This “25th Anniversary” version of the previously released set brings all the original action from the first release to DVD, adding the previously only available on Blu-ray extras as a fourth disc.
Dawn of the Attitude Era | Disc One
An hour long sit-down talk-a-long hosted by Renee Young sees Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, Ron Simmons, The Godfather and Kane discuss 1997 and its influence on the business as a whole. It’s generally a candid look at the ins and out’s of a formative year in the history of the company. All are engaging talkers and if there’s sometimes the feeling that they are parroting the company line slightly there’s also the underlying vibe that this was a time when “performers” could go out there and, within reason, do it their way. And that, all seem to concur, was a better time for them. Meaning that the more straight-jacketed modern times aren’t always conducive to the free-spirited. Kane does note though that things are necessarily different these days when a publically traded company has other voices to listen to.
It’s far from “essential” in that sense but it’s an enjoyable run through exactly what was going on in the minds of the performers in 1997. The other three discs bring together some of the match and promo highlights of the year, in chronological order until we get to the extras on Disc 4 that was previously only on the bluray version of this set.
Dawn of the Attitude Era | Disc Two
Sid against Shawn Michaels from the 1997 Royal Rumble is hampered by HBK going down with a heavy dose of the flu but it’s still one of the better Sid matches you’ll ever see by far. The huge crowd on hand at a stadium/dome show is almost passé these days but in 1997 it was quite the spectacle. Going from that to Bret Hart and Mankind fighting on the short lived Shotgun Saturday night in a New York club highlights that. It’s not an all-time classic but the fact that the two live up to the surroundings by just walloping each other makes for entertaining viewing.
The European Championship Tournament Final between Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith is a very good one and if Bret Hart and Sid in a Steel Cage for the WWE Title from Monday Night Raw can’t live up to the action in that one it does offer plenty of drama and the early seeds of a Bret Hart heel turn (in America only, of course).
Owen Hart’s Slammy awards acceptance speech is good fun before we get to one of the classic matches of all time, Steve Austin Vs Bret Hart from WrestleMania XIII. So much has been written about this one that there’s no point me adding to it other than to say if you haven’t seen this for some reason it’s a match you HAVE to watch. The two clash again in a Streetfight on Raw before we get the series of Jim Ross interviewing Mick Foley. As Mick says, the real-life story of his wrestling journey is far more compelling than the story one Mankind was given and this proves a turning point in his career as well. His losing effort to Hunter Hearst Helmsley in the King of the Ring final follows, one year after HHH should have won it (but didn’t thank to him being the only one Vince could punish after the “Curtain Call” incident).
We close the disc with Bret Hart’s “anti-American” triade from Raw. It’s often forgotten just how groundbreaking that storyline was, at least in terms of Bret being a clear heel in America and the babyface almost everywhere else.
Dawn of the Attitude Era | Disc Three
kicks off with Owen Hart & The British Bulldog taking on Steve Austin and the one and only Dude Love for the Tag Team Titles. It’s hardly a technical classic but it’s a whole lot of fun, Similarly the Flag Match between the Hart Foundation against Austin, Dude & The Undertaker isn’t going to be on a list of anyone’s favourite ever matches but the chaos and heat is certainly an indication of where the WWE was getting hot in 1997.
Shawn Michaels against The Undertaker from Ground Zero is here and whilst it’s only the set-up for their Hell in a Cell classic it’s actually nice to see it here rather than that follow up that’s been on almost everything else. The main event of the first WWE UK PPV follows as Shawn takes on Davey Boy for the European Title. I remember being sat in the Birmingham NEC that night and telling my mates as it went on that Shawn was winning this one. Not from any “smart” they are building up for a rematch angle, just the ebb and flow of the match live. It’s still a sterling piece of work, however, you judge Michael’s motives for apparently getting the result changed.
The night of Austin’s first stunner on Vince is included which is always fun and rather than the Hell in a Cell match we get Shawn & Triple H from the subsequent Raw bragging about the result.
Kane against Mankind from Survivor Series 1997 is probably here for who is in it rather than it being any kind of lost classic. Naturally, THAT main event from the same show is included. I guess a look at 1997 can’t really show it. We round things off with a Rock/Austin match from December’s In Your House, Sable in a potato sack from Raw and that infamous “non” match between Shawn and Triple H for the European Championship on Raw.
Dawn of the Attitude Era | Disc Four
As said, the fourth disc sees the extras that were only previously available on the original bluray set make their debut on DVD. A Goldust against The Sultan match from Shotgun Saturday Night is a curiosity which is here mainly because Marlena flashes The Sultan (we see it from behind). The WrestleMania 13 main event between Sid and The Undertaker isn’t exactly very good but things do pick up with a pair of Foley/HHH clashes, the Steel Cage match from SummerSlam and a Raw Streetfight. The entire thing ends with a Stone Cold/Rock confrontation from a November Raw.
In my eyes, 1997 was always a vastly underrated year in WWE History. Things were definitely picking up from the doldrums days of just a few years earlier and, for the most part, the wild excesses of the Attitude Era had yet to bed in properly meaning that whilst the “risqué” stuff was creeping in there was still a lot of TOP quality wrestling on a show where it mattered. This collection does a fine job of bringing together a lot of the highlights of the year with the bonus of an entertaining sit-down panel on disc 1.
9 out of 10 | Thank you to our partners, WWEDVD.co.uk and Fetch.fm for providing our copy of Dawn Of The Attitude Era, which is available on DVD from 4th April 2022. You can buy your copies from WWEDVD.co.uk now by clicking here.