PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
WWF/WWE-Wrestlemania: April 2, 2000 (2000)

WWF/WWE-Wrestlemania: April 2, 2000 (2000) (NTSC)

If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD
Released 21-Sep-2000
Cover Art

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Wrestling	Main Menu Audio & Animation Scene Selection Anim & Audio Featurette-Triangle Ladder Match Extras Featurette-Why A Triple Threat Match for the IC & Euro Champs Featurette-Backstage Axxess Featurette-The Road To Wrestlemania Featurette-Triple Call Featurette-Relive History
Rating
Year Of Production	2000
Running Time	366:53 (Case: 450)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (115:03) Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu	Cast & Crew
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	WWF Entertainment Eagle Entertainment	Starring	The Rock The Big Show Triple H Mick Foley Chris Jericho
Case	Amaray-Opaque	Starring	The Rock The Big Show Triple H Mick Foley Chris Jericho
RPI	$59.95	Music	Various

Video (NTSC)		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Full Frame	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	None
16x9 Enhancement	No
Video Format	480i (NTSC)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.33:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No	Miscellaneous
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

After viewing five WWF DVDs, and now a sixth, Wrestlemania XVI, I think I can say that I'm in a good position to be critical about the content of a wrestling DVD. Fortunately, no criticisms will be forthcoming for this DVD. For the first time in years (this may sound dumb to non-wrestling fans), I was completely enthralled with all of the matches presented, with the Triangle Ladder Match taking the cake as the best match I have ever seen! It's almost a little disappointing that I now have reviewed all of the WWF discs released in Australia - bring on more I say!

The matches featured are:

The Godfather & D'Lo Brown vs. Big Boss Man & Bull Buchanan: An entertaining match to start the biggest P.P.V. of the year, this was particularly interesting to me as D'Lo is one of my favourite wrestlers. This match does get you in the mood, but things just keep on getting better and better.

6-Person Tag Team Match: Too Cool & Chyna vs. Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko & Perry Saturn. It's always good to see Chyna beating up three guys, especially three wrestlers I don't really like. The match is entertaining and we do get to see "The Worm" from Scotty 2 Hotty (one half of Too Cool).

T & A with Trish Stratus vs. Al Snow & Steve Blackman: Al Snow basically carries this match due to his stupidity and some very idiotic comments made to his tag team partner, Steve Blackman, who has been turned into more of a comedic character leading up to this event.

Kane & Rikishi vs. X-Pac with Tori & Road Dogg: After a long feud between Kane and X-Pac, their day of reckoning has come (to make it sound epic). As far as I'm concerned, Rikishi and Road Dogg are just there to make up the numbers - this match is about the two former friends.

Cat Fight: The Kat with Mae Young vs. Terri with The Fabulous Moolah with Special Guest Referee Val Venis. According to the rules of this match, the first woman to throw the other out of the ring is the winner, however, that is simply the excuse to get two scantily dressed women into the ring. The action heats up after the match as The Kat proceeds to rip Terri's clothes off.

First Ever 13-Man Hardcore Battle Royal for the Hardcore Title!: The standard hardcore match equation applies to this battle royal - just multiply the number of men in the match by 6.5 and add in a fifteen minute time limit, multiple falls, and to finish throw in a heap more weapons which are a lot more varied than the hardcore norm. The result? An excellent match!

Triangle Ladder Match for the Tag Team Championship: Dudley Boyz (champions) vs. Hardy Boyz vs. Edge & Christian. What can I say? This is the BEST match I have ever seen! The ring performance by the competitors is top class, and is one of the reasons why the WWF's popularity has risen recently. Every man puts in the match of his life and it shows. This is how Wrestlemania XVI will be remembered.

First Ever Two-Fall Triple Threat Match for the Intercontinental and European Championships: Kurt Angle (double champion) vs. Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit. This match has a new stipulation; two titles are on the line, one after the other, with the Intercontinental title on the line first. A well-fought match, especially from Kurt Angle who was a relative newcomer in the WWF when he wrestled this P.P.V.

MAIN EVENT: First-Ever Fatal Four-Way Elimination Match for the WWF Championship: A McMahon in Every Corner. Triple H (champion, with Stephanie) vs. The Rock with Vince vs. Big Show with Shane vs. Mick Foley with Linda. This match took place during the whole "Most dysfunctional family on TV" saga. Each of the wrestlers has one member of the McMahon family in their respective corner. The match itself was very entertaining, apart from the questionable ending.

The bottom line: If there is only one WWF DVD you can buy, get this one. Even at the relatively high retail price of $59.95, it is worth it.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

When I first started watching the disc, I thought that the transfer was going to receive high marks, but several problems were exhibited soon thereafter.

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, it isn't 16x9 enhanced (as per usual). Your display device will need to be able to handle a NTSC signal for this disc to play properly.

Generally, the transfer is very sharp but it does have a little bit of a digital sheen about it, most likely due to the source materials used. During dark scenes (such as Kane's entrance), details are made out well.

