In the two videos below, Shaun gives his picks of five best, and worst, WWE DVD and Blu-ray titles of 2011.
Agree or disagree? Leave your comments below this article.
Thanks to chAdRAp, here’s a pic of the exclusive Blu-ray disc included with “The People’s Edition” of WWE ’12 for the Playstation 3.
The disc features the 2/14 and 4/4 episodes of Raw from this year, which includes The Rock’s return to WWE and the announcement of The Rock vs. John Cena at WrestleMania 28.
It appears that over in the UK the same edition of WWE ’12 centered around The Rock did not include this same bonus disc, but instead one disc from the recently released Greatest Superstars of the 21st Century set.
can’t forget about the greatest superstars of the 21st century. one of the best dvd’s of the year.
Ladder Match 2, should have been number 1 can’t understand how can it not even be on the list. The main problem with Bret/Shawn and History of
Wrestlemania, is that other than the documentaries they had too many match already available in other sets which is always an issue for long time fans with lots of DVDs. Plus making Montreal a Blu-Ray exclusive for Bret Shawn was a cheap shot at those without blu-ray players.
On the worst side I can’t believe biggest Knuckleheads was not on the list, I don’t need to have seen it to know it was horrible
Shawn vs Bret, Ladder Match 2, or Randy Orton was my Best Dvd of the year, but if I had to pick it would be Ladder Match 2, that Syxx vs Eddie is a rare gem and Syxx should’ve won.
Just wanted to chime in and say that the Shawn vs. Bret home video had more richest content in terms of a backstage/behind the scenes point of view. I would slightly place it ahead on your top best 5 WWE DVD’s of the year. I thought WWE DVD NEWS did a phenomenal review for both the best and worst lists.
However, the Stone Cold one was more of a retrospective……and if you didn’t have cable TV or Internet for the past 15 years, picking up the Stone Cold home video is very worth while of getting. I watched it last night…..was very satisfied, very rich in content as well. But with Shawn vs. Bret, there’s new information on that particular subject matter that you could not find on past releases where as Stone Cold’s project was a real well done collection of his in-ring career with some great open honesty comments from Austin himself.
Anyways, this site is great, keep it up!
5) VERY BEST OF WCW MONDAY NITRO
4) RANDY ORTON: EVOLUTION OF A PREDATOR
3) TRUE STORY OF WRESTLEMANIA
2) STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN: THE BOTTOM LINE…
1) GREATEST RIVALRIES: BRET VS. SHAWN
MY TWO CENTS: Greatest Cage Matches would, at least get an honorable mention from me, maybe its because I didnt own some of the older matches, or the actual quality of the set is very good (multiple 4+ star matches IMO) & Best of RAW 2010 – 2010 was a good year for RAW, especialy if viewed in highlight form, they left very little out in terms of important matches and my only complaint would be some of the more memorable sequences being cut short – like NEXXUS invades. BEST RAW set in years and was in my top 5 until I saw SCSA: THE BOTTOM LINE
I must confess I haven’t seen the Ladder Match 2 or the Bottom Line yet so I can’t put them in my top 5(although if I had, you can bet they’d both be on here.) They will be waiting under my tree on Xmas but until then my top 5 so far:
5) Rey Mysterio: Life of a Masked Man (It’s honestly not that bad)
4) Greatest Superstars of the 21st Century (For the Ironman match alone)
3) Randy Orton: Evolution of a Predator (Great story, great matches)
2) Shawn Michaels vs Bret Hart (Gripping interview, but limited cast)
1) True Story of Wrestlemania (Amazing story and some classic matches)
There’s no Bottom 5 since I didn’t actually buy DX, OMG, Giants World, etc. If it looks like Bottom 5 material I don’t buy it. Simple as that.
A TNA list is impossible since they didn’t even bring out 5 DVDs this year, but my number 1:
Enigma the Best of Jeff Hardy Volume 2 (Yes, really!)
My top DVDs of the year:
1) Sucker Punch
2) Fast Five
3) The Lincon Lawyer
4) Contagion
5) Horrible Bosses
The True Story of Wrestlemania is far superior to the Michaels vs. Hart DVD, in my opinion.
– The Bottom Line
– Shawn vs. Bret
– WrestleMania Story
– Best of Nitro
– Ladder Match 2
Oops, the Orton set was in the wrong video.
ANd neither the Wrestlemania set nor the Austin set were better then the Shawn/Bret set.
Shawn/Bret best set since R&F of ECW, nothing even comes close.
Shawn vs. Bret was easily the DVD of the year for me and by a long way. The Nitro DVD was great. As far as bad ones go, the Big Show DVD absolutely sucked! Far worse than Rey’s DVD. But that’s just my opinion too. I think Shaun was near enough right here, except the Wresltemania DVD wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
hey 2011 was a great year talking about DDV dont only reason to complain is OMG, and Mysterio (they should have waited more, until his retirment probably)
While I thought this was a good list on both sides, I do have some nitpicks.
For example, the “True Story of Wrestlemania” doc I thought felt rushed and lacking. Sure there were some cool film pieces (where’s the girls?) but I really thought it could have been better. Didn’t help the matches were either much-repeated or in that ? category.
I also thought the OMG DVD, while nowhere near good, shouldn’t have been #1 on the worst countdown. The BD exclusives were quite cool (Nexus) and a lot of those moments earned their place. The concept though should have been left to the wwe.com website.
