Review: WWE ‘Bret Hitman Hart: The Dungeon Collection’ DVD & Blu-Ray

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The Blu-ray allows for even more story extras.  Of course, we get to hear intro stories for each of the four Blu-ray exclusive matches.  Some of the extras are stories about wrestlers who didn’t get individual matches on the DVD or Blu-ray, such as Bob Backlund.  We also get some general bonus interviews.  My favorite of these was probably the one where we get to see him working on some of his cartoons.  I always knew that this was a hobby of Bret’s, but I had never gotten to see him in action actually working on a piece.  This was a nice bonus to see.  If you have the opportunity, I would say the Blu-ray is worth the extra money just for these bonus interviews alone.  As you’ll see below, the bonus matches aren’t too bad either, but for me, the interviews are really what made the Blu-ray worthwhile.

“Excellence of Execution”: The Matches

British Commonwealth Jr. Heavyweight Championship 2-out-of-3 Falls Match: Bret Hart Vs. Dynamite Kid (Stampede Wrestling, 12/78) – N/A
I have decided not to give a traditional star rating since this match is joined in progress.  It is a great match to see on this set, though; two great talents early in their careers. You can see the greatness they will go on to in the match.
Bret Hart Vs. Buzz Sawyer (Georgia Championship Wrestling, 9/79) – ** 1/2
This is a fun, short match. The video quality isn’t great, but that’s to be expected for such a rare gem.  A very technically proficient match.
North American Heavweight Championship Match: Bret Hart Vs. Leo Burke (Stampede Wrestling, 1/83) – N/A
This match is also joined in progress. The storytelling is nicely done here. Bret plays the underdog role well.
Bret Hart Vs. Dynamite Kid (Capital Centre, 9/85) – ** 3/4
This match felt very ahead of its time.  While not using too many modern “highspots”, this felt very much like a match you would see on the independent circuit today.  A technical clinic.

WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The Hart Foundation Vs. The Islanders (Philadephia Spectrum, 3/87) – ***
More than anything, this match lets you see how great The Hart Foundation were as heels.  A very well put together story, that can move a little slowly at times.

Bret Hart Vs. Andre the Giant (Milan, Italy, 4/89) – * 1/2
The video quality for this match is very poor, but it still is awesome to see for historical purposes.  Andre wasn’t very agile at all at this point in his career, so the match itself isn’t anything great, but it’s still a nice hidden gem.  Also note that the commentary for this match is in Italian.

Bret Hart Vs. Mr. Perfect (Maple Leaf Gardens, 4/89) – *** 3/4
Hart & Perfect worked together really well, and while this match doesn’t reach the levels of their future classics, it still tells a great story.
The Hart Foundation Vs. The Twin Towers (Duluth, MN, 5/89) – ** 3/4
As Bret points out in the interview, for a match featuring two big men, it is a surprisingly fast paced match.  Nothing too out of the ordinary here, but still fun.

Bret Hart Vs. Tiger Mask II (Tokyo Dome, 4/90) – ***
It’s not a big surprise that Bret fit in well with the Japanese style of wrestling.  I never felt like this match really got out of 2nd gear, though, and something didn’t totally click.  This match also has no commentary, which I will admit has always been a struggle for me.

Intercontinental Championship Match: Bret Hart Vs. Ric Flair (New Haven, CT, 11/91) – ** 3/4
As Bret alludes to in the interview before this match, Bret & Ric never had great chemistry, and I think it shows here.  Of course, they put together a technically solid match, but it never felt like they were on the same page.
Bret Hart Vs. The Undertaker (Madison Square Garden, 1/92) – ***
Taker was still pretty early into his career at this point, but Bret is able to bring some good out of him.  Of course, Taker would go on to be one of the greatest of all time, but at this point, he was still fairly inexperienced in the ring.  Still, a solid match.
Bret Hart Vs. Bam Bam Bigelow (Milan, Italy, 4/93) – *** 1/2
Bret & Bam Bam worked together very well.  This match can be a little slow, but overall, it works quite nicely.  Like the Andre match, this also features Italian commentary.
WWE Championship Match: Bret Hart Vs. Diesel (King of the Ring, 6/19/94) – *** 3/4
A surprisingly fun match, considering the fact that Diesel was just a manager only a few months before this match.  This isn’t nearly at the level of the Royal Rumble or Survivor Series 1995 matches, but it’s still great.

No Holds Barred Match: Bret Hart Vs. Owen Hart (Raw, 3/95) – *** 1/2
This match doesn’t reach the heights of some of their most famous encounters, but you can’t really go wrong with a Bret Vs. Owen match.  This is probably my favorite all time feud.
Bret Hart Vs. Jean-Pierre Lafitte (In Your House 3, 9/24/95) – *** 1/2
I can’t say I was familiar with Jean-Pierre Lafitte before watching this match, but I was definitely impressed.  This is a fun big man vs. little man match, something Bret is great at.

Bret Hart Vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin (Sun City Superbowl, 9/14/96) – ****
An excellent technical encounter.  A nice “primer” before their WrestleMania classic.
WWE Championship Match: Bret Hart Vs. The Patriot (In Your House: Ground Zero, 9/7/97) – *** 1/2
Another solid, technical title match.  The Patriot looks really strong in this match, and heel Bret is always fun to watch.
WCW US Championship Match: Bret Hart Vs. Booker T (Nitro, 1/25/99) – ***
I was surprised with this match.  For a TV match, it was given a pretty good amount of time.  As Bret mentions in his interview, this was probably one of his better WCW matches.
WCW Championship Semi-Finals Match: Bret Hart Vs. Sting (Mayhem, 11/21/99) – **
This match screams “what could have been” to me.  Seeing Bret & Sting wrestle at the prime of their careers would have been great.  At this point, they still put together a decent match, but it isn’t anything special.

Blu-Ray Exclusive Matches

WWE Championship Match: Bret Hart Vs. Yokozuna (Raw, 11/93) – ** 1/4
Bret was able to get some pretty good matches out of Yokozuna, but I didn’t think this was one of their best matches.  Still an OK match.
Bret Hart & The British Bulldog Vs. Owen Hart  & Jim Neidhart (Albany, NY, 10/94) – *** 1/4
A fun tag team match.  Doesn’t rewrite the book, but still fun to watch given the four men involved.
Bret Hart Vs. Hakushi (Raw, 7/24/95) – ** 3/4
Another fun TV match, but I can’t say this was anything special.
WWE Championship Match: Bret Hart Vs. Vader (Friday Night’s Main Event, 8/29/97) – * 1/2
This match never really has the chance to get going.  It devolves into a multi-man brawl pretty quickly.

