A – Excellent
B – Good
C – Mediocre
D – Avoid
Release Date:
March 10th 2014
Available From: www.wwedvd.co.uk
Price:
DVD £ 19.99
Blu-ray £ 22.99
(Prices from www.wwedvd.co.uk: high street prices will vary)
Format Reviewed:
DVD (3 Discs)
(Also Available on Blu-ray (2
Discs)
What It’s About:
A
look back at the best bits of WWE’s Raw and Smackdown television shows from
2013. Including Dolph Ziggler’s once momentous World Heavyweight Championship
victory, The Rock’s reign as WWE Champion and the WWE World Heavyweight
Championship ascension ceremony plus tons more.
Strengths:
C.M
Punk vs Ryback (Raw, January 7th) in a TLC Match for the WWE Championship is a
very good outing which is made all the more believable by Punk’s carrying of
the Goldberg wannabe and the way he works to his own strengths instead of
pandering to the monster. Ryback seems better suited working to others paces
more than his own. Not fond of wasting time here, one of Ryback’s finest ever
singles outings employs weapons early on to distract from any shortcomings
whilst Punk looks a million dollars considering he’s a man who has just
returned from knee surgery. Selling Ryback’s power to perfection, the bout does
take a dip when the former Skip Sheffield works over Punk’s leg but one cannot
gripe too much seeing as it’s all logical. Though I think it’s a sad reflection
on wrestling and Ryback today that when Punk tries to snap his challenger’s
ankle in a steel chair, it wouldn’t have mattered had he succeeded. Refreshingly,
this isn’t a hit and run bout, in which each try to grab the gold at every
opportunity. In fact neither bothers about the main prize of the match until
the very end and are content on destroying each other. Ryback’s missed spear
through a waiting table looks excellent and it’s around this time you begin to
get a different vibe when comparing this effort to other less satisfactory TLC
bouts – a good vibe though. Paul Heyman is excellent throughout the bout and
his selling, comments and faces are priceless. If the match had been a stinker
then it would still have been worth watching for Heyman alone. The one downside
is that as Punk was on a collision course with The Rock at Royal Rumble he
could have done with winning this bout without the help of The Shield to look
as strong as possible. However Roman Reigns Powerbomb through a table and onto
the ring steps is divine.
Alberto
Del Rio vs Big Show (Smackdown, January 11th) is their excellent Last Man
Standing bout for the World Heavyweight Championship where Alberto Del Rio
takes the step from jobber to main event star in one foul swoop. Looking like a
new man after his 2012 burial, Del Rio exudes emotion and makes you care about
his plight to be the Champion again. Through a well paced and exciting encounter,
the Mexican’s constant fight back really makes you want to stand up and cheer
for him which is a weird feeling seeing as it comes around so little these
days. The Cross Arm Breaker over the top rope is executed to perfection and
whilst Big Show looks genuinely lost for ideas after his Chokeslam fails to put
Del Rio down for the ten count, his refusal to stay down, even after a WMD
punch is a stirring moment as the challenger rolls out of the ring and lands on
his feet to break the count. This is the Alberto Del Rio we should have seen
more often when he was face, he’d have gone a long way. The last grasp attempt
to claim the gold is almost inspiring, depending on what gets you going.
Tipping the announce table onto Show is an ingenious and joyous moment in which
you feel really happy for Alberto even though you know how it ends. The
question is, can he do it again in 2014?
C.M
Punk and The Rock Confrontation (Smackdown, January 25th) is a very intense
piece of work between the two which is actually better than the matches they
had. Following a stupendous promo by Punk, The Rock comes to the ring and for
once is a man of very few words, though he hasn’t lost the knack of talking
like most would. It’s a rare moment in wrestling when one man talks and actually
takes you back to the good old days when everything was simpler and we didn’t
have to pick apart what was wrong with the business to make it better. In a
taut moment, The Rock gazes Punk in the eyes and with every ounce of
seriousness states that not only are the walls closing in but when he has Punk
elevated in The Rock Bottom ready to plough the champion into the canvas, the
last though in Punk’s mind before he’s driven to the mat will be “It’s Over”.
Knowing now that this would lead to the end of Punk’s historic WWE Championship
reign, it’s all somewhat poignant.
