WWE Presents True Giants

Now this is something to be treasured, a release celebrating wrestling's big men such as Andre, Yokozuna and Giant Gonzales. 

As per normal we get an almost two hour documentary on some of the most famous big guys (not Ryback) in wrestling broken down into segments.  The usual suspects are here such as Big Show and Kevin Nash but we get to see the stories about the likes of One Man Gang and others.  This is where the strength of the doc is, lesser known guys (to this generation) are covered like Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy.  This gives the set a terrific historical context as it exposes people to the work of some of the greatest wrestlers to walk the face of the earth.

It's also very touching as a lot of these men are no longer with us and the people talking about their friends passing and sharing their stories with us is generally very moving.  The Andre the Giant segment is superb and The Uso's talk fondly about their Uncle Yokozuna.  Pat Patterson talking about Gorilla Monsoon is also excellent as he was obviously friends with him and the footage of him wrestling is priceless as most of us only know him as an announcer.

The rest of the package is taken up with matches from the archives.  A lot of these are generally pretty old and this is very refreshing to see 'good old days'.  As well as the 'giants' we get the see the likes of Kerry Von Erich and Superstar Billy Graham.  Keep an eye out for a massive Superstar of today in a previous incarnation, one I have always thought had one of the best names ever.

The blu-ray exclusives are plentiful as they include further segments including Earthquake (who should have been on the main doc), as well as other matches including Rick Martel vs. Kamala.

WWE keep bringing out these outstanding releases and this one is again in a long line of quality product.  Superb for long time wrestling fans and a good introduction for 'the kids' who really only know giants such as Big Show.  This must be purchased NOW!!!

• Starring Earthquake  Sid Justice  Undertaker  Harvey Wippleman
• Distributor WWE / Fremantle

Night of Champions 2014

Night of Champions is the one PPV where all WWE Championships are defended.  It was Brock Lesnar's first (and only to date) defence of his title where he had to face Cena again.  The Tag Team title holders The Uso's took on Dusty Rhodes' boys Gold and Stardust.  Miz fought Dolph Ziggler for the IC strap and Sheamus took on Cesaro for his US belt.  The Divas title was contested in a triple threat match featuring AJ, Paige and Nikki Bella.  

Also on the card Mark Henry represented the good 'ol USA against the Russian Super Athlete, Rusev and Chris Jericho took on Randy Orton.  Roman Reigns should have been there fighting Seth Rollins but as we all know Reigns had to have an operation so Rollins won by forfeit.

Overall it was a reasonably good PPV with a couple (to me anyway) shocks but the main event was ruined by the return of Super Cena who almost beat Lesnar. Thankfully Seth Rollins poked his oar in so John couldn't be Champion.  Just weeks before, Cena was a broken man then suddenly he's back to normal.  It's predictable story telling and it's another reason for people to boo him.

The DVD features the kick off show and some exclusive interviews.  Blu-ray owners get a bit more content including a match from Smackdown.  Overall some decent bouts and well worth picking up.

• Starring Goldust  Stardust  Rusev  Chris Jericho  AJ Lee
• Distributor WWE / Fremantle

Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story

Finally the WWE have put together a stellar package to honour one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.  There was a DVD set released a few years back which was okay, but wasn't good enough to respect the legacy of this great man.  Now WWE have released a package worthy of him.

There are three discs in the package with disc one comprising of a documentary detiling the life and times of Savage. The other two discs are packed with matches of serious historical importance.  The blu-ray gets more matches and some extra stories and interviews.

The matches include title defences against the likes of Bad News Brown, Bruno Sammartino and The Ultimate Warrior in their Summerslam 1992 match at Wembley Stadium.  Also are a few matches from his WCW stint including bouts against DDP and Ric Flair.

The documentary is without a shadow of a doubt one of the best WWE have done.  The Paul Heyman  one was good, but this one is first class.  Savage's school friends are interviewed, we meet his Mother and his brother Lanny Poffo aka The Genius who is interviewed extensively.  Lanny shows that he truly loved his brother and shares many memories all of them priceless.  Savage's beginnings are shown, his WWF run and finally onto WCW.  His marriage to Miss Elizabeth is discussed as is his departure from the WWF and the infamous 'Nacho Man' character.  We all unfortunately know the ending but we get to know that Randy had found happiness and passed away a contented man.

