The DVD and Blu-ray will be released to the United States only a day before they are released to Australia. The UK release time will soon be revealed at Silvervision.co.uk.
In speaking with a reliable source this week, WWEDVDNews.com has learned that the “Best of WWE Eras” (1985-2004) DVD sets, referenced in Cue Entertainment magazine, are not confirmed just yet. At this point it appears they are only under discussion for release.
The article in question was based off information received from Silver Vision and suggested the volumes (each a 4-Disc set) would be released before the upcoming Clash of the Champions DVD. We can now assume that’s not happening but instead that the series remains a possibility for later.
No word yet on whether or not the rumored Attitude Era DVD is related to this.
In other news, Jim Ross recently shared some comments on his blog (JRsBarBQ.com) about WWE’s recent Epic Journey of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson release.
“Did I enjoy the latest Rock DVD? Absolutely. I especially liked Rock’s interview in the nearly two hour documentary disc. I’m also pleased that I actually made the final edit. WWE Home Video has been doing some amazing work including DVDs on the Rock, Steve Austin, and the Rivalry DVD featuring Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart.”
Check out more posts here on WrestlingDVDNetwork.com:
I hate the ratio bars. The problem is, MOST of the matches on every release are from a pre-HD era, which means watching almost all of our special features is like looking through a letterbox, which quite frankly makes them not ‘special’ anymore. It’d be better if the ratio bars were just black, instead of creating these stupid graphics either side. I mean look at the Elimination Chamber set’s bars with a logo either side…awfully distracting!
I feel like WWE like doing this as they feel like giving us a crappy presentation of the matches on superstar sets and anthologies makes us go and buy the original 4:3 PPV DVD aswell.
I’ve heard all the positive arguments for HD, but I have my own opinion, and I just feel like it’s ruined the presentation of all the WWE archived footage. It’s certainly stopped me buying a good few releases. Nowadays I will not buy a simple match anthology of any superstar/PPV, etc. if it’s just matches alone, because I hate the bars with a passion.
For one, having it on Blu-Ray would actually help to increase the picture quality as they are upconverting the footage. And for all of us who actually do like buying and watching blu-rays I would definitely want it in my collection. If I can get the old footage looking like crap on a DVD or the old footage looking crisper and digitally enhanced on my nice big screen on Blu-Ray? then I’m buying the Blu-Ray. And Blu-Ray tends to have better surround sound audio so you can truly relive those E-C-W chants like you’re in the bingo hall back in ’96.
It seems odd to me to release something like ECW which was made to look deliberately bad in the first place and release it on blu ray. I know where you’re coming from Simon. Sidebars would be unavoidable apparantly unless they put in in 4:3, but what I don’t understand is why its more important to fuck up the actual footage for the sake of making a few little intros. If the footage is 4:3 then just fucking release it in 4:3. But maybe because the bit rate is higher the picture just looks better anyway. Then again, it seems they are trying to turn it into something it isnt, and an ECW blu ray seems a bit of a pretntious way of making more money than they would from DVD prices. There is no good reason for blu ray exclusive content when that content is all in 4:3 standard definition. Apart from they can get more on the disc, but they never fill them up these days anyway. Business is business.
@Simon: Then what about the Blu-Ray version? Blu-Ray players are HD, and everything WWE shoots now is all HD. You’re argument doesn’t make sense to me from a production stand point. So if people buy the Blu-Ray, they still have to see the intro in cut off SD video with black on the sides even though it was all shot in HD?
oh and yes I know if you look at some of the newer WWE DVDs on Amazon it still says 1.33:1 aspect ratio, but that is an obvious error because they even have it on the Blu-Rays. All WWE DVD/BluRays now are 1.77:1 aspect ratio. You can tell the difference between new ones and old ones like the old Austin and Shawn discs because the new ones have the “WWEHD” logo in the upper left corner, which shows that they are produced in full 16×9 format, and Legacy of Austin & Shawn don’t cause they were produced 4×3
But my point is, there doesn’t need to be any HD footage on the new ECW set. To add sidebars just for the sake of a couple of HD intro’s would be totally unnecessary. Is it really that important to have the DVD introduced in HD?
@Simon: go back and look at the Austin and Shawn DVDs. They were before WWE started producing DVDs in 16×9 anamorphic format. They were produced in 4:3 standard def. Therefore there was no place for them to put the bars or stretch any footage. If you look on Amazon it says that Austin is “Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1” which is 4:3. So if you are seeing it full screen on a widescreen TV, then it’s your DVD player or TV stretching the image to fit fullscreen. Both DVDs are 4:3, not Anamorphic 16×9 which ALL WWE DVDs are now because of the HD footage and because of Blu-Ray
@Anonymous (March 5, 2012 at 12.24am): Do you own the Shawn Michaels – Heartbreak & Triumph / My Journey or The Legacy of Steve Austin DVD sets? If so, do you think the picture quality on those is bad?
