For the first time, WWE will be collecting together 22 of the greatest matches witnessed on the NXT brand in the previous calendar year as a 3-disc DVD set joining “Best Pay-Per-View Matches 2017” and “The Best of RAW & SmackDown Live 2017”.
It will compile the best matches broadcast on NXT’s weekly shows, the best matches broadcast on TakeOver specials and even a few unseen matches never broadcast before! Just some of the gems included are: NXT’s WarGames Match, Drew McIntyre vs. Adam Cole with Shawn Michaels as guest referee, Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bobby Roode, Asuka vs. Nikki Cross in a Last Woman Standing Match, and DIY vs. The Authors of Pain in a Ladder Match for the Tag Team titles.
The trailer for “Best of NXT 2017” surfaced today – watch it here:
Get your copy of the brand new WWE “BEST OF NXT 2017”DVD on…
– USA: March 20th. Pre-order the new NXT 2017 DVD right now here on Amazon.com.
– UK/Europe: March 26th. Pre-order a copy of the NXT 2017 DVD right now on Amazon.co.uk.
– Australia: April 25th. Your pre-order opportunity just went live at Madman.com.au.
The official trailer has also come through for the Royal Rumble 2018 DVD! This 2-disc set will be another March release; fans in the United States can grab it for $14.42 here on Amazon.com.
We have continued to look out for a Blu-ray edition in the works for this year’s Royal Rumble, however it has become clear that will not be happening in North America. Instead the Blu-ray is only being offered to UK/Europe and you can head to Amazon.co.uk to see its product listing.
Extras should be named for the Royal Rumble 2018 DVD very soon.
Get your hands on the WWE ROYAL RUMBLE 2018DVD or Blu-ray…
– United States: March 6th. Pre-order the Royal Rumble DVD now here on Amazon.com.
– UK/Europe: March 19th. Pre-order the Royal Rumble DVD (or Blu-ray) now on Amazon.co.uk.
– Australia: March 21st. Pre-order your Royal Rumble DVD now over at Madman.com.au.
Staying on the subject of the Rumble not making it to Blu-ray and as a whole less WWE Blu-rays now being produced for the domestic market, WrestlingDVDNetwork.com has learned that Warner Bros. (WWE’s Home Video distributor) appear to have taken the vast majority – if not all – of the WWE Blu-ray titles out of print. If accurate this means that for the WWE Blu-rays they were distributing there will no longer be new copies produced and only existing units sold via retailers.
WWE’s on-again, off-again relationship with Blu-ray has been observed for a number of years and the recent cancellations are said to be driven by a combination of underperforming sales of WWE content on Blu-ray, a lack of retailer support for the format and the costs associated with production.
There’s no confirmation at this time that WWE/Warner Bros. have ceased Blu-ray production entirely as this news appears to only affect the back catalog, however today’s update combined with multiple WWE Blu-rays being pulled last year and no Blu-rays currently scheduled for the United States in 2018 up to this point does unfortunately call into question future of such releases.
We should have confirmation on the status of a WrestleMania 34 Blu-ray in the coming weeks. As of last word fans in the UK will definitely receive a Blu-ray edition of this title via FremantleMedia and one would hope the biggest WWE Home Video offering of the year would continue to be produced on Blu-ray worldwide as it has been year-on-year since WrestleMania 24 a decade ago.
EBAY WATCH: Our latest hunt for eBay’s best wrestling DVD auctions to get bidding on finds all of these TNA Wrestling DVDs up for grabs this weekend…
OMG! I can see why a lot of people here are against me when I mention KANE! I’ve just restarted by watchin the WWE again from the Royal Rumble 2014 n KANE comes out with his blazing fire whilst wearing a suit & as the ‘Director of Operations‘! OMG he looks and talks awful!
He looked different at the Royal rumble 2018 since he had his mask and outfit back on so I don’t know what he’s like now but I’m starting to get it into my system now! I guess this is why so many people have despised him!
You know, I must say that a lot of the people I know who love/d watching the WWF/E have now stopped watching it cos they think its so crap. This has made them stop buying their blu’s.
I have the same issue since around 2012/13… I really miss stars like Austin, Michaels, Taker, Hogan, Nash, & others. Even Triple H is no longer himself! He’s more of a businessman or a skinhead wrestler… no more DX! All the superstars are boring, of course there’s some that are still good such as Orton, Reigns.. but these guys created the Blu-Ray content which was really worth buying!
