A – Excellent
B – Good
C – Mediocre
D – Avoid
Release Date: April 14th 2014
Available From: www.wwedvd.co.uk
Price:
DVD £ 12.99
Blu-ray £ 13.99
(Prices from www.wwedvd.co.uk: high street prices will vary)
Format Reviewed:
DVD
(Also Available on Blu-ray)
What It’s About:
WWE’s
first pay-per view of the year, the Royal Rumble extravaganza held on January
26th 2014 from the CONSOL Energy Centre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Featuring
the thirty man Royal Rumble Match, the return of ‘The Animal’ Batista and the
much anticipated meeting of Daniel Bryan vs Bray Wyatt plus much, much more.
Strengths:
The
best match of the night by far and away is also the opening contest of the
release, Daniel Bryan vs Bray Wyatt. In years from now we will be able to look
back and pin point this as the day Bray Wyatt’s push began and the beginning of
someone who is sure to become one of the most memorable characters in wrestling
history. Excellent and full of close falls and sumptuous reversals, too many to
mention here so let’s save time and get down to the nitty gritty of it all.
Bryan thrills with a great dive to the outside onto the entire family before
pelting Wyatt with kicks and a wonderful Hurricanrana from the top rope which
elicits chants of ‘This is Awesome’. Wyatt shares the load and looks geninually
unsettling with hard slams and his Buzzard Walk which is still unnerving until
the pair reaches their final destination. Bryan’s Spinning Flying DDT from
apron to floor is a joy to behold as if Bray Wyatt’s spinning clothesline.
Reversing Sister Abigail, Daniel Bryan exudes a star quality which not many in
WWE have today whilst his Suicide Dive into Sister Abigail on the outside is
seamless. Wyatt clouts Bryan with Sister Abigail into the barrier before
hitting him with a second in the ring for a popular victory. Just brilliant on
all fronts.
Brock
Lesnar vs Big Show is very short, just under two minutes from bell to bell, but
is worth it for the hardcore nature of the bout and Brock Lesnar’s but whipping
of Big Show with a steel chair which is brutal. Lesnar scoops up Show with ease
and even walks about with him before dropping him with an F5. For the small
amount of time Lesnar is on the defensive he’s awesome and teaches everyone in
the locker room how to sell convincingly. The only criticism is that after
numerous chair shots Big Show simply gets up and walks away when he should have
been carried out on a stretcher to sell the beating.
This
years Royal Rumble match wasn’t all bad thank the Lord. In previous years we’ve
seen some great ones, some stinkers and some that left us cold but thankfully
WWE booked this well enough to keep the audience just about engaged until
number 30 had entered at least. You can read the bad points from the bout in
the next category. C.M Punk put in one hell of a final performance in his final
night in the company. If truth be told then Punk looks tired, exhausted and
ready for a well earned rest. Though his contribution drops away in the middle
and he becomes almost invisible, a mammoth forty five minutes plus in the ring
proved that he still had a passion, no matter how small for the business and it
may not have taken the earth to keep him. His opening two minutes with Seth
Rollins is very good indeed and full of action, culminating in a double
Neckbreaker / DDT combo on Sandown and Rollins; Alexander Rusev looks utterly
amazing and could be WWE’s Samoa Joe should he be booked correctly when he
makes the leap to the main roster from NXT. Making ten times the impression
Vladimir Kozlov made several years ago, Rusev is going to be WWE Champion
before 2018 that much is obvious; Kofi Kingston delights with his unique brand
on elimination escapes. The first in which he’s caught by Rusev coming over the
top rope and placed on the ringside barrier may look like the work has been
done for him but in actual fact there is still a lot to do. Running the
barricade and taking a gigantic leap to the ring apron has to be one of his
best yet. His second isn’t so impressive, but still capable as he hangs by his
feet from the bottom rope for maximum effect; Kevin Nash is a nice surprise
though it could have been anyone returning and they’d have gotten a huge
reaction from the crowd. Nash looks better than he ever has in the last five years
and even appears to be able to walk properly without too much pain in his
knees. WWE could have booked two or three more nostalgia acts here instead of
people like R-Truth and The Great Khali who no one wanted to see; Roman Reigns
is undoubtedly the star of the match and revokes memories of Diesel in the 1994
Royal Rumble Match. So dominant is he that Reigns is the preferred choice for