Vince
McMahon Confronts Paul Heyman (Raw, January 28th) is another outstanding
showcase of two men who know how to control an audience with words. Instead of
interrupting the boss and Heyman at every opportunity, the capacity crowd are
hooked on their every word. It’s a testament to the respect both men have
earned over the years. McMahon sanitising his hands after shaking Heyman’s paw
is a scream as is the seriousness in which Paul Heyman displays when trying to
duck out of his association with The Shield and Brad Maddox, through “You Got
Busted” chants, after video evidence is shown on the titan tron of him
admitting to paying both parties. Reeling off another thrilling promo, Paul
Heyman should be employed in a bigger role than he currently occupies and Vince
is flawless all the way through. His humour is second to none. If you listen
closely then you’ll find an in-joke from Vince and Heyman when Paul blurts out
that he can learn to be an honourable man from the boss, very few times has
Vince ever been honourable. Fans singing “Goodbye” to Heyman chirps up Vince
more than a million dollars in his bank account. Brock Lesnar almost brings the
house down as it’s the first time he’s been seen up to this point in a very
long while and his interactions with Vince are silently brilliant as Paul
Heyman is a scream with his off the mic comments as Lesnar drops the boss with
a thunderous F5. Thoroughly entertaining throughout.
C.M
Punk vs John Cena (Raw, February 25th 2013) is another brilliant match. John
Cena goes through the usual routine with maddening regularity but there’s
nothing here which is truly horrible. Wisely, C.M Punk slows down the match to
a pace Cena can contend with and thankfully it doesn’t hold up the match whilst
the submissions holds make sense padding out a logical match. Each reversal is
done with aplomb and the crowd rise to their feet as Punk reverses a move into
the Anaconda Vice. Though John Cena predictably sells nothing the match builds
to a heated confrontation with the best series of moves being a chain of
reversals which begins with John Cena reversing a Flying Clothesline attempt
into an STF, for Punk to reverse the STF into an Anaconda Vice only for John
Cena to reverse it into a crossface which the commentators call an STF. It’s a great
sequence of moves. John Cena hits a very good sit down Powerbomb without any
mistakes and there’s a killer near fall after a flying leg drop by Cena. This
could be a pay-per view main event for the drama which comes from it. Cena
nearly breaks his own neck on a hurricanrana attempt and Punk hits a thrilling
piledriver which is nice to see again in WWE.
The
Rock and John Cena Point-Counter Point (Raw, March 4th) begins with a comical
promo by The Rock, in which the crowd pop for all of his catchphrases. John
Cena is pleasantly competent on the microphone and manages to get through
ninety five percent of his speech and the angle without smirking, though it
does come into play from time to time. Passionate and serious, you feel that
losing to The Rock at WrestleMania 28 really did mean something to him, though
the segment descends into madness when Cena seems to blame Rock for his life
going into a tailspin both in front of and behind the camera. Surely Cena isn’t
that dumb he’d blame The Rock for his divorce? This is a thoroughly absorbing
confrontation, more so than almost any the pair had one year before, with the
pise de resistance being both men quoting famous lines to end. Cena quotes Mike
Tyson’s “To Be the Greatest Ever, You Have to Beat the Living” before being
trumped by The Rock quoting Lance Armstrong and then shot down when ‘The Great
One’ venomously spits, “He Was Full of Crap and So Are You!” Excellent. If only
all WWE stars were as good on the stick.
Alberto
Del Rio vs Jack Swagger (Raw, April 8th) is about on par with their
WrestleMania 29 clash; that is, nothing to brag about. Whilst it boasts a few
highlights such as Del Rio’s dive to the outside and a Cross Arm Breaker into a
Slam, but Alberto never really sells the injured leg and it’s clear where the
audience’s priorities lie when they begin to chant “We Want Ziggler!” This
could have been the greatest match in history but no one would have cared
because for them, it was rightly time for the next generation to take centre
stage. The match is saved by Dolph Ziggler cashing in his Money in the Bank
briefcase which gets one of the biggest reactions I’ve heard in years just
coming down the aisle. Though Del Rio fails to sell the injured leg which was meant
to prevent him from retaining the gold and Ziggler had to fight maybe more than
any other opportunist casher in to attain his title, it is a true punch the air
moment when Ziggler pins Del Rio to capture the gold. It almost brings tears to
your eyes and the reaction is deafening. It’s just such a shame the company
never persisted. They cannot treat Roman Reigns like this in 2014.
