CM Punk has finally gotten his own WWE DVD (or in this case Blu-Ray) and it’s a pretty good one. As just noted this is the Blu-ray version that I got so it has some more shit on it. My first annoyance with this doesn’t really have anything to do with the product it’s just that it’s called ‘best in the world’ I never appreciated Punk stealing that from Bryan Danielson. But onward to the feature. This like most of the WWE releases has a documentary, and it’s a good one. It’s a little longer than most clocking in at just under two hours. I heard a lot of rumblings when this was being made, about how Punk was going to shake things up and make this his own thing how he wanted it to be made. A big issue I heard was that he didn’t want the ‘generic’ WWE music and how he had enlisted some of his friends in bands to do the music, the result is kind of hilarious. I like CM Punk and I like punk music, but CM does not have the best taste in Punk. A lot of this documentary seems like a long music video, or that it was directed by the guy from Rancid… (After making that comment Lars Frederiksen from Rancid appeared on screen). If you can get past the cheesiness of the thing, which I can, it’s pretty good. The documentary takes you through Punk’s childhood, how he got into wrestling, it goes pretty in-depth about his travels through the indie feds, so much so that it was pretty surprising to me. It goes through his entire time at the WWE and tells the story about his whole contract dispute. A nice and really surprising thing was who they had as interviews on this, there’s a fair amount of indie guys (and indie guys that are now in or were in WWE. It had the likes of Bryan Danielson (as Daniel Bryan), Joey Mercury, Chris Hero (surprisingly as Chris Hero), Ace steel (I didn’t expect this at all), and Colt Cabana. It would have been weird to have this made without Colt but I was still surprised they had him in here, especially with the amount that he was in here, Colt is all over this documentary, and if you’re wondering he’s listed as Colt Cabana not Scotty Goldman. Paul Heyman is also all over this thing, besides Colt, Paul totally makes this documentary. Another surprising thing on this was the footage, as I said it went into surprising detail about his indie career this includes IWA and ROH footage which was a nice surprise. Overall it’s not the best WWE documentary but I’d put it in the top half of the best ones so far.
The features, the features are pretty cool, they’re basically deleted scenes and they have a TON of them, there’s like an extra two hours of these (Blu-ray version). Some of these include stories of where the CM Punk name comes from, his skull fracture, his OVW feud with Brent Albright, CM Punk at the Cubs game, playing video games with Kofi, being an extra at WrestleMania. He also talks about his style; he mentions Kenta and using his finisher (he however seems to conveniently leave out all the rest of Kenta’s movies that he uses). It’s got a bunch more than this too.
The Matches:
They don’t have the matches under a separate thing that kind of annoys me but they’re all here, I think I could have picked some better matches in some places but it’s got some real good ones. Most of the matches have a little promo package leading up to the match too which I like. Another thing I really like is they have the match footage on here from when they cut to commercial on the show. It’s just a nice little touch, kind of makes me glad I own this.
vs. Brent Albright - When I first heard this match was on here I was really bummed that it wasn’t their strap match, I’ve seen that one a few times and it’s top notch, but you know what? This is a damn good match. (Though I think they still should have put the strap match on. This one drags due to an apparent injury for a time) It’s the closest thing there is to an indie match on here (I mean it pretty much is) and it really has that feel. You see some things in here that Punk still has yet to use in WWE, and Brent Albright is great in the ring too, it’s a damn shame WWE totally wasted him.
Vs. Justin Credible - A pretty short match but it was Punk’s WWE debut, so I guess for an opener like it wasn’t bad. Short but good.
Vs. John Morrison - Punk and Morrison wrestled a bunch, so much so that I got sick of seeing the match, but after some time I’m ready to watch again and this may be the best of their matches. It’s a decent length which is really surprising for WWE TV.
Money in the Bank - Going into this match I’d have said almost half the people involved were a complete waste, but everybody really carried their weight in here, even the dudes that I cannot stand. I guess it’s a real testament to WrestleMania bringing out the best in people. Needless to say at this point that this is a very entertaining match.
CM Punk & Kofi Kingston vs. Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase - This match is good, but just that, it’s good but nothing amazing. All four of these guys put on a solid but besides the fact that it was more gold for Punk I’m not really sure why it was included.
Vs. William Regal - Regal is just an amazing guy in the ring; Punk is in good hands with this match. This is one of the few examples in this package of two guys that can wrestle wrestling. One of the top three matches on here.
Vs. Jeff Hardy - Jeff Hardy is fucking horrible, but this feud was great and that was all because of Punk. CM Punk coming out dressed up as Jeff was brilliant. It’s more or less you’re typical mess of a Jeff Hardy match, though a little better than most. Punk did his best but there’s only so much he had to work with. They could have put something better in this match’s place for sure.
vs. Rey Mysterio - Mysterio’s best days are way behind him, they have been for a very long time but Punk is one of the not even a handful of guys that can still pull a good match out of him. The match was almost ended early due to a possible injury but they fought through it. Not their best match but it was alright, especially considering I’m sure both guys were hurting during it.
Vs. John Cena - The last time I saw a crowd this one sided was RVD vs. John Cena for the title. This is ALMOST as crazy as that was. Honestly I had this match more built up in my head than it turned out to be. It was still a really good match but it was no five star epic. Both guys put a lot into it and we got a great WWE Title match out of it.
Vs. Chris Jericho - Punk can pull a decent match out of most people, but man it really shows when he’s got someone in the ring that can go. Jericho had been off for a long time before this run so he wasn’t in his prime but he can still get it done. I guess it helps that this was a WrestleMania, everyone brings their A game there. This is a great fucking match. One of the best three on this.
Vs. Daniel Bryan - As I was just saying with the Chris Jericho match, it makes all the difference in the world when Punk is in the ring with someone that can go. With this match CM Punk is in there with the real ‘Best in the World’ Bryan Danielson. The two top guys in the WWE in the ring giving the real match that they’d teased a few time, it’s great. Not the best match these two have ever had together but the best they’ve had in the WWE, and probably the best match the WWE has had in a long time. It’s the best match in this package.
Vs. Rey Mysterio - This match is much better than their Hair vs. Joining the SeS match. It’s not the best match but pretty entertaining.
Matches:
CM Punk vs. Brent Albright (Finals in the OVW World Heavyweight Championship Tournament/OVW)
CM Punk vs. Justin Credible (ECW)
CM Punk vs. John Morrison (Last Chance for the ECW Championship/ECW)
CM Punk vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. John Morrison vs. Carlito vs. Chris Jericho vs. MVP vs. Mr. Kennedy (Money in the Bank)
CM Punk & Kofi Kingston vs. Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase
CM Punk vs. William Regal (Intercontinental Title Match/No Disqualification)
CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy (World Heavyweight Title Match/Tables Ladders and Chairs/Summer slam)
CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio (Rey Joins SES vs. Punk’s Hair/Over The Limit)
CM Punk vs. John Cena (WWE Title Match/Money in the Bank)
CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho (WWE Title Match/WrestleMania XXVIII)
CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan (WWE Title Match/Over the Limit)
CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio (Finals of the Intercontinental Championship Tournament/Armageddon)
Get WWE: CM Punk – Best in the World from Amazon HERE
Filed under: Movies/Shows, Reviews, Sports | Tagged: CM Punk, review, Reviews, wrestling, WWE | Leave a Comment »
