As the last days of the strangest year of our lives comes to a close, I figured I would take a look back at better times. In particular, times when wrestling fans were able to come together and watch their favorite wrestlers display their abilities in person. I'm not one for collecting DVDs these days but this one certainly caught my eye and would be perfect to sit back and watch to help look back at the days that we have unfortunately took so for granted of.
Match 1: WWE WrestleMania XXVI - No Disqualification - Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker - Click HERE for the Original Review
One of the my more controversial hills that I am willing to die on is that this match is superior to their WrestleMania 25 bout a year prior to this. That in itself makes this match that much more impressive... how do you top a perfect match with expectations that were practically impossible to top? Somehow, they managed to do it. They had to be able to differentiate this match from the year after and create a different type of ambiance behind it as well. Shawn Michaels was so desperate to get his rematch against The Undertaker that it could either lead him to the biggest win of his career or his ultimate downfall. The setting for this match was perfect, in the desert on the biggest stage you could imagine as the last match on the card. Michaels did a fantastic job of working on the knee of The Undertaker throughout the match and in turn, The Undertaker did a great job of nearly making that his own downfall in this match. The entire match had it all from big spots in an emotional roller coaster with Michaels defiantly not giving up until The Undertaker gave him in the biggest Tombstone of his life. Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler were also both great in their commentary roles here and certainly boosted this match to another level. Give Cole credit when it is due. Ultimately, Michaels would go on to wrestle one more match after this but this still remains his retirement match in my opinion because this is easily the greatest goodbye match ever. It had it all and nothing beats seeing Michaels walk away to a standing ovation as the curtain closed. More than a decade later and this match holds up with the best of them.
Winner: The Undertaker
Rating: *****
Match 2: WWE Money in the Bank 2011 - WWE Championship - John Cena (c) vs. CM Punk - Click HERE for the Original Review
It's no secret, I am not the biggest CM Punk fan in the world but I don't let those personal feelings get in the way of me enjoying his abilities in the ring and on the mic. This is highly regarded as the best match of both of these men's careers and for good reason... it is an absolute dandy. Of course, the story behind this one made it so much sweeter with Punk threatening to leave the company with the belt and obviously... Cena going up against both Punk and his wild hometown of Chicago. Awesome action throughout the match and Cena did a great job in selling the knee injury throughout the match and really embracing his role as the bad buy. Also need to give credit to where it is due with Punk, embracing the love Chicago was smothering him with and this truly felt like the first real time that Punk was holding his own in a main event match. He belonged in that moment. Fantastic roller coaster of a match that included Punk kicking out of Attitude Adjustment later in the match that had the crowd roaring. Finally, Punk was able to hit a GTS on Cena to score the win and escape Chicago with the WWE Championship in hand. Certainly Punk's biggest moment of his career in his wild 2011. While many claim this to be their best match, they had one I believe in 2013 on an episode of Raw that I thought was even better than this one. Regardless, a great match that still holds to this day.
Winner: CM Punk
Rating: ****1/2
Match 3: WWE Summerslam 2012 - No Disqualification - Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H - Click HERE for the Original Review
While this may seem like an odder choice of a match to feature on this DVD, I do appreciate them going with matches that have either gone so forgotten about or just never really featured on any other release or Network special. At this point, Brock Lesnar was just a few months into his return to the WWE and his second feud was against The Game. This feud turned extremely personal after Lesnar attacked Shawn Michaels on an episode of Monday Night Raw as they finally face off in the main event of Summerslam. Lesnar has become the huge focal point of Summerslam in years past and this was ultimately just the beginning of what would be many main event matches for him at the event. Triple H instructed Scott Armstrong prior to the match that he did not want to see this match end on a countout or disqualification. They did a great job of really making the odds seem completely stacked against Triple H here until he was later able to drive Lesnar into the corner of the announcers table. The tides seemed to turn for a little bit but Lesnar still proved to be too much for The Game as he had to submit to Lesnar's Kimura submission. Very physical and fun affair between the two, a fitting close to Summerslam that would go on to really be the rise of Lesnar's dominance in the company. Glad this was featured on the DVD, many seem to forget this match.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Rating: ****
Match 4: WWE WrestleMania 29 - WWE Championship - The Rock (c) vs. John Cena - Click HERE for the Original Review
This match has certainly become one of the more controversial WrestleMania main events in recent history because many of the internet fans wanted CM Punk to have some sort of involvement. While I do agree that a triple threat match between the three here would have been great, a rematch where Cena looks to avenge his loss from the previous year was just too good to pass by. I think the right choice was made, this was just too good of a story to pass up on and Punk ultimately challenging The Undertaker led to a memorable moment for the show. While I can't say I remember much from their first encounter, I do recall this match being pretty similar to that one aside from the few callbacks they had in this one where Cena was reluctant at times. The match was fairly slow throughout and the crowd wasn't able to get into things until later on when the nearfalls became more apparent and more believable. Finally, Cena is able to hit an Attitude Adjustment on The Rock to score the win and avenge his loss from the previous year. Afterwards, The Rock congratulates Cena and "passes the torch" to close out the night. A very fitting close to the show with the finishing minutes being as dramatic as you could want from these two.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: ***1/2
Match 5: WWE Payback 2014 - No Holds Barred Elimination - Evolution vs. The Shield - Click HERE for the Original Review
After The Shield beat Evolution at the previous PPV, Triple H and the rest of Evolution look to score some revenge in a No Holds Barred Elimination Match. My original review of this match gave it a ****1/2 but after sitting down and watching it again years later, it failed to reach my lofty expectations. I felt like much of this match really just saw Evolution beat down The Shield members for a solid portion of the match until the tides turned once Seth Rollins dove off the stage onto all the members of Evolution once they were done with their onslaught. Afterwards, The Shield were able to eliminate both Batista and Randy Orton before it was just down to Triple H and his sledgehammer. A knee out of nowhere from Rollins that was followed up with a Spear from Roman Reigns was all she wrote. Enjoyed this match a lot but it was nowhere near the level of excitement I felt when I first viewed it years ago. I understand they wanted to beat down The Shield handsomely during this match but it almost felt like it was just dragging on to the point where you expected the comeback. Again, while I was somewhat disappointed in my second watching of this match, I still appreciate this match getting recognition and being featured on the DVD. If people ever remember their matches, it's really just their Extreme Rules match as this one seems to get brushed aside. Crazy to think this match and feud even happened all these years later.
Winners: The Shield
Rating: ***1/2