Possibly the most essential wrestling release I will ever watch, truly magnificent.  

• Starring Randy Savage  Sting  Ted DiBiase  Diamond Dallas Page  Lanny Poffo
• Distributor WWE / Fremantle

WWE Attitude Era Vol. Two

The archives have been mined, the old logo's are now allowed so it's time to have more Attitude Era fun courtesy of those generous people at the WWE.

Wrestling fans often pine for the Attitude Era and rightly so, as it was a creative time with plenty of daring storylines and matches.  It was also a product of its time probably never to be repeated but there is hours and hours of footage to be seen hopefully on further releases as well as the Network.

There are well over 30 matches (including blu-ray) on the compilation as well as the usual 'talking head' interviews from Superstars past and present.  For the red blooded male there is plenty of the female form on display or 'puppies' as Mr. Lawler liked to called them.  We get to see Sable with her famous painted hands on her chest as well as other risque swimsuits worn by various Divas.  Sunny is well represented on the set and she is still as awesome now as she was back in the day.  The passage of time has treated her rather well.

Anyone who was anyone is here - The Rock, The Brood, X-Pac, Ron Simmons, Gerald Brisco and one of my all time favourites The Godfather.  I always loved this character no matter how un-PC he was.  It was a blast to see him again.  Also, a massive thumbs up from me is including Mark Henry in his 'Sexual Chocolate' persona and Mae Young with their escapades on Valentines Day.  Brilliant comedy, topped off with Jerry Lawler gagging into his crown.

A fantastic compilation and a MUST for all wrestling fans.

• Starring The Godfather  Edge  Dwayne Johnson  Sable  Mr. McMahon
• Distributor WWE / Fremantle

Summerslam 2014

This year's Summerslam was something special in that it was the first time we saw John Cena totally dominated by a fellow superstar, i.e. Brock Lesnar.  The result is now very well known and I still think it was brave for WWE management to show their number one guy get totally outclassed and humiliated.  Unfortunately Super Cena soon returned but at time of writing, he's nowhere near getting the belt back.

The rest of the card was also pretty good, there was Miz against Ziggler for the IC strap, another Paige/AJ title match and Jack Swagger taking on the might of Russia's Rusev in a flag match.  The Ambrose and Seth Rollins fight never took place due to what transpitred that evening, Roman Reigns fought Randy Orton and Jericho took on Bray Wyatt.  Finally a quick word on the Stephanie McMahon/Brie Bella match, not that great but a terrific build up on previous week's TV especially when Steph was arrested.

Extras wise, there is the kick off show match between RVD and Cesaro amongst other bits and pieces.  Blu-ray owners get even more including the above arrest and a 4 on 1 handicap Diva match.

Summerslam was a good PPV with that unforgettable main event, just a shame Hogan turned up for his usual antics "Brother!!" thankfully it was short and at the beginning.

Nice cover as well with a gurning Paul Heyman by Brock Lesnar.

• Starring Dolph Ziggler  Rusev  Bray Wyatt  Hulk Hogan
• Distributor WWE / Fremantle

Battleground 2014

I must say I am always quick to bitch about some of the poorer covers for WWE DVD's, but this one is truly great.  Looking for like a twisted horror movie, the cover shows Bray Wyatt doing his scary Exorcist walk - well done WWE!!

Battleground had quite a mixture of events with a Battle Royal for the vacant IC Championship due to Wade Barrett getting injured.  I always like Battle Royals and although the winner annoyed me there was soon redemption.  I did like however Miz hiding outside the ring, it reminded me of the great Edge in the Royal Rumble.

On the card was Jack Swagger taking on Rusev, Tag team Champs The Usos took on Harper and Rowan in a very decent match and we also had Jericho wrestling Bray Wyatt.  Dean Ambrose would meet his old buddy Seth Rollins but things didn't quite turn out as you would expect. AJ fought Paige for the Divas belt which in fairness wasn't a 'bathroom break' and I rather enjoyed their chemistry.

