After months and months of delays I’ve finally begun reviewing this DVD set and we get things rolling with Disc 1 featuring the likes of Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, Evan Bourne, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, the WCW Cruiserweights, Shelton Benjamin, Ultimo Dragon and Eddie Guerrero.
– Before I get into the actual review let me take a moment to explain the delay and my review process. Jerome asked me to take over the WWE DVD reviews back in the summer time and gave me a list of releases he wanted me to cover. I was all for the idea but was wary of the fact there’s a 1-2 month delay between the release of these sets in the US and over here in my home of the UK. Trying to be smart, I ordered a region 1 version of the DVD online for use in my region-free DVD player. The problem? The vendor that sold it to me had some issues that weren’t quite clear and it wasn’t until I sent a complaint that they even notified me. I finally received this DVD about a month ago but it’s proven to be a fairly chaotic month for me with a death in my family, and starting a new job that takes up a huge portion of my time. So I’ve only just finished watching Disc 1 and can finally present you with my review at long last.
As for my process I’ll be bringing you the review as three different articles, one for each disc because A) it’ll be quicker and B) There’s far too many matches to get through in a single article. I’m not huge on play-by-play for something that isn’t live because I believe walls of text are boring. Yet I found myself somewhat compelled to call all the matches. But I’ve made sure to include a nice long review for each match too, so if you don’t care about the moves in the match then feel free to skim down to the review for each one. I’ll address the appearance of the set in my second article and the quality of the entire set in the third, so look forward to those. Oh! And I totally wrote Psicosis in one match and Psychosis in another and am not changing it because his name takes too long to type as it is.
OK, admin done, on with the show!
Disc 1 Main Content
– The disc starts out with a quick montage of each of the wrestlers highlighted on the set doing one high-flying move each. We’re then taken to Josh Matthews comparing these superstars to a fighter jet, LeBron James, and a bald eagle. He then points out a dropkick was about the most exciting move a wrestler could do in the old days but things began to change in the 70s, leading to one of wrestling’s first high-flyers, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat. Before each wrestler’s match we see a still image of them in mid-flight with a trajectory plotted, and then a minute or so of their high-flying antics.
Match 1
Ricky Steamboat vs. Brian Pillman
WCW Halloween Havoc 1992
Match: Jim Ross era WCW! I’d never heard JR call a WCW match until this, so that was a nice little bonus. Steamboat owns Pillman early on with his quick roll-ups, arm drags and skinning the cat. Dragon halts a Pillman comeback with a two-handed raising choke! Pillman plays possum and then takes this aerial battle to the ground. Tilt-a-whirl headscissors by Pillman and it actually looked like a better move when done slowly. Pillman attempts a superplex but Steamboat shoves him down. Dragon soars from the top for a single axe handle but Pillman dropkicks him out of the air. Lots of dirty tactics from Pillman, including a guillotine across the top rope, attacking Steamboat as he’s coming back into the ring (Swagger would not approve), and constantly ducking out of the ring to escape Dragon’s comebacks. Crossbody from the second rope by Pillman only gets two. Rib-breaker by Steamboat leads to a top rope sunset flip and they go into a counter sequence with Dragon ultimately getting the three count just shy of ten minutes.
Review: This was a nice little match, but probably not the ultimate exhibition of Steamboat’s high-flying abilities. I guess they’ve saved a lot for his DVD set, which is sort of a shame as they included him on this set for a reason. Still, a good match, and a particular treat for me with the JR commentary and the fact I have to confess to not having seen a lot of Ricky Steamboat and even less of Brian Pillman. A lot of the moves we take for granted now actually looked better back then because they were done slower and thus looked more impactful. Nowadays when someone does a tilt-a-whirl headscissors the victim just rolls through and pops back up, but here it looked like Steamboat was forcefully thrown onto his back. The crossbody looked really nice too as Steamboat nearly caught Pillman but then collapsed to the mat. You may notice I’m talking more about Brian Pillman’s high-flying than Steamboat’s, and that’s an accurate representation of the match; Pillman looked the better high-flyer, Steamboat looked the better overall wrestler, showing off a few instances of surprising power and much better technical skills. This leaves me puzzled as to why they chose this match, enjoyable as it was.
