Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

WWE: The History of the WWE Hardcore Championship: 24/7 Blu-ray Movie Review

In the PG era, this would get an X. OK, maybe a hard R. Or a PG-13. Eh, it's all fake, anyway.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 6, 2016

Yeah, wrestling is fun, even today's PG-era that tries to have its cake and eat it, too, going all edgy here and there, but not really, while doing whatever its takes to maintain a, mostly, family friendly atmosphere. WWE could use a little rough-around-the-edges goodness, to lose a little of its glitz and glamour and polish and hearken back to the good old days of hardcore Superstars like Mick Foley, Raven, and Rob Van Dam who let it all hang out in the name of no-holds-barred gladiatorial sports entertainment. The odd chair to the back and crash through a table is fine, but there's no denying the sheer entertainment value of the hardcore, nearly anything goes style where backstage brawls are common and everything from trash cans to beer kegs become weapons. The History of the WWE Hardcore Championship: 24/7 looks back on the glory days of WWE's (WWF's) hardcore era and, specifically, the various clashes and confrontations for the ultra-cool and seemingly thrown-together "Hardcore Title" that was once one of the most coveted prizes in sports entertainment and, from a fan perspective, certainly the most purely entertaining on the line on any given night.

This is hardcore...?

The program is hosted by a trio of hardcore legends: Mick Foley, the first Hardcore champion; Rob Van Dam, the last; and Raven, the most prolific. It's a strong cross section of talent that sits down for brief, but important and entertaining, reflections on the Hardcore era, spelling out key details and setting the stage for the match, or matches, to come in the program. They weave together a well spoken tale of the broader WWE landscape, Hardcore's history and evolution in it, and their own, one another's, and other wrestlers' contributions in the era. It's very well done, smart in its simplicity and, for wrestling fans, a real treat to sit down with three of the greats. Fans familiar with the basic WWE match compilation-plus know what to expect here. The vast majority of the runtime is devoted to matches, but even in the brief interludes the participants do more than set the stage, sharing a personal and knowledgeable history of the defining time of their lives.

As primarily a match compilation piece, viewers will spend most of their time watching hardcore matches (and a key moment to begin), not learning about them in interviews or narrative storylines. Note that, for whatever reason, individual matches are listed under "chapters" on disc one and "extras" on disc two (come on, WWE, consistency!). The following matches comprise the program:

Disc One:

• The Birth of the Hardcore Championship: Vince McMahon presents Mankind with the Hardcore title. RAW -- November 2, 1998.
• Hardcore Match: Mankind vs. Ken Shamrock. RAW -- November 9, 1998.
• Ladder Match: Mankind vs. Big Boss Man. RAW -- November 30, 1998.
• Hardcore Match: Al Snow vs. Road Dogg. RAW -- January 4, 1999.
• Hardcore Match: Al Snow vs. Bob Holly. St. Valentine's Day Massacre -- February 14, 1999.
• Hardcore Match: Bob Holly vs. Steve Blackman. RAW -- February 15, 1999.
• Hardcore Match: Bob Holly vs. Bart Gunn. RAW -- February 22, 1999.
• Hardcore Match: Bog Boss Man vs. Al Snow. SummerSlam -- August 22, 1999.
• Hardcore Match: Al Snow vs. Steve Blackman. Jakked -- October 9, 1999.
• Hardcore Match: Test vs. Gangrel. SmackDown -- January 27, 2000.
• Hardcore Match: Test vs. Crash Holly. SmackDown -- February 24, 2000.
• Hardcore Match: Crash Holly vs. Tazz. SmackDown -- March 2, 2000.
• Hardcore Match: Crash vs. Mean Street Posse. RAW -- March 13, 2000.
• Hardcore Match: Crash vs. The Headbangers. SmackDown -- March 16, 2000.
• Hardcore Match: Hardcore Holly vs. Crash. RAW -- April 3, 2000.
• Triple Threat Match: Tazz vs. Perry Saturn vs. Crash. RAW -- April 17, 2000.
• Hardcore Match: Crash vs. Mean Street Posse. SmackDown -- April 20, 2000.
• Hardcore Match: Crash vs. Dean Malenko. SmackDown -- May 4, 2000.
• Hardcore Match: Crash vs. Gerald Brisco. SmackDown -- May 18, 2000.
• Hardcore Match: Steve Blackman vs. X-Pac. SmackDown -- July 27, 2000.
• Hardcore Match: Shane McMahon vs. Steve Blackman. SummerSlam -- August 27, 2000.
• Triple Threat Match: Steve Blackman vs. Edge vs. Christian. RAW -- October 2, 2000.
• Triple Threat Match: Steve Blackman vs. Raven vs. Hardcore Holly. RAW -- December 25, 2000.
• Hardcore Match: Raven vs. Crash. RAW -- January 29, 2001.
• Hardcore Match: Raven vs. Big Show. No Way Out -- February 25, 2001.
• Triple Threat Match: Big Show vs. The Rock vs. Kurt Angle. RAW -- February 26, 2001.
• Hardcore Match: Chris Jericho vs. Raven. SmackDown -- March 22, 2001.
• Triple Threat Match: Raven vs. Kane vs. Big Show. WrestleMania X-7 -- April 1, 2001.
• Hardcore Match: Kane vs. Steven Richards. RAW -- April 16, 2001.
• Hardcore Match: Kane vs. Rhyno. SmackDown -- April 19, 2001.
• Hardcore Match: Raven vs. Rhyno. Backlash -- April 29, 2001.
• Hardcore Match: Big Show vs. Chris Jericho. RAW -- May 28, 2001.