The Main Event was a Fatal 4 Way for the World Title with newly crowned Champ John Cena taking on Roman Reigns, Orton and Kane.  Once again a foregone conclusion but at least we had Summerslam to look forward to and we all know what happened there.

Extras wise, there are the two kick off matches between Naomi vs. Cameron and poor old Fandango having to fight 'one joke character' Adam Rose.  On the blu-ray there is all sorts of bits and bobs including an AJ/Cameron non title encounter and Chris Jericho winding up The Miz.

All in all, a fairly decent PPV let down by a predictable main event (result wise) but it was a good match.  Lots of action, so honestly a good buy.

• Starring AJ Lee  Jerry Lawler  Kane  Jack Swagger  The Miz
• Distributor WWE / Fremantle

Money in the Bank 2014

Although I will put my hands up and say I wasn't convinced a MITB PPV would work as I loved the match at Wrestlemania.  I have however grew to love the PPV now and this year's event was a little different as one of the ladder matches would crown a new WWE Champion.  This was due to Daniel Bryan being forced to vacate the title due to injury and the subsequent operation he had to have.   Also there would be a MITB contract match so the winner would have the obligatory year to 'cash it in' and usually become Champion although Cena and Sandow have failed in recent years.

Also on the card, The Uso's defended their tag team gold against Harper and Rowan.  Naomi took on Paige for her Divas title, Big E fought Rusev and The Rhodes Brothers fought Curtis Axel and Ryback.  I am really beginning to love Cody's Stardust character, he's playing it a little Joker'esque which I find highly entertaining.  Poor old Damien Sandow continued to look like a fool to the one joke character of Adam Rose who I actually began to really like but now he's getting on my nerves, I much perferred the Leo Kruger persona.  The 'bathroom break' match was Summer Rae against Layla with Fandango as referee, which I found riveting for all of five seconds.

MITB was in my opinion, a fine PPV.  The Championship ladder match was pretty good if the outcome was entirely predictable.  The contract match was excellent and showed that Rollins and Ambrose can be more than capable of helping lead the company for the next generation.

The extras are plentiful even on the DVD with Daniel Bryan's kick off interview and MITB classic moments.  Blu-ray owners do well with extra matches and the segment when Batista quits Evolution to obviously go off and promote Guardians of the Galaxy.

• Starring Stardust  Goldust  Damien Sandow  Jack Swagger  Roman Reigns
• Distributor WWE / Fremantle

Brothers of Destruction

Right, I'm not messing about here.  This is one of my favourite releases from the WWE in a long time and I'm going to tell you why.

According to the 'story lines' Undertaker and Kane share the same Mother (Paul Bearer got up to no good with her) and they have periodically teamed and competed against each over 3 decades now.  This DVD/blu-ray briefly covers their teaming together and includes a number of matches from television and PPV.

On the face of it, the release appears to be just another compilation but there is much more after you scratch at the surface.  We have the old WWF logo returning and mention of the World Wrestling FEDERATION to start with.  More importantly it's a great historical DVD as it features a lot of wrestlers no longer associated with the WWE and quite a few of them have gone on to work and still work at TNA.  Matches include such legends as Edge, Christian, DDP and The Rock taking on the Brothers.  Also, Undertaker's ex-wife is featured as well as she was part of his often forgotten American Bad Ass persona.

As per usual, the blu-ray (if you have one) is the better deal as there is four more matches including the one against The Shield last year.  WWE historians will also chuckle at the inclusion on commentary of an old ECW show with the legendary Mike Adamle on commentary, bless him.  Finally it's was sad to see Big Daddy V and Kanyon on there, two guys taken from us too early.

Essential purchase, enough said.

• Starring Glenn Jacobs  Mark Calaway  Dwayne Johnson  Mark Henry
• Distributor WWE / Fremantle

OMG! Vol. 2 - The Top 50 Incidents in WCW History

Following on from the WWE one a while back, the archives have been mined for a new volume.  This time around WCW gets the treatment and we have three discs worth of material (even more on the blu-ray set).

The compilation is to be fair excellent as it shows the very best WCW had to offer and the very worst and believe me there were some really barmy ideas.  We had a junkyard brawl, Chucky from Childs Play and bloody Robocop!!  Obviously the best stuff was from the actual matches and some great creativity in the booking.  The countdown is broken up with words of wisdom from various wrestlers offering their thoughts.

