TNA Wrestling-Best of the Bloodiest Brawls:Scars & Stitches (2009)

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General		Extras
Category	Wrestling	Trailer-TNA Wrestling: Second 2 None - TNA's Toughest Tag Teams Trailer-TNA Wrestling: Slammiversary 2009 Trailer-TNA Wrestling: Lockdown 2009 Trailer-TNA Wrestling: Jeff Jarrett, King Of The Mountain
Rating
Year Of Production	2009
Running Time	184:38
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	TNA Entertainment Madman Entertainment	Starring	Jeff Jarrett Sting Rhino AJ Styles Chris Harris Scott Steiner James Storm Christopher Daniels Shawn Hernandez Christian Cage Samoa Joe Kurt Angle
Case	Amaray-Transparent-S/C-Dual
RPI	?	Music	None Given

    This compilation of nine matches date from 2005 to 2008 and features names familiar to most current wrestling fans. A common theme amongst all of them is the copious amount of blood being spilt and the amount of (flimsy) furniture smashed. For sure these matches are stage managed and rehearsed to a fine detail with the outcomes pre-arranged, but it still amazes that the wrestlers can repeatedly take the amount of punishment that is dished out and come back for more. If you can look past the corny acting and blind referees then you can't help but be impressed by the show these big guys can put on.

    The matches are linked together by voiceovers and wrestlers talking about the spilling of blood, injuries, and their reactions to being hurt and dishing it out. The wrestlers' comments generally all seems sincere - if a bit repetitive after a while, whereas the voiceover is really over the top.

    The matches in order are:

    Jeff Jarrett vs. "The War Machine" Rhino: World title match between TNA founder Jarrett and crowd favourite Rhino from the December 2005 Turning Point PPV. Most of the action takes place outside of the hexagon with many tables and chairs being smashed. As usual the referee seems oblivious to the "cheating" going on by the "heel" Jarrett, and the frequent outside help coming into play. Things really hot up when the referee appears to be knocked out and the eventual winner is no real surprise.

    Sting, AJ Styles, The Truth and Rhino vs. Jeff Jarrett, Chris Harris, Scott Steiner and James Storm: From the Lethal Lockdown of April 2006 we next have Sting’s Warriors taking on Jarrett’s Army. In an initial five minute segment we have AJ and Harris slugging it out with the remaining six wrestlers entering the cage individually, in order of allegiance, after two minute intervals. As you can imagine the mayhem increases with the entry of each wrestler. Once all eight are in the hexagon the cage ceiling is lowered and it's on for young and old as weapons attached to the roof come into play.

    AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels vs. The Latin American Xchange: The next matchup involves Daniels and Styles vs LAX in a six sides of steel cage matchup from Bound For Glory 2006. A nice touch in this bout is a fork being used to make some etchings on Homicide's (one half of LAX) forehead.

    "The War Machine" Rhino vs "The Instant Classic" Christian Cage: Next we have Christian Cage versus Rhino in a "Six Sides of Steel Barbed Wire" match from Impact in November 2006. Plenty of claret flowing from Cage's head in this matchup.

    Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe: From Genesis in November of 2006 we next have Samoa Joe versus Kurt Angle. An entertaining battle with minimal gimmicks - just one on one brutality.

    "The Icon" Sting vs. Abyss: Abyss and Sting from the Destination X 2007 Last Rites matchup is the next offering on show. Abyss is a truly awesome piece of work and the blood soon flows, however I thought the use of props later in the matchup became comical rather than exciting.

    "Cowboy" James Storm vs. "Wildcat" Chris Harris: From the Sacrifice 2007 PPV we now have Cowboy James Storm and The Wildcat Chris Harris in a "Texas death match". Lots of b**** slappin' outside the hexagon start proceedings however the "real" heavy hitting soon proceeds throughout the arena and eventually into the ring. Plenty of blood is on show here before the obligatory cardboard tables and tinfoil rubbish bins come into play. The cleaners really had their work cut out for them after this event as the hexagon ended up looking like an abattoir floor. Probably the most entertaining battle on this DVD despite the use of props.

