Back by popular demand from the loyal readers of WrestlingDVDNetwork.com, we’re once again adding to our WWE DVD List with all of the 2019-released WWE DVDs and Blu-rays!
“WWE 24: The Best of 2019” officially hit stores last week in both the United States and the United Kingdom. If you’ve been following our news on the 2020 WWE DVD schedule you’ll know this title may possibly be last-ever non-PPV compilation released by WWE Home Video.
The final WWE DVD of 2019 will be a PPV and it’s scheduled to hit U.S. stores on December 24th: Survivor Series 2019.
Given the recent developments, 2019 will go down as a noteworthy year for WWE DVDs during which we were treated to the first-ever Superstar sets for The Miz and Finn Bálor, the first-ever compilation focused on NXT TakeOver, unreleased matches featuring “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, an Andre the Giant documentary, a celebration of SmackDown’s 20th Anniversary, while we welcomed back Trish Stratus and Lita to Home Video, in addition to a few other releases and UK exclusives.
LIST OF 2019 WWE DVDS
| Best Pay-Per-View Matches 2018 | Jan 8, 2019 |
| TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs 2018 | Jan 22, 2019 |
| The Best of RAW & SmackDown Live 2018 | Feb 12, 2019 |
| Royal Rumble 2019** | Mar 5, 2019 |
| Best of NXT TakeOver 2018 | Mar 19, 2019 |
| Elimination Chamber 2019 | Apr 2, 2019 |
| Fastlane 2019 | Apr 16, 2019 |
| Andre The Giant | Apr 30, 2019 |
| WrestleMania 35* | May 14, 2019 |
| John Cena: Hustle, Loyalty, Respect | May 28, 2019 |
| Trish and Lita: Best Friends, Better Rivals | Jun 11, 2019 |
| Money in the Bank 2019 | Jun 25, 2019 |
| Becky Lynch: Iconic Matches^ | Jul 1, 2019 |
| Paige: Iconic Matches^ | Jul 1, 2019 |
| The Miz: A-List Superstar | Jul 9, 2019 |
| Stomping Grounds 2019 | Jul 23, 2019 |
| Extreme Rules 2019 | Aug 13, 2019 |
| Getting Rowdy: The Unreleased Matches of Roddy Piper | Aug 27, 2019 |
| SummerSlam 2019** | Sep 10, 2019 |
| Super Showdown 2019 | Sep 24, 2019 |
| SmackDown 20th Anniversary | Oct 8, 2019 |
| Clash of Champions 2019 | Oct 22, 2019 |
| Hell in a Cell 2019 | Nov 12, 2019 |
| Finn Bálor: For Everyone | Nov 26, 2019 |
| WWE 24: The Best of 2019 | Dec 10, 2019 |
| Survivor Series 2019** | Dec 24, 2019 |
* Also available on Blu-ray
** Also available on Blu-ray (UK/European Exclusive)
^ UK/European Exclusive DVD release
If the new collection of WWE 24 documentaries was in fact the last-ever non-PPV compilation, then “Finn Bálor – For Everyone” was likely to be the last-ever Superstar set.
Finn Bálor has had an unusual career in WWE thus far. In his five years with the company, he became one of the integral forces to establish NXT as the hottest wrestling brand on the planet, partly via the Demon character which would occasionally appear. Upon being promoted to the main roster, he quickly claimed heavyweight gold, only for injury to force him to relinquish the prize. Upon his return, his status fluctuated for more than two years, sometimes challenging for major honors and at other times being left off PPVs altogether. As of this writing, he is back on NXT, as he looks to help the yellow-and-black team reach new heights.
Therefore, there are plenty of in-ring highlights that can be covered in a DVD based on the man himself, which is what we have here to review today. Having faced all sorts of opponents, Finn has built up quite the resume in WWE, which when added to his New Japan achievements as Prince Devitt means that he has enjoyed a very successful career, and yet his best days may still lie ahead. In the meantime, though, let’s take a look at his new DVD release, which covers his most significant WWE matches from 2015 to 2019, and presents new interview segments too. In the UK, fans can grab the DVD hand-signed by Bálor here on Amazon.co.uk.