As well as the countdown, we have a massive selection of footage from the Turner libraries which include Championship matches, as mentioned above Robocop (how sad that was but strangely watchable) and the infamous Vince Russo's reset button when all the belts were vacated.

As an old fart I enjoyed seeing all my old favourites and it was sad to see quite a few of them are no longer with us.  Their legacies will live on and this release is ideal for the older fan (like me) and the younger fan as you can show them the 'good old days'.  Oh yes did I mention Robocop is in it?

• Starring Lex Luger  Finlay  Goldberg  Robocop  Cactus Jack
• Distributor WWE / Fremantle

WWE Payback 2014

I must say before discussing the actual PPV itself, the promotional sleeve above I think is one of the best WWE has done in ages. HHH looks menacing and very pissed off which he was going into the event itself.

The second ever Payback PPV featured an elimination match between The Shield and Evolution following the fantastic Extreme Rules match.  Cena took on Bray Wyatt in a last man standing complete with The Uso's and The Wyatt Family getting involved.  Sheamus with his new US belt fought Cesaro, Rybaxel tooks on the Rhodes Brothers and Paige defended her Divas belt against Alicia Fox.

Rusev continued his rampage against poor old Big E and Wade Barrett defended his IC belt against RVD.  The Authority continued to rule over WWE with an iron fist with a good segment where Brie Bella quit as Daniel Bryan was once again going to be stitched up.  Bo Dallas took on Kofi Kingston in a rather pointless match to be added.  Bo was fun to begin with but his character is now plain annoying, maybe he should join his brother?

The kick off match was El Torito against Hornswoggle which is an extra on the DVD with some a few other bits and bobs.  The blu-ray features a lot more including the 20 Man Battle Royal for the US belt.

As a PPV, I thought Payback was good and well worth the effort.  Evolution vs. The Shield was sort lived but it was a damn good feud whilst it lasted.  It also created with The Shield, three future main eventers.

• Starring Hornswoggle  Bo Dallas  Rob Van Dam  Michael Cole
• Distributor WWE / Fremantle

WWE Live in the UK - May 2014

Not too long after Wrestlemania, the WWE rumbled into the UK for the first of their twice yearly visits.  As per normal, all their shows (except NXT) were recorded and presented on their normal programming platforms. This year also saw the first time the WWE Network broadcasted some of the shows.

RAW and Smackdown continued with their storylines and if you remember Daniel Bryan had his operation so was unable to come over.  The matches presented included Sheamus vs. Cesaro and Seth Rollins taking on Batista.  Like I said before, it's always nice to see The Main Event included as Sky Sports don't show it yet.

As per the weekly shows, there's a fair amount of chat between matches, but the discs does have some nice extras from the kick off show.  Most importantly we have Hogan taking on the Macho Man from 1989 at the then WWF's first ever taped UK show.  I have this show on VHS when it was first shown and seeing WWE seem to have the rights now (Silver Vision never released this) the only way to watch the whole event is on YouTube, someone should pull their finger out and release it ASAP.

A pleasant reminder of the tour and if you look at the cover above, the new logo is prominent.

• Starring Paul Heyman  Seth Rollins  Paige  Bad News Barrett
• Distributor Fremantle / WWE

Ladies and Gentlemen, My Name is Paul Heyman

Let's cut to the chase, this chap is possibly one of the greatest managers in wrestling history if not the greatest.  He's also a bona fide genius for coming up with storylines and angles for every company he has worked for.  This is also the first non-wrestler documentary from WWE in some time and they have crammed a lot of history into this package.

Firstly, there is your normal WWE documentary covering Heyman's beginnings, his time in NWA/WCW, ECW, running OVW (WWE's then developmental territory) and finally the WWE.  There are plenty of stories from the man himself as well as interviews from the likes of Mick Foley, Stephanie McMahon and Raven.  Also we get plenty of footage of Heyman in his 'Paul E. Dangerously' persona complete with huge mobile phone and frightening mullet.

