A – Excellent B – Good
C – Mediocre D – Avoid
Release Date: 4th February 2013
Available From: www.wwedvd.co.uk
Price:
DVD £19.99
Blu-ray £22.99
Format Reviewed: DVD (3 Discs)
(Also Available on Blu-ray – 2 Discs)
What It’s About:
The definitive 100 moments from the past twenty years of WWE Monday Night Raw, taking in the shocking, the hilarious, the emotional and the utterly outrageous, from C.M Punk’s pipe bomb, taking in The Rock concert, passing through Edge’s retirement ceremony and being invited to Stephanie McMahon’s wedding in Las Vegas...
Strengths:
(Due to the amount of material across all three discs, we’ll split them all into manageable categories with the entry numbers in brackets)
Comedy Moments:
'Are We Ready For Some Wrestling?' (94) from November 22nd 2004, raises a huge smile for Vince McMahon's terrific line to Shelton Benjamin "You do understand Shelton, you're an African American!" It also got a huge reaction from the attending audience.
‘DX impersonates the McMahons’ (93) brought many chuckles at the time thanks to Triple H and Shawn Michaels’ excellent comedy timing and surprisingly spot on impersonations of Shane and Vince McMahon. The end though in which the duo pour supposed excrement over Father, Son and the Spirit Squad brings the moment down slightly.
‘Mr. McMahon’s birthday bash with D-Generation X’ (83) is notable for Vince’s reaction to the ridicule of his age by Triple H and Shawn Michaels which is played to perfection, especially for a man who dislikes the public knowing how old he is.
Shocking Moments:
‘Evolution Kicks Out Orton!’ (98) is the beginning of Randy Orton as a serious headline star and was an angle that took an unsuspecting bystander by surprise, even though it was a horribly rushed piece of television in 2004.
‘Triple H and Shawn Michaels reunite DX’ (74) which went down on the July 22nd 2002 edition of Raw, flawlessly restored Hunter to a heel after a drab face run and was the lead in to an exceptional street fight at SummerSlam. It’s also notable here for being the beginning of Shawn Michaels’ comeback after four years on the shelf.
'C.M Punk Cashes in Money in the Bank' (73) on June 30th 2008 can be pin pointed as the moment Punk finally arrived in WWE, even though he'd been with the company for two years. Punk's comments on the matter taken from a sit down interview with the man himself are the most honest and refreshing of the whole 100 moments as Punk is the only wrestler permitted to tell the truth and not mark out. Punk says on the moment “I was sitting in the Gorilla position freaking out” and then goes on to mention the process of face and heel cashing in processes which breaks WWE Kayfabe, but gets full marks for being left in.
‘Dumpster Incident’ which WWE have ranked at (59) is a great stunt spot and was genuinely a jolt to the senses in 1998. It was also a great platform for the New Age Outlaws to build off of as one of the hottest tag teams of the Attitude Era. Billy Gunn’s comment of “You do what you got to do to get noticed’ is one WWE’s talent in 2013 should listen and take note of.
Both 'Chris Jericho Wins the WWE Championship' (54) from April 17th and 'Goldberg Debut' (51) the night after Wrestlemania 19 are worth their inclusions, even though the decision on Jericho's WWE Championship win was reversed. Just to note, it was a gripping match. Goldberg’s WWE debut brought a fresh slant on the WWE headline scene.
‘Mankind Attacks Jim Ross’ (46) is a deeply dark, yet satisfying angle which takes a look into Foley’s life. Jim Ross does a superior sell job.
‘WCW / ECW Alliance’ (27) was a huge, unexpected and perfectly executed moment. Had the resulting invasion not been almost a total dud then I would have been stating this should have been in the top 10 moments for what it would have meant. WWE really did drop the ball with this in 2001.
'123 Kid Upsets Razor Ramon' (20) is one of the earlier Raw moments from May 17th 1993 and is another classic moment which deserves its spot in the top 100. It was more than an underdog victory. It was the moment that Sean Waltman had made it in professional wrestling.
‘Bischoff is the New Raw GM’ (17) was one of those rare, standout moments in WWE history. Something which we never thought we’d see and one to savour for eternity. Eric Bischoff absolutely sparkled in the role.