I feel ya on that. Talent like Taker Sting Kane SC or even before most of them got to WWE Macho Man and others. They for me made wrestling worth watching. If there was ever a time for a weekly live 3 hour Monday night show followed by another 2 hour show on Tues, it was during the era of these wrestlers bc it had more WRESTLING, proper in ring psychology, more story, characters and build. It also built to feuds or rivalries ending at top ppvs usually. Pretty much the opposite of everything that’s now. Not saying today’s talent are bad. But many substitute lack of psychology with high risk spots that are crowd popping but shorten careers that are already just by the nature of the industry and everything that goes with it already has a short active life. I mean many wrestlers retire in their 40s right? But in normal jobs that’s too young to retire as people with normal jobs usually retire at what’s known as the retirement age of 65.
Well I must say that after all these years I was expecting to watch the past Royal Rumble 2018 with perhaps the win of KANE! – A superstar that really deserves a Rumble win!
Instead, he was in a triple threat match for the championship which he didn’t win n the Rumble was won by some guy w/red teeth named Shinsuke Nakamura who was quite good but I was hoping to see the win of another superstar who wrestled rather well from almost the start to the end – Finn Balor.
Of course, I’m not purchasing the Royal Rumble 2018 Blu-Ray since I didn’t really enjoy it apart from the second half of the Rumble match! The women’s Rumble I missed 🙁 Although I rekon I would have brought the blu-ray if Kane had won the title & if Finn Balor or Randy Orton had won the Rumble.
Pretending Shinsuke is a newcomer with no experience is absurd. Kane’s days are over and WWE is doing the right thing by pushing new talent. Who did you want to win the womens rumble? Trish Stratus?
Finn winning the rumble would have been good, but Randy? Hes already won twice and is not very relevant right now.
Yeah Kane is getting a little old. And Im not talking about in years either. His time of relevance has definitely passed. I always liked Kane but having him in main event matches in 2018 is a little ridiculous. I can’t believe you actually wanted him to win the Rumble. They got enough bad booking as it is. Kane doesn’t belong in a main event spotlight anymore sorry.
I disagree. Watching a Rumble with Kane from perhaps no.1 or a little later would’ve have been more fun as I know how he likes to eliminate his opponents! Watching him winning it, well that would’ve been something new, something wanted for a long time!
Yes it may have been wanted for a long time by some people but that doesn’t mean he should have won it. Kane hasn’t been relevant for a long time and there’s a reason for that. He doesn’t matter anymore. He is a filler so to speak. Personally I believe he was brought back as only a nice gesture from Vince Or he desperately needs money. Kane has been loyal to WWE for a long time but he has also been a mid card talent for a long time too. Im glad he mite still mean something to you SCSA but you are one of the only very few that still puts him on a pedestal believe me. Wake up and smell the toast my friend.
Perhaps I will wake up by start watching a few new episodes of RAW now… as you know I’m only referring to the superstars that I really miss including those whom should have had a chance for a Rumble win e.g. guys like Kane.
I didn’t say that Shinsuke Nakamura is a newcomer with no experience. I just said that he was good, though I had hopes for others..
You say Kane’s days are over?! I don’t think so. Undertaker was also a very old wrestler that lasted a long time & had also won the Rumble match in 2007. Kane on the other hand also holds a record of 44 eliminations & hell yes he deserves a Rumble win! As for Kane not winning the title, well I guess that’s that… but with the Rumble I’m glad you at least agree with Finn being a good winner.
As for Randy?? Well, as soon as his music hit, I was so happy! Though no, I wouldn’t really of have been too happy if he had matched the Royal Rumble winning streak with Stone Cold Steve Austin!
“Although I rekon I would have brought the blu-ray if Kane had won the title & if Finn Balor or Randy Orton had won the Rumble.”
So you would have bought the blu ray if Randy had won, but “As for Randy?? Well, as soon as his music hit, I was so happy! Though no, I wouldn’t really of have been too happy if he had matched the Royal Rumble winning streak with Stone Cold Steve Austin!”
Sounds pretty contradicting to me. Not only that, you were the one who referred to Shinsuke as “some guy” which implies he is a random newcomer. Seems like you actually don’t know what you want.
I know you would’ve loved guys like Headbanger Mosh and Cactus Jack to come down and win the Rumble, but their ships have sailed. If Kane is still relevant in today’s product, please explain where he’s been. The guy has even said himself multiple times he’s looking at retiring.
There’s plenty of decent talent on the current product. No need to live in 1997.
I’m sorry but if you think Kane should be winning the Rumble in 2018, I can’t take you seriously. He shouldn’t have even been in that title match. You’ve just lost all credibility.
