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Ring of Hell

18th February 2012 by Scott Keith

Greetings Scott,         I recently read a report that Liam Neeson shot down a rumor he was to play a role in the upcoming film “Crossface” which is a bio-pic of Chris Benoit.  It is a film based on the book Ring of Hell, which is absolutely the most damning book on pro wrestling ever written.  While a biography of Benoit, it explores every facet of pro wrestling from the basics of how matches are put together, to the culture of ribbing, to the history of every promotion Benoit worked for, complete with mini-bios of key figures, like Stu and Dynamite.  The author, Matthew Randazzo V, does not hide his contempt for wrestling, referring to it a a “slapstick farce” and “usually laughingly bad tv.”  It also contains enough hilarious/disturbing gossip to fit right in with the infamous “Sleazy Wrestling Rumors” thread on deathvalleydriver, even confirming a few of them.  My favorite new one claims that during a match (no date, place or show is given) between Taz and Kevin Sullivan, a routine suplex from the Taskmaster gave Taz an “earthshattering” orgasm.

The book also portrays several prominent figures in wrestling history in a negative light, from Vince (portrayed as a ‘roided up, megalomaniacal, out of touch old man who asked Carlito to “spic it up” when he spoke in character) to Antonio Inoki.  Even those who get compliments aren’t safe.  While praising Bret Hart for becoming a star in the size prejudiced American market with a safe but exciting style that didn’t force him to swell up on steroids and frequently quoting his book for insight into the business, he is also portrayed as delusional.  Randazzo claims Stu’s strict adherence to Kayfabe warped Bret’s sense of reality and fiction and mocks him for the Dino Bravo match where he shattered his sternum and could hardly breathe, yet refused to be pinned because the story called for him to win and is firmly with Vince regarding Montreal. The book can only be bought cheap but used at Amazon (I’m guessing a new edition is coming as the movie starts to shoot) and I am unaware if it is an e-book.  I would recommend it to you and your readers, for a dark look at the industry. My point is, I would like your opinion on the books thesis.  Randazzo claims that even if the post-mortem diagnosis of Benoit was true and he could not be held responsible for the murders, Benoit is still culpable.  It was Chris Benoit and Chris Benoit alone, who chose to wrestle the self destructive Dynamite Kid style his entire career.  It was Benoit who took repeated blows to the head match after match, no matter how many concussions he received and no matter how pulverized his spine became.  Instead of adapting Bret’s safer technical style that didn’t call for huge amounts of steroids to execute, he continued to cripple himself despite seeing what that style did to Dynamite and what copious amounts of painkillers, alcohol and steroids did to Dynamite, Pillman and Eddy. Instead of retiring to an agent or trainers job in 2001 after his neck surgery, he continued to wrestle despite financial security and a hall of fame legacy, and continued to cause the damage that killed his family.  An uncomfortable, yet compelling argument.  As someone with insider knowledge and sources, who has been following wrestling for his fourth decade, what do you think of this? I know you aren’t a Benoit apologist, but this theory is the most damning of all I heard about why Benoit committed the killings. I’m not trying to get a rise out of you, I want your opinion as a wrestling historian and published author on this very case. Thanks for your time.

I know this is probably going to come as a surprise, but yes, I agree with that general sentiment.  For years leading up to his death I said over and over in my rants that Benoit needed to stop doing the diving headbutt and crazy neck bumps in general, and really he has no claim to ignorance given how well he knew Dynamite Kid and emulated him in every other way.  Yeah, the physical damage might not have made him LEGALLY responsible if it went to a full trial, but the drugs and years of physical damage were absolutely his fault.  No one forced him to use the steroids or wrestle a high-impact style even after neck surgery and even after safer career options were available to him.  Hell, he could have retired in 2005 and probably ran the training program in FCW for the rest of his life if he had wanted to.  So yeah, although I can’t speak to the other aspects of the book because I haven’t read it, the circumstances behind Benoit’s downfall were almost entirely on himself. 

Rants →

Ring of Hell

18th February 2012 by Scott Keith

Greetings Scott,         I recently read a report that Liam Neeson shot down a rumor he was to play a role in the upcoming film “Crossface” which is a bio-pic of Chris Benoit.  It is a film based on the book Ring of Hell, which is absolutely the most damning book on pro wrestling ever written.  While a biography of Benoit, it explores every facet of pro wrestling from the basics of how matches are put together, to the culture of ribbing, to the history of every promotion Benoit worked for, complete with mini-bios of key figures, like Stu and Dynamite.  The author, Matthew Randazzo V, does not hide his contempt for wrestling, referring to it a a “slapstick farce” and “usually laughingly bad tv.”  It also contains enough hilarious/disturbing gossip to fit right in with the infamous “Sleazy Wrestling Rumors” thread on deathvalleydriver, even confirming a few of them.  My favorite new one claims that during a match (no date, place or show is given) between Taz and Kevin Sullivan, a routine suplex from the Taskmaster gave Taz an “earthshattering” orgasm.

The book also portrays several prominent figures in wrestling history in a negative light, from Vince (portrayed as a ‘roided up, megalomaniacal, out of touch old man who asked Carlito to “spic it up” when he spoke in character) to Antonio Inoki.  Even those who get compliments aren’t safe.  While praising Bret Hart for becoming a star in the size prejudiced American market with a safe but exciting style that didn’t force him to swell up on steroids and frequently quoting his book for insight into the business, he is also portrayed as delusional.  Randazzo claims Stu’s strict adherence to Kayfabe warped Bret’s sense of reality and fiction and mocks him for the Dino Bravo match where he shattered his sternum and could hardly breathe, yet refused to be pinned because the story called for him to win and is firmly with Vince regarding Montreal. The book can only be bought cheap but used at Amazon (I’m guessing a new edition is coming as the movie starts to shoot) and I am unaware if it is an e-book.  I would recommend it to you and your readers, for a dark look at the industry. My point is, I would like your opinion on the books thesis.  Randazzo claims that even if the post-mortem diagnosis of Benoit was true and he could not be held responsible for the murders, Benoit is still culpable.  It was Chris Benoit and Chris Benoit alone, who chose to wrestle the self destructive Dynamite Kid style his entire career.  It was Benoit who took repeated blows to the head match after match, no matter how many concussions he received and no matter how pulverized his spine became.  Instead of adapting Bret’s safer technical style that didn’t call for huge amounts of steroids to execute, he continued to cripple himself despite seeing what that style did to Dynamite and what copious amounts of painkillers, alcohol and steroids did to Dynamite, Pillman and Eddy. Instead of retiring to an agent or trainers job in 2001 after his neck surgery, he continued to wrestle despite financial security and a hall of fame legacy, and continued to cause the damage that killed his family.  An uncomfortable, yet compelling argument.  As someone with insider knowledge and sources, who has been following wrestling for his fourth decade, what do you think of this? I know you aren’t a Benoit apologist, but this theory is the most damning of all I heard about why Benoit committed the killings. I’m not trying to get a rise out of you, I want your opinion as a wrestling historian and published author on this very case. Thanks for your time.

I know this is probably going to come as a surprise, but yes, I agree with that general sentiment.  For years leading up to his death I said over and over in my rants that Benoit needed to stop doing the diving headbutt and crazy neck bumps in general, and really he has no claim to ignorance given how well he knew Dynamite Kid and emulated him in every other way.  Yeah, the physical damage might not have made him LEGALLY responsible if it went to a full trial, but the drugs and years of physical damage were absolutely his fault.  No one forced him to use the steroids or wrestle a high-impact style even after neck surgery and even after safer career options were available to him.  Hell, he could have retired in 2005 and probably ran the training program in FCW for the rest of his life if he had wanted to.  So yeah, although I can’t speak to the other aspects of the book because I haven’t read it, the circumstances behind Benoit’s downfall were almost entirely on himself. 

Rants →

ROH TV – 02.11.12

18th February 2012 by Scott Keith

ROH TV 2-11-12

This week’s Ring of Honor brings us a pair of matches that were built towards last week: “Die Hard” Eddie Edwards takes on Kyle “KO” O’Reilly and The Briscoes face The House of Truth, Roderick Strong and Michael Elgin, in a $5000 Challenge match.

Eddie and KO (no, not Kassius Ohno) start us off. KO wants to prove to Eddie that he’s not just Davey Richard’s lackey, while Eddie believes that KO told Richards that Eddie was training with Dan Severn (possibly the stupidest thing for two people to be fighting over in the last year of wrestling, in any promotion) in order to steal Eddie’s spot as Davey’s partner. This was one hell of a technical battle. Even though Eddie is basically the heel here, they worked the match as Eddie trying to gain the upper hand and KO having a reversal or an answer for him at every turn. When Eddie missed a kick on the outside and whacked his knee off the ring post in a sick fashion, KO capitalized with frequent knee strikes. Still, Eddie played the part of the heel, applying Davey’s Ankle Lock (which drew Davey out to ringside) and laying into Kyle with Kobashi-style chops to the face. Seeing Eddie live, you gain some respect for his opponents, because that fucker chops HARD. They sound like gunshots. As for KO, the kid is in line to be one of the standout young stars in ROH. His offense is a mix of martial arts and Euro-type suplexes and throws, redolent of Bryan Danielson. He could stand to work on his promo skills but I wouldn’t doubt that he’ll be holding ROH gold soon.

An Ankle Lock applied by KO draws his Future Shock partner, Adam Cole, out to ringside. As I predicted last week, Cole is siding with Eddie in this issue. Kevin Kelly makes the point on commentary that Cole’s jealousy of Davey & KO’s teaming is “one of the worst kept secrets in the locker room.” (As an aside, I don’t read the spoilers on these shows, so if I make any predictions that come true, it’s just dumb luck.) The finish saw Eddie reversing a small package for the pin, almost stealing one. This match made KO look like a million bucks, and even though Eddie won, he did so by a hair. That is how you go over someone and still make them look good. The post-match sees Eddie invite Cole to join him as part of a team, and they challenge Davey and KO to a tag match.

Steve Corino joins Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuiness at the announce table for the next match. Corino is apparently staying on with ROH but will be Kelly’s broadcast partner on ROH DVDs. While there’s no reason to replace Nigel (….unless he’s getting back in the ring….) Corino should do a great job. ROH probably has the best announce team in wrestling right now, and that’s not something you could have ever said about them during the Prazak and Leonard era. Corino should be good in this role as he’s a really entertaining guy (check out any of his shoot interviews, or his podcast appearances. The guy is hilarious.), and at least we’ll still get Nigel on the tv show.

Trivia question: What wrestler on the ROH roster has had the longest Tag Title reign in WWE? The answer is neither Charlie Haas nor Shelton Benjamin: it’s Mike Mondo, formerly Mikey of the Spirit Squad. I’ve always said that I feel for the guys in the Squad, as they have WWE experience and yet they couldn’t even reasonably book an indie show based on their name after leaving because they were so interchangeable. While everything seems to have worked out for Dolph Ziggler, Mikey isn’t in such a great position. He’s doing, basically, the Crash Holly “little guy who pretends he’s big” gimmick. He’s also got some really weird two-tone Max Headroom hair. Mondo faces Matt Taven, a rising indie star making his ROH debut here. I was looking forward to getting a look at Taven since I haven’t seen him work yet, but this match started off as nothing but a slow paced headlock fest. They didn’t seem to be giving it their all and it seemed strange; that is, until Kevin Steen made an appearance. Steen takes issue with the fact that he has to wait until next week to make his ROH TV debut. Steen singles out Taven for being a new guy, and tells him he’s a “cutie pie, just like Jim loves!” He offers to shake hands with Taven, and then drops him with an F5, and one for Mondo. Apparently the F5 will be his replacement finisher for the Package Piledriver. It’s a good move for Steen to do and someone has needed to bring it back as a finisher since Brock left. I was hoping he’d bring back the Steenalizer (a powerbomb-lift flipped into a suplex, almost) but I guess that’s a little more risky than he’d like for such a high-profile spot. Corino attempts to get in the ring and stare down Steen but Nigel stops him.

Inside ROH has promos from WGTT, cornette, The Briscoes, and a short one hyping the TV title match between Jay Lethal and Tomasso Ciampa. Ciampa is joined by Prince Nana and RD Evans of The Embassy, Ltd. While Nana has been in ROH since the beginning, Evans is great as an acerbic Ed Helms type, and he needs to be on TV way more, certainly more than the inferior Truth Martini. Ciampa is great in the ring, but I’ll talk more about that the next time we see him wrestle.

Our TV main event is The Briscoes against Roderick Strong and Michael Elgin of House of Truth. The mini-feud is based off HoT and The Briscoes blaming each other for losing the 8 man tag against Edwards, Generico, and WGTT at “Battle in the Carolinas”. Each team is putting up $5000 as a side bet in this match. I don’t know which is weirder: that these guys are fighting over splitting a sum that is relatively small in kayfabe terms, or the fact that none of the guys will be getting paid anywhere near $2500 to work this match. This match was nothing too special, kind of a loose brawl but with some of Roddy & the Briscoes trademark spots. Elgin has some impressive strength but he is still extremely green and is pretty seriously deficient of charisma. The Briscoes mostly just worked standard tag formula, with a lot of their high-flying moves not landing. Strong and Elgin are, apparently, going to be a more regular team, because they’re putting together a lot of double team type moves that play off of the “big man/little man” dynamic. The finish has Truth Martini blinding Jay Briscoe with powder. Jay appeared to bail on Mark, wandering back through the curtain. Jay, however, came back with a baseball bat, and took out Strong and Elgin with it for the DQ. The Briscoes then stole the 5-grand checks, and celebrated as we went off the air. As much as The Briscoes were great as heels in their bloody feud with the All Night Express last year, “Dem Boys” just work better as scrappy babyfaces. They’re too charismatic, too talented, and too straight-forward bad ass for ROH fans to ever really boo them. While a lot of ROH fans got behind ANX during that feud, it was mainly because ANX were the underdogs. At heart, The Briscoes are always going to be babyfaces in Ring of Honor.

