Sting – That Geek Thing

WWE: Ultimate Warrior – Always Believe Blu-ray review

April 17, 2015

by thatmediathing with No Comment Reviews

For many wrestling fans of the late eighties and early nineties there is only one neon face painted and decorated man that runs into their mind when they think of the sport and he is The Ultimate Warrior. Flash forward to 2014 and after a long and tumultuous relationship with the WWE he was now simply known as Warrior. He was also finally back in the company that made him, and he helped make. He was even afforded the ultimate honour of being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame that year.

The perfect end to this dark chapter of his very own tale, but alas in something more akin to the end of a Hans Christian Anderson fairytale, several days after his induction and appearance on WWE Monday Raw, this great legend died when he collapsed in a car park in front of his wife following a heart attack. It was a moment so monumental that it attracted news coverage the world over and caused a wave of grief that spanned generations of fans and wrestlers alike.

So what has this history lesson got to do with a DVD/Blu-Ray review you ask? Well shortly after his death the WWE announced that they would be airing a documentary tribute to the superstar on its own subscription product, The WWE Network. Now, nearly a year later, this documentary has finally been released on to home video format with an extra thirty minutes of footage and a whole host of extras.

Ultimate Warrior Running — Image Courtesy of WWE

The documentary itself chronicles the recent homecoming of Warrior to the WWE with a bit of history about how he came to the company and his impact at that time mixed in. Setting the tone for the following ninety minutes, it begins with a statement from his wife recorded early this year. It makes you realise that you will need tissues if you intend to get through this.

The documentary takes viewers on an emotional journey as it mixes in a lot of heartfelt stories and interviews from the people closest to the Warrior, such as his wife, friends, WWE superstars Triple H, Sting, Vince McMahon and to add the emotional knockout punch, his two young daughters Indiana and Mattigan whom he treasured. With interviews shot after his death, this really does help make the documentary unique as rarely, if ever, in WWE history have they shown some of its highest ranking officials this vulnerable. In fact, the scenes featuring the normally strong and tough Vince McMahon welling up will have even the toughest wrestling fans crying along with him.

You are even shown a piece of footage that was shot as Warrior left WWE Monday Night Raw, where he gives what is likely his last ever short WWE interview; a moment that leaves a chill down your spine when you realise this.

As mentioned there is still comment from the man himself, which is is coupled with some footage from not only his family archive, but also footage from the days and months building up to his WWE return. Many have speculated that this footage was to be used as part of a special WWE series looking at his return had he been alive, so its inclusion here helps add a sense of sadness to the piece and at what could have been. It also provides us with a great look at a man finally being able to settle old scores, mend broken fences and as such give him the peace he had long been craving.

This release also has the lovely and heartwarming addition of footage showing the family after his passing and how they are coping, as well as how their WWE family have helped them during their grief.

It is hard not to think that the release of this product is a way of the company making money. But when you consider that the WWE have still honoured the existing contract between them and Warrior so as to take care of his family, you then realise that earnings from this release will in some part be going to his family.

The WWE have done themselves proud when it comes to the extras on the Blu-Ray set. It features a comprehensive collection of Warrior’s legendary and sometimes nonsensical promos and interviews, deleted scenes from the documentary, uncut footage that was used in the documentary, a wide variety of matches from throughout his career and more; so much more. One of the highlights of these extras are a series of interviews with his wife and children about their life together as a family, giving you a rare glimpse into the man he was when away from the ring. It also further helps to hammer home how cruel fate was to take him from the world when it did, as it finally appeared that with his re-connection to the WWE he had everything he had ever wanted. It is safe to say that the content and running time of these extras is actually enough to make it a viable home video release in its own right and worth the extra money to get the Blu-Ray version.

All in all this documentary is a masterpiece (and those are words I do not use often) of storytelling from start to finish and one that takes the viewer on an emotional celebration of this talented pro-wrestler’s life. Looking stunning in HD, it is filmed, edited, scored and constructed brilliantly and as such the viewer is seamlessly guided from emotional moment, to happy moment and back again, without even realising it. It will have you smiling, crying and may even help take you on a voyage of self-discovery through showing the true strength of a person and how it can help you through whatever life throws at you.