The
Undertaker and Team Hell No vs The Shield (Raw, April 22nd) is a rollicking
match which easily takes match of the night and match of the release honours.
Undertaker, in his first appearance on Raw in 3 years gets a God like welcome
back to the UK and rightly so. During the match, Undertaker still doesn’t look
like he’s lost his pace and talent, a fact furthered by the chants of ‘You’ve
still got it’ by the crowd. Let’s be honest, Undertaker never lost it. Daniel
Bryan is efficient, taking the brunt of the punishment from Reigns, Rollins and
an impressive Ambrose and the artist formerly know as Bryan Danielson pulls off
some sumptuous looking transfers with The Shield, including a great suicide
dive and a classy front dropkick from the top rope. The Shield are equally
impressive here. Seth Rollins takes a fine bump off of the ringside barrier
stemming from Bryan’s suicide dive and even though Roman Reigns is spared heavy
duty here, Dean Ambrose is a tour de force entering a superior performance. The
future is bright for these three indeed. The Shield victory is the right call
by WWE even if the ending to the match should have been more impactful. This
match should have been the main event of the show as it is high quality stuff
indeed.
Brock
Lesnar Invades WWE Headquarters (Raw, May 6th) is, more than anything, an
insightful look inside WWE’s base. The Andre the Giant statue is impressive but
in a low point, Paul Heyman disrespects verbally, before Heyman picks up the
angle and helps carry what would be a tiresome journey through the building
with his snipes at Triple H and the McMahon family. Brock Lesnar staring down
an oblivious worker in the elevator is amusing as is Paul Heyman whistling
Fandango’s theme tune. Security are suspicious by their absence, no one is
going to tell me that a billion dollar corporation doesn’t have the most
Neanderthal guards on the planet guarding its ever asset. The sledgehammer on
the wall of Triple H’s office is a ‘coincidence’ as Lesnar exudes badass
destroying the office which if you keep your eyes peeled, has a specially
constructed plasterboard wall which dents and breaks as Lesnar hurls objects
against it. It’s not a thriller, but entertaining enough for the look behind
the scenes.
Curtis
Axel vs Chris Jericho (Smackdown, June 7th) is a lively and consistent bout
which Curtis Axel looks nothing but perfect, to coin a phrase. Axel’s Neckbreaker
off of the ropes has a great tone to it; whilst his interactions with Jericho
are fluid and swift enough the match feels like a mid-card pay-per view bout,
or at least one of the better ones. For once, Chris Jericho does well to sell
and get Axel over as a star; this is where Jericho can do the most good should
he return in the near future. The high flying moves are crisp and the final
distraction of Punk’s music hitting may get the crowd on their feet and provide
long enough a distraction for Axel to roll Jericho up, but for full effect he
really should have won alone. Very impressive match which sadly Axel couldn’t
maintain when he took the Intercontinental Championships strap. Had he been
able to do so, then who knows where he would have been right now.
Mark
Henry’s Retirement Speech (Raw, June 17th) is a genuinely moving speech which
is so well crafted you don’t see the heel turn on John Cena at its conclusion.
Whilst its hard to believe that Mark Henry would concoct such a plan just to
get to John Cena when he could have marched to the ring after a match and
ruined him with a Falling Splash is somewhat a head scratching moment, but
overlooking that, you could be forgiven for believing that the man who has
accomplished very little in his years here is really ready to fly the nest. It
does take a while to get to the speech however as John Cena bangs on about his
2012 and somewhat telegraphs the turn stating that at Money in the Bank he will
know where his next challenge comes from, just before Henry makes his entrance,
but its only a minor gripe. As Henry stands in the ring soaking up the
heartfelt ‘Thank You Henry’ and ‘Sexual Chocolate’ chants, JBL absurdly states
that Mark Henry has accomplished a lot in his career when he clearly hasn’t. As
for the man himself, Mark Henry is the best he’s ever been. Crying, thanking
everyone, telling his children that daddy is coming home before picking up John
Cena and dropping him with a Falling Splash which the crowd go crazy for. It
just goes to show you, that no matter how bad you really are, when it comes to
the end you’ll be as respected as the very best will be. The funniest chant of
all is ‘You’ve Still Got It’ as Henry sobs in the ring. He never had it, but it
was nice of them to say so.
