WWE SUPERSTARS
COLLECTION: JOHN CENA
A – Excellent
B – Good
C – Mediocre
D – Avoid
Release Date: 2nd September 2013
Available From: www.amazon.co.uk
Price:
DVD £10.00
(Prices from www.amazon.com: high street
prices will vary)
Format Reviewed:
DVD
What It’s About:
This
release collects together four of John Cena’s matches from 2008 – 2011. Whilst
its not an attraction for the older wrestling fan, this release is garnered
more to the younger WWE fan.
Strengths:
John
Cena vs Triple H vs Shawn Michaels (WWE Survivor Series 2009, November 22nd
2009) for the WWE Championship is a really good triple threat match in which
Triple H and Shawn Michaels do their very best to hide John Cena’s flaws. Michaels’
immediate Sweet Chin Music to his tag team partner Triple H as the bell rings
pops the crowd wonderfully and John Cena is comical feigning surprise. Shawn
Michaels and John Cena share some decent reversals and counters whilst Triple H
illogically sells the Sweet Chin Music for more than five minutes, when he’d
only do so for around forty seconds in a singles encounter. When Triple H does
get himself back into the match, his spinebuster on HBK through the announcers
table is sumptuous as Hunter, like Michaels, makes the most of his one on one
time with Cena in the ring. John Cena’s flaws are still on show here as he no
sells the lasting effects of almost everything bestowed upon him which makes
him look out of place against two great warriors. Triple H and Shawn Michaels
light the match up when they dispose of Cena from the ring for a short while
and their exchanges are fluid and more professional than anything John Cena
does in the ring. The crowning moment of John Cena’s inadequacy in the ring
however comes when he applies the STF to Triple H, only to then have it applied
properly on himself by Shawn Michaels – that Michaels really synchs it in
opposed to Cena’s dismal effort just shows how little Cena cares. The match
hosts some great near falls, the best coming after HBK nails Cena with Sweet
Chin Music and the finale to the match is a ball of energy and reversals. The
highlight of which is a Triple H backdrop of Shawn Michaels into an Attitude
Adjustment attempt which is a good looking spot. A next to brilliant triple
threat match.
John
Cena vs The Miz vs John Morrison (Extreme Rules 2011, May 1st 2011) is a
decent, if not excellent triple threat Steel Cage Match for the WWE
Championship. Sadly, John Cena as good as destroys both of his opponent’s
images as he no sells everything making them look like complete jobbers and he
and Morrison almost break The Miz’s neck with a botched double suplex from the
top of the cage. Cena looks like he’s in a bank robbery when Miz applies The
Skull Crushing Finale, even this look hokey and looking at this match, it’s
hard to believe that The Miz was ever WWE Champion and sad to see how far he
has fallen in 2 years. As you would expect from John Morrison, he is quick and
nimble in everything he does and when he is on the receiving end of offence he
reminds of a young Shawn Michaels, in the way he willing throws himself around
the ring to aid his opponent’s image. Morrison’s springboard kick from rope to
rope adds a little class to the proceedings and his 360 head over heels slam
proves that in another life he could have been a huge main event star. To his
credit, John Cena executes an excellent monkey flip on Morrison from the corner
– a move he doesn’t botch – though R-Truth’s invasion only prolongs what is
already an overly long bout. Cena’s Attitude Adjustment from the top rope to
end the brawl looks very good and thankfully he doesn’t hurt Miz in doing it.
Weaknesses:
John
Cena vs Chris Jericho (Armageddon 2008, December 14th 2008) is a borefest which
once again highlights Cena’s shortcomings. In 5 years, it’s embarrassing that
his offence hasn’t changed one bit. So much so that it’s almost impossible to
tell between the John Cena of 2008 and the John Cena of 2013. Clumsily, Cena
falls backwards on Jericho as Y2J has a sleeper hold locked in and almost
splits Jericho in two in a nasty looking moment and in one of the better
looking moments of the match, Jericho executes a facebuster from the apron onto
the steel steps, though it’s not enough to save this. Whilst Cena has to take
half of the blame for this wrist splitting effort with his deplorable selling,
Jericho also must shoulder some of the blame as well. Jericho employs a lot of
enthusiasm zapping rest holds when the pair could have put on a fast paced
clash which would have kept it watchable. In a moment of carelessness, Jericho
almost completely misses with a Lionsault which appears farcical to the on
looking crowd. The pair manage to inject some life into the match at its
conclusion with an Attitude Adjustment into a Codebreaker in a fine sequence
but the match lacks the big fight feel, near falls, tense submission moments
and overall quality.