THE MATCHES
WWE NXT – February 4, 2015
NXT Championship #1 Contender’s Semi-Final Match
Finn Bálor vs. Hideo Itami
Kicking things off, we have this battle as part of a mini-tournament to decide a future #1 contender to the NXT Title. This is enjoyable enough, and as its pits two relatively recent tag team partners against one another, there is a sportsmanlike-feel to this. That being said, when they did team up as the previous NXT TakeOver, that marked the debut of The Demon, which I feel would have been a better way to open this compilation.
WWE NXT TakeOver: Rival – February 11, 2015
NXT Championship #1 Contender’s Match
Finn Bálor vs. Adrian Neville
That’s only a minor point, though, especially given how strong Finn’s NXT matches generally were. Especially this one, which is a terrific singles match and one of the best ever TakeOver matches ever, at least in the days before the occasional specials were taken out of Full Sail. This is also a great reminder of just how damn good Neville is for those who have missed him since he left WWE under acrimonious circumstances.
WWE Beast in the East – July 4, 2015
WWE NXT Championship Match
Kevin Owens (C) vs. Finn Bálor
Finn had to wait some time to get his big title opportunity, but when it arrived, he made the most of it. Back in Japan at the Beast in the East special, Finn took on Kevin Owens, who at the time was on the main roster, meaning that a title change seemed very likely, but was not a complete certainty. Finn rose to the occasion in what was a very exciting match to claim his first piece of gold in WWE.
WWE NXT TakeOver: Respect – October 7, 2015
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semi-Final Match
Finn Bálor & Samoa Joe vs. The Revival
During his NXT Title reign, Finn found the time to join Samoa Joe in winning the inaugural Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament. They had to win two matches in one night to claim the trophy, and their semi-final against The Revival is here. Intriguingly, this seemingly formidable alliance was designed to pave the way for Joe to turn heel on Finn, instigating a long rivalry for the NXT Championship.
WWE NXT Live – April 21, 2016
WWE NXT Championship Match
Finn Bálor (C) vs. Samoa Joe
Strangely enough, none of their three TakeOver bouts are included here, which means that neither of Finn’s two big wins over Joe are present. We do, however, get the shock title change at a house show, as Joe found a way to finally dethrone Finn, ending an NXT Championship reign which had lasted for over nine months. It was the end of an era for NXT, and for Joe, this marked arguably the peak of his WWE career so far.
WWE RAW – July 25, 2016
#1 Contender’s Match
Finn Bálor vs. Roman Reigns
Finn’s promotion to the main roster was inevitable, but fans were still pleasantly surprised as to how strongly he was pushed from the get-go. On his first night on RAW, Finn triumphed in a four-way bout, which set up him up with this clash against Roman (who was returning from a suspension) to determine Seth Rollins’ opponent at SummerSlam for the brand new Universal Championship. This is a very exciting match that sees Finn pull off the huge upset, establishing him as a star on his very first night on the red brand.
WWE SummerSlam 2016 – August 21, 2016
WWE Universal Championship Match
Finn Bálor vs. Seth Rollins
Finn managed to go one step further and lift the Universal Championship on his PPV debut, and in the Demon guise no less. Unfortunately, he dislocated his shoulder along the way, which forced him to immediately vacate the gold the next night, and it meant that this was only a strong match as opposed to the potential classic that could have happened, though he deserves immense credit for even continuing, never mind having a very respectable showing. Also distracting is the Brooklyn crowd’s reaction to the unveiling of the red-strapped belt, which is still annoying to me over three years later.
WWE TLC 2017 – October 22, 2017
Finn Bálor vs. AJ Styles
Once Finn returned, he found himself in a never-ending feud with Bray Wyatt. A planned blow-off to pit a pumpkin-themed Demon against a Sister Abigail-fuelled Wyatt was cancelled as Bray suffered an illness, and instead we got this dream match between Finn and AJ. It is a great match, one of the best of 2017, and the Demon manages to retain his aura with a minor upset victory against The Phenomenal One. For stepping in at short notice, AJ was awarded the WWE Title a short time later.