– Next it’s Evan Bourne’s turn to fly and his highlight package makes me feel sad that his two week push didn’t last longer. This guy is the last true high-flyer in the WWE and it’s pretty clear that he pops the crowd, so why wouldn’t they expose him more? I’m pretty sure his ankle injury wasn’t actually from an aerial move, and I have no idea what caused his latest one, but he’s obviously not a dangerous flyer so what gives Vince?
Match 2
Evan Bourne vs Zack Ryder
Superstars 2009
Match: Superstars! This will mark the second Superstars match I’ve ever seen, the first one being a Chris Jericho match very early on in its revival. Ryder looks pretty stacked next to the smaller Bourne who is nursing taped ribs. I believe he was in a feud with Mark Henry at the time. Bourne obviously out-quicks Ryder early on but Zack just shoves him around to get back into the match. Ryder attempts a super snapmare but Bourne locks his feet around Ryder’s head and hits a Mysterio-style rolling headscissors. Ryder again uses cheap tactics to regain the advantage. Woo-Woo-Woo’s all-round as the commentators are as silent as the crowd. They actually faded to black for a commercial break. Ryder is still in control after a flatjack and your rest hold of the evening is a body-scissors. Bourne actually counters it into a half boston crab, but Ryder easily gets the ropes. Inverted vertical suplex by Ryder! Zack locks in a dragon sleeper but changes up to a bear-hug but Bourne gets out of it and hits a big dropkick to leave both men down. Running hurricanrana and then a jumping back spin kick from Bourne as he gets a near fall. Enzuigiri by Bourne but a jumping leg lariat from Ryder! He’s bleeding from the ear, STOP THE MATCH! Ryder puts Bourne up top, he elbows him off, Shooting Star Press, match over, time for many replays.
Review: This was a decent match… for Superstars. Once again my complaint is that this isn’t the best showcase of the high-flyer in question’s abilities. I’m not sure what their excuse is here, we’re years off a potential Evan Bourne DVD set, so I figured guys like him would be the star attraction on this DVD. There were several matches early into his ECW tenure that were better than this one, and the rest-period in the middle sucked quite a bit of the fun out of it. The closing moments were very nice though.
– Now we go to Josh Matthews in the ring with Evan Bourne sporting the cheesiest little grin in the world. Michael Cole gets on Am-Drag for being a nerd, but I think he’s missing out on a much easier target. He’s got a camera strapped around his chest and he goes up top to hit his finisher onto a crash-mat so we can all see what he sees when he does the move. It was a nice idea, but the camera wasn’t strapped tight enough, so when he actually began the flip the thing went everywhere. Until that, it was pretty interesting. Bourne himself pointed out that he probably would have destroyed the camera had he done the move exactly as he does on his opponents, something I’d wondered about myself. It’d be nice to see this idea applied to other wrestlers on this set, though Morrison would likely shake the camera beyond all belief with Starship Pain.
– Next up, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka! Am I the only one who thinks his body is kind of weird? Maybe a better question would be am I the only one who is paying such close attention to the body of a male wrestler?
Match 3
Jimmy Snuka vs. “Samoan No. 3” Samu
Madison Square Garden 1984
Match: At first I was confused by how Samula was addressed. I wasn’t aware they called the Wild Samoans by number. Anyway, Snuka tattoos Samu early with right hands and then body slams the hell out of him. Samu attempts Snuka’s signature double leap-frog but Superfly launches himself into a running crossbody before he can hit the double chop. Snuka grounds Samula with a headlock and then a front-facelock, but the young Samoan powers the legend to the corner to break the hold and then hits an uppercut to the throat. He hits a body slam of his own, but obviously with nowhere near the same impact. Nerve hold! Two minutes later and we’re still in then nerve hold, and Snuka has barely moved. 8 days later he fights to his feet but Samu drops him with a shoulder block. Snuka uses the authentic version of the double leap-frog, ducks Samu’s attempt at the crossbody, hits the double chop and then a running jumping headbutt. Huge vertical suplex by Snuka sets up a flying crossbody from the top rope and that’s all she wrote.
Review: I’ll admit to being criminally uneducated when it comes to this era and before of wrestling, so I enjoyed seeing this match. Snuka is about as intense a wrestler as I’ve ever seen, and it’s pretty incredible how he managed to be so strong and so agile at the same time. Take away the hours of nerve hold from Samu and this was essentially a squash match. A better showcase of the athlete in question’s abilities than the last two matches, but clearly not the best showcase possible. The trend continues.