Another exciting show for ROH, who seem to have found their footing with their TV shows after a few shaky months. The Edwards/O’Reilly match was an easy ****, and even a no-frills tag match still shows The Briscoes and Roderick Strong doing what they do best. Next week, we see the ROH TV in-ring debut of Kevin Steen, so that should be particularly exciting. Until then, remember: Don’t take my word for it, go to ROHwrestling.com and check it out for yourself.

Rants →

Princess Pick: 2009 Smackdown Elimination Chamber

18th February 2012 by Scott Keith

Two down, two to go, this ranting stuff is like riding a bike.

I was watching some old Royal Rumbles and I’m just curious how the 1990 Rumble never gets mentioned in the “best ever” category. It’s, at worst, a ****1/2 match. I get it, Hogan won and Mr. Perfect didn’t and that sucks for people that hate Hogan but the match is almost as good as the 1992 and the star power is damn near equal if not slightly better because guys like Andre, Dusty and Demolition were in it. There were a couple of moments that really stood out for me:

— When Piper entered (at No. 6 I believe) it set off a crazy two-minute sequence between Piper and Jake “The Snake” vs. Savage and DiBiase, which would have been a ridiculous tag match during that era – a crazy brawl at MSG or Boston that would have grown legendary on some Coliseum video compilation. The crowd exploded during this sequence and seemed to stay on their feet for the rest of the match.

— It was Andre’s last great performance. Even by his limited physical standards at that point he busted his ass in that match and sold for everyone. You ever want to see Andre selling offense from Bret Hart? It was in the 1990 Royal Rumble.

— The Hogan-Warrior showdown. Still cool 22 years later.

Anyway I think I’m alone in believing that’s a ***** match and at worse the third best Rumble in history. Just watch it again; it’s 60 minutes of awesome. I promise. Princess would never, ever, ever lie.

Smackdown Elimination Chamber from No Way Out 2009

Event held on February 15, 2009 from Seattle, Washington

Hosted by Jim Ross and Tazz

WWE Championship Elimination Chamber: Edge, The Undertaker, Triple H, Vladimir Kozlov, Jeff Hardy and The Big Show

Wow, remember the days when Kozlov was getting a main event push? He absolutely stunk during that phase but he gradually got better, at least good enough to be functional, and then they release him. Same thing happened to Chris Masters, who didn’t stink as bad, but still got better with time. It doesn’t always make sense to me. I guess it didn’t help that Kozlov looked like a cross between Eddie Munster and Jay Leno on HGH.

Undertaker, Big Show, Kozlov and Triple H get the pod treatment, which sort of sucks for Edge since he was the champion going into this thing. He will start the match with Jeff Hardy. Five minute intervals again.

Hardy jumps on Edge to start, hitting two sit-down clotheslines but Edge with a huge boot to end the rally. Crowd with a chant for Hardy already – a precursor to his big push in later months. Edge chokes Hardy on the middle rope and lands a splash for two. Hardy rallies with a head scissors, inverted atomic drop, double-legged splash, low dropkick combo. Hardy goes for the twist of fate but Edge tries to counter with the Edge-u-cation which is countered back into the twist of fate. These two had chemistry for the ages even though you knew who was going to win every encounter. Hardy goes for the swanton but Edge wisely scoots out of the way. Edge goes for the spear but Hardy catches him in a small package for three! Holy crap, I forgot they jobbed Edge out in four minutes. Everyone in the pods is highly entertained by this and Edge throws an awesome temper tantrum. Oh well, he figures out a loop hole later in the night. 10 seconds until next entrant.

Kozlov is next and he kicks Hardy right in the face. Kozlov’s issue was he only knew a few moves regardless of the situation and couldn’t sell so it was up to the guy he was in the ring with to make him functional. Luckily Hardy sells like a champion as Kozlov’s wide array of shoulder blocks seem effective. Kozlov tosses Hardy in the cage a couple times and gives him a fall away slam back inside the ropes for a two count. Kozlov drapes Hardy on the top rope, headbutts him a few times in the back and hits another fall away slam for two. Backbreaker from Kozlov gets two and now a bearhug. Hardy fights to his feet and fights out of the hold but a shoulderblock grounds him again. Kozlov with a running power…nope Hardy escapes and dropkicks him into the corner. Hardy with a slingshot double-leg kick in the corner that gets two. Hardy with the whisper in the wind as we hit the ten second mark.

Big Show is next and he just steps over Kozlov to abuse Hardy. Show with a headbutt and Kozlov joins in on the action as the guys decide to team up and beat down Hardy to the dismay of the crowd. Show with a body shot, Kozlov with a body shot as it’s a battle of one upsmanship. Show with a body slam on Hardy and now Kozlov with a body slam on Hardy. The pace of the match has slowed tremendously. Hardy tries to fight back but Show stops it with a headbutt. Kozlov with an elbow drop. Show adds a big chop as the two bigger men size each other up for a second and then decide to continue their abuse on Hardy. Kozlov makes the first move, knocking Show down with a battering ram and Show takes exception to it. Big man slugfest that Show wins but Kozlov blocks the suplex. Show misses an avalanche and Kozlov lands the shoulders as we hit the 10 second mark.

Triple H is in and it’s game time. Let the knees fly! Knee smasher for Show, the Harley high knee for Kozlov. Massive spinebuster on Show and Hardy tries to stop the rally so HHH clotheslines the shit out of him. Kozlov charges and HHH ducks and lets him go flying out of the ring. HHH sends Kozlov into the cage and goes for the pedigree on the steel but Show drags HHH back into the ring and roughs him up in the corner. Crowd chanting for HHH. Show with a sidewalk slam on HHH gets two, Kozlov roughing up Hardy in the corner. Kozlov with his 40th elbow drop of the match on Hardy. Crowd ready to see the Undertaker. Show goes for the chokeslam but HHH fights out only to run into a press slam. Show and HHH go out to the steel platform and Show sends HHH into the cage. Show avalanches HHH and then catches Hardy trying to sneak attack him and sends him into the cage. Show tries to avalanche both men but misses. Hardy and HHH back in the ring and give Kozlov a double suplex. Hardy and HHH fight each other and Hardy hits a whisper in the wind as we are down to 10 seconds.

Here comes Mr. McCool and it’s a rare time that five of the six are in the match. Usually they max out at four. Undertaker goes right after Show and then beats up on Kozlov, who botches the hell out of snake eyes. How the fuck do you botch that move? Undertaker dominating and was about to hit a double chokeslam on Hardy and HHH until Show interferes. Flying clothesline for Show and Undertaker takes HHH to old…nope he audible and jumps onto Show, who was ready but Taker still hits the DDT on the steel. Now he takes HHH to the old school. Big boot for Hardy but Kozlov hits a shitty spear and goes back to the shoulder blocks. I tell you Kozlov keeps it close to the vest. He gives Undertaker some corner punches and that’s not a smart move because about 30 seconds later he takes his last ride and heads back to the USSR. Show chokeslams Undertaker. HHH tries for a pedigree and Show back drops him over the ropes and on to the steel. Hardy tries to attack Show and he catches him and sends him into HHH. Show sends HHH into the steel and tries to do the same with Hardy but Hardy sticks the landing and climbs the pod. Show climbs after him and Undertaker climbs after Show. Undertaker with a superplex on Show and HHH hits a pedigree on the prone show while Hardy recovers and hits the swanton from the top of the pod! HHH covers Show for three and we’re down to three!

Undertaker escapes Hardy’s whisper in the wind and starts brawling with HHH, sending him over the corner and out onto the steel again. Undertaker tries to go old school again but HHH shakes the ropes from the outside and knocks Undertaker off. Hardy uses the Undertaker’s prone body to do a leap of faith on HHH but gets caught with the tombstone on his way back in to end his night and a hell of an effort. Down to two.

HHH charges and Undertaker hits him with the big boot and roughs him up in the corner but HHH escapes a running big boot and they go tumbling to the steel. HHH sends Undertaker into the cage and back into the ring. HHH to the top and he jumps right into a chokeslam for a near fall. HHH tries to rally but Undertaker hits snake eyes, however, HHH catches him with a spinebuster coming off the ropes. I love when two guys know each other’s moveset so well they can use logical counters. The spinebuster gets two. We go back out to the steel as the crowd has dueling chants, which is pretty cool and appropriate as it was split 50/50 for this segment. HHH goes for a pedigree on the outside but Undertaker counters with a slingshot into the cage. Undertaker goes for a tombstone, HHH counters and they flip into the ring but Undertaker counters THAT and hits the tombstone but HHH’s foot is on the ropes at two and three-quarters. HHH hits a pedigree out of desperation and THAT only gets two. They stand and slug it out in an epic scene. Undertaker wins the slugfest but HHH sends him into the corner and does corner punches, Undertaker tries for the last ride but HHH escapes and hits the pedigree for three! Holy shit that was an awesome finish!

(HHH wins Elimination Chamber via pinfall over Undertaker, ****1/2, once Kozlov was gone that sucker got damn good. I remember wanting to see Undertaker-HHH at Wrestlemania after this short encounter. Unfortunately we got Shawn Michaels instead and…well…that didn’t suck either. As for those of you wondering about Edge he would sneak attack Kofi Kingston before the World Championship match, take his spot and win that title.)

Rants →

Princess Pick: ECW Extreme Elimination Chamber

18th February 2012 by Scott Keith

In preparation for my Wrestlemania project this year, which is going to be special stipulation matches, I wanted to knock a few Elimination Chamber matches out of the way and I have a couple more rants I’m going to do before the end of the month.

Anyway I’ll do four EC matches, the 2006 ECW Extreme one, the 2009 Smackdown Chamber and both the RAW and Smackdown Chambers in 2010.

We start with the ECW one from December of 2006. Enjoy.

ECW Elimination Chamber from December to Dismember 2006

On December 3, 2006 in Augusta, Georgia

Hosted by Joey Styles and Tazz

ECW Championship Match: The Big Show, Test, CM Punk, Bobby Lashley, Hardcore Holly and Rob Van Dam

Big Show is the champion. He, Punk, Test and Lashley start out in the pods. Each pod has a weapon inside of it. Show has a barbed wire baseball bat, Test has a crowbar, Punk has a steel chair and Lashley has a table.

Holly and RVD, who had a **** encounter in the early days of the ECW television show start this one out. Five minute intervals for this one. They actually start out with some basic wrestling but that stops after about 30 seconds. Clothesline by Holly gets a one count and he roughs RVD up in the corner and tosses him out of the ring to the metal flooring. RVD rallies and goes for something off the top rope, Holly ducks it, RVD hangs on the fence and tries a cross body but Holly ducks that too. Holly sends RVD into the cage and body slams him on the steel. Holly goes to the top and but eats boot as we hit the two minute warning. RVD gives Holly the one-man rolling thunder on the steel. RVD tries to suplex Holly on the steel but Holly reverses and suplexes RVD back in the ring and gets a two count. Beautiful dropkick from Holly gets two as we hit the 10 second mark.

Next is in Punk, who gets a great crowd pop and a chant going right away. He hits Holly with the chair and has a springboard clothesline for RVD. Punk tries to toss the chair at RVD but he catches it and tosses it right back. RVD gives Punk the monkey flip on the chair but Punk rallies with a legdrop on RVD and a springboard back kick to Holly. RVD is busted open. Punk sends him into the corner (where a chair is) and hits a vicious kick to the side of the face. Punk goes for Holly but Holly catches him coming off the top and sends him into the cage. Holly covers for two. All three men are back in the ring and Holly gives Punk a side suplex. Holly with chops on Punk and a top-rope superplex as we hit the one minute warning. RVD covers Punk for two then Holly covers Punk for two. Punk reverses an irish whip and gives Holly a high knee but the bulldog is countered by RVD kicking Punk in the face.

Test is next in the match and he hits Punk in the chops with crowbar before digging it in against RVD’s cut. Kinda gruesome I suppose. He goes and chokes Punk away with the crowbar but Punk counters with a hangman. RVD clotheslines Holly twice and nails Test with the chair, one for Holly too and then a Van Daminator for Punk. RVD with the five-star for Punk and the three count. They didn’t really want to pull the trigger on Punk until allegedly Shawn Michaels told them to. Thank God that guy was around. Test has both RVD and Holly in a vulnerable position and hits the yakuza kick on Holly for a botched three count. Ref said that Holly got the shoulder up at two but still eliminated him. Announcers were rightfully confused but smartly ignored it after it was obviously botched. Meanwhile RVD is perched and hits Test with a flying kick. RVD climbs up onto a pod but it’s the Big Show’s pod and he holds RVD’s foot allowing Test to club him a few times with a chair and toss him from the pod. Test places the chair on RVD’s face and climbs the pod himself and hits the test elbow! Well you could have counted to a hundred there. And we are down to three and about a minute of dead time.

Finally the buzzer goes off but Paul Heyman’s goon squad attacks the official and keeps Lashley’s pod locked. So Lashley uses the table to bust through the steel chains on the top of the pod and he climbs out that way. Lashley catches Test with a top rope clothesline and sends Test into/through the pod. Lashley continues his grade-A shitkicking on Test with his very limited repertoire. Test tries to rally but about a minute later Lashley kicks a chair in Test’s face and brutalizes him with the crowbar before hitting a spear and ending Test’s night with a minute remaining before the Big Show enters. Lashley tosses weapons at Show’s pod in preparation.

Show is not exactly in a rush to enter to the ring and he grabs the gimmicked barbed wire bat first. Show attacks with the bat but Lashley blocks with the chair. Lashley ducks another shot and attacks with the chair. He tosses Show in the cage twice and then through one of the pods. Show is bleeding but rallies and beals Lashley back into the ring. He hits a huge clothesline but Lashley blocks the chokeslam and counters with a DDT. Show misses and avalanche but catches Lashley on an attempted cross body, Lashley escapes the powerslam, however, and hits the spear for the three count. Show was basically a transitional champion, winning the title when RVD got busted for pot, and he held it for a while until the guys felt like they found the right guy to replace him. Lashley was designated as that guy and they were not messing around with his push. Little doubt as to who was going to win this one.