Randy
Orton vs Daniel Bryan (Raw, June 24th) is everything their main event pay-per
view matches struggled to be. Fun, energetic and flowing this is what the pair
should have strived to show us at Night of Champions, Battleground and Hell in
a Cell. Had they done so then maybe Daniel Bryan’s chase for the WWE
Championship would have still been in the main event today. Amongst the charge
counters with steel chair shot, counters and a particularly fine Powerbomb
counter from the apron through the table by Bryan, you’ll find it a task to
spot a wasted move. The kendo stick / kick sequence is particularly riveting as
is the T-Bone Suplex through a standing table by Orton puts everything on the
line to make Bryan his equal in image. Only one of two men to do that – the
other was John Cena. A Hurricanrana block into a Powerbomb is sumptuous but the
real power of this match comes from the different finish which sees a ‘Yes
Lock’ countered only to be applied with a kendo stick for the tap out. If
anything can be used as evidence that the WWE Championship is holding Randy
Orton back then this match is it. He was a better wrestler without the weight
of expectation.
A.J
Lee and Kaitlyn Contract Signing (Smackdown, July 12th) is another entertaining
piece of verbal action as A.J taunts Kaitlyn with a great promo before
proceeding to read out fake texts about the other divas that Kaitlyn sent to
her secret admirer. Both women are perfect here and A.J takes pleasure in being
the naughty little minx, right up until Kaitlyn traps her in the corner with
the table and then belts Langston with a stiff slap which made my face hurt. If
you like slick promos and great back and forth verbal’s then this has something
for everyone. It’s quite amusing as well.
Randy
Orton vs Rob Van Dam (Smackdown, August 9th) is another thriller which begins
at a hell of a clip with some classic RVD moves. Van Dam missing the Flying
Crossbody over the top rope looks excellent as is Orton’s selling of RVD’s
offence. You’ll find nostalgia spots aplenty here, with RVD Double Leg Rolls,
Spinning Leg Drop from the apron and great height on a Split-Legged Moonsault.
Randy Orton’s backbreaker from the ropes looks flawless amongst the fast paced
action including a great Northern Lights Suplex which is more what we demand
than the usual boring match formula. There aren’t many matches which can put a
smile on your face, this is one of them.
Antonio
Cesaro vs Santino Marella (Raw, September 9th) is mostly brief and of no
consequence, but is kept entertaining by Cesaro and to a degree Santino. Every
slam, kick and move is done with such overselling that it becomes entertaining
to watch. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe a little Santino every now and again is a
good thing. The match does boast a great throw / pin combination to end the
bout. Like I said, brief but a welcome distraction from the heavy tone of
everything else.
Cody
Rhodes, Goldust and Daniel Bryan vs The Shield (Raw, October 7th) is a lively
six man tag team match, twenty four hours removed from Battleground. As they
were the night before, Cody Rhodes, Goldust and The Shield are brilliant and
Daniel Bryan leaves his mark on the match as well. Cody executes a thrilling
springboard dropkick and Goldust appears to have gotten better with age. Daniel
Bryan hits a sublime 180 degree German Suplex in a sequence which looks so
agile WWE need to be questioned on why they are wasting him. Illogically, even
though he’s been fired earlier in the Show, Big Show’s entrance music is queued
up so he can storm to the ring and knock Triple H out in a good looking segment
which also sees Big Show treat The Shield like jobbers.
Cody
Rhodes and Goldust vs Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns (Raw, October 14th) is a
thrilling tag team match which stars at a snails pace but builds into something
unforgettable. Roman Reigns brings out his rest holds to maddening effect but
when the match catches fire, it’s one everyone should see. Cody Rhodes is
mightily impressive in the final third whilst there’s a beautiful reversal of
the Disaster Kick from the ring steps which is transferred into a Powerbomb into
the barricade to maximum effect. The ‘This is Awesome’ chants are thoroughly
deserved. Too much happens to describe here but sadly the WWE Tag Team
Championship victory is hyped to be more down to Big Show interfering rather
than the solid work of the Rhodes brothers.