 “Hall of Fame Career”: Closing Thoughts

I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up being one of my top DVD’s of 2013.  Along with the 2005 Bret Hart DVD, they function as a package of the best DVD’s that the WWE may have ever put out.  As you can see from the star rankings, while pretty much every match on year is really good to great, you aren’t getting any of those five-star classics Bret had throughout his career. We’ve seen most of those on other DVD’s, though, and pretty much all of them are featured on the 2005 Hart DVD.  What you do get from this compilation is the feeling that you are watching rare footage.  As much as you would be inclined to complain about some of the grainy quality and weird commentary, it does make this feel like you are watching some hidden treasure that you were only to get through tape trading.  For a collection of matches that have never been released, there is a really high level of quality here, and most importantly, the quality is consistent.  As you may have noticed, my match thoughts got a bit repetitive, and that’s because so many of the matches end up delivering as fun, well told stories.  I will acknowledge that it was strange just how many of these matches ended in time limit draws or other non-finishes, but with so many house show matches, I guess I can understand why the finishes were the way they were.  I had no trouble watching this entire Blu-ray pretty quickly, even though all of the matches featured the same competitor.
If taken all together, the interviews with Bret come across as a mini shoot interview about Bret’s career, and I mean that in the best way possible.  Bret isn’t out to make anyone look bad throughout the interviews.  Bret clearly is pretty content with the way his career has turned out.  He speaks highly of pretty much everyone that he faces in any of these matches.  He even gives Sting credit for creating the Scorpion Deathlock before he came up with the Sharpshooter.  Also, as mentioned above, the interviews are what sets the Blu-ray apart from the DVD.  You get some really nice extra interviews with some great stories.  The bonus matches on the Blu-ray, for the most part, aren’t anything too special, but I did really enjoy that tag team match, which is a nice hidden gem.

Overall, there’s no question that this DVD/Blu-ray is a very high recommendation.  Some of the older matches from the Stampede/Georgia Championship era are definitely of that time period, and fans who aren’t familiar with wrestling of that time period may find them a bit slow.  I think it was a good decision to not include any matches from that era that were too long, though.  They flow pretty well.  Most of the matches that were chosen for the set were given a nice amount of time, and you really can see just how good of storyteller Bret was in the ring.  I hope everyone enjoys this set as much as I did; let me know what you thought in the comments below.

Review: WWE “The Top 100 Moments in Raw History” DVD & Blu-ray

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As soon as the 1000th episode of Raw ended back in July, one of my first thoughts was “this better come out on DVD”.  I expected it to be released as its own single disc release, but instead, we got that episode of Raw along with a new countdown of the Top 100 Raw Moments.  Overall, I was a fan of the SmackDown! set that came out a few years ago counting down the top 100 moments from that program, so I was looking forward to this one as well.  I think it’s fair to say I got what I expected; a solid release that was put together pretty quickly.
   

The Top 100 countdown runs around 3 hours, 30 minutes, making up Disc 1 of the Blu-Ray and Discs 1 and 2 of the DVD.  The 1000th episode of Raw runs around 2 hours, 20 minutes, with a 6 minute making of as a bonus feature.  The Legends of Wrestling Roundtable Blu-Ray exclusive feature runs 1 hour, 50 minutes.  The DVD/Blu-Ray is rated TV-14.  Oddly, the WWF logo is blurred during one of the moments on the countdown, but remains unblurred throughout the rest of the set.

“Tyson and Austin! Tyson and Austin!”: The Countdown

If you’ve seen any of WWE’s recent countdown features, you should know exactly what to expect from this set.  I watched this countdown in 2 sittings, and was able to breeze through each half pretty quickly.  I think the WWE did a good job in choosing which moments to include.  I am expecting that there will be a lot of complaints about too many “recent” moments, but people need to realize that the last quarter of Raw’s history ranges from 2008-2012.  To spread things out evenly, about a quarter of the moments should come from this time period.  Of course, it isn’t totally balanced, with the Attitude Era deservedly getting the most attention, but they did a good job balancing the different eras of Raw.  Only one moment on the entire countdown, “Tea Time with Santino”, was a moment that I hadn’t even heard of.  That one probably didn’t deserve a place on the list.  There are other little quibbles I may have with the ranking, but overall I was fine with it.  I was glad to see them put the “Pipe Bomb” so high up on the countdown; this was a very important moment, even if we can’t look at it in hindsight just yet.

The countdown does run very quickly through each moment, which is a bit of a double-edged sword.  On the plus side, it’s pretty easy to sit through since it moves so quickly.  We don’t really get to see too much of the different moments, though.  I did enjoy the choice of only interviewing one superstar for each moment; you get a nice story being told for each.  We really don’t get to see much of the moments, though.  Of course, I had no expectations that the complete clips would be included (the set would probably have to be 6 or 7 discs for that), but I would have liked a little more.  Again, it’s still a fun countdown, but probably not something I will revisit often.

“Didn’t There Used to be More of Us?”: The 1000th Raw

I’m going to guess that most of you have already seen the 1000th episode of Raw, so I’m not going to go into too much detail about it.  Since most of the matches were pretty short, I’m not going to do my usual match ratings.  I’ll just say that, for the most part, they are pretty good, but nothing special.  From a nostalgia standpoint, this episode of Raw was incredible.  The opening montage video alone would make this worth the price of admission! From DX, to the APA, to Mae Young’s son, everything about this was just perfect.  I think this DVD/Blu-Ray is worth the price just to own this episode of Raw.  I’m sure I’ll be revisiting parts of it quite often, especially the promo between The Rock, CM Punk, and Daniel Bryan.

The brief “Making of Raw 1000” bonus feature, although short, is awesome.  Granted, it’s basically an extended music video, but we get a ton of access to seeing what goes on backstage during a taping of Raw.  Really cool stuff, a lot of which has never been seen before.  Seeing all the legends hanging out eating dinner was probably my favorite part.

Blu-Ray Exclusive Feature
“Oh, You Didn’t Know?”: The Legends of Wrestling Roundtable

For those clamoring for some type of documentary on the history of Raw, you actually got one on this Blu-Ray, in the form of this Legends of Wrestling roundtable.  Although it’s an exclusive, this ends up being the highlight of the Blu-Ray as a whole.  I learned a ton of things I didn’t know about the history of Raw from hearing Gene Okerlund, Jim Ross, Road Dogg, Michael Hayes, and Pat Patterson relive its history.  I’m not going to go into detail about any of the particular stories they tell, but you get to hear some great stories about both Raw’s beginnings and particularly the Monday Night War and the Attitude Era.

