7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.4 |
A look back at the history of the WWE's "King of the Ring" event, hosted by Booker T.
Starring: Booker Huffman, William Moody, Steve Austin (IV), Dwayne Johnson, Mick FoleySport | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080i
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1, 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1, 1.33:1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
None
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Peasants have become noble men, aristocrats have become champions, and champions have been immortalized.
Foxboro, Massachusetts may be best known far and wide as the home of the New England Patriots, but in wrestling circles, the snowy small New
England town has another claim to fame. On July 8, 1985 at Sullivan Stadium, the then-World Wrestling Federation debuted what would become a
fan-favorite staple of wrestling events, the "King of the Ring" tournament. This competition of strength, guile, determination, heart, and
pre-determined winners and losers was meant to crown the best of the best the wrestling world had to offer; names like Randy Savage, Brothers Owen
and Bret Hart,
Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Ken Shamrock, Edge, Brock Lesnar, and Sheamus would, during its reign as one of sports entertainment's most
prestigious events, be crowned its champion. Within eight years time, following the inaugural 1985 crowning of Don Muraco as the first "King," the
King of the Ring event would blossom into one of the most hotly-anticipated events in sports entertainment and its crowning of a champion one of the
yearly highlights of the professional wrestling world. The Best of King of the Ring unravels a "noble scroll" of WWE and King of the Ring
history, the two-disc set spanning a quarter-century of wrestling greatness, beginning with a legendary 1993 Pay-Per-View match between Bret "Hit
Man" Hart and Bam Bam Bigelow, culminating with "The Great White" Sheamus' coronation following his defeat of John Morrison at the November 29,
2010 King of the Ring Pay-Per-View.
The Celtic King.
The Best of King of the Ring is another steady WWE Blu-ray release that contains a mixture of both SD and HD footage, though certainly the former dominates in this instance, with only the final two matches of disc two appearing in high definition. The SD matches maintain their original television aspect ratios, with static purple curtains serving as the "black bars" framing the material on 1.78:1 displays. The SD footage, as is usually the case with WWE home video releases, holds up very well. It struggles through some fuzziness, aliasing, jagged edges, and the like, but wrestler facial detail holds its own, colors are suitably bright and natural, and the material never seems any worse for wear. The HD footage looks just fine, too. The predominant high definition imagery comes in the form of Booker T's monologues in between some of the matches. There, colors are strong, dominated by his red cape. Fine detail is solid, whether on Booker's face, the texture of his throne, or the construction of the columns around him. Clarity is equally strong, and the image appears, while in motion, stable and relatively free of excess banding, noise, and other image-deteriorating eyesores. The two HD matches look great; detail is strong on the fighters and good clarity and a general sharpness allow even distant audience members to maintain crisp definition. Colors are great, whether Sheamus' red hair and pale white body or the colors of the mat, ropes, or wrestler trunks. This release isn't a showstopper, but it's steady and representative of the quality work that finds its way into the average WWE release.
The Best of King of the Ring's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is adequate. It's certainly clear, but it sometimes lacks energy and authenticity. Booker T's monologues are the strongest element; his nasally, scratchy voice is well-defined and remains focused straight up the middle. Ringside commentary is fine, plays at the appropriate volume, and only rarely gets lost in the shuffle of surrounding crowd and match effects. The sound of yelling and cheering fans remains firmly up the middle early on -- in fact, the earlier matches are terribly limited in range -- but as the material inches closer to 2010, the effects spread out, with crowd noise drifting to the front side and, eventually, back speakers. The various stomping and shaking and hitting and slapping sound effects of the matches enjoy suitable clarity as well. This one's very basic; the track doesn't carry the material but rather supports it, and given the range in age and the absence of a lossless track, WWE's Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation represents probably about the best case audio scenario for most, if not all, of these matches.
The Best of King of the Ring contains the following full-length "Blu-ray exclusive" matches billed as "special features" on disc two:
As with most WWE Blu-ray releases, The Best of King of the Ring is a package wrestling fans won't want to be without. It's a basic compilation feature, meaning that those with a collection of at least half a dozen WWE discs or more will probably find some repeats in the master match list, but much of the content is at least new to Blu-ray. Fans will enjoy more than a 15-year-span's worth of King of the Ring excellence (take out a few years in the mid-2000s), and can now relive their favorite Superstar's -- from Bret Hart to Sheamus -- coronations on Blu-ray. WWE's Blu-ray release of Best of King of the Ring offers up no surprises in terms of content. The video and audio qualities are around WWE release-average -- expect most of them to come in at the 3.0-3.5 range -- and the set includes several additional matches billed as extras. Recommended.
2011
2011
2011
1983-2010
2011
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2011
2011
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1999
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2012
2-Disc Collector's Edition
2011
Collector's Edition
2003
Wrestlemania 28
2012
2010
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2013