WWE: The True Story of the Royal Rumble Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

WWE: The True Story of the Royal Rumble Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 25, 2017

It seems like every year the WWE is promising "the biggest event EVER" when selling its top-billed events. That's certainly no different for 2017, with the company's "Remember the Rumble" campaign promoting the yearly Royal Ruble Pay-Per-View with several enticing matches and a Rumble roster for the ages. The stakes: a trip to the main event at WrestleMania. The way there: to be the last man standing in the ring, besting 29 other SuperStars for the right to battle for the title. It's a star-studded and action-packed staple of the yearly WWE programming schedule and, outside of Mania, almost always the most intriguing and entertaining of the year. The True Story of Royal Rumble takes a nostalgic look back at the event's history, juxtaposed with its most recent iteration and with an eye towards the future. It's hardly the definitive end-all, be-all of Royal Rumble history -- at just over an hour, how could it be? -- but it makes for an excellent overview of the storied history of one of the company's most cherished and respected annual events.

With the 2016 Royal Rumble in the spotlight, the film takes a look at Rumble day, giving viewers a mouth-watering glimpse at, but not full-on access to, the nuts-and-bolts of putting the arena together for the match, including hanging the WrestleMania sign above the ring (one of these days, WWE needs to release a lengthy full-on "fly on the wall" disc). It explores the history of the event, including Pat Patterson's influences and his shaping of the event as it's come to be known today. It keys in on the Rumble's basic structure all the way back to the debut event in Ontario, tweaks and evolutions, and how the 2016 Rumble changed up the formula. The film further delves into key matches and audience reaction, the art of the surprise entrant, in-ring (and out of the ring, as the case may be) flubs, injuries (including one to a high profile noncombatant), and so on and so forth. It's hardly groundbreaking material -- it's more a Cliffs Notes version than it is a full-blown history text-turned-film -- but The True Story of Royal Rumble puts it all together in an entertaining, quickly moving, and well structured hour-plus of WWE goodness. The film follows the tried-and-true WWE Home Video structure. Classic moments are intertwined with newly minted interviews with current and past superstars. Production is fine and the narrative carries program. Even as it's all rather basic, fans should find this very satisfying for its effective and entertaining conveyance of the Rumble basics, both past and present alike.

The True Story of Royal Rumble's main menu offers selections for both "Special Features" and "Matches" (and "Blu Ray Exclusives" on disc two). Below is a list of included matches which appear under the "Matches" tab by disc, which include several Royal Rumble matches themselves as well as individual matches within the Rumble Pay-Per-View. "Special Features" are listed in the appropriate field below.

Disc One:

• 1988 Royal Rumble Match.
• Tag Team Match: The Rockers vs. The Orient Express. Royal Rumble -- January 19, 1991.
• WWE Championship Match: Ultimate Warrior vs. Sgt. Slaughter. Royal Rumble -- January 19, 1991.
• 1994 Royal Rumble Match.
• WWE Championship Match: Sycho Kid vs. Shawn Michaels. Royal Rumble -- January 19, 1997.
• Singles Match: Tazz vs. Kurt Angle. Royal Rumble -- January 23, 2000.

Disc Two:

• 2001 Royal Rumble Match.
• 2007 Royal Rumble Match.
• WWE Championship Match: CM Punk vs. The Rock. Royal Rumble -- January 27, 2013.
• WWE Divas Championship Match: Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch. Royal Rumble. January 24, 2016.

WWE: The True Story of the Royal Rumble Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The True Story of Royal Rumble's 1080i transfer is cut from the same cloth WWE Home Video uses for practically every Blu-ray release. The 1.78:1-framed image intermixes new HD content with old SD footage, which, for the main program, has been reformatted to fill all of the 1.78:1 display (but legacy standalone content, i.e. full matches outside the main program, retains its correct aspect ratio). Detail is fine in the new segments, whether static interviews or raw backstage footage, showing all the technical complexities prior to set completion or various little pre-event tidbits, like AJ Styles' secret arrival to the arena. Basic skin and clothing details are fine in the interviews. Quality tends to vary a bit; even the newer material is thrown together from various sources with different lighting and environmental conditions that influence the image's textural integrity. Even interviews exhibit various degrees of quality, particularly evident in flesh tones, which range from neutral to deep red. Light background noise and compression artifacts are apparent, but otherwise the image is good-to-go.

WWE: The True Story of the Royal Rumble Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The True Story of Royal Rumble features the usual WWE Home Video soundtrack option: a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation. It's fine for the program's requirements. Narration and interview segments, both in a stage setting and "live" as it were, backstage or on the road, come through fine, with natural center placement. Music stretches off to the sides and into the rears and also enjoys well defined clarity. Music isn't always the top prioritized element, sometimes giving way to dialogue. A few little bits of ambient crowd details and other small effects occasionally filter on in, but the track is generally very straightforward. Few, if any, will notice or likely care that the studio has again not included a lossless option.

WWE: The True Story of the Royal Rumble Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The True Story of Royal Rumble contains extras on both Blu-ray discs. Disc one contains "deleted scenes" by another name while disc two offers three additional matches and an interview.

Disc One:

Disc One contains six extra anecdotal moments that are essentially deleted scenes from the main program (1080i, 13:53 total runtime). Included are Devil Hair, Pamela Anderson, Mae Young, Ric Flair's Return, Batista Zipper, and Women in the Rumble.

Disc Two:

• Winner Gets #30; Loser Gets #1: Duke Droese vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Royal Rumble Pre Show -- January 1996.
• Winner Is #1 Contender: 15-Man Royal Rumble Match. SmackDown -- January 29, 2004.
• Winner Is #1 Contender: RAW Royal Rumble. RAW -- January 31, 2011.
• Interview: Booker T Interview with Shawn Michaels. RAW Kickoff Show -- January 2015.

WWE: The True Story of the Royal Rumble Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The True Story of Royal Rumble is a quality release that's certainly not the definitive version of the true story, but it covers enough ground -- juxtaposing current events with past excitement and stories -- that it brings together an insightful and entertaining look into one of the WWE's biggest annual events. The discs feature a few extra matches, an interview, and six deleted scenes on top of the hour-long program. Frankly, it's enormously disappointing how few matches and extras are included. WWE can, often does, pack these releases to the gils with matches, and with such a rich Rumble history in the archives it's a disservice to fans, the release, and the Rumble to skimp so badly on extra content. The Rumble events do tend to run long, but that's what an extra disc or two are for. The main program is very good and worth the price of admission; WWE just dropped the ball on the support structure. Video and audio presentations are par for the course for WWE Home Video. Recommend, primarily for the main program.