‘Pipe Bomb’ (5) is nothing less than epic. Even though it should have been one of those moments which WWE should have included in its entirety, it still deserves its place in this list and in its top 5.
Tear Jerking / Sentimental Moments:
‘Edge’s Retirement Speech’ (81) is still an emotional moment. Even in highlight form it brings a tear to the eye and should have been ranked higher in the list for what Edge did for WWE.
‘Ric Flair’s Retirement Celebration’ (56). Even though we know now that Flair would surface in TNA, I believe he may have honoured his retirement had been able to afford it. Nonetheless, at the time, for a man who had given so much, it was a powerful piece of television.
'Bret Hart Returns to Raw' (24) on January 24th 2010, merits an inclusion in Raw history as Hart hadn't stepped foot in a WWE ring for 13 years. His reconciliation with Shawn Michaels in a lump in the throat moment.
The Matches:
'Loser Leaves Raw Ladder Match' (87) fought between Edge and Matt Hardy on October 3rd 2006 was a cracking match, made even more personal by the real life history between the duo and Amy 'Lita' Dumas.
‘Bret Hart vs Stone Cold: Street Fight’ (71) isn’t actually a match of sorts but is a heated angle with a classic finish.
Sadly each of the above gets less than two minutes to show how great they truly are. WWE should have made the effort to include each of these matches in their entirety.
Iconic Moments:
‘Triple H Takes Over D-Generation X’ (80). Notable for the beginning of Triple H as we know him now. This was a very important moment in both Raw and WWE as Triple H didn’t have Shawn Michaels to follow or fall back on. He had to go it alone as the leader. This does feature a killer promo from X Pac on the night and it’s also good to hear from a 2012 X Pac as a talking head on this moment. Though the years haven’t been kind.
'Cemented Corvette' (66) comes to us from October 12th 1998 and the height of the Austin vs McMahon feud. In 2013 the moment is still one of the best.
‘Greater Power Revealed’ (61) and ‘Intercontinental Championship Over a Bridge’ (60) helped either further the feud between Austin and McMahon or enhanced Austin as a rebellious blue collar worker who was fighting against the regime. The first features a great promo from McMahon and the latter illuminates how stunning Austin was verbally when WWE allowed him to go off on a tangent.
'Formation of Evolution' (49) is of consequence as it was the beginning of Randy Orton and Batista as serious wrestlers. Both men had been saddled with either dowdy or comedy characters before February 3rd 2003.
‘Bret Hart shoves Vince McMahon’ (44) signals the genesis of problems both in front and behind the camera and would inevitably lead to Bret Hart’s exit at Survivor Series 1997 and sew the seeds for the dastardly Mr. McMahon character.
‘Jeff Hardy’s Swanton Off of Titan Tron’ (42) is curiously placed in the running ordered but breathtaking nevertheless.
‘Stone Cold Drives Zamboni’ (41) is special. Austin’s comments to Vince as ‘the Rattlesnake’ was being escorted away by guards “I’m not through with you yet Vince. I’m not through with you yet not by a long shot!” made sure fans knew that the war between the two which would be the saviour of WWE, wasn’t over.
‘Bret Screwed Bret’ (37) may have been a moment that long time fans may have wished to see left off of the main body as we’ve had about a gut full of the events of Survivor Series 1997. There’s no denying though that it does deserve its place here. It was the first time we’d seen Vince break Kayfabe and it was the creation of the Mr. McMahon character which is somehow unthinkable that WWE could have done without. This has to be one of the most famous moments in Raw history. Vince Russo’s comments that Bret left McMahon with no other choice are sheer farce. There was a ton of other choices.
A trio of groundbreaking moments round out the 30’s. ‘The Rock Challenges Hulk Hogan’ (32) is something we’d been waiting for, for years and was ably handled by the pair and a decade later is still a pleasure to watch. As is ‘Stone Cold stuns Mr. McMahon’ (31) which laid the foundations of the Austin / McMahon feud. ‘DX invades the Norfolk Scope’ (30) was a landmark time for WWE as it took the initiative in the Monday Night Wars and took the fight, literally, to WCW. Never before in the modern era of wrestling, had wrestling promotions, without knowledge of what was going to happen, been invaded by their rivals. DX displayed an aptness here.