Interspersed throughout the roundtable discussion are a few clips from Raw’s history, a lot of which are shown in full.  This was another nice bonus, since we didn’t get any complete clips as part of the countdown.  While the choices here seemed fairly random, it still was nice to get some included.  The highlight is probably DX impersonating the Nation, even though that was just released on the Attitude Era set.  Overall, this is the real selling point of the Blu-Ray, and it’s a shame it wasn’t included on the DVD as well, because it really should have been the main feature, with the countdown as an “extra”.

“It Was Me All Along!”: Closing Thoughts

This is certainly one of the shorter reviews I’ve written, and I don’t think that is just a coincidence.  Overall, this is a decent DVD/Blu-Ray, but was clearly put together very hastily.  The fact that one of the moments on the countdown still has the scratch logo blurred is telling; this was put together as quick as possible as a companion piece to Raw 1000.  Because of the inclusion of Raw 1000, I do think this DVD/Blu-Ray is a must own, but if your main excitement is for the countdown, I wouldn’t get your hopes up.  Sure, it’s a fun nostalgia trip, but it doesn’t really add much to the conversation.
If you are on the fence between picking up the DVD or Blu-Ray, I would easily recommend you spend the extra $5 on the Blu-Ray.  As I mentioned above, the Legends of Wrestling roundtable is the best part of the Blu-Ray, and really should be treated as the “main feature” along with Raw 1000, with the countdown simply being viewed as an “extra”.  Although it’s not going to make anyone’s Top 5 lists at the end of the year for DVD’s, this is still a solid release, and I’m just happy my wish of getting Raw 1000 on Blu-Ray came true.

Review: WWE “Best Pay-Per-View Matches 2012″ DVD & Blu-Ray

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Best Pay-Per-View Matches has always been one of my favorite DVD releases of the year.  I don’t buy every PPV event on DVD, so it’s nice to get a collection of the best matches from these events without having to buy each and every one.  The DVD also works as a nice survey of the year in question.  I think this particular collection shows that the year 2012 has been a really great year for in-ring wrestling in the WWE (even if they don’t like saying the word wrestling anymore).  CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus, and many others have really stepped up their game, and we got great appearances from The Rock, Triple H, The Undertaker, and Brock Lesnar.

Unlike many of my other reviews, I’m not dedicating an entire section to “The Format” of the DVD.  It is hosted by Scott Stanford, and he only occasionally appears throughout the DVD.  It doesn’t add anything.  Discs 1 and 2 of the Blu-Ray each run approximately 4 hours.  Disc 2 contains 2 hours of “regular content” and 2 hours of Blu-Ray exclusive content.  The Blu-Ray is rated TV-PG.

The Matches:

WWE Championship Match (Guest Ref: John Laurinaitis): CM Punk Vs. Dolph Ziggler  (Royal Rumble, 1/29/12) – *** 1/2
As good a match as you would expect between these two.  Laurinaitis is a bit distracting here; I’m still not positive what they were going for with his involvement.

World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber Match: Daniel Bryan Vs. Big Show Vs. The Great Khali Vs. Santino Marella Vs. Wade Barrett Vs. Cody Rhodes (Elimination Chamber, 2/19/12) – *** 1/4
One of the weaker Elimination Chamber matches in its short history.  There are some fun spots, but as a whole it’s nothing special.  Santino is used very well in this match, though, and it shows that he can be used as much more than just a comedy character.

Hell in a Cell Match (Guest Ref: Shawn Michaels): Triple H Vs. Undertaker (WrestleMania XXVIII, 4/1/12) – *****
I know most fans do not go the full 5 stars for this match, but I honestly feel that the storytelling in this match is unparalleled and is enough to earn the 5 stars.  I’ve never seen a match filled with this level of emotion, and I was completely invested in it.  Michaels adds so much to the match as guest referee, and the match serves as a great “end of an era”.

The Rock Vs. John Cena (WrestleMania XXVIII, 4/1/12) – **** 1/4
This match ended up delivering as well as I expected.  The atmosphere in the arena helped push the match over the edge as well.  The Rock proved he could still go in the ring, and Cena was a great opponent.
Divas Championship Match: Layla Vs. Beth Phoenix (Over the Limit, 5/20/12) – * 1/4
Your token divas match for this set.  Nothing special here.
Intercontinental Championship Match: Christian Vs. Cody Rhodes (No Way Out, 6/17/12) – *** 1/2
A great technical match, something we’ve been seeing more and more of in the WWE.  This match is also a good showcase for Rhodes, someone who showed a lot of improvement as he moved up in the card in 2012.

WWE Championship No Disqualification Match (Guest Ref: AJ Lee): CM Punk Vs. Daniel Bryan (Money in the Bank, 7/15/12) – ****
Not nearly as good as their match at Over the Limit, but still a very good match.  I liked the choice to have AJ get “knocked out” shortly into the match; this allowed Punk & Bryan to have a lot of time to wrestle without AJ serving as a distraction.

Triple H Vs. Brock Lesnar (SummerSlam, 8/19/12) – *** 1/4
A bit of a disappointment, but still a very solid match.  The storytelling is fantastic, but the match moves a bit slowly.  The WWE succeeded in giving this a “big match feel” as well.

Randy Orton Vs. Dolph Ziggler (Night of Champions, 9/16/12) – *** 3/4
A great match, and another great showcase for Ziggler, one of WWE’s 2012 MVPs.  I believe the WWE edited out Orton cursing out the fans and flipping them off (I didn’t notice it), but part of me hopes I just missed it and it was left in to show how immature Orton’s 2012 was.
WWE Championship Match: CM Punk Vs. John Cena (Night of Champions, 9/16/12) – **** 3/4
Punk & Cena have amazing chemistry, and this match is no different.  Fantastic storytelling that leads to a satisfying way to have a non-finish in the match.  Punk’s reaction to finding out he was still champ is wonderful.

World Heavyweight Championship Match: Sheamus Vs. Big Show (Hell in a Cell, 10/28/12) – *** 1/4
This might have been the biggest surprise of the year.  I didn’t expect Sheamus & Big Show to have an awful match, but I don’t think many fans were expecting them to have such good chemistry.  The last few minutes of this match in particular are really great.

