Review for WWE: Best of UK Classics

Wrestling has always been a big part of British culture. From the early Saturday mornings of Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks it was a ritual for many families and once WWE made its presence known in the late 80s/early 90s it exploded even more and with the upcoming Money in the Bank PPV coming in July this DVD looks at some of the best matches to have ever taken place in the UK.

Now, personally, this set feels a little weak with only ten matches if it had been set up as a Top Ten I could almost forgive it, but it isn't and if it had I would certainly have issues with some of the matches on here. Lack of any matches from the Battle Royal at the Albert Hall and with most other UK PPVs being ignored it makes me wonder what they were trying for with this set. It certainly has its highlights and definitely some matches I am glad to have watched again.

Hulk Hogan against Macho Man Randy Savage was an interesting match as it felt almost like an indy show and didn't feel as big as any of the other UK events. It is strange that when WWE had Hogan they didn't try a big event with him like they have done later. This was a great match between the two and they both work well together.

Bret Hit Man Hart against British Bulldog was an inevitable match to include and to be honest with the previous re-release of the Summerslam 1992 PPV it felt a little redundant. What I find fascinating when watching this match now is just how awful British Bulldog is throughout. It is not surprising that he never was elevated to a World Champion. However, this was quite an emotional match that is still great to watch.

The WWE Championship match at One Night Only 1997 between Bret 'Hit Man' Hart and The Undertaker certainly has its moments and certainly a great match between the two of them, but it was nothing truly memorable.

The Rebellion 2001 PPV match between WWE Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock was fine, though I would have preferred the Triple Threat from the UK No Mercy PPV. This really was just an excuse to include a match from these two and that is understandable. Both work great with each other it is just a shame this is during the Heel-turn Austin period which I did not care for.

It was also inevitable that they would include the Raw One Hour match between Shawn Michaels and John Cena. Now I am in two minds on this match. Much like when WWE include entire Royal Rumble matches or Iron Man matches in sets it means that there is a reduction in how many other matches they could include. Even by including this match I would have extended this set to either a 3-Disk or a Blu-ray set to offset this. However, it cannot be denied that this match was amazing and even went on to win PWI's Match of the Year. It is a great match and one for those who think John Cena can't wrestle should watch to prove them wrong.

Undertaker and Team Hell No against The Shield was a fair enough match for Raw and it is always great to see The Undertaker. This was not really anything special, but could have been a great PPV match. Also from Raw Cesaro against Sheamus had its moments and these are both great wrestlers, but this was not a match that I had any care to watch again.

A great match which I was so surprised by was AJ Styles against Jinder Mahal from Smackdown. I absolutely hated Mahal throughout his run and watching AJ Styles against him was just beautiful. A great match.

It is surprising that there are not more matches from NXT UK. Not including the amazing Five Star match between Walter (now Gunther) and Tyler Bate at NXT Takeover Cardiff is a crime. Instead they include his match against Ilja Dragunov which is still an amazing Five Star match but to be honest they could fill an entire disk of 5 Star matches from Gunther alone. However, they do include his match against Sheamus at Clash at the Castle 2022 for the Intercontinental Championship which was one of the best matches from that year and certainly one that I am happy to relive again.

WWE: Best of UK Classics is a set that could have been so much more. If they had included more matches, some vignettes such as the ones promoting the Clash in the Castle and maybe interviews with some of the NXT UK roster it might have been more worthy. Instead this felt like a collection of matches, some that definitely deserve the word 'Best' and some that are only here because of who is involved in the match. However, I did enjoy the majority of the set and if you want a quick introduction to how the UK fans are so loyal and enthusiastic during a WWE event then this is a set to relive some of that energy and hopefully after Money in the Bank we can see more of it.