WWE DVD Review - Live in the UK November 2012

With each UK tour the WWE keep pushing the envelope as they try to give their loyal fans even more value for their money. This past November saw the company roll into Birmingham, here they would not only put on one heck of a show, but they would also record episodes of the Monday Night Raw and Friday Night Smackdown shows before thousands of lively and excited fans. 

Another bonus here is the complete (unaired in the UK) WWE Main Event show that was recorded in Birmingham too.

Live in the UK saw many of the Survivor Series 2012 combatants and teams in action, as they embarked on the road to that Pay-Per-View.

So what can you expect from this two disc set? First up there are some nice features on the UK's own Wade Barrett and William Regal. Irishman Sheamus is also given the spotlight treatment. 

On the match front we have a great many to choose from. Highlights of which are CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler versus John Cena and Ryback. Wade Barrett teaming with Big Show to combat hard-hitters William Regal and Sheamus. Elsewhere Randy Orton and Alberto Del Rio have a well-paced Falls Count Anywhere encounter. Kofi Kingston and The Miz face-off for the Intercontinental Championship and the colourful combo of Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio tackle the fun duo of The Primetime Players.

WWE Live in the UK November 2012 is a very good DVD set indeed. Fans who attended will love this memento of their time there, others will enjoy seeing their heroes on UK soil and adapting their styles etc to suit them. These UK releases are very popular indeed and this is one of the best yet.

Extras wise we get two WWE Championship matches that were held in the UK. One is the near-classic Randy 'Macho Man' Savage and Ultimate Warrior scrap from Summer Slam 1992. The other is the very inventive match between The Rock and X Pac from the 1998 Capital Carnage PPV.

WWE Live in the UK November 2012 is available now on two disc DVD.

RRP £17.99

www.wwedvd.co.uk

www.wwe.com

By Phil Allely

WWE DVD Review: Elimination Chamber 2013

WWE DVD Review: Elimination Chamber 2013

The Elimination Chamber is one formidable and very unforgiving structure. This mass of metal was once the special feature in Pay-Per-Views, but it is now the star of its own. The concept is a good one and used sparingly it works very well indeed. What happens is six men enter caged environment. Two of them start off the match, whilst four others stand by in each corner, locked in a cubicle. Every few minutes a new competitor enters and things heat up. This is a pin fall/submission style scrap and it can get very violent indeed.

This year we saw Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, Kane, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry and Chris Jericho all participate and their reward was a World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 29. The action here was superbly paced, exciting and innovative.

The other big match on the EC 2013 card was the re-match between WWE Champion The Rock and former champ CM Punk. This match was the last chance for Punk to retain his belt and progress to WrestleMania. Punk and Rock have a very good rapport in the ring and Rock especially deserves praise for stepping back in to a semi-fulltime wrestling role so easily.

On surprise bout here was the one that pitted The Shield against the all-star trio of John Cena, Ryback and Sheamus. The surprise was not the talent involved or the effort put in to the encounter. It was the fact that the WWE really did decide to put so much behind the newest group on the scene The Shield.

Elsewhere we see World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio battle his nemesis Big Show. Their feud just went from strength to strength, Del Rio has certainly stepped up to the plate. Kaitlyn defended her Diva's title against the tough daughter of wrestling legend Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka Tamina. This was a fair Divas match, that did enough to warrant your attention throughout.

Elimination Chamber 2013 is a very good DVD release from the WWE. It certainly paved the way for WrestleMania 29 and offered an above average number of matches. The main event and chamber scraps are certainly well worth re-viewing as well.

Elimination Chamber 2013 is available now from www.wwedvd.co.uk and all good retailers.

RRP £17.99 (DVD), £19.99 (Blu-ray)

By Phil Allely

WWE DVD Review: Survivor Series 2012

WWE DVD Review: Survivor Series 2012

CM Punk tries to survive the combined might of John Cena and Ryback in the main event of the WWE's newest DVD release of 2013. Here is what I thougt about that main event and the rest of the card.

The WWE may now be the only major wrestling company to run monthly Pay-Per-Views (as TNA have perhaps wisely opted to reduce their output to four a year, with 3 hour special events filling the gaps), but not too long ago Vince McMahon and Co. did just the same. Back then (in the good old days if you will) the company produced four big PPV events. One of which was November's hugely popular Survivor Series.

Heavy Metal music has its 'big 4' of course and wrestling does too, Survivor Series was joined by Royal Rumble, WrestleMania and Summerslam in winning the WWE new fans and it is still doing so today.

2012 sees the format changed slightly however, The traditional style five-man team encounters that featured heavily for many years have been pushed back to one or two per PPV and perhaps that is indeed a good thing. Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing and the WWE have realised that here. One well told SS match can far outweigh numerous sub par efforts after all.

Anyway I digress from the matter at hand here, what exactly does this DVD release have to offer wrestling fans old and new?

