WWE - Raw 10th Anniversary (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
How does it compare to similar films?	Not applicable

Advantages:	An insight into how wrestling has evolved in the ten years since the first RAW was broadcast
Disadvantages:	No Stone Cold Steve Austin (in person)

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

WWE RAW - Tenth Anniversary

Rating: 7/10
Starring: The SuperStars, Staff, and Owners of World Wrestling Entertainment
Extras: A number of memorable moments from past RAWs, The (full) Main Event from the very first RAW, RAW's Greatest Match (full), Interviews made during the RAW Tenth Anniversary, The Making Of "RAW On The Roof", Behind the Scenes at the RAW Tenth Anniversary, Awards not presented on the night ("Now That's A Lasting Impression" and "Lasting Impression", and the RAW Tenth Anniversary Recap on SmackDown! (16/1/03)

January 11th 1993 marked the first episode of RAW, for the next ten years, it continued to grow strong, the RAW Tenth Anniversary (from "The World" in Times Square, New York, on January 13th 2003) is a celebration of course of the matches, antics, and other moments that happened on RAW.

The RAW Tenth Anniversary comprises of a number of awards given to SuperStars for categories decided by The Academy of Wrestling Arts and Sciences, the results decided by the fans through a number of surveys and polls on WWE.com.

The first award to be given is for the "RAW Diva of the Decade", with the Heart-Break-Kid (HBK) Shawn Michaels presenting it, the nominees being Sable (the first WWE Diva to be featured in Playboy), Trish Stratus, Lita, Chyna (a very strong bodybuilder who turned to wrestling - incidentally also featured in Playboy).

During the show, a countdown of the ten greatest moments in the history of RAW features, which considering the tremendous number of things that have happened over the years, must have been a very hard feat for the fans to decide on, but that is what was asked of them, so that is what they did.

The second award to be given is the "Don't Try This At Home" award, presented by Shane McMahon (Son of the Owner and Chairman of World Wrestling Entertainment, Vincent Kennedy McMahon), the nominees being Big Show, for the 'Chokeslam From Hell' in which he chokeslammed The Undertaker through the ring, Jeff Hardy, for his contribution in TLC (Tables, Ladders & Chairs) 2002, The Dudley Boys for the powerbombing of Mae Young (a very old former women's wrestler) through a table, and Kurt Angle for a moonsault off a steel-cage back down into the ring below (which incidentally he only hit the ring mat, as Chris Benoit, the superstar he was attempting to moonsault onto, rolled out of the way).

Along with Jerry "The King" Lawler and "Good Ol' J.R" Jim Ross (The two people who commentated on RAW for most of the time it has been on air - and incidentally still do), the tenth anniversary is presented by Jonathon Coachman, Stacy Keibler, Lillian Garcia, "The Fink" Howard Finkel, and Terri Runnels.

During their brief appearances to introduce some of the greatest moments in RAW history, Jonathon Coachman and Stacy Keibler introduce a clip showing a number of past superstars who as Stacy puts it "looked good on paper", and in doing so, she mentions "a dentist with bad teeth", and this is of course referring to "Isaac Yankem DDS", and this is why at the mention of it many fans correctly shout out "Kane" as it is the gimmick that the wrestler now currently known as Kane had before.

The third award is presented by the "Five-Time WCW Champion" Booker T (WCW of course being World Championship Wrestling, a wrestling company that the World Wrestling Federation - as WWE was known at that time - was in competition with) is entitled "Tell Me I Did Not Just See That". The nominees are Mick Foley for his manifestations as Mankind, Dude Love, and Cactus Jack, Eric Bischoff for "The Night Hell Froze Over", hugging Vince McMahon (as Bischoff was the man in charge of WCW before it was bought by WWE), Bart Gunn for the "Brawl For All" (a match in which it was not boxing or wrestling, just 'Brawl For All'), Kane for "Firestarter" (when Kane 'set' a man on fire), Stone Cold Steve Austin for "Zamboni 3:16" (in which he drove into the arena on a 'Zamboni' and attacked Vince McMahon).

The next presentation is by "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair, but it is not an award, but rather to introduce a video clip remembering past superstars that had passed away, those superstars being "Andre The Giant" Andre Roussimoff, Joey Marella, "Flying" Brian Pillman, "Ravishing" Rick Rude, Owen Hart, Gorilla Monsoon, Yokozuna, and "The Britishs Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith.

The fourth award is presented by "Y2J" Chris Jericho, and is called "Gimme The Mic" for the most entertaining supersar on the microphone, the nominess are Stone Cold Steve Austin, Degeneration-X, Kurt Angle, Mick Foley, Mr. (Vince) McMahon, and The Rock.