‘Debut of Monday Night Raw’ (29) will forever be a cherished memory.
‘Bedpan McMahon’ (25) whilst amusing is much more than a comedy skit when you look at what followed in WWE. It’s here that Vince McMahon shows why he may be one of WWE’s most underrated performers.
Equally ‘Triple H Returns to Raw’ (23) and ‘Batista Turns On Evolution’ (19) are powerful moments in their own right. Triple H had been gone from WWE for nine months and WWE handled the Batista face turn with aplomb. The crowd popped big when Batista gave Triple H the same thumbs down Triple H had given Randy Orton in 2004, expelling him from the group.
'Mick Foley Wins the WWE Championship' (18) on January 4th 1999, is a moment a grown man finally realised his dream. It's shocking how emotional a sight like that is. Foley deserved the victory over the Rock for all of his excellent performances and sacrifices for the company. It was also the moment that turned the Monday Night War on its head forever. WCW gave away the result live on Nitro and 600,000 people turned to channel to see Foley raise the gold. They never turned back.
‘Shawn Michaels loses his smile’ (16) from February 13th 1997 ushers in another historic moment.
'Pillman's Got a Gun' (13) was a well acted angle, one which pushed the boundaries for the time. Austin and Pillman were sublime.
‘Vegas Wedding’ (12) may not be a natural strength of a DVD, when you consider Triple H supposedly drugged his now real life wife and married her in a cheesy Vegas ceremony, before she could marry Test (in the storyline). Take into account though that it grew into the most important time in WWE after the Attitude Era, namely the ‘McMahon-Helmsley Era’ and you see why it has to be included as one of the most definitive moments of Raw and WWE.
The remainder of the top 10 here is made up of 'Raw / Nitro Simulcast' (9), a sad moment in time, being the final ever WCW show; 'Tyson vs Austin' (4) featuring a red hot pull apart brawl; 'Millenium Man' (3) is the WWE debut of Chris Jericho featuring a legendary exchange of words with the Rock and possible the most definitive and famous moment of Monday Night Raw ever 'Beer Bath' (1)
Happily there is minimal blurring of the old WWF sign which has hampered past releases and served as a distraction.
Of the extras, only one of the 6 bonus Raw moments are worth viewing, ‘Rocky Waters’, and as you’ll read below should have been included in the main countdown. However WWE did see sense and include a making of the Raw 1,000 Episode which takes a rare look behind the scenes and even at only 5 minutes long, it’s a treat to see WWE personnel out of the ring. It would have been nice if this were 25 minutes longer.
Raw’s 1,000 Episode, included in its entirety, is a rip roaring trip down memory lane. None of the angles or matches last too long thanks to the amount of old talent booked on the card. Worth all of the two and a half hours of disc space it occupies.
Weaknesses:
The Celebrity Moments:
Sadly with WWE, where there’s an abundance of good, the bad is never usually far behind. We begin with the tiresome celebrity moments which do not belong in this list and it’s a disservice that so many of them take the places of actually wrestling moments.
'Sheamus Puts Mark Cuban Through a Table' (95) is a pointless moment as is 'Seth Green is the First Celebrity Host' (91) from July 13th 2009 Raw. Neither entry has a baring on Raw's history and both men left no impact.
Entry (79) ‘Hugh Jackman Punches Dolph Ziggler’ only serves as a determent to Dolph and his status in WWE. Hugh Jackman was a total ‘mark’ all through this show.
‘Bob Barker Hosts Raw’ (62) was maybe the dullest of celebrity hosts. Barker played a seemingly never ending game of ‘The Price is Right’ with WWE Superstars and then did nothing else all night with the exception of a tussle with Chavo Guerrero. Barker’s comments on the angle make the inclusion even more ludicrous when he says “As for Chavo Guerrero, I’ll give Chavo a rematch on the 2,000 Episode!” Before interviewing Barker, WWE should have either told him Chavo now works for TNA or cut this entry entirely.