Well first up the (already mentioned) main event sees CM Punk defend his WWE Championship gold in a triple threat match alongside not only John Cena, but the monster of a man who (many feel) he robbed of the belt.

What you have to remember here is that this is Punk at his most cunning and crafty. This was a man defending not only his championship, but also his year long title run too.

Elsewhere we get a lively traditional style 'Survivor Series' match-up. This featured Team Ziggler (Dolph Ziggler, Damien Sandow, David Otunga, Alberto Del Rio and Wade Barrett) versus Team Foley (Team Hell No, Randy Orton, Kofi Kingston and The Miz). This is a great example of how a booker can bring ten different athletes into the ring and offer each their chance to shine. It is also good to see Mick Foley back in the company.

We also get to see Irishman Sheamus attempt to wrestle the World Heavyweight back from his successor Big Show. Show seems to be in synch with The Celtic Warrior here and that makes for exciting viewing.

The Divas get a look in as champion Eve tackles challenger Kaitlyn. Many knock the division, but these ladies are indeed talented and make the most of their short ring time on PPV.

R-Truth challenges Antonio Cesaro for the United States belt in a decent scrap.

And the company's high-flyers get a chance to shine too. With Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio teaming up to battle The Prime Time Players. Cara may have failed in some ways as a solo performer in the WWE, but he is now more than suitable as a partner to Mysterio. They do indeed compliment each other in the ring nicely.

Survivor Series 2012 was a card that featured many more hits than misses match quality wise and it was also pivotal in many ways in relation to storyline progression as well.

The PPV is available now on DVD and Blu-ray.

RRP £17.99 (DVD), £19.99 (Blu-ray)

Extras: (DVD)CM Punk and Paul Heyman Share their thoughts at the event. (Blu-ray) Raw highlights Nov 12 2012, Smackdown highlights Nov 26 2012, Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero accuse AJ Lee, Ryback Vs Brad Maddox, Kane & The Miz Vs Team Rhodes Scholars, CM Punk Vs John Cena, Miz TV with Team Foley and Randy Orton teams with The Miz to face Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio.

Www.wwedvd.co.uk

www.wwe.com

By Phil Allely

WWE DVD Review: Hell In A Cell 2012

WWE DVD Review: Hell In A Cell 2012

Hell In a Cell has evolved from being a one-off gimmick match to becoming the star of its own pay-per-view. The match itself is a fun, involving and exciting one. This DVD offers us the opportunity to take home the 2012 event. The question is is it worth doing so?

Well we will leave that decision up to you. But how about we let you see what you missed, or remind you of what you saw live on the night.

In the main event WWE Champion CM Punk defended his gold in a thrilling encounter with Ryback. This was perhaps one of Ryback's longest bouts to date and he held up well against ring veteran Punk. The HIAC environment certainly suited the storyline and the grapplers in question really did build the action perfectly. This was a perfectly enjoyable cage match and one that was well worth a re-view in our opinion.

The World Heavyweight Championship was on the line as well. Here we had title holder Sheamus face the mammoth Big Show. Big Show may be running down his in-ring career these days. But when presented with the right opponent he can still cut it. This encounter is a fine example of the big man on top of his game.

The tag team scrap between Rey Mysterio/Sin Cara and The Prime Time Players had it moments too. However a mishap involving Cara left Mysterio fending for himself for a while.

Elsewhere Randy Orton and Alberto Del Rio had a fun battle. ADR worked Orton's arm over thoroughly throughout this fine addition to their feud.

The dysfunctional team of Kane/Daniel Bryan defended their Tag Team Titles against The superb combo of The Rhodes Scholars. This one had its ups and downs and unfortunately fell a bit flat at times.

The rest of the card saw The Miz battle Kofi Kingston over the Intercontinental Championship. 

We also had Antonio Cesaro put his United States Title on the line against Justin Gabriel and a triple threat Divas Championship war between Kaitlyn, Eve and Layla. 

HIAC 2012 was an event that had its fair share of ups and downs. However when things worked they really worked and there are a few surprises awaiting the viewer as well.

Hell in a Cell is available now from all good retailers and www.wwedvd.co.uk

RRP £17.99 DVD, £19.99 Blu-ray

Extras: DVD (interview with Sheamus), Blu-ray (interviews and a match from Smackdown)

wwe.dvd.co.uk

www.wwe.com

By Phil Allely

WWE DVD Comp

WWE Home Video UK are pleased to announce an exclusive signed sleeve competition. This time there are 40 Survivor Series 2012 sleeves (20 x DVD & 20 x Blu-ray) signed by the one and only RYBACK up for grabs. All you need to do is pre-order WWE Survivor Series 2012 from the website at http://www.wwedvd.co.uk/survivor-series-2012-p-11730.html and you'll automatically be entered. (Those who've already pre-ordered have been automatically entered.)

All pre-orders must be made before Monday 11th March in order to be entered.

Good luck to everyone who enters and please feel free to pass on this information!