WWE RAW – January 8, 2018
Finn Bálor, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins & Jason Jordan
I had almost forgotten about this until watching the DVD, but Bálor Club did indeed recruit some old pals in Gallows and Anderson at the turn of the year. It didn’t last very long, but the faction lasted long enough to face off against a secondary Shield, as Jason Jordan stepped in to replace an injured Dean Ambrose. In a sad piece of irony, Jordan was injured not long afterwards, and sadder still, it appears that his in-ring career is now over.
WWE RAW – April 30, 2018
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Seth Rollins (C) vs. Finn Bálor
Although Finn’s WrestleMania debut in a three-way against Seth and The Miz is excluded (which is a shame as that was a tremendous contest), we do get to see their RAW singles clash which rounded off April, and it was arguably the RAW match of the year; it was certainly Finn’s high point from an in-ring standpoint. For those who currently blast Rollins and have suddenly decided that he’s overrated, rewatch bouts like this and your opinion might be swayed somewhat.
WWE RAW – August 20, 2018
WWE Universal Championship Match
Roman Reigns (C) vs. Finn Bálor
Through all of his trials and tribulations in 2017 and 2018, Finn had still yet to receive a rematch for the Universal Championship. He finally got it against Roman Reigns, who had just dethroned Brock Lesnar the night before at SummerSlam. This isn’t quite as memorable as their 2016 contest, but it is still very good, and it suggests that these two could have quite the rivalry if Finn brings his heel character over to SmackDown in the future.
WWE NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool – January 12, 2019
Finn Bálor vs. Jordan Devlin
Finn managed to find his way back home to Blighty for NXT UK’s first TakeOver special in Blackpool. He was the surprise replacement to take on Jordan Devlin, who fans had heckled with cries of “You’re just a s–t Finn Bálor!” for some time, making this a minor dream bout. It’s a good match as well, and it’s nice to see the NXT UK brand featured on a DVD for the first and, potentially, only time.
WWE RAW – January 14, 2019
Fatal Four Way #1 Contender’s Match
Finn Bálor vs. John Cena vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Baron Corbin
Upon returning to the United States, out of the blue Finn was suddenly promoted to the position of challenging Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title. To get there, though, he had to first defeat Jinder Mahal (not included here, which I’ll hardly be losing sleep over), and he then went up against two major heels in Corbin and McIntyre, as well as longtime top babyface Cena. And it was Johnny Boy who Finn pinned to earn the crack at Lesnar’s title, in what currently stands as being Cena’s last match. But he’ll wrestle again… won’t he?
WWE Royal Rumble 2019 – January 27, 2019
WWE Universal Championship Match
Brock Lesnar (C) vs. Finn Bálor
As for his big showdown with Brock: Finn is a smaller, lighter competitor, which didn’t bode well for his chances of claiming the Universal Title for a second time, but did bode well for the chances of this being an exciting match. And both theories proved to be correct, as Lesnar did everything he could to make Finn look good before inevitably winning with the F5. This is another reminder of what Lesnar can do when he has the motivation to put on a thrilling bout.
WWE WrestleMania 35 – April 7, 2019
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Bobby Lashley (C) vs. Finn Bálor
As noted, Finn made his WrestleMania debut in 2018, but it was at this year’s Mania when The Demon made its first appearance on the grand stage. This is a fairly short yet underrated match: Lashley goes all-out in trying to pack as much as he can in such a brief window, and Finn reciprocates en route to winning his second IC crown. On a less bloated card, this would be remembered with greater fondness than it is.
WWE SmackDown – April 16, 2019
Finn Bálor vs. Ali
Finn winning gold at WrestleMania would have been an ideal way to round out this DVD. Instead, we get this as a bonus encounter of sorts. It’s a very athletic showing from both, with Ali providing further evidence as to why he is arguably the underrated WWE star of 2019. As mentioned, though, this feels like something that would be included as a DVD extra, given how the preceding contest seemed like the more sensible way to close the main program.