Bright and vibrant are the words most appropriately used to describe colour in this instance. Greens, reds and skin tones are all accurately presented and perfectly saturated.

The main problem with this transfer is macro-blocking. I first noticed it in the second match of the Pay Per View, on Chyna for a split second. I didn't take too much notice of it, though, until the Triple Threat match where macro-blocking is absolutely shocking. I thought I was watching a VCD for a second! Yes, it was that bad. The only reason I could come up with to explain this artefact was poor mastering. At the start of this match, the DVD changes to a different title, due to the fact that this match has three separate commentary tracks by the wrestlers, and it is also the place where I suspect the layer change occurred. During the match there are several instances of severe blocking, made even more evident by freeze-framing at various points throughout this match.

Another problem is low-level noise, being consistently at the top of the image during some of the later matches. This became very annoying after I noticed it. It seems that this transfer was a little on the rushed side.

This disc is in the RSDL format with the layer change occurring just before the title change at 115:03. It is of minimal obtrusiveness since it is placed at the end of a scene.

*Video Ratings Summary*
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

After the 5.1 "experiment" that was Wrestlemania XV, we have a straight stereo mix this time, and it's a good one.

There are two audio tracks present, those being English and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 mixes encoded at 192kb/s. There are also three commentary tracks for one of the matches. I listened to the main English track and also the three commentaries.

The commentators' and wrestlers' dialogue was understandable at all times, except for some lines spoken by the wrestlers which were drowned out by the crowd.

One thing this track did have was atmosphere. It may have been the big event I was watching, but there seemed to be a lot more life in this track than on any other WWF DVD. This is one of the latest DVDs that the WWF have released, and it shows in this audio track. The hits felt harder and the themes played deeper: just good all-round stuff from the WWF.

*Audio Ratings Summary*
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Being the biggest P.P.V. the WWF has ever staged, this is the biggest DVD title they have ever released! The extras are spread over two discs. All the extras are presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, are not 16x9 enhanced and come with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound.

Disc 1:

Featurette - Triangle Ladder Match Extras

This is some behind-the-scenes footage of such things as the three teams having a group huddle, one of the Hardy Boyz having his foot being put back into place, and so forth. This is interesting because everyone is out of character and they mention what wrestling means to them and the fans instead of bogus storylines. This also has background information leading up to the match.

Featurette - Why A Triple Threat Match for the IC & Euro Champs

This is background information leading up to the match, mainly just showing why they doubled up the titles for the one match.

Featurette - Backstage Axxess

This is a featurette similar to Tech Talk on the Wrestlemania XV DVD, being interviews with the behind-the-scenes staff such as cameramen. This time, however, it has been extended. This is compulsory viewing for all WWF fans.

Featurette - The Road To Wrestlemania

Background information leading up to one of the biggest Main Events of all time, put together in the mandatory epic segment like only the WWF can do.

Alternate Commentaries - Triple Call

Chris Jericho
Kurt Angle
Chris Benoit

Most of the time these wrestler commentaries are fairly boring, but two out of the three this time are interesting to listen to. They comment over their triple threat match with the normal commentary being only lowered in volume, not removed entirely. Chris Jericho's commentary is the best on the disc, since he talks about aspects of the match such as unsuccessful moves and working with Chris Benoit in Japan, while Kevin Kelly (the interviewer) keeps trying to get him to talk about the plot and so on. It's funny listening as Kelly changes the subject and Jericho just changes it back, over and over. Kurt Angle (or Kurt Angel as Jericho calls him) has the next best commentary giving some insights into his wrestling background. Benoit (Jericho calls him Mr. Roboto) is just plain boring, although I must admit that I don't like him much.

Disc 2:

Relive History Documentary

Clocking in at just under three hours, this is a Wrestlemania by Wrestlemania look at all that has come before this one. Even though I have seen some of the older Wrestlemanias, I still enjoyed reminiscing about the times when Hulk Hogan was king.

The video is of equal or better quality than the main feature, give or take the odd artefact from some of the older clips presented - at least it doesn't suffer from macro-blocking. The audio quality is a little less atmospheric but does the needed job perfectly.

Since the documentary is so long, I can't exactly give much of a summary but instead I will give some of the key points of Wrestlemanias past:

Wrestlemania - The P.P.V. that started the legacy. It shows how popular the WWF was in the 80s. Guest stars such as Mohammed Ali and Cyndi Lauper made it the spectacle that it is today.

Wrestlemania II - Vince McMahon had an idea - to spread Wrestlemania over three cities and three stadiums. If it didn't work then the company would go under. Luckily, it worked out.

Wrestlemania III - The indoor attendance record was set at this event, something like ninety-three thousand people were in attendance. This is going to be broken at Wrestlemania XVII, though.

Wrestlemania VIII - This was the first Wrestlemania that featured The Undertaker. It signalled the start of the gimmick wrestler and shows how the crowd reacted so greatly to them.

R4 vs. R1

This disc is identical worldwide.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.