This week thanks to the people at WAR I had the chance to sit down and review one of their latest video offerings that being Rumble all the way 02. Rumble all the way was one of WAR’s last events of 2002 and what a way it was to sign off.
The first thing I must comment on before we even get on to the event itself was the way the video was presented when it dropped through my letterbox. The video had one of the most professionally designed covers I had seen from a UK promotion and it was in a plastic box which I prefer to see as I think appearances count and it was better to come like this than in a cardboard sleeve. Well that my personal opinion anyway.
Now on to the video itself which I was looking forward to as I hadn’t seen a few of the wrestlers that were on the card before. The event was mainly run around an 8 man tournament featuring: The Judge, Louie Zerr, Tumido, Disco Danny, Spindoctor, Mage, Falcon and Thunder Cat. Added to this there was a special Christmas carnage match stated as the matches on the back of the box.
Again straight from the off the video was professionally edited and produced like the K-Star video I reviewed earlier this year. There were multiple cameras filming the event which helped you keep up with the action and the use of action replays stopped you from having to rewind moves all the time like the case is with many indy videos. I liked the use of titantrons during the wrestler entrances was a nice touch and again looked very professional.
I personally thought it was quite hard to get in to the event during the first few matches but as the event went on it constantly improved and the last few bouts were awesome. Two character wrestlers really caught my eye those being the Judge and Spindoctor I really liked their gimmicks and they performed well. My favourite wrestler on the night though was Tumido even if he did look and act like “The Amazing Red” we will let him off as some of his move combinations were spectacular and he give most guys in his weight division a good run for their money. I must also give a shout out to Falcon who was a very solid worker and worked his ass off in the ring.
The event as far as match order goes was structured well as they broke the rounds of the knock out contest with the Christmas Carnage match and a very hectic rumble. Although the tournament is suppose to be the standout event of the night the rumble and Christmas Carnage match do their best to upstage it so there seems to be very healthy competition going on right now in the WAR roster.
My favourite two matches of the event are the tournament final (I won’t tell you who its between as that would spoil it if you don’t already know) and the Christmas carnage match. The Christmas Carnage match is basically a 6 man hardcore match and is jam packed with action which never leaves you bored. The tournament final is the best one on one match of the night as the two wrestlers really worked well together.
The only match I have missed off talking about is the rumble which was fast paced to say the least with wrestlers coming in to the ring hot off the heels of the previous entrant. The way they were going at it, it looked as if everyone involved had drunk a can of red bull before they entered as it was a crazy match fuelled by music bellowing throughout the arena throughout the rumble like ECW use to do in some of its hardcore matches.
The only bad thing I have to say about this event really is that it’s only a 100 minutes long which is good for those who get bored easily but for wrestling fans like myself I would of preferred it to go longer although I am not sure how long the live event itself was. Like I say though that is the only bad thing I really have to say about the event so it is definitely worth the watch.
For more information on WAR and to buy the video go to: http://www.waruk.co.uk/
Until next time,
Adam Sibley