Review by Adam Stephen Kelly
UK Certification 15 | UK RRP £29.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 445 minutes
Running from January through to December, WWE RAW: The Best of 2010 chronicles the greatest moments, segments and matches of last year that went down on the longest running weekly episodic show on television: Monday Night RAW. And while there is no shortage of in-ring action and happenings that could be defined as instant classics, this three-disc set more than anything else reiterates the fact that 2010 ultimately wasn't a great year in the WWE for its 'A' show. Sure, this DVD features such memorable events as John Cena and Batista's scathing rivalry; the special guest hosts; Randy Orton's RKO to Wayne Brady; the last stand of DX; the fantastically nostalgic Old School RAW from November; and the terrific video package detailing Shawn Michaels' journey to the closing match of WrestleMania 26 against The Undertaker (although with a different song replacing the tremendous Placebo track, which does take something away from the video). But so many moments aren't even given a look-in or are rushed through in quick videos that summarise the months. Where is the Heartbreak Kid's retirement speech in full? Where is Jerry Lawler's Tables, Ladders and Chairs match against The Miz for the WWE Championship? This is a decent set, but such a lot is missing, and it pales in comparison to SmackDown's best-of release from last year. 
A non-stipulative rematch from their Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match from the inaugural pay-per-view of the same name from the end of 2009, this title bout was pretty standard stuff. The fans in attendance were hot for it, which always adds to a match, but that was no surprise given the Superstars involved. Having lost their match at that December event, this was Jericho and The Big Show's final opportunity at regaining the gold, and since they yet again came up short, it was goodbye to Y2J (who would return to SmackDown on Friday nights) and farewell to the Jerishow tag team.
25/01/2010 – Sheamus vs. John Cena ??
Six days away from the Royal Rumble, WWE Champion Sheamus took on the man whom he defeated a month prior to capture the gold. This main event match was non-title and closed the final show to the big pay-per-view on a somewhat strange note, as neither Sheamus or his challenger for the event, Randy Orton, were left standing tall going into the then forthcoming Sunday night attraction. After the Viper interrupted the proceedings by delivering an RKO to the Celtic Warrior just as it looked as if he was about to defeat Cena by count out, the fan favourite and former seven-time WWE Champion managed to evoke some retribution on arguably his greatest rival of all time, giving him a huge boost of momentum going into the Royal Rumble match itself, although it was the returning Edge who would be the last man standing on the night and the first Superstar to secure his spot in the main event of WrestleMania 26.
08/02/2010 – Christian vs. Sheamus ???
Having survived his title defense at the Royal Rumble, Sheamus would go on a couple of weeks later to battle the final ECW Champion Christian (of the WWE version at least) in a non-title bout at the request of Captain Charisma. But would the Celtic Warrior step up to the challenge? No, he wouldn't, but RAW guest host Carl Edwards of NASCAR fame obviously wanted to see the two Superstars clash and got the match started right away. That turned out to not be such a bad idea as these two had a pretty good match, and it was the first time since his return, as far as I can remember, that Christian was able to showcase his underrated talent against a title-bearing main eventer.
08/02/2010 – Unified Tag Team Championship: D-Generation X
This Triple Threat tag team match under elimination rules and for the titles was held just two weeks shy of the Elimination Chamber event, the final pay-per-view stop on the road to WrestleMania, which was opened with The Miz and The Big Show defending the straps against the team of R-Truth and John Morrison. Yes, DX lost this one, although they weren't the first to be ousted from the match – that 'privilege' was given to CM Punk and Luke Gallows – but they still lost both the contest and their titles. A solid match and a clever way to segway the split of DX into the Heartbreak Kid's feud with The Undertaker and his obsession for a rematch on the grandest stage of them all.
22/03/2010 – No Holds Barred: Shawn Michaels vs. Kane ?