John
Cena, Cody Rhodes and Goldust vs The Real Americans and Damien Sandow
(Smackdown, November 1st) isn’t as thrilling as it would have been had it been
a tag team match between The Rhodes Brothers and The Real Americans but it is
still notable for some good action which harks back to the days of 1980’s six
man tag team warfare. The worst thing about the bout is that it comes after
Damien Sandown’s failed cash in attempt and it’s plain to see that no one cares
about the character anymore. He had limited appeal when he had something about
him, namely the briefcase, stripped of that combined with the burial he received
after he won the briefcase; there was never any chance of scraping any decency
back in the ring. The damage had been done. Goldust is once again a highlight,
if there was an award for most improved wrestler then surely it would go to
him. Dustin’s Bulldog using Damien Sandow as a springboard is excellent. There
are huge swathes of time when the bout goes nowhere but luckily for the flow,
it only emphasises the excitement when it comes along. Building well, John Cena
is wisely kept to a minimum as to negate the negative effect on others careers;
he is competent when his time comes. Antonio Cesaro is crisp and professional,
handling John Cena very well and the slow decline back to the golden days of
wrestling with blind tags which aren’t noticed by the referee and cutting the
ring in half are a welcome distraction. John Cena nails a beautiful spear on
Jack Swagger outside the ring and his yelps of ‘tag’ to Cody Rhodes every time
he comes Cena’s way in the Cesaro Swing are funny. Cesaro’s counter of the
Attitude Adjustment into a Gutwrench is sublime as is the Uppercut which Cena
gets great height on. There’s a nice sequence to end the affray but Cena
finishes Swagger off too quickly without any real rhyme or reason.
C.M
Punk and Daniel Bryan vs The Shield (Raw, November 11th) in a two on one
handicap match begins slow but gradually picks up the pace when Daniel Bryan
enters. C.M Punk’s part in the match makes him feel like he’s on pause. Bryan
hits a lovely German Suplex on Rollins, but the fans are visibly jaded by the
time the main event rolls around – they have been sitting there for nearly
three hours as WWE taped Superstars before Raw – and it’s high time the show
wrapped up. There is hardly any enthusiasm left. That however is remedied when
The Wyatt Family enter the fray and brawl with The Shield before all six men
chase Daniel Bryan and C.M Punk around the ring before Punk and Bryan get the
better of them to the audience’s approval. It’s not a classic but the final
five minutes are very good.
Josh
Matthews is a more than able host. Straying away form feeding us facts we
neither need to know nor care about, Josh gives us the basics and allows us to
see what happened for ourselves. WWE should employ Josh to host every release.
He’s a steady hand to steer the ships and it’d be a better gig than the one he
currently has in the company.
Weaknesses:
C.M
Punks Mocks Paul Bearer (Raw, April 1st) is still a sickening display of
disrespect by the WWE. Anyone who stands by this as the only way to hype The
Undertaker vs C.M Punk at WrestleMania 29 is wrong. There were many other ways
and the company should have found one. That anyone involved agreed to this is
just unbelievable. After everything Paul Bearer did for the company, this is
how they repay his memory? His family were rightfully disgusted as were the
audience inside the arena who had sit through a feeble Undertaker promo before
being bombarded with this rubbish. They do however chant C.M Punk for some
reason. As far as I can see, everyone involved should be heavily ashamed of
themselves.
Maddeningly,
WWE have still left the ad links in the matches thus they’re included as they
went out on the night, only to show us what happened during the break via the
WWE app. What’s the point of that? Just include the footage in the release.
Fandango
vs Kofi Kingston (Raw, April 8th) is a nonexistent bout which its running time
can be counted in seconds on two hands. Not so much of a match as a beat down
of a new talent, Chris Jericho gets involved almost immediately and pounds
Fandango for his victory the previous night at WrestleMania 29. How anyone at
WWE can class this drivel as the best of Raw and Smackdown is as baffling as
their selection process for these releases. The fans are loving it though and
still living up the Dolph Ziggler title victory. Fans ruled this Raw. The
stupidest thing about all of this though is that after being humiliated by
Jericho, the thing Fandango is most irate about is the ring announcer
pronouncing his name wrong.
