AEW Revolution 2020 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on AEW Revolution 2020.

"Thoughts on Wrestling" Update

As you may have noticed, my last "Thoughts on wrestling" video was posted on Tuesday as opposed to late Sunday night or very early Monday morning. That is because I have decided to no longer make those videos immediately after the wrestling event goes off the air.

A few months after I started Cincy Fan Zone, I started posting wrestling review videos immediately after pay-per-views. After about five years of following this schedule, I have decided to post my "Thoughts on Wrestling" videos on Tuesdays like all my other videos.  The reason for this is the lack of sleep I get that night is beginning to take it's toll. Factor in the amount of views that each "Thoughts on Wrestling" video receives, and it becomes pretty apparent that the effort that goes into publishing these videos as quick as possible is not worth it.

In conclusion, the "Thoughts on Wrestling" Videos" should be published every Tuesday like all the other videos on my channel. Also, there might be more wrestling videos now that All Elite Wrestling has burst onto the scene. There should be a "Thoughts on Wrestling" video after every AEW event, however I might also make combo videos reviewing both WWE and AEW events should they happen in the same week. If you are one of the few people who watch these videos, thank you for your support and for continuing to watch them.

Royal Rumble 2019 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on the 2019 Royal Rumble event.

WWE TLC 2018 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on WWE TLC 2018. 

A Brilliant Heel Turn

Without question, the October 22 episode of Monday Night Raw was one of the most emotional episodes that WWE has ever produced. Roman Reigns revealed he is battling leukemia and had to relinquish the Universal Championship. It was a very real segment that separated Joseph Anoa’i the man from Roman Reigns the character. I wish nothing but the best for Reigns and hope he is able to beat the cancer. The emotional announcement was capped off by an embrace from his Shield brothers Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins and a Hounds of Justice triple fist bump at the top of entrance ramp. 

After the announcement, it appeared that the Ambrose heel turn that has been hinted at for weeks was put on hold. He and Rollins were set to challenge Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler for the Raw Tag Team Championships later in the main event, and the two members of the Shield cut a promo before their match that pretty much stated they were fighting for Reigns. The match itself was very entertaining and worthy of being in the main event. In the end, Ambrose and Rollins emerged victorious and came away with the tag title belts. It seemed like a night that began with heart wrenching news would end on a brighter note. That was not the case.

The emotional victory celebration was cut short as Ambrose hit Rollins with a Dirty Deeds much to the shock of those in attendance as well as the world-wide audience watching on television. The beating continued. Ambrose unloaded a storm of punches on Rollins before tossing him out of the ring. The assault continued at ringside before a cranium cracking Dirty Deeds to Rollins on the exposed arena floor left the Lunatic Fringe satisfied with the damage he had done to his co-tag team champion. Boos and A$$hole chants were reverberating off the walls as Ambrose tore off his Shield vest and exited the arena through the crowd. 

In my opinion, it was one of the most brilliant heel turns WWE has ever had. The emotion was real throughout the night and to see Ambrose destroy what would have been a feel-good moment to close a show that had a somber beginning generated a massive amount of very real heat. It was the heel turn everybody saw coming at the moment nobody expected to see it, and that is why it will be remembered as one of the best in professional wrestling.

Elimination Chamber 2018 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on WWE Elimination Chamber 2018.

Lost in Translation

Why can’t WWE translate success in NXT to success on the main roster? It seems that most of the gimmicks that are considered over in NXT either lose a lot of momentum when called up to the main roster or they simply bomb and fizzle into obscurity. As a wrestling fan, it is frustrating to see wrestlers get over in NXT with a unique gimmick only to see them essentially wasted once they are called up to Raw and Smackdown.

The Ascension is a prime example of this. In NXT, they were a dominant tag team that owned the division. Once they were called up to the main roster, they were squashed and have since been demoted to jobbers. Another example of this would be Bo Dallas. The guy was a former NXT champion and looked poise to make a splash on Raw and SmackDown. Unfortunately, he was presented as a joke and is rarely seen on television now.