You are right. The current product SUCKS. I don’t feel the urgency to run out and get the latest home video release as a result. WWE has become WCW in the sense it now relys on names of the past for products of the present. Too many “Legends” fill up the big events & ts pathetic. (Sit down, HHH; you’re taking a payday away on the card from a young lion who actually needs it.) You didn’t see Bruno Sammartino popping beers with Austin at Wrestlemania 14. And why? Because the the current superstars sold that card. Wwe has yet to produce stars like the Rock, Austin, well, quite frankly anyone not like on today’s roster. In all honesty, this is the reason the Raw 25 show stunk- it revolved around the stars of the past. Let legends be just that: legends. Give them their 5 minutes of acknowledgement and then let these young lions revive the product. So Blu-Rays are gone… It’s not like we had anything current worth filling them up with these days anyway. We miss you, Russo.
Midnight Jobber, so you agree with SCSA’s comment, but you think the current product sucks due to an over-reliance on legends? That makes no sense, as SCSA was saying the current product sucks without the legends that he misses.
It just sucks-period. Wait to see your Wrestlemania on Blu-Ray, I mean Dvd(!). It will be loaded with Legends… which will stink. And what you see without them will stink as well. I will likely catch some (rabid) heat for this comment, but PG doesn’t help the product. The option of a TV-14 moment here and there really limits the the tv product. Where are you when we need you, Russo?!
I agree 100%. 4K-UHD is rapidly becoming the new television standard. 8K is the future, only a few years away. Unfortunately wrestling fans will not be able to enjoy any of that. I’m not going to get into the whole debate about the spending habits of a lot of wrestling fans again, because some people take it personally. It’s a shame.
also, if you think old wrestling footage (or also many old tv broadcasts) looks bad on a full hd screen (because they programs are being upscaled from 480/576p), by most accounts it looks even worse on 4k tv sets.
Blu-ray is like anything else- if there is not a strong enough demand for it, it’s out.
It’s simple math.
Many will say “There IS a demand because I love it!” This not how it works, at least not in the U.S. according to WWE.
If it was a legitmate money maker, all releases would be on Blu-ray.
WWE is business. For a business to succeed, it needs $. Blu-ray is clearly not doing this for the company, at least not in the U.S.
Remember, a wise old man once said “Whether you like it, or don’t like it, learn to love it ’cause it’s the best thing going today!”
And Flair knows. Flair is fair.
that being said, imo it’s still also absolutely understandable for those that do buy (or have bought) these releases to be disappointed with the ended support for that medium.
I just don’t understand the WWE’s thinking with getting rid of Blu Rays. Blu Rays are the in thing now. There really doesn’t need to be a DVD anymore. There is no excuse for people to not buy Blu Rays when they have wide screen HD TV sets in their homes. So dumb. But that does mean that the WWE Blu Rays we have will probably be worth way more now, which is kind of cool.
I know for us in Canada, we never got WWE Blu Rays in our Walmart stores. Every time I went to buy a new release it was only DVD. So I ended up just ordering the Blu Ray on Amazon when it came out. I think that may be part of the problem too, poor distribution. If the WWE would just get the Blu Rays out in stores too (and at a cheaper price too, they were always marked so high for some reason) then people probably would have bought them.
Poor distribution of the product is an excellent point to make. I simply cannot speak for how things go in other countries, but for us in the States, you actually used to be able to get many wrestling DVDs at retailers like Best Buy, Fry’s, and FYE, and they carried them they way they do now with phones. Today, most FYE stores are closed (around me at least), Best Buy barely carries any WWE and neither does Fry’s.
I was looking at my XPW collection the other day and realized I got every DVD in the set from my local Best Buy store just by going in there and seeing them on the shelf. I never had to ask and I never had to order anything. Man, times sure have changed.
I’ll never forget when I saw my first TNA DVD: I was at Fry’s and had never even heard of the company. The DVD was just sitting there and had Nash, Hardy, and Hall on the cover. I bought it and thought it was great for $8.99. Those days of discovering new wrestling by buying a product from the store seem completely behind us and that is sad.
I also read the other day Best Buy will stop carrying CDs. Therefore, I think this is not just a wrestling or media format problem, but might begin to be an issue all around.
Man fye wherehouse music and best buy where i started with my tna and wwe/f dvds. i remember first wwf dvd i got was Survivor Series 2001 and i still have it. it does suck that blurays are becoming OBSOLETE!!! DELETE!.
it does suck that blurays just werent a big seller. hell my fyes near me are gone best buy really stopped carying blurays years ago i think last one i got was Kevin owens bluray.
i mean i still watch my old wwf wcw and ecw on vhs but it is nice to watch stuff on bluray. so it does suck but thats be the times we live in now
I live in Canada too actually Walmart did originally carry WWE Blu-rays back around 2010-2011 – I remember got WM26, Best PPV Match 2009-2010, Bragging Rights 2010, Hell in a Cell 2010 and few others from there. They stopped carrying them from about 2011 onward.
Best Buy also use to carry them as well but a very small quantity, sometimes even none. I remember when i bought the Stone Cold Cold Bottom Line they had like 2 copies of the Blu-ray and like 15 copies of the DVD. So distribution sucked even that time.