Blu-Ray Exclusive Matches
Ambulance Match: John Cena Vs. Kane (Elimination Chamber, 2/19/12) – ** 1/4
The feud between Cena & Kane was one of the weaker storylines in the WWE this year, and for some reason, the two men never put together quality matches.  This match has some entertaining highspots, but drags and doesn’t totally come together.
World Heavyweight Championship 2 out of 3 Falls Match: Sheamus Vs. Daniel Bryan (Extreme Rules, 4/29/12) – **** 1/2
An excellent technical contest, which showcased both Bryan & Sheamus’ skills extremely well.  After the disappointment of not getting a full match between the two at WrestleMania, we were treated to a classic the next month.
Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Christian Vs. Dolph Ziggler Vs. Tensai Vs. Santino Marella Vs. Damien Sandow Vs. Tyson Kidd Vs. Cody Rhodes Vs. Sin Cara (Money in the Bank, 7/15/12) – *** 3/4
Like most Money in the Bank matches, there are some great highspots, but this match never really elevates past “spotfest”.  There weren’t many storylines going on between the competitors in the match, which gave most of the highspots less meaning.
WWE Championship Hell in a Cell Match: CM Punk Vs. Ryback (Hell in a Cell, 10/28/12) – **
This was a unique match, because the WWE wanted to make Ryback look like a monster without making Punk look weak.  There’s some solid storytelling here, but the match itself moves really slowly, and the finish is a bit of a disappointment.

Closing Thoughts:

As I mentioned in the opening of this article, this really was a great year for Pay-Per-View Matches, which makes this a great DVD overall.  I think the WWE did a nice job in choosing which matches to include.  Almost every match ranks above ***.  I can understand not wanting to include Punk Vs. Jericho from WrestleMania or Punk Vs. Bryan from Over the Limit since they were both just released on the Punk DVD, but we really should have gotten the Punk/Jericho rematch from Extreme Rules.  That is probably the largest omission.  The only match that I really don’t think should have been included was the Cena Vs. Kane Ambulance Match.  The Cena/Kane feud was one of the worst WWE storylines this year, and the match isn’t great.  Even though Punk Vs. Ryback isn’t great, I don’t have a problem with this being included because I like that Ryback got a spot on the DVD; he was a big part of the WWE this year.  Whether it was intentional or not, I also liked which superstars got the most matches throughout the set.  There was a lot of CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus, and John Cena, and these men felt like the workhorses of the WWE throughout 2012.

Most fans already know whether or not this DVD is for them.  If you already buy each PPV on DVD, then the only real reason to get this would be to get some of the matches in HD for the first time.  For fans like me who don’t buy every PPV, I think this is an easy recommendation, and probably the best installment of the Pay-Per-View Matches series yet.  There are a lot of great matches on here, and it caps off a great 2012 nicely.

Review: WWE ‘For All Mankind: The Life & Career of Mick Foley’ DVD/Blu-Ray

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I’m not really sure why it took the WWE this long to release a Mick Foley documentary feature.  With his Hall of Fame induction occurring this past month, now seems like a great time to finally get one.  Foley’s story is pretty well known to most WWE fans due to his autobiographies and his longevity in the business, but it’s nice to get the complete story in one place with comments from those who supported his career as well.
The Blu-ray runs 8 hours, 30 minutes total. The documentary runs 2 hours, 14 minutes, the bonus matches run for approximately 4 hours, and there are 2 hours and 20 minutes of Blu-ray exclusive features.  The DVD and Blu-Ray are both rated TV-14.
   

“This is Your Life”: The Main Feature

As mentioned in the intro, there was a major roadblock in the way of the success of this documentary feature.  Many wrestling fans have read Foley’s autobiographies, or have at least heard a lot of the stories told therein.  The challenge for the WWE was making this documentary feel fresh while telling the stories most important to Foley’s career, even if we have heard a lot of them before.  Now, I will admit I haven’t read Foley’s first two books in about ten years.  After watching through the documentary, I didn’t feel like everything was totally rehashed, though.  In the end, I was pleasantly surprised with the feature.  Foley’s had a much longer, more storied career than it initially seems, and there are countless stories he has from his years in WCW, ECW, and WWE.  Overall, WWE did a nice job picking out all of the main highlights, without staying too long on one particular subject.  I’m sure you can all guess which stories and career highlights are going to be included.  There aren’t any major surprises throughout the doc, but this isn’t really a problem for me.

One of my biggest concerns going into the documentary was actually the length.  The last doc that ran well over 2 hours (Stone Cold Steve Austin: The Bottom Line…) I found to be a little padded, and could have used more editing.  Much to my surprise, I never found myself bored throughout this feature.  As I said, Foley’s had not only a long career, but a career with a lot of twists and turns.  I was concerned there would be too heavy a focus on some of Mick’s non-wrestling endeavours, but I think excellent work is done in giving these aspects of Foley’s life a nice retrospective without ever getting excessive.  As a viewer, you get a good sense of what separates Foley from other WWE superstars, and I think that is about the most you can ask from any of these documentaries.

The best way that this doc was going to separate itself from Mick’s autobiographies was the inclusion of interviews from other talent.  As usual, the WWE did a great job selecting the wrestlers to be interviewed for this feature.  It’s still hard for me to believe that the WWE even bothered to reach out to Shane Douglas.  I think this is pretty clear proof that they are willing to interview the best talent without giving the “WWE whitewashing” to the documentaries.  After the past year or so, I think it’s pretty safe to say that this is becoming a regular trend, and there isn’t much more to say about it here.

Throughout the film, Foley and his friends mention on many occasions how great of a storyteller Mick has always been, whether in wrestling or in other aspects of his life.  This is well reflected throughout the many stories Foley tells here.  Even if you think you know Mick’s story in and out, I don’t think you will be disappointed at all in the documentary.

“Bang Bang”: The Matches

Jack Foley & Les Thornton Vs. The British Bulldogs (WWE Superstars, 9/86) – N/A
A squash match. The alternate commentary from Foley & Styles make this a nice watch, though.
Cactus Jack & Gary Young Vs. Scott Steiner & Billy Travis (AWA All Star Wrestling, 10/88) – 3/4 *
It’s interesting to see a young Foley wrestling a young Scott Steiner in this match.  Overall, though, these two were very early in their careers, and Young & Travis aren’t anything special, so this match drags on a bit.
Cactus Jack Manson Vs. Brickhouse Brown (Wild West Wrestling, 4/89) – **
For a quick 10 minute opener, this was actually a pretty fun match.  Nothing particularly great, but still a fun inclusion.
Cactus Jack Vs. Keith Hart (WCW Power Hour, 3/90) – N/A
Foley claimed this match was included “to show he could dish out a beating, since he usually took one”.  Another squash match, but a nice showcase for some of Foley’s offence.