(Lashley wins Elimination Chamber via pinfall over Big Show, **1/2, it was a decent match for this format with a couple of cool spots and a good enough pace. However, it wasn’t the balls-to-the-wall brawl it needed to be. Test was probably the most impressive man in the match. Definitely curious as to what would have happened to Lashley in the long run. They put him in some pretty high profile situations before he was injured and negotiated his release to do….whatever the hell he’s doing now.)

Rants →

Smackdown – February 17, 2012

17th February 2012 by Scott Keith

Smackdown
Date: February 17, 2012
Location: Save Mart Center, Fresno, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Booker T

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

This is the final show before the Elimination Chamber. By the time you read this you’ll know that Orton is out of the Chamber so tonight it’s all about finding a replacement. Other than that, I wouldn’t expect a ton of stuff to be talked about. I mean it’s not like there needs to be stories for a show like this. Why should the writers need to waste time on character development or plots when they can just throw everyone in a cage and put their feet up for three weeks? Let’s get to it.

The opening video is about the Show vs. Orton match from Raw. That Super DDT was kind of cool. Bryan hit Orton twice with the belt which gave him a concussion. I’ve heard conflicting reports about whether that’s a legit injury or if he was injured somewhere else and that’s their story for taking him out.

Orton is in Teddy’s office and Teddy says its out of both of their hands. Teddy can’t let him compete because he’s not medically cleared. Security is going to escort him out of the building because Teddy is concerned about his health. We’re officially told that Orton is out of the Chamber.

Do you know your enemy? Mine is procrastination.

Big Show/Great Khali vs. Wade Barrett/Cody Rhodes

Now Barrett and Rhodes lost last week, so the logical move would be to have them win here to get their heat back going into the Chamber. Barrett starts with Khali. Wade tries to kick him in the side but Khali shoves him down. Khali chops him in the corner so Barrett tags out. Cody has even less luck and tags out also.

Before he leaves though he kicks Khali in the knee which lets Barrett kick him in the head to knock him down. Cody hooks a quick chinlock but Khali shrugs him off and tags in Big Show. He cleans house and spears Barrett down. Cody gets knocked out of the air and the chokeslam pins Wade clean at 3:32.

Rating: D. This was a squash. The guy that didn’t lose a match all of the end of last year and the Intercontinental Champion just got squashed by Big Show and Great Khali. This is what people mean when they talk about pushes starting nice and strong and then getting dropped. Barrett has gone from the top choice to be a breakout star to a guy getting squashed by Big Show in the span of 6 weeks. That’s pathetic and a big reason why there are practically no new stars being made. Also, why in the world would I buy them as having a chance in the Chamber now?

Big Show knocks Khali out post match.

Teddy is on the phone and says he doesn’t know what he’s going to do about the empty spot. Henry shows up and says he wants the spot. Teddy looks like he’s thinking about it. Big Show comes in before Teddy answers and says he wants Daniel Bryan tonight. Henry says wait your turn. Show knocks him out too. He tells Teddy to give him what he wants and then destroys Teddy’s office.

Video on the UAE tour.

Teddy tells security to wait for Big Show to calm down and then escort him out of the building. One of the guards says no way so Teddy says he’ll call for backup.

Ted DiBiase vs. Hunico

Ted’s cast is smaller this week. Hopefully this is the end of the dull feud. Hunico beats him into the corner to start but Teddy counters and beats him down as well. Big boot gets two for DiBiase. Hunico works on Ted’s bad arm/wrist but DiBiase slams him to the mat. DiBiase dropkicks him out of the air but Camacho hits DiBiase, allowing Hunico to roll him up and grab the tights for the pin at 1:45. Now GET THEM SOMETHING NEW TO DO!

Short version of the Shawn/HHH/Undertaker segment from Raw.

Usos vs. Epico/Primo

Great. ANOTHER match we’ve seen twice already. Primo and Jey start us off. The Usos double team to get control but Jimmy goes to the corner and Primo slams him off. He gets double teamed in the champions’ corner as Booker and Cole get into it again. Cole was doing well about staying on focus to start too.

Primo hooks a chinlock but misses a corner dropkick, tying him up in the Tree of Woe. There’s the tag to Jay as well as Epico. The crowd is into the Usos, as usual. The Umaga running corner shot misses but a Samoan Drop gets two. Backstabber by Primo misses and there’s the superkick. Jey’s Superfly Splash hits knees and the Backstabber gets the pin at 4:45.

Rating: D+. I’d be fine with Primo and Epico as champions if they weren’t so boring. That’s the problem I have with them: there’s nothing interesting about them at all. Rosa is interesting because she’s fun to watch shaking her hips but other than that, there’s nothing about this team that makes me want to watch them. With the Usos at least you get the Siva Tao which catches your attention. Epico and Primo will probably hold the belts for months too.

Big Show has left the arena willingly.

Bryan is here.

Video on the Chamber.

Here’s Bryan in the arena. Bryan says on Monday he got two for one. We see a clip of Bryan hitting Orton and Show with the title on Raw. He says that if either of them had any guts, they’d be out here facing him right now. However they’re both afraid. Everyone is afraid of Daniel Bryan. Everyone is afraid of tapping out because he just keeps winning. He’s proven all of us wrong and he’ll do it again on Sunday. He would have won tonight and he’ll win on Sunday. Orton isn’t here but he wants Lillian to announce him as the winner via forfeit. She does and Bryan does the huge celebration to his music.

Here’s Teddy to say hold on a minute playa. He says Bryan hasn’t competed yet, which is what everyone wants to see. It won’t be Orton, but there’s a volunteer to take his place.

Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan

Sheamus takes him down with a headlock and works on the arm to open up. Bryan comes back with some kicks but Sheamus punches him in the ribs. There are the ten forearms in the rope and thankfully they stopped calling it whatever that Irish word they had given it. Bryan tries to walk out but Sheamus runs him over. Bryan gets up on the apron and hits the running knee to the head. Back in and Bryan hits a dropkick to the ribs.

Sheamus fires back with right hands but Bryan picks the ankle to stop him. A running low dropkick in the corner gives the champion control again. This is the most offense anyone has gotten in on Sheamus in months. He blocks the kicks and makes his comeback, hitting a powerslam for two.

Irish Curse is countered into a LeBell Lock attempt. Sheamus rolls out of it but Bryan escapes the Celtic Cross. Sheamus goes after him in the corner and Bryan slaps him. The referee pulls him back and I think Bryan spits on him (the camera cut away) and that’s enough for Sheamus to throw the referee down for the DQ at 6:45.

Rating: C. This was fairly dull but it was obvious they weren’t going to give us a full on Bryan vs. Sheamus match. They would have been stupid to do that anyway as that’s a potential Mania title match. Granted that’s never stopped them before but you get the idea. The ending was a good choice as it plays up Bryan’s heel character while keeping Sheamus looking like he needs adjustments before he can go for the big one.

Barrett wants to know who Orton’s replacement is. Cody wants to know also. Teddy says there’s a battle royal tonight with anyone in WWE, from Raw to Smackdown to Superstars to NXT.

The Rock is a movie star! This is much shorter than the one on Raw, thank goodness.

Jinder Mahal vs. Ezekiel Jackson

Mahal hits a bunch of knees to the ribs as Cole suggests Johnny Curtis could head to the Chamber. Jackson runs him over in the corner and hits a side slam. The Rack is countered and Mahal hits a DDT. He hooks the camel clutch but Zeke gets out of it. A Downward Spiral sets up another camel clutch (how does that hurt the back any more?) which gets the tap at 2:06. Zeke is done. I mean he’s just DONE.

Tamina Snuka/Alicia Fox vs. Beth Phoenix/Natalya

Beth grabs Alicia to start and Fox dropkicks her down. Off to Natalya and we get a nice gymnastics demonstration from them. Natalya slides to the floor and comes back in to drop Fox for two. Beth adds in a kick to keep Fox in trouble. Natalya hooks the Sharpshooter… and the referee doesn’t see the tap because Natalya’s stupid gimmick makes him need a breath of fresh air. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? It allows Tamina to come in and hit the Samoan Drop and Superfly Splash for the pin at 2:52. I hate the Divas because of stupid stuff like this. Seriously, if this is the best they can come up with for them, drop the division.

Tamina knocks Beth out post match but she avoids the splash.

Ace and Otunga come to see Teddy. Ace says the Chamber is about charisma and star power. He suggests just putting Otunga in the Chamber instead of having the battle royal. Teddy says Otunga has the stink of a lawyer. What’s with the smell nonsense on this show lately?

Recap of the Cena/Kane/Ryder stuff from Monday.

Battle Royal

I’m not going to try to list off everyone in it. Imagine every non-main event guy and he’s probably in this. Otunga gets his own entrance. The NXT guys are in there. Bateman is the first out and it’s a standard battle royal: everyone is fighting and there’s no point in talking about anything other than eliminations until we get down to about five people. Watson is gone. Titus and an Uso follow him. Drew gorilla presses Kidd out.

DiBiase low bridges Darren Young and they both hang on to the rope to avoid elimination. DiBiase kicks him in the stomach and Young is gone. The ring is clearing out a bit but there are still too many people to count. Hunico throws Tatsu out. DiBiase knocks Camacho out as does Gabriel to McGillicutty. We take a break and come back with not much having changed.

There are about twelve people left. Make that about eleven as Hawkins is out. Riley tries the TKO on either Epico or Primo for some reason but he gets double teamed and tossed. The champs try to do the same to Reks but decide that’s not good enough, so they throw Curtis at Reks to get rid of both of them. They throw the other Uso out as well, then Primo dumps Epico.

Ok it’s down to manageable now. Hunico dumps DiBiase but DiBiase pulls him out too to keep their feud going. Gabriel and Primo throw each other to the apron but both save themselves. The camera won’t stay on a wide shot long enough for me to list off everyone in still. The both go to the apron twice more until Gabriel finally knocks Primo to the floor. Jackson knocks Gabriel out too.

It’s Otunga, Jackson, Mahal (elimianted as I type that), McIntyre and Santino. Santino loads up the Cobra but Otunga and McIntyre jump him. Drew is running over everyone with big boots….and then Santino dumps him. Otunga tries to throw out Santino but Jackson saves him. The fans are all chanting for Santino and he ducks under Jackson to put him out.

It’s Santino vs. Otunga. Santino Italianadians up and hits the Cobra but Otunga gets in a right hand to stop the momentum. A horrible neckbreaker takes Marella down. He goes to throw Santino out but is reversed and eliminated to give Santino the win at 13:12 shown of 16:42. Cole: “WE REPLACED A VIPER WITH A COBRA???”

Rating: D. To get it out of the way, the battle royal was your classic bad battle royal which I’m sure you’ve all seen dozens of. Now let’s get to the big issue here: Santino Marella is going to be in a major match for the world title on a pay per view. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I like it. Now before I get into why, I completely accept the counter argument of “IT’S SANTINO.” That’s perfectly fine and I won’t put up much of a defense against that.

However, think of some of the major criticisms of the company as of late: no new names in the main event, no surprises, no listening to the fans. Santino addresses all of those and even if he’s a comedy guy, he’s not going to win the title. He’ll be in there maybe three minutes and Big Show will knock him out or something like that. Kids are now excited for him and he’ll add some comic relief to the match (which isn’t really needed but it’s there). Also, there’s a very good chance someone will take him out and get his spot anyway.

Santino celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. The show wasn’t bad this week but it’s clear they’ve had no new ideas or thoughts since the Chamber was announced. Everything since then has been about gaining momentum going into the PPV, but the problem is that it doesn’t mean anything. It’s just winning matches against other people in the match which has no bearing on the Chamber match itself. Tonight was about adding someone new and they did that, but it’s a questionable choice to put it mildly. Not a very entertaining show and they booked themselves into that corner.

Results
Big Show/Great Khali b. Wade Barrett/Cody Rhodes – Chokeslam to Barrett
Hunico b. Ted DiBiase – Rollup
Primo/Epico b. The Usos – Backstabber to Jey Uso
Daniel Bryan b. Sheamus via DQ when Sheamus shoved the referee
Jinder Mahal b. Ezekiel Jackson – Camel Clutch
Tamina Snuka/Alicia Fox b. Beth Phoenix/Natalya – Superfly Splash to Natalya
Santino Marella won a battle royal last eliminating David Otunga

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Marion Cobretti Reviews Chris Jericho DVD

17th February 2012 by Scott Keith

The Cobra Kai Review of Chris Jericho: Breaking The Code
In my mind, Chris Jericho is the greatest wrestler of all time. He was able to bring it as a face, then even more so as a heel, and he’s never sucked in the ring.
The documentary is great, as you’d expect. There’s a pretty good group of bonus features, including The Man of 1,004 Holds, Hello Cleveland!, Conspiracy Victim, and 2 Thrillseeker’s vignettes. Man, are those terrible. I was bummed to find out that Strange Kentucky People wasn’t on here.