Randy
Orton and Sheamus vs Big Show and Mark Henry (Smackdown, April 19th) is a
thorough bore. Not only does it take an age to get going, when it does it’s
only for short spurts of time before either Big Show and Mark Henry slow it
down again with mind numbing rest holds which when you fast forward through
looks like its on pause. That’s never a good sign. Sheamus and Orton do their
best to try and lift it but it never quite works. How many times can we sit
through a five minute nerve hold? Randy Orton does manage to kick the match up
a gear towards the end but it is too little too late, I’ve passed wind which
was more exciting than this. Big Show and Mark Henry look lazy and
uninterested.
Alberto
Del Rio’s Championship Fiesta (Smackdown, June 28th) is, unless you’re a
Mexican, a total snooze fest. Literally nothing happens until Dolph Ziggler
crashes the party and we’re forced to sit through Mexican folk bands playing
tunes and Del Rio whacking a Piñata with Ziggler’s face on it. It’s like being
at the worst party in the world where everyone is waiting for something to
happen and you’re forced to walk around relatives you don’t really like just to
make the time go quicker. The only thing which could have made this worse was
mad uncle Norman talking about his stamp collection and then proceeding to show
you pictures he’s taken.
The
Wyatt Family Make a Statement (Raw, July 15th) is an underwhelming segment and
a very loose piece of television as they wail away on R-Truth before Bray Wyatt
cuts a disjointed promo about the man who created us still being alive and
amongst us. It’s an underwhelming moment at the beginning of The Wyatt’s
career. The promo and beating aren’t strong enough to force them over as
serious threats and when they single out Kane as their first victim, you’re
kind of left guessing as to what the point was of them being there at all if
nothing meaningful was going to happen. Fans though do eat it all up, I guess
they’re so desperate for new stars they’ll take anything offered, weak or
strong. Only the ending proves a strong base when Bray Wyatt drops to his knees
over Truth’s fallen body and proclaims in a unsettling manner, “Follow the
Buzzards”.
Damien
Sandow Searches for his Briefcase (Smackdown, July 26th) boasts yet another
pointless set of separate segments joined together to make one long, very dull
sequence as Sandow searches for his Money in the Bank briefcase which Cody
Rhodes steals at the conclusion of Damien’s bout with Randy Orton. Until Sandow
gets to the river where Rhodes is waiting with the case, it’s a procession of
stomping about hallways yelling at people. The briefcase in the river spot also
feels overdone. WWE need to find someway of reimagining this, whilst Sandow
jumping in the river after stating he can’t swim is pure ridiculousness. This
has taken the place of an actual match.
Miz
TV With John Cena and Daniel Bryan (Raw, August 12th) is basically a suck up
segment in which both men kiss the arses of the audience big time. Both men are
wasted here as is their mic talent. Cena moronically says this is the most
exciting Miz TV ever, it’s far from it. Miz’s script is cringe achingly awful
and sounds like an amateur daytime soap. Cena grins through everything Daniel
Bryan says so we can’t take any of it seriously even when Bryan calls John Cena
a parody of a wrestler and accuses him of being in it for the fame and glory
and not for the wrestling. He just laughs, what a cock. Both men are in danger
of contracting cherry blossom poisoning the amount of boot licking they do.
Hilariously, Cena contradicts himself when he says that as long as there are
people behind him he’ll wrestle with a broken neck, funny that seeing as he
didn’t with a ripped muscle in his arm. If he says he can wrestle with a broken
neck then surely a torn bicep / elbow wouldn’t have hindered him. He needs to
watch what he’s saying because people do pick up on it. Halfway through John
Cena sounds like he’s about to cry and Miz may as well not be there as Cena
strikes again stating that what he does is wrestling. The way it’s put across
it’s as if WWE are trying to tell Daniel Bryan that what John Cena does is
actually wrestling and what he does is something else, it’s ridiculous and
somewhat infuriating to listen to. As Daniel Bryan tries to get across how
important SummerSlam is to him, John Cena shrugs it off and laughs as if it
means nothing. It goes on and on and on for at least fifteen to twenty minutes
and the only notable thing is the ending in which Cena looks ever inch the heel
when he slaps Bryan across the face.
Big
Show Faces Off With The Shield (Smackdown, September 13th) is an excellent
angle...if its main intention was to discredit The Shield in one foul swoop.