Submit or Surrender Match: Cactus Jack Vs. Sting (WCW Power Hour, 11/91) – ** 3/4
This match isn’t on the level of their match from Beach Blast 1992, but it still is a good match.  It does feel like they throw everything they can think of into the match, but at times that can make it feel like it is just a collection of moves.
Falls Count Anywhere Match: Cactus Jack Vs. Van Hammer (Clash of the Champions XVIII, 1/21/92) – *
This match is kind of a mess, and I went in with pretty low expectations.  The start of the match isn’t bad, but the ending is really silly.
Barbed Wire Match: Cactus Jack Vs. The Sandman (Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 5/95) – ** 1/2
It’s hard to review a match like this.  For the “ultraviolent” style, it’s a pretty average match.  It comes together pretty well, but isn’t much more than that.
Cactus Jack Vs. Shane Douglas (ECW CyberSlam, 2/96) – *** 1/2
The storytelling in this match is excellent.  This is a great way to do the “brawl around the outside of the ring” type of match.
Mankind Vs. Rocky Maivia (In Your House: Cold Day in Hell, 5/11/97) – **
This match takes place very early into Rocky’s career, and you can’t really tell, which is impressive.  Overall, though, the match never goes out of “2nd gear” before ending.  I also found it strange just how little offense Foley gets in (although this was a common problem during his career).
Mankind Vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley (In Your House: Canadian Stampede, 7/6/97) – ** 3/4
For the most part, I really enjoyed this match.  They were putting together a nice stretch of story, but the ending didn’t totally work for a DVD.  For continuing a feud, though, I can understand it.
Dude Love Vs. Rocky Maivia (Raw, 11/17/97) – * 3/4
An average TV match.  It serves to continue storylines more than anything else.

Hell in a Cell Match: Mankind Vs. The Undertaker (King of the Ring, 6/28/98) – ** 3/4
I think everyone already knows about this match…. The new commentary from Foley & Styles makes this a must-watch extra, though.
WWE Tag Team Championship Match: Mankind & Kane Vs. The New Age Outlaws (Raw, 7/13/98) – **
A decent match. Nothing too memorable, but a nice title change to see here.
WWE Championship Match: Mankind Vs. The Rock (In Your House: Rock Bottom, 12/13/98) – ** 3/4
This match ultimately served to continue a storyline more than be a PPV blowoff match, but in that role, I thought it worked very well.  I will admit, though, that if you don’t know much about late-1998 WWE, you may be a bit confused by the storyline.
WWE Tag Team Championship Match: Mankind & The Rock Vs. Triple H & Shane McMahon (SmackDown, 9/2/99) – **
Another average tag team title match.  Nothing much to write about.
Mankind Vs. Al Snow (SmackDown, 12/16/99) – N/A
I decided not to rate this match since I find the “brawl around the ring and backstage area” matches so difficult to distinguish.  This is fun to watch, though, and a nice inclusion given the interesting history between Foley & Al Snow.
Hell in a Cell Retirement Match: Cactus Jack Vs. Triple H (No Way Out, 2/27/00) – ****
This match shows how to do a “hardcore” style match while still putting together a great story.  A classic match.

Blu-Ray Exclusive Extras

The Blu-ray extras on this release really set it apart from other releases.  To start off with, we get 5 promos, each of which are pretty great.  The 2004 “Barbie” promo was a promo I had completely forgotten about, but I’m glad I was reminded about it.  Outside of the legendary ECW promos, it might be Mick’s best promo ever.  After this, we get a bunch of bonus stories that were not included in the main documentary.  One of the coolest is a film Mick made in college about Dominic DeNucci’s wrestling school.  A few of these extras felt like they should have been included in the main doc, including his “anti-hardcore” ECW gimmick and his time as a commentator.  If you get the Blu-Ray, make sure you do not sleep on these extras.  I’m not gonna spoil anything more here, but they are definitely worth watching.

“Have a Nice Day”: Closing Thoughts

Out of any DVD or Blu-ray that I’ve reviewed for the site so far, this is probably the hardest to give an overall review to.  The documentary is great, and if you are a fan of the doc features on WWE DVD’s, then I would say that is worth the price alone.  However, be aware that if you have read Foley’s books, there isn’t much that is particularly revolutionary here.  It is nice to hear from wrestlers other than Foley, but you still will already know most of the stories.  Believe it or not, I actually would have liked the doc to be a little bit longer. I felt like a few things were left out, and I rarely feel that way about the WWE’s doc features.  I would put this doc on about the same level as the Stone Cold doc released a little over a year ago.

The bonus matches, on the other hand, are nothing to write home about.  If you’ve read any of my reviews before, you’ll know that I’m totally fine with match compilations where the in-ring action isn’t amazing, as long as they are still entertaining.  I enjoyed all of the matches from early in Foley’s career, even if they weren’t classics.  The only change I may have made would be to include a Vader match, since Vader got so much time in the documentary.  However, I was pretty let down with the matches selected from Mick’s WWE run.  Of the 9 matches included, THREE are singles matches against The Rock, two are singles matches against Triple H, and one is a tag team match featuring The Rock and Triple H.  That’s 2/3 of the matches.  This felt really imbalanced.  After thinking it over, what I actually would have preferred is only one disc worth of bonus matches, and a disc of bonus promos.  Foley was really great on the mic, and this should have been better represented on the set better.  For example, in the documentary, Mick talks about how his favorite time in WWE was his run as commissioner.  However, there are no segments with him as commissioner as bonus content, which was a big disappointment.  I also wish we could have gotten Foley & Styles commentary on every match, but I know that is a bit more of a pipe dream.

If you are a Blu-ray collector, then this set is an easier recommendation.  The Blu-ray extras are fantastic, and I think that if you only collect DVD’s, you are missing out on some of the best stuff on this set.  I’ve only been collecting Blu-ray’s for a few months, and this is the first time I felt that the Blu-ray extras were essential viewing.  Again, if you are a fan of WWE’s documentary sets, pick this up for the doc and the Blu-ray extras.  Just don’t go in expecting to be blown away by the match quality.  I am all for rare matches being included on WWE DVD releases, however, I would have preferred either less matches overall, more variety, or a few more classics, even if they took place on a PPV.

Review: WWE ‘The Best of In Your House’ DVD/Blu-Ray

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don’t have too much of a connection with In Your House.  By the time I started watching wrestling, In Your House had already been replaced by your Backlashes and Unforgivens.  I liked the idea of a DVD to spotlight the “B-level” PPV’s, though.  While they may not have been essential from a storyline standpoint, oftentimes this was the place where great wrestlers were given the platform to put on longer, more complex matches.  This DVD/Blu-ray solidifies that idea.  What we get here are a group of matches that almost feel like they could have been pulled out of an indy promotion like ROH.  In the mid to late-90′s, the WWE was filled with wrestlers with great in-ring skills, and In Your House provided them a great opportunity to show off their skills.  The 1st disc of the Blu-ray runs around 4 hours, 15 minutes, and the 2nd disc runs just over 3 hours, with nearly 90 minutes of bonus content.  The Blu-ray is rated TV-14.  There is an edited moment in the Michaels/Diesel match involving Diesel choking Michaels with a belt, which was removed for obvious reasons.
   