DISC 2

“Cowboy” Chris Jericho vs. Lance Storm
Calagary, Alberta – October 2nd, 1990
Duration:11:21

The Review: If it weren’t for Lance Storm, this would have probably read “Cowboy” Jack Action. Chris had to be from Casper, Wyoming. For 1990, this match is incredible. They were really doing things, at least here in the states [I know, it’s Canada, same thing in the wrestling world] that Brian Pillman was really only doing, and not on a huge scale. For a first match, this is great. After the bout, Lance Storm told Chris that “you were like Hulk Hogan out there! That was amazing!” Chris received $30 for the bout, and thought he was rich.
Rating:* * * 1/4

The Thrill Seekers vs. The Infernos
Smoke Mountain Wrestling – March 12, 1994
Duration:3:01

Review: Why is this even on here? I guess just to show some Thrill Seeker action, but I want the bout with The Heavenly Bodies. Chris wrestled with a broken arm, and also bled like crazy. Some hillbilly in the crowd thought the blood was fake, and loudly proclaimed so. Then he put his finger in a pool of Jericho’s blood and tasted it, confirming is belief it wasn’t real.
Rating:No rating

Chris Jericho [C] vs. The Ultimo Dragon
IJ Heavyweight Championship Match
Japan – July 7th, 1995

Review: This was probably the match that made Chris. Tapes got around, and earned him a lot of work. Most important was the tape landing in the hands of Mick Foley, then in the hands of Paul Heyman. It’s no surprise this bout caused his star to rise, because it’s fantastic. They’re all over the place, doing things peeps hadn’t ever seen, at least stateside.
Rating:* * * * 1/4

Chris Jericho vs. Cactus Jack
Hardcore TV – March 12, 1996
Duration:12:45

Review: This match is just fun. I love Mick in ECW, easily one of their top characters. Him and Chris just go out there and enjoy themselves. Not a technical masterpiece, but it in no way needs to be.
Rating:* * *

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Eddie Guerrero
WCW Cruiserweight Championship Match
Fall Brawl – September 14th, 1997
Duration: 16:44

Review: This match is a clear indication of everything that was wrong with WCW. First off, two of their most talented workers are opening, and while they’re putting on a hell of a clinic, all the stupid announcers can talk about is the nWo. God, it must have been seriously terrible to work for WCW while coming up in the business. As I stated earlier, this match is awesome. It’s non-stop, and watching it, you have to believe that the higher ups at WCW have brain damage, because these two have star written all over them.
Rating:* * * 3/4

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Juventud Guerrera
Mask vs. WCW Crusierweight Championship
SuperBrawl VIII – February 22nd, 1998
Duration:13: 27

Review: This show also featured Scott Steiner turning on his brother. So, what do you think was the highlight of the PPV? Scott Steiner doing this, or Juventud being forced to remove his mask? Yup. Jericho lobbied to have Juvi lose by Jericho cheating, but nope, instead he tapped out in the middle of the ring, clean as a sheet. Of course, Bish promised to push everyone to the moon for being able to lose their masks. Juvi was pushed as a Rock rip off, and Rey Mysterio became the World’s least threatening gangster. Everything you’d expect about this match is there. It’s great.
Rating:* * * 1/2

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Dean Malenko
WCW Crusierweight Championship
Nitro – July 27th, 1998
Duration:6:19

Review: I have no idea why they have this match. Out of the entire feud between these two, this is what we get? Couldn’t they give us the end of the battle royal that Dean snuck into, and the match proceeding it? Bastards.
Rating:* *

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Kurt Angle
IC Title match
No Way Out – February 27, 2000
Duration:10:12

Review: This came after Jericho finally becomes the sole owner of the IC Title, after having to share it with Chyna. Why the hell did they think that would be a good idea? Anyways, this match is decent, but I would have liked to see the bout go a little longer. If you ask me, Angle needs to head back to this heel character, it’s one of the all time greats. He was an arrogant jerk who was funny as hell.
Rating:* * *

Triple H [C] vs. Chris Jericho
WWE Championship Match
Raw – April 17th, 2000
Duration:9:50

Review: I can understand why this is on here, but c’mon. Where’s their LMS match from Fully Loaded? That’s a 5 star bout. This match is alright, and the crowd reaction for Jericho’s win is monsterous. I’m surprised they didn’t decide to just keep the belt on Jericho, hell, even Michael Hayes says they should have.
Rating: * * 3/4

The Rock [C] vs. Chris Jericho
WCW World Heavyweight Championship
No Mercy – October 21st, 2001
Duration:23:47

Review: Are you kidding me? How on Earth is it I’ve never heard of this match before now? It’s absolutely incredible. They go non-stop for over 20 minutes. It’s fantastic back and forth from beginning to end, neither one of them gets the upper hand for too long, and we even get some hardcore aspects as The Rock drags Jericho outside and delivers a Rock Bottom through the table. We have reversals, kick outs when you’re sure the bout is over with, and a relatively clean finish. I totally forgot about Jericho using the Skull Crushing Finale years before the hack started using it. These two are each others greatest opponents.
Rating:* * * * *

Stone Cold Steve Austin [C] vs. Chris Jericho [C]
Undisputed Heavyweight Title Match
Vengeance – December 9th, 2001
Duration:12:37

Review: I think having these two go at it right after Jericho beat Rock was a mistake. If they’d had a little more time to take a breather, I think they could have really delivered. It’s still a solid match, and a complete display of the WWE main event style. No one in the World thought Jericho would end up the winner here, but it was a damn fine move, I think. I just wish it would have been clean, and not having exactly 39 people interfere. Of course, the subsequent angle where Jericho is pussy-whipped without the pussy, and WM18 was headlined by Triple H vs. Steph almost makes you wish he hadn’t won.
Rating:* * * 1/4

DISC 3

Chris Jericho vs Hulk Hogan [C] – No DQ for the WWE Title
Duration:  12 minutes or so
Review: If it wasn’t for The Rock v Hogan at WMX8, than this would be the Hulkster’s best match. Jericho once again proves why he’s the man by giving the Hulkster one of the matches of his life. They go back and forth, and there’s none of that rest hold BS that you see with a lot of Hulk’s matches, nor is it cookie cutter. Most Hogan matches you could call in your sleep, but not this one. A more than worth while inclusion.
Rating: * * * *

Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels
Duration:22:33
Review:  This is one of the most heralded matches of all time, and for a reason. The angle was great, with Jericho admitting that Shawn was his hero, and he’d tried to emulate him his whole career. When it came to the bout, these guys had perfect chemistry, and the match stole the show, no doubt. It’s awesome that Shawn wasn’t able to defeat Jericho with assurance, but in fact squeaked by with a roll up. It made the two look pitch perfect to their parts, especially when Jericho kicks Shawn in the ding-a-ling.
Rating: * * * * 1/2

Chris Jericho vs John Cena [C] – You’re Fired Match For The WWE Title
Duration: 13 minutes or so

Review:  Jericho states that people get on John about not being a very good worker, and Jericho, much like those who are half intelligent, know that John is a hell of a worker and will always deliver, especially with another great wrestler. Well, this is certainly no exception. They go out there and tear the joint down. It’s face paced with a ton of back and forth, and although the end of the match had no mystery, it didn’t effect it. Bischoff was ring side and aided Jericho whenever he could, which helped to elevate the match quality wise because it stacked the deck even more against Cena, and flowed with the match so well.
Rating: * * * 3/4

Chris Jericho vs Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Title
Duration: 10 minutes or so

Review: Honestly, I don’t really know why it’s included here. It’s a great match though. Especially the ending, because it went back and forth back and forth in about 30 seconds.
Rating: * * * 1/2
Chris Jericho vs  Shawn Micheals – Ladder Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Duration: 22:22

Review: The reason this match is so damn great is because it went the complete opposite way of most ladder matches. Ever since No Mercy 1999, anytime there was a ladder match people kept trying to one-up the last one. With this one, they built an awesome match along with the ladders, instead of trying to build a match with just the ladders. There were no over-the-top spots or anything, but a lot of innovative uses for the ladder. Some really great stuff.
Rating: * * * * 3/4

Chris Jericho vs Rey Mysterio – No Holds Barred Match for the Intercontinental Title
Duration: 14:32

Review: I don’t know why they have this one here, when their Great American Bash match is an easy 5 stars. Not that this match is slacking, and I guess they put this one in instead because it’s Jericho’s 9th IC Title Win. This was during a time when Rey was open about trying to bring prestige back to the IC title, and having him and Jericho putting on all-time classics over the strap really was helping it. Jericho’s pre-match promo is great, as he keeps yelling at people to not touch him. Great finish, great match. It’s funny that they have it as No Holds Barred, because they didn’t even take advantage of the stipulation.
Rating: * * * * 1/2

Chris Jericho vs The Undertaker
Duration: 10:00

Review:  This was done simply because they hadn’t fought before. Ever. They really should have saved that selling point for PPV or something. It’s a great match, but it should have been a lot more.
Rating: * * * 1/2

Chris Jericho vs Edge for the World Heavyweight Title
Duration: 15:43

Review: Oooh, now we’re talking. This right here is a bonafied Wrestlemania classic, and my vote for match of the night. These guys went out there and tore the place apart. They didn’t let up for a single second. All the flawless counters and incredible near falls were all built upon fantastic wrestling with Jericho trying to snap Edge’s foot while the same time cowering from Edge’s spear. A fantastic match that earns the full monty, and then we even get the awesome table/spear spot. 5 stars all day, baby.
Rating: * * * * *


Bottom line, this is a fantastic set. One of the best, and I’m sure I’m being partial since Chris Jericho is my all time favorite wrestler. Great documentary, that not only includes a huge chunk of great Jericho matches, but we also get his classic moments that include the Man of 1,004 Holds, his trip to DC, and Jericho getting in a verbal throw down with an old man. This DVD is greater than the moss cover three handled family grudunzle.
This is Marion Cobretti saying, you don’t come into my dojo, drop a challenge and leave, old man. Now you get your boy on the mat, or you and I will have a major problem.
ou don’t come into my dojo, drop a challenge and leave, old man. Now you get your boy on the mat, or you and I will have a major problem.

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Marion Cobretti Reviews Chris Jericho DVD

17th February 2012 by Scott Keith

The Cobra Kai Review of Chris Jericho: Breaking The Code
In my mind, Chris Jericho is the greatest wrestler of all time. He was able to bring it as a face, then even more so as a heel, and he’s never sucked in the ring.
The documentary is great, as you’d expect. There’s a pretty good group of bonus features, including The Man of 1,004 Holds, Hello Cleveland!, Conspiracy Victim, and 2 Thrillseeker’s vignettes. Man, are those terrible. I was bummed to find out that Strange Kentucky People wasn’t on here.

DISC 2

“Cowboy” Chris Jericho vs. Lance Storm
Calagary, Alberta – October 2nd, 1990
Duration:11:21

The Review: If it weren’t for Lance Storm, this would have probably read “Cowboy” Jack Action. Chris had to be from Casper, Wyoming. For 1990, this match is incredible. They were really doing things, at least here in the states [I know, it’s Canada, same thing in the wrestling world] that Brian Pillman was really only doing, and not on a huge scale. For a first match, this is great. After the bout, Lance Storm told Chris that “you were like Hulk Hogan out there! That was amazing!” Chris received $30 for the bout, and thought he was rich.
Rating:* * * 1/4

The Thrill Seekers vs. The Infernos
Smoke Mountain Wrestling – March 12, 1994
Duration:3:01

Review: Why is this even on here? I guess just to show some Thrill Seeker action, but I want the bout with The Heavenly Bodies. Chris wrestled with a broken arm, and also bled like crazy. Some hillbilly in the crowd thought the blood was fake, and loudly proclaimed so. Then he put his finger in a pool of Jericho’s blood and tasted it, confirming is belief it wasn’t real.
Rating:No rating

Chris Jericho [C] vs. The Ultimo Dragon
IJ Heavyweight Championship Match
Japan – July 7th, 1995

Review: This was probably the match that made Chris. Tapes got around, and earned him a lot of work. Most important was the tape landing in the hands of Mick Foley, then in the hands of Paul Heyman. It’s no surprise this bout caused his star to rise, because it’s fantastic. They’re all over the place, doing things peeps hadn’t ever seen, at least stateside.
Rating:* * * * 1/4

Chris Jericho vs. Cactus Jack
Hardcore TV – March 12, 1996
Duration:12:45

Review: This match is just fun. I love Mick in ECW, easily one of their top characters. Him and Chris just go out there and enjoy themselves. Not a technical masterpiece, but it in no way needs to be.
Rating:* * *

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Eddie Guerrero
WCW Cruiserweight Championship Match
Fall Brawl – September 14th, 1997
Duration: 16:44

Review: This match is a clear indication of everything that was wrong with WCW. First off, two of their most talented workers are opening, and while they’re putting on a hell of a clinic, all the stupid announcers can talk about is the nWo. God, it must have been seriously terrible to work for WCW while coming up in the business. As I stated earlier, this match is awesome. It’s non-stop, and watching it, you have to believe that the higher ups at WCW have brain damage, because these two have star written all over them.
Rating:* * * 3/4

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Juventud Guerrera
Mask vs. WCW Crusierweight Championship
SuperBrawl VIII – February 22nd, 1998
Duration:13: 27

Review: This show also featured Scott Steiner turning on his brother. So, what do you think was the highlight of the PPV? Scott Steiner doing this, or Juventud being forced to remove his mask? Yup. Jericho lobbied to have Juvi lose by Jericho cheating, but nope, instead he tapped out in the middle of the ring, clean as a sheet. Of course, Bish promised to push everyone to the moon for being able to lose their masks. Juvi was pushed as a Rock rip off, and Rey Mysterio became the World’s least threatening gangster. Everything you’d expect about this match is there. It’s great.
Rating:* * * 1/2

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Dean Malenko
WCW Crusierweight Championship
Nitro – July 27th, 1998
Duration:6:19

Review: I have no idea why they have this match. Out of the entire feud between these two, this is what we get? Couldn’t they give us the end of the battle royal that Dean snuck into, and the match proceeding it? Bastards.
Rating:* *

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Kurt Angle
IC Title match
No Way Out – February 27, 2000
Duration:10:12

Review: This came after Jericho finally becomes the sole owner of the IC Title, after having to share it with Chyna. Why the hell did they think that would be a good idea? Anyways, this match is decent, but I would have liked to see the bout go a little longer. If you ask me, Angle needs to head back to this heel character, it’s one of the all time greats. He was an arrogant jerk who was funny as hell.
Rating:* * *

Triple H [C] vs. Chris Jericho
WWE Championship Match
Raw – April 17th, 2000
Duration:9:50

