Posted in: DVD/Blu-ray, TV, WWE | Tagged: dvd, Review, Wrestlemania, wwe

Review: WWE – The Attitude Era WrestleMania Collection

Whether you like it or despise it, there's no arguing that the Attitude Era changed everything for the WWF and helped make WWE what it is today. Many fans, including myself, look back at this period in time with fond memories as they dumped the cartoon gimmicks, got intense and raunchy in the middle of a rating war against WCW, and set the standard for a lot of the wrestlers you see on TV today. But trying to go back and watch any clip of it these days is like trying to recall a memory while suffering from glaucoma, as the company has censored, edited, and whitewashed a lot of its own history of that time to come off in a better light. Especially being a publically-traded company that works with organizations like Susan G. Komen. It's near impossible to sit down and watch anything from that era seriously with half of it blurred and the other half removed.

Which is what brings us to WWE's latest DVD release as they have put out The Attitude Era WrestleMania Collection. A DVD set of four specific WrestleMania events as we get to look at #14-17 when the Attitude Era was on fire and looking to dominate the world. But how well does this collection hold up with modern WWE standards? We were sent a copy to sit down and watch.

First, let's start with the good news: These are the original productions from when they aired between 1998-2001. All four events are here in their (mostly) complete form, with very little editing and nothing censored. All the swearing is here, all the WWF logos can be seen, every Stone Cold finger, every insult, every piece of commentary, everyone's original entrance theme—it's all here. Every single annoying thing this company has ever done in the editing bay has almost entirely been undone. For better and worse, I might add, as you can even see the blunders like Hardcore Holly winning the Hardcore Championship at WrestleMania 2000 when he wasn't supposed to.

Now for the bad: It's not 100% perfect. Certain things have been removed. Most of them are so random you'd never notice without comparing it side-by-side to a YouTube clip. Like an errant camera shot that we're sure they didn't intend to use as the cameraman got into place has been changed to an overhead view of the crowd. We can forgive that. Or re-recording Howard Finkle's entrances we couldn't hear. If you're looking for Michael Cole's blunder of giving away the winner of WrestleMania VX's main event, that is not here. And for some reason, they have removed the Big Bossman's entrance from that same event. Which we're guessing was done because it included an in-event commercial for Crispy M&M's. Which we should point out, all of the ads have been removed, which is no great loss but it still feels weird. We should point out, they still keep in Bossman being hung by a noose in the Hell In A Cell, which seems like an odd choice to keep in over an M&M ad.

Another downside, which we're throwing in here because it feels necessary, is the fact that WrestleMania 18 isn't included. Yes, I know, there are purists out there that scream until they turn blue that the Attitude Era died at the end of WrestleMania X-7. But WrestleMania X-8 is the last one to have the WWF logo, and to be honest, I think it's a more fitting end to the Attitude Era to have it go out on The Rock vs. Hollywood Hogan. Also, it should be noted that Chris Benoit's matches are here, in full, with no warnings or labels like you see on the WWE Network and Peacock (depending on where you live). So if you're not a fan of his work after the murders, you'll be skipping those matches. Another oddity to this is that WrestleMania X-7 is spread across two discs. It's 2021 and they couldn't fit four hours onto a single DVD?

Overall, this is a pretty good DVD and if you're a pro-wrestling fan, this is one that you should get for the sheer fact that three out of four of these events are really awesome and you've now got them in their original form. (Let's be real, WrestleMania 2000 was a pointless event with two good matches.) The problems we have with it are minor, nothing to completely say it isn't worth your time. There's only one major drawback to all of it and that it's just a DVD, it's not a Blu-ray and they didn't go out of their way to clean up the content beyond the minor edits and leaving most of it alone. It would have been nicer to see these classics in proper HD. Beyond that, this is worth adding to the wrestling collection, if for anything to have nearly the original tapings before WWE makes some new goofy edit to their historical content like adding in canned cheers and boos.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!