“The New Generation”: The Format

As with most WWE match compilations, the matches are interspersed with interview segments, and this time, Todd Pettengill was brought in for the intros.  Unfortunately, the intros don’t really add much to the set.  Todd is fine with what he is given to do, but there isn’t really that much to what he has to say.  The only real highlight is Todd explaining the house giveaway contest on the first installment of the PPV.  I wish he could have given a bit more context to each match.  Occasionally he does this, but those instances are pretty few and far between.  Todd does have plenty of charisma, so the intros never got boring, but they don’t really add much either.  To be honest, I don’t know that the set really needed the intros anyway.  Since the matches throughout the set are so disparate, it’s hard for there to really be an overarching story to this Blu-ray. Ultimately, it ends up being a collection of good matches from 1995 to early 1999.

“In Your House, In Your Face”: The Matches:

Bret Hart Vs. Hakushi (In Your House, 5/14/95) – *** 1/4
A solid wrestling match, but the storytelling was a little basic.  Hakushi destroys Bret for 3/4 of the match, until he makes a comeback at the end.

Intercontinental Championship Match: Jeff Jarrett Vs. Shawn Michaels (In Your House, 7/23/95) – *** 1/2
A solid technical match that is given a nice amount of time.  Shenanigans with The Roadie at ringside bring the match down a little bit, though.
Intercontinental Championship Match: Razor Ramon Vs. Dean Douglas (In Your House, 10/22/95) – *** 1/4
Another fun match, but the finish comes out of nowhere and feels somewhat off.  Razor’s nonchalance towards winning the title was also bizarre.
Arkansas Hog Pen Match: Hunter Hearst Helmsley Vs. Henry O. Godwinn (In Your House, 12/17/95) – **
While this match probably is a “classic”, it’s not necessarily a classic because it’s great.  Still a worthy inclusion on the set, though.

WWE Championship Match: Bret Hart Vs. British Bulldog (In Your House, 12/17/95) – **** 1/4
As we all know, these two have great chemistry and have put together some great matches.  This one is no exception.  It takes a little while to get going, but once it does, it’s great.
WWE Championship No Holds Barred Match: Shawn Michaels Vs. Diesel (In Your House: Good Friends, Better Enemies, 4/28/96) – ****
It’s interesting to look at the WWE’s early attempt at hardcore style matches here.  They put together a great story, and all of the high spots seemed to matter.

WWE Championship Match: Shawn Michaels Vs. Mankind (In Your House: Mind Games, 9/22/96) – *****
I don’t really care that this ends in a non-finish. Simply put, it’s one of the best matches ever, if not the absolute best.
Stone Cold Steve Austin Vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley (In Your House: Buried Alive, 10/20/96) – ***
A very solid match, but not anything out of the ordinary.  It also is strange that part of this match (a PPV match) was used to build to a match the next night on Raw.  Finally, just a quick note that heel Jim Ross complaining about his broken microphone and Vince’s bad commentary was pretty fantastic.

Buried Alive Match: The Undertaker Vs. Mankind (In Your House: Buried Alive, 10/20/96) – ***
This is not one of my favorite gimmick matches, but Taker and Mankind do a great job putting together a decent match while working in the constraints of the gimmick.  The post match is also fun.
WWE Championship Four Corners Match: Stone Cold Steve Austin Vs. Bret Hart Vs. Vader Vs. The Undertaker (In Your House: Final Four, 2/16/97) – ***
This match is a lot of fun to watch due to the constant action.  However, since there is so much going on, it can be difficult to follow, and it’s tough to find a cohesive story outside of the Hart/Austin rivalry continuing.

The Hart Foundation Vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock, Goldust & LOD (In Your House: Canadian Stampede, 7/6/97) – **** 1/2
Talk about brilliant storytelling.  This match is really well put together, and the action doesn’t disappoint either.
Shawn Michaels Vs. The Undertaker (Ground Zero: In Your House, 9/7/97) – *** 3/4
Of course, you are going to get a great match when these two are facing each other.  This match definitely is a “stepping stone” match to lead to their bigger feud, but it still is a lot of fun.
Non-Sanctioned Match: Stone Cold Steve Austin, Owen Hart, Cactus Jack, & Chainsaw Charlie Vs. Triple H, New Age Outlaws, & Savio Vega (No Way Out of Texas: In Your House, 2/15/98) – *** 1/2
This is a crazy match, but I was really impressed that I was never too confused with how to follow the action (unlike the four-way title match I discussed above).  There are a lot of cool spots throughout this match, and it sets up WrestleMania XIV pretty nicely.

WWE Tag Team Championship Match: Stone Cold Steve Austin & The Undertaker Vs. Mankind & Kane (Fully Loaded: In Your House, 7/26/98) – ** 1/2
A standard tag team match.  The interplay between Austin & Taker is well done, but it can’t elevate the match past average.
Intercontinental Championship Match: Ken Shamrock Vs. Mankind (Judgment Day: In Your House, 10/18/98) – ***
I enjoyed this match significantly more than I thought I would.  Shamrock & Mankind had pretty good chemistry.  I still can’t decide how I feel about the finish.  It’s definitely bizarre, but at the same time, it does end up making a lot of sense in the end.

WWE Championship Last Man Standing Match: The Rock Vs. Mankind (St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, 2/14/99) – ** 3/4
I know I’ve spoken in the past about how much I dislike Last Man Standing matches and “brawl around the arena” matches.  Unfortunately, this match features both problems, and as great as Rock & Mankind are, they can’t really elevate the match past those problems.

Blu-ray Exclusive Matches
#1 Contender’s Match: Bret Hart Vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin (In Your House: Revenge of the Taker, 4/20/97) – *** 3/4
In this match, Hart & Austin had to follow up their WrestleMania classic, which obviously is not an easy task.  They decided to wrestle a different style of match, with a clear injury angle through the whole thing.  While it prevents the match from being another classic, it does make this match stand out as different.  Very enjoyable match in the end.
WWE Light Heavyweight Championship Match: Taka Michinoku Vs. Brian Christopher (D-Generation X: In Your House, 12/7/97) – ** 1/2
This match was OK for what it was, but I felt Christopher really hurt the match.  He was trying REALLY hard to get the crowd to react to him, and it was a big turn-off.  He also wrestled a really slow style, which did not fit for a Light Heavyweight Title match.
WWE Championship Match: Shawn Michaels Vs. Ken Shamrock (D-Generation X: In Your House, 12/7/97) – *** 1/4
Another fun title match.  Michaels was in full heel mode at this point, which worked well with the no-nonsense style of Shamrock.
D’Lo Brown Vs. X-Pac (Fully Loaded: In Your House, 7/26/98) – **
An average mid-card match.  It was nice to see the DX/Nation feud represented here, though.

