Pads & Panels

Title: OMG! The Top 50 Incidents in WWE History

Format: Three-Disc DVD

Studio: WWE Home Video

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

World Wrestling Entertainment’s latest mining of the archives elicits OMG! The Top 50 Incidents in WWE History. What are incidents, you ask? Well that’s a very good question, as WWE seems to use the term liberally in this instance, encompassing everything from contrived stunts, to real (once) behind-the-scenes things like the Montreal Screwjob to big moments in matches. What it amounts to, though, is a fun countdown of some of the biggest moments in WWE history, designed to spark argument over what did and did not make it, as well as where things placed. The feature is packed with moments like Stone Cold’s first stunner on Vince McMahon, to miraculous stunts from the likes of Shane McMahon and Jeff Hardy, to Brock Lesnar and Big Show collapsing a ring, to not-so-PG moments like Sable removing her top on television to reveal handprints on her breasts. The picks are good, though indicate how much better the programming was during the attitude era than what we get now, and the few modern-era choices are questionable. Still, the list is fantastic, thought it’s a bummer the second two discs didn’t contain some others that didn’t make the discs, rather than full-length versions of what is on the list, but having full matches like the Undertaker and Mankind Hell in the Cell also has its benefits. (more…)

Title: Money in the Bank 2011

Format: DVD

Studio: WWE Home Video

Review by: Bill Jones

Money in the Bank was a second-tier World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view, potentially on its way out, after diluting the awesomeness of the titular match with a yearly pay-per-view treatment, which had proved underwhelming in recent years. But then along came CM Punk, on the end of his contract with the company and the show taking place in his hometown, and with that as the setup, the WWE put on its best PPV in years.

Less than three weeks before the event, after proclaiming he was leaving the company and taking the title with him, CM Punk cut a promo at the top of the ramp on Monday Night Raw, a promo that shook up the wrestling world with an edgy delivery the company has been lacking in recent years. CM Punk reiterated his intent to leave the company with the belt, but proceeded to bash his employer, talking about Vince McMahon’s yes-men — along with comments directed toward McMahon’s daughter and son-in-law — suggesting the business would be better off after the wrestling promoter is dead. (more…)

Title: Greatest Superstars of the 21st Century

Format: Three-Disc DVD

Studio: WWE Home Video

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

World Wrestling Entertainment has been using its back catalog of content and superstars (along with its current ones) in recent years to pump out a seemingly never-ending stream of home video releases, many of them in three-disc sets. And surprisingly, to the benefit of wrestling fans, a great many of them have been very good. But one of the latest from the McMahon camp is questionable, and that is Greatest Superstars of the 21st Century.

My immediate thought was, “Didn’t they just do something like this?” But I was, of course, mixing it up with the Top 50 Superstars of All Time set released earlier this year. That feature focused on all eras of wrestling, while this one is strictly from the year 2000 and on. So there is a distinction, but many of the wrestlers on Greatest Superstars have already been featured on Top 50, and arguably in much better fashion. (more…)

No matter what happens at MITB, Punk rant was brilliant

How WWE is playing a hometown, the internet and more

By Bill Jones

No matter what happens at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view in Chicago this Sunday, there’s no denying that the already infamous June 27 Monday Night Raw rant was an absolutely brilliant move. And its impact is already readily apparent. More people are buzzing about the world of professional wrestling than they have in years; WWE is likely to get great buyrates for a PPV that otherwise might have been considered second-rate and gone largely under the radar; people were chanting CM Punk’s name on Raw tonight; and there is the setup for some great shock value in Punk’s hometown.

For those coming to this story unfamiliar with the situation, CM Punk came out at the end of Monday Night Raw June 27, cost John Cena a tables match against R Truth, and proceeded to sit at the top of the ramp and cut a promo that had many wondering whether it was scripted or whether CM Punk had really just gone off the hinges. (more…)

Title: The True Story of WrestleMania

Format: Three-Disc DVD Set

Studio: WWE Home Video

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

The True Story of WrestleMania hit shelves just before WrestleMania 27, offering fans a deeper look into more than quarter century of history the of the sports entertainment extravaganza. From the major gamble Vince McMahon took putting on the first event, to the week-long spectacle it has become in recent years, WrestleMania has become a major force in bringing the realm of the athletes and celebrities together, and this DVD set seeks to document its history. (more…)