When I received this DVD set to review, I honestly had no
preconceptions of it: whilst the first two volumes of the Attitude Era were
respectively excellent and very good, recent WWE DVD offerings have had a
tendency to repetitively use the same footage to cover the late 90's, with
different opinions attached to the surrounding Vox Pops. At the very least this set promised to take a
different approach to that, if the 'Unreleased' moniker is anything to go
by. The DVD menu is well presented, as
usual for a WWE release, and each disc's Chapters screen is well defined with
full match details.
Disc One
The DVD is presented by the rising star of the WWE presenting
team, Corey Graves, who introduces the concept of this compilation: the matches
featuring Attitude Era stars that never made it past the editing suite. Foreign Tours, PPV 'dark' matches,
non-televised 'house shows' all finally get to see the light of day, and for
those of you not as aged as this toothless old badger, Corey informs us about
the vagaries of Hi-8 video too. They've
polished up that 'ancient' video technology as well as possible for the first
match, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin versus Bret Hart in Germany from the 1996
European tour. A ringside camera
captured a match that is a good example of the mat-based styles both were using
at the time, and a fairly good way to kick-off the DVD.
Graves gives us some background on Undertaker and Mankind's feud,
as we move on to match two, a 'dark' match (an non-broadcast match from a TV or
Pay-per-View event) between them from In Your House: Good Friends, Better
Enemies. This first meeting was only a
taste of the hardcore nightmare that would be their Hell-in-a-Cell bout a year-or-so
down the line, but good value in it's own right.
The next two matches, from WWE's 1996 visit to Kuwait, both play
massively to the tour crowd. Undertaker and Bret Hart versus the British
Bulldog and Owen Hart is the classic fan-favourites against despised villains,
both in the build-up and match tactics, whilst Million Dollar Champion 'Stone
Cold' Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels go at it full throttle for the WWE
Championship.
At this point in the DVD, it is pretty clear that we are not
going to be getting the 'luxuries' here like commentary or the WWE's usual
multiple cameras, but if you watch a lot of Independent Wrestling, like me,
then it's probably something you can live with.
The other obvious thing is that there are technical reasons why these
have not been seen before, like the lighting rig going in the previous match.
Still in 1996, we're back in the familiar WWE stomping-ground of
Madison Square Garden for Ultimate Warrior's first appearance in 5 years
producing an excellent match against Owen Hart to cover for the latter's
legitimate injury, and an Austin versus Undertaker bout that broke down via
interference, conveniently leading in to the last two matches.
Rounding out Disc One are two more In Your House dark matches.
Goldust takes it to Shawn Michaels on the mic' and in the ring for the
championship and lastly Michaels, again, defends against Mankind.
Disc Two
Disc Two kicks off with a bang as Bret Hart, champion Shawn
Michaels and Sycho Sid face off in a triple-threat match in Toronto's Skydome;
all three worked well with Bret playing up the valiant underdog role to his
compatriots. This Non-televised RAW match is a bit of a corker, and certainly
warmed the Canadian crowd up for the Montreal Screwjob later in the year when
Michaels dives in to steal the win, as Bret tries to submit Sid. RAW dark matches take over from In Your House
on this disc, with Chainsaw Charlie (Terry Funk) making his début, just before
New Years 1998, teaming with Cactus Jack, Stone Cold and Undertaker against the
Nation of Domination in a solid hardcore tag-match.
An inexperienced-looking Ken Shamrock is rattled by The Rock and
his Nation stable-mates at an Anaheim house-show, followed by Cactus Jack's MSG
première in a Falls Count Anywhere match against Billy Gunn. Seeing Cactus, as opposed to Mankind,
carrying a bin full of weapons to the ring was beautiful sight, and the crowd
produced a good atmosphere as a result.
The spotlight shifts to Triple-H in the next pair of
matches. Standing in for his Degeneration
X partner, HHH takes on 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin before Shaun Michaels is due
to meet him in the infamous match involving Mike Tyson, demonstrating his
ability to shine on his own at that time.
This is followed by a match against the Big Show in which we get to
appreciate Helmsley's technical range, in comparison to the previous match it's
a switch in styles to meet the challenge of an opponent.
With WWE's late-90's boom period, it was somewhat inevitable that
they would 'go public' at some point. When they did, they did it in full Sports
Entertainment style by closing Wall Street to put on a wrestling show. For the final match on the disc, we get to
see the legendary Dudley Boyz make short work of Test and Albert in front of
the Stock Exchange, “Get the Tables” echoing off the building's walls!
Throughout these two discs, the matches have been punctuated by
Corey Graves giving some historical perspectives directly to the camera, but
also some fly-on-the-wall segments in the style of out-takes. He wraps up the collection with one final
slightly surreal moment. These seem a
little too post-modern ironically self-aware for me to 'get it', but they had
my wife chuckling so I'm assuming it's just not to my taste!
Disc Three
Wait... What? Yes, a DVD
compilation of what is essentially 'Extras' content has its own 'Extras' (or
'Special Features') DVD, and as you might expect, the production errors were
even more significant than in the main content. But let us not be hasty,
despite not having the pinfall recorded, or a major spot or move missed, these
matches are some of the most fun.
Here are my personal highlights: The exception that proves the
rule, the first match on this disc is the only one with commentary and
broadcast-quality production values as Yokozuna takes on The Sultan (Rikishi)
in South Africa. Owen Hart and Jim Ross are a blessed delight and underline how
important the vocal feedback is to the WWE product, and the local pundit is
also good value for his additions.
'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie versus The
Rock and the New Age Outlaws was another fun but brutal encounter, even if the
cameraman was often out of position. The final match in the set sees Tag Champs
the Hardy Boyz in their early pomp, accompanied by Women's Champion Lita, as
they demolish Lo-Down on Wall Street.
Final Thoughts
Rather than giving us the same clips recycled again for another
look back at their history, WWE have really pulled out the stops to give us the
polar opposite. They may have hit the
cutting-room floor for a reason, but for the wrestling archivist, completist or
collector this is a little gem of uncovered history. This is probably not one that a casual viewer
could appreciate in one sitting though, the lack of polish and commentary
taking the product back to its live
event roots over WWE's usual TV glitz and glamour, but with the Era's biggest
Superstars going head-to-head each match has it's own individual appeal.
Available in the UK from the 8th August 2016 at www.WWEDVD.co.uk from £19.99. (https://www.wwedvd.co.uk/attitude-unreleased-free-mini-book-p-12144.html)
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