Unbelievably ‘John Cena vs Kevin Federline’ (52) is ranked higher than Edge, Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair’s farewell moments and John Cena’s match with Shawn Michaels in England. Utterly pathetic and just goes to show you how much WWE value celebrity moments over that thing they promote called wrestling.
Sadly the celebrity inclusions don’t end there. ‘Shaq Attacks Big Show’ (47) is a spot that not only could have been given elsewhere but both men in this angle were truly dismal.
Each of these moments feel like they were only included so WWE could say to us, the entertainment industry and most of all its rival wrestling companies “Look at the calibre of celebrities we can attract.”
The Distasteful Moments:
'Snitsky Punts Lita's Baby' (90) was a ghastly and repellent angle from the November 8th Raw, when after being accused of causing Lita's storyline miscarriage, WWE had Snitsky punt a baby doll into the crowd and proclaim it was Lita's. WWE reached new lows with this.
‘Choppy Choppy Pee Pee’ (40) is unbelievably included and ranked higher thank all the great matches mentioned in the ‘Strengths’ category. Having Kaientai attempting to cut off Val Venis’ penis was just a soul destroying thing to sit through.
‘Live Sex Celebration’ (34) should have been omitted considering how many lives the actually affair between Adam Copeland and Amy Dumas destroyed behind the scenes. It exists only to acquire heat for Edge.
‘Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night’ (14) is yet another entry that should have gone astray from this compilation. It was brilliantly unsettling as McMahon supposedly walked to his own execution unknowingly with the entire WWE locker room lining the backstage and was going to result in ‘Who Killed Vince McMahon’ storyline which was meant to be Vince’s final appearance on WWE television. However knowing now that the whole storyline takes place just weeks before Chris Benoit, Nancy Benoit and Daniel Benoit’s deaths WWE should have shown a modicum of decorum and put something else in its place. Knowing what came in reality weeks later, makes this entry a very hard watch.
The Comments:
Each moment in the countdown is commented on by another wrestler or person involved in the angle and or quite often by those who had no bearing on it. Almost every one of these comments are absolutely ridiculous and quite obviously scripted for them by WWE. 99% have nothing relevant to say or anything new to add to the moment in question. What makes it worse still; is that the wrestlers are speaking in character and not permitted to give their real thoughts on each moment. They also talk about each moment as if it’s real and not a work. After WWE did so well in allowing C.M Punk to tell the no holds barred truth on his DVD, it makes no sense whatsoever not to allow everyone to do so.
Those that aren’t scripted by WWE are taken from old footage. I won’t reel off all of the irrelevant comments but some of the very worst start off with Kofi Kingston talking about the Wrestlemania 14 challenge between Undertaker and Kane (97). Kingston marks out big time stating that Kane lit the Undertaker’s casket on fire at Royal Rumble 1998 and that’s what it took for Undertaker to lift a hand to his younger brother.
Sickeningly Jerry Lawler, who has many deplorable moments as a talking head on this release says of the Snitsky punting Lita’s baby angle, “It was one of the funniest moments ever in the history of Raw, at least for me!” Of the moment ‘Sable Wears a Potato Sack’ (15) which is preposterously ranked so high when it should have been excluded as it doesn’t warrant an inclusion in the greatest ever moments of Raw, Lawler chimes in with the comment that this was “One of my greatest moments!” Not finished there, on the moment of Goldust giving mouth to mouth to Ahmed Johnson and Johnson’s furious reaction from 1996 Lawler declares this “One of the greatest moments...” and “One of the craziest sights I’ve ever seen on Monday Night Raw!” Out of everything Lawler has sat through he deems this the craziest? Maddening. On more than one occasion Lawler labels a moment “The Greatest Moment”. Maybe WWE should have told him there can only be one.
WWE should have axed talking heads Matt Striker and Vince Russo as they often are the biggest source of annoyance and make you want to press mute when they appear. Both men come out with some truly laughable stuff.
Hugh Jackman's audio bite hilariously claims that he had no idea he was going to get involved in the Zack Ryder vs Dolph Ziggler match on the September 19th 2011 Raw. Another nonsensical comment seeing as every wrestler, backstage crew member, guest and quite often the audience knows what's going to happen. Jackman isn't the only one though; too many WWE Superstars claim that they had no idea what was going to happen moments before their so called ‘moment’. Anyone who has even a basic knowledge of how wrestling works will be able to pick these comments to pieces.
