DVD Review: Kurt Angle - The Essential Collection

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 531 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: July 31 2017

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

Kurt Angle is one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all-time. Mixing his previous outstanding amateur wrestling ability, style and credibility with his desire to learn allowing him to quickly pick up the pro style along with unseen charisma and a great sense of humour, all during one of the hottest periods in wrestling history, Angle quickly established his legacy as one of the very best in record time. His return to WWE in early 2017 was hugely anticipated, and fans immediately gravitated back to the legendary Olympic gold medallist.

Therefore, it was inevitable that a DVD celebrating Angle's big return would be released, and so we have this collection of matches from 1999-2006. You can't really go wrong with a Kurt Angle match compilation, and this is proven to be the case as this is one of the best WWE DVDs that you will see. We also get pre-match comments from Angle who discusses how pivotal specific bouts were to his career, though they do occasionally border on being slightly self-indulgent at times. But more often than not, they're insightful, and a welcome aspect of the feature (this incidentally does not have any bonus material).

Beginning with Angle's televised debut against Shawn Stasiak from Survivor Series 1999 (where fans are booing and chanting "Boring!" within a minute of the bell ringing; how dare two wrestlers actually try to wrestle during the Attitude Era!), we then jump to Angle's first tastes of gold against the surprisingly over Val Venis from SmackDown and Chris Jericho at No Way 2000 for the European and Intercontinental Championships respectively.

Arguably the highlight of the DVD's first hour is the footage of Angle's promos from this time; he was so hilariously dorky, egotistical and entertaining that it almost makes one disappointed when he becomes more serious as the DVD progresses. But he continued rapidly climbing the ladder, evidenced by the next match, the King Of The Ring 2000 tournament final scrap with Rikishi.

By now, Angle was almost at the main event level. A quick three-way against Y2J and Triple H from Raw is followed by Angle's big moment, his WWF Title match against The Rock from No Mercy, which is a vital match in Angle's career and a great one (no pun intended) to boot. Angle's first PPV title defence against The Undertaker from Survivor Series is next. This has a hugely surprising ending, but if you haven't seen this before, I strongly recommend that you skip the segment which precedes this match as it gives away what happens; this happens often during this DVD but in this particular case, it's a bit of a bummer.

We then get a forgotten bout between Angle and Triple H from Royal Rumble 2001. It's good, but the heel vs. heel dynamic hurts it, and it's arguable that the two never had a truly great match against one another (might that change at this year's SummerSlam?). It's a shame that Angle vs. Rock from No Way Out 2001 isn't here, but the first disc does end with a bang via the brutal and bloody Kurt vs. Shane McMahon Street Fight from KOTR 2001.

Disc two opens by looking back at Angle's infamous feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin, which would include cowboy hats and bloodbaths. It's debatable as to whether their WWF Championship clash from Unforgiven 2001 was their best, but the action and story-telling are of a very high standard, and given its outcome, and the location (Angle's hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), it had to be included.

The next few matches capture Angle in his red-hot 2002 form: a Backlash scrap with Edge is brilliant, and a vital step in Edge's ascension up the ranks. Their subsequent Steel Cage battle on SmackDown is another topnotch battle, which ends a crucial rivalry in Edge's career. Angle vs. Hulk Hogan from King Of The Ring is less spectacular but just as entertaining, and an important result for Angle to boot (plus Kurt's hilarious pre-match promo is included too).

We also see John Cena's televised debut days later against Angle, which admittedly feels more like a way to promote Cena than Angle. Next is a truly classic three-way between Angle, Rock and Undertaker from Vengeance 2002, which is my favourite Triple Threat match in WWF/WWE history. The action picks up a rapid pace again via an outstanding SummerSlam showdown with recent debutant Rey Mysterio, who Angle had previously lost to in a six-man tag match (hence the immortal phrase "I just got beat by a freakin' 12-year-old!"). Around this time, Angle entered into a rivalry with Chris Benoit which produced several incredible matches, but it should require no explanation as to why none of those are here.

