With the advent of the WWE Network there was some thought that traditional DVD releases could become irrelevant given that virtually everything you might want to see is either on the Network or will be on it soon. Well although this will undoubtedly find it’s way online in the end, it is fair to say that unless you happened to be in the arena on one or more of these nights, you will not have seen the “action” on Raw – After The Show before. I happened to be at the post-WrestleMania XIX Raw which is included on here and that is the only part of the action I had ever seen before.
It’s a collection of skits, matches and general goofing around taken from after the feed to television on a Monday night has ended but when the wrestlers have given a little bonus to the fans in the arena.
Hosted by the delightful Renee Young (which is a good start in my book) we’re given a chronological series of moments (none with any commentary for obvious reasons) which range from magical to pointless and everything in between.
It starts in 1999 with Stone Cold’s “salute” to Shane McMahon and Triple H and ends with 2013’s post WrestleMania Raw and the mass singing of Fandango’s theme music.
The collection’s star is Stone Cold Steve Austin. More than anyone else he seems comfortable with ad-libbing and going with the flow. Whether it be antagonising other wrestlers, sharing jokes with Lilian Garcia (who is a great sport, it has to be said) or interacting with ringside fans, Austin is simply having a whale of a time and it comes across.
The Rock is not far behind, although his segments are a little more predictable. Sure, like Austin invariably Stunnering someone, Rock’s Rock Bottom’s can be seen coming a mile off, but that doesn’t spoil the fun of another genuinely charismatic superstar entertaining the fans like only he can. Perhaps the most bizarre segment involves the Rock along with the likes of Booker T, Goldust and Triple H in trying to get the Undertaker to do a “Taker-Rooni”. I won’t spoil the ending, but it is very amusing to see The Undertaker out of character yet still exuding the power of his status as the locker room general.
Other’s do get to shine, though. One of the funniest segments on the whole collection sees Rikishi and Too Cool dancing with The Dudley’s, Big Show and Chris Jericho. Long term ECW fans won’t be surprised to see just how well Buh-Buh can move but may well raise a titter at Y2J’s purposefully awful “dancing”. You even get the bizarre sight on a WWE release of Shawn Stasiak getting air-time in an altercation with The Rock and there’s celebrations of Ric Flair, Fabulous Moolah and John Cena to enjoy too.
By Disc 3, though, you are crying out for something a little bit different to shake up the viewing experience a bit and here we do get some “dark matches” to watch. Triple H teams up with Ric Flair to take on Shawn Michaels and Randy Orton in a fun, if not particularly fast-paced, tag match whilst Edge and John Cena once again show their chemistry in a singles match from 2006.
If you wanted to see another Triple H Vs Randy Orton clash there’s one of those here too, although they are pretty much on pilot mode here. Still that’s better than a John Cena Vs CM Punk match from just before Money In The Bank 2011 which is nothing but stalling and non-action before a ridiculous finish. The final six-man match pitting Orton, Show & Sheamus against Daniel Bryan, Kane and Cody Rhodes is much better, fought at a fast pace with some real effort.
Whilst watching this in one sitting would be WAY too much for this viewer given the similarity that starts to creep into this set, it is still a very entertaining collection for WWE fans who like to see their heroes slipping out of character a little bit and having some fun.
– By Matthew Roberts | @IWFICON
Thank you to our partners, WWEDVD.co.uk and Fetch.fm for providing our copy of WWE The Best of RAW: After The Show. WWE The Best of RAW: After The Show is available DVD and Blu-Ray from Monday 28th April. You can pre-order your copy from WWEDVD.co.uk now by clicking here.