-aired match they eventually had where the ring rope broke loose and both guys agree it was a terrible, anti-climatic pay off. You can see that match still bothers them today.

Heartbreak Kid vs.The Hit Man…

On to the next video package (they’re only short and played at fitting times) which says Shawn showed more charisma and controversy to get the top with his new look and brash attitude following The Rocker’s break up, on to reigning as the Intercontinental Champion. Their ladder match is shown, summarised as Bret vs Shawn being wrestling technician vs risk taker.

Bret talks candidly about being confident in his ring work at the time but not his interview skills, relying more on Neidhart. He credits Curt Hennig as the guy who opened the door for him to be pushed, and once the IC title was on him he felt he carried the flag for the smaller guys in the locker room. Shawn agrees that championship was the work horse title, as they discuss their matches being much smarter than those of the top guys like Hogan and Warrior. They don’t hold back on criticising the main eventers of the day, saying they looked good but it was same old when the bell rang. Good stuff, very honest.

Now Shawn and Bret bring up what many people may not know, that they always got along well from the beginning, to the point that Bret considered Shawn one of his better friends and were very close. You can’t help but feel for Bret and how it ultimately turned out, as he points out he often praised Shawn to management, putting in a good word for him and likes to think he contributed in getting HBK to the top. Shawn agrees here and feels it was both of their missions to get the top and change the business for the better in terms of wrestlers their size.



“Dinosaur” vs Clique…

So no real tension mentioned so far. The interview gets more juicy as Bret talks of how he felt Shawn was the star of the show when he went up against Diesel at WrestleMania, and that Nash was out of his depth carrying the title. It’s here their real life feud heats up as Shawn and Bret explain how they now felt in direct competition with each other and their friendship was no longer the same. Bret recalls feeling like a placeholder or “yesterday’s news” to management, despite having the WWE Championship and quality matches. The seeds are planted for more interesting conversation, as Bret explains this is where his own animosity toward Shawn started to build, and that the Clique had a lot to do with it. He perceived that Shawn was planning to work only with all of his friends, and makess it clear that he felt Shawn was positioning all his friends to get in on the money so didn’t have the right mindset to be the champion.

Oddly, on a few occasions in the interview Bret vividly remembers conversations with Shawn on topics like this one, that Shawn now doesn’t recall happening. Either way, Shawn can see with the attitude he had back it made him take care of his buddies first, whilst he and the Clique alienated themselves in the looker room because they just “didn’t give a damn”.



Fact vs Fiction…

They reveal that tensions between them going into Iron Man match at WrestleMania were subtle rather than anything major, and they were more excited about that opportunity foremost. Their comments about the match itself, particularly Brets, show they felt it was a masterpiece, perfectly executed as they planned and talked about before hand. Interestingly Bret clarifies that he felt happy for Shawn winning, and when queried by JR about leaving the arena quickly after, he says it was all to keep up the pretence. They confirm they wanted the overtime and sudden death at the end of the match, and think people’s perceptions of their hatred here was overblown. Bret says although Shawn did say to Earl “tell him to get the hell out of the ring”, it was already the plan for Bret to walk out looking p****d, so it wasn’t anything that triggered bad feeling. Bret paints a good picture here that he was striving to let everybody think there was big heat between them because of those events and the lack of handshake, to keep money in the story. Both men joke that ultimately they “worked themselves into a shoot” as it later became real.

Host JR introduces the edgier attitude of WWE now, from around 1996 onwards. Time for another video package as the feature now shows a great one documenting this period of their feud, particularly focusing on their promos including the infamous “Sunny days” comment, through to the build up to their match at in Montreal at Survivor Series 1997. These are great to look back on and I feel are an integral part of re-living their rivalry, which makes it unfortunate there is only these flashbacks to the segments on the DVD.

Fittingly, JR discusses how promos at the time had a fine line between fact and fiction. Another juicy topic is brought up with Bret not believing Shawn was hurt when he had the knee injury, but rather felt he had a lack of commitment, quitting on the team at a time WCW was looming. He admits now that he doesn’t feel it was fair to judge that but the things HBK did (like a back flip in the ring) made him and a lot of others think he faked it. Shawn is not very clear in his response concerning the injury but says it was real to him, as told by a doctor, and thought he couldn’t wrestle at the time which made him emotional. It sounded like a case of one doctor saying not to wrestle again, whilst others may clear him.