This is a release that hands down every fan of WWE past and present should own, and even those who are not fans will find themselves spellbound by it. It is a perfect tribute which shows that the man behind the face paint was a true legend. To quote from this great entertainer’s last televised speech,”What that man did in his life makes the blood pulse through the body of others and makes them believe deeper in something larger than life. Then his essence, his spirit, will be immortalised by the storytellers, by the loyalty, by the memory of those who honour him and make the running the man did live forever.“

Rest in Peace Warrior.

WWE: Ultimate Warrior – Always Believe Blu-Ray is available now priced £22.99 here.

WWE Survivor Series 2014 Blu-Ray and DVD Review

March 1, 2015

by thatmediathing with No Comment Reviews

survivorseries2014disc WWE‘s annual Survivor Series pay-per-view has been one of the biggest events on the professional wrestling calendar ever since its inception in 1987, and 2014 was no exception. The Authority had been ruling with an iron fist over the land of World Wrestling Entertainment, and their leadership was put on the line in a massive 5 on 5 elimination tag team match in the main event. We also got to see the Tag Team Championships and Diva’s Championship on the line, as well as a match between Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose, who had been at each others necks since Bray Wyatt returned at Hell in a Cell. On top of that…well, if the DVD cover doesn’t ruin it for you, you might be in for a bit of a shock! So let’s get started!

The main show is kicked off with WWE’s owner, Vince McMahon coming out to the cheers and jeers of the crowd. Vince, fantastic as always, welcomes everyone to the show and calls out Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, and after they come out (and Stephanie tries to start a cringe-worthy chant), we get the captain of the opposite team, John Cena. Cena is informed by Vince that Cena is the only man that will have the power to bring back the Authority if Team Cena wins tonight. That isn’t foreshadowing at all, by the way. Part of me feels like this is a segment that was meant to be tacked onto RAW or a plot point that was added at the last moment, but either way, we get to see Vince and it builds hype for the main event.

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Time for the regular opener – The Usos, Miz and Mizdow, Los Matadores and Gold and Stardust all compete in a Tag Team Turmoil match with the Dusts defending their tag team championships. Tag team turmoil matches are always a little confusing, but this one is one of the best in years, with all four teams playing to each others strengths, especially with the chemistry between Miz and Mizdow, who rightfully walk out with the championships. One of the few cases recently where WWE played it by ear and put the championships on who was hot at the time. Great match.

We cut to a backstage segment with Adam Rose and his, er, Bunny. They’re playing with action figures and get interrupted by Titus O’Neil and Heath Slater. Pretty funny segment, and WWE got to plug its toys, too. Shame this is a RAW tier match being added to a PPV, but ah well.

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Diva’s match time now, and this one unfortunately dragged on for a bit. Alicia Fox, Emma, Naomi and Natalya defeat Paige, Cameron, Summer Rae and Layla in traditional Survivor Series match in a clean sweep. This started off quite well, with Natalya and Paige facing off, as well as the fantastic and charismatic Emma getting to show off her skills, but it tapered off with the lacklustre in-ring ability of Summer Rae and Cameron. Watchable, but not exactly a candidate for the #GiveDivasAChance movement. Recap time now, as we go back to Hell in a Cell and we see the return of Bray Wyatt, and the ongoing feud with Dean Ambrose.

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Dean and Bray are up next, and this is probably the match of the night that isn’t the main event. Fantastic and brutal match, Wyatt and Ambrose’s styles really mesh perfectly, and as King says on commentary, the two just try and out-crazy each other, which makes for a very entertaining viewing experience. A hell of a lot of story is told between the two here, but ultimately it is all build to, which is announced later in the night, the Tables Ladders and Chairs match at, well, TLC. Ambrose is DQ’d after being baited by Bray into hitting the Eater of Worlds with a chair and goes nuts, literally burying Bray under a mountain of metal and wood. Backstage, Triple H hypes up team Authority. Highlight of the segment? Rusev is wearing flip-flops. Other than that, very tense and greatly put pressure on team Haitch to win.