– After deliberating over who was the first true high-flyer out of Steamboat and Snuka, Josh Matthews moves us along to the invention of the WCW Cruiserwight division. That’s right, our fourth high-flyer is an entire division! Fair enough, they were the backbone of the top wrestling company of the mid-to-late 90’s. Highlights of every big name you can think of.
Match 4
Juventud Guerrera, Hector Garza & Lizmark Jr. vs. La Parka, Psicosis & Villano IV (w/ Sonny Onoo)
Bash at the Beach 1997
Match: Don’t expect this to be coherent… Mike Tenay gives us a crash-course on Lucha Libre that is probably a big part of why this match was chosen. Fun fact: Everybody in the match is a second generation wreslter. Lizmark starts out with Psicosis and flips out a neck-scissors for the first highlight of the match. Garza flies in with a top rope arm drag on Psicosis and then vaults over Lizmark to hit a dropkick to knock him out of the ring. Villano enters and floors both men as Lizmark leaves the ring. Garza uses more high-flying arm drags, one from the top rope, another as a springboard from the middle rope, sending Villano to the outside where he nails him with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. La Parka and Juventud go at it now and The Juice hits a head-scissors, and then jumps backwards onto Parka’s shoulders and hits a spinning hurricanrana. La Parka knocks Juventud down and runs the ropes but gets launched over the top. Juventud follows this with a Skin-the-Snake. Sonny Onoo nails Juventud with a roundhouse! He tries again but hits La Parka to cause a little friction but Onoo holds up some cash to settle it. Back in the ring Psicosis murders himself by missing a dropkick in the corner, sending him down onto the back of his head. I’ve seen that from him a number of times and it’s a wonder he’s never broken his neck. Lizmark tags in and does some lovely flips for no reason other than to leave him open to a La Parka attack from behind. Sloppy moment sees Garza attempt his spot early, climbing the top rope and then getting right back down to allow the rudo team to go to the planned miscommunication spot and shove each other. Garza hits his mark this time and wipes out all three men. Juventud flies in and nails a leg drop/senton on all three. Three dropkicks send the rudos to the outside and the tecnicos fly over the top rope to wipe them out. Juventud tosses Psicosis back in the ring and attempts a springboard crossbody but gets dropkicked out of the air. Psicosis puts Juventud on the top rope and then hits a brutal sunset bomb for a close two count. Things get sloppy again as Garza gets a blind tag while Juventud gets launched into the air by Parka into Psicosis who sand-bags the crap out of a hurricanrana. Ref counts to two despite Juvi no longer being legal and Garza flies in with a standing moonsault from the top rope on Parka mid-count, but doesn’t get the pin either. Lizmark and Villano get into the ring and Lizmark leaps to the top rope effortlessly to hit a moonsault of his own but Villano pretty much kicks out at one. Lizmark and Garza lock Psicosis and Viallno into the row-boat/star but Parka breaks it up by tossing Juvi down onto them. The ring begins to clear now and Psicosis misses a superfly splash. Lizmark does the same, and then Villano, and Juvi and Parka. Yes, they all missed a flying move. Villano puts Juvi down and goes up top but gets cut off. What looked like a tower of doom turned into Psicosis and Parka holding Juvi and Garza in electric chairs, but Lizmark dropkicked both men in the back to cause a pair of hurricanranas out of the ring and Villano to fall off the top rope. Handspring moonsault from Lizmark gets two. He dropkicks Villano out of the ring and then hits a huge crossbody from the top rope. Running corkscrew crossbody from Parka! Poetry in Motion by Juvi and Garza to the outside!!! Psicosis gets launched onto all of them and then Garza jumps from the top rope with a spinning crossbody (different from a corkscrew of course). Villano V runs into the ring to replace Villano IV and attempts to pin Garza in the ring but can’t do it. Garza jumps to the top rope and hits a missile dropkick and finishes the imposter Villano with a standing moonsault. Finally.