THE VERDICT
Given how talented the WWE roster as a whole is right now, it is easy to take certain names for granted, and in recent times, Finn Bálor has become one of those such stars. But the “Finn Bálor – For Everyone” DVD is a great reminder as to how good he really is, and how amongst a sea of highly-skilled wrestlers, he sits somewhere near the top when it comes to what he can do in the ring, with The Demon giving him an added edge that the likes of Seth Rollins and Cesaro do not have from a character standpoint.
While we’re getting to see what he’s up to as a heel back on NXT and beyond, this is as good a time as any to check out this DVD, which is chock-full of great matches starring one of WWE’s most accomplished performers.
Grab the brand new WWE “FINN BÁLOR – FOR EVERYONE” DVD…
– UK/Europe: RIGHT NOW! Grab your new Finn Bálor DVD right now on Amazon.co.uk.
– USA: RIGHT NOW! Grab your new Finn Bálor DVD right now here on Amazon.com.
– Australia: January 22nd. Your pre-order opportunity is live now over at Madman.com.au.
That’s dumb why are they not releasing Legends collections sets anymore I buy this stuff
Yeah, I’m still waiting for a legit Mr. Perfect collection an a legit Chris Benoit collection. A rick Rude DVD collection would be nice
*56 years of history
Not sure why this posted here. This was a reply for further down the convo.
I can’t believe superstar series DVDs are ending and we never got a booker t set. That’s the one I’ve been waiting for years to be released 🙁
regarding important documentaries, I think the Jake Roberts one should be mentioned. because that seemed to be the first time (unless I’m forgetting something) that any of these went a bit deeper, even into the terrority of uncomfortable topics.
Absolutely.. very dark, but..that is also what made the charachter so interesting..but what a dark dark life Jake the man he has had.
I was at SummerSlam in Brooklyn the night the Universal belt was revealed, and it was booed with good reason. For weeks we were told about a brand new championship belt being created, and fans were getting excited about it, even creating their own custom designs online, trying to guess what the belt would look like. After all, this was just a couple of months after they unveiled the Raw Women’s Title, which was just a white version of the WWE Title, so fans were expecting something completely new. When they pulled the sheet off the podium and we saw that it was just another version of the same belt, yet again, with that ugly fruit rollup strap to boot, people were pissed, and rightfully so. That was the beginning of WWE’s laziness when it came to belt designs. Then the following month they unveiled the SmackDown Women’s belt which was, again, the same exact belt design being used for the 4th time. Then the matching Raw and SD red and blue “dime” tag belts shortly after that.
The fans in the building at SummerSlam were really excited for the Balor-Rollins match. We didn’t “crap on the match” cause we were bored or wanted to “get ourselves over“, we were legit pissed with the ugly-ass belt they decided to unveil. Anyone that was upset with the fans for “ruining the match”, which I don’t believe we did, take it out on the company for making the worst looking belts in forever. And I believe WWE knew we wouldn’t like the belt and that’s why they didn’t you the unveiling segment on TV. Stephanie & Foley doing that promo happened during a video package before the match.
*that’s why they didn’t show you the unveiling segment on TV
For me, it’s a draw, if one had to descide the most ugly, no-charachter strap.. can’t believe they did the excact same dumb thing again with the 24/7 belt..building it up to be something special, only for Vince and Co. to once again give the fans the F-finger with that ridicilous abomination.
Oh please, was the aesthetics of the belt really that important? It’s not like it’s real. It wasn’t worth crapping on the wrestlers for it. I know I wasn’t them they were booing, but how do you think it made Rollins and Balor feel as they were starting that match?
Apparently the “aesthetics” are very important because it wasn’t just 1 or 2 people booing, or one section of people, it was pretty much the entire arena that was pissed off. Not to mention the backlash online was very strong. And WWE themselves even think the aesthetics of the belt was important, otherwise they wouldn’t have made a big deal about the unveiling of it. Just like they so with every new belt they unveil. And I fully believe they knew the crowd wouldn’t like the belt, which is why they didn’t show that segment on TV.