Adam Rose and his Bunny take on Slater Gator. Few funny spots, but not much to report on. Filler match. Bunny takes Adam’s spot and celebrates with the rosebuds. We never find out who the bunny was, but he was pretty good in the ring. Next up, Roman Reigns appears on the titantron via what looks like the Shadow Realm and cuts his usual super-cocky Cena style promo. Not fantastic, but hearing him say he’d “make it rain (Reign, dohoho) up in that bitch” was amusing, if not a little embarrassing. We go now to team Cena’s locker room, where he hypes up his team, too.

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Diva’s Championship time, and this one ends before it even gets started! We get a rehash of Sheamus/Daniel Bryan from Wrestlemania 28, but this time, Brie Bella grabs AJ Lee and snogs her, (yes, really) allowing Nikki Bella to take advantage and steal the Diva’s Championship away from AJ Lee. Wow, er, don’t know what else to say about this. AJ got lipstick all over her face, so if you’re into that kind of thing, you’ll enjoy this match. Other than that, the storyline between the Bellas was kinda dumb, with Brie being made Nikki’s, er, that thing that Roman Reigns said earlier. And now they’re friends again even after Nikki mistreated her sister? Really doesn’t make sense and it was never explained, but the positive is at least we get to see the Bellas in a team and not wasting time feuding with each other.

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And now it’s time for the main event. Team Authority consisting of Seth Rollins, Kane, Mark Henry, Rusev and Luke Harper, take on Team Cena, which is of course, John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Erick Rowan and Ryback. We get an amazing as usual video package and go straight into the entrances. Team Authority enters first, with HHH, Stephanie and J&J Security at ringside, and then Team Cena does the classic stare-down and roll into the ring. We start the match off with Henry and Show, and instantly The World’s Strongest Man is eliminated by one punch. Welp.

Personally, I have to say the KO Punch is a pretty horrible finisher, even for Big Show, since he doesn’t really seem to put his body weight into it anymore, and it’s unfortunate that Henry got eliminated so quickly, but it made for an interesting start to the match. Continuing on, both teams slowly eliminate members from either side, and here a lot of new stars are made, especially Rollins and Ziggler, who are by far the stand-outs. Rusev is eliminated by count-out after missing a dive through a table, and Cena is eliminated after Big Show turns on Team Cena, shaking the hand of HHH. Big Show turned alignment again, breaking news. Nothing new here, but added tension to the match, at least. It’s down to Ziggler VS Rollins, Harper and Kane. Ziggler manages to eliminate Harper and Kane via some means of luck, and the crowd lights up as The Showoff seems to be getting closer and closer to the comeback of the year, and as it looks like Ziggler has the remaining man, Rollins, down for the three, only Triple H pulls the referee out of the ring and rolls in himself. Calling out the Authority’s favourite referee, Scott Armstrong, the Authority looks like it has screwed over Ziggler and Team Cena, when all of a sudden…

Sting.

For the first time ever in WWE, Sting makes his way down to the ring and clears out all of Team Authority, giving Triple H the Scorpion Death Drop, as well as placing Ziggler on top of Rollins, to which the referee counts three. Holy cow. What a match. This really was, in hindsight, an overbooked mess, but when you think about it, it’s professional wrestling, and when you sit back and watch it, it’s very, very enthralling, and it was a real feel good moment to see Ziggler overcome the odds with the help of the Icon, Sting. Ziggler walks up the ramp and celebrates with his team captain, Mr Cena himself, but Triple H and Stephanie McMahon lurk around the ring, looking disappointed to chants of “You are fired!”, which isn’t technically true, and the ever favourite, “Na na na na, hey hey hey, good bye”. Stephanie has a great tantrum, which is bloody hilarious.

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Survivor Series 2014 was an all around fantastic pay-per-view event, and the main event really is a must watch, with the WWE debut of Sting, as well as what was probably the biggest moment in the career of Dolph Ziggler. The Blu-Ray is also chock full of some really good special features, mostly matches and segments stemming to and from the big matches on the card, as well as some pre-show and post-show matches and segments. WWE Survivor Series 2014 is available now on DVD and Blu-Ray!