Review: Jesus. After all those crazy flying moves Hector Garza wins with a standing moonsault?! Wow. This match had almost every lucha libre cliché in the book, from the million variations on an arm drag, to the complicated multi-man spots, to the sloppy moments that nearly ruin the match, and of course the underwhelming finish after ten minutes of far crazier moves. I don’t really care for Lucha Libre, so I’m biased here, but if you like flips and dives to the outside you’ll dig this as everybody got a chance to try and kill themselves. Juvi’s ability to hit a Poetry in Motion from the middle of the ring clear to the outside was the move of the match as I didn’t think he’d have a chance of leaping that far. Hector Garza was the weak-point for me as he was responsible for a pair of blown spots and had that devil-may-care attitude I loathe. Anyways, it was what it was, let’s move on. Oh, and I’m sure the Bella Twins picked up a copy of this DVD and got their twin-magic spot from the Villanos.
– Next up is the IWC’s favourite son, Shelton “Put the Title On Him” Benjamin. These highlights do nothing to change my mind about him being a mediocre high-flyer. He’s a great wrestler and phenomenal athlete, but there are better flyers out there folks. Disagree with me in the comments if you want.
Match 5
Shelton Benjamin vs. Shawn Michaels
Raw 2005
Match: I’m pretty sure everybody reading this has seen this match and vividly remembers the endless replays of the finish, but let’s talk about it anyway. HBK grounds Shelton early but Benjamin obviously wins the mat exchange leaving both men smiling. More technical wrestling and another point for Shelton. Shawn learns from his mistake and uses speed to knock Benjamin down but Shelton proves quicker as well with a pair of lightning arm drags that leave Michaels frustrated. Headlock spots lead to Shawn hitting a running forearm. Shelton fires back and clotheslines Shawn out of the ring as we go to the commercial break. When we return they’re fighting on the top rope and Benjamin reverses a back superplex into a crossbody, a spot Shawn has used many a time in his career. Samoan drop by Shelton Benjamin and both men are down again. Benjamin wins a right-hand exchange and hits two more flying forearms before hitting his sick backbreaker. Michaels launches himself at Shelton with a flying forearm of his own and both men are down for a long time before both nipping up. A crazy pin exchange sequence ends with a huge chop from Michaels. Stinger splash from Shelton. Back body drop from Michaels. No clear advantage for either man yet. Sweet Chin Music misses, Shelton attempts the move himself but gets his leg caught, Dragon Whip! Only two. Shelton tries a superplex but is shoved down to the mat and eats a huge elbow drop. Shawn has a seizure as he gets to his feet and tunes up the band. Shelton catches his foot and destroys HBK’s face with a standing roundhouse for a near fall. Shelton leaps to the top rope as only he can and rebounds with a flying forearm strike. Shelton runs the ropes and Michaels tosses him to the outside but he lands on the apron. Shelton tries a springboard attack but Shawn obliterates him with the greatest Sweet Chin Music of all time.
Review: You can complain about the WWE underutilizing Shelton Benjamin until you are blue in the face, the fact of the matter is in his last year or so with the company he failed to perform at the high level he did during his time on Raw as the Intercontinental Champion. This match reminded me why I was on his bandwagon back in the day, and I hope that some time in the indies returns him to this level. He was certainly closer to this at Glory by Honor than he has been in a while. The story was kind of interesting as Shawn’s main two strengths, his technical ability and his high-flying/speed were neutralized by the younger, more athletic Benjamin with all his amateur accolades under his belt. Instead, Shawn used veteran cunning to pull out the win despite one of the best performances Shelton has ever put forth. Oh yeah, and the finish is kind of awesome if you haven’t heard.
– Next up is Ultimo Dragon! In my opinion the second greatest cruiserweight of all time behind Rey Mysterio, but that’s open to debate. They pepper his montage of WCW footage with several WWE highlights which I guess they felt they had to do despite his run there being a failure.