Review: I can understand why this is on here, but c’mon. Where’s their LMS match from Fully Loaded? That’s a 5 star bout. This match is alright, and the crowd reaction for Jericho’s win is monsterous. I’m surprised they didn’t decide to just keep the belt on Jericho, hell, even Michael Hayes says they should have.
Rating: * * 3/4

The Rock [C] vs. Chris Jericho
WCW World Heavyweight Championship
No Mercy – October 21st, 2001
Duration:23:47

Review: Are you kidding me? How on Earth is it I’ve never heard of this match before now? It’s absolutely incredible. They go non-stop for over 20 minutes. It’s fantastic back and forth from beginning to end, neither one of them gets the upper hand for too long, and we even get some hardcore aspects as The Rock drags Jericho outside and delivers a Rock Bottom through the table. We have reversals, kick outs when you’re sure the bout is over with, and a relatively clean finish. I totally forgot about Jericho using the Skull Crushing Finale years before the hack started using it. These two are each others greatest opponents.
Rating:* * * * *

Stone Cold Steve Austin [C] vs. Chris Jericho [C]
Undisputed Heavyweight Title Match
Vengeance – December 9th, 2001
Duration:12:37

Review: I think having these two go at it right after Jericho beat Rock was a mistake. If they’d had a little more time to take a breather, I think they could have really delivered. It’s still a solid match, and a complete display of the WWE main event style. No one in the World thought Jericho would end up the winner here, but it was a damn fine move, I think. I just wish it would have been clean, and not having exactly 39 people interfere. Of course, the subsequent angle where Jericho is pussy-whipped without the pussy, and WM18 was headlined by Triple H vs. Steph almost makes you wish he hadn’t won.
Rating:* * * 1/4

DISC 3

Chris Jericho vs Hulk Hogan [C] – No DQ for the WWE Title
Duration:  12 minutes or so
Review: If it wasn’t for The Rock v Hogan at WMX8, than this would be the Hulkster’s best match. Jericho once again proves why he’s the man by giving the Hulkster one of the matches of his life. They go back and forth, and there’s none of that rest hold BS that you see with a lot of Hulk’s matches, nor is it cookie cutter. Most Hogan matches you could call in your sleep, but not this one. A more than worth while inclusion.
Rating: * * * *

Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels
Duration:22:33
Review:  This is one of the most heralded matches of all time, and for a reason. The angle was great, with Jericho admitting that Shawn was his hero, and he’d tried to emulate him his whole career. When it came to the bout, these guys had perfect chemistry, and the match stole the show, no doubt. It’s awesome that Shawn wasn’t able to defeat Jericho with assurance, but in fact squeaked by with a roll up. It made the two look pitch perfect to their parts, especially when Jericho kicks Shawn in the ding-a-ling.
Rating: * * * * 1/2

Chris Jericho vs John Cena [C] – You’re Fired Match For The WWE Title
Duration: 13 minutes or so

Review:  Jericho states that people get on John about not being a very good worker, and Jericho, much like those who are half intelligent, know that John is a hell of a worker and will always deliver, especially with another great wrestler. Well, this is certainly no exception. They go out there and tear the joint down. It’s face paced with a ton of back and forth, and although the end of the match had no mystery, it didn’t effect it. Bischoff was ring side and aided Jericho whenever he could, which helped to elevate the match quality wise because it stacked the deck even more against Cena, and flowed with the match so well.
Rating: * * * 3/4

Chris Jericho vs Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Title
Duration: 10 minutes or so

Review: Honestly, I don’t really know why it’s included here. It’s a great match though. Especially the ending, because it went back and forth back and forth in about 30 seconds.
Rating: * * * 1/2
Chris Jericho vs  Shawn Micheals – Ladder Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Duration: 22:22

Review: The reason this match is so damn great is because it went the complete opposite way of most ladder matches. Ever since No Mercy 1999, anytime there was a ladder match people kept trying to one-up the last one. With this one, they built an awesome match along with the ladders, instead of trying to build a match with just the ladders. There were no over-the-top spots or anything, but a lot of innovative uses for the ladder. Some really great stuff.
Rating: * * * * 3/4

Chris Jericho vs Rey Mysterio – No Holds Barred Match for the Intercontinental Title
Duration: 14:32

Review: I don’t know why they have this one here, when their Great American Bash match is an easy 5 stars. Not that this match is slacking, and I guess they put this one in instead because it’s Jericho’s 9th IC Title Win. This was during a time when Rey was open about trying to bring prestige back to the IC title, and having him and Jericho putting on all-time classics over the strap really was helping it. Jericho’s pre-match promo is great, as he keeps yelling at people to not touch him. Great finish, great match. It’s funny that they have it as No Holds Barred, because they didn’t even take advantage of the stipulation.
Rating: * * * * 1/2

Chris Jericho vs The Undertaker
Duration: 10:00

Review:  This was done simply because they hadn’t fought before. Ever. They really should have saved that selling point for PPV or something. It’s a great match, but it should have been a lot more.
Rating: * * * 1/2

Chris Jericho vs Edge for the World Heavyweight Title
Duration: 15:43

Review: Oooh, now we’re talking. This right here is a bonafied Wrestlemania classic, and my vote for match of the night. These guys went out there and tore the place apart. They didn’t let up for a single second. All the flawless counters and incredible near falls were all built upon fantastic wrestling with Jericho trying to snap Edge’s foot while the same time cowering from Edge’s spear. A fantastic match that earns the full monty, and then we even get the awesome table/spear spot. 5 stars all day, baby.
Rating: * * * * *


Bottom line, this is a fantastic set. One of the best, and I’m sure I’m being partial since Chris Jericho is my all time favorite wrestler. Great documentary, that not only includes a huge chunk of great Jericho matches, but we also get his classic moments that include the Man of 1,004 Holds, his trip to DC, and Jericho getting in a verbal throw down with an old man. This DVD is greater than the moss cover three handled family grudunzle.
This is Marion Cobretti saying, you don’t come into my dojo, drop a challenge and leave, old man. Now you get your boy on the mat, or you and I will have a major problem.
ou don’t come into my dojo, drop a challenge and leave, old man. Now you get your boy on the mat, or you and I will have a major problem.

Rants →

Marion Cobretti Reviews Chris Jericho DVD

17th February 2012 by Scott Keith

The Cobra Kai Review of Chris Jericho: Breaking The Code
In my mind, Chris Jericho is the greatest wrestler of all time. He was able to bring it as a face, then even more so as a heel, and he’s never sucked in the ring.
The documentary is great, as you’d expect. There’s a pretty good group of bonus features, including The Man of 1,004 Holds, Hello Cleveland!, Conspiracy Victim, and 2 Thrillseeker’s vignettes. Man, are those terrible. I was bummed to find out that Strange Kentucky People wasn’t on here.

DISC 2

“Cowboy” Chris Jericho vs. Lance Storm
Calagary, Alberta – October 2nd, 1990
Duration:11:21

The Review: If it weren’t for Lance Storm, this would have probably read “Cowboy” Jack Action. Chris had to be from Casper, Wyoming. For 1990, this match is incredible. They were really doing things, at least here in the states [I know, it’s Canada, same thing in the wrestling world] that Brian Pillman was really only doing, and not on a huge scale. For a first match, this is great. After the bout, Lance Storm told Chris that “you were like Hulk Hogan out there! That was amazing!” Chris received $30 for the bout, and thought he was rich.
Rating:* * * 1/4

The Thrill Seekers vs. The Infernos
Smoke Mountain Wrestling – March 12, 1994
Duration:3:01

Review: Why is this even on here? I guess just to show some Thrill Seeker action, but I want the bout with The Heavenly Bodies. Chris wrestled with a broken arm, and also bled like crazy. Some hillbilly in the crowd thought the blood was fake, and loudly proclaimed so. Then he put his finger in a pool of Jericho’s blood and tasted it, confirming is belief it wasn’t real.
Rating:No rating

Chris Jericho [C] vs. The Ultimo Dragon
IJ Heavyweight Championship Match
Japan – July 7th, 1995

Review: This was probably the match that made Chris. Tapes got around, and earned him a lot of work. Most important was the tape landing in the hands of Mick Foley, then in the hands of Paul Heyman. It’s no surprise this bout caused his star to rise, because it’s fantastic. They’re all over the place, doing things peeps hadn’t ever seen, at least stateside.
Rating:* * * * 1/4

Chris Jericho vs. Cactus Jack
Hardcore TV – March 12, 1996
Duration:12:45

Review: This match is just fun. I love Mick in ECW, easily one of their top characters. Him and Chris just go out there and enjoy themselves. Not a technical masterpiece, but it in no way needs to be.
Rating:* * *

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Eddie Guerrero
WCW Cruiserweight Championship Match
Fall Brawl – September 14th, 1997
Duration: 16:44

Review: This match is a clear indication of everything that was wrong with WCW. First off, two of their most talented workers are opening, and while they’re putting on a hell of a clinic, all the stupid announcers can talk about is the nWo. God, it must have been seriously terrible to work for WCW while coming up in the business. As I stated earlier, this match is awesome. It’s non-stop, and watching it, you have to believe that the higher ups at WCW have brain damage, because these two have star written all over them.
Rating:* * * 3/4

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Juventud Guerrera
Mask vs. WCW Crusierweight Championship
SuperBrawl VIII – February 22nd, 1998
Duration:13: 27

Review: This show also featured Scott Steiner turning on his brother. So, what do you think was the highlight of the PPV? Scott Steiner doing this, or Juventud being forced to remove his mask? Yup. Jericho lobbied to have Juvi lose by Jericho cheating, but nope, instead he tapped out in the middle of the ring, clean as a sheet. Of course, Bish promised to push everyone to the moon for being able to lose their masks. Juvi was pushed as a Rock rip off, and Rey Mysterio became the World’s least threatening gangster. Everything you’d expect about this match is there. It’s great.
Rating:* * * 1/2

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Dean Malenko
WCW Crusierweight Championship
Nitro – July 27th, 1998
Duration:6:19

Review: I have no idea why they have this match. Out of the entire feud between these two, this is what we get? Couldn’t they give us the end of the battle royal that Dean snuck into, and the match proceeding it? Bastards.
Rating:* *

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Kurt Angle
IC Title match
No Way Out – February 27, 2000
Duration:10:12

Review: This came after Jericho finally becomes the sole owner of the IC Title, after having to share it with Chyna. Why the hell did they think that would be a good idea? Anyways, this match is decent, but I would have liked to see the bout go a little longer. If you ask me, Angle needs to head back to this heel character, it’s one of the all time greats. He was an arrogant jerk who was funny as hell.
Rating:* * *

Triple H [C] vs. Chris Jericho
WWE Championship Match
Raw – April 17th, 2000
Duration:9:50

Review: I can understand why this is on here, but c’mon. Where’s their LMS match from Fully Loaded? That’s a 5 star bout. This match is alright, and the crowd reaction for Jericho’s win is monsterous. I’m surprised they didn’t decide to just keep the belt on Jericho, hell, even Michael Hayes says they should have.
Rating: * * 3/4

The Rock [C] vs. Chris Jericho
WCW World Heavyweight Championship
No Mercy – October 21st, 2001
Duration:23:47

Review: Are you kidding me? How on Earth is it I’ve never heard of this match before now? It’s absolutely incredible. They go non-stop for over 20 minutes. It’s fantastic back and forth from beginning to end, neither one of them gets the upper hand for too long, and we even get some hardcore aspects as The Rock drags Jericho outside and delivers a Rock Bottom through the table. We have reversals, kick outs when you’re sure the bout is over with, and a relatively clean finish. I totally forgot about Jericho using the Skull Crushing Finale years before the hack started using it. These two are each others greatest opponents.
Rating:* * * * *

Stone Cold Steve Austin [C] vs. Chris Jericho [C]
Undisputed Heavyweight Title Match
Vengeance – December 9th, 2001
Duration:12:37

Review: I think having these two go at it right after Jericho beat Rock was a mistake. If they’d had a little more time to take a breather, I think they could have really delivered. It’s still a solid match, and a complete display of the WWE main event style. No one in the World thought Jericho would end up the winner here, but it was a damn fine move, I think. I just wish it would have been clean, and not having exactly 39 people interfere. Of course, the subsequent angle where Jericho is pussy-whipped without the pussy, and WM18 was headlined by Triple H vs. Steph almost makes you wish he hadn’t won.
Rating:* * * 1/4

DISC 3

Chris Jericho vs Hulk Hogan [C] – No DQ for the WWE Title
Duration:  12 minutes or so
Review: If it wasn’t for The Rock v Hogan at WMX8, than this would be the Hulkster’s best match. Jericho once again proves why he’s the man by giving the Hulkster one of the matches of his life. They go back and forth, and there’s none of that rest hold BS that you see with a lot of Hulk’s matches, nor is it cookie cutter. Most Hogan matches you could call in your sleep, but not this one. A more than worth while inclusion.
Rating: * * * *

Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels
Duration:22:33
Review:  This is one of the most heralded matches of all time, and for a reason. The angle was great, with Jericho admitting that Shawn was his hero, and he’d tried to emulate him his whole career. When it came to the bout, these guys had perfect chemistry, and the match stole the show, no doubt. It’s awesome that Shawn wasn’t able to defeat Jericho with assurance, but in fact squeaked by with a roll up. It made the two look pitch perfect to their parts, especially when Jericho kicks Shawn in the ding-a-ling.
Rating: * * * * 1/2

Chris Jericho vs John Cena [C] – You’re Fired Match For The WWE Title
Duration: 13 minutes or so

Review:  Jericho states that people get on John about not being a very good worker, and Jericho, much like those who are half intelligent, know that John is a hell of a worker and will always deliver, especially with another great wrestler. Well, this is certainly no exception. They go out there and tear the joint down. It’s face paced with a ton of back and forth, and although the end of the match had no mystery, it didn’t effect it. Bischoff was ring side and aided Jericho whenever he could, which helped to elevate the match quality wise because it stacked the deck even more against Cena, and flowed with the match so well.
Rating: * * * 3/4