“Mind Games”: Closing Thoughts

As you can probably tell from the match breakdowns, there is a lot to like on this Blu-ray.  The match quality is consistently great, and you get what I feel is a really nice balance between unreleased gems and classic repeats.  The repeat matches we’ve seen on other DVD’s also haven’t been released in quite a while, and this is the first time we are getting them unedited, so there are still some new aspects to them.  Another thing I appreciated was that this definitely felt like the best of In Your House.  Most of the great matches and moments were included, with the one big exception being the first Hell in a Cell match.  As far as match compilations, this has got to be up there as one of the best in terms of a match quality standpoint.  There aren’t any bad matches on the set, period.  For the “match quality” guys and gals out there, this is a must buy set.  I can absolutely see myself watching this again multiple times in the future.

The biggest downside to the set is simply trying to figure out what the point of it is.  Ultimately, I’m satisfied as just taking it as a collection of great matches, but if you are looking for more of a through-line, you aren’t going to get that.  Usually, I am the type of person who wants to find a theme in each set, but in this case, the matches are so good that I’m willing to look past it.  I just can’t imagine anyone being disappointed after going through these matches.  Hell, I found this to be a better spotlight of Foley’s WWE career than the bonus matches on his own DVD from a few weeks ago!
The Blu-ray exclusive matches are also pretty solid.  You get a few historically significant matches, like the Austin/Hart rematch and the first Light Heavyweight title match, and the quality isn’t too bad either.  I wouldn’t say that you must get the Blu-ray over the DVD, but the bonus features are certainly welcome.  If it isn’t clear by this point, I highly, highly recommend you pick up either the DVD or the Blu-ray.  As far as match compilations go, this is one of the best the WWE has ever released.

Review: WWE ‘Top 25 Rivalries in Wrestling History’ DVD & Blu-Ray

While they usually look entertaining on paper, the past countdown DVDs from WWE have ranged from average to disappointing.  Because of this, I don’t think expectations were all that high for the Top 25 Rivalries in Wrestling History.  The match listing, on paper, didn’t seem particularly exciting either.  Of course, there are always going to be concerns that the countdown will be ranked ridiculously (as Top 50 Superstars of All Time was).  I think this particular list will get the least number of complaints, though.  A nice balance is given to different federations throughout wrestling history, and while there are always going to be a few choices to quibble with, overall it’s not too bad.
The main feature on Disc 1 of the Blu-ray runs 2 hours, 50 minutes, with about 1 hour, 40 minutes of bonus matches.  Disc 2 contains 2 hours, 50 minutes of bonus matches, with an additional 90 minutes of Blu-ray exclusive features.  The Blu-ray is rated TV-14.
   

“Irresistible Force, Immovable Object”: The Main Feature

As I alluded to earlier, the countdown, without question, is the best one the WWE has released yet.  There are a number of reasons for this, but one of the basic ones is the choice to do a Top 25 instead of a Top 50 (or Top 100) as has been done in the past.  This allows for about 7 minutes focusing on each of the rivalries on the countdown.  While this may not sound like too much time, it actually worked out pretty well.  I felt like we were able to get a good sense of the overall feud, while still focusing on some individual matches and moments at the same time.  Not surprisingly, the WWE did a great job choosing which footage to include here.  The 25 rivalries chosen were pretty nicely balanced as well.  You get rivalries from all different eras, and from different promotions.  The countdown is never going to be perfect for everyone, but on the whole, it’s hard to complain too much.  Sting/Hogan and RnR Express/Midnight Express were probably the only really questionable omissions, but at the same time, it’s hard to make a strong argument to remove any of the rivalries that were included.

Another great choice the WWE made for this countdown was to only interview one superstar to discuss each rivalry.  This allows the superstar to really go in depth on the rivalry, rather than just cutting to a bunch of guys making pretty superficial remarks.  They also made sure to never choose one of the two men involved in the feud.  This allows for a nice outside perspective.  The choices the WWE made were, across the board, quite inspired, from Vince Russo discussing Austin/McMahon to CM Punk breaking down Hogan/Savage.  They even sought out NWA referee Tommy Young to discuss the Flair/Steamboat rivalry.  My favorite was probably hearing Bret Hart talk about the Angle/Lesnar feud.  The only choice that I can see getting any complaints is the Miz discussing Rock/Austin, but this has more to do with the “internet community” being conditioned to hate everything about the Miz than anything else.  He does offer some nice insights.

The only part of the feature I didn’t particularly care for were the interspersed host segments with Renee Young.  Young was fine, but she isn’t exactly given much to do.  The WWE decided to go with a chemistry theme for the overall set.  This sounds fine at first, but they end up going totally overboard.  And this is coming from someone who actually enjoyed college chemistry!  The comparisons made between the rivalries and different elements are silly, and they don’t add anything to the set.  After about the second segment, I found myself skipping through these entirely.  I think this is the first time I’ve skipped through the host segments on any countdown or match compilation set, which I think says something about the quality here.  But if you skip through these, you’ve got a really entertaining feature overall.

“Grudge Match”: The Matches

WWE Championship Match: Hulk Hogan Vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper (War to Settle the Score, 2/18/85) – * 3/4
This match actually has the feel of MTV, the network it aired for.  The action is pretty constant, and it quickly degrades into a serious of interferences and celebrity cameos.  Not the blow-off to a feud that Hogan and Piper should have received.
NWA US Championship “I Quit” Steel Cage Match: Tully Blanchard Vs. Magnum TA (Starrcade, 11/28/85) – **** 1/2
Watching this match, you can truly feel the hatred between these two men.  The close-up image of Tully trying to drive the wooden spike into Magnum’s head is one of the great images from wrestling history.  An historic brawl that must be seen.

Bruiser Brody Vs. Abdullah the Butcher (WCCW, 7/87) – **
This is one of those matches that wasn’t really designed for “star ratings”.  Fun while it lasts, but it doesn’t really come together as a match.
Badstreet Rules Match: Kevin & Kerry Von Erich Vs. Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts (WCCW, 2/88) – ** 3/4
I was very surprised by this match.  The street fight style gimmick was used really well, and I was interested in the story throughout the whole match.  The ending is disappointing, though.
Hulk Hogan & “Macho Man” Randy Savage Vs. “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase & Andre the Giant (Summerslam, 8/29/88) – ***
Another match I was surprised by.  This match is paced very well to play to the strengths of everyone in the match, and it had the feel of a main event match even if the title wasn’t at stake.
Undertaker Vs. Mankind (King of the Ring, 6/23/96) – ***
This match played to the strengths of each man very well.  Mankind was pretty new to the company at this point, and they do a great job making him look like a big deal.  A nice “stepping stone” in the feud.