Not all wrestlers are demoted to jobbers or vanish from television. Some just seemingly lose momentum. Bayley was the most popular woman in NXT. Fans loved her and routinely cheered for her with the “Hey Bayley” chant. Since coming up to the main roster, her momentum has come to a halt, and the pops from the crowd are now being filled with a few boos from time to time. Enzo and Cass are also a victim of lost momentum. When they debuted on the main roster, crowds would blow the roof off the arena. They would cut great promos, get the crowd involved, and were easily one of the most over acts in the company. Since then, the promos have gotten weaker, Enzo constantly eats pins, and their credibility as a tag team has been dented as they have never won the tag team titles since being called up the main roster.

While this does not happen to every former NXT star, it does happen quite a bit. It is understandable that not all NXT success will translate to WWE success, but it is odd how often former NXT wrestlers have a hard time adjusting to the main roster. It doesn’t matter if you blame it on the creative team, the booking, or the wrestlers themselves, the fact of the matter is that something is being lost in translation during the transition from NXT to WWE.

Wrestlemania 33 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on Wrestlemania 33.

My Thoughts on the ROH Rumors

With Wrestlemania 33 just around the corner, I thought it would be appropriate to write a post that dealt with professional wrestling. I was thinking of doing a post with my match predictions but ultimately decided against it because of the latest wrestling rumor swirling around the internet. It is without question that WWE is the largest professional wrestling company in the world ever since it bought out World Championship Wrestling in 2001. It has been 16 years and not a single professional wrestling company has come close to giving WWE a run for its money like WCW did during the Monday Night Wars.

That is not to say WWE does not have its competitors. Overseas there is New Japan Pro Wrestling, and in the Untied States there are Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and Ring of Honor. While these are alternatives to WWE’s product, they still have yet to prove to be viable competition. NJPW is still trying to broaden its global reach to match that of the WWE, and TNA has been barely afloat as a company for the past few years. It was even rumored that WWE was in the process of buying out TNA in the fall of 2016. While the sale ultimately did not happen, the rumor generated a ton of buzz around the wrestling world. Fast forward five months and now the rumor is that WWE might be buying out the other major American wrestling promotion I mentioned earlier: Ring of Honor.

This was very shocking to me. ROH is currently owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group and is aired everywhere a Sinclair station is broadcasting. For example, I can get my ROH fix on either Saturday at 10:30 pm or Monday at 12:30 am on Star 64. While the strange schedule and one hour format of the show does not allow it to compete head to head with WWE, it is still a viable alterative to wrestling fans that prefer in ring action over storylines. It is a formula that works for the company as it has garnered a respectable audience and has been the career launch pad for various wrestlers such as Daniel Bryan, Samoa Joe, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, and A.J. Styles among others. A lot of former WWE superstars have also wrestled for Ring of Honor such as Alberto Del Rio, Charlie Haas, Shelton Benjamin, the Hardy Boyz and Cody Rhodes. Needless to say, Ring of Honor has made a significant impact on the world of professional wrestling. So what would happen should WWE buy ROH?

ROH is loaded with talent. The Young Bucks, Adam Cole, Kazarian, Christopher Daniels, and Lio Rush make up a small sample of the talented roster that makes up ROH. Should ROH become a WWE property, I would think that a majority of these guys end up in either NXT or on the main roster. While the idea of the Young Bucks taking over the tag team division and potential WWE matchups between Styles and Daniels are enticing, an ROH buyout would not be good for guys like Cody Rhodes who left WWE for greener pastures. WWE would also add the ROH video library to its already massive collection of professional wrestling footage. As a diehard wrestling fan, it would be both awesome and extremely convenient to have the ROH video library available on the WWE Network.