Crossed wires…

Bret remembers his feelings of being shafted by Shawn as he was working with Stone Cold at WrestleMania 13 when he had just done the same at Survivor Series, with the opinion there wasn’t much left to their story. Awkwardly Shawn jokes that maybe they were put together simply to “tear the house down”. Whilst the match was indeed fantastic, Shawn’s comment here feels quite dismissive. Shawn agrees their feud was getting personal now, as he had been furious hearing Bret might have said something about his parents “not being proud of a son like him” (Bret says it was always in character, Shawn couldn’t tell the difference). HBK admits he didn’t want to work with Bret, that he felt it was a backward step. He recalls feeling he was held to a different standard than everybody else back then, and what he wanted most was Bret’s validation so was frustrated he didn’t get it.

In the interview here Bret accepts accountability for a lot of what he said in promos but makes it clear what he was saying was always in character, though in delivering them so seriously Shawn took it to heart. It’s very insightful to hear that Bret thought it was ok to keep doing that, laying the groundwork in the feud, because his ultimate goal was to put Shawn over as the next guy. If they are both being completely honest here in the interview, it sounds to me they both wanted the same thing without knowing it. Similarly, Bret thinks Shawn was attacking him in real life rather than the story so in the end both guys were saying stuff in promos that were legitimately offending each other.

An ugly turn…

In a nice touch JR asks what the difference is between Hart putting sunglasses on kids at ringside, and Michaels bringing them in the ring to dance. Bret says there’s a big difference because Shawn was doing uncomfortable strip tease style dances with them. Bret is very adamant about this and Shawn looks totally uncomfortable. We get the picture that the “Montreal Screwjob” may not have happened at all if Bret had given Shawn the recognition he longed for, earlier than he planned to. It’s clear Bret just kept up to everybody that they actually hated each other to make more money and Shawn’s comments give the impression he knows that he didn’t have the emotional ability to look at anything as strictly business back then. Bret refers to the Sunny days comment as crossing lines into his personal life, and the start of it becoming ugly. Bret and Shawn reveal they even tried a number of times to get together to talk things through before it spiralled out of control. Luck wasn’t on their side in cases like Shawn being angry his super kick to Bret in the wheel chair on Raw didn’t make air, thinking Bret sabotaged the segment to make himself look better, when actually according to Bret in this interview he didn’t.



The final straw…

Now some more cool insider talk as it’s discussed how the plan was for Bret to go against Shawn at WrestleMania 14. Bret recalls approaching Shawn to tell him this news (Shawn doesn’t seem to remember) and said he had no problem putting HBK over in that match. Bret explains Shawn replied bluntly that he wouldn’t feel the same way about putting Bret over, which felt like “throwing s**t in his face”. By the sounds of it this was the final straw leading into Montreal. After this, Vince proposed dropping the belt to Shawn at Survivor Series, so Bret declined it given what had just happened. You get the impression from what Bret says that Vince had began siding with HBK here because although Vince was on Bret’s side when he told him about what Shawn had said, in a meeting Vince set up he didn’t bring up that incident and simply said to Shawn they are putting the belt on him. Bret felt from then on that situation pushed him out of the company and it was one of darkest days of his life signing the WCW contract. Bret is quoted to have said “I’ll drop belt to anybody you want, but not Shawn in Montreal” and he kept declining dropping to Shawn in Canada because of Shawn’s attitude in their verbal encounter. Other ideas were suggested at various times but Bret kept getting the call it was back to the original. Watching the interview at this point you get the feeling Bret was already expecting foul behaviour at the PPV.



Montreal plot…

Shawn’s clarifies that rather than being involved from the beginning about what would happen in Montreal, he was instead waiting for updates on how the match was going to go down. Now for the part in the interview that I may have found most intriguing. Shawn recalls himself, Triple H and Vince discussing how to get Bret to drop the title, and that Triple H’s reaction to Bret’s stance was “F that, we’ll have to do business for him”. By the sounds of it Vince and Shawn were supportive of that notion and then ‘plotted’ how to go about it. Shawn was worried all the backlash from the accident would go down on him. His comments here suggest this was all quite last minute, rather than a long term plan and before he knew it the night had come. He says that he couldn’t know exactly how it would go down until they were in the ring together.