As for Rollins and Balor, go back and watch the match again, they eventually get the crowd back into their match and that shows how good they are. If they were gonna be pissed at anybody, be pisses at the company for horribly misreading their audience. Go look at other belt unveilings, when the belts look good, people cheered. Like when Cody Rhodes brought back the classic IC Title in 2011. Or WrestleMania 32 when Lita unveiled the new Women’s belt, which in itself isn’t the best looking belt, but it was still way better than the pink butterfly Divas belt. And when the belt is ugly people are gonna let them know. Like the Universal Title unveiling, or the 24/7 title unveiling. Or even August 2014 when HHH unveiled the new WWE Title, and the crowd farted because it was just the same exact belt as the previous 2013 belt, just with the updated logo. If WWE doesn’t make big deals out if new belts, they won’t get fans’ hopes up.
I just never really saw anything wrong with it. It’s the equivalent belt on another brand, so why should it not look the same, but with a different colour strap? It actually made perfect sense. Would’ve made even more sense if they had changed the Smackdown WWE title to having a blue strap at the same time.
It’s very lazy having 4 belts that are designed exactly the same, the 2 men’s world titles and the 2 women’s titles. Back during the original brand split we had the WWE Title, the World Heavyweight Title, the Women’s Title and the Divas Title. All 4 completely unique original designs. Even the Tag Team belts back then were different designs. Today everything is has to look exactly the same. And the belts are ugly on top of that. I’m sure if the current WWE Title and Universal Title were designed like the WWF winged eagle belt or the WCW big gold belt, just with different colored straps, people wouldn’t complain at all. It’s just the generic designs of the current belts that people are turned off by.
Well sometimes you can put a lot of effort into something to the point that it doesn’t make sense. IF wrestling was real, and there were two brands, I would imagine the belts would look the same albeit with the brand colours on, so that each title holder was seen as the equivalent, so it might not be what you personally want, but all I’m saying is it makes sense and is logical if the intention is for each brand’s champion to be viewed on the same level.
And the part about the belts being “ugly” is completely down to opinion. I’m not really seeing that. If they were overly bedazzled or whacky, then yes, but they’re quite uniform and slick IMO.
To be fair, the Universal Title, no matter what the belt looks like, will never be seen as an equal to the WWE Title. The WWE Title has over 66 years of history with countless memorable moments attached to it. The Universal title has been around for 3 years.
*56 years of history
I watched parts of both the Finn and WWE24 sets last night. Both of them were actually pretty good. I found the chosen Finn matches to reaffirm the fact that he’s an overall great wrestler and is pretty diverse in the ring, having the ability to work with several different types of wrestlers and styles (Japan, cruiserweight, Lesnar, and Styles.) The guy just keeps putting on great matches.
For my money, the WWE documentaries have clearly been replaced by the WWE 24 series, but the real documentaries like Bret Hart, ECW and Flair just can’t be touched. They were amazing.
I’ll give you Bret and ECW, but Flair’s 30 for 30 was better than anything WWE put out on him.
I’m actually with you there. That piece they did on him was very honest. I really loved how they touched on Reid Flair and the part where HHH talked about his test results. Man, that was my favorite part without a doubt.
With the pa comments about fans booing the red belt during a Seth match and thinking Seth’s overrated, Rollins should stop posting reviews under a pen name. Might get the site more traffic.
“If The Undertaker does not get a full length documentary and at least 3-discs bluray/4-discs DVD, we riot!” 🙂
aaaah, one can still hope, right!? Seriously..closing the era of non-ppv releases with these two recent/upcoming somewhat thin sets, is like WWE spitting in the faces of their faithful Homevideo collectors spanning some 20+ years.
I know.. times, consuming, demands and people change.. but, damn it.. it’s the freaking Deadman we’re talking about.. 😉
it would be the last part of the “Six Pack Holy Grail” of WWE releases for me. The others are: (*)
“Rise and fall of ECW”.
“Foley’s For all Mankind.. bluray”
“Austin’s Bottomline.. bluray”
“Paul Heyman’s Ladies and Gentlemen.. bluray”
“Bret Hart’s The best there is..”
An in-depth career overview of “Mark the Demon of Death Valley” is somehting that we the hardcore collectors have earned, I would say. Let’s hope, WWE will have a change of heart with this particulare subject..and WHEN, not if, they do, that it will be as it should be: Loaded!
