WWF DVD extras need work
By JOHN POWELL --
SLAM! Wrestling
For those of us who are old enough to remember, WWF video releases (there
was no such thing as DVD back then) were something to look forward to.
Coliseum Video did an bang-up job producing the WWF Volume series and a
host of other wicked releases. The videos were chock full of
never-seen-before matches shot at house shows or special events like The
Big Event at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto, special cards
like WrestleFest and the WWF Wrestling Classic.
The contract the WWF had with Coliseum Video ended long ago and since that
time the video and DVD releases haven't been the same. The WWF and the
teams heading its home video releases don't go that extra mile. Instead of
seeing those unique dark matches which were never broadcast on television,
we get stale archival footage taken from the Raw and Smackdown! shows. With
the WWF buying WCW, the possibilities are endless as far as future DVDs and
videos are concerned but the WWF has yet to utilize the brand which they
went to such great lengths to obtain. Except for historical snippets on
television, the footage remains collecting dust in some WWF vault while
fans wait in eager anticipation ready to spend their hard-earned cash if
the chance ever presents itself.
The newest DVD releases from the WWF -- Vengeance, Survivor Series 2001,
Rebellion 2001 are prime examples of such
missed opportunities.
WWF Vengeance is the worst of the bunch as far as extras go as all there is
a match-by-match selection menu and nothing more. A pretty poor effort to
say the least.
Except for a special, in-depth interview with Edge about what personal
sacrifices have to be made in order to be a WWF superstar (which might have
been shown on a previous Edge, Christian tape), the extras on Survivor
Series 2001 are all angles and no matches. There is the segments from Raw
during which Paul Heyman, Stephanie McMahon and Shane McMahon were given
the heave-ho by Vince McMahon. There is the beginning of the much loathed
"kiss my ass" angle and the return of Ric Flair to the WWF.
On Rebellion, we've got the promo which was only shown to British
audiences, a video package of Kurt Angle's defection to The Alliance and
another of the history between The Rock and Steve Austin. The extra matches
included are The Rock taking on Chris Jericho from a Raw Is War broadcast
and The Undertaker in a handicap match against Steve Austin and Kurt Angle
from Smackdown!.
As you can see, the extras on these discs are mostly nothing more than
matches or angles which preceded or followed the particular pay-per-view.
Footage that really die-hard WWF fans would have already taped from
television for free. As major film studios have discovered, great things
can be achieved through the DVD format. Lush menus. Interactive features.
Biographies. Soundtracks. Picture galleries. Deleted scenes. Special
interviews and commentary tracks. All of these add to the experience and
create a product that fans are willing to purchase instead of rent. So far,
the WWF hasn't really taken advantage of the DVD format and until they do,
one suspects that their DVDs won't ever archive the sales or notoriety as
their Coliseum videos did.