While the possibility of WWE buying ROH is appealing in some ways, I think it would be better for the wrestling industry as a whole if WWE did not buy ROH. Competition is necessary in professional wrestling. It forces creativity and innovation and everybody benefits from it. WCW and WWE competed for ratings and professional wrestling supremacy and it took the industry to new heights. The product was at its best, ratings were at an all-time high, and fans were able to soak in a quality wrestling product for years. That is why I hope ROH does not get bought by WWE. Perhaps the company can rise to a level similar to that of WCW, compete with WWE at a global level, and rejuvenate the professional wrestling industry as a whole.

Autograph Page Update

#Autograph Page Update @ https://t.co/ULDHSOUCJg With a New #Wwe Autograph#SDLive #RAW #nxt #WWENXT #205live #talkingsmack #Wrestlemania pic.twitter.com/64oq1JvrcY

— Cincy Fan Zone (@CincyFanZone) January 11, 2017

Photo Page Update

Photo Page Update @ https://t.co/JzwEdxiFEu With New #Wwe Pics#sdlive #raw #nxt #205live #WWENXT #talkingsmack #Wrestlemania #RoyalRumble pic.twitter.com/LMBGPyWdMy

— Cincy Fan Zone (@CincyFanZone) January 11, 2017

Goldberg vs. Lesnar II: Survivor Series or Wrestlemania?

For months, rumors had been swirling that WWE was in negotiations with Goldberg for a return bout against Brock Lesnar, and a recent ESPN interview all but confirmed that the man who had compiled a record of 173-0 in World Championship Wrestling was indeed set to make his return. WWE hyped up the interview on its social media outlets and on its weekly television programs before Lesnar’s advocate, Paul Heyman, issued the challenge to Goldberg. The next week, Goldberg made his return to Monday Night Raw after a 12 year absence and declared that Lesnar was “next.” WWE then announced that Goldberg and Lesnar would square off at Survivor Series in November.

For Lesnar, it is a chance to right the lone blemish on his list of wrestlers that he has been able to conquer throughout his WWE career. For Goldberg, it is an opportunity to prove that he can still hang with the best that the wrestling world has to offer. A match of this magnitude should be reserved for the grandest of stages. Survivor Series is one of WWE’s biggest shows of the year, but is it big enough for Goldberg vs. Lesnar II?

Personally, I don’t think it is. Survivor Series is regarded as the smallest of WWE’s “Big Four” pay-per-view events behind the Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Wrestlemania and is known for its traditional five on five elimination tag team matches. Wrestlemania on the other hand is known for its marquee bouts that often feature wrestling legends. Goldberg vs. Lesnar II is a marquee match that should be saved for Wrestlemania. This would allow WWE to slowly build up the story with the payoff match being at its biggest event of the year. They could continue to build up Lesnar as “the beast” by having him steamroll opponents, and they could also build Goldberg up by having him start a new winning streak before putting it on the line against Lesnar.

The slow build would entice fans and help make the anticipation for the match reach a fever pitch. The Wrestlemania setting would also play a natural role in the story as Goldberg defeated Lesnar in their first encounter at Wrestlemania 20. WWE could bill this as a Wrestlemania rematch 13 years in the making, and it would easily increase the amount of buys and hype for the pay-per-view. That is not to say that it would not affect Survivor Series in a similar fashion, but WWE prides itself on having Wrestlemania being the one event of the year that shatters records. Goldberg vs. Lesnar II would no doubt help WWE do that.

That is why I think WWE should save Goldberg vs. Lesnar II for Wrestlemania 33. Survivor Series is a big show, but Wrestlemania is bigger and having the bout take place there would be more beneficial for both the match and WWE. The story could build slowly which would heighten anticipation, the Wrestlemania setting would play right into the buildup of the match, and the bout between Goldberg and Lesnar is defiantly worthy of being contested at the “Showcase of the Immortals.”

WWE No Mercy 2016 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on WWE No Mercy 2016.

WWE Battleground 2016 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on WWE Battleground 2016.