Tazz Vs. Sabu (Barely Legal, 4/13/97) – **** 1/4
Knowing that this match was built up for a year leading to ECW’s first PPV, Barely Legal, you can really feel the “big match” atmosphere. The storytelling in this match is superb. It epitomizes what ECW was best at: combining great wrestling with the hardcore action they became famous for.  The match is given plenty of time to grow, and the finish works nicely.
Tommy Dreamer Vs. Raven (Wrestlepalooza, 6/97) – ** 3/4
I’m not a huge fan of this style of match, but Dreamer & Raven are probably two of the best at having crazy brawls.  This match gets really good at the end, though.  As the conclusion to a feud, I didn’t have a problem with all of the run-ins, and the near falls are done really well.  Even if there is a lot of “kicking out of finishers” and ref bumps, they work really well here, and even knowing the ending, I was on the edge of my seat.

“Winner Take All” Handicap Ladder Match: Stone Cold Steve Austin Vs. Mr. McMahon & Shane McMahon (King of the Ring, 6/27/99) – ** 3/4
This match is way more fun than it has any right to be.  Say what you want about Vince and Shane as in-ring competitors, they are really good at taking an ass-whooping.  While not a technical masterpiece, I was really entertained with this match, and the crowd was really into it, which also helped.
WWE Championship Match: Triple H Vs. The Rock (Backlash, 4/30/00) – ** 1/4
This match was a disappointment for me.  The first 2/3 of the match were very by the numbers, and it never really has a chance to switch to another gear because of all the run-ins.  Watching this live, I’m sure the constant run-ins were entertaining, but looking back on the match, it feels a bit overbooked (something the Raven/Dreamer match I talked about earlier was able to avoid).
WWE Championship Match: Stone Cold Steve Austin Vs. The Rock (Rebellion, 11/3/01) – *** 1/2
I appreciate that Rock & Austin tried to do something different with this match.  It didn’t feel like their earlier WrestleMania matches, especially due to Austin working as a heel.  It doesn’t quite reach the level of those previous matches, and ultimately serves as a nice lead in to that year’s Survivor Series.

WWE Championship Match: Kurt Angle Vs. Brock Lesnar (Summerslam, 8/24/03) – **** 1/4
Angle & Lesnar pretty much always put on great matches, and this one is no exception.  It is very different from their WrestleMania match, and features much more psychology than I was expecting.
WWE Championship Steel Cage Match: John Cena Vs. Edge (Raw, 10/2/06) – ***
I’ve always been a fan of the Cena/Edge feud, but this isn’t one of their more memorable matches.  I’d call this an above average TV match, but nothing more than that.

Blu-Ray Exclusive Matches

WWE Championship Match: Triple H, Batista, & Shane McMahon Vs. Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, & Ted DiBiase (Backlash, 4/26/09) – **
I found this match to be painfully boring.  While there isn’t really anything technically wrong with it, it didn’t hold my attention at all.  I also didn’t like how bad the match makes Rhodes & DiBiase look in the first 10 minutes or so.  They get buried by the other three men.

WWE Championship Match: CM Punk Vs. John Cena (Night of Champions, 9/16/12) – **** 3/4
Punk & Cena have amazing chemistry, and this match is no different.  Fantastic storytelling that leads to a satisfying way to have a non-finish in the match.  Punk’s reaction to finding out he was still champ is wonderful.

“The Mega Powers Explode”: Closing Thoughts

I go into most new WWE Blu-rays with pretty high expectations, and they usually meet those levels.  This is one of those sets that did exceed my expectations.  The countdown feature is far better than it really has any right to be.  By using one superstar to talk about each rivalry, we really are able to get a good sense of WHY each rivalry was important.  Don’t come in looking for a timeline quickly running through each feud.  You aren’t going to get that, and, quite frankly, that would have been pretty boring.  I did learn a bit about some of the feuds with which I was less familiar, such as the Magnum/Tully and Freebirds/Von Erichs feuds.  But overall, you do get a great sense of what made each of the rivalries important.  It almost becomes a fun game trying to figure out who is going to talk about each rivalry.  Some of them are surprising, but when you think about it, each of them do make sense.

The match listing and bonus content for this set didn’t exactly light the world on fire when it was announced, but I will say that the match listing was fairly solid.  There aren’t any particularly BAD matches here, even if at the same time, there aren’t many total classics either.  I appreciated that they gave us a lot of Pay-Per-View and big event matches here rather than TV matches.  Most of the matches were given a lot of time, and are able to give you a nice sense of the rivalry.  I can understand why, due to time constraints, not each rivalry was represented in a match, but it did seem fairly random which were represented and which were not represented.  I know there will be a number of complaints about the amount of “repeats” on this set, and I do have a problem with the fact that some of the matches were included on compilation sets as recently as 1-2 years ago.  I feel like there should be a statute of limitations with this issue.  For example, the Magnum/Tully cage match hasn’t been put on a DVD in about 5 years.  I feel like enough time has gone by now to warrant its inclusion.  The Austin Vs. McMahons ladder match? That was on a DVD only 18 months ago.  That’s a little too soon.  If you are a match collector in particular, I wouldn’t say this is a set you need to rush out and get immediately, but if you do watch the bonus matches, there is a lot here to like.

I also would say that this is not a set that I feel you need to own on Blu-ray.  The Blu-ray bonus features are pretty disappointing.  I’m glad we got at least one promo included, and it is a good promo, but not worth going out of your way to pick up.  The Cena/Punk match is fantastic, but I’m sure many fans already have it on the Best PPV Matches of 2012 Blu-ray.  And I was not a big fan of the six man tag team match.  If you are a die-hard collector, I’m sure you’re planning on getting the Blu-ray anyway, but if not, I would say this is an instance where you aren’t missing much sticking with the DVD.
While I would recommend this set, it’s not one that you need to rush out and pick up immediately.  If you like countdowns, you won’t be disappointed by the countdown.  The matches on here aren’t bad per se, but they aren’t particularly fantastic either.  I would call this a slightly above average overall release with a great main feature, and certainly worth picking up if you find it in a sale.  At the least, I would definitely recommend catching the countdown portion when it inevitably shows up on Netflix.  What did you all think?

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