Blu-ray Exclusives:

Monday Night Raw – 3 November 2014

Mr. McMahon Raises the Stakes for Survivor Series

Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins

SmackDown – 7 November 2014

Christian Welcomes Dean Ambrose to the “Peep Show”

Monday Night Raw – 17 November 2014

Dean Ambrose Has a Surprise for Bray Wyatt

Team Authority vs. Team Cena Contract Signing

SmackDown – 21 November 2014

Dean Ambrose’s Survival Kit

Survivor Series Kickoff Match

Jack Swagger vs. Cesaro

Survivor Series Fallout

The Miz & Damien Mizdow Put Everyone on Notice

DVD Extras:

Survivor Series Kickoff Match

Justin Gabriel vs. Fandango

Survivor Series Kickoff

Bad News Barrett Returns to WWE

Survivor Series Fallout

Dean Ambrose is a Great Dance Partner

Survivor Series Fallout

It’s Time to Celebrate with Nikki Bella

All images (C) WWE and WWE.com

WWE: The Best of Sting DVD and Blu Ray Review

October 20, 2014

by thatmediathing with No Comment Reviews

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Before the united era of WWE, there wasn’t just one major wrestling company in America. WWE’s biggest rival through the ages was a company that had its roots in the NWA, but soon became a company of its own; WCW. Like any wrestling company, WCW needed a top face for its company, and this DVD/Blu-ray looks at the wrestler many feel was the company man for WCW, a man that has still not wrestled under the Vince McMahon banner… The man they call Sting.

Starting from Sting’s debut in 1985 alongside his then tag team partner The Ultimate Warrior, the team of the Blade Runners is very noticeably green in the match shown on this DVD, but heck, they showed a lot of potential back then, and you can see from the first match to the last how much both men improved. We see a lot of future big names appear in the next match on the DVD, in Southern Pro Wrestling, as Sting tags with Rick Steiner against Mike Rotunda and Ron Simmons, one of whom went on to be a World Champion, and the other, IRS, the father of Bo Dallas and Bray Wyatt.

After these first two matches, we jump forward a short while, into the NWA/WCW rise of Sting, which sets the tone for the rest of the 2 disc set, which is almost like a history of WCW as much as it is a history of Sting’s career. Important matches from the Icon’s career are dotted between short documentary-esque sections, including interviews with Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger, Ric Flair, Diamond Dallas Page and many more WCW legends to spice up the action. I personally felt there could have been more sections such as these, especially where Sting talked about the matches and storylines, but the matches speak for themselves to a degree anyway. Plus, with the consistent quality of Stinger’s matches, even from his early career, and the large assortment of promos included as Blu-ray exclusives, you can’t complain too much.

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The first disc shows the first era of the WCW star’s career, showing off important matches whilst under the squeaky clean babyface surfer gimmick. One of the most fun parts of watching this DVD is watching how quickly Sting progresses his in-ring work, but having wrestled alongside and with men such as the Flair, Anderson and Steamboat amongst many other WCW legends, you couldn’t help but pick up a thing or two.

The first match with Ric Flair on the first disc, in 1988, and the last match on the second disc, in 2001, on WCW’s final ever show, show a great deal of progression in style and substance, not only in Flair and Sting, but also in WCW and wrestling in general, with the stark change in pace, production value, and in-ring psychology. We get to see a lot of men throughout the matches on both discs who went on to be great stars, as well as Sting, as he faces The Great Muta, who went on to be a Japanese wrestling legend; Ron Simmons, who went on to be the first ever African-American World Heavyweight Champion; “Dirty” Dutch Mantell, who is known nowadays as Zeb Colter, and of course, in a dream match, Sting faces an up and coming WCW US Champion known as Steve Austin. Now, if you had said to people nowadays that Sting faced Stone Cold Steve Austin, they would have looked at you in shock and belief, and yet it happened!