Six days prior to WrestleMania, this was HBK's final match on Monday Night RAW and the penultimate match of his career, as he faced The Undertaker's big, red, monstrous and estranged brother. This was short and far from great, but at least it provided the last bit of build-up for 'Mania with the Deadman interfering and sending Michaels down hard to the canvas with a Chokeslam, before disappearing, although HBK survived and still managed to get the last victory of his legendary career.
05/04/2010: Jack Swagger vs. Randy Orton ???
Just a few days after he successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank privilege to defeat Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship, Swagger took on the Viper, but had his own shoulders pinned to the mat as a result of a devastating RKO out of nowhere. This is a perfect example of how not to book one of your top champs. They had a good match, yes, but how could Swagger lose his first bout, albeit non-title, so soon after winning it? This was the first in a losing streak for the All-American American, who will go down as one of the weakest World Heavyweight Champions in history.
12/04/2010 – Divas Championship: Maryse
(c) vs. Eve ?26/04/2010 – Unified Tag Team Championship: ShowMiz
(c) vs. The Hart Dynasty ??This match went down on the fallout episode of RAW 24 hours removed from Extreme Rules, where ShowMiz lost the third and final match-within-a-match as they were forced to compete in a Gauntlet. The Hart Dynasty's win at the event secured them a title opportunity the next night, leading us to this match on the 2010 draft episode of Monday Night RAW, which they yet again were victorious in. A decent encounter with an extremely hot crowd and a great back-and-forth promo between The Miz and Bret Hart moments before the bell.
17/05/2010 – Pick Your Poison Match: Edge vs. Christian ???
Over the Limit proved to be one of the weakest pay-per-view events of 2010, but one of its headline matches – Randy Orton vs. Edge (which was a disappointment) – certainly featured an interesting pairing during its build-up. In the first of two Pick Your Poison conflicts on this particular episode of RAW, the Viper smartly and rather deviously selected Christian, Edge's former best friend and long-time tag team partner, as his opponent (in Toronto, Canada no less), and they put on a stellar match.
31/05/2010: Edge & Sheamus vs. John Cena & Evan Bourne ??
14/06/2010: Chris Jericho vs. Evan Bourne ??
A rematch from their enjoyable encounter the previous night at Fatal Four Way, Y2J and the high-flying Bourne went toe-to-toe once again in a follow-up that shouldn't really have been included on this DVD set. They thankfully worked a different kind of match, but it just couldn't touch their performance on pay-per-view.
12/07/2010: Randy Orton vs. Edge ??
The best thing about the inclusion of this match is actually what happened after it when Evan Bourne knocked the defeated Randy Orton down with a kick to the face, ascended the turnbuckles, and leaped off with a Shooting Star Press that was countered into a mid-air RKO. This was undoubtedly one of the greatest moments of 2010 and a unique spot for the ages.
19/07/2010 – Triple Threat Match: Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho vs. Edge ???
Held the night after the excellent Money in the Bank event (one of the best of the year), the winner of this match would battle for the WWE Championship in the main event of SummerSlam. But who would that be? Well, it was Orton. This one just barely ventures into three-star territory thanks to the closing few minutes and the neat finish, but started off in pretty predictable fashion with Jericho and Edge teaming up before the inevitable ego-colliding breakdown of their in-ring relationship. Summer was in full swing and the WWE was starting to heat up.
09/08/2010 – Tag Team Lumberjack Match: Chris Jericho & Edge vs. Bret Hart & John Cena ?
With all seven members of the fiendish Nexus looming over the match at ringside, the past and present tag team of Bret Hart and John Cena joined forces for the first time ever to take on the unstable pairing of Y2J and the Rated-R Superstar, two men who have had quite a history both as partners and bitter enemies. Unpredictable as always, this one-of-a-kind contest saw The Nexus letting Jericho have a free pass in getting back into the ring and didn't attack him, yet as soon as Cena stepped foot outside the squared circle, Wade Barrett attempted to pounce on him like a feral dog, only to be clocked with a right-hander from the multi-time WWE Champion. But Jericho was still the first person to taste the fury of the dominant stable as they eventually mounted an assault on both he and his ally for the night, while the Hitman took it to Justin Gabriel in the centre of the ring, only for The Nexus to subsequently make the save by pulling the aerial artist under the bottom rope.