On the other discs (and extra blu-ray footage) there are amongst other material archive footage on the AWA days,  The Dangerous Alliance faction,  lots of ECW stuff and some bits with Lesnar, Mr McMahon and Punk.

It's a terrific comprehensive package and if you want to know more of Paul's days in New York's Studio 54 nightclub go and download Chris Jericho's recent podcast with him (and Edge).  Very good overall and a credit for WWE doing such a grand release considering how in the past Paul has rubbed them up the wrong way.  Remember not all creative wrestling legends are called McMahon.

• Starring Tommy Dreamer  Rob Van Dam  Joey Styles  Jerry Lawler
• Distributor WWE / Fremantle

Extreme Rules 2014

Extreme Rules 2014 came from the Izod Center and saw a Championship Match between WWE Champion Daniel Bryan against Kane.  As part of the ongoing 'Authority' storyline Kane was back at his scary best (within confines of a PG rating) and was targeting Bryan for his belt.  It wasn't too bad a match and there was a flaming table at the end (all of a few seconds), which brought back some memories of years past.

The Shield took on Evolution in an overall much better match with star making performances especially a high spot from Seth Rollins. It's a shame they split them up, but hopefully they'll get back together in the future.  Cena and Bray Wyatt's cage match was average at best, by this point I thought their feud was getting stale.  Wyatt at time of writing is stalking Chris Jericho who most likely will help Wyatt get over unlike the usual booking of Super Cena.

Paige took on Tamina for her belt and dispatched her quite well, an IC match between Bad News Barrett and Big E. and a triple threat elimation between RVD, Jack Swagger and Cesaro.  A squash match was also on the card with Rusev destroying R Truth and Xavier Woods.  I like Rusev, but the Rocky IV rip off with Lana playing Brigitte Nielsen is getting very, very boring.  Lets hope these promos finish up soon as they are grating.

The extras include the kick off match between El Torito (the bull) and Hornswoggle (the ex-leprachaun) fun but all a little pointless.  The blu-ray as per normal gets more including lots of highlights from the following week's RAW shows.

Not the best PPV in recent memory, but not the worst.  Get well soon Daniel Bryan, we need you!!

• Starring Jack Swagger  Alexander Rusev  Dean Ambrose  Roman Reigns
• Distributor WWE / Fremantle

United We Slam: The Best of The Great American Bash

WWE has dug into their vast library of wrestling footage and have finally put together a truly excellent compilation of the NWA/WCW PPV's.  Wisely they have avoided the WWE version of recent years (ending with simply 'The Bash') and kept only to the good old days.

Introduced by Dusty Rhodes at the NXT arena in Florida, he takes us through the years starting with the NWA footage of Flair vs. Nikita Koloff.  As we travel through time, we have a War Games event (which really needs to be resurrected) and a Rhodes/Flair championship bout from 1986.  On the first few matches there is new commentary from Rhodes and Larry Zbyszko, which is quite nice in a retrospective way.

As we switch discs, the WCW and then Ted Turner era begins.  Sting is very well represented here so hopefully this is a sign for future products.  Jericho turns up for a match with his good friend Dean Malenko and we also get a match with Ultimo Dragon against Psicosis.  Some of the matches are very NWO heavy, but then that was all Bischoff really knew, so it does look like WWF reject city.  However, throw in The Steiners, Magnum TA and The Great Muta amongst others and overall its a damn good box set.  The blu-ray as usual has a few extra matches, but be warned some of the picture and audio at times is a bit ropey but it is classic stuff so to be fair that is just a small whinge.

• Starring  Sting  Ole Anderson  Mike Awesome  Macho Man Randy Savage
• Distributor WWE / Fremantle

Batista - The Animal Unleashed

He's back and wants the WWE Championship.  Dave Batista returns to WWE and they follow him in an almost hour long documentary telling us what he's been up to since he left a few years back and what are his plans.  It's a well known fact that he in the new Marvel film 'Guardians of the Galzy' but it also covers his MMA training and first pro fight as well.  It all ends with his Royal Rumble win and we all know what happens next.  It features some great behind the scenes stuff and a great conversation with Rey Mysterio with no mask on. Don't get excited he has his back to the camera.