Towards the end of the first disc we go into the Monday Nitro era of WCW, and with it, the debut of a faction that changed wrestling, the New World Order. Led by Hulk Hogan, the group originally consisting of Hulk, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, the ex-WWF stars ran rampant on WCW in a staged invasion, and who else would stand tall against the oncoming forces than the WCW franchise himself, Sting? We get to see Sting’s match the night after the infamous Bash at the Beach event where Hogan formed the nWo, and how the formation of the nWo went on to change the career of the Icon himself. Sting began to wear darker attire and sported new facepaint in response to the changing times brought about by the New World Order, and leading into the second disc, the evolution of Sting from his “Surfer” gimmick into the gimmick we know him best for today, his gimmick inspired by “The Crow”, with the black and white facepaint and attire. We even get to hear the story behind the gimmick and the facepaint.

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Disc two begins with Sting and Hogan’s match at Starrcade 1997 for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. If you didn’t know already, Starrcade was WCW’s equivalent of Wrestlemania, and in the build up to this main event, Sting hadn’t wrestled for over a year and this was his first match under his new persona. The finish of the world championship match between Hogan and Sting was the subject of much controversy, in and outside of kayfabe, and I’m very glad WWE presented the match as-is, as the encounter was one of the most important in not only WCW, but in all of wrestling. The rest of the DVD shows matches from Sting’s career and feud with the nWo, even showing when Sting briefly joined the Wolfpac, all concluding with his final match in WCW with Ric Flair. As said before, the last match on the DVD is a stark contrast to the first in many ways, and seeing the descent of WCW from its glory into the dark depths of disaster as it dwindled into being bought out by WWE is always entertaining. Despite WCW falling from its former glory and into a very hit and miss period, it was always enjoyable in one way or another, and when it was “Showtime”, you always knew you were in for a treat. Sting even made a program with the “KISS Demon” (yes, really, a licensed KISS wrestler), into an entertaining affair. You have to see it to believe it.

Some other must watch matches include Sting teaming with long time rival Muta against the Steiner Brothers in Japan’s Tokyo Dome. Although the finish is rather dusty, the match itself is stellar, and the Japanese crowd and difference in production value is always entertaining to watch. Hell, it’s a big testament to WWE that they managed to get what was technically a NJPW (New Japan Pro Wrestling) match on their DVD. Speaking of Muta, the match included with him taking on Stinger 1v1 in this DVD is also fantastic, as well as, of course, the matches with the Icon VS the Nature Boy, Ric Flair. Also watch out for Sting’s match with Arn Anderson, the night after the nWo formation, which is not just enjoyable for that, but also as this event took place at Disney World! And finally, as far as cameos go, don’t look any further than a match consisting of Sting teaming up with Barry Windham, Ricky Steamboat and Dustin Rhodes (who went on to be…breathe in…Goldust!) to take on the “Dangerous Alliance”, Rick Rude, Larry Zbyszko, Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton, managed by Paul E. Dangerously AKA Paul Heyman!

Towards the end of the second disc we get to see the full circle of Stinger’s career, where he teams with his former tag team partner, The Ultimate Warrior, against Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart. The WCW announcers even go as far as to note how Sting and Warrior broke into the business as tag team partners, which ties together the entire DVD nicely. It’s a shame that Warrior was noticeably at the end of his career here, showing more limited in-ring work than usual, but as always, it was his charisma that carried the late Jim Hellwig into an enjoyable role.

As said before, the only detriment to the DVD is the lack of insight from other stars, and even from the Stinger himself, which is a great shame, for those which are there are pretty damn fantastic and very entertaining. It has to be mentioned though that the Blu-ray features some particularly interesting interviews, including Sting’s final promo in WCW, as well as, well, a cross-franchise cameo from a particular robotic policeman. The Blu-ray exclusives include an assortment of promos from throughout the Stinger’s career, as well as a few extra matches that are worth watching for hardcore fans.

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I’d definitely give this a watch if you’re already a fan of Sting, or want a sample of the man’s work, as this is a great collection of some fantastic matches from his career, as well as a great career retrospective, not only of the Stinger, but also of the company the man supported and partly carried on his back for many years, WCW. Maybe in the future we will see another release with a more lengthy documentary section akin to WWE’s other DVDs, with more interviews with the man himself, but for all we know, the Icon may not have finished his career at all yet. As the man himself said, “The only thing that’s for sure about Sting is that nothing’s for sure.”

All images (C) WWE