winner when it’s apparent Daniel Bryan isn’t coming. His elimination of
Kingston looks wonderful. Reigns setting the elimination record ca only do
wonders for his career. WWE should be credited here for taking the chance and
booking a young blood in the prominent role instead of someone like Cena;
Sheamus gets a huge reaction upon his return to the company, he has been away
too long though his best bet for stardom in 2014 is as a heel; Cesaro’s
entrance is accompanied by an amusing sign held by Zeb Coulter which reads ‘You
Could Time It Yourself But They Stole Your Watch’, that is very funny. Cesaro
is a hell of a force in the match and his Cesaro Swing on Seth Rollins goes on
and on to impressive effect whilst his exchanges with Luke Harper aren’t half
bad either; though JBL’s participation is mere seconds he gets a huge pop from
the crowd. Eliminated without any fight, seconds after he enters, JBL is
cheered with chants of ‘You Still Got It’; fans mercilessly jeer Batista which
is a good thing as it tells WWE that we don’t want to see people returning
anymore just to win and hog the limelight, we want new stars and so far, as I
write this before WrestleMania XXX its worked; at entrant 29 fans chant ‘Daniel
Bryan’ letting WWE know what they want to see but instead of making a last
minute change to swap Mysterio with Bryan, even if he had to be eliminated
last, WWE simply allow it to happen as planned and wonder why the WWE Universe
mercilessly boos Rey Mysterio which is a louder reaction than John Cena gets.
Again, the jeers turned out to be nothing but positive as WWE listened to our
reaction and predicting ahead of time, gave us what we wanted; Reigns
elimination of the Shield looks good and further advances the split of The
Shield which has now been delayed or it could have happened at WrestleMania XXX
by the time you read this; ‘Let’s Go Reigns’ and ‘No’ are pelted at Reigns,
Batista and Sheamus as the final three but the crowd are prepared to accept
Reigns as the winner instead of Batista and Bryan. Begrudgingly of course;
The
tribute to Mae Young is very touching and well done. Stephanie McMahon who voices
the segment is on the verge of tears. Instead of cutting to an interview after
the tribute WWE should have cut to the standing ovation in the audience. It
would have been a hell of a way to send her off.
The
superstar panel for once provides some insight and truth to proceedings, though
it is admittedly short lived. Shawn Michaels says what is on everyone’s mind
and states the future of the business is in good hands with Daniel Bryan and
Bray Wyatt whilst Ric Flair doesn’t seem to believe what Michaels is preaching.
Why? If anyone should know a great wrestler when he sees on its Ric Flair, but
at least someone has seen it and said it.
As
for the DVD Extras: Cody Rhodes and Goldust vs The New Age Outlaws for the WWE
Tag Team Championships in the Royal Rumble Kick-off is a great match which
captures the nostalgic feel of years gone by. The Outlaws, despite recent
reports from other sources, don’t appear to have lost a step and amazingly,
Billy Gunn hasn’t aged from 1988 onwards. Road Dogg is slick and a welcome
break from all the acts that return who can’t get the job done. Cody Rhodes is
spectacular, his dive from the ring is brilliant as if Goldust’s rolling senton
from the apron. If WWE were looking to hype WrestleMania XXX with these
nostalgia acts then this is the best advert they could have hoped for. Apart
from the fact that it should have been longer everything else is faultless.
Goldust’s Canadian Flip Slam is spotless for a man of his and the Outlaws age
and the Pump Handle Slam into the Cross Rhodes looks flawless. There’s a huge
reaction when the Outlaws triumph but the Rhodes brothers should have been
allowed to carry on as champions.
Weaknesses:
Randy
Orton vs John Cena for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship is so boring that
you can predict every move before it happens. We have seen this over and over
again, in the same order, with the same outcome and to make it worse the
commentators refer to it as the biggest rematch in wrestling history, even
after their series in 2009. It’s a chore to sit and watch, so much so even the
fans don’t want to see either man on the night. Randy Orton is strapped for
ideas which is unlike him, the reign has really knocked the spontaneity out of
him, he’s never been this lifeless whilst for John Cena its business a usual
right up until the very end when The Wyatt Family appear and distract Cena long
enough for Orton to hit the RKO. The Wyatt’s get the biggest reaction of the
match inciting a ‘Yes’ chant. Message sent and received, we don’t want John
Cena as champion again.
