The pop-culture Sports Entertainment juggernaut that is WrestleMania hit it’s 32nd annual instalment in April but did it live up to the billing? The WrestleMania 32 DVD hits the shelves on Monday June 6, 2016.
The WrestleMania 32 DVD & blu-ray release from WWE Home Video gives us the opportunity to find out, with the luxury of second look at the biggest show of the year.
Initial reactions in the aftermath of the show were mixed but at the time I thought that if you treated it for what WrestleMania has come to be it was an entertaining night of action. It’s almost as if this is now the “nostalgia” show with only a passing relevance to the current product for large portions. On that score it provided ample entertainment.
Most of the “mixed” reactions (i.e. the negative ones) revolved around the fact that this was always going to be Roman Reigns’ night. And so it proved. The main event was not exactly scintillating but it wasn’t awful. I’d argue the problems with it were less the lack of a babyface reaction to poor Roman but the general booking. Still, HHH knows best doesn’t he. Just like he did in previous Mania stinkers against Jericho and Lesnar.
Still I found that match more enjoyable that the “co main event” Hell in a Cell Match between The Undertaker and Shane McMahon. There is no doubting the “guts” of Shane. I wouldn’t have taken that fall of the top of the cell for all the money in the world. But by the same token the fact that it was Shane in there sums up what is (or perhaps hopefully was) wrong with the WWE booking. Imagine what rub or boost a regular, full-time performer could have got from being allowed to perform a stunt like that in a competitive situation with Taker at Mania. Even allowing for the fact I realise that I am in the minority with my opinion of Shane as a character, that’s not the way to do business. Especially when the supposed consequences of the storyline became irrelevant 24 hours later.
The undercard had some good and some bad. Whilst not a patch on the Sasha/Bayley Brooklyn NXT match (seriously, my favourite “WWE” match in a decade) the three way women’s match between Charlotte, Sasha and Becky Lynch was probably the finest match ever seen from the women on a main roster show. It wasn’t flawless, but it was very good and justified the prominence that it had been given. That it was able to follow, without any hindrance, the Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose Streetfight might have been a surprise…if that match hadn’t been a bit of a bust. Doing nothing to take advantage of the match stipulation it was just a decent, almost normal match that Lesnar won far too easily. Few expected Ambrose to go over (well, at least I didn’t) but many would have hoped it might have gone closer than it did.
The Intercontinental Title Ladder Match was the usual insane stunt fest and kicked the show off proper on a great note. There were some sick moves and at one point I thought both Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens were dead. The result didn’t make much sense (and made even less 24 hours later) but this is WrestleMania. It’s not about making sense within long-term storylines. Hence the hottest act in the company right now, The New Day, jobbing to the useless (as a quartet) League of Nations just so legends Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels and Mick Foley could turn up to batter those nasty heels. Feelgood moment it may have been, but once again it did none of the regulars any favours.
And on a similar note we’ll leave the Rock’s decimation of the Wyatt’s alone.
The Andre The Giant Battle Royale was pure filler but at least a new guy, in the form of Baron Corbin, won it. The other match on the main show was a decent enough, but anti-climatic, Chris Jericho and AJ Styles match. The feud had peaked the previous month and even if you are being kind and saying that the WWE’s injury problems meant a shuffling of the deck this surely wasn’t the best option available. Still there’s nothing like teaching fans that the WWE are superior to TNA and Japan by letting the part-timer go over on the big new signing is there?
The three, yes three, kick off matches are also included. All are passable, none are particularly memorable. Kalisto and Ryback have a spirited tussle over the United States Title, a ten woman tag match is a cut above some of the nonsense that we’ve seen in the name of “divas” at WrestleMania over the years and The Uso’s against the Dudley Boys is a disappointing affair that’s over in around five minutes.
The package also includes the full Hall of Fame ceremony. It’s the usual mix of warranted inductees, those on the borderline and those who really don’t need to be there. As ever it drags out far too long but it worth it for the Freebirds and Sting inductions. Ironically two acts who had by far their biggest success and moments outside of the WWE bubble.
The one solitary BluRay exclusive is a pointless three minute promo video where various WWE superstars are ordered to put over how tough Shane McMahon is. But I think my feelings are clear on that one already.
There is also a Ultimate Collector’s Edition DVD set, limited to just 1,000 copies. As well as the event itself you get an exculsive Sting art card (signed by the man himself), one of the Shane McMahon dollar bills that dropped from the ceiling during his entrance for the Hell In A Cell Match and, most impressively, a piece of the actual WrestleMania 32 ring canvas. Which certainly counts as a cool piece of merchandise. This can be found at and would make a wonderful keepsake of the event. More details, and how to order, can be found here.
Ultimately, I enjoyed WrestleMania 32. It made little sense as an event in the ongoing world of WWE (too many odd match decisions, too much emphasis on the old-timers and very little that happened that had lasting consequences for the future) but there’s no denying that as a night of wrestling / sports entertainment action it delivered plenty of action for your money. It’s certainly not destined to be remembered as one of the best ever, but neither does it deserve to be shoved anywhere near the bottom of the list.
Photos courtesy: Fetch, Fremantle Media
Format reviewed: blu-ray
Thank you to our partners, WWEDVD.co.uk and Fetch for providing our review copy of the WrestleMania 32 DVD, which is available on DVD & Blu-Ray in the UK on Monday June 6, 2016. You can buy your copy from WWEDVD.co.uk now by clicking here