With that in mind: Have a nice Ending of 2019, and hopefully there will be something to read and “talk” about..and more than this year had to offer..in 2020. 😉
(*) Honourable mentions:
“History of WWE – 50 years of.. bluray”
“OMG volumes 1 and 2.. blurays”
“The Brock Lesnar releases.. blurays”
I agree with you that there HAS to be a undertaker documentary put on DVD before they give up putting out documentaries on DVD for good.Maybe we will get it next year.
Seeing your list of your most important DVDs made me think that it would be cool if some of the writers on this site made a list of the “Top 10 most important WWE DVDs to have in your collection”. I don’t yet own Mick Foley or the Paul Heyman DVD but the others are essential,especially the stone cold set
“before they give up putting out documentaries on DVD for good”
They already have. See, I do think that WDN hasn’t managed people’s expectations very well here as they seem to keep providing (likely to be false) hope in the articles that WWE may still produce non-WWE releases, resulting in all these comments about an Undertaker documentary etc. etc., when actually, the only official line I believe that we can take at the moment is WWE’s themselves, which is that they won’t. That’s the only way you are going to avoid disappointment.
A bit harsh, Rabidheat. We’ve just been reporting the facts – we said the decision was made to release PPVs only in 2020. This was true. Case in point, the Australian licensee told us about WWE making this decision. The UK one confirmed the same.
The only ‘official’ line there’s been was from FremantleMedia, which we published on the site, in which they said “There is scope for additional releases, premium editions and more if we see the demand is there.”
We remained hopeful for more alongside our reports and this statement certainly hints more may be coming. Never have we said for definite more are coming though.
I’d say our news articles on the matter have suggested this is the end of non-PPV DVDs, just like this very article above. I’m sure an announcement is imminent either way.
Not trying to take sides here, but I really don’t see this website as providing any false hope of future releases. In fact, as others have stated on previous articles, the writing has been on the wall for a long time. WDN basically just broke the news on what we all knew was already in the works. I think the real decline came when WWE discontinued actually making documentaries and replaced those with Sting riding in the back of a car for an hour.
“Hey Sting, tell us about your career.”
“Here I am at WWE. This is wild stuff man.”
“Forgetting anything, Stinger?”
“I…I don’t think so.”
Upvote you for that – very truthfully, unfortunately – sarcastic take on the “Into the light” so called docu. -lol-
Yeah, that was for all the marks out there like myself. I’ll never forgive WWE for that garbage release and the others that followed the same format.
Well, SRB.. you know how Vince still feels about anything and anyone related to WCW..even if it like in Sting’s case, was a moneymaking succes to bring in, its still WCW, hence: “You’re.. BUIRED!” .LOL.
Point taken, and apologies, it was a bit harsh reading back. I just felt like I’d read more than one article on here saying that if we made our opinions on the matter heard to WWE that they change their minds (I know there was at least one article saying words to those effect) and ever since then there have been multiple comments from people who still seem to be expecting this Undertaker set, or another Unreleased set. Just trying to keep it real.
they might *
“Never give up..” 😉
Alex Murray: I recommend bluray-versions of the Heyman and in particulare the Foley set. In the case of Heyman, besides the great documentary, the bluray extras are the icing on the cake..especially the awesome promo from RAW the night after Brock ended the Streak: Worked shoot like no body else can but the Jew.;-)
Regarding the Foley set, the bluray exclusives for me makes it feel like the already long but no way dull documentary is extended to twice the lenght, since the focus on the bluray extras is not matches but promos and additional stories, which in a way makes the documentary clock in at a whooping 4+ hours!
Always challenging to narrow down a list of most important, since that of course always will be to each their own, what is important..but, some years ago the site here had a great voting proces where readers could vote for the favorite discs-release in history, and if I remember correct, the “Rise and Fall of ECW” was voted number 1 and Bret’s “The best there is..” number 2.
Alright I will add the Mick foley DVD to “To get” list.Thanks for the heads up
*Blu-ray not DVD! I found it on Amazon last night.Surprisingly the bluray is cheaper than the DVD
You’re wellcome.. right here, in WDN-town! 😉