Match 6
Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Ultimo Dragon
WCW World War 3 1996
Match: What were WCW thinking having three rings at once? Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen it many times, but it’s been a while, so yeah, what were they thinking? Ultimo Dragon holding 8 titles at once was a wonderful time for wrestling. Immediate stand-off after a headlock takedown escape and Dragon goes to Rey’s arm, taking him to the mat and utilizing a modified Rings of Saturn. Rey responds by going to Dragon’s leg but to little effect. Dragon uses his size advantage to keep Rey grounded, but reminds us of his agility by going into a long and crazy counter sequence with Rey that sees both men miss springboard moves and go for kicks at the same time before flipping back to their feet for another stand-off. Kick combination from Dragon floors Rey. Mysterio ends up on the apron but Dragon hits a springboard dropkick to send him crashing to the floor. Incredible bridging german suplex by Dragon back in the ring gets two. Dragon is dominating this contest. Inverted spinning torture rack with absolute ease by Dragon ends in a shock treatment of sorts and he follows that by sinking in a single leg crab. He lets go for no apparent reason and hits a powerbomb, lifting Rey off the mat immediately afterwards and hitting an overbomb down onto the top rope. Spinebuster by Ultimo and then a giant swing that would make Claudio Castagnoli proud. Fisherman buster! Only two. Brainbuster! Only two. He tries for another but Rey reverses into an inside cradle for a near fall. Dragon locks in a knee-bar to continue his total domination. Once again he lets go for no reason. Jumping Tombstone!!! Only two! Dropkick sends Mysterio out of the ring and Dragon uses the 619 to fake Rey out before hitting a baseball slide but misses a vaulting body press. Rey tries to take advantage but gets his irish whip into the guard rail reversed. Tombstone on the floor!!! Vaulting splash from inside the ring to the floor! Dragon takes Rey back inside and sits him on the top rope and snaps off the Dragonsteiner! Liger Bomb! Another two. This is madness. Rey finally creates an opening with a botched spinning wheel kick and then hits a Jesus Walks (springboard double jump moonsault) for two. Springboard dropkick to the back sends Dragon to the outside and Rey leaps to the second rope and hits a rebound tope con hilo to the outside! Springboard sunset flip by Rey back inside gets two. Ultimo runs the ropes but Rey handsprings his way into an electric chair and a spinning hurricanrana right on Dragon’s head for a very close two. Dragon Suplex! Only two. He tries another powerbomb but Rey counters into a backslide for two. Mysterio attempts the springboard seated senton but Dragon catches him, powerbombs him down onto the top rope, spins around and absolutely plants him into the mat with a sit-out powerbomb for the three-count.
Review: This was ridiculous but in a kind of good way. If you don’t like Rey Mysterio this match will be borderline pornographic for you as he took more punishment in ten minutes than he has all year in the WWE. The Tombstones were a little much, but outside the WWF they were a reasonably common move, so I can’t knock it too much. Ultimo Dragon destroyed Rey from bell to bell save for a very brief burst of aerial offence near the end and while it was another good match, it once again didn’t spotlight the high-flying ability of the wrestler in question. Dragon looked more like a heavyweight wrestler for a good portion of the match. No Asai moonsault to be found here. I know he didn’t actually fly too much, but you’d think they’d pick a match where he hit his most famous move. I expected a more even contest, but I still enjoyed it. Two things can be learned from this match: 1) Chris Jericho learned a lot from his matches with Ultimo Dragon, 2) Dragon Kid is a cheap knock-off of these two.
– We close out disc 1 with Latino Heat himself, Eddie Guerrero. His montage will obviously make you miss the late legend and is filled with WCW and WWE footage in about equal measure which is ironic considering the upcoming match took place in neither company.
