Review of WWE: Wrestlemania - The Complete Anthology

Introduction

WWE owner Vince McMahon likes to say that Wrestlemania was "where it all began". He doesn`t really mean, of course, that this is where professional wrestling all began - promoters started to "protect" their champions as far back as the late 1800s.

No, McMahon is referring to the time when professional wrestling in America became a worldwide phenomenon. No longer would it be constricted by territories (previously, each promoter had a wrestling "territory" where only they were permitted to run shows), the strongest companies would now seek worldwide attention through the up-and-coming global television market. Garnering most of that attention was the WWE-owner`s brainchild, Wrestlemania.

Although it seems remarkable to consider now, at a time when wrestling is a multi-million dollar business, the original Wrestlemania (held in Madison Square Garden on 31st March 1985) was literally a make-or-break moment for the WWE (then known as the WWF). McMahon had gambled everything on Wrestlemania`s success, including using the emerging MTV network to make a crossover connection into the mainstream. As such, Cyndi Lauper acted as a manager for WWF Women`s Champion Wendi Richter for the evening, and Muhammad Ali was a referee for the main event match which saw Hulk Hogan tag-teaming with Mr T against the duo of "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and "Mr Wonderful" Paul Orndorff.

Despite being labelled as "crazy" by his right-hand man Pat Patterson, McMahon was determined to break all of the rules and take wrestling to a different platform, where the WWF would be considered not just as sport, but as "sports entertainment" (infamously, he also once stated that his plan was to compete for audiences with Disney on Ice, rather than any other wrestling promotion).

Needless to say, Wrestlemania was a huge success and, most importantly, created a genuine star in Hulk Hogan, that the WWF could market for future events. Over the next seven years Hogan would headline every Wrestlemania (and, in fact, any WWF television at all), facing such wrestling bad guys as "Big" John Studd, Andre The Giant, and Randy "Macho Man" Savage. Indeed, Hogan maintains the record for the highest amount paid for a single match, a whopping $1.5m for the aforementioned bout with Savage at 1989`s Wrestlemania V.

And so finally, after years of waiting, the biggest event of the year comes to DVD as "Wrestlemania: The Anthology", a staggering 31-disc set containing every Wrestlemania from I to XXI. If you`re counting, that`s 213 hours of wrestling packed into 69 bouts, at a RRP of £199.99.

Video

UK distributors Silver Vision kindly sent a copy of the 2-disc Wrestlemania XVI for me to base this review on, so on that we shall concentrate. Held in Anaheim, California on 2nd April 2000, Wrestlemania XVI was billed as "A McMahon in Every Corner", referring to the four-person main event which each had a McMahon family member championing one of the participants.

In terms of how the event has been transferred to DVD, this is a very good job indeed. Taken from the television master, this is light-years ahead of the Region 0, NTSC DVD that I purchased from Australia in 2000. This can be partially attributed to the fact that the action is split over two discs, with the main event and Wrestlemania highlights package occupying disc two, whereas on the original set, all of the action is crammed onto one disc.

But whilst the video transfer is a good one, a major threat to your enjoyment of this DVD comes from censorship issues. None of the bouts or backstage shenanigans have been clipped in any way, but as a result of the World Wrestling Federation losing a legal battle with the World Wildlife Fund (also known as WWF), any use of the WWF logo in this production has been blurred out. This is horrendous considering that the logo is used extensively throughout the show, including on the ring apron, on interview backdrops, and even on their personalised microphones. Initially, the censorship is extremely distracting, to the point where my enjoyment was being hampered by the issue, but once you are used to the intrusion (and have stopped shaking your head in disbelief that such censorship is attributed to the World Wildlife Fund) it is not enough to spoil the overall event.

Although I have not seen the remaining "Anthology" DVDs, I expect that the other video transfers will be of a similarly high standard, especially those from 2001 - 2005 (I believe that the censorship blurring is present on Wrestlemania XV - XVIII). Wrestlemania I & II have noticibly vintage production values - especially Wrestlemania I, held in a rather dark Madison Square Garden - but having seen the television broadcasts of every other Wrestlemania, I am confident that there will be no major video issues to contend with.

Audio

Audio for Wrestlemania XVI is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 format which, I believe, is consistent with the remaining events in this set. As we have come to expect, this is of very good quality, and everything from ring entrance music to commentary to in-ring movements can be heard with clarity.