From
the worst of the Royal Rumble Match: the pre match comments form contestants in
the style of the 90’s are all pointless except for Batista who says two words.
Everyone knows the likes of The Miz will never win the event again and there
lies the problem. There are no surprises anymore, everyone knows who is going
to win. Damien Sandow says that the ‘Definition of Madness is Doing the Same
Thing Over and Over Again and Expecting Different Results’. Like expecting a
push maybe?; Damien Sandow goes over first, further devaluating his aura, like
it can get any lower; though a massive reaction and overwhelming ‘Let’s Go
Ziggler’ chants, Dolph is just another face in a crowd of faces. Dolph isn’t
even permitted to eliminate anyone important or a great showing. He can still
be a star, the support attests to that but he needs serious backing; The Great
Khali takes so long to get to the ring that its preposterous making him walk
all the way to the ring only to walks all the back second later. Fire him and
allow him to retire; the bout generates into nothingness when it sees The
Shield vs Sheamus, Punk and The Miz with no meaning and it’s hard to get the
audience back into the action; El Torito’s inclusion id ridiculous when there
were a locker room full of better replacements. He handles the action well but
the commentators say he’s the smallest person to ever enter, even smaller than
Hornswoggle. Rubbish, Hornswoggle is much smaller as is evident by looking at
the pair; the audience are cold to Alberto Del Rio and what else did WWE expect
after burying him so mercilessly? WWE need to ask themselves what they’ve done
to the Mexican because his elimination to Batista without any fight is a
disgusting show of disrespect; Kane returns after being eliminated to eject
Punk from the match which is still ludicrous and something WWE should stop
booking. No wonder Punk walked out; the final few moments between Reigns and
Batista are in no way exciting, not helped by Batista missing his planned
spear.
As
for the DVD Extras: ‘WWE Superstars Draw Their Royal Rumble Numbers’ is a
minute and a half of pointlessness. None of the wrestlers drawing are prepared
to show their numbers to the rest, like it matters, and it’s literally a
procession of one after the next with nothing in between.
‘Randy
Orton Comments on Wyatt Family Controversy’ and ‘Exclusive Interview With
Batista’ are both pointless pieces of speech which aren’t backed up with
anything interesting. The former is less than forty five seconds and I’ve lost
count how many this is in a row with Orton where he’s said nothing of note at
all. He’s really lost his personality since winning the gold. The latter sees a
still knackered Batista, even though it’s conducted almost thirty minutes after
his victory, joke around and state the obvious. Batista even mentions that he
may not be ready for it all, which gives you confidence I don’t think. You
would have thought he’d have conditioned himself for this knowing he was coming
back.
DVD Extras:
Royal Rumble Kick-Off
Match
WWE Tag Team
Championship Match
Cody
Rhodes and Goldust vs The New Age Outlaws
WWE
Superstars Draw Their Numbers For The Royal Rumble
Randy
Orton Comments on the Wyatt Family Controversy
An
Exclusive Interview With Batista
Blu-ray Exclusive Extras:
Raw – January 6th 2014
Brock
Lesnar Goes Old School
Raw – January 13th 2014
Steel Cage Tag Team
Match
The
Usos vs Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryan
Smackdown – January
17th 2014
C.M
Punk Calls Out The Shield and The New Age Outlaws
Raw – January 20th 2014
WWE World Heavyweight
Championship Free Match
Randy
Orton vs Kofi Kingston
Batista
Returns to WWE
Batista Send a Message For Alberto Del Rio
Conclusion:
Royal
Rumble 2014 isn’t a bad event; the problem is it isn’t a good one either. A one
match show in Daniel Bryan vs Bray Wyatt with moments of the Royal Rumble match
providing some relief isn’t really enough to fork out the asking price and
that’s WWE’s fault. There are many wrongs here which WWE have since put right
but maybe had they done them on the night this would have been a must buy.
There
have been better Royal Rumble events and there have been worse but it’s up to
you to judge whether purchasing this for one match at its retail price is worth
it or not. If not, then you can just as easily wait until it’s gone down in
price. It’s not going anywhere.
Rating: C
Next Time In Review
Corner: WWE The Best of Raw After the Show DVD
and Blu-ray
Onwards
and upwards...