John
Cena vs Randy Orton (Raw, December 14th 2009) in the Slammy Awards Superstar of
the Year Tournament Final, is a disappointment. The premise of the match is a
dumb for to begin with. Just how you decide who has been the standout superstar
of the year by holding a tournament which John Cena was always going to win is
just plain dumb. This is just another attempt by WWE to try and make us believe
that John Cena deserves accolades such as this, when he clearly didn’t. There
were other more deserving candidates for superstar of the year in 2009 who
didn’t even get a look in when the tournament came around. Now you can see how
ridiculous the whole premise was. The commentators remind us that 24 hours
previously at TLC 2009, John Cena was put through a table by Sheamus, though as
you’d expect, Cena neglects to sell any effects of the night before. The match
itself is horribly slow and Randy Orton can’t do anything to elevate it as he
has nothing to work with. Both men seem to lack the will to perform on this
night and it’s noticeable from beginning to end. The draping DDT onto Cena from
the apron to the floor looks good but Cena jumps up like nothing has happened.
A wholly disappointing effort from both men.
Rating: C
WWE SUPERSTARS
COLLECTION: RANDY ORTON
A – Excellent
B – Good
C – Mediocre
D – Avoid
Release Date: 2nd September 2013
Available From: www.amazon.co.uk
Price:
DVD £10.00
(Prices from www.amazon.com: high street prices will vary)
Format Reviewed:
DVD
What It’s About:
This
release collects four of Randy Orton’s matches from 2009 – 2011. Whilst this
release doesn’t offer anything for adult fans it is aimed at the younger
generation of WWE fan.
Strengths:
Randy
Orton vs John Cena vs Triple H (WWE Night of Champions 2009, July 26th 2009)
proves to be a gripping triple threat match for the WWE Championship. Orton
plays the slimy heel to perfection as he always has done when pitched into the
role and sells Triple H and John Cena’s offence like a pro. The match only gets
better from the opening delving into some excellent reversals though John Cena
completely misses a flying leg drop on both Hunter and Orton, how exactly is
beyond me. Worse, the commentators try to make us believe Cena hit his target.
Triple H manages to get some good moves and reversals out of John Cena and
thanks to Triple H their spot in the ring is kept decent. The near falls and
break ups are perfectly timed as is the double submission which sees Triple H
apply a sharpshooter and John Cena apply an STF to Orton at the same time. John
Cena should take a look at this moment as Orton shows him how to sell a deadly
submission moment. The downside of the match is that Randy Orton isn’t allowed
to win the match without Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase’s help. But then again
that was Orton’s role in 2009. Let’s hope it’s changed in 2013.
Randy
Orton vs Christian (WWE Capitol Punishment 2011, June 19th 2011) is an
excellent bout which makes both men look like stars. It’s somewhat of a slow
burner but Orton and Christian exchange reversals and counters at a break neck
pace showing WWE why they are two of the best all rounded wrestlers in the
business today. Christian holds his own against Orton in the main event spot.
This match would be the first of three stunning pay-per matches which are all a
must see for any wrestling fan, if you haven’t had the pleasure already.
Christian gets some impressive height on a backdrop and Randy Orton adds to his
repertoire of moves which he doesn’t usually wheel out with a great belly to
belly suplex. Watching this over the other matches on the release goes to show
how much Randy Orton has refined with age inside the squared circle. Selling a
concussion like a trooper, Randy Orton is flawless in this match and his
backbreaker into a falling neckbreaker is joyous. From beginning to end the
encounter is seamless and even better Randy Orton manages to convey Christian
as his equal with killer near falls and believable selling.
