Title: Best Of Attitude Era Royal Rumble Matches
Producer: WWE
Running Time: 304 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: January 23 2023
(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)
This is our DVD review for Best Of Attitude Era Royal Rumble Matches. And it’s the latest DVD review for our site. So, let’s see what we think of Best Of Attitude Era Royal Rumble Matches!
Description Of Best Of Attitude Era Royal Rumble Matches
The Attitude Era remains my favourite era in wrestling history. So many incredible moments happened during the Attitude years that it’s a true golden age to look back on. For the Royal Rumble match, however, the quality was all over the shop. And this DVD makes that clear as we gets the highs and lows of Rumble bouts.
We start with the 1997 Rumble match, a career-making performance for Stone Cold Steve Austin. The match doesn’t have a lot going for it early on. But Austin as #5 carries the whole thing, and the final third is almost an accidental “best of the Attitude Era”. There’s Stone Cold, Bret Hart, Mankind, The Undertaker, the future Kane, and also a young Rock. Add to that a memorable finish, and we have a Rumble that isn’t amongst the best but is well worth watching.
Stone Cold Dominance
Then, we come to the 1998 Rumble bout. Whereas Austin was a heel upper mid-carder in ’97, by ’98 he was the hottest star in the WWF. So much so that literally nobody else could have won this Rumble except for him. And he comes through by eliminating Rock to win his second straight Rumble encounter. The downside here is the large number of entrants who had no chance of even teasing a victory. We do, however, get an iconic Rumble moment as Mick Foley enters thrice with each of his alter egos.
Onto the most divisive Rumble match of them all now, the 1999 edition. The rivalry between Austin and Vince McMahon is the dominant story to the point that almost everything and everyone else is inconsequential. Now, the Austin-McMahon portions of the match are very entertaining and lean into their iconic feud. But the dearth of legit contenders, along with genuine moments where the match essentially stops, doesn’t help things. Still, it’s an unforgettable, if controversial, version that encapsulates Russo-era Attitude within one hour.
The Great One
Next up is the 2000 Rumble, the only one on this DVD without Stone Cold due to his neck injury. By now, The Rock was the top dog in the company, and this is his Rumble match to shine. However, not unlike 1998, it takes a good while for things to get interesting. It’s a far more traditional Rumble than ’99, but the MSG crowd is silent for large chunks of the encounter. Look out for some fun moments involving performers that would never win the thing, but could still create some magic.
Last but not least, we have a true classic with the 2001 Rumble. This is one of the all-time great Rumble bouts; it might even be the very best. That’s because it has everything: genuine star power, surprise returns, consequential storyline developments, random segments, amazing action, and a hot crowd. This is the embodiment of what makes for a legendary Royal Rumble match. And in that respect, it’s the perfect way for this set to close. I will say, though, that I would consider the 2002 Rumble to be within the Attitude years. And therefore that’s a notable omission.
Summary Of Best Of Attitude Era Royal Rumble Matches
Despite the lack of the 2002 match, this is a thoroughly entertaining retrospective on Royal Rumble matches from Attitude. Sometimes, it’s as good as the WWF/WWE gets; other times, some flaws of Attitude are undeniable. But as a complete package, this is a lot of fun, especially for anyone who has never watched these five Rumbles before.
