A – Excellent
B – Good
C – Mediocre
D – Avoid
Release Date: 25th February 2012
Available From: www.wwedvd.co.uk
Price: DVD £12.99
Format Reviewed: DVD (2 Discs)
What It’s About:
WWE’s U.K tour recorded in Birmingham, England in November 2012. Featuring Raw, Smackdown, Superstars and for the first time ever on DVD an episode of The Main Event.
Strengths:
From Raw:
The show begins with a confrontation between the Miz and Paul Heyman, in which the Miz quits Team Punk at Survivor Series. The confrontation is done with great ease, is very well handled and is quite intense for the short time it lasts. It’s also the beginning of the Miz’s hasty face turn.
Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara and R-Truth vs The Prime Time Players and Antonio Cesaro is worth a look, despite the usual Sin Cara blown spots and the patchy areas. Considering the Prime Time Players are the worst tag team in WWE today, or at least up to the point of this recording, the match can be seen as a success. The most amusing part comes before and after the bell has sounded and at the hand of Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio mocking the Prime Time Players dance. That does raise a smile.
John Cena admitting his flaws during the Cena / A.J Lee scandal spot is very refreshing and could be seen as a brave move from the leader of the ‘Cenation’. Taking into consideration the amount of hostility he currently receives from audiences this may be the biggest leap Cena has made in years. It also gets a huge reaction from the attending audience as does A.J.
The spot involving Vince McMahon and Vickie Guerrero, where Guerrero has to name a third man for the triple threat Survivor Series WWE Championship Match is witty thanks to Vince. “If you say Dolph Ziggler again, I’ll fire you on the spot” line from Vince to Vickie is made all the more humorous by Vince’s look. However, this angle should have been used to hype Ziggler and not bury him.
Kofi Kingston vs Alberto Del Rio takes a very long time to get going, but when it does hit its stride it’s a commendable effort. Considering the extensive talent of both Kingston and Del Rio, this match should have been much better. The crowd are never louder during this clash than when Randy Orton’s music hits. Yes, Orton is more over than both Kingston and Del Rio.
Surprisingly, Team CoBro vs Primo and Epico is respectable for a match involving Santino Marella. This generations Doink the Clown. Zack Ryder and Santino both display an impressive amount of athleticism. You get the feeling by the end of this match that if WWE book all of their tag team matches to be like this then maybe the division wouldn’t be in such disarray as it is now.
C.M Punk’s promo before the tag team main event is hot. Especially when he gets onto the subject of Vince McMahon and states “Vince McMahon continues his favourite tradition, at Survivor Series, of screwing his most talented performer!” It’s a great promo by Punk but one that does yet again bring up the Montreal Screw job from Survivor Series 1997. A subject that we’ve heard so much on it’s time to cast it into the past and never bring it up again.
Raw’s tag team main event pitting C.M Punk and Dolph Ziggler vs John Cena and Ryback is unexpectedly watchable for a John Cena offering. Whilst most of the credit has to go to Punk and Ziggler for a tremendous effort, it’s John Cena who pulls off a very fine sell job. No, it’s not a typo; I did just say John Cena sold well – mostly. The ending of the match is very rushed though and Ryback ends Punk far too easily.
From Smackdown:
The Miz vs Kofi Kingston for the WWE Intercontinental Championship is fast, technical and very involved. Even though the match serves the Miz with another loss to Kingston, the WWE Intercontinental Champion neglects to sell an injured leg in places and the announcers seem to have been given the edict to do everything they can not to put Miz over, this match comes very much recommended.
Another outing which sees Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara take on the Prime Time Players, this time in tag team competition is only interesting when Mysterio gets involved towards the very rear of the match. The Prime Time Players are so inactive they look like mere bystanders until Mysterio gets the tag. Still, the match is laudable for Mysterio’s contribution.
The Falls Count Anywhere Match between Randy Orton and Alberto Del Rio is the highlight of this release. Exciting, the match spills all over the building and both Orton and Del Rio put in a hell of a shift. It’s a match worth watching again even if you’ve seen it already and highlights Randy Orton’s strengths in helping evolve talent which needs a guiding hand getting on the right side of the audience. Alberto Del Rio is the man who gets the better share of the match though, thanks to Orton’s selfless performance.
From The Main Event:
Sheamus vs Wade Barrett is another hard hitting encounter if a little disappointing for what both men are capable of. Equally, Sheamus and Wade Barrett are adept at delivering much more than this. To give it away on a show like The Main Event is an injustice to both men’s talents and standing in WWE. This would have been better had it been part of Raw.
The extras are worth their inclusion on the release, comprising two previously seen and available on DVD matches from two WWE events in the U.K. Randy Savage vs the Ultimate Warrior from SummerSlam 1992 is very good indeed even though it fails to top their Wrestlemania 7 encounter. It is evident that Savage carries the Warrior through the thirty five minutes and apparent is the Warrior’s poor physical condition thanks to years of steroid and other drug abuse, when he’s badly blown up by the end of the match. He really does look a hell of a state. Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect’s involvement at ringside helps the match to keep its edge even though the count out finish is very poor.