So now I ask myself if Bret can already sense it is coming, why did it actually happen? One reason may be how Bret describes meeting with Earl Hebner in Detroit over his concerns of Shawn screwing him the next night in Montreal, to which Earl responded he swears on his kid’s lives he would never do it, with tears in his eyes. That gives great insight into why Bret was confident he wouldn’t be screwed if Earl was refereeing the match. He also says that he thought there was no real reason for them to do it anyway, given the other options available. Bret assumes now that Earl was told to do it right before the match. Shawn says although the perception of him back then was he was a bad person, he still was a human being and the whole situation of knowing before hand wasn’t fun.





Pulling the trigger…

Shawn gets emotional here recalling it, and it’s genuine I feel. Bret points out that the two even had a good conversation about respect and their careers prior to the match, which made it more puzzling. You feel for Bret even more as he says he was very reluctant to even sign with WCW, having never even made the meeting with Bischoff, and thought he did everything right for WWF. Shawn recalls the guilt of doing it, but was assured by the boss it would be ok after it. Boldy Shawn admits here in the interview that he did not have any desire of calling it off because he felt like a soldier doing what he was told. He recalls it as easily the lowest point of his career and denied all responsibility for it, on Vince’s orders, saying that Vince wanted to take as much responsibility as it could. Bret didn’t believe Shawn had nothing to do with it but didn’t want to react on Shawn just in case what he said was true.

Now for Bret recalling the moment it happened. Bret gets very emotional and speechless. JR takes over talking about Bret’s reaction after it happened, punching Vince backstage. You can see Bret felt very betrayed and humiliated by Vince, and he refers to the feeling like his heart being cut out in the ring, after years of wrestling sick or hurt for Vince and never missing a day. He makes it clear that he would never have screwed Shawn if the shoe was on the other foot (Shawn sitting next to Bret looks very apologetic) because he considered himself one of the boys first. Bret still doesn’t know why it couldn’t be sorted out with everybody sitting down, since he had never refused to do a job in the past. He explains now how is forgiving of Earl as he believed what was said in Detroit and can understand the pressure of being told by the boss to do something right before the match.



The aftermath…

Now a video package highlights how both wrestlers’ careers progressed following Montreal, with the misfortunates of Bret with Owen’s death, concussion and his stroke. It also shows how Shawn was forced to retire. It talks of the reconciliation between Bret and Vince, Bret’s Hall of Fame induction and then Shawn’s five years on. Lastly how 12 years after Montreal Bret and Shawn’s are face to face again on Raw.

So back to JR to discuss how all that went down. First, Bret’s experience in WCW and how he felt it was everything he feared, a company with no heart. He reveals that he was very bitter about what happened so didn’t watch anything WWF put out at the time and had no idea what he’d do if he saw Shawn in the street. It’s a very heartfelt listen as he recalls all the blows he had during this time period, losing his friends and feeling he had lost his smile for real following the stroke. He feels the stroke was probably related to the stress of it all, and perhaps it was a wake up call to put the past behind him. We hear the very moving story of whilst in hospital getting a call from Vince which Bret appreciated greatly, motivating him to keep strong, and he sensed the hatred had dramatically reduced right there. Bret wanted to be remembered for his contributions, not have them hidden away, which led to the DVD release. He feels despite it all he had his own influence on what happened in Montreal, and wasn’t completely innocent himself.



The reconciliation…

Bret credits Shawn vs Taker at WrestleMania as the stand out match that made him very proud of the two and the company as a whole which led to him making plans with WWE to come back. Bret says he wasn’t doing it to make a profit and does not regret it, but feared the “old Shawn” might come out again after a few weeks. He was uncertain of coming back because of this, but Shawn was respectful and made the peace. Bret feels like he lifted a big rock off Shawn and set him free. The two are both emotional in reliving this time.

Shawn says the reason he waited so long to call Bret was because he was scared, and had no idea how to start a conversation. They agree the TV segment where Bret and Shawn were face-to-face for the first time since the incident, was the real first reconciliation between them. Shawn regrets how he was back in the day, not having the mental ability to act different, and certainly not having his “head screwed on”. Shawn again proposes that the main reason for his behaviour toward Bret was his need for Bret’s respect and affirmation

The conclusion and message you get out of the interview is that of reconciliation and finding peace. Bret says it helped confirm the incident was legit, and is another step in the two becoming friends again. Shawn feels the sit down discussions were healing and the two have now come full circle. They both feel they couldn’t make peace half way and they can now sit and genuinely talk to each other, having a laugh like it used to be in the beginning of their friendship.