However, some may be disappointed that there is only one match here involving Brock Lesnar, with their WrestleMania XIX bout only shown in the form of quick clips, and their famous Iron Man match not acknowledged at all. Still, WWE has a tendency to focus on the subject's win-loss record rather than history whenever possible on these DVDs, which is why only their SummerSlam 2003 match is included, and it's still one hell of an effort by both men regardless.

Disc three kicks off by revisiting Angle's history with John Cena. By the time of No Mercy 2003, Cena had shot up the card via his rapping persona, spitting rhymes and insults which would not even be suggested in today's WWE. So it's nice to remember a time when there were fewer rules on risqué material, plus the Angle-Cena match from said show is arguably Cena's best prior to him becoming a main eventer. Moving onto 2004, Angle subtly implies at occasional troubles with Eddie Guerrero (the two had a backstage fight that year), but mostly complements him for his ability and charisma. Their underrated SummerSlam battle is a good one, though a step down from others on this release, whilst a tag match pitting Angle and Luther Reigns against Eddie and Rey Mysterio from the 2004 Troops special is mostly here to emphasise Kurt's admiration for the American forces fighting in Iraq.

Next up is one of my favourite matches of all-time, Angle vs. Shawn Michaels from WrestleMania 21, which is the embodiment of the word "classic". Though it isn't as fondly remembered, their 30-minute Iron Man match from Raw Homecoming is also well worth watching, and a reminder as to how both Angle and Michaels were somewhat taken for granted back in 2005. Shawn pops up in the penultimate match, another great three-way with Angle and John Cena (who by this point was starting to hear the boos and "Cena Sucks!" chants on a worryingly regular basis for a top babyface) from Taboo Tuesday 2005. The final match is a hidden gem from ECW circa 2006 pitting Angle against Rob Van Dam; it's pretty good, but I think Angle's unbelievable bout with The Undertaker from No Way Out 2006 would have ended this collection with more of a bang. We do, however, get footage of Angle returning to WWE earlier this year to end things on a high note.

Though some key matches are missing, this is still a fabulous collection of matches which lives up to the hype. Mixed with Angle's insightful if occasionally questionable comments, this becomes a great reflection on Angle's WWF/WWE tenure, and one of the best all-round wrestling DVDs that you are likely to see. Even without a couple of notable bouts (which admittedly prevent this reaching the level of perfection), this is a must-own for new and old fans alike. Oh it's true, it's damn true!

Overall Rating: 9.5/10 - Classic

DVD Review: Fight Owens Fight – The Kevin Owens Story

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 416 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: July 3 2017

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

Depending on who you speak to, Kevin Owens is either the most entertaining wrestler of all-time, one of the best in-ring performers in the world today, or just some out-of-shape guy who would never have been hired in the good old days (cough cough, Vince Russo). In all seriousness, whilst some of the praise that Owens receives occasionally goes a little over-the-top (the man can do no wrong on Twitter, seemingly), there's no denying that he's one of the true highlights of today's WWE product. He's one of the reasons why NXT became such a hot brand, he helped Raw remained bearable during the shaky years of 2015 and 2016, and he's currently doing his bit to convince SmackDown fans to keep tuning in despite Jinder Mahal being the WWE Champion. Add to that his legacy on the independent circuit as Kevin Steen (namely, his legendary feud with El Generico, which came to WWE as Kevin Owens went to war with Sami Zayn), the fact that he still has many years left in the wrestling business, and the charisma and humour which made JeriKO one of the most entertaining WWE acts in years, and you have plenty of evidence to not only support Owens' popularity in spite of his heel status, but also to justify the release of this new DVD on the pioneer of the Pop-Up Powerbomb.