The Rock vs X-Pac from WWE’s Capital Carnage event in 1998 is top class all the way and was the best match from a disappointing night. Those who own it on DVD or saw it will be able to testify to that. The Rock and Pac both were in their prime here and this match showcases how much further Sean Waltman could have gone in WWE had the company invested in him as a headline player.
Weaknesses:
From Raw:
The reality television beginning in which WWE get their voice over guy to recap what happened last week and what’s to come on the edition you’re watching, is now getting old. This is meant to be wrestling, not a reality television show and certainly not a cheesy American drama which is what this gives WWE the feeling of. It’s time to cut the ‘Previously’ and ‘To Come’ moments and just get on with what we’ve all come to see. ‘Wrestling’.
The whole four episodes come on DVD as they were broadcast. Which means every link to every ad break is left in and dips in an out of the action even when there’s a match going on. There’s no plausible reason WWE could have left this in when they possess all of the footage of what happened between breaks, the cameras have to keep rolling. It would have made much more sense for WWE to cut the links to the ad breaks and give us the show in full without any interruptions. Let’s face it, otherwise we could have recorded all four shows when they were on and saved ourselves money buying this release.
The John Cena and A.J Lee love story angle in which Vickie Guerrero tries to present footage of the pair romantically entwined goes on and on and on and on. What makes it worse is that Guerrero’s footage is meaningless and adds nothing to the angle seeing as her presented footage could have been taken at two different times. John Cena gets through this angle yet again with that conceited grin on his face and I can’t begin to tell you how exasperating Vickie is. Her voice could cut glass.
Daniel Bryan vs Cody Rhodes is maddeningly short and gets nothing accomplished. In fact it’s just a shoo in for Kane vs Damien Sandow which is yet another waste of time. Yet again Sandow is used as a punch bag and comes across not as a serious contender to the WWE Tag Team Championship but a mere coward. Both matches have been done to death now and it’s time for some new material. WWE should have cut the Cena / Guerrero angle by half and allocated the time to Bryan and Rhodes.
Introducing Brad Maddox in preparation for his explanation of why he screwed Ryback eight days earlier at Hell in a Cell, Michael Cole bizarrely announces that the Hell in a Cell Match at Hell in a Cell 2012 between C.M Punk and Ryback was “One of the most controversial matches in WWE history!” I know WWE like to hype their matches so people will buy the DVD’s and Blu-ray’s but overstated comments like this do them more harm than good. People who watched the match know what a lie it is and people who have purchased Hell in a Cell 2012 on DVD and Blu-ray will also know by the time this is released, the match was short, dull and had it not been for Punk it would have been a washout.
Brad Maddox’s explanation of why he screwed Ryback at Hell in a Cell 2012 should have either been rewritten before WWE allowed him out to the ring or cut completely for another format of explanation. Maddox articulates that he was unfairly treated and lost in the pack so to speak. The whole explanation doesn’t paint WWE or its developmental leagues in good light about how the future generations of this business are treated. Even though everything Maddox said was true, to save themselves the embarrassment, WWE shouldn’t have given him the material to shout about. The only thing it can achieve is driving away potential stars in the making when they’re offered a WWE developmental contract. However, I can sympathise with Maddox and the rest of the guys who are being treated that way because it’s how I feel when I’m trying to get someone to look at my work.
Vince McMahon single handedly manages to kill off all and any heat Dolph Ziggler had in his spot with Vickie Guerrero. When discussing the main event of Survivor Series and the triple threat match for the WWE Championship, Guerrero mentions the shot should go to Ziggler. Bare in mind that Ziggler is the future World Heavyweight Champion and WWE should be doing everything it can to push him, it’s then absolutely absurd that the head of the company, the man that has made so many stars in his time responds to Vickie’s comments that Ziggler should have the WWE Championship shot at Survivor Series with “I thought you were going to say someone who deserves it!” Worse, McMahon goes on to pronounce that Ryback deserves it more than Ziggler. Utter absurdity!
Sheamus vs The Miz is hampered by constant camera cuts to Big Show on commentary. It happens so often that it’s an unremitting distraction from what’s happening in the ring, one which stops us from getting involved in the match. Whilst on commentary, Big Show and those sitting at the gorilla position deem it fit to verbally trash the Miz and make him seem all but insignificant. At one point Big Show even suggests that Sheamus would be ruined if he lost to the Miz. I wonder how many brain cells are being used in Titan Towers these days. Judging by this, not many.
Wade Barrett vs Brodus Clay and Kaitlyn and Layla vs Eve and Aksana are dull and play out to mostly silence. When the top divas walked out of the company, it should have been the wake u call Vince needed to do something. As for Barrett and Clay, it’s a mess. Even the heroes homecoming welcome that Wade Barrett gets and the odd good move isn’t enough to offset a rotten match in which Clay proves himself to be nothing but an embarrassment.