DVD Verdict

The two hour interview feature is truly great viewing. Listening to them even for another hour wouldn’t have hurt! It becomes more of a feel good story of reconciliation between the two (so don’t expect an impromptu fight with JR refereeing), but certainly covers a lot of juicy topics along the way. Shawn and Bret agree on most things when reflecting back, but Bret certainly doesn’t hold back on what he felt and it’s HBK who seems a little more dismissive. The fact that the interview covers their whole story makes it very special and they paint a great picture of exactly how their animosity evolved.

It was particularly interesting to hear how the decision was made for Montreal between Shawn, Vince and Hunter and also Shawn’s admittance that he had no second thoughts about doing it. You could certainly say a lot of the interview is focused on Bret Hart, but perhaps rightly so given that he was at the center of the Montreal Screwjob. He delivers what he is saying perfectly and is a joy to listen to. Shawn is great too, and despite him not recalling some of the moments that Bret does, it does seem he’s just legitimately forgotten about them.

9.5/10

For the amazing main feature and the career spanning matches included on disc 2 and 3 I’m giving this a 9.5 rating. However, WWE has chosen to exclude the Survivor Series 1997 match and some some classic promos from the DVD edition and make them exclusive to the Blu-ray. Whilst that is smart to push Blu-ray sales, the DVD feels a little incomplete without them. Therefore the Blu-ray would probably get 10/10 from me because it has that match. That said, both versions could do with having lots of their old promos rather than a small handful.

http://www.wrestlingdvdnews.com/wwe-shawn-michaels-vs-bret-hart-dvd-review/17665/

Straight to the Top: The Money in the Bank Anthology is on the way for October release on DVD and Blu-ray. Today we have more exclusive content reveals for you!


This post is brought to you by…

First up, we can confirm that this year’s matches from the Money in the Bank 2013 pay-per-view event will be included in the compilation.


Money in the Bank Ladder Match for a World Heavyweight Championship Contract
Cody Rhodes vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Wade Barrett vs. Damien Sandow vs. Jack Swagger vs. Antonio Cesaro vs. Fandango
Money in the Bank · July 14, 2013

Money in the Bank Ladder Match for a WWE Championship Contract
CM Punk vs. Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton vs. Christian vs. Rob Van Dam
Money in the Bank · July 14, 2013


The following two “cash-in” segments from 2010 will be making the set as Blu-ray extras.


World Heavyweight Championship Match
Kane cashes in on Rey Mysterio
Money in the Bank · July 18, 2010

WWE Championship Match
The Miz cashes in on Randy Orton
Raw · November 22, 2010

Bonus: Behind-the-scenes footage following The Miz’s victory


The Money in the Bank Anthology DVD and Blu-ray is released on October 29th to the US, and it’s ready to pre-order now here on Amazon.com. It will then hit the UK and Europe on November 4th, available first when purchasing over at WWEDVD.co.uk.

---

Next Tuesday sees the release of Money in the Bank 2013. Courtesy of WrestlingSuperStore.com, here’s a first look at back cover art of the DVD version.



Click here to pre-order a copy of the WWE Money in the Bank 2013 DVD.


Heads up on the Blu-ray edition of Money in the Bank 2013! It was expected to be a Best Buy exclusive (as is usually the case), however, a product listing for it has now gone up on Walmart.com which may indicate that the release is in fact a Walmart exclusive.



I can confirm that the Blu-ray exclusive content for Money in the Bank (listed here) runs in total for approximately 1 hour and 17 minutes.

The sole extra on DVD version, which will also be included on the Blu-ray, is the Shield vs. Usos tag match from the Money in the Bank Kickoff show.
http://www.wrestlingdvdnews.com/more-content-wwe-money-in-the-bank-anthology/48326/
 

Coliseum Corner: Women of the WWF – Their Defining Moments

Welcome back to Coliseum Corner. In this edition, we focus on four women that made a big impact in the World Wrestling Federation. They were a part of an exclusive group that changed the course of what you see today with the WWE Divas. Sure, there was also Luna Vachon, Sable, Lita and Trish Stratus, who were arguably more unique, but these women featured brought something to the table that paved the way for those and the rest who followed.