After a promo which could cure insomniacs and an apology to Triple H which
makes the former ‘Giant’ sound like a robot, Hunter laughable states that Big
Show is the locker room leader and that if a COO tells you to do something and
you fail to comply its grounds for dismissal. Rubbish! If your COO gives you a
gun and tells you to shoot your wife and kids that’s not grounds for dismissal
if you refuse. WWE need to check these scripts thoroughly before they let them
pass through. Worse, Triple H then tries to make us believe that millionaire
Big Show (yes, he really has accumulated millions. For what I’ll never know) is
broke. So broke in fact my minions he can afford to take time off after
Survivor Series. When The Shield get involved, Big Show dismantles them like
NXT jobbers giving no thought to their image or future development. It’s only
at the death of this tiresome segment the trio get the upper hand.
Championship
Ascension Ceremony (Raw, December 9th) is yet another bore where Randy Orton
and John Cena stand and verbally abuse each other amidst a group of former
champions. Triple H says that they’re in the ring with a collection of
celebrated champions when they’re surrounded by Big Show, Alberto Del Rio, Jack
Swagger, The Miz, Mark Henry, The Great Khali and Dolph Ziggler to name but a
few when in actual fact they’re everyone the company buried as champion and the
only real celebrated champions amongst the whole lot are Shawn Michaels, Bret
Hart, Booker T and Triple H. The crowd go nuts for Daniel Bryan and constantly
chant his name throughout the procession which visibly annoys Triple H and
Stephanie – they can’t make us think like them all the time – and John Cena
does a great job of arse kissing yet again when brings Bryan to the forefront
as someone who has worked for his success and that is why the audience love
him. The end sequence is at least impressive though as the showdown degenerates
into a brawl as C.M Punk attacks Randy Orton after being shoved, Triple H
attacks C.M Punk and Punk retaliates, Shawn Michaels nails Punk with Sweet Chin
Music, Daniel Bryan sends HBK to the mat with a Spinning Leg Sweep then sends
Randy Orton hurtling into Stephanie which gets him a Pedigree. The only sweeter
way this could have ended is if Bret Hart had have nailed Shawn Michaels.
Unfortunately its length and lack of content before the brawl makes it a chore
to sit through.
Blu-ray Exclusive
Extras:
Raw – January 14th 2013
Steel Cage Match
John
Cena vs Dolph Ziggler
Raw – January 18th 2013
WWE Intercontinental
Championship Match
Wade
Barrett vs Chris Jericho vs The Miz
Raw – June 20th 2013
Kane,
Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston vs The Shield
Smackdown – August 9th
2013
Alberto
Del Rio vs Christian
Raw – November 18th
2013
WWE Intercontinental
Championship Match
Curtis
Axel vs Big E. Langston
Conclusion:
The
Best of Raw and Smackdown 2013 turns out to be a better compilation than first
expected. When I browsed the listing for this release I thought it would be a
chore to sit through with enough matches to satisfy the hardened fan but also
too many promos and confrontations. Whilst some of that remains true, WWE could
have done a lot more to make this a must. The promos that are entertaining
warrant a place even though they cannot be described as a ‘Best of’ and those
that don’t should have made way for other matches.
Notable
omissions, which supposedly made way for long and tiresome confrontations,
include Randy Orton vs Goldust from September and Randy Orton vs Christian vs
Rob Van Dam (Smackdown, August 2nd). Had these replaced Damien Sandown’s search
for his briefcase and Miz TV with John Cena and Daniel Bryan then this would have
been an almost untouchable release.
As
it is, Disc 1 is by far the best of the three (DVD) with nothing on it that is
inferior. Sadly it goes down hill from there and Discs 2 and 3, the latter has
the longest running time at just over three hours, are patchy at best. With the
amount of non wrestling angles which aren’t entertaining and have no bearing on
the release, by the time you get to the end of the discs you will get the
feeling that the compilers ran out of ideas as to what to include and just threw
anything on they thought was half decent. We didn’t need to see the
Championship Ascension Ceremony or Alberto Del Rio’s Championship Fiesta; we
could have lived without them.
A
very good release which could have been excellent does warrant the asking price
for the matches and angles which do make a difference; you’ll miss nothing
though if you skip over the rest.
Rating: B
Next Time In Review
Corner: Shawn Michaels – Mr. WrestleMania DVD
and Blu-ray
Onwards
and upwards...