The fifth award is presented by Michael Cole and Tazz (a former wrestler), the commentators of the WWE's Thursday-night show "SmackDown!" (which incidentally is actually recorded on a Tuesday, and I once saw live when they came over to the UK recently), and is entitled "Shut Up And Kiss Me" (or "On-Screen Romances"), the nominees being Mark Henry (a former World's Strongeste Man turned Wrestler) and Mae Young, Chyna and Eddie Guerrero, Lita and Matt Hardy (who were incicdentally going out in real-life until recently when Lita was found to be cheating on Matt with fellow superstar Edge), Mr. McMahon and William Regal (no, not a gay storyline, thtat one was done by Billy and Chuck, but because of when William Regal joined the "Vince McMahon Kiss My Ass Club" in which he literally DID kiss his ass in order to 'keep his job'), Stephanie McMahon (the daughter of Vince and at the time of the RAW Tenth Anniversary, the "General Manager" of SmackDown!) and Triple H (who incidentally are actually married in real-life now).

The sixth award is presented by "Mean" Gene Okerlund (at the time of the RAW Tenth Anniversary, the presenter of WWRE's magazine programme Confidential, and former WCWW announcer/commentator) and Pat Patterson (A WWE Hall Of Fame inductee, and formerly one of Vincec McMahon's "stooges"), and is entitled "Network Difficulties" (for the things that gave the network executives the most trouble), the nominees being Mae Young for "giving birth to a hand", Stone Cold Steve Austin for a "Stone Cold Stunner" on Santa Claus, 3 Minute Warning (a tag-team who obeyed every command by Eric Bischoff, and was comprised of Rosey and Jamal - although Jamal is no longer in WWE but is known as "Ekmo" in NWA-TNA, a rival wrestling promotiom) for the attack on the two women participating in "HLA - Hot Lesbian Action", and Brian Pillman for having a gun.

The seventh award is the "RAW SuperStar of the Decade" and is presented by Brock Lesnar (a superstar at the time, but who left to try to have a career in the NFL, something which he has failed in doing), the nominees being Mick Foley, Bret "The Hitman Hart, "The Game" Triple H, "The Rattlesnake" Stone Cold Steve Austin, and "The Phenom" The Undertaker.

The eighth award to be presented is the "Greatest Match" in the history of RAW, something which would in my opinion have been very hard to decide on given that there have been thousands of matches over the years (but of course, it was what the fans were asked to do, and it was what the fans did), the nominees being TLC (Tables, Ladders & Chairs) from 2002, Triple H Vs. CaCtus Jack from 1997, Undertaker Vs. Jeff Hardy from 2002, and Stone Cold Steve Austin Vs. Kane from 1998.

The next thing to be introduced is one of the moments in the countdown to the greatest moment in RAW history is the Owen Hart Tribute Show from May 24th 1999 (it being a tribute show because Owen Hart had died in a tragic accident the previous night at "Over The Edge"), something in which the very real sentiments of the superstars, and tributes by them were shown.

The next award to be presented is for the greatest moment in RAW history, of course as there has been a countdown throughout the show, there are no other nominees like there was with the other awards, so I won't spoil it by revealing what it was. After this however, Edge invites the "Family of the WWE" (superstars and staff etc.) onto the stage and they all clap for the people they believe to be the "real superstars" - the fans, thanking them for watching for all these years, saying that if it wasn't for the fans, they would not be there today, the show then ending.

One of the awards not presented on the actual night was "Now That's An Entrance" for the best entrance, the nominees being Goldust, Chris Jericho, Degeneration-X, The Brood, and The Undertaker.

The other award not prersented on the actual night was "Lasting Impressions" for best imitations, the nominees being The Rock for his many imitations, Shawn Michaels for "HB Undertaker", Vince McMahon for "The Nature Boss, Vince McFlair", and Degeneration-X for "The Nation of Degeneration".

Of course, people who aren't fans of wrestling are going to have no interest whatsoever, but it is a must-have for any die-hard WWE fan, for them to wallow in nostalgia, saying "I remember watching that!", and it is of course the reason I bought it myself (although admittedly I didn't become a fan until a few years later, and even then I actually started with WCW before moving on to the WWF, now known as WWE).

Hidden Extras (I only just found these!):

View Photo Gallery of past 'Not So Good' SuperStars
Go into 'Chapters', highlight 'Looked good on paper' and press Left

Play WWE RAW Intro (2003)
Highlight 'Extras' and press Left

Play Original Monday Night Raw Intro
Go into 'RAW Retro Moments', highlight 'Monday Night Raw Debut' and press Right.

Play Attitude Era Monday Night Raw Intro
Go into 'RAW Retro Moments', highlight 'Vince "Bret Screwed Bret"' and press Left.

Play Another Monday Night Raw Intro
Go into 'Interviews', highlight 'Shawn Michaels' and press Left

Play Raw on the Roof Intro
Go into 'Extras', highlight 'The Making of Raw on the roof', and press Left