Nowadays Best Buy don’t even carry WWE Blu-rays and they stopped carrying DVDs for a while too. Walmart seems to be the only place now that has WWE DVDs in Canada.
You really had to jump to hoops to find WWE Blu-rays as it was impossible finding them in stores. I recall HMV was a pretty good source too but they went bankrupt couple years ago.
Amazon is the only place now and sometimes even WWE Shop when they have the $5, $10 sales, even with the exchange and shipping the cost can be even cheaper than buying in Canada.
But do you not think the reason they may have stopped distributing them from 2011 onward might have been because of low sales in 2010? Rather than just “poor distribution” for no reason.
You may have been buying them, but were enough other people? Presumably not, otherwise they wouldn’t be turning that profit down.
I kind of agree with you here, since this was the time from when I had stopped watching the WWE. (Even though I had come back numerous times, I still found the content to be rather poor.
The Blu-Ray news doesn’t really effect me at all because (as I’m glad some others said it before me) that I grew up on non-HDTV & watching my wrestling through VHS tapes so as long as I can see & hear the video then I’m fine. Also with the network, I don’t really buy DVD’s much anymore & most of the Blu-Ray extras on most of the DVD sets they put that I would want to get didn’t really appeal to me.
I’m with u d.p. to me watching wrestling in HD doesn’t matter as long as I can see it and hear it I’m fine too. I also grew up watching all my wrestling on vhs tapes so this doesn’t effect me either. I see why people are upset but to me blu ray isn’t a necessity.
I don’t really mind VHS & DVD’s myself, except I do mind when there’s no extra content! That just brings a great big thrill when finding out what the extra content is to be on the blu-ray… something that’s not on the DVD set!
it’s not even out of the question, considering many more recent bluray versions had a runtime that (in theory) could have fit on the dvd version as well.
e.g. “Dawn of the Attitude” runtime: 8 1/2 hours. “NXT: Secret to Success” runtime: 8 hours 20 min. …
compared to “Best PPV matches 2017” 3dvds runtime: 9 hours “Kurt Angle Essential Collection” 3dvds runtime: 8 hours 40 min.
so there seems to be enough room on the dvds, they just didn’t use it for quite some time.
Nice way to give the biggest middle finger to your biggest fanbase of the United States, WWE. You are being just a big a jackass as the President himself.
If they really wanna make big cash on blu-rays, then they need to include sets like all the past Royal Rumble sets from 1988-2004 on Blu-Ray! Trust me! I’m desperate to purchase many older titles on blu-ray with extra content added 🙂
Releasing any footage prior to 2008 on blu-ray really won’t make that much of a difference in terms of quality. You can only upscale that footage to a point because those videos were recorded on tape which, unlike film, can’t be upgraded to HD. But not releasing footage from 2008 forward in an HD format is really silly.
Actually from what i checked, even though WWE used tape pre-HD, standard definition footage can look slightly better on Blu-ray compared to DVD due to better compression and codecs used with Blu-ray. Its minimal, but it does look somewhat better. They can’t upscale the 480i videotape to 1080i HD so not too bummed on on that
But yeah, some DVDs i didn’t really mind being DVD only like Unreleased 1986-1995, Kurt Angle, Dawn of the Attitude, etc. as majority of the main footage is 480i videotape, only thing recorded in HD are the in-between segments, so its not that bad.
However, DVDs like Seth Rollins, NXT Secret to Sensation, Best of NXT, Best of RAW & SD where 100% footage is recorded in HD and meant to be seen in HD only on DVD is stupid.
and it’s not like the UK/EU distributor didn’t have the same problem. which is why they cut back from releasing almost every ppv on bluray in 2016 to just releasing the big four on bluray in 2017.
I see, well I must say that I’m a buyer who’s always been buying the Blu-Rays! It’s the extra content which mainly makes me want to purchase it. It would be a shame if the UK/EU distributor ‘Fremantlemedia’ was to stop their Blu-Rays altogether 🙁
Blu Ray was always a must for me due to the extra content included. Quality was always secondary as I also grew up with VHS tapes. Very sad that we may never see another one again. That’s the feeling I’m getting here.
If I can see the content and watch talent wrestle, that’s all I care about, but I grew up with VHS so I think my younger years as a fan have helped me to not get so hung up on video quality later in life.
I grew up with vhs tapes as well. but to me it doesn’t mean that I don’t want to see the (current) footage in the best way possible.