The discs are literally packed with matches.  We have an old OVW match between the then Leviathan and a very young looking Brock Lesnar.  JBL's in there with a Bull Rope Match and its nice to see a King Booker match (I always loved this character especially with his Queen).

All the main past and present players are in here such as CM Punk, HHH, Cena and the blu-ray has some great exclusives such as a 2002 fight with Justin Incredible and that Punjabi Prison match with Khali.

All in all, a nice package to welcome back Dave.  At time of writing he's gone again for a bit, no doubt to promote Guardians of the Galaxy but he'll be back.

• Starring Dave Bautista  Shawn Michaels  Kane  Johnny Nitro
• Distributor WWE / Fremantle

Wrestlemania XXX

I was really fascinated by this year's Wrestlemania, that for the first time in years I actually watched it live and not when I got up in the morning or the following evening (avoiding spoilers of course).

It would be interesting as far as I was concerned that firstly there was no CM Punk as he had walked after the Rumble and also what would creative do with Daniel Bryan as he was so over with the fans.  To be fair I wasn't disappointed except for perhaps the strained introduction where Stone Cold and The Rock blew Hogan off the radar with their still excellent promo skills.  Poor old Hukster even got the arena wrong.

All the matches were generally very good.  Bryan vs. HHH was a classic with two of the best from different generations going for it big time.  The winner going onto the Championship match with Orton and Bootista, sorry Batista.  The Battle Royale was first class with an excellent result.  Cena vs. Wyatt was pretty good but at time of writing, Super Cena has returned - how boring!!  The less said about Undertaker vs. Lesnar, just watch it.  The Divas match was a bit of filler as always.  The pre show was a tag team championship match and should have been on the main broadcast, but it was a 'network' exclusive.  How long do we have to wait for the damn Network, WWE?

The whole Hall of Fame Ceremony is included with that beautiful speech from the Warrior who would pass just a couple of days later. Loads of other bits 'n' bobs are also on the discs including some greatest 'Mania moments and the History of Andre the Giant.

This years 'Mania was excellent and the WWE pulled their finger out and delivered a really good classic PPV.  Even for an old cynic like me I loved the ending, but something else ending earlier on especially to a mercenary part-timer was not for me in fact I thought it quite crappy.  If it was the gentleman in question's choice that's fine, but someone else's - gimme a break!!

Not essential but a compulsory purchase.

• Starring Bray Wyatt  Daniel Bryan  Ultimate Warrior  Ryback  Cesaro
• Distributor WWE / Fremantle

Elimination Chamber 2014

The final PPV before Wrestlemania XXX featured in it's main event Randy Orton defending his Heavyweight title against Cena, Sheamus, Cesaro, Daniel Bryan and Christian.  It was a fair bout with the highlights being a great performance from veteran Christian turning heel again.

The New Age Pensioners defended their tag titles against The Uso's and at time of writing are now gone.  Thank the lord, they're still good but too old and their spots should be taken by younger talent. Swagger fought Big E in an IC match and there was also The Prime Time Players fighting each other as Titus had turned on Darren Young.

The Wyatts and The Shield also met as well as another pointless Divas match with AJ taking on Cameron.  There was a pre kick off match with The Rhodes Brothers taking on Ryback and Curtis Axel.  It was nice here to Axel's Grandfather (Larry 'The Axe' Hennig) at ringside and no doubt his Dad Mr Perfect looking down from above.  Batista turned up for a paycheck as well after his Rumble victory to fight Alberto Del Rio.  

Elimination Chamber was a pretty great PPV and it slotted in nicely in the run up to Wrestlemania XXX.  The kick off show is included as an extra as well as a fair amount of other stuff.  As per normal blu-ray purchasers get the better deal.

• Starring Batista  Christian  Sheamus  Michael Cole  Zeb Colter
• Distributor WWE / Fremantle

WCW's Greatest PPV Matches Volume 1

WWE has dug into their once biggest rival's archives and have put together the first volume of WCW's Greatest PPV Matches. Historically again this is an important release as it shows the alternative to Vince McMahon's vision during the wrestling boom right up until Ted Turner sold up.

Introduced by a WCW Legend and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T, we kick off with a Ric Flair/Ronnie Garvin bout from 1987 for the NWA title.  Taking place in a steel cage the Nature Boy was in his prime here complete with his blonde mullet and glittery robe.