I just started to think how lame the 2004 section would be, given that they won’t mention the biggest moment of the year, Benoit’s title win/embrace with Eddie. 🙁
I’m thinking also as far as the ECW DVD goes that we may get a decent length on the set. I find it difficult that WWE can make 25 matches under 7 hours. Unless they decide to cut the hell out of the matches and only give us snippets. When you put about 8 matches on each disc and have someone host the set, 3 hours on each disc would be just about right. Obviously we want these matches in their full length, but because WWE has been cutting time on their latest sets I’m worried the matches will be clipped for time reasons. The blood factor might also be an issue, but The Rock was bleeding all over his set in his match with ladder match HHH. All I know is that a WWE DVD has not come out in a while that had 25 matches on it. I think maybe the last ones were Rey’s Masked Man DVD or WCW Nitro. Either way, those sets came in at about 9 hours and not 6 hours 45 minutes. WWE has the possibility to really screw this one up or to redeem themselves DVD wise. Can’t wait for the release and more info
To neverAcquiesce it is not 7 years to the day of the first One Night Stand, this set is set to be released on 6/5/12 and the first One Night Stand was on 6/12/05
@Simon: but now they are mixing HD and SD footage on the same discs. I’m sure if Joey Styles or someone is hosting it then all that footage will be HD and the matches will be 4:3, so you need bars on the side ortherwise when switching between HD footage and SD footage with just black on the sides will look like crap. If you really don’t like the bars, then you can just use the zoom feature on your TV and cut them off. And for WWE to zoom or stretch the footage so there is no black or bars would be crappy too cause you loose picture quality and you cut off a lot of the action.
@Richard: That’s what they did up until about 2010, and all of those releases look great to me. There’s no need for any HD footage on this set (what with it all being filmed 1993-2001) so no need for the sidebars.
@NeverAcquiesce I thought exactly the same thing when I read it to! It was June 12 THE One Night Stand (the second should have been called ECW Booty Call) LOL 😀
Simon, I’m afraid it’ll be a no purchase for you then. What do you expect the WWE to do? Pull extra ratio out of their ass? ECW was filmed on tape in standard 4:3. Would you prefer they stretch the picture to fill your screen? If they zoom it in then you’ll lose some of the picture/lower the quality. That’s an even less desirable option.
WWE seems to want to try new things with their DVD releases including big sets like 4 discs, more WCW stuff and ECW stuff. The problem though is that I hate when they only release half of something. If they’re going to release these “era” type of DVDS then I really wouldn’t want them to do it if they cant complete the process. These era sets sound amazing and I could see them selling big, but i know WWE is somewhat afraid to put money into this stuff. Excited the ECW DVD has been confirmed, this is a blu-ray purchase for me without a doubt
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I hate the ratio bars. The problem is, MOST of the matches on every release are from a pre-HD era, which means watching almost all of our special features is like looking through a letterbox, which quite frankly makes them not ‘special’ anymore. It’d be better if the ratio bars were just black, instead of creating these stupid graphics either side. I mean look at the Elimination Chamber set’s bars with a logo either side…awfully distracting!
I feel like WWE like doing this as they feel like giving us a crappy presentation of the matches on superstar sets and anthologies makes us go and buy the original 4:3 PPV DVD aswell.
I’ve heard all the positive arguments for HD, but I have my own opinion, and I just feel like it’s ruined the presentation of all the WWE archived footage. It’s certainly stopped me buying a good few releases. Nowadays I will not buy a simple match anthology of any superstar/PPV, etc. if it’s just matches alone, because I hate the bars with a passion.
For one, having it on Blu-Ray would actually help to increase the picture quality as they are upconverting the footage. And for all of us who actually do like buying and watching blu-rays I would definitely want it in my collection. If I can get the old footage looking like crap on a DVD or the old footage looking crisper and digitally enhanced on my nice big screen on Blu-Ray? then I’m buying the Blu-Ray. And Blu-Ray tends to have better surround sound audio so you can truly relive those E-C-W chants like you’re in the bingo hall back in ’96.
It seems odd to me to release something like ECW which was made to look deliberately bad in the first place and release it on blu ray. I know where you’re coming from Simon. Sidebars would be unavoidable apparantly unless they put in in 4:3, but what I don’t understand is why its more important to fuck up the actual footage for the sake of making a few little intros. If the footage is 4:3 then just fucking release it in 4:3. But maybe because the bit rate is higher the picture just looks better anyway. Then again, it seems they are trying to turn it into something it isnt, and an ECW blu ray seems a bit of a pretntious way of making more money than they would from DVD prices. There is no good reason for blu ray exclusive content when that content is all in 4:3 standard definition. Apart from they can get more on the disc, but they never fill them up these days anyway. Business is business.
@Anonymous: Why does there need to be a Blu-Ray version? What’s the point when none of the matches were filmed in HD?