SmackDown vs Raw…Again Part 2

In my previous post on the WWE brand extension, I discussed its history from its inception until it was pashed out completely. In this post, I will talk about why I am not a fan of WWE’s decision to bring back the brand extension, and why I think not having separate rosters is the way to go.

The last time there was a brand extension in WWE, both shows started out as equal before more and more attention was given to Raw each week. Maybe it was because SmackDown is on tape delay and Raw is live or maybe it was because Monday nights attain better ratings than Thursday nights. Either way, with each passing year, more attention was given to Raw than SmackDown as Raw always had guest stars, special episodes, and the most popular wrestlers on the roster. I do not see that changing because Raw has more airtime than SmackDown since it is a three-hour show. Raw will need to retain viewers for an extra hour and a way to do that is by having guest stars, special episodes, and the most popular wrestlers on the roster.

Another reason I am not a fan of the brand extension is because of what happened to the championships. Every championship was essentially doubled during the last brand extension, and it took away the prestige of winning a title. I have no problem with their being two midcard championships. However, having two tag team champs, women’s champs, and world champs is ridiculous and defeats the purpose of having those belts as those titles are supposed to represent the best tag team, woman, and man in WWE. I really hope WWE decides to leave the championships alone and have the champions appear on both shows. That would keep the prestige of the titles in tact.

I think that having one roster is the way to go because it keeps things simple. The championships remain prestigious, you can catch your favorite wrestlers on both shows, and storylines are a lot easier to follow. With two separate rosters, you have two separate shows, which doubles the amount of storylines and rivalries to follow. Some of these feuds might be between two wrestlers that nobody cares for, and instead of having a better overall product with few quality storylines, you get a worse product with more storylines that do not capture the attention of the audience. Also, there might not even be a payoff match at a pay-per-view. WWE’s montly pay-per-views are only four hours long if you include the kickoff show and with WWE having two separate rosters with their own storylines spread across five hours of weekly television, it will be nearly impossible to have all those rivalries culminate with a payoff match.

That is why I am not a fan of the brand extension, and why I think the WWE should not separate the rosters. The last time WWE separated the rosters, it failed. It started out well, but it ultimately did not work and the quality of WWE programming suffered because of it. Hopefully this time WWE does the brand extension right or ends it fast.

The Money in the Bank Winner Is…

Money in the Bank is one of WWE’s best events of the year. It is usually filled with great matches, and its results set the tone for SummerSlam. The biggest and most influential match at Money in the Bank is the bout that the event was named after in that the results of it are what people care about the most. The winner of the match receives a contract for a WWE Championship match whenever and wherever the victor wants, and when the cash in happens, the crowd usually erupts in excitement. So who should win the event this year? I believe that Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens are the most deserving to win this match. Let’s start with why I think Owens should win.

Kevin Owens has been absolutely incredible ever since he was called up to the main roster from NXT. His rivalry with John Cena was one of the best of 2015, his matches are generally some of the best on the card, and his mic skills as a heel are fantastic. He is so good at being a heel that he gets face reactions. He is currently involved in a great feud with Sami Zayn, and if Owens wins the Money in the Bank ladder match and claims the briefcase for himself, then his rivalry with Zayn could be taken to the next level as the two could be battling it out for Money in the Bank contract. The crowd would also go crazy if Owens cashed in on Reigns, and the rivalry between these two could be epic.

Dean Ambrose also deserves to win the Money in the Bank ladder match in my opinion. He is one of the best talents in WWE today. He is solid in the ring, he is great on the mic, and despite WWE booking him in a questionable manner, he is still over with the fans, receives huge pops every time he enters the arena, and his rivalries with Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Bray Wyatt, and Brock Lesnar have been very entertaining. If he wins the Money in the Bank ladder match, then things in WWE could get very interesting. With Seth Rollins returning to the WWE after his injury and Roman Reigns in the middle of a WWE Championship reign, an Ambrose victory could finally mean that we get the long awaited Shield triple threat match. Also, Ambrose is my favorite wrestler, and I would love to see him win the match and hopefully the WWE Championship with a successful cash in on Reigns, Rollins, or whoever the champion may be.