The discs travel through time and feature more great Flair bouts with Ricky Steamboat and Sting among them.  Jushin Liger pops up and also a pre Stone Cold Steve Austin.  Brian Pillman is here also as well as a Cactus Jack/Vader bout with Mick bleeding as per usual.

Eric Bischoff's era is more than catered for with plenty of his WWE signings including Bret Hart, Hogan, Savage, Nash and Hall.  I never really liked WCW at this time,  I always liked the NWA era which is more than catered for on discs 1 and 2.  I felt and it all went to the dogs when Hogan and his cronies took over, but that's just my opinion.

Good to see the Halloween Havoc match between Eddie and Rey on there as well as a blu-ray extra of a certain Jean-Paul Levesque.  A nice historical release but if it was up to me, the next release would concentrate less on the Bischoff era and more around the 80's and the start of the 90's i.e. no Hogan.  Buy it for the kids to show them there was wrestling before John Cena.

• Starring Lex Luger  Ricky Steamboat  Ric Flair  Sting  The Road Warriors
• Distributor Fremantle / WWE

The Best of RAW: After The Show

As anyone will confirm that if you attend a TV taping of RAW when the show ends for television that isn't all the show for the paying patrons.  You get usually an extra 'main event' and all sorts of shenanigans featuring the WWE roster.  The only way you would know about this is if you actually attend the show or follow the WWE online.  So for the first time, we get to see lots of fun stuff and matches that only the people there that day saw.

Introduced by Renee Young, all the footage is commentary free as the likes of Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, etc. either had left ringside or sat back and enjoyed the show.  The three disc set is very Attitude Era heavy which is nice as we get see the older guys such as Undertaker (in his biker persona) and Booker T with his short hair.  On disc 3 is where the matches are there are all sorts on offer featuring the likes of Cena, Punk, HHH, Orton and a guy I really miss, Edge.

There is a massive presence of Stone Cold complete with his beers and a pre-Hollywood Dwayne Johnson showing that even at an early age he was pure gold.  The blu-ray features a few extra bits and bobs as per normal and all round its a nice package.  However due to it being Attitude heavy, a few younger fans may not 'get it' but for an old fart like me its pretty fine stuff.

• Starring Bill Goldberg  Lita  Vince McMahon  Shane McMahon  Big Show
• Distributor WWE / Fremantle

Royal Rumble 2014

Another year, another rumble and with this being the official start to the 'Road to Wrestlemania' all eyes were on the WWE to put on a great show.  Unfortunately this PPV will be remembered for a lot of negatives and some great positives. 

The positives being the continued development of a certain Roman Reigns into a main event player with 12 eliminations beating Kane's decade old record.  An excellent starter match with Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryan with both of them proving they are and MUST be main eventers going forward.  The actual rumble event was exciting and well put together.  Again, we had a superb moment from Kofi Kingston and some great individual performances.  Now on to the bad...

The main event between Cena and Orton (yawn!!) was booed almost from the word go and in my opinion it wasn't the two wrestlers fault.  Sure the match wasn't that great to begin with but they did put on a good performance considering the crowd were poisonous to them from the virtual get-go.  The eventual winner of the Rumble was booed so bad, it must have shook the foundations of Titan Towers, considering how much it must have cost to bring him back.  The crowd then went berzerk at the end when a certain DB didn't materialise.

Don't even get me started on the appalling booking of Brock and Big Show, lets just say it was an easy payday for Brock that night.

The extras include the kick off show where Cody and Goldust defended their Tag Team Championship against the New Age OAPs, sorry Outlaws and other bits 'n' pieces.  It was a good card considering all of the above and I recommend purchasing it whole heartily.

A couple of final points, after another sterling performance, its a shame this could be the last time we see CM Punk in a WWE ring as of time of writing he's gone.  Also, maybe it just dirt sheet conspiracies or internet nonsense but if this PPV made management sit up and take notice of the same  BS being forced down our throats it can be nothing but a good thing.  Yes! Yes! Yes!

• Starring Goldust  CM Punk  Kevin Nash  John Cena
• Distributor WWE/Fremantle