Disc Two:

• Hardcore Match: Test vs. Rhyno. RAW -- June 21, 2001.
• Hardcore Match: Jeff Hardy vs. Mike Awesome. SmackDown -- July 12, 2001.
• Hardcore Match: Jeff Hardy vs. Rob Van Dam. Invasion -- July 22, 2001.
• Hardcore Match: Rob Van Dam vs. Tajiri. RAW -- July 30, 2001.
• Hardcore Match: Rob Van Dam vs. Kurt Angle. RAW -- September 10, 2001.
• Hardcore Match: The Rock vs. Rob Van Dam. SmackDown -- October 25, 2001.
• Hardcore Match: Rob Van Dam vs. Undertaker. SmackDown -- December 9, 2001.
• Hardcore Match: Undertaker vs. Jeff Hardy. RAW -- December 17, 2001.
• Hardcore Match: Undertaker vs. Tajiri. SmackDown -- December 27, 2001.
• Hardcore Match: Undertaker vs. Maven. SmackDown -- February 5, 2002.
• Hardcore Match: Bubba Ray Dudley vs. Maven. RAW -- April 15, 2002.
• Hardcore Match: Booker T vs. Steven Richards. Insurrextion -- May 4, 2002.
• Hardcore Match: Steven Richards vs. Terri. RAW -- May 27, 2002.
• Hardcore Match: Bradshaw vs. Jeff Hardy. RAW -- July 29, 2002.
• Hardcore Match: Tommy Dreamer vs. Bradshaw. RAW -- August 5, 2002.
• Intercontinental vs. Hardcore Championship Match: Rob Van Dam vs. Tommy Dreamer. RAW -- August 26, 2002.

WWE: The History of the WWE Hardcore Championship: 24/7 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The History of the WWE Hardcore Championship: 24/7's 1080i transfer is typical of the basic WWE Blu-ray image. Newly created discussions with Foley, Van Dam, and Raven are presented in 1.78:1 and were shot on digital. The image is clean but effectively detailed. Facial hair, aging lines, and clothing textures are nicely defined. The environment around them is rather spartan, so it's in the participants where most of the detail is to be found. Colors are fine, too, though there's certainly not much in the bleak environment and mostly dark clothing. The matches are presented in their original 4x3 SD TV aspect ratio. The SD video source material looks fine, all things considered, upscaled to 1080i. The score reflects only the newly minted digital footage since the older matches are necessarily presented as-is.

WWE: The History of the WWE Hardcore Championship: 24/7 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The History of the WWE Hardcore Championship: 24/7 doesn't really lay the audio smack down with its rudimentary Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. There's not much to this one. Music plays underneath character introductions in the new HD segments, with little range or aggression and certainly no serious back channel push. Otherwise, it's mostly the guys' dialogue, which is is satisfyingly detailed and center positioned. The older SD segments are expectedly bland, with little detail in crowd noise or in-ring and various backstage crashes, smacks, and slams. Ringside commentary is suitably defined and positioned in the front-center portion of the stage.

WWE: The History of the WWE Hardcore Championship: 24/7 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The History of the WWE Hardcore Championship: 24/7 contains a few additional matches on disc two under the "Blu-ray Exclusives" tab. All extras are in match 4x3 1080i upscale with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio.

• Hardcore Match: Al Snow vs. Bog Boss Man. SmackDown -- August 26, 1999.
• Hardcore Match: Crash vs. Mark Henry. RAW -- February 28, 2000.
• Six-Man Match: Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Crash Holly vs. Hardcore Holly vs. Tazz vs. Perry Saturn. Backlash -- April 30, 2000.
• Hardcore Match: Steve Blackman vs. Test. RAW -- August 21, 2000.
• Hardcore Invitational: Steve Blackman vs. Crash vs. Test vs. Perry Saturn vs. Sho Funaki vs. Al Snow. Unforgiven -- September 24, 2000.
• Hardcore Match: Rob Van Dam vs. Kurt Angle. RAW -- August 13, 2001.
• Hardcore Match: Chris Jericho vs. Rob Van Dam. Unforgiven -- September 23, 2001.
• Hardcore Match: Undertaker vs. Big Show. SmackDown -- January 3, 2002.
• Hardcore Match: Goldust vs. Rob Van Dam. SmackDown -- March 7, 2002.
• Hardcore Match: Bubba Ray Dudley vs. Booker T. RAW -- April 8, 2002.

WWE: The History of the WWE Hardcore Championship: 24/7 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's so much flash in the modern PG-fest WWE landscape that a return of the Hardcore title would be most welcome. Wrestlers like Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt seem ideally fitted to battle for it. But until then, and for an always-fun flashback to better days, this is a superb compilation packed with A-list hardcore matches and some interesting insight from a trio of hardcore legends. WWE Home Video's Blu-ray release of The History of the WWE Hardcore Championship: 24/7 features adequate video and audio. A few bonus matches exclusive to Blu-ray are included. Highly recommended.