In conclusion, that is why I think Owens and Ambrose each have equal claim to the Money in the Bank contract. They are both great in the ring, on the mic, and get really good crowd reactions. If either of these guys wins the match, the crowd will cheer and the arena will definitely explode whenever they decide to cash in their contract. While I am a fan of Owens and would really like to see him win, I will be pulling for Ambrose and hope he climbs the ladder, grabs the briefcase, and takes his first step to becoming WWE Champion.

Let’s go Ambrose!

SmackDown vs. Raw…Again Part 1

In 2001, World Wrestling Entertainment had established itself as the undisputed wrestling promotion champion in the world. It had defeated Extreme Championship Wrestling and squeezed the life out of World Championship Wrestling, putting an end to the epic “Monday Night Wars.”

As the dust settled and the smoke cleared, many former ECW and WCW wrestlers signed with WWE, creating a huge surge in talent on the WWE roster. In order to give these new wrestlers airtime while keeping the established WWE stars on television, WWE came up with the brand extension. The idea was to make Raw and SmackDown two separate promotions that would “compete” against each other. There was a draft between Raw and SmackDown and wrestlers were exclusive to only the show that drafted them. The only exceptions were champions who appeared on both shows. The only times fans saw wrestlers from both Raw and SmackDown appear on the same show were pay-per-views.

Eventually, champions became exclusive to either Raw or SmackDown with each brand having a total of four titles each. For midcard  championships, this was not really a problem as Raw had the Intercontinental Championship and SmackDown had the United States Championship. There was also a Cruiserweight division with its own title that was exclusive to the SmackDown brand. However, each show had its own world champion, pair of tag team champions, and eventually a women’s champion as SmackDown retired the Cruiserweight Championship and created the Divas Championship while Raw already had the Women’s Championship

The brand extension continued until 2011 when SmackDown wrestlers began to appear regularly on Raw. It was officially phased out by 2012, and titles merged as the Raw and SmackDown tag team titles and women’s titles were unified. The unification process was complete in 2013 as the WWE Championship of Raw and the World Heavyweight Championship of SmackDown were merged by Randy Orton when he defeated John Cena and became the first Undisputed WWE World Heavyweight Champion since 2002. With that, the brand extension had officially come to an end.

Wrestlers were no longer exclusive to certain shows, titles could be defended on both Raw and SmackDown, and the championships regained their prestige as there were fewer belts to compete for between the wrestlers. It was nice to have the WWE go back to a simpler way, and I was and still am a fan of ending the brand extension.

In theory, the brand extension was a good idea, but in reality, it failed. While it did allow a few wrestlers to emerge like John Cena, Batista, and Randy Orton, it ultimately turned SmackDown into the “B” show as more attention was given to Raw each and every week. SmackDown did have great success and was an overall better show than Raw when the brand extension began, however it slowly spiraled downward and essentially became a recap of Raw with some filler. If it was executed better, then perhaps the brand extension could have worked. Maybe there could have been more than a handful of guys who had careers launched during the brand extension, and Raw and SmackDown could have been treated as equal shows. That was not the case, and I do not really see that happening with the new brand extension.

Stayed tuned for part two of this post in which I explain why I do not like WWE’s choice to bring back the brand extension.

Wrestlemania 31 Two-Disc Blu-Ray Set Review

Wrestlemania is the biggest wrestling event of all time. It features high profile matches, celebrity involvement, and showcases World Wrestling Entertainment’s product on a global stage. An event this big only happens once a year, but that does not mean you only have to watch it once every 365 days. WWE has released every Wrestlemania on some sort of home video format whether it be on VHS, DVD, or Blu-ray. Over the course of the next few weeks, I will review the different home video editions of Wrestlemania that I own.