(it’s like with cassette tapes, that I also grew up with. of course they will do for listening to music. but if there are better options so readily available, it’s kind of frustrating if they don’t get used)
I wouldn’t be okay with black and white either, but I am personally okay with DVD quality in colour. I’m not asking you to agree; just putting forth my opinion, to which I’m entitled. We are allowed to have differing opinions on this. 🙂
it does in the sense that sales for the UK/EU releases haven’t been great either (I mean, why do you think Fremantle has cut back significantly on those releases?).
Given WWE signed with Warner in November 2014 and I believe Macho Man Documentary was the first under their label until Kevin Owens Fight Owens Fight will all be OOP.
It would truly suck if WM34 wasn’t on Blu-ray.
For me, if WWE and Warner won’t release them here, I will not settle with the DVD and mostly likely would end up importing from the UK.
at this point it would make more sense to download the content from shady sites (which of course I don’t condone) and burn it to bluray than to buy the releases.
(of course this is not valid for releases of older footage, which was never recorded for a broadcast in hd anyway)
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OMG! I can see why a lot of people here are against me when I mention KANE! I’ve just restarted by watchin the WWE again from the Royal Rumble 2014 n KANE comes out with his blazing fire whilst wearing a suit & as the ‘Director of Operations‘! OMG he looks and talks awful!
He looked different at the Royal rumble 2018 since he had his mask and outfit back on so I don’t know what he’s like now but I’m starting to get it into my system now! I guess this is why so many people have despised him!
You know, I must say that a lot of the people I know who love/d watching the WWF/E have now stopped watching it cos they think its so crap. This has made them stop buying their blu’s.
I have the same issue since around 2012/13… I really miss stars like Austin, Michaels, Taker, Hogan, Nash, & others. Even Triple H is no longer himself! He’s more of a businessman or a skinhead wrestler… no more DX! All the superstars are boring, of course there’s some that are still good such as Orton, Reigns.. but these guys created the Blu-Ray content which was really worth buying!
I feel ya on that. Talent like Taker Sting Kane SC or even before most of them got to WWE Macho Man and others. They for me made wrestling worth watching. If there was ever a time for a weekly live 3 hour Monday night show followed by another 2 hour show on Tues, it was during the era of these wrestlers bc it had more WRESTLING, proper in ring psychology, more story, characters and build. It also built to feuds or rivalries ending at top ppvs usually. Pretty much the opposite of everything that’s now. Not saying today’s talent are bad. But many substitute lack of psychology with high risk spots that are crowd popping but shorten careers that are already just by the nature of the industry and everything that goes with it already has a short active life. I mean many wrestlers retire in their 40s right? But in normal jobs that’s too young to retire as people with normal jobs usually retire at what’s known as the retirement age of 65.
I don’t think it’s the younger talent’s fault, but rather them being given crap creative and not much TV time.
Well I must say that after all these years I was expecting to watch the past Royal Rumble 2018 with perhaps the win of KANE! – A superstar that really deserves a Rumble win!
Instead, he was in a triple threat match for the championship which he didn’t win n the Rumble was won by some guy w/red teeth named Shinsuke Nakamura who was quite good but I was hoping to see the win of another superstar who wrestled rather well from almost the start to the end – Finn Balor.
Of course, I’m not purchasing the Royal Rumble 2018 Blu-Ray since I didn’t really enjoy it apart from the second half of the Rumble match! The women’s Rumble I missed 🙁 Although I rekon I would have brought the blu-ray if Kane had won the title & if Finn Balor or Randy Orton had won the Rumble.
Some guy with red teeth named Shinsuke Nakamura?
Youre kidding, right?
Pretending Shinsuke is a newcomer with no experience is absurd. Kane’s days are over and WWE is doing the right thing by pushing new talent. Who did you want to win the womens rumble? Trish Stratus?
Finn winning the rumble would have been good, but Randy? Hes already won twice and is not very relevant right now.
Yeah Kane is getting a little old. And Im not talking about in years either. His time of relevance has definitely passed. I always liked Kane but having him in main event matches in 2018 is a little ridiculous. I can’t believe you actually wanted him to win the Rumble. They got enough bad booking as it is. Kane doesn’t belong in a main event spotlight anymore sorry.
I disagree. Watching a Rumble with Kane from perhaps no.1 or a little later would’ve have been more fun as I know how he likes to eliminate his opponents! Watching him winning it, well that would’ve been something new, something wanted for a long time!
Yes it may have been wanted for a long time by some people but that doesn’t mean he should have won it. Kane hasn’t been relevant for a long time and there’s a reason for that. He doesn’t matter anymore. He is a filler so to speak. Personally I believe he was brought back as only a nice gesture from Vince Or he desperately needs money. Kane has been loyal to WWE for a long time but he has also been a mid card talent for a long time too. Im glad he mite still mean something to you SCSA but you are one of the only very few that still puts him on a pedestal believe me. Wake up and smell the toast my friend.
