It’s that time of year again everyone! As the last month of the year rolls along, it brings with it a season of shopping. Yes most holiday shopping began on Black Friday but that doesn’t mean that shopping is over. (As I’m sure the television commercials won’t let you forget.) So what should you get for that WWE fan in your family? Or perhaps for yourself if nobody else will understand why you want wrestling things? How about one of the things from this handy shopping guide? Like previous years, the gift guide has been split into several different sections for your browsing ease and pleasure.(Links included for the buying)
Network Subscription
First and foremost, if there’s one thing that the WWE wants you to buy this year it’s a subscription to the network. They want everyone to buy a subscription to the network. And really, if you’re getting somebody something WWE related this year, it’s not a bad idea. A fan of the current product can see every PPV live each month. Someone who used to be a fan, but hasn’t watched in years, can see tons of the classic matches they want to watch while they talk about how much better wrestling was “back then.” And everyone can watch NXT which is a win no matter what type of fan you are.
DVDs
(DVD links are to the blu ray copy when available due to Blu Ray disc usually having special features. If you would prefer the standard DVD, I feel confident that you can find a link to it on the blu ray page)
WrestleMania XXX: It’s more difficult this year than in years past to suggest that you should be spending money to buy PPVs on DVD months after they’ve aired. Not to say that as a whole the PPV scene has been worse this year, but why pay 20 bucks for a DVD when all of the PPVs this year are on the Network? Still, if there’s one that’s worth shelling out the money for, it’s got to be WrestleMania XXX.
Ladies and Gentlemen, My Name is Paul Heyman: Most wrestlers at a certain level of success have gotten a WWE produced Documentary about their life. Some have gotten two. But other than Bobby Heenan, I struggle to think of a non wrestling personality that got the documentary treatment. (Vince also got a documentary, but then again, he’s also wrestled a whole bunch) But finally Paul Heyman got his own documentary and it’s easily worth taking the time to see. Paul talks about his time in ECW, running Smackdown, and all sorts of things. Definitely worth checking out.
The Best of Sting: Don’t know who that Crow looking fella was at the end of Survivor Series, or why everyone was making such a bid deal out of him? Well have i got the DVD for you! WWE has put out a Best of Sting compilation and while your milage may vary on if the matches chosen for this collection are really the best things that Sting has done in his career, it will provide a great collection for long time Sting fans as well as a good way to get introduced to the man for those who were never really WCW fans back in the day.
Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story: Thanks to Stone Cold, we now have Vince on record saying that Macho Man will someday be in the WWE hall of fame. And here is a DVD full of reasons why he deserves such an honor. The relationship between Macho Man and WWE has been strained in the past (and you can fill in your prefered rumor as to why that it) so it’s nice to see a complete DVD set with a fairly detailed documentary and a good selection of matches to honor the guy.
OMG Volume 2: Full Disclosure, I haven’t actually gotten a chance to sit down and watch this one yet, so there’s a chance that it could be a total bust. But I dug the original OMG DVD (save for that stupid song getting played during the countdown 50 times) and wouldn’t mind getting to see 50 more “shocking” wrestling moments from WCW.
Books
The Best in the World: At What I Have No Idea: After Mick Foley, Chris Jericho is my favorite WWE author and this is his third memoir after A Lion’s Tale and Undisputed. It seems that the days of WWE wrestlers writing autobiographies is more or less done with, as there hasn’t been the number of WWE books being released as there once was, but if someone’s going to keep up with the trend Jericho is a good call, and worth reading a third book about.
The Squared Circle: Life, Death, and Professional Wrestling: This book actually came out last year, and I some how missed it initally. But once I read it I knew that it had to go on this list anyway. One of the most interesting books about the history of pro wrestling as told through the lives of wrestlers who have passed, this book is the kind of thing that you can even get a not wrestling fan to sit down and read.
The Death of WCW: The story of the company that was WCW will probably be one of the most told and retold stories in wrestling history. This book isn’t actually a new book but rather a 10th anniversary edition of a book that came out in 2004. But as with everything wrestling, time passes and more stories come out, more people voice opinions and this edition of the book has been revised and expanded. Worth checking out, especially if you haven’t ever read the original edition.
WWE 50: To celebrate their 50th anniversary, WWE has released a book detailing the history of the company from the original territory days, through the Monday Night Wars, and the steroid scandals. The book has actually been quite impressively researched and would look nice on a shelf next to that WWE Encyclopedia that they released a few years ago.
Video Games
WWE2k15: Usually deciding on whether or not to by the WWE game each year depends on how recently you bought your last WWE game and thus how out of date your roster is. But this year is the first year that 2k has really been able to dig in and do something with a WWE game. There is no comparison between the graphics this year and last year. And 2k has also made minor adjustments to improve the gameplay here and there. Nothing to write home about on the 1 player end of the game, but if you’ve got a few friends that you like to play WWE games with, it’s probably worth picking up the game this year (Link is to the Xbox One version of the game but I feel confident that you will be able to find a link to your prefered console.)
Undertaker Charger: I don’t know when this came out, but I just learned about it this year. Even if you don’t have a Wii, just… just click the link so that you can see the picture. That right there my friends is a bust of Undertaker that you can recharge your wiimotes on. According to reviews, Undertaker’s eyes glow red while the controllers are recharging. That is a thing that exists in this world.