In this week’s post, I will review the two-disc Blu-ray version of Wrestlemania 31. Aside from seeing it live on television when it aired last year, I have only seen it on Blu-ray on a 16:9 television screen. Therefore I have no idea how the DVD version of Wrestlemania 31 is presented on a 16:9 or a 4:3 television.

Like my other Wrestlemanias on Blu-ray that I previously reviewed, the entire wrestling event is on the first disc. It starts with Aloe Blacc performing “America the Beautiful” and ends with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match. There are three bonus features included on the first disc. They are the Fatal 4-Way WWE Tag Team Championship match between the Usos, Los Matadores, the New Day, and Tyson Kidd and Cesaro that aired on the Wrestlemania 31 Kickoff Show, and videos showing how Seth Rollins is the “future” and how John Cena prepared for Rusev.

The second disc features the entire 2015 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony. While the 2015 hall of fame class was not as star-studded as year’s past, it was still a pretty decent group of inductees. The biggest wrestling personalities to be inducted were Alundra Blayze, Rikishi, Kevin Nash, and the most legendary of the group, the “Macho Man” Randy Savage. It is a real shame that Savage was inducted posthumously as his induction was long overdue, and I can honestly say that he was one of my most favorite wrestlers of all time. His induction is the main reason every wrestling fan should watch this induction ceremony. Like the first disc, disc two has three bonus features. These include the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal that aired on the Wrestlemania 31 Kickoff Show, and two videos that center on Brock Lesnar and Daniel Bryan.

The packaging for this Wrestlemania is okay. The front is very simple as it showcases the Wrestlemania 31 logo and some of the more popular wrestlers who competed that night. The back of the packaging features some of the matches, a list of the 2015 WWE Hall of Fame inductees, and a collage of Wrestlemania 31’s biggest moments.

The inside of the packaging looks great as it is a panoramic picture of Levi’s Stadium as the show went off the air. There are fireworks exploding all over the place, and it makes for an epic looking picture.

In conclusion, this is a great home video version of an amazing Wrestlemania. This is my second favorite Wrestlemania of all time behind only Wrestlemania 17. Wrestlemania 31 featured great matches, epic encounters, and an ending that was almost as shocking as Stone Cold Steve Austin and Mr. McMahon joining forces at the end of Wrestlemania 17. You are doing yourself an injustice if you do not purchase this Blu-ray set. It should be in every wrestling fan’s collection.

Stay tuned for the Wrestlemania 32 Blu-ray review!

No Wyatts Please

 Please note that this post was written before the March 28, 2016, episode of Monday Night Raw. As a result, the elements from that episode that affected the street fight match between Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose were not taken into account during the writing of this post.

Wrestlemania 32 is days away, and the match I am looking forward to the most is the street fight between “the Beast,” Brock Lesnar, and the Cincinnati’s “Lunatic Fringe,” Dean Ambrose. The storyline leading up this match has been exceptional as it has had the best buildup when compared to other bouts on the card. What started as a brief encounter in February during the buildup to WWE Fastlane 2016 has morphed into a compelling wrestling story that has captivated audiences everywhere. Lesnar has lived up to his “Beast” moniker and Ambrose has become arguably the biggest face in WWE today as his “never say die” attitude, charisma, and wrestling skill has gotten him over in a huge way with wrestling fans.

People knew these the two had chemistry the moment Ambrose went face to face with Lesnar back In February. It was the most electrifying segment on Raw in 2016 up to that point, and the fans responded in a positive way. WWE captured lightening in a bottle and proceeded to run with it as the street fight between the most over guy on the current roster in Lesnar and the most over face on the current roster in Ambrose could steal the show in front of a crowd of over 100,000 people. It should be a great match. My only problem with it is the Wyatts.