Perhaps I will wake up by start watching a few new episodes of RAW now… as you know I’m only referring to the superstars that I really miss including those whom should have had a chance for a Rumble win e.g. guys like Kane.
I didn’t say that Shinsuke Nakamura is a newcomer with no experience. I just said that he was good, though I had hopes for others..
You say Kane’s days are over?! I don’t think so. Undertaker was also a very old wrestler that lasted a long time & had also won the Rumble match in 2007. Kane on the other hand also holds a record of 44 eliminations & hell yes he deserves a Rumble win! As for Kane not winning the title, well I guess that’s that… but with the Rumble I’m glad you at least agree with Finn being a good winner.
As for Randy?? Well, as soon as his music hit, I was so happy! Though no, I wouldn’t really of have been too happy if he had matched the Royal Rumble winning streak with Stone Cold Steve Austin!
“Although I rekon I would have brought the blu-ray if Kane had won the title & if Finn Balor or Randy Orton had won the Rumble.”
So you would have bought the blu ray if Randy had won, but “As for Randy?? Well, as soon as his music hit, I was so happy! Though no, I wouldn’t really of have been too happy if he had matched the Royal Rumble winning streak with Stone Cold Steve Austin!”
Sounds pretty contradicting to me. Not only that, you were the one who referred to Shinsuke as “some guy” which implies he is a random newcomer. Seems like you actually don’t know what you want.
I know you would’ve loved guys like Headbanger Mosh and Cactus Jack to come down and win the Rumble, but their ships have sailed. If Kane is still relevant in today’s product, please explain where he’s been. The guy has even said himself multiple times he’s looking at retiring.
There’s plenty of decent talent on the current product. No need to live in 1997.
I’m sorry but if you think Kane should be winning the Rumble in 2018, I can’t take you seriously. He shouldn’t have even been in that title match. You’ve just lost all credibility.
Actually it should have been Brock Lesnar Vs Kane! Not that other guy!
You are right. The current product SUCKS. I don’t feel the urgency to run out and get the latest home video release as a result. WWE has become WCW in the sense it now relys on names of the past for products of the present. Too many “Legends” fill up the big events & ts pathetic. (Sit down, HHH; you’re taking a payday away on the card from a young lion who actually needs it.) You didn’t see Bruno Sammartino popping beers with Austin at Wrestlemania 14. And why? Because the the current superstars sold that card. Wwe has yet to produce stars like the Rock, Austin, well, quite frankly anyone not like on today’s roster. In all honesty, this is the reason the Raw 25 show stunk- it revolved around the stars of the past. Let legends be just that: legends. Give them their 5 minutes of acknowledgement and then let these young lions revive the product. So Blu-Rays are gone… It’s not like we had anything current worth filling them up with these days anyway. We miss you, Russo.
Midnight Jobber, so you agree with SCSA’s comment, but you think the current product sucks due to an over-reliance on legends? That makes no sense, as SCSA was saying the current product sucks without the legends that he misses.
It just sucks-period. Wait to see your Wrestlemania on Blu-Ray, I mean Dvd(!). It will be loaded with Legends… which will stink. And what you see without them will stink as well. I will likely catch some (rabid) heat for this comment, but PG doesn’t help the product. The option of a TV-14 moment here and there really limits the the tv product. Where are you when we need you, Russo?!
I agree with what you’ve said, but my point was that you said “You are right” to SCSA, even though he was saying the opposite to what you have said.
:'(
I heard everything will be going 4k in 2020 a step up from hd so I went out and bought a 4k tv so I’m ready to go when the time comes
I agree 100%. 4K-UHD is rapidly becoming the new television standard. 8K is the future, only a few years away. Unfortunately wrestling fans will not be able to enjoy any of that. I’m not going to get into the whole debate about the spending habits of a lot of wrestling fans again, because some people take it personally. It’s a shame.
also, if you think old wrestling footage (or also many old tv broadcasts) looks bad on a full hd screen (because they programs are being upscaled from 480/576p), by most accounts it looks even worse on 4k tv sets.
From the U.S., is it easy to purchase off the Amazon UK site if I want the Rumble on bluray? Anyone have experience with this?
don’t know about the UK amazon website, but ebay is an easy option for things like that.
Blu-ray is like anything else- if there is not a strong enough demand for it, it’s out.
It’s simple math.
Many will say “There IS a demand because I love it!” This not how it works, at least not in the U.S. according to WWE.
If it was a legitmate money maker, all releases would be on Blu-ray.
WWE is business. For a business to succeed, it needs $. Blu-ray is clearly not doing this for the company, at least not in the U.S.
Remember, a wise old man once said “Whether you like it, or don’t like it, learn to love it ’cause it’s the best thing going today!”