Weaknesses:
Randy
Orton vs Triple H (WWE The Bash 2009, June 28th 2009) is a drab and dire 3
Stages of Hell Match which offers nothing to the viewer. In fact I will go out
on a limb here and say that even John Cena vs Ryback’s 3 Stages of Hell Match
at Payback 2013 was better than this. Randy Orton and Triple H are the others
bogey opponent. For all the talent both men hold, neither have ever had a truly
epic singles match against the other and the best it got was the thrilling six
man tag team match at Backlash 2009 and a decent Las Man Standing Match at No
Mercy 2007. The first stage of the bout is a by the numbers affair which you
just want to end as quickly as possible. Literally nothing of note to mention
happens except for a little leg work by Randy Orton. Worse, the fall ends in
disqualification. The second stage is a blink and miss it affair which lasts
less than 30 seconds after a pedigree on the outside. The third and final stage
– a stretcher match – can’t hold a candle to the excellent Brock Lesnar vs Big
Show Stretcher Match at Judgment Day 2003 and is almost a repeat of the first
stage but with a stretcher included. The pair brawl into the crowd where they
trade some mind numbing punches and then for some reason find their way back
into the ring to everyone’s annoyance just to complete a planned spot with the
steel steps. When the action does travel up the aisle, Triple H carelessly
shoves Orton off of the stretcher which visibly hurts Orton’s lower spine and
in a replay of the Night of Champions bout, Orton isn’t permitted to win
without the help of Rhodes and Dibiase. There’s no structure to this match in
which WWE shot themselves in the foot before it began. With only the stretcher
match of any interest the other two falls consisting of a normal singles bout
and a falls count anywhere match were never going to elevate this. Had the
falls been fought under Steel Cage, Last Man Standing and Stretcher Match rules
then this may have stood a chance of succeeding. A total waste of time.
Randy
Orton vs Ted Dibiase (Raw, March 1st 2010) should have been replaced by their
excellent bout on the July 6th 2009 edition of Raw. Instead, what we get is a
lacklustre match in which Randy Orton can do nothing for the already buried
Dibiase who in himself looks to be bored and fed up at his treatment at the
hands of WWE. The match is both short and lacks anything interesting ending in
a disqualification. WWE could have done better than this on a release which is
meant to feature Orton’s best matches. There’s nothing more I can add to this.
Rating: C
Overall Conclusion:
Beginning
with video packages on each wrestler, it’s apparent that ‘WWE Superstar
Collection...’ range of DVD’s (which are not available on Blu-ray) are aimed at
children. The beginning of each practically has that tag written all over it by
its bright and colourful presentation. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as
the younger audience need lessons on current WWE stars, however this isn’t
quite the teaching required. There is no back story on the wrestler the
releases have in question which means someone who comes in fresh without prior
knowledge of the business would be totally at a loss as to who John Cena or
Randy Orton were or their history in the business. This could have been
rectified with one short five minute highlight package on each mans career,
narrated by both or WWE’s voice over guy who is present on almost every other
release.
The
DVD’s have been previously released in America over a year ago which begs the
question as to why it’s taken WWE this long to get them out on this side of the
water. Before Fremantle – who also produce these releases – took over the UK
handling of WWE DVD and Blu-rays, Silvervision were present as the licensee. Was
it so difficult for WWE to send these releases to Silvervision? Obviously it
was.
However,
it wasn’t worth the wait. With both releases aimed at children and the younger
WWE fan base, there is absolutely nothing to offer the older fan. If you
already own every pay-per view match on both of these releases then the £5 – 10
asking price is utterly ridiculous. The Randy Orton release has much more to
offer in the way of actual wrestling but the John Cena release will undoubtedly
sell twice as many because of his connection with the younger fans. In reality,
neither are worth the asking price with only four matches on each and only two
of the four matches worth watching.
The
John Cena release could have included matches against Shawn Michaels
(WrestleMania 23 and their one hour classic from the Raw in London) and Triple
H (WrestleMania 22) to hide Cena’s flaws and anyone could name two or three
more excellent Randy Orton bouts which could have easily been included and
taken the place of the unfavourable ones.
Overall,
these releases are quaint and compact harking back to the VHS days when you
used to get four of your favourite television episodes on one release. These
are perfect for children but give them a miss if you’re a fully grown adult.
The pay-per view matches will probably already be in your collection and the
one Raw match on each release is certainly not worth the price of admission.
Next Time in Review
Corner: The Best of WWE at Madison Square Garden DVD and Blu-ray
Onwards
and upwards...