The Wyatt Family has seemingly been inserted into the Lesnar versus Ambrose storyline with the purpose of interfering during their Wrestlemania 32 street fight. Whenever Ambrose or Lesnar is on screen, the Wyatts make an appearance. It was reported that WWE originally had Lesnar taking on Bray Wyatt at Wrestlemania 32. Personally I was not a fan of that decision as a match between the “Beast” and the “Eater of Worlds” did not and still does not really excite me. That is why I was thrilled when it was announced that Ambrose would take on Lesnar instead.

When WWE started to throw the Wyatts into the mix, I thought that it was to keep Ambrose busy when Lesnar was not appearing on WWE television for the week and as a way to book Lesnar for the Roadblock event. I have since been proven wrong. WWE is strongly hinting at a Wyatt Family interference, and that is something that I do not want to see.

The buildup for the match between Ambrose and Lesnar has been really good. It focused on Ambrose wanting to prove that he can go toe to toe with the best in the business and Lesnar wanting to extract revenge for Ambrose knocking him out of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Number One Contender Triple Threat Match at Fastlane 2016. Now that the Wyatts have been added to the equation, I feel like it has taken away from what had been a great storyline.

I hope that Lesnar and Ambrose have an epic clash that blows the roof off AT&T Stadium without interference from the Wyatts. This has the making of a match of the year candidate and could be a bout that is talked about for years to come. In order for that to happen, the finish must be clean. No swerves. No screw job finish. No Wyatts. Just the “Beast” and the “Lunatic Fringe” squaring off at the showcase of the immortals.

Wresltemania 28 Two-Disc Blu-ray Set Review

Wrestlemania is the biggest wrestling event of all time. It features high profile matches, celebrity involvement, and showcases World Wrestling Entertainment’s product on a global stage. An event this big only happens once a year, but that does not mean you only have to watch it once every 365 days. WWE has released every Wrestlemania on some sort of home video format whether it be on VHS, DVD, or Blu-ray. Over the course of the next few weeks, I will review the different home video editions of Wrestlemania that I own.

In this post, I will take a look at the two-disc Blu-ray version of Wrestlemania 28. This is the first Wrestlemania on Blu-ray that I have ever bought. I have only watched it on a Blu-ray player hooked up to a 16:9 television, so I do not know if it will switch to a cropped version if viewed on a 4:3 television.

Disc 1 contains the entire Wrestlemania 28 event. It starts with the traditional singing of “America the Beautiful” and ends with the “Once in a Lifetime” dream match between John Cena and the Rock. There are also a few special features on the first disc as such as the Triple Threat WWE Tag Team Championship match that occurred before Wrestlemania 28 went live on pay-per-view.

Disc 2 contains the entire 2012 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony and it was a star-studded class. 2012 inductees included the Four Horseman, Mike Tyson, and Edge among other wrestling personalities. The second disc also contains bonus features such as segments from past episodes of Monday Night Raw and some of the buildup to the “End of an Era” Hell in a Cell match between Triple H and the Undertaker.

The packaging for Wrestlemania 28 is pretty solid. Since it was packaged in a standard Blu-ray case, the space was limited but I think WWE did a good job with working with what they had. The front of the case features the wrestlers involved in the biggest matches of the night, and the back features a list of matches and special features as well as a nice collage of pictures from the event. The inside of the packaging showcases a cool panoramic picture of the stadium that hosted Wrestlemania 28 with a list of the matches.

In conclusion, the Wrestlemania 28 two-disc Blu-ray edition is a great home video version of a phenomenal Wrestlemania. I can honestly say that this was one of the best Wrestlemanias I have ever seen. Chris Jericho and CM Punk put on a wrestling clinic, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and the Undertaker told an emotional and thrilling story filled with violence and brutality, and John Cena and the Rock closed out the show in tremendous fashion. This is a must-see Wrestlemania for every wrestling fan. I highly recommend you pick up this Wrestlemania on either Blu-ray or DVD. It was one of the best wrestling events produced by WWE during the “PG Era.”

Up next is the Wrestlemania 29 two-disc Blu-ray set review!