And Flair knows. Flair is fair.
of course you’re right.
that being said, imo it’s still also absolutely understandable for those that do buy (or have bought) these releases to be disappointed with the ended support for that medium.
I just don’t understand the WWE’s thinking with getting rid of Blu Rays. Blu Rays are the in thing now. There really doesn’t need to be a DVD anymore. There is no excuse for people to not buy Blu Rays when they have wide screen HD TV sets in their homes. So dumb. But that does mean that the WWE Blu Rays we have will probably be worth way more now, which is kind of cool.
Movie BluRays sell in droves. Wrestling ones do not. That’s the “thinking” behind it.
I know for us in Canada, we never got WWE Blu Rays in our Walmart stores. Every time I went to buy a new release it was only DVD. So I ended up just ordering the Blu Ray on Amazon when it came out. I think that may be part of the problem too, poor distribution. If the WWE would just get the Blu Rays out in stores too (and at a cheaper price too, they were always marked so high for some reason) then people probably would have bought them.
Fair point. 🙂
Poor distribution of the product is an excellent point to make. I simply cannot speak for how things go in other countries, but for us in the States, you actually used to be able to get many wrestling DVDs at retailers like Best Buy, Fry’s, and FYE, and they carried them they way they do now with phones. Today, most FYE stores are closed (around me at least), Best Buy barely carries any WWE and neither does Fry’s.
I was looking at my XPW collection the other day and realized I got every DVD in the set from my local Best Buy store just by going in there and seeing them on the shelf. I never had to ask and I never had to order anything. Man, times sure have changed.
I’ll never forget when I saw my first TNA DVD: I was at Fry’s and had never even heard of the company. The DVD was just sitting there and had Nash, Hardy, and Hall on the cover. I bought it and thought it was great for $8.99. Those days of discovering new wrestling by buying a product from the store seem completely behind us and that is sad.
I also read the other day Best Buy will stop carrying CDs. Therefore, I think this is not just a wrestling or media format problem, but might begin to be an issue all around.
Man fye wherehouse music and best buy where i started with my tna and wwe/f dvds. i remember first wwf dvd i got was Survivor Series 2001 and i still have it. it does suck that blurays are becoming OBSOLETE!!! DELETE!.
it does suck that blurays just werent a big seller. hell my fyes near me are gone best buy really stopped carying blurays years ago i think last one i got was Kevin owens bluray.
i mean i still watch my old wwf wcw and ecw on vhs but it is nice to watch stuff on bluray. so it does suck but thats be the times we live in now
I live in Canada too actually Walmart did originally carry WWE Blu-rays back around 2010-2011 – I remember got WM26, Best PPV Match 2009-2010, Bragging Rights 2010, Hell in a Cell 2010 and few others from there. They stopped carrying them from about 2011 onward.
Best Buy also use to carry them as well but a very small quantity, sometimes even none. I remember when i bought the Stone Cold Cold Bottom Line they had like 2 copies of the Blu-ray and like 15 copies of the DVD. So distribution sucked even that time.
Nowadays Best Buy don’t even carry WWE Blu-rays and they stopped carrying DVDs for a while too. Walmart seems to be the only place now that has WWE DVDs in Canada.
You really had to jump to hoops to find WWE Blu-rays as it was impossible finding them in stores. I recall HMV was a pretty good source too but they went bankrupt couple years ago.
Amazon is the only place now and sometimes even WWE Shop when they have the $5, $10 sales, even with the exchange and shipping the cost can be even cheaper than buying in Canada.
But do you not think the reason they may have stopped distributing them from 2011 onward might have been because of low sales in 2010? Rather than just “poor distribution” for no reason.
You may have been buying them, but were enough other people? Presumably not, otherwise they wouldn’t be turning that profit down.
I kind of agree with you here, since this was the time from when I had stopped watching the WWE. (Even though I had come back numerous times, I still found the content to be rather poor.
unfortunately, you are right.
of course that doesn’t mean it’s still weird that the home video release of modern content is in lower quality than the actual tv broadcasts.
The Blu-Ray news doesn’t really effect me at all because (as I’m glad some others said it before me) that I grew up on non-HDTV & watching my wrestling through VHS tapes so as long as I can see & hear the video then I’m fine. Also with the network, I don’t really buy DVD’s much anymore & most of the Blu-Ray extras on most of the DVD sets they put that I would want to get didn’t really appeal to me.
I’m with u d.p. to me watching wrestling in HD doesn’t matter as long as I can see it and hear it I’m fine too. I also grew up watching all my wrestling on vhs tapes so this doesn’t effect me either. I see why people are upset but to me blu ray isn’t a necessity.
I don’t really mind VHS & DVD’s myself, except I do mind when there’s no extra content! That just brings a great big thrill when finding out what the extra content is to be on the blu-ray… something that’s not on the DVD set!
