Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		2.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

WWE: Best Pay-Per-View Matches 2009-2010 Blu-ray Movie Review

Now you don't have to pay so much to view.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 23, 2012

The WWE's bread-and-butter is served during each and every Monday and Friday night telecast. Yet if RAW and SmackDown are the staples, the WWE's Pay-Per-View matches are the elegant feasts, the finest choice cuts reserved for special nights of high prices but exceptional quality, far superior in presentation to be sure and far more often than not much more satisfying than the basic spread offered up on a bi-weekly basis. Anyone hungry now? Hungry from some wrasslin'? For Best Pay-per-View Matches 2009-2010, the WWE has selected, no surprise, what it considered the best of the best of its Sunday night pay matches, a veritable smorgasbord of high-end delights stretching from the calendar year (or so) of April 2009 through March 2010. There are plenty of big name stars and lots of highly entertaining matches. Rey Mysterio puts his mask on the line and a classic bout that pitted a long and storied streak against a longer and perhaps even more storied career defines the year that was. Oh yeah, this is the modern WWE at its best.

Battling The Undertaker: career suicide?

This is a nuts-and-bolts basic compilation program that begins with April 2009's Backlash and ends with WrestleMania XXVI in March 2010. The program offers audiences 15 total matches (including one ladies match), a pretty well-rounded cross-section for what basically amounts to eleven months worth of high-dollar sports entertainment. Sure, the complete collection of every Pay-Per-View event would be nice -- wouldn't it be great to see each and every one of them on Blu-ray a month or so after the fact -- but for fans who simply want a recap of the year's best, this is it, and it costs around half of what just one of the twelve events featured would have cost on the night of its airing. That's a bargain. Better, there's very little fluff; what's here is made up of only a few brief Michael Cole and Matt Striker interludes. This is nonstop wrestling entertainment at its best, delivered in high definition across two discs for hours upon hours of nearly uninterrupted WWE greatness. Grab a few beers, snag a bag of chips, plop into the recliner, and enjoy these fantastic matches all over again or for the first time.

Disc One (total runtime 4:07:08):

• Last Man Standing Match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Edge vs. John Cena. Backlash -- April 26, 2009.
• ECW Championship Match: Christian vs. Jack Swagger. Backlash -- April 26, 2009.
• World Heavyweight Championship Match: Jeff Hardy vs. Edge. Judgment Day -- May 17, 2009.
• Michael Cole & Matt Striker: The announcers discuss Edge's return and Chris Jericho's feud with Rey Mysterio.
• Mask vs. Intercontinental Championship Match: Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho. The Bash -- June 28, 2009.
• 6-Pack Challenge for the United States Championship: Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. The Miz vs. Jack Swagger vs Carlito vs. Primo. Night of Champions -- July 26, 2009.
• Michael Cole & Matt Striker: Cole and Striker recap what's been seen in the set, discuss the WWE's dominance in the Pay-Per-View landscape, and look forward to a Triple Threat match between John Cena, Triple H, and Randy Orton.
• Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship: John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Randy Orton. Night of the Champions -- July 26, 2009.
• Intercontinental Championship Match: Dolph Ziggler vs. Rey Mysterio. SummerSlam -- August 23, 2009.
• Tables, Ladders & Chairs Match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk. SummerSlam -- August 29, 2009.
• Michael Cole & Matt Striker: The announcers discuss the Cena-Orton rivalry.
• "I Quit" Match for the WWE Championship: John Cena vs. Randy Orton. Breaking Point -- September 13, 2009.

Disc Two (total runtime 2:41:28):

• Michael Cole & Matt Striker: Discussing D-X vs. Legacy.
• Tag Team Hell in a Cell Match: D-Generation X vs. Legacy. Hell in a Cell -- October 4, 2009.
• RAW vs. SmackDown: Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Big Show, Mark Henry, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger & Kofi Kingston vs. Chris Jericho, Kane, Matt Hardy, Finlay, R-Truth, David Hart Smith & Tyson Kidd. Bragging Rights -- October 25, 2009.
• Traditional Survivor Series Match: The Miz, Jack Swagger, Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, & Dolph Ziggler vs. John Morrison, Evan Bourne, Matt Hardy, Finlay, & Shelton Benjamin. Survivor Series -- November 22, 2009.
• Ladder Match for the ECW Championship: Christian vs. Shelton Benjamin. WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs -- December 13, 2009.
• Women's Championship Match: Michelle McCool vs. Mickie James. Royal Rumble -- January 31, 2010.
• Michael Cole & Matt Striker: The announcers talk up WrestleMania.
• Streak vs. Career: Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels. WrestleMania XXVI -- March 28, 2010.