@Simon: Then what about the Blu-Ray version? Blu-Ray players are HD, and everything WWE shoots now is all HD. You’re argument doesn’t make sense to me from a production stand point. So if people buy the Blu-Ray, they still have to see the intro in cut off SD video with black on the sides even though it was all shot in HD?
oh and yes I know if you look at some of the newer WWE DVDs on Amazon it still says 1.33:1 aspect ratio, but that is an obvious error because they even have it on the Blu-Rays. All WWE DVD/BluRays now are 1.77:1 aspect ratio. You can tell the difference between new ones and old ones like the old Austin and Shawn discs because the new ones have the “WWEHD” logo in the upper left corner, which shows that they are produced in full 16×9 format, and Legacy of Austin & Shawn don’t cause they were produced 4×3
But my point is, there doesn’t need to be any HD footage on the new ECW set. To add sidebars just for the sake of a couple of HD intro’s would be totally unnecessary. Is it really that important to have the DVD introduced in HD?
@Simon: go back and look at the Austin and Shawn DVDs. They were before WWE started producing DVDs in 16×9 anamorphic format. They were produced in 4:3 standard def. Therefore there was no place for them to put the bars or stretch any footage. If you look on Amazon it says that Austin is “Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1” which is 4:3. So if you are seeing it full screen on a widescreen TV, then it’s your DVD player or TV stretching the image to fit fullscreen. Both DVDs are 4:3, not Anamorphic 16×9 which ALL WWE DVDs are now because of the HD footage and because of Blu-Ray
@Anonymous (March 5, 2012 at 12.24am): Do you own the Shawn Michaels – Heartbreak & Triumph / My Journey or The Legacy of Steve Austin DVD sets? If so, do you think the picture quality on those is bad?
I just started to think how lame the 2004 section would be, given that they won’t mention the biggest moment of the year, Benoit’s title win/embrace with Eddie. 🙁
I’m thinking also as far as the ECW DVD goes that we may get a decent length on the set. I find it difficult that WWE can make 25 matches under 7 hours. Unless they decide to cut the hell out of the matches and only give us snippets. When you put about 8 matches on each disc and have someone host the set, 3 hours on each disc would be just about right. Obviously we want these matches in their full length, but because WWE has been cutting time on their latest sets I’m worried the matches will be clipped for time reasons. The blood factor might also be an issue, but The Rock was bleeding all over his set in his match with ladder match HHH. All I know is that a WWE DVD has not come out in a while that had 25 matches on it. I think maybe the last ones were Rey’s Masked Man DVD or WCW Nitro. Either way, those sets came in at about 9 hours and not 6 hours 45 minutes. WWE has the possibility to really screw this one up or to redeem themselves DVD wise. Can’t wait for the release and more info
i’m hoping to see more tag team and technical matches over the hardcore garbage matches.
To neverAcquiesce it is not 7 years to the day of the first One Night Stand, this set is set to be released on 6/5/12 and the first One Night Stand was on 6/12/05
@Simon: but now they are mixing HD and SD footage on the same discs. I’m sure if Joey Styles or someone is hosting it then all that footage will be HD and the matches will be 4:3, so you need bars on the side ortherwise when switching between HD footage and SD footage with just black on the sides will look like crap. If you really don’t like the bars, then you can just use the zoom feature on your TV and cut them off. And for WWE to zoom or stretch the footage so there is no black or bars would be crappy too cause you loose picture quality and you cut off a lot of the action.
@Richard: That’s what they did up until about 2010, and all of those releases look great to me. There’s no need for any HD footage on this set (what with it all being filmed 1993-2001) so no need for the sidebars.
@NeverAcquiesce I thought exactly the same thing when I read it to! It was June 12 THE One Night Stand (the second should have been called ECW Booty Call) LOL 😀
Simon, I’m afraid it’ll be a no purchase for you then. What do you expect the WWE to do? Pull extra ratio out of their ass? ECW was filmed on tape in standard 4:3. Would you prefer they stretch the picture to fill your screen? If they zoom it in then you’ll lose some of the picture/lower the quality. That’s an even less desirable option.
I’m sure it seems like great DVD work when you get them for free.
It’ll be cool to see some ECW action in bluray format. Looking forward to this release.
i waz here
4 DISK ON CHRISBENOIT!!!!!!
Or not. Wow. They say memory is the first to go.
4:3 bars on the ECW DVD = no purchase.
Seven years to the day of the original One Night Stand. That’s cool.
WWE seems to want to try new things with their DVD releases including big sets like 4 discs, more WCW stuff and ECW stuff. The problem though is that I hate when they only release half of something. If they’re going to release these “era” type of DVDS then I really wouldn’t want them to do it if they cant complete the process. These era sets sound amazing and I could see them selling big, but i know WWE is somewhat afraid to put money into this stuff. Excited the ECW DVD has been confirmed, this is a blu-ray purchase for me without a doubt
I could see WWE holding off with the era sets and have a show on the WWE network before releasing them on DVD.