Chris Jericho vs Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Title
Duration: 10 minutes or so

Review: Honestly, I don’t really know why it’s included here. It’s a great match though. Especially the ending, because it went back and forth back and forth in about 30 seconds.
Rating: * * * 1/2
Chris Jericho vs  Shawn Micheals – Ladder Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Duration: 22:22

Review: The reason this match is so damn great is because it went the complete opposite way of most ladder matches. Ever since No Mercy 1999, anytime there was a ladder match people kept trying to one-up the last one. With this one, they built an awesome match along with the ladders, instead of trying to build a match with just the ladders. There were no over-the-top spots or anything, but a lot of innovative uses for the ladder. Some really great stuff.
Rating: * * * * 3/4

Chris Jericho vs Rey Mysterio – No Holds Barred Match for the Intercontinental Title
Duration: 14:32

Review: I don’t know why they have this one here, when their Great American Bash match is an easy 5 stars. Not that this match is slacking, and I guess they put this one in instead because it’s Jericho’s 9th IC Title Win. This was during a time when Rey was open about trying to bring prestige back to the IC title, and having him and Jericho putting on all-time classics over the strap really was helping it. Jericho’s pre-match promo is great, as he keeps yelling at people to not touch him. Great finish, great match. It’s funny that they have it as No Holds Barred, because they didn’t even take advantage of the stipulation.
Rating: * * * * 1/2

Chris Jericho vs The Undertaker
Duration: 10:00

Review:  This was done simply because they hadn’t fought before. Ever. They really should have saved that selling point for PPV or something. It’s a great match, but it should have been a lot more.
Rating: * * * 1/2

Chris Jericho vs Edge for the World Heavyweight Title
Duration: 15:43

Review: Oooh, now we’re talking. This right here is a bonafied Wrestlemania classic, and my vote for match of the night. These guys went out there and tore the place apart. They didn’t let up for a single second. All the flawless counters and incredible near falls were all built upon fantastic wrestling with Jericho trying to snap Edge’s foot while the same time cowering from Edge’s spear. A fantastic match that earns the full monty, and then we even get the awesome table/spear spot. 5 stars all day, baby.
Rating: * * * * *


Bottom line, this is a fantastic set. One of the best, and I’m sure I’m being partial since Chris Jericho is my all time favorite wrestler. Great documentary, that not only includes a huge chunk of great Jericho matches, but we also get his classic moments that include the Man of 1,004 Holds, his trip to DC, and Jericho getting in a verbal throw down with an old man. This DVD is greater than the moss cover three handled family grudunzle.
This is Marion Cobretti saying, you don’t come into my dojo, drop a challenge and leave, old man. Now you get your boy on the mat, or you and I will have a major problem.
ou don’t come into my dojo, drop a challenge and leave, old man. Now you get your boy on the mat, or you and I will have a major problem.

Rants →

Marion Cobretti Reviews Chris Jericho DVD

17th February 2012 by Scott Keith

The Cobra Kai Review of Chris Jericho: Breaking The Code
In my mind, Chris Jericho is the greatest wrestler of all time. He was able to bring it as a face, then even more so as a heel, and he’s never sucked in the ring.
The documentary is great, as you’d expect. There’s a pretty good group of bonus features, including The Man of 1,004 Holds, Hello Cleveland!, Conspiracy Victim, and 2 Thrillseeker’s vignettes. Man, are those terrible. I was bummed to find out that Strange Kentucky People wasn’t on here.

DISC 2

“Cowboy” Chris Jericho vs. Lance Storm
Calagary, Alberta – October 2nd, 1990
Duration:11:21

The Review: If it weren’t for Lance Storm, this would have probably read “Cowboy” Jack Action. Chris had to be from Casper, Wyoming. For 1990, this match is incredible. They were really doing things, at least here in the states [I know, it’s Canada, same thing in the wrestling world] that Brian Pillman was really only doing, and not on a huge scale. For a first match, this is great. After the bout, Lance Storm told Chris that “you were like Hulk Hogan out there! That was amazing!” Chris received $30 for the bout, and thought he was rich.
Rating:* * * 1/4

The Thrill Seekers vs. The Infernos
Smoke Mountain Wrestling – March 12, 1994
Duration:3:01

Review: Why is this even on here? I guess just to show some Thrill Seeker action, but I want the bout with The Heavenly Bodies. Chris wrestled with a broken arm, and also bled like crazy. Some hillbilly in the crowd thought the blood was fake, and loudly proclaimed so. Then he put his finger in a pool of Jericho’s blood and tasted it, confirming is belief it wasn’t real.
Rating:No rating

Chris Jericho [C] vs. The Ultimo Dragon
IJ Heavyweight Championship Match
Japan – July 7th, 1995

Review: This was probably the match that made Chris. Tapes got around, and earned him a lot of work. Most important was the tape landing in the hands of Mick Foley, then in the hands of Paul Heyman. It’s no surprise this bout caused his star to rise, because it’s fantastic. They’re all over the place, doing things peeps hadn’t ever seen, at least stateside.
Rating:* * * * 1/4

Chris Jericho vs. Cactus Jack
Hardcore TV – March 12, 1996
Duration:12:45

Review: This match is just fun. I love Mick in ECW, easily one of their top characters. Him and Chris just go out there and enjoy themselves. Not a technical masterpiece, but it in no way needs to be.
Rating:* * *

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Eddie Guerrero
WCW Cruiserweight Championship Match
Fall Brawl – September 14th, 1997
Duration: 16:44

Review: This match is a clear indication of everything that was wrong with WCW. First off, two of their most talented workers are opening, and while they’re putting on a hell of a clinic, all the stupid announcers can talk about is the nWo. God, it must have been seriously terrible to work for WCW while coming up in the business. As I stated earlier, this match is awesome. It’s non-stop, and watching it, you have to believe that the higher ups at WCW have brain damage, because these two have star written all over them.
Rating:* * * 3/4

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Juventud Guerrera
Mask vs. WCW Crusierweight Championship
SuperBrawl VIII – February 22nd, 1998
Duration:13: 27

Review: This show also featured Scott Steiner turning on his brother. So, what do you think was the highlight of the PPV? Scott Steiner doing this, or Juventud being forced to remove his mask? Yup. Jericho lobbied to have Juvi lose by Jericho cheating, but nope, instead he tapped out in the middle of the ring, clean as a sheet. Of course, Bish promised to push everyone to the moon for being able to lose their masks. Juvi was pushed as a Rock rip off, and Rey Mysterio became the World’s least threatening gangster. Everything you’d expect about this match is there. It’s great.
Rating:* * * 1/2

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Dean Malenko
WCW Crusierweight Championship
Nitro – July 27th, 1998
Duration:6:19

Review: I have no idea why they have this match. Out of the entire feud between these two, this is what we get? Couldn’t they give us the end of the battle royal that Dean snuck into, and the match proceeding it? Bastards.
Rating:* *

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Kurt Angle
IC Title match
No Way Out – February 27, 2000
Duration:10:12

Review: This came after Jericho finally becomes the sole owner of the IC Title, after having to share it with Chyna. Why the hell did they think that would be a good idea? Anyways, this match is decent, but I would have liked to see the bout go a little longer. If you ask me, Angle needs to head back to this heel character, it’s one of the all time greats. He was an arrogant jerk who was funny as hell.
Rating:* * *

Triple H [C] vs. Chris Jericho
WWE Championship Match
Raw – April 17th, 2000
Duration:9:50

Review: I can understand why this is on here, but c’mon. Where’s their LMS match from Fully Loaded? That’s a 5 star bout. This match is alright, and the crowd reaction for Jericho’s win is monsterous. I’m surprised they didn’t decide to just keep the belt on Jericho, hell, even Michael Hayes says they should have.
Rating: * * 3/4

The Rock [C] vs. Chris Jericho
WCW World Heavyweight Championship
No Mercy – October 21st, 2001
Duration:23:47

Review: Are you kidding me? How on Earth is it I’ve never heard of this match before now? It’s absolutely incredible. They go non-stop for over 20 minutes. It’s fantastic back and forth from beginning to end, neither one of them gets the upper hand for too long, and we even get some hardcore aspects as The Rock drags Jericho outside and delivers a Rock Bottom through the table. We have reversals, kick outs when you’re sure the bout is over with, and a relatively clean finish. I totally forgot about Jericho using the Skull Crushing Finale years before the hack started using it. These two are each others greatest opponents.
Rating:* * * * *

Stone Cold Steve Austin [C] vs. Chris Jericho [C]
Undisputed Heavyweight Title Match
Vengeance – December 9th, 2001
Duration:12:37

Review: I think having these two go at it right after Jericho beat Rock was a mistake. If they’d had a little more time to take a breather, I think they could have really delivered. It’s still a solid match, and a complete display of the WWE main event style. No one in the World thought Jericho would end up the winner here, but it was a damn fine move, I think. I just wish it would have been clean, and not having exactly 39 people interfere. Of course, the subsequent angle where Jericho is pussy-whipped without the pussy, and WM18 was headlined by Triple H vs. Steph almost makes you wish he hadn’t won.
Rating:* * * 1/4

DISC 3

Chris Jericho vs Hulk Hogan [C] – No DQ for the WWE Title
Duration:  12 minutes or so
Review: If it wasn’t for The Rock v Hogan at WMX8, than this would be the Hulkster’s best match. Jericho once again proves why he’s the man by giving the Hulkster one of the matches of his life. They go back and forth, and there’s none of that rest hold BS that you see with a lot of Hulk’s matches, nor is it cookie cutter. Most Hogan matches you could call in your sleep, but not this one. A more than worth while inclusion.
Rating: * * * *

Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels
Duration:22:33
Review:  This is one of the most heralded matches of all time, and for a reason. The angle was great, with Jericho admitting that Shawn was his hero, and he’d tried to emulate him his whole career. When it came to the bout, these guys had perfect chemistry, and the match stole the show, no doubt. It’s awesome that Shawn wasn’t able to defeat Jericho with assurance, but in fact squeaked by with a roll up. It made the two look pitch perfect to their parts, especially when Jericho kicks Shawn in the ding-a-ling.
Rating: * * * * 1/2

Chris Jericho vs John Cena [C] – You’re Fired Match For The WWE Title
Duration: 13 minutes or so

Review:  Jericho states that people get on John about not being a very good worker, and Jericho, much like those who are half intelligent, know that John is a hell of a worker and will always deliver, especially with another great wrestler. Well, this is certainly no exception. They go out there and tear the joint down. It’s face paced with a ton of back and forth, and although the end of the match had no mystery, it didn’t effect it. Bischoff was ring side and aided Jericho whenever he could, which helped to elevate the match quality wise because it stacked the deck even more against Cena, and flowed with the match so well.
Rating: * * * 3/4

Chris Jericho vs Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Title
Duration: 10 minutes or so

Review: Honestly, I don’t really know why it’s included here. It’s a great match though. Especially the ending, because it went back and forth back and forth in about 30 seconds.
Rating: * * * 1/2
Chris Jericho vs  Shawn Micheals – Ladder Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Duration: 22:22

Review: The reason this match is so damn great is because it went the complete opposite way of most ladder matches. Ever since No Mercy 1999, anytime there was a ladder match people kept trying to one-up the last one. With this one, they built an awesome match along with the ladders, instead of trying to build a match with just the ladders. There were no over-the-top spots or anything, but a lot of innovative uses for the ladder. Some really great stuff.
Rating: * * * * 3/4

Chris Jericho vs Rey Mysterio – No Holds Barred Match for the Intercontinental Title
Duration: 14:32

Review: I don’t know why they have this one here, when their Great American Bash match is an easy 5 stars. Not that this match is slacking, and I guess they put this one in instead because it’s Jericho’s 9th IC Title Win. This was during a time when Rey was open about trying to bring prestige back to the IC title, and having him and Jericho putting on all-time classics over the strap really was helping it. Jericho’s pre-match promo is great, as he keeps yelling at people to not touch him. Great finish, great match. It’s funny that they have it as No Holds Barred, because they didn’t even take advantage of the stipulation.
Rating: * * * * 1/2

Chris Jericho vs The Undertaker
Duration: 10:00

Review:  This was done simply because they hadn’t fought before. Ever. They really should have saved that selling point for PPV or something. It’s a great match, but it should have been a lot more.
Rating: * * * 1/2

Chris Jericho vs Edge for the World Heavyweight Title
Duration: 15:43

Review: Oooh, now we’re talking. This right here is a bonafied Wrestlemania classic, and my vote for match of the night. These guys went out there and tore the place apart. They didn’t let up for a single second. All the flawless counters and incredible near falls were all built upon fantastic wrestling with Jericho trying to snap Edge’s foot while the same time cowering from Edge’s spear. A fantastic match that earns the full monty, and then we even get the awesome table/spear spot. 5 stars all day, baby.
Rating: * * * * *


Bottom line, this is a fantastic set. One of the best, and I’m sure I’m being partial since Chris Jericho is my all time favorite wrestler. Great documentary, that not only includes a huge chunk of great Jericho matches, but we also get his classic moments that include the Man of 1,004 Holds, his trip to DC, and Jericho getting in a verbal throw down with an old man. This DVD is greater than the moss cover three handled family grudunzle.
This is Marion Cobretti saying, you don’t come into my dojo, drop a challenge and leave, old man. Now you get your boy on the mat, or you and I will have a major problem.
ou don’t come into my dojo, drop a challenge and leave, old man. Now you get your boy on the mat, or you and I will have a major problem.

Rants →

Marion Cobretti Reviews Chris Jericho DVD

17th February 2012 by Scott Keith

The Cobra Kai Review of Chris Jericho: Breaking The Code
In my mind, Chris Jericho is the greatest wrestler of all time. He was able to bring it as a face, then even more so as a heel, and he’s never sucked in the ring.
The documentary is great, as you’d expect. There’s a pretty good group of bonus features, including The Man of 1,004 Holds, Hello Cleveland!, Conspiracy Victim, and 2 Thrillseeker’s vignettes. Man, are those terrible. I was bummed to find out that Strange Kentucky People wasn’t on here.