Guess now they can just put that extra content on the dvds? Probably won’t happen though. Just a thought.
it’s not even out of the question, considering many more recent bluray versions had a runtime that (in theory) could have fit on the dvd version as well.
e.g. “Dawn of the Attitude” runtime: 8 1/2 hours. “NXT: Secret to Success” runtime: 8 hours 20 min. …
compared to “Best PPV matches 2017” 3dvds runtime: 9 hours “Kurt Angle Essential Collection” 3dvds runtime: 8 hours 40 min.
so there seems to be enough room on the dvds, they just didn’t use it for quite some time.
Really? I never knew there was so much space on DVD’s!
I guess they’d either need 4discs for that or those ‘WWE DVD EASTER EGGS’ 🙁
Nice way to give the biggest middle finger to your biggest fanbase of the United States, WWE. You are being just a big a jackass as the President himself.
The fanbase that isn’t buying enough BluRays?
If they really wanna make big cash on blu-rays, then they need to include sets like all the past Royal Rumble sets from 1988-2004 on Blu-Ray! Trust me! I’m desperate to purchase many older titles on blu-ray with extra content added 🙂
Releasing any footage prior to 2008 on blu-ray really won’t make that much of a difference in terms of quality. You can only upscale that footage to a point because those videos were recorded on tape which, unlike film, can’t be upgraded to HD. But not releasing footage from 2008 forward in an HD format is really silly.
Actually from what i checked, even though WWE used tape pre-HD, standard definition footage can look slightly better on Blu-ray compared to DVD due to better compression and codecs used with Blu-ray. Its minimal, but it does look somewhat better. They can’t upscale the 480i videotape to 1080i HD so not too bummed on on that
But yeah, some DVDs i didn’t really mind being DVD only like Unreleased 1986-1995, Kurt Angle, Dawn of the Attitude, etc. as majority of the main footage is 480i videotape, only thing recorded in HD are the in-between segments, so its not that bad.
However, DVDs like Seth Rollins, NXT Secret to Sensation, Best of NXT, Best of RAW & SD where 100% footage is recorded in HD and meant to be seen in HD only on DVD is stupid.
The fanbase that doesn’t have access to blu-rays.
Whats WWE doin here?! I mean why are they stopping blu-rays???
poor sales.
and it’s not like the UK/EU distributor didn’t have the same problem. which is why they cut back from releasing almost every ppv on bluray in 2016 to just releasing the big four on bluray in 2017.
I see, well I must say that I’m a buyer who’s always been buying the Blu-Rays! It’s the extra content which mainly makes me want to purchase it. It would be a shame if the UK/EU distributor ‘Fremantlemedia’ was to stop their Blu-Rays altogether 🙁
Blu Ray was always a must for me due to the extra content included. Quality was always secondary as I also grew up with VHS tapes. Very sad that we may never see another one again. That’s the feeling I’m getting here.
I agree!
If I can see the content and watch talent wrestle, that’s all I care about, but I grew up with VHS so I think my younger years as a fan have helped me to not get so hung up on video quality later in life.
I grew up with vhs tapes as well. but to me it doesn’t mean that I don’t want to see the (current) footage in the best way possible.
(it’s like with cassette tapes, that I also grew up with. of course they will do for listening to music. but if there are better options so readily available, it’s kind of frustrating if they don’t get used)
I grew up with a 25” black and white television, it doesn’t mean I’ll be happy with WWE going backwards and releasing only B&W videos.
I wouldn’t be okay with black and white either, but I am personally okay with DVD quality in colour. I’m not asking you to agree; just putting forth my opinion, to which I’m entitled. We are allowed to have differing opinions on this. 🙂
Agreed. Just doing the whole “point-counterpoint” thing.
I got a region free blu ray player so this doesn’t affect me at all.
it does in the sense that sales for the UK/EU releases haven’t been great either (I mean, why do you think Fremantle has cut back significantly on those releases?).
Well I must say that Blu-Rays not being around no more would SUCK! I’m just happy that it’s not like that 100% in the UK since that’s where I am 🙂
except Fremantle did something similar there as well.
Meaning?
Given WWE signed with Warner in November 2014 and I believe Macho Man Documentary was the first under their label until Kevin Owens Fight Owens Fight will all be OOP.
It would truly suck if WM34 wasn’t on Blu-ray.
For me, if WWE and Warner won’t release them here, I will not settle with the DVD and mostly likely would end up importing from the UK.
at this point it would make more sense to download the content from shady sites (which of course I don’t condone) and burn it to bluray than to buy the releases.
(of course this is not valid for releases of older footage, which was never recorded for a broadcast in hd anyway)
Glad I got every blu ray from Mania 24 to the KO Set.