Match 7
ECW Television Championship Match
(C) Eddie Guerrero vs Dean Malenko ECW Hardcore TV 1995
Match: A technical wrestler’s wet dream. Guerrero goes to the arms early and grounds Malenko, attempting pins and submissions here and there before Malenko returns to his feet. It’s Dean’s turn to go to the arm now but Guerrero uses his speed to flip and roll out and reverse but Malenko does the exact same. They trade lightning fast covers and return to a stand-off. Test of strength! Malenko forces Guerrero down into a bridge but of course Eddie gets back vertical and does the same to Malenko. Eddie attempts to jump onto Dean but Malenko pushes him off with his legs, pulls himself up and uses a monkey flip but Eddie lands on his feet effortlessly. Recently Shelton Benjamin did that and people made a big deal of how easy he made it look. Well, watch Guerrero do it and you’ll rethink some things. Back to the mat we go as Malenko tries a sort of STF headlock before settling for a front face lock instead. Guerrero counters into a double chickenwing pin for a near fall. Stalemate again. Eddie quickens the pace with a jumping back elbow and then a tope atomico for two. Guerrero uses a surfboard but Malenko reverses in to one of his own. Guerrero escapes with elbows and they trade waistlocks until Eddie shoves Malenko into the corner. He jumps from the second rope and hits the over the back rolling headscissors used by Bourne earlier in the disc. Malenko isn’t to be outdone however as he hits a tilt-a-whirl headscissors. Crazy dodge sequence ends with a Guerrero dropkick. He teases another test of strength but instead hits a basement dropkick to the knee and locks in a knee-bar. He switches it up into an STF but Malenko reaches the ropes. Kitchen sink knee to the gut by Malenko gives him back control as he hits a huge single-knee gutbuster. Abdominal stretch is broken and Malenko tries another kitchen sink but Guerrero leaps over his knee for a school boy and a two count. Pumphandle backbreaker by Eddie gets another two. Gory Special! Sunset flip by Malenko gets two but he’s fairly dead. Face manipulation! Front powerslam by Guerrero… Frog Splash! Malenko kicks out twice. Elbow by Malenko and then a huge flying crossbody from the top rope. Eddie counters a suplex and hits a brainbuster for another near fall. Sunset bomb by Guerrero. He tries a backdrop driver but Malenko gets a crossbody. Powerbomb by Malenko! Near fall again. Delayed brainbuster and another close fall. Eddie evades Malenko and then snaps off a hurricanrana. He goes up top but Malenko gets him in an electric chair and walks towards the ropes. A clearly insane Eddie Guerrero uses a headscissors to take both men out of the ring. They battle on the apron and Guerrero ends up on top for a missile dropkick to the back. German suplex! Only two. Fisherman suplex! Only two. Both men are exhausted as Malenko hits a huge Tiger Bomb for two. Another hurricanrana by Guerrero but Malenko rolls through into a pin attempt of his own. Guerrero tries to counter into his own pin but Malenko blocks and pins Eddie to regain the ECW TV Title as Guerrero hands him the belt… before clotheslining him and leaving.
Review: I miss both of these guys. I miss suplexes. I miss technical wrestling. This was a fantastic match that proved why both men deserved to go on to bigger and better things. The previous match broke down into a bit of a spot-fest as Ultimo Dragon hit move after move. This match however was very back and forth and made both men look fantastic. They hit several high impact moves but they sold the damage far better and seemed genuinely gassed out by the end, making the finish all the more believable. Wonderful stuff.
Special Features
– What would a WWE DVD be without a plethora of bonus features? We get four on disc 1; two matches, another sky-cam video and a warning in the form of a vignette of aerial mishaps.
Bonus Match 1
Ultimo Dragon vs. Psychosis
WCW Uncensored 1997
Match: Ultimo Dragon takes Psychosis down early with a move that used to be called the tiger spin on the WWF No Mercy video game. Psychosis makes it back to his feet and the pair take each other down with arm drags and reversals before returning to their feet. Ultimo ducks and dodges like a mad-man and then hits his signature kick combo. Knee-bar by Dragon but Psychosis locks one in at the same time so both men release. Headstand in the corner by Dragon and he fakes Psychosis out before hitting a mule kick. Bizarre fake-out sequence by Dragon culminates in an enzuigiri. Camel clutch now by Dragon but Psychosis counters into one of his own, though Excalibur would call it a Sabu Camel Clutch. He releases and goes to the top rope and hits the Psycho Guillotine but only gets two. Elbow drop from the second rope only gets two despite a pair of feet on said second rope. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker by Dragon. Psychosis breaks a sleeper hold with a jawbreaker but Dragon shrugs it off and hits a backdrop driver. Psychosis knocks Dragon down and then hits a spinning wheel kick from the top rope, sending Dragon all the way to the outside. Psychosis runs the ropes and hits a suicide dive over the top! Slingshot leg drop from the ring to the outside hurts Dragon but clearly hurt Psychosis even more, leaving him with a noticeable limp. He tries to jump onto Dragon on the apron but gets launched into the air and lands throat-first on the top rope before flying to the outside. Ultimo Dragon hits a handspring back elbow into the guard rail and then an Asai Moonsault! Sonny Onoo creams Psychosis with a beautiful spin kick to the back of the head and then plays it off by saying he slipped. Amusing. Big moonsault back in the ring gets two. Psychosis tries a powerbomb but Dragon hits a hurricanrana. La Magistral by Dragon only gets two. He puts Psychosis on the top rope and tries the spinning frankensteiner but Psychosis counters and after a brief struggle both men fall from the rope and pretty much super gourdbuster each other. They struggle to their feet and hit stereo spinning wheel kicks. They head back to the top rope and Psychosis hits a big frankensteiner. He attempts the Rey Mysterio electric chair hurricanrana but Dragon hits a Liger Bomb for two. He tries the spinning frankensteiner again but decides to hit a spinning DDT from the top! Tiger Suplex. Done.