DISC 2

“Cowboy” Chris Jericho vs. Lance Storm
Calagary, Alberta – October 2nd, 1990
Duration:11:21

The Review: If it weren’t for Lance Storm, this would have probably read “Cowboy” Jack Action. Chris had to be from Casper, Wyoming. For 1990, this match is incredible. They were really doing things, at least here in the states [I know, it’s Canada, same thing in the wrestling world] that Brian Pillman was really only doing, and not on a huge scale. For a first match, this is great. After the bout, Lance Storm told Chris that “you were like Hulk Hogan out there! That was amazing!” Chris received $30 for the bout, and thought he was rich.
Rating:* * * 1/4

The Thrill Seekers vs. The Infernos
Smoke Mountain Wrestling – March 12, 1994
Duration:3:01

Review: Why is this even on here? I guess just to show some Thrill Seeker action, but I want the bout with The Heavenly Bodies. Chris wrestled with a broken arm, and also bled like crazy. Some hillbilly in the crowd thought the blood was fake, and loudly proclaimed so. Then he put his finger in a pool of Jericho’s blood and tasted it, confirming is belief it wasn’t real.
Rating:No rating

Chris Jericho [C] vs. The Ultimo Dragon
IJ Heavyweight Championship Match
Japan – July 7th, 1995

Review: This was probably the match that made Chris. Tapes got around, and earned him a lot of work. Most important was the tape landing in the hands of Mick Foley, then in the hands of Paul Heyman. It’s no surprise this bout caused his star to rise, because it’s fantastic. They’re all over the place, doing things peeps hadn’t ever seen, at least stateside.
Rating:* * * * 1/4

Chris Jericho vs. Cactus Jack
Hardcore TV – March 12, 1996
Duration:12:45

Review: This match is just fun. I love Mick in ECW, easily one of their top characters. Him and Chris just go out there and enjoy themselves. Not a technical masterpiece, but it in no way needs to be.
Rating:* * *

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Eddie Guerrero
WCW Cruiserweight Championship Match
Fall Brawl – September 14th, 1997
Duration: 16:44

Review: This match is a clear indication of everything that was wrong with WCW. First off, two of their most talented workers are opening, and while they’re putting on a hell of a clinic, all the stupid announcers can talk about is the nWo. God, it must have been seriously terrible to work for WCW while coming up in the business. As I stated earlier, this match is awesome. It’s non-stop, and watching it, you have to believe that the higher ups at WCW have brain damage, because these two have star written all over them.
Rating:* * * 3/4

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Juventud Guerrera
Mask vs. WCW Crusierweight Championship
SuperBrawl VIII – February 22nd, 1998
Duration:13: 27

Review: This show also featured Scott Steiner turning on his brother. So, what do you think was the highlight of the PPV? Scott Steiner doing this, or Juventud being forced to remove his mask? Yup. Jericho lobbied to have Juvi lose by Jericho cheating, but nope, instead he tapped out in the middle of the ring, clean as a sheet. Of course, Bish promised to push everyone to the moon for being able to lose their masks. Juvi was pushed as a Rock rip off, and Rey Mysterio became the World’s least threatening gangster. Everything you’d expect about this match is there. It’s great.
Rating:* * * 1/2

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Dean Malenko
WCW Crusierweight Championship
Nitro – July 27th, 1998
Duration:6:19

Review: I have no idea why they have this match. Out of the entire feud between these two, this is what we get? Couldn’t they give us the end of the battle royal that Dean snuck into, and the match proceeding it? Bastards.
Rating:* *

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Kurt Angle
IC Title match
No Way Out – February 27, 2000
Duration:10:12

Review: This came after Jericho finally becomes the sole owner of the IC Title, after having to share it with Chyna. Why the hell did they think that would be a good idea? Anyways, this match is decent, but I would have liked to see the bout go a little longer. If you ask me, Angle needs to head back to this heel character, it’s one of the all time greats. He was an arrogant jerk who was funny as hell.
Rating:* * *

Triple H [C] vs. Chris Jericho
WWE Championship Match
Raw – April 17th, 2000
Duration:9:50

Review: I can understand why this is on here, but c’mon. Where’s their LMS match from Fully Loaded? That’s a 5 star bout. This match is alright, and the crowd reaction for Jericho’s win is monsterous. I’m surprised they didn’t decide to just keep the belt on Jericho, hell, even Michael Hayes says they should have.
Rating: * * 3/4

The Rock [C] vs. Chris Jericho
WCW World Heavyweight Championship
No Mercy – October 21st, 2001
Duration:23:47

Review: Are you kidding me? How on Earth is it I’ve never heard of this match before now? It’s absolutely incredible. They go non-stop for over 20 minutes. It’s fantastic back and forth from beginning to end, neither one of them gets the upper hand for too long, and we even get some hardcore aspects as The Rock drags Jericho outside and delivers a Rock Bottom through the table. We have reversals, kick outs when you’re sure the bout is over with, and a relatively clean finish. I totally forgot about Jericho using the Skull Crushing Finale years before the hack started using it. These two are each others greatest opponents.
Rating:* * * * *

Stone Cold Steve Austin [C] vs. Chris Jericho [C]
Undisputed Heavyweight Title Match
Vengeance – December 9th, 2001
Duration:12:37

Review: I think having these two go at it right after Jericho beat Rock was a mistake. If they’d had a little more time to take a breather, I think they could have really delivered. It’s still a solid match, and a complete display of the WWE main event style. No one in the World thought Jericho would end up the winner here, but it was a damn fine move, I think. I just wish it would have been clean, and not having exactly 39 people interfere. Of course, the subsequent angle where Jericho is pussy-whipped without the pussy, and WM18 was headlined by Triple H vs. Steph almost makes you wish he hadn’t won.
Rating:* * * 1/4

DISC 3

Chris Jericho vs Hulk Hogan [C] – No DQ for the WWE Title
Duration:  12 minutes or so
Review: If it wasn’t for The Rock v Hogan at WMX8, than this would be the Hulkster’s best match. Jericho once again proves why he’s the man by giving the Hulkster one of the matches of his life. They go back and forth, and there’s none of that rest hold BS that you see with a lot of Hulk’s matches, nor is it cookie cutter. Most Hogan matches you could call in your sleep, but not this one. A more than worth while inclusion.
Rating: * * * *

Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels
Duration:22:33
Review:  This is one of the most heralded matches of all time, and for a reason. The angle was great, with Jericho admitting that Shawn was his hero, and he’d tried to emulate him his whole career. When it came to the bout, these guys had perfect chemistry, and the match stole the show, no doubt. It’s awesome that Shawn wasn’t able to defeat Jericho with assurance, but in fact squeaked by with a roll up. It made the two look pitch perfect to their parts, especially when Jericho kicks Shawn in the ding-a-ling.
Rating: * * * * 1/2

Chris Jericho vs John Cena [C] – You’re Fired Match For The WWE Title
Duration: 13 minutes or so

Review:  Jericho states that people get on John about not being a very good worker, and Jericho, much like those who are half intelligent, know that John is a hell of a worker and will always deliver, especially with another great wrestler. Well, this is certainly no exception. They go out there and tear the joint down. It’s face paced with a ton of back and forth, and although the end of the match had no mystery, it didn’t effect it. Bischoff was ring side and aided Jericho whenever he could, which helped to elevate the match quality wise because it stacked the deck even more against Cena, and flowed with the match so well.
Rating: * * * 3/4

Chris Jericho vs Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Title
Duration: 10 minutes or so

Review: Honestly, I don’t really know why it’s included here. It’s a great match though. Especially the ending, because it went back and forth back and forth in about 30 seconds.
Rating: * * * 1/2
Chris Jericho vs  Shawn Micheals – Ladder Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Duration: 22:22

Review: The reason this match is so damn great is because it went the complete opposite way of most ladder matches. Ever since No Mercy 1999, anytime there was a ladder match people kept trying to one-up the last one. With this one, they built an awesome match along with the ladders, instead of trying to build a match with just the ladders. There were no over-the-top spots or anything, but a lot of innovative uses for the ladder. Some really great stuff.
Rating: * * * * 3/4

Chris Jericho vs Rey Mysterio – No Holds Barred Match for the Intercontinental Title
Duration: 14:32

Review: I don’t know why they have this one here, when their Great American Bash match is an easy 5 stars. Not that this match is slacking, and I guess they put this one in instead because it’s Jericho’s 9th IC Title Win. This was during a time when Rey was open about trying to bring prestige back to the IC title, and having him and Jericho putting on all-time classics over the strap really was helping it. Jericho’s pre-match promo is great, as he keeps yelling at people to not touch him. Great finish, great match. It’s funny that they have it as No Holds Barred, because they didn’t even take advantage of the stipulation.
Rating: * * * * 1/2

Chris Jericho vs The Undertaker
Duration: 10:00

Review:  This was done simply because they hadn’t fought before. Ever. They really should have saved that selling point for PPV or something. It’s a great match, but it should have been a lot more.
Rating: * * * 1/2

Chris Jericho vs Edge for the World Heavyweight Title
Duration: 15:43

Review: Oooh, now we’re talking. This right here is a bonafied Wrestlemania classic, and my vote for match of the night. These guys went out there and tore the place apart. They didn’t let up for a single second. All the flawless counters and incredible near falls were all built upon fantastic wrestling with Jericho trying to snap Edge’s foot while the same time cowering from Edge’s spear. A fantastic match that earns the full monty, and then we even get the awesome table/spear spot. 5 stars all day, baby.
Rating: * * * * *


Bottom line, this is a fantastic set. One of the best, and I’m sure I’m being partial since Chris Jericho is my all time favorite wrestler. Great documentary, that not only includes a huge chunk of great Jericho matches, but we also get his classic moments that include the Man of 1,004 Holds, his trip to DC, and Jericho getting in a verbal throw down with an old man. This DVD is greater than the moss cover three handled family grudunzle.
This is Marion Cobretti saying, you don’t come into my dojo, drop a challenge and leave, old man. Now you get your boy on the mat, or you and I will have a major problem.
ou don’t come into my dojo, drop a challenge and leave, old man. Now you get your boy on the mat, or you and I will have a major problem.

Rants →

Marion Cobretti Reviews Chris Jericho DVD

17th February 2012 by Scott Keith

The Cobra Kai Review of Chris Jericho: Breaking The Code
In my mind, Chris Jericho is the greatest wrestler of all time. He was able to bring it as a face, then even more so as a heel, and he’s never sucked in the ring.
The documentary is great, as you’d expect. There’s a pretty good group of bonus features, including The Man of 1,004 Holds, Hello Cleveland!, Conspiracy Victim, and 2 Thrillseeker’s vignettes. Man, are those terrible. I was bummed to find out that Strange Kentucky People wasn’t on here.

DISC 2

“Cowboy” Chris Jericho vs. Lance Storm
Calagary, Alberta – October 2nd, 1990
Duration:11:21

The Review: If it weren’t for Lance Storm, this would have probably read “Cowboy” Jack Action. Chris had to be from Casper, Wyoming. For 1990, this match is incredible. They were really doing things, at least here in the states [I know, it’s Canada, same thing in the wrestling world] that Brian Pillman was really only doing, and not on a huge scale. For a first match, this is great. After the bout, Lance Storm told Chris that “you were like Hulk Hogan out there! That was amazing!” Chris received $30 for the bout, and thought he was rich.
Rating:* * * 1/4

The Thrill Seekers vs. The Infernos
Smoke Mountain Wrestling – March 12, 1994
Duration:3:01

Review: Why is this even on here? I guess just to show some Thrill Seeker action, but I want the bout with The Heavenly Bodies. Chris wrestled with a broken arm, and also bled like crazy. Some hillbilly in the crowd thought the blood was fake, and loudly proclaimed so. Then he put his finger in a pool of Jericho’s blood and tasted it, confirming is belief it wasn’t real.
Rating:No rating

Chris Jericho [C] vs. The Ultimo Dragon
IJ Heavyweight Championship Match
Japan – July 7th, 1995

Review: This was probably the match that made Chris. Tapes got around, and earned him a lot of work. Most important was the tape landing in the hands of Mick Foley, then in the hands of Paul Heyman. It’s no surprise this bout caused his star to rise, because it’s fantastic. They’re all over the place, doing things peeps hadn’t ever seen, at least stateside.
Rating:* * * * 1/4

Chris Jericho vs. Cactus Jack
Hardcore TV – March 12, 1996
Duration:12:45

Review: This match is just fun. I love Mick in ECW, easily one of their top characters. Him and Chris just go out there and enjoy themselves. Not a technical masterpiece, but it in no way needs to be.
Rating:* * *

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Eddie Guerrero
WCW Cruiserweight Championship Match
Fall Brawl – September 14th, 1997
Duration: 16:44

Review: This match is a clear indication of everything that was wrong with WCW. First off, two of their most talented workers are opening, and while they’re putting on a hell of a clinic, all the stupid announcers can talk about is the nWo. God, it must have been seriously terrible to work for WCW while coming up in the business. As I stated earlier, this match is awesome. It’s non-stop, and watching it, you have to believe that the higher ups at WCW have brain damage, because these two have star written all over them.
Rating:* * * 3/4

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Juventud Guerrera
Mask vs. WCW Crusierweight Championship
SuperBrawl VIII – February 22nd, 1998
Duration:13: 27

Review: This show also featured Scott Steiner turning on his brother. So, what do you think was the highlight of the PPV? Scott Steiner doing this, or Juventud being forced to remove his mask? Yup. Jericho lobbied to have Juvi lose by Jericho cheating, but nope, instead he tapped out in the middle of the ring, clean as a sheet. Of course, Bish promised to push everyone to the moon for being able to lose their masks. Juvi was pushed as a Rock rip off, and Rey Mysterio became the World’s least threatening gangster. Everything you’d expect about this match is there. It’s great.
Rating:* * * 1/2