WWE do not allow Brock Lesnar sufficient time to explain why he left WWE in 2004. Instead the rushed interview which clocks in at less than thirty seconds, over Lesnar’s reappearance in WWE in 2012, has Lesnar mention that he wanted more. This would have been greatly improved had WWE allowed Lesnar to explain the real reason why he left WWE, which was for a career in NFL. When that didn’t work he went to UFC.
Other talking head lowlights include Alex Riley, remember him? Describing the ‘Are We Ready For Some Wrestling’ Moment (94) as “One of the Greatest Moments of Raw, for me!”; Steve Lombardi joining the marking out crew when commenting on the Ric Flair vs Mr. Prefect match, although WWE do not permit Lombardi mentioning why Flair left WWE in 1993, because he had agreed to rejoin WCW. Again the truth wouldn’t have done anyone any harm and added some knowledge to the moment for those who never watched it live.
What could have been a strong part of the main feature ends up being something you constantly want to punch those who are talking in the face. Had WWE allowed more time for each moment and not insisted each talker do so in character then it could have been really special. As it is, WWE should have left off the talking heads and allowed the moments to play out on their own.
Those That Should Have Been Excluded:
Entries 100 – 90 are mostly a waste of time permitting the odd few. ‘Silent Stare’ (100) in which Undertaker and Triple H stare down each other in preparation for their Wrestlemania 27 match is certainly not one of the greatest by any means. ‘Tea Time With Santino’ (99) is an absolute joke. WWE may have felt they needed to include this for the comedy element however the DVD could have benefited had it gone missing. The same goes for 'Mouth to Mouth' (96) and extraneous shot of Goldust giving Ahmed Johnson mout to mouth. Rounding off the 100 - 90 moments we have 'Tuxedo Match' (92) from January 9th 1995 Raw gives us an unforgettable sight of Howard Finkel and Harvey Whippleman ripping each other's clothes off. That will be burnt on out retinas until the day we die. Anyone who thinks this belongs in the 100 Greatest Moments of Raw does not know what they are talking about.
‘Musical Chairs’ (78) is fun for a very limited time and then drags horrendously to its conclusion. Notable only for Ric Flair’s interactions and dirty old man routine with Stacey Kiebler. Absurdly this gets more coverage than some that deserved to.
'Stephanie Announces Her Pregnancy' (72) combines two moments, that od its namesake from February 11th 2002 and of course the moment where Triple H finds out she's lying and jilts her at the altar. The latter may validate an inclusion as it was the demise of the 'McMahon Helmsley' partnership on screen. Triple H and Stephanie kept WWE on fire between 2000 and 2001 when the Attitude Era began to die down.
‘Hornswoggle is Mr. McMahons Son’ (68) needs to be locked in a vault and sent to the bottom of an ocean. The culmination of this story was one of the biggest let downs in Raw history. The spot could have gone to an up and coming wrestler who would have greatly benefited from the association. Instead they give it to Hornswoggle.
‘Rock vs Cena – One Year Away’ (45) should have been better. Instead of all the talking, the Rock should have simply hit Cena with a Rock Bottom and then stood over him and said “I’ll see you at Wrestlemania 28!” That would have been much more intense.
WWE have done a great amount to protect Ryback from his past as Skip Sheffield and the Goldberg comparisons. Yet the entry where Nexus invade WWE clearly shows Ryback as Sheffield. WWE should have cut his face shot from this.
‘DX Mocks the Nation’ (7) and ‘Number 1 Draft Pick’ (6) are both important times and do warrant a place, just not the one they have. Both picks should have been pushed back to the 30’s or 40’s.
The main feature ends prematurely and could have used a short wrap up review with the final word coming from Vince McMahon himself on how important Raw has been for WWE.
