Stone Cold Steve Austin DVD Review

According to the title of the DVD set, Steve Austin is the most popular superstar of all time. While some may debate that statement,one thing that can't be debated is that the WWE has produced many DVDs about his career. Including DVD releases that were just copies of old VHS tapes, this marks the seventh DVD released about him. However, this one is the largest set on the market and the only one available on Blu-ray. For those curious, the other six were 'Cause Stone Cold Said So, Austin 3:16, Hell Yeah, What?, The Stone Cold Truth, and The Legacy of Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Format of the DVD: The first disc of this set features a 150 minute documentary as well as 15 minutes of special features which include some stories that were left off the main program. Thankfully, there is a "play all" feature for those stories. Discs two and three contain a total of eleven matches. The fourth disc runs about 150 minutes and contains many his most famous promos and non-match moments (ex: Steve's driving of a Zamboni, beer truck, monster truck, and cement mixer are all on this disc).

Rating: While current WWE programming is TV-PG, this DVD set is TV-14 LV. The set features Steve flipping the bird many times without it being blurred out. However, there is some bleeping of words on the set.

The Documentary: Clocking in at almost 2-1/2 hours, the documentary is very thorough. More importantly, it is also very entertaining. Despite already seeing multiple biographies on Stone Cold and also reading his autobiography, I still learned a few new things about Steve. This is arguably the best documentary the company has done for a wrestler.

One of the things I enjoyed most about the documentary was Stone Cold's frame of mind. He seems to be at peace with himself and many of the bad breaks he had during his career. Whereas he used to come across as either angry or bitter in many releases and interviews I've seen in the past, he seems much more reflective now and understands why some things were done to him during his career.

The Promos and Vignettes: In spite of disc one containing what might be the best documentary for a wrestler that has ever been done by the company and discs two and three containing some of the most famous matches in wrestling history, I have to say that I enjoyed disc four the most on this set. Steve was involved in so many great moments that I forgot about some of the ones shown on this disc.

Match Selection: The eleven matches featured on this DVD contain a mixture of his most famous bouts as well as two surprises. It was great to see something from Steve's days in the USWA, a promotion the company typically doesn't feature on their DVDs. The match from WCW was one I had never seen before and I can't believe how much I enjoyed it. As far as the matches from his WWE tenure, the matches from WrestleMania 13, 14, and X-Seven all include a special commentary track with Steve Austin and Jim Ross.

Length of the DVD: Over the past year, I have been complaining about the DVD sets containing much less footage than what is written on the back of the box. This time, the company is telling the truth with their advertising. There really is approximately 10 hours of footage on the four discs. Of course I wish there would have been two more hours of footage on discs two and three but I'm just happy that the company is finally delivering on what they promise the consumer on the back of the box.

Overall Recommendation: With so many Steve Austin sets on the market, one has to wonder if this one is necessary. If you already have six Austin DVDs in your collection, I'm sure that you have already pre-ordered this one. If you don't have any Steve Austin DVD's at home, this is the one to start your collection off with and is a must-buy for your wrestling DVD library. It has also made several other sets on the market totally irrelevant. If you buy this one, I would also suggest buying the 3-disc Legacy of Steve Austin DVD set as a companion to this one.

For matches that are available on other non-PPV DVDs, I will note the DVD it is also available on in parenthesis and italics. If I have written a review of that DVD, I have posted a link to it the first time it is mentioned.

Disc Two

• USWA 5/90: Steve Austin vs. Chris Adams
• WCW Saturday Night 7/30/94: Steve Austin & Ric Flair vs. Sting & Ricky Steamboat
• King of the Ring '96 Final Round Match and Post-Match Interview: Steve Austin vs. Jake Roberts (Jake "The Snake" Roberts: pick your poison)
• WrestleMania 13: Submission Match: Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart (The Bret Hart Story: The Best There Is, Was, and Ever Will Be)
• In Your House - D-Generation X: Intercontinental Champion Steve Austin vs. Rocky Maivia (The History of the Intercontinental Championship)
• WrestleMania 14: WWE Champion Shawn Michaels vs. Steve Austin (The History of the WWE Championship; The True Story of WrestleMania)

Disc Three

• Over the Edge 1998: No Disqualification, Falls Count Anywhere Match - WWE Champion Steve Austin vs. Dude Love (Mick Foley - Hard Knocks & Cheap Pops, Mick Foley - Greatest Hits & Misses)
• SummerSlam 1998: WWE Champion Steve Austin vs. Undertaker (Greatest Stars of the 90s)
• RAW 3/22/99: Steve Austin vs. Big Show (The Big Show: A Giant's World)
• WrestleMania XV: No Disqualification Match - WWE Champion The Rock vs. Steve Austin (The Rock: The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment; The Greatest Superstars of WrestleMania)
• WrestleMania X-7: No Disqualification Match - WWE Champion The Rock vs. Steve Austin (The History of the WWE Championship; The Legacy of Stone Cold Steve Austin)

Blu-ray Exclusive Matches (Source: Silvervision)

• No Mercy '99 (UK event not US PPV) - WWE Champion Steve Austin vs. Undertaker vs. Triple H
• RAW 10/8/01: WWE Champion Kurt Angle vs. Steve Austin
• No Mercy '01: WWE Champion Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle vs. Rob Van Dam
• WrestleMania XIX: Steve Austin vs. The Rock (The Rock: The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment)

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.