Following on from The Attitude Era Volume 1, the WWE takes us back to the “most famous era” in wrestling once again with Volume 2. As Michael Cole says in his introduction link to this set, whilst the first chapter included a documentary on the phenomenon that was the Attitude Era, this collection is a series of matches and vignettes, interspersed by occasional stories from some of the players integral to that period.
The journey we take brings us from the early days as Sunny describes the increased showing of flesh up to the famous mixed tag team match that headlined RAW in July 2000 as The Rock and Lita took on Triple H and Trish Stratus. Between there is a whole host of the good, the bad and the downright ugly.
After a Slammy Awards Swimsuit competition involving Sunny, The Funkettes and Sable (most notable for HHH’s wisecracks at the expense of Sunny and the fact that Ken Shamrock seems to be having a whale of a time in the audience) we move to an Owen Hart versus Shawn Michaels singles match. As becomes a pattern across the set as a whole, on paper it’s a match you’d look forward to but the execution (it’s a TV match with a scrappy finish) means that whilst entertaining, it’s not “must see” stuff. Other examples of this on disc 1 include the New Age Outlaws against Chainsaw Charlie and Cactus Jack, Mankind vs. Kane and Stone Cold vs. Ken Shamrock. All are watchable matches/angles, but won’t quite please fans with the in-ring action.
The highlights on Disc 1 include the fantastic Stone Cold vs. Vince McMahon match/angle from Raw, the fun (if ludicrous) and infamous Val Venis/Kaientai “choppy, choppy your pee pee” angle and an entertaining match between The Rock & X-Pac. X-Pac talks about his name changes, Jerry Lawler talks about “puppies” and “D-X Takes New York” sees the boys walking around NYC getting women to flash their boobs and HHH putting on racist accents. In another new comment segment Billy Gunn implies he beat up a fan in a shopping mall but does have the humility to admit he doesn’t consider himself a superstar of the era, just a guy lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Long-term fans who scoffed at Jim Ross’ “best pure athlete” pushing of Gunn might well agree.
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Disc 2 features quite a bit of the Godfather, with some interesting notes from Charles Wright on the genesis of the character…and a pointless bit about him being a Country music fan. Like on disc one, the idea of Edge vs. HHH, Stone Cold vs. Kane, The Hardy Boys vs. Edge & Christian and Rock vs. The Undertaker in a Casket match are better on paper than in execution but they are still entertaining enough. If nothing else, the white-hot crowds are something to behold given the sometimes sterile atmosphere we often can get on Raw these days. Edge’s reminiscences of the Brood’s Bloodbath are fun too. Quite why we end with an Intercontinental Title match pitting Jeff Jarrett against Test is anybody’s guess, mind you.
Disc 3 features more tales of WWE talent beating up people, this time courtesy of Ron Simmons. I don’t doubt he’s had a few scraps in his time, but to imply it was almost every night seems to be taking one’s gimmick a little too serious. It’s a bit strange as well that the opening segment with Simmons talking about the APA is followed by a match with a pre-APA Acolytes, but their Tag Team Title bout with Kane and X-Pac is fun and riotous and is crowned post-match by Kane speaking un-aided for the first ever time. A lengthy section on Mark Henry’s “Sexual Chocolate” gimmick follows which you’ll either find hilarious or horrific. Henry pops up to tell us the gimmick was his idea, although I presume the affair with Mae Young wasn’t. It’s disconcerting that Henry’s sexual therapy sessions are followed by a switch to concentrating on, you know, wrestling. Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho and Taz have a spirited three-way before a singles match between Angle and Jericho lights things up. And whilst Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko’s “Heat” Clash isn’t up there with their ECW clashes, it’s still fun to see. From there it’s back to the women, as The Rock & Lita team up to battle Angle and Stephanie McMahon and whilst it’s something and nothing from a match point of view the whole storyline extras are entertaining. As fun as Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson’s run as McMahon’s Stooges was, why their Evening Gown match from King Of The Ring 2000 makes it onto this set is beyond me. It’s not even fun. It’s just excruciating. Things wind up with the famous RAW main event pitting HHH and Trish against The Rock and Lita. For all it’s fame as one of the rare occasions the women “main event” Raw, the match is a brief affair, although entertaining.
The Attitude Era was not about “wrestling” per se, so it is understandable that this three disc collection is a little short on “must see” matches. Indeed some of the match choices don’t belong on a set proclaiming to be a “best of” anything. It’s a little light on the biggest stars of the era but it’s also nice that it doesn’t focus too much on the likes of Austin, The Rock and Mick Foley and lets some of the unsung names of the era get some of the limelight. As a journey of what made the Attitude Era stand out, this is an entertaining trip down memory lane. There are big name matches that aired on free TV, acres of female flesh, irreverent comedy vignettes (not all quite hit the mark, of course), mid-carders who have distinctive gimmicks and feuds, blood and hardcore action and even the occasional sprinkling of good old-fashioned wrestling action.
Thank you to our partners, WWEDVD.co.uk and Fetch.fm for providing our copy of The Attitude Era Volume 2.The Attitude Era Volume 2 is available DVD & Blu-Ray from Monday, November 3rd 2014 in the UK and Tuesday, November 4th in the US. You can pre-order your copy from WWEDVD.co.uk now by clicking here.
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