Also while I thought the Rey disc had milquetoast interview segments, the matches themselves kicked ass, and that was what the dvd intended to do. How that’s a bottom feeder I’ll never know.
My Top 5 WWE DVDs/Blu-Rays With Listings Of 2011:
5. Rey Mysterio: The Life Of A Masked Man (3 Disc DVD Set)
4. The True Story Of WrestleMania (3 Disc DVD Set/2 Disc Blu-Ray Set)
3. Randy Orton: The Evolution Of A Predator (3 Disc DVD Set/2 Disc Blu-Ray Set)
2. WWE Greatest Rivalries: Shawn Michaels Vs. Bret Hart (3 Disc DVD Set/2 Disc Blu-Ray Set)
1. Stone Cold Steve Austin: Bottom Line On The Most Popular Superstar Of All Time (4 Disc DVD Set/3 Disc Blu-Ray Set)
Honorable Mentions: The Ladder Match 2: Crash & Burn (3 Disc DVD Set/2 Disc Blu-Ray Set), Greatest Superstars Of The 21st Century (3 Disc DVD Set/2 Disc Blu-Ray Set)
My Not Top 5 WWE DVDs/Blu-Rays With No Listings Of 2011:
5. The Greatest Cage Matches Of All Time (3 Disc DVD Set)
4. The Very Best Of WCW Monday Nitro (3 Disc DVD Set)
3. DX: One Last Stand (3 Disc DVD Set/2Disc Blu-Ray Set)
2. The Big Show: A Giant’s World (3 Disc DVD Set)
1. OMG: The Top 50 Incidents In WWE History (3 Disc DVD Set/2 Disc Blu-Ray Set)
Dishonorable Mention: Raw: The Best Of 2010 (3 Disc DVD Set/2 Disc Blu-Ray Set)
I knew I wouldn’t get to see the old DX stuff in the DX Blu-Ray though I bought it cause it was on a a bargain price at Silvervision n I thought that the matches were fantastic! Especially the D-X Vs Legacy – Hell in a Cell Match! Though I would very much like to see a Documentary Blu-ray from start-finish (1997-the end of DX) which should show all other members too, e.g. X-pac, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, Chyna n Tori.
I also thought that the OMG Blu-Ray was rather good, although most of the scenes were quite boring! They could have added better scenes then ‘kicking a fake baby doll in to the crowd’… it was a little surprising for me as I had seen it for the first time, but then it just became funny!
when did the Kofi dvd ever come out?
Also, I agree with the feedback regarding the Kingston DVD. It was a ‘bonus’ item that wasn’t even chargeable, so to compare it to a standard release is harsh in the extreme (and almost a tad ungrateful).
I thought the DX Blu Ray was very good. It serves as a no-frills anthology for home video purists who want all of the DX content in it’s original format (i.e. not in the shape of highlight videos).
Sure, the skits with the likes of Hornswoggle are bad, but it’s a compilation of DX’s last run – there weren’t going to be any surprises, and people knew what the content would be from the start.
As to why I like it: a) It’s got the entire Michaels farewell speech in full, in HD quality, which alone makes this a must-buy; b) there’s some excellent matches, including the PPV bouts with Legacy, the triple threat with Cena, the TLC tag titles match, and the three-team tag match from Madison Square Garden.
So yes, it’s not DX in their prime (i.e. 1997), but if you skip past the nonsense and silly antics, there’s some great matches – and lots and lots of content.
this is only my view.
@Shaun Blackford, it just puts me in a notion to buy Steve Austin : The Bottom Line on The Most Popular Superstar Of All Time DVD or even blu ray & thank you for reviewing your blu ray / dvd on Steve Austin : The Bottom Line on The Most Popular Superstar of All Time either on dvd / blu ray
Fantastic reviews on the top five dvd / blu rays & the worse five / blue rays as well Shaun, keep up the good work
For the worst 5 DVD’s i cannot believe you put Kofi’s dvd as number 2, not because your wrong it wasnt great but really it was a freebe not an official release, no one paid for it. It’s like classing one of the free DVD’s/Blu-Rays that come with the WWE games as a release e.g. The best of Smackdownvs Raw 2008. You should pick another DVD to go on the list because honestly like is said no one is going out in a store or ebay to buy that Kofi dvd…therefore not spending money to be dissapointed like the Greatesr Cage Matches of all Time. Other than that i can’t say your wrong with the lists im just against putting a freebe in a list of worst DVDs of 2011.
I agree with the Cage Matches, OMG and the DX DVD’s because they sucked, but quite honestly I’m 19 and I thought the Rey Mysterio DVD was really good. True it wasn’t as good as Biggest Little Man but it was a really good set with some great matches. I don’t agree with Kofi Kingston either as it wasn’t an official release just with the Mag. For me I’d put in Top 50 Superstars and either Big Show’s DVD or Best Stars of the 21st Century (AKA Noughties [which it should be called]), because those two DVD’s just made fans angry and although there were some good matches most were bad in my opinion. Those would have been my choices for the worst, but I might be in a minority.
I agree with Shaun on how bad DX One Last Stand was and glad I wasn’t the only one who wanted a documentary on the history of DX with the wilder moments from 1997-1998.
Best DVD of 2011 was either Orton or HBK/Bret… Worst was OMG