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Dean Malenko
WCW Crusierweight Championship
Nitro – July 27th, 1998
Duration:6:19

Review: I have no idea why they have this match. Out of the entire feud between these two, this is what we get? Couldn’t they give us the end of the battle royal that Dean snuck into, and the match proceeding it? Bastards.
Rating:* *

Chris Jericho [C] vs. Kurt Angle
IC Title match
No Way Out – February 27, 2000
Duration:10:12

Review: This came after Jericho finally becomes the sole owner of the IC Title, after having to share it with Chyna. Why the hell did they think that would be a good idea? Anyways, this match is decent, but I would have liked to see the bout go a little longer. If you ask me, Angle needs to head back to this heel character, it’s one of the all time greats. He was an arrogant jerk who was funny as hell.
Rating:* * *

Triple H [C] vs. Chris Jericho
WWE Championship Match
Raw – April 17th, 2000
Duration:9:50

Review: I can understand why this is on here, but c’mon. Where’s their LMS match from Fully Loaded? That’s a 5 star bout. This match is alright, and the crowd reaction for Jericho’s win is monsterous. I’m surprised they didn’t decide to just keep the belt on Jericho, hell, even Michael Hayes says they should have.
Rating: * * 3/4

The Rock [C] vs. Chris Jericho
WCW World Heavyweight Championship
No Mercy – October 21st, 2001
Duration:23:47

Review: Are you kidding me? How on Earth is it I’ve never heard of this match before now? It’s absolutely incredible. They go non-stop for over 20 minutes. It’s fantastic back and forth from beginning to end, neither one of them gets the upper hand for too long, and we even get some hardcore aspects as The Rock drags Jericho outside and delivers a Rock Bottom through the table. We have reversals, kick outs when you’re sure the bout is over with, and a relatively clean finish. I totally forgot about Jericho using the Skull Crushing Finale years before the hack started using it. These two are each others greatest opponents.
Rating:* * * * *

Stone Cold Steve Austin [C] vs. Chris Jericho [C]
Undisputed Heavyweight Title Match
Vengeance – December 9th, 2001
Duration:12:37

Review: I think having these two go at it right after Jericho beat Rock was a mistake. If they’d had a little more time to take a breather, I think they could have really delivered. It’s still a solid match, and a complete display of the WWE main event style. No one in the World thought Jericho would end up the winner here, but it was a damn fine move, I think. I just wish it would have been clean, and not having exactly 39 people interfere. Of course, the subsequent angle where Jericho is pussy-whipped without the pussy, and WM18 was headlined by Triple H vs. Steph almost makes you wish he hadn’t won.
Rating:* * * 1/4

DISC 3

Chris Jericho vs Hulk Hogan [C] – No DQ for the WWE Title
Duration:  12 minutes or so
Review: If it wasn’t for The Rock v Hogan at WMX8, than this would be the Hulkster’s best match. Jericho once again proves why he’s the man by giving the Hulkster one of the matches of his life. They go back and forth, and there’s none of that rest hold BS that you see with a lot of Hulk’s matches, nor is it cookie cutter. Most Hogan matches you could call in your sleep, but not this one. A more than worth while inclusion.
Rating: * * * *

Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels
Duration:22:33
Review:  This is one of the most heralded matches of all time, and for a reason. The angle was great, with Jericho admitting that Shawn was his hero, and he’d tried to emulate him his whole career. When it came to the bout, these guys had perfect chemistry, and the match stole the show, no doubt. It’s awesome that Shawn wasn’t able to defeat Jericho with assurance, but in fact squeaked by with a roll up. It made the two look pitch perfect to their parts, especially when Jericho kicks Shawn in the ding-a-ling.
Rating: * * * * 1/2

Chris Jericho vs John Cena [C] – You’re Fired Match For The WWE Title
Duration: 13 minutes or so

Review:  Jericho states that people get on John about not being a very good worker, and Jericho, much like those who are half intelligent, know that John is a hell of a worker and will always deliver, especially with another great wrestler. Well, this is certainly no exception. They go out there and tear the joint down. It’s face paced with a ton of back and forth, and although the end of the match had no mystery, it didn’t effect it. Bischoff was ring side and aided Jericho whenever he could, which helped to elevate the match quality wise because it stacked the deck even more against Cena, and flowed with the match so well.
Rating: * * * 3/4

Chris Jericho vs Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Title
Duration: 10 minutes or so

Review: Honestly, I don’t really know why it’s included here. It’s a great match though. Especially the ending, because it went back and forth back and forth in about 30 seconds.
Rating: * * * 1/2
Chris Jericho vs  Shawn Micheals – Ladder Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Duration: 22:22

Review: The reason this match is so damn great is because it went the complete opposite way of most ladder matches. Ever since No Mercy 1999, anytime there was a ladder match people kept trying to one-up the last one. With this one, they built an awesome match along with the ladders, instead of trying to build a match with just the ladders. There were no over-the-top spots or anything, but a lot of innovative uses for the ladder. Some really great stuff.
Rating: * * * * 3/4

Chris Jericho vs Rey Mysterio – No Holds Barred Match for the Intercontinental Title
Duration: 14:32

Review: I don’t know why they have this one here, when their Great American Bash match is an easy 5 stars. Not that this match is slacking, and I guess they put this one in instead because it’s Jericho’s 9th IC Title Win. This was during a time when Rey was open about trying to bring prestige back to the IC title, and having him and Jericho putting on all-time classics over the strap really was helping it. Jericho’s pre-match promo is great, as he keeps yelling at people to not touch him. Great finish, great match. It’s funny that they have it as No Holds Barred, because they didn’t even take advantage of the stipulation.
Rating: * * * * 1/2

Chris Jericho vs The Undertaker
Duration: 10:00

Review:  This was done simply because they hadn’t fought before. Ever. They really should have saved that selling point for PPV or something. It’s a great match, but it should have been a lot more.
Rating: * * * 1/2

Chris Jericho vs Edge for the World Heavyweight Title
Duration: 15:43

Review: Oooh, now we’re talking. This right here is a bonafied Wrestlemania classic, and my vote for match of the night. These guys went out there and tore the place apart. They didn’t let up for a single second. All the flawless counters and incredible near falls were all built upon fantastic wrestling with Jericho trying to snap Edge’s foot while the same time cowering from Edge’s spear. A fantastic match that earns the full monty, and then we even get the awesome table/spear spot. 5 stars all day, baby.
Rating: * * * * *


Bottom line, this is a fantastic set. One of the best, and I’m sure I’m being partial since Chris Jericho is my all time favorite wrestler. Great documentary, that not only includes a huge chunk of great Jericho matches, but we also get his classic moments that include the Man of 1,004 Holds, his trip to DC, and Jericho getting in a verbal throw down with an old man. This DVD is greater than the moss cover three handled family grudunzle.
This is Marion Cobretti saying, you don’t come into my dojo, drop a challenge and leave, old man. Now you get your boy on the mat, or you and I will have a major problem.
ou don’t come into my dojo, drop a challenge and leave, old man. Now you get your boy on the mat, or you and I will have a major problem.

Rants →

Howard Finkel Test

17th February 2012 by Scott Keith

Scott,
I was hoping the link on “Howard Finkel Test” in your blog would be to the original reference. But it’s links to “Howard Finkel” and “Test,” which is kind of funny.
Can you explain what that is, especially with such a great first name?

Yeah, auto-tagging is wonderful for lazy people like me sometimes, but it can certainly auto-generate its share of unintentional comedy.  Anyway, The Howard Finkel Test is pretty easy.  The definitive way to determine if someone has a good name or bad name for wrestling is to picture them winning the World title in the main event of Wrestlemania, and Howard Finkel announcing them as the new champion.  For instance, try to think about Michael McGillicutty being announced that way and try not to cringe. 

Rants →

Howard Finkel Test

17th February 2012 by Scott Keith

Scott,
I was hoping the link on “Howard Finkel Test” in your blog would be to the original reference. But it’s links to “Howard Finkel” and “Test,” which is kind of funny.
Can you explain what that is, especially with such a great first name?

Yeah, auto-tagging is wonderful for lazy people like me sometimes, but it can certainly auto-generate its share of unintentional comedy.  Anyway, The Howard Finkel Test is pretty easy.  The definitive way to determine if someone has a good name or bad name for wrestling is to picture them winning the World title in the main event of Wrestlemania, and Howard Finkel announcing them as the new champion.  For instance, try to think about Michael McGillicutty being announced that way and try not to cringe. 

Rants →

Howard Finkel Test

17th February 2012 by Scott Keith

Scott,
I was hoping the link on “Howard Finkel Test” in your blog would be to the original reference. But it’s links to “Howard Finkel” and “Test,” which is kind of funny.
Can you explain what that is, especially with such a great first name?

Yeah, auto-tagging is wonderful for lazy people like me sometimes, but it can certainly auto-generate its share of unintentional comedy.  Anyway, The Howard Finkel Test is pretty easy.  The definitive way to determine if someone has a good name or bad name for wrestling is to picture them winning the World title in the main event of Wrestlemania, and Howard Finkel announcing them as the new champion.  For instance, try to think about Michael McGillicutty being announced that way and try not to cringe. 

Rants →

Howard Finkel Test

17th February 2012 by Scott Keith

Scott,
I was hoping the link on “Howard Finkel Test” in your blog would be to the original reference. But it’s links to “Howard Finkel” and “Test,” which is kind of funny.
Can you explain what that is, especially with such a great first name?

Yeah, auto-tagging is wonderful for lazy people like me sometimes, but it can certainly auto-generate its share of unintentional comedy.  Anyway, The Howard Finkel Test is pretty easy.  The definitive way to determine if someone has a good name or bad name for wrestling is to picture them winning the World title in the main event of Wrestlemania, and Howard Finkel announcing them as the new champion.  For instance, try to think about Michael McGillicutty being announced that way and try not to cringe. 

Rants →

Howard Finkel Test

17th February 2012 by Scott Keith

Scott,
I was hoping the link on “Howard Finkel Test” in your blog would be to the original reference. But it’s links to “Howard Finkel” and “Test,” which is kind of funny.
Can you explain what that is, especially with such a great first name?

Yeah, auto-tagging is wonderful for lazy people like me sometimes, but it can certainly auto-generate its share of unintentional comedy.  Anyway, The Howard Finkel Test is pretty easy.  The definitive way to determine if someone has a good name or bad name for wrestling is to picture them winning the World title in the main event of Wrestlemania, and Howard Finkel announcing them as the new champion.  For instance, try to think about Michael McGillicutty being announced that way and try not to cringe. 

Rants →

Howard Finkel Test

17th February 2012 by Scott Keith

Scott,
I was hoping the link on “Howard Finkel Test” in your blog would be to the original reference. But it’s links to “Howard Finkel” and “Test,” which is kind of funny.
Can you explain what that is, especially with such a great first name?

Yeah, auto-tagging is wonderful for lazy people like me sometimes, but it can certainly auto-generate its share of unintentional comedy.  Anyway, The Howard Finkel Test is pretty easy.  The definitive way to determine if someone has a good name or bad name for wrestling is to picture them winning the World title in the main event of Wrestlemania, and Howard Finkel announcing them as the new champion.  For instance, try to think about Michael McGillicutty being announced that way and try not to cringe. 

Rants →

Kassius…OH NO!

17th February 2012 by Scott Keith

Does the WWE have a list of names they created just sitting around and assign them to whoever goes through developmental, or is everything thought of on the fly.  For instance, is Jon Moxley Dean Ambrose simply because of the order he came into the company, or did they look at him and then their list of names and figure that was the best fit?
I bring this up after seeing the horrendous Kassius Ohno name.

I don’t know what the fuck they think about anymore.  You’d think HHH would know better, but truly this is a company of people who apparently never watched wrestling before.  Generally these days the names are a combination of inside jokes or trying to find things that are seemingly so ridiculous that the people wouldn’t want to take them onto the indy scene if they ever left again.  I’m assuming that they’re paying tribute to Cassius Clay and going to give Hero a knockout gimmick or something, but Ohno?  Claudio I can kind of understand because “Castanogli” isn’t an easy name to deal with.  But changing Tyler Black to Seth Rollins?  Why even bother?  The best wrestling name they’ve come up with in the past few years is Ricardo Rodriguez and he’s not even a wrestler.  They’re basically costing themselves money because no one in their right mind wants to wear a t-shirt for “Dean Ambrose” (who sounds like the bad guy in an 80s college farce movie) or “Seth Rollins” (who sounds like the guy from Best Buy who comes to fix your computer).  These people really need someone to go over the Howard Finkel Test with them before they come up with this shit. 

Rants →

Kassius…OH NO!

17th February 2012 by Scott Keith

Does the WWE have a list of names they created just sitting around and assign them to whoever goes through developmental, or is everything thought of on the fly.  For instance, is Jon Moxley Dean Ambrose simply because of the order he came into the company, or did they look at him and then their list of names and figure that was the best fit?
I bring this up after seeing the horrendous Kassius Ohno name.

I don’t know what the fuck they think about anymore.  You’d think HHH would know better, but truly this is a company of people who apparently never watched wrestling before.  Generally these days the names are a combination of inside jokes or trying to find things that are seemingly so ridiculous that the people wouldn’t want to take them onto the indy scene if they ever left again.  I’m assuming that they’re paying tribute to Cassius Clay and going to give Hero a knockout gimmick or something, but Ohno?  Claudio I can kind of understand because “Castanogli” isn’t an easy name to deal with.  But changing Tyler Black to Seth Rollins?  Why even bother?  The best wrestling name they’ve come up with in the past few years is Ricardo Rodriguez and he’s not even a wrestler.  They’re basically costing themselves money because no one in their right mind wants to wear a t-shirt for “Dean Ambrose” (who sounds like the bad guy in an 80s college farce movie) or “Seth Rollins” (who sounds like the guy from Best Buy who comes to fix your computer).  These people really need someone to go over the Howard Finkel Test with them before they come up with this shit. 

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