    Abyss vs. Tomko: The giant Abyss features next in a no disqualification fight against Tomko from the Slammiversary 2007 PPV. Plenty of OH&S issues in this matchup with hundreds of thumbtacks being used to add more holes to the Abyss frame. Some seriously awesome stunts from these big guys conclude the show.

    Abyss vs. Judas Mesias: Abyss is back again in the "Barbed Wire Massacre" from the February 2008 Against All Odds PPV. The barbed wire ensures plenty of blood is spilt in what I thought was a lesser entry in the compilation.

     I've been a fan of professional wresting since Mario Milano was doing his stuff at the local City Hall and can understand the excitement generated from these huge guys seeming to belt the bejesus out of each other. The adrenaline rush of being ringside is something that I fondly remember even thirty years later. The introduction of ever more bizarre gimmicks and storylines lost me in the 1990's, and offerings like this unfortunately don't really rekindle my interest. That being said you can't help but marvel at the athleticism of these huge guys and the entertainment they provide if you're that way inclined. This DVD would be a solid addition to a fan of current professional wrestling. Be aware however that some of these bouts feature in other compilations so best check first.

Video

    Video was presented in a pan and scan 1.33:1 aspect ratio which immediately lowered it's rating. Framing of the action indicates that the original would have been in widescreen 1.78:1 so I can only imagine why they cropped it for this offering. Although nearly all of the action happens in the middle of the frame the scope of action has been compromised and this detracts from the overall experience. Apart from this the overall video quality is good throughout, however there were mpeg compression artefacts and some noise evident - especially in the crowd shots. Colours were oddly muted and I wondered whether this was due to the arena atmosphere being affected by smoke and haze from numerous flashpots and pyrotechnics. Given the DVD title it's probably just as well that the blood looked real and was the right shade of red.

    The transfer is presented in 1.33:1 aspect ratio and is not 16x9 enhanced.

    The picture detail was reasonably sharp throughout the well lit areas however noticeably soft and noisy in audience scenes.

    There were no significant video artefacts.

    This is a dual layer disc but I could not detect the layer change using my equipment.
    

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The only audio track is Dolby Digital 2.0 at 224Kb/s and there are no subtitles. With surround processing engaged there is absolutely no output from the front left and right speakers, rear speakers or subwoofer. All audio therefore emanates from the centre unless you engage stereo mode. The audio quality itself is adequate with clear dialogue and no problems with audio synchronisation. A surround mix would greatly enhance the DVD experience in an offering like this.

    Surround channels were not used at all.

    The subwoofer was not used at all.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The menu featured static video with background audio.

Trailer - TNA Wrestling: Second 2 None - TNA's Toughest Tag Teams (0:25)

    Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 at 224Kbps with 1.33:1 source video stretched to 1.78:1.

Trailer -TNA Wrestling: Slammiversary 2009 (0:38)

    Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 at 224Kbps with 1.33:1 source video stretched to 1.78:1.

Trailer -TNA Wrestling: Lockdown 2009 (0:30)

    Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 at 224Kbps with 1.33:1 source video stretched to 1.78:1.

Trailer - TNA Wrestling: Jeff Jarrett, King Of The Mountain (0:38)

    Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 at 224Kbps with 1.33:1 source video stretched to 1.78:1.

    This release appears identical to the region 1 offering apart from using the PAL format.

    Fans of modern professional wrestling will probably enjoy this compilation as it packs in over three hours of mayhem with quality bouts. As the cover promises there is plenty of blood spilt and no doubt the doctor would have worked overtime to patch up the damage. Make no mistake that these guys are great athletes and demand respect for what they can do and for the amount of punishment they can take. Although the DVD is marred by a pan and scan video transfer and uninspiring audio mix it probably still presents reasonable value for most who would be interested.

    The video quality is fair.

    The audio quality is good.

    Extras are trailers only.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall