A – Excellent
B – Good
C – Mediocre
D – Avoid
Release Date: September 1st 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 (1 Disc)
Also Available on Blu-ray (1 Disc)
What It’s About:
A
collection of matches featuring The Brothers of Destruction, namely The
Undertaker and Kane during their decade long on/off tag team in-between them
being enemies. The seven matches on the main release range from 2001 – 2008
whilst the Blu-ray version boasts an extra four matches which bring their
partnership up to the present day.
Strengths:
The
Brothers of Destruction vs Edge and Christian (Smackdown, April 10th 2001) is a
lively romp in which Edge and Christian go above and beyond to sell the beating
heaped upon them by a rather out of shape Undertaker, who wasn’t nearly as
physically impressive as he became later in the decade. That’s not to say Edge
and Christian don’t have their own moments in the sun, Christian is particularly
well versed in the technical side of the game against Kane who never looked
better than at this point in his career. Kane battles back with a superb short
arm scissors slam whilst all four men employ excellent psychology to drain as
much heat from the crowd as possible. The Undertaker is a ball of fire and
Rhino plays his part to perfection. The only gripe is that The Undertaker
dismantles both Edge and Christian too easily at the end.
The
Brothers of Destruction vs The Dudley Boys (Raw, July 30th 2001) is an action
packed tables match in which get a look at The Undertaker’s former wife, Sara,
before he moved onto Michelle McCool. Sara though, is beautiful. Never slowing
or dipping, the action rolls and both Bubba Ray and D-Von prove to be great
opponents for The Undertaker and Kane. There isn’t much in the way of table
action but then the foursome had to stretch out the bout in some type of way
otherwise it would have been over in minutes. The ending with Sara nearly going
through the table but Bubba Ray being choke slammed through instead is very
good indeed.
The
Brothers of Destruction vs Chuck Palumbo and Sean O’Hare (Smackdown, August 9th
2001) isn’t going to thrill anyone beyond the point of the first two bouts but
its not horrible and holds together well, despite being a glorified whipping
match. Palumbo and O’Hare do get some offence here but it’s largely Undertaker
and Kane thanks to no one seeing the opposition being legitimate competition.
Played out against The Invasion backdrop, this bout was totally designed to
devalue the WCW/ECW stars and make the WWE guys shine. It shows. But if you can
take it at face value, then it’s an extremely watchable bout.
The
Brothers of Destruction vs Diamond Dallas Page and Kanyon (SummerSlam 2001, August
19th 2001) takes a while to kick into gear but is worth sticking with until it
does. It begins with a monumental mistake by Page who follows Kanyon down the
aisle at the wrong time and can be visibly seen returning to the locker room
only to be told be management that he needs to go back out. This results in
everyone looking confused, even Kanyon and the ring announcer who has to throw
Page’s name into the mix whilst the sound guys quickly mix his entrance theme
into the moment. Overlooking the lacklustre action here, Kane and The
Undertaker help the match flourish towards its conclusion, which the fans pop
for, when DDP finally gets his comeuppance and Kanyon bails on his partner.
It’s a gripping final few moments which maybe go on too long but the pounding
of Page is quite good.
The
main menu of the release features The Undertaker’s ‘American Bad Ass’ theme
tune in its entirety. That’s a plus for any release.
Weaknesses:
The
Brothers of Destruction vs MVP and Mr. Kennedy (Smackdown, December 15th 2006)
moves like a snail in glue thanks to time and injury to The Undertaker and
Kane. The match almost comes to a complete halt when Kane is in charge and the
rest of the bout is strictly by the numbers with very little excitement in
between. At the beginning of the bout, JBL states that Kane received third
degree burns in his first inferno mach, but Kane bares no scars of the incident
which would take years to heal not to mention hundreds of thousands of dollars
in medical expenses. The only notable part about this match is the final in
which the lights go out on Mr. Kennedy who is ready to run Kane over in a
hearse, only for The Undertaker to appear in the hearse next to his target.
The
Brothers of Destruction vs Mark Henry and Big Daddy V (Smackdown, February 1st
2008) is as you would expect. Monotonous, sickeningly bad and not worth
anyone’s time even if you’re the most hardcore fan because the sloth nature of
the action will make you want to regurgitate your dinner into the face of
whoever is sitting with you. To give him credit, Mark Henry bumps well for Kane
and Undertaker but the sight of Big Daddy V’s tits spilling from his top over
and over again will make u gag. It’s not a sight you’ll be shifting from your
memory any time soon. It’s not an exaggeration to state that literally nothing
of note happens as the four plod around the ring and take up ten minutes of our
life which we’re never getting back.
The
Brothers of Destruction vs The Miz and John Morrison (ECW, April 15th 2008)
goes to prove how dismal WWE’s re-imagination of ECW really was. The whole
appeal of the company was that they didn’t feature people like Undertaker or
Kane. It was raw, rough and thrilling week in and week out. WWE simply ruined
it and didn’t care. As for the match, it’s nothing you haven’t seen already on
this release even if it holds well. The truth is that by the time you’ve gotten
here, the run time of one hour and a half will have worn you down. If you can
still stomach another tag team match after that time then you’ll have done
really well. Because there’s nothing special to be had with this one.
Blu-ray Exclusives:
Raw – September 21st
1998
The
Undertaker and Kane vs Stone Cold Steve Austin and Billy Gunn
Raw – October 12th 1998
The
Undertaker and Kane vs Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock
Backlash – April 29th
2001
WWE World Heavyweight
Championship, WWE Intercontinental Championship and WWE Tag Team Championship
Match
The
Undertaker and Kane vs Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H
Raw – April 22nd 2013
The
Undertaker, Kane and Daniel Bryan vs The Shield
Conclusion:
From
the word ‘go’, even the most simple minded viewer will realise that ‘The
Brothers of Destruction: Greatest Matches’ has no reason to exist with the
exception that its going to make WWE quite a bit of money with the younger
generation. It doesn’t celebrate any type of anniversary or serve any reason
whatsoever except being a match compilation featuring The Undertaker and Kane.
Which is a shame, because if WWE had thought about the release and put in more
effort than is visible here, then the company could have released this as a
three disc compilation telling the story of The Undertaker and Kane as partners
and rivals. The release could have begun with the debut of Kane and carried on
right through to their 2013 association which would have been much better than
what we got here.
With
sentiments such as ‘One from the grave; one the fiery depths of hell’ one can
immediately tell that WWE are taking themselves and this release far too seriously
when the release itself doesn’t follow along those lines. Credit where it’s due
as always, the release shows a wealth of ‘American Bad Ass’ Undertaker which
Mark Calloway prefers to keep in his vault in order to sell the Deadman
Undertaker persona but that really is the most impressive part of what the
company offer us with its latest endeavour. Nothing is explained in the way of
break-ups or why the pair reunited years later after Kane turned heel on his
faux brother and the best we get is a few lazy captions. It’s simply not
enough.
At
the end of the day with the look, layout and best material coming from the
pair’s 2001 archive as everything from after that year which is included here
is rotten, this feels more like an extension of the ‘Superstar Collection’
which WWE aim entirely at children. Even the best matches on this release
aren’t that special and certainly do not warrant the release title or the
massive asking price for just seven matches. Even if this was a giveaway, I’d
think twice about accepting it.
Rating: D
Next Time in Review
Corner: WWE Money in the Bank 2014 DVD and Blu-ray
Onwards
and upwards...