WWE: Best Pay-Per-View Matches 2009-2010 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Best Pay-per-View Matches 2009-2010 features a rather underwhelming Blu-ray presentation. The 1.78:1 material passes muster as a baseline acceptable, watchable image, but it's not as precise as the newer WWE material. The image is almost helplessly blocky and seems held together by just a drop of digital glue. The picture appears almost constantly unnaturally sharp and rough. Details suffice -- close-ups of faces are fine and graphics are mostly sharp if not a bit jagged around the edges -- but aren't rich or complex. Skin textures often look rather smooth, too, and the image is painfully flat. Colors are adequately vibrant, but the palette isn't naturally rich and lifelike like viewers might be accustomed to seeing on the newest WWE releases. Black levels are rather poor and noisy. Certainly, this isn't a videophile's transfer, but casual viewers more interested in the wrestling action than the exactness of the presentation should be able to look beyond the shortcomings and enjoy the basics.

WWE: Best Pay-Per-View Matches 2009-2010 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Best Pay-per-View Matches 2009-2010 features a largely satisfying Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. As most WWE-on-Blu-ray fans know, this is the norm for these releases, and most know what exactly what to expect. This one doesn't deviate from that norm. The announcer interludes aren't the pinnacle of dialogue clarity; there's a slight shallowness to such moments, but the delivery is adequately clear nonetheless. Music largely hovers around the front. There's more energy in the manufactured pre-match clips than there is during wrestler entrances or in-ring action. During matches, crowd reactions aren't so pronounced and spaced so as to place the listener in the audience; they're fairly front-end heavy but basically effective. In-ring dialogue and ringside commentary both are delivered as crisply and naturally as can be expected of a lossy soundtrack. Some of the heavy crashes, hits, and thuds deliver adequate heft. All in all, a fair track given the material.

WWE: Best Pay-Per-View Matches 2009-2010 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Best Pay-per-View Matches 2009-2010 contains an assortment of short superstar interviews on disc two as well as a few Blu-ray exclusive goodies. All footage is presented in high definition.

Disc Two Special Features:

• John Cena Discusses His Match From Backlash (1:06).
• Christian Discusses His Match From Backlash (0:50).
• Rey Mysterio Discusses His Match From The Bash (0:44).
• Kofi Kingston Discusses His Match From Night of Champions (0:39).
• Rey Mysterio Discusses His Match From SummerSlam (0:55).
• John Cena Discusses His Match From Breaking Point (1:32).
• Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase Discuss Their Match From Hell in a Cell (1:20).
• Matt Hardy Discusses His Match From Bragging Rights (0:58).
• The Miz Discusses His Match From Survivor Series (0:45).

Blu-ray Exclusive Content:

• Singapore Kane Match (9:32): Great Khali vs. Kane. Breaking Point -- September 13, 2009.
• Unified Tag Team Championship Match (19:43): Chris Jericho & Big Show vs. Batista & Rey Mysterio. Hell in a Cell -- October 4, 2009.
• Tables, Ladders & Chairs Match for the Unified Tag Team Championship (29:14): D-Generation X vs. Chris Jericho & Big Show. WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs -- December 13, 2009.
• World Heavyweight Championship Match (20:05): Rey Mysterio vs. Undertaker. Royal Rumble -- January 31, 2010.

WWE: Best Pay-Per-View Matches 2009-2010 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This one's pretty simple. "WWE." "Pay-Per-View." "Best-of." This is a classy, nearly no-frills release that delivers as promised, nothing more and certainly nothing less. It offers nearly a year's worth of expensive pay matches for the price that's probably 1/25 or less of what all of the events together would have cost "live." Sure it's not everything, but for the casual WWE fan who just wants to pop in a few good matches on a lonely afternoon or for the hardcore enthusiast who has to have them all, this is a must-own set. WWE's high definition release features the usual good picture and sound qualities. A few bonuses are included. Recommended.