The commentary isn’t great even though Jim Ross is at the table with Michael Cole, in the absence of Jerry Lawler. Sadly, Ross can’t do any better than his colleague for the evening in the ‘dumb shit to say’ department. There’s a lot of it to go around all four shows, Ross’ worst moment comes when he says “I’m sure everyone in the back is excited about John Cena and Ryback teaming tonight!” No one ever bothers to question J.R about why everyone else would be excited about the team of Cena and Ryback, when the truth is if the rest of the locker room gave a damn about their careers or were remotely competitive they’d be annoyed the spot in the main event of the show didn’t go to them.
J.R’s final dumb comment of the evening comes during the mind-numbing Heath Slater vs Jay Uso match. Ross announces to the entire watching world that wrestlers are only in the industry for the money. When talking about the money rewards for winning a match, which is an old legend, everyone knows in 2013 that wrestlers are signed to fixed contracts and get paid a fixed amount per month / annum. The only exceptions to this are pay per view events like Wrestlemania and Royal Rumble when wrestlers get paid more or less depending on their involvement. Anyway, back to the point. J.R exclaims “Why else would you be here?” Idiot. After years of being told by wrestlers like Triple H and Ric Flair that if you’re not in this business to be the WWE Champion then you don’t need to be here at all, J.R and those who gave him the order to say it should have thought twice. What everyone involved were basically telling impressionable young people watching, people who don’t yet know better is that you don’t do things because you love them, you do them just for the money. I believe that’s pretty much the same philosophy that hookers live by.
From Smackdown:
Big Show and Wade Barrett vs Sheamus and William Regal is slow and uninteresting until the match reaches it’s final few seconds. When you think of the roll Big Show was on, Sheamus, Wade Barrett and William Regal’s talents, there’s no excuse for a match as un-lively as this one.
From The Main Event:
For a show that is promoted here as being available for the first time on DVD, WWE never took this into account when booking the show. Two matches are all we get and the rest of the time is just packed with unnecessary and repeated video packages from Raw and Smackdown. WWE knew that they’d be releasing this as a DVD and therefore should have made a special effort this once to make it worth owning.
Once again, the Big Show provides guest commentary on the Sheamus vs Wade Barrett match. Miserably, Big Show repeats and goes over almost everything he said during his commentary on Raw, during Sheamus vs the Miz. Nothing new is added to the Sheamus vs Big Show feud and just as it did on Raw, the camera constantly cuts to Big Show taking away from the action.
R-Truth vs Heath Slater is a bore and round out everything The Main Event has to offer. Full of rest holds and stalling, these type of matches are what the fast forward buttons were created for. Interestingly though, in his 3MB gear, Heath Slater looks almost the spitting image of British comedian and song writer, Tim Minchin.
From Superstars:
This is completely forgettable and a waste of time. The two matches encompass Jimmy Uso vs Jinder Mahal and Tensai vs Justin Gabriel. The first is totally worthless. The Uso’s could have been the next Headshrinkers. Had this been 1994 they would have been big. The latter encounter exists solely to ruin Tensai more than he already has been. The match consists of a demolition job on Gabriel on for him to spring to life and take the victory. Sheer rubbish. I don’t know why WWE bother putting Superstars out anymore.
Special Features:
SummerSlam 1992 – 29th August 1992
WWE Championship Match
‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage vs The Ultimate Warrior
Capital Carnage – 6th December 1998
WWE Championship Match
The Rock vs X Pac
Conclusion:
WWE have been giving us the ‘Live in the U.K’ DVD’s for years now and still the format hasn’t changed. It’s about time WWE gave it a rethink. A reinvention wouldn’t go amiss as just the four events on their own aren’t enough for the people who watched them live to go and purchase them, especially if they’re as bad as those on this release. The pay per view DVD’s are a different argument because people buy them for prosperity. WWE has to add an extras incentive to these releases because they’re just not worth the money. One option WWE could look at is following in the footsteps of TNA, in producing a thirty minute documentary following the WWE superstars as they travel to and from shows, doing fan interaction events and really get behind the scenes. This would warrant purchasing a title such as this.
Smackdown is the best show out of all four and the only one really worth watching. Raw, The Main Event and Superstars are all mediocre or worse in the ring and too much time is spent going over old facts, all which you will have seen before Raw and Smackdown draw to a close. By the time you get to the end of ‘Superstars’ you’ll be so fed up with seeing footage from Raw and Smackdown, Big Show’s bar attack on Sheamus and William Regal and Brad Maddox’s explanation that you’ll want to put your fist through the screen.
‘WWE Live in the U.K – November 2012’ takes a huge amount of dedication to watch, even in three sittings you’ll struggle to get through it all without either getting bored or losing concentration somewhere down the line. Great wrestling DVD’s should hold the attention of the viewer until the whole thing is finished. Half way through this one, you’ll be wondering what else you could have done with the time. If you collect WWE DVD’s occasionally, looking for the very best wrestling possibly then you won’t find it on this release. This is for completists only.
If it wasn’t for the Randy Orton vs Alberto Del Rio Falls Count Anywhere match, this DVD would be getting a ‘D’ rating. It’s only because of these two that it’s spared. If you want to see or own the match and aren’t a WWE DVD / Blu-ray completist, then you’re best off waiting until the release of ‘Best of Raw and Smackdown 2012’. It’s time WWE stopped being so inhibited with these type of releases and let it all hang out.
Rating: C