Miss Elizabeth

Miss Elizabeth entered the WWF in 1985 as manager of her real-life husband (although not mentioned on TV), ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage.  Coined “First Lady of the World Wrestling Federation”, Elizabeth was all lady.  She was incredibly beautiful and the opposite of aggressive.  Although her husband was a hated villain, she was immediately loved by the fans.  Elizabeth stayed in this role, which eventually saw her husband turn his back on her. 

Between 1989 and 1991 she was rarely seen.  ‘Macho Man’ had taken Sherri Martel as his manager and the two became King and Queen of the World Wrestling federation after winning the crown from ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan.  Savage and Sherri reigned until WrestleMania VII where the ‘Macho King’ was beaten in a Career vs. Career Match against the Ultimate Warrior.  Elizabeth was in attendance that night and saw Savage defeated.  She saw Sherri unleash her wrath at Macho for losing – kicking him while he was down.  In an act so out of character, the First Lady hopped over the guard rail and raced to his rescue.  She grabbed Sensational Queen Sherri by the hair and tossed her out of the ring.  So shocked by her actions, Randy Savage wondered whether the attack was from her. Seeing that it wasn’t the case, the two reunited in what was one of the most emotional and defining moments in World Wrestling Federation history.




Sensational Sherri

Sherri Martel or Sensational Sherri as she is widely known entered the World Wrestling Federation in 1987.  She instantly became Lady’s Champion by defeating the legendary Fabulous Moolah.  She would hold the title for fifteen months before losing it to Rockin Robin.  During this time, she donned a wig and glasses and became Peggy Sue, the Honky Tonk Man’s girlfriend.  Whilst the women’s division was phased out by 1990, Sherri took on the role as a full time manager, known for being a no-nonsense “gal” with a reputation for mixing it up with the guys.

The Sensational one made it big time by managing former WWF Champion “Macho Man”.  As King and Queen of the WWF, Sherri’s defining moment was that of Elizabeth’s.  But one of the most famous incidents can be seen on The Year in Review 1992, where Shawn Michaels throws her in front of a mirror that was aimed at him by his former partner Marty Jannetty.  Upon her return, she showed a side to her that fans could appreciate, but she never lost that toughness that made her a Superstar… and a beautiful one at that.




Sunny

 By 1995, Alundra Blayze (Madusa Miceli) was the only mainstay female in the WWF.  The other women who graced the Squared Circle were purely there to feud with her over the re-born Women’s Championship.  Then there was Sunny. Sunny didn’t wrestle.  She was a manager and made her debut as one of the Body Donnas with her real-life boyfriend Skip.

The original Diva, as she has since been christened, was the first to pose on location for a Raw Magazine bikini photo-shoot.  In 1996 she became the most downloaded woman on AOL and was the first female who became a merchandising machine in the WWF.  Sunny is the only person to manage three WWF Tag team Champions consecutively and was the first woman to have a whole Coliseum Video devoted to her.  It seems her three year career in the WWF was her defining moment, even managing perhaps the greatest tag team ever, the Road Warriors.  At this time Sable began to gain momentum and surpass Sunny, but Sunny did it first and she did it with power and beauty.




Chyna

Chyna entered the WWF in February 1997 at In Your House 13 ‘Final Four’.  Masking as a member of the audience, she attacked Marlena – wife and manager of Goldust.  She quickly aligned herself with Triple H and became the first female to become a wrestler’s bodyguard.  Standing at around 6ft and 200lbs, this woman was all muscle and unafraid to mix it up in the ring, slamming superstars and viciously attacking them from behind.  She became an original member of the incomparable D-Generation X. 

During her three year stint she transformed into a beautiful, sexy and tough Diva posing for Playboy and winning the Women’s Championship.  Chyna made history by being the first woman to enter the Royal Rumble match, but her defining moment was in 1999 when she became the first female to win the Intercontinental Championship.  She also had her own book and fitness video released during her run in the WWF and is remembered for being a pioneer during the Attitude Era.




Switch on to Raw next week and you’ll see today’s selection of beautiful Divas. But will they become as iconic as these four women? Trish Stratus elevated herself into a short-list of these one of a kind women. AJ Lee isn’t doing too bad. Who’s going to be next?

- Find classic WWF Coliseum Video tapes being auctioned off on eBay by clicking here.