As for the extras, 5 of the 6 bonus Raw moments are a real let down. These include ‘WCW on Raw’, ‘One Man Band’ in which Heath Slater has the gall to say he’s one of the greatest moments on Raw and then with no hint of irony say “Look at what I’ve accomplished! There isn’t a wrestler past or present who can compete with the One Man Band!” In actual fact, Slater has accomplished nothing. ‘Shawn Michaels mocks Montreal’ doesn’t have even half of the impact or interest as when the Rock did so on the main feature. ‘Piven Hosts Raw’ yet another celebrity moment and ‘Sheamus wins King of the Ring’. All should have given way to full length matches of the better entries.
Those that have not been mentioned are either good or not worth mentioning.
The Moments That Should Have Been Included:
There are so many moments nestled in the 100 that should never have made the cut. Instead WWE should have included some of the more important moments which they neglected to incorporate. These include Bret Hart vs the 123 Kid (Raw 1994); Shawn Michaels collapsing in the middle of the ring after an Owen Hart inzaguri kick (Raw 1995); Paul Heyman coming to Raw when ECW hadn’t completely fallen (2001); Triple H’s WWE Championship victory over Big Show (1999); Formation of Stone Cold and Triple H tag team the night after Wrestlemania 17; Randy Orton punting Vince in the head (2009); Stone Cold hitting the Stunner on the entire McMahon Family (Raw Homecoming); The First WWE Draft (the entire thing); Sabu diving from the RAW sign (1995); The Rock’s thrilling put down of Booker T and Shane McMahon during the Invasion months (2001); Eric Bischoff being fired (2005); Shawn Michaels parody of Hulk Hogan (2005); DX’s jibes at Sgt. Slaughter because of his chin and wearing protection visors to the ring (1997); DX’s mockery of an election speech where they swore and cursed through the whole thing (WWE could have edited out the language); British Bulldog vs Owen Hart in the European Championship Match Final (1997); The Owen Hart and Eddie Guerrero tribute Raw’s (1999 and 2005); ECW invasion of WWE (1996); Bobby Heenan’s poignant Raw exit (1993); Triple H blowing his quad and still completing the match (2001); Undertaker rousing “There’s no shame in going out, fighting and getting your ass kicked; but there’s no pride, no honour in not fighting at all!” speech to the WWE locker room during the invasion angle (2001).
Each and every one of these would have made the release much better had they been included in the place of those in the ‘Weakness’ category.
DVD and Blu-ray Special Features:
The entire 3 hour, Raw 1,000th episode.
The Making of Raw 1,000.
6 Bonus Raw Moments.
Blu-ray Exclusives:
90 Minute Legend Roundtable Discussion of Raw’s illustrious history: featuring Jim Ross, Road Dogg and more.
Conclusion:
The constant inclusion of so many unworthy moments is a let down especially when WWE have an extensive back catalogue of everything that ever transpired on Monday Night Raw. The DVD picks up the pace and quality on Disc 2 and it’s ten times better than Disc 1 which is almost entirely forgettable for the amount of trash WWE have decided to include on it.
The moments are very brief and none are seen in their entirety which is disappointing and makes it difficult to really engage in them. By the time you reach the end of the countdown you get the feeling that had WWE lengthened those which have earned their standing then it may have been a lot better. The first DVD runs at one hour and forty one minutes which means WWE had at least another one hour and nineteen minutes to extend the best parts. It just never bothered. Disc 2 has at least another hour after the 100 Moments have finished, another opportunity for the lacklustre who complied this to give us more material.
Saved by Discs 2 and 3, this should have been renamed from ‘The Top 100 Moments of Raw History’ to simply ‘A 100 Moments of Raw’, that way WWE couldn’t have been pinned to the wall by the ‘Top’ tag and we’d have no reason to complain about some of the truly horrendous choices on display.
This release does have some genuinely great moments on the main body and the extras are of the highest degree. The Top 5 moments all deserve their places on this release and it’s a blessing that WWE neglected to include the widely disgusted ‘Katie Vick’ angle. When it’s bad it’s awful, when it’s good it’s fantastic. Had the entire release been the standard of DVD 1 then WWE would have had a real flop on their hands, however if you can stomach sitting through some of the worst moments ever on Raw and some of the lamest, infuriating comments from those who should know better then this is worth the money.
Rating: B
Onwards and upwards