The match quickly degenerated and ended without victors as all the members of the plague-like team climbed into the ring, making it a seven-on-two situation against the Hall of Famer and Cena. That was until R-Truth and John Morrison showed their faces and balanced things out a little, and right before Jericho and Edge decided to help out. The ring was shaking as the Superstars geared for battle and it sounded like the roof was about to blow off the arena. A brawl ensued less than a week away from the massive main event at SummerSlam, with The Nexus running away like scolded dogs, rather than the feral kind. A great moment rather than a great match.
16/08/2010: Wade Barrett vs. Chris Jericho ??
23/08/2010: The Miz vs. John Cena ???
13/09/2010 – Falls Count Anywhere: John Morrison vs. Sheamus ???
Held during RAW Roulette (the first in almost three years), this Falls Count Anywhere war would determine whether or not Morrison would replace Chris Jericho in the Six Pack Challenge for the WWE Title at Night of Champions. But defeating the WWE Champion himself was by no means a small feat to accomplish. The Prince of Parkour used the stipulation and environment to his advantage by utilising his unique type of offense, from a basement Hurricanrana from inside the ring to the outside, avoiding a devastating toss off the stage by somehow somersaulting out of it and landing on his feet, nailing his Flash kick by spring-boarding backwards off the stage, and even diving 15 feet down on the Celtic Warrior from the Titantron. Incredible stuff, yet Morrison still came up short thanks to the interference of Y2J.
27/09/2010: Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton ??
25/10/2010 – Champion vs. Champion: Dolph Ziggler vs. Daniel Bryan ???
A rematch from their show-stealer at Bragging Rights, Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler faced off against United States Champion Daniel Bryan in yet another solid outing; the second match of a short non-title series they had that resulted in plenty of losses for SmackDown's Ziggler, this bout included, even though his foot was under the bottom rope (thanks to Vickie Guerrero) when he tapped out to the LeBelle Lock. Unfortunately this contest nor those that followed could top or even match their first.
08/11/2010: Sheamus vs. Santino Marella ?
The very short match itself is not of note, but the tea party segment that lead up to it (the show was held in London) was mildly funny. Marella decided to get himself disqualified via low blow only to be annihilated during his post-bout celebration, before being saved once again by John Morrison.
22/11/2010 – WWE Championship: Randy Orton
(c) vs. The Miz ?One of the biggest shocks of the year, The Miz cashed in his Money in the Bank contract from July on a cold night in November to capture his very first WWE Title. Right after Orton defeated Wade Barrett with the assistance of John Cena to retain the belt, The Miz's theme music hit, he worked a two-minute match, and then pinned the Viper's shoulders to the canvas after a Skull Crushing Finale. The man whom many thought would be the first to make an unsuccessful attempt at cashing in Money in the Bank after weeks of threats was now the WWE Champion. A fantastic moment.
29/11/2010 – King of the Ring Finals: Sheamus vs. John Morrison ???
06/12/2010 – WWE Tag Team Championship Fatal Four Way Elimination Match ??
The holiday season was underway and this episode of RAW featured Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel of Nexus defending their titles against the teams of Vladimir Kozlov and Santino Marella, The Usos, and the power/speed combination of Mark Henry and Yoshi Tatsu. Not the most shining example of the state of tag team wrestling in the WWE, but nevertheless, this was a passable bout. The first elimination happened relatively quickly with Tatsu falling victim to a sloppy Sweetness from Slater, without Henry even entering the match, quickly followed by Kozlov cleaning house and taking out one of the Uso brothers with a huge Uranage slam for the pinfall. Tamina decided to stay at ringside to support the object of her affections, Santino, who picked up the win for his team and the tag belts a few minutes later after delivering the Cobra to Gabriel, thanks to help from a 'fired' John Cena as he looked to seek retribution on the group.
EXTRAS None.