Review: If you want me to be honest, this should have been the match to spotlight Dragon and the match against Rey should have been the bonus match. If nothing else they should have made the utter demolition of one of their top stars a quiet bonus match and put the defeat of a by-gone Mexican star in pride of place. He didn’t fly all that much more, but I think it was a better match because it was more even. I tend not to like Psychosis matches because he’s a very sloppy wrestler but this was actually pretty good. Viva la WCW cruiserweights.
Bonus Match 2
Chavo Guerrero vs. Jamie Noble
Smackdown 2008
Match: I completely forgot that Bam Neely existed. Both men battle for position with Chavo coming out on top with a headlock. Jamie Noble counters out and then takes Chavo down for a double chickenwing pin for two. Noble tries a backslide but Chavo counters into the Gory Special and drops Noble onto the top rope. Rest hold! Noble tries to escape but gets a kitchen sink to the gut. Rest hold! Back suplex by Noble and both men are down. Noble is a house of… well, not quite fire, but something hot. Northern lights suplex gets two. Noble tries a running knee lift but Chavo side-steps him and does the Eddie dance. Three Amigos attempt fails as Noble counters the third suplex into a swinging neckbreaker. Noble tries for the Trailer Hitch but Chavo escapes. Noble tries to the gutbuster but Chavo escapes. Guillotine by Chavo leads to a Frog Splash and a three count.
Review: Why on earth was this match on this DVD? Jamie Noble is a ridiculously underrated wrestler and Chavo Guerrero is slightly overlooked as one of the greats of the cruiserweight division, but this wasn’t even close to the best work of either man. The match was all of five minutes, meant nothing, and was all together very forgettable. If anything it showed how poor the modern product is in comparison to the otherwise great matches featured on this DVD.
– Our next bonus feature is another of the harness camera videos, this time with Jamie Noble executing a moonsault. It was nice to see Jamie smiling and he still looks like he could go despite Sheamus’ best efforts. I like the camera idea, but once again it works only until the flip is executed as the camera just shakes wildly once turned upside down.
– The final piece of content on disc 1 is a little vignette called Flight Turbulence. At first I thought it was going to be some of wrestling’s greatest high-flying botches, but really it was more of an asortment of painful looking top rope moves that served as an extended Don’t Try This At Home video. Featured in it were: Brock Lesnar’s shooting star press, Kurt Angle’s moonsault off the top of the cage, Rikishi’s superfly splash from the top of the cage, Shane McMahon’s fall from the titantron, Undertaker falling from a ladder through tables, and Mankind being thrown off the top of the cell.
Overall Thoughts
So that’s Disc 1 in the bag. If you’ve been paying attention then my thoughts will be clear but I’ll repeat them anyway. These are all great matches that should absolutely be seen and enjoyed, but I was under the impression that the point of this disc was to show off the supreme sky skills of the superstars. Many of these matches show you the basic flying ability of the guys, but they’re hardly a tour de force. Evan Bourne does a Shooting Star Press but leaves out his flying dropkick, diving double knee attack and incredible standing frankensteiner. Jimmy Snuka wins his match with a diving crossbody block, which is admittedly a flying move, but why not a match he won with the Superfly Splash? The Sky-Cam stuff was pretty nice and I hope it continues in later discs. The thing I’m most pleased with is the diversity of the wrestlers and the matches to go with them. There’s no real theme and while that could be considered a bad thing I actually rather like it. We went from Steamboat to Bourne to Snuka to the WCW Cruiserweights to Shelton to Ultimo Dragon to Eddie Guerrero. Who can turn their nose up at that cast list? The mixture also leaves me wondering who is left to come, though a quick google search would tell me of course.
– OK folks, that’ll do it for disc 1. I’ll get to work on watching disc 2 as soon as I can and hope to have it up over the weekend. With any luck the third will follow soon after that but I’m making no promises.