Unfortunately however, the audio has also been subjected to censorship issues, much the same as with the video. Due to the fact that they are not allowed to use the phrase "WWF", anytime these letters are mentioned the "F" is muted out. This is more frustrating than obtrusive, but evidently could not be avoided for said legal reasons.

What could have been avoided however, is the removal of several entrance music tracks due to copyright issues. This is not a direct problem with Wrestlemania XVI, but there have been complaints that several entrance themes going back to the early Wrestlemanias have been dubbed with generic tracks. A very sad thought for the completist.

Features

There are zero extras accompanying this "Anthology", which is absolutely derisory at the £200 asking price. This is made all the more galling by the fact that every Wrestlemania previously released on DVD has had extras included, in fact Wrestlemania XX and XXI were previously released as three-disc sets!

To use Wrestlemania XVI as an example, included on the original release were short featurettes on the Triple Threat Tag Team Match (The Dudley Boys vs Edge & Christian vs The Hardy Boys), the Three-Way-Dance for the Intercontinental and European titles (Chris Jericho vs Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle) and the Fatal Fourway main event (Big Show vs Triple-H vs The Rock vs "Stone Cold" Steve Austin). Not to mention the "Backstage Axxess" footage, the three alternate commentaries on the aforementioned Three-Way-Dance, and the three-hour "Relive History" documentary.

Truly inexcusable, especially considering that Disc 2 of Wrestlemania XVI lasts for a meagre fifty minutes.

Conclusion

As you can see, there is a tremendous amount to be said about the "Anthology", and then some. To initially stick with Wrestlemania XVI then, it must be said that this was one Wrestlemania that was distinctly lacking in top-drawer ring action. Bizarrely, there was only one singles match on the entire show, and I`m tempted to declare that null and void given the fact that neither The Kat or Terri Runnels are trained wrestlers, but merely look good ripping each other`s clothes off. Match of the night award goes to the Angle/Jericho/Benoit encounter, closely followed by the main event, which has a surprising outcome. If you are a fan of daredevil antics, the Triple Threat Tag Team Match was certainly one of the most incredible matches ever held in the United States, but on repeated viewing, you can`t help but find the bout`s action terribly contrived. The rest of the matches, quite frankly, are not worthy of Wrestlemania status, and would barely entice me to record the WWE`s free television show, never mind order their pay-per-view.

That said, Wrestlemania XVI was one of the few shows that disappointed. Whilst the company was still finding its feet with Wrestlemania I and II, by Wrestlemania III the event started to feel like a memorable gathering, no doubt spurred on by a reputed crowd of 93,173 for the dream-match main event of Andre The Giant vs Hulk Hogan. The in-ring action wasn`t stellar, but the event`s feel was.

If it is exciting in-ring action that you crave, there are many bouts included here that will have you shouting at your television. Action such as Ricky Steamboat vs Randy Savage (Wrestlemania III), Hulk Hogan vs Savage (Wrestlemania V), Ultimate Warrior vs Hulk Hogan (Wrestlemania VI), Bret Hart vs Owen Hart (Wrestlemania X), "Stone Cold" Steve Austin vs Bret Hart (Wrestlemania XIII) and Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels (Wrestlemania XXI) certainly fit the bill. Although, on the other hand, may I recommend you make use of your DVD players SKIP function for matches such as Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai (Wrestlemania I), "Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs Mr T (boxing match, Wrestlemania II) and Hulk Hogan/Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake vs Money Inc. (Wrestlemania IX). It`s all about give and take, I suppose.

Having only had the chance to review one part of the "Anthology", it is difficult for me to make judgements about the quality of the rest of the set. Certainly, as above, I know which matches are worth pursuing and which are not, but obviously I cannot make definite judgments about the audio and video quality of the other discs. The word on the wire is that the DVD transfers on the other events are very good indeed, especially the early Wrestlemanias which have supposedly never looked better.

Such is the WWE`s reputation for DVD quality that I do not doubt that this is the case. Therefore, if you can live with the audio and video censorship, and are not put off by the lack of DVD extras, then I would have no hesitation in recommending this set. It is, after all, a complete history of the biggest wrestling event of the year.