Fight Owens Fight opens with a documentary covering Kevin's life and times, from his extensive time spent on the indies to his NXT/WWE arrival to his key moments and matches since then. I never like to scrutinise a documentary to the nth degree (unless the feature demands it, such as the infamous Rise & Fall Of ECW), since it provides spoilers on revelations and comments which fans would not have known about. Instead, I'll quickly state that while a bit on the short side, the main feature should be very satisfying to KO fans, as it covers his pre-WWE adventures as much as one could expect (including his association with Sami Zayn/El Generico prior to joining WWE, which the announcers often refer to but never truly explain), as well as capturing his high points since coming to WWE in late 2014. Along the way, there are plenty of talking head comments from those who you would expect (Sami Zayn being an obvious example), as well as a few surprises too. And so ends disc one, with a captivating, entertaining and encompassing look at Kevin Owens' history to date.

Disc two includes plenty of bonus segments which weren't included in the documentary (I can't understand why these couldn't have been squeezed onto disc one, but I guess it's more important to have a short first disc these days). I do like that a few teaser segments were included from when KO arrived in NXT, since this was a fondly-remembered goodie that hasn't been used for WWE DVDs in a long time.

Then come the matches, beginning with Owens' NXT debut against CJ Parker from NXT Takeover: R-Evolution. Owens is a huge babyface here, though he would shatter NXT fans' hearts by assaulting new NXT Champion Sami Zayn at the end of the night, in a fantastic angle that capped off one of the best WWE shows of the entire decade (seriously). This led to Owens vs. Zayn for the NXT Title at Takeover: Rival, the second match on this DVD, which effectively makes Owens look strong yet evil while allowing Zayn to shine in defeat (one of Sami's best talents, paradoxically).

We then get two confrontations, one as Owens squares up to Sami during WrestleMania weekend, and the other as KO makes his surprise Raw debut by attacking John Cena, under the false assumption that he was answering the United States Championship Open Challenge. The two did meet thirteen days later at Elimination Chamber in a great match, the next on this DVD, and the finish perfectly puts Owens over in a major way on his official main roster debut (which, admittedly, didn't help when it came to having fans boo Owens, who was and remains a heel). Disc two closes with Owens capturing his first WWE title outside of NXT, as he takes on Ryback in a basic yet fun bout from Night Of Champions 2015.

Disc three kicks off with Owens battling Dean Ambrose under Last Man Standing rules in an entertaining brawl from Royal Rumble 2016, followed by two unreleased matches: a Main Event clash with Dolph Ziggler shortly after WrestleMania 32, and a house show tag team match ten days later pitting Owens and Triple H against Zayn and Ambrose (apparently, HHH competed on these shows as a replacement for The Undertaker, whose unusual absence from advertised international bookings was never explained). Around this time, the Owens vs. Zayn feud had properly restarted thanks to Sami's official promotion to the main roster, with their best WWE match coming from Battleground, the next bout included on this DVD. This particular match lacks in the selling department at times, but is otherwise a fantastic end to their rivalry, at least at that point.

Funnily enough, there are no matches or segments which see JeriKO teaming up. There is, however, a good focus on KO's singles adventures over the last few months, beginning with his Universal Championship triumph which was shocking enough, but came under the most surprising of circumstances against Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Big Cass in the best Raw main event of 2016, not only for the topnotch action, but for the hugely-unexpected ending (which some critics typically tried to tear down as being an example of a certain someone's ego taking centre stage). Roman would eventually feud with Owens, though no matches are featured here, and Cass hasn't had a title shot since; Seth, however, was Kevin's immediate foe, and the two had their best match inside Hell In A Cell, which is the penultimate clash on this compilation. Finally, we come to WrestleMania 33, where JeriKO imploded in the ring as Owens and Jericho go at it in a pretty good bout for the United States Championship.

There are a lot of Kevin Owens fans, so it's safe to say that this three-disc collection would already be considered a hit regardless of the content (which is a sign of a very real bias towards performers such as Owens - one writer described his Fast Lane battle with Goldberg as "excellent" despite it lasting just 22 seconds - but that's another story for another time). Nevertheless, even for those who may remain on the fence about KO, this is one of the better WWE DVDs you will watch this year. The documentary is very informative, honest and comprehensive, and the round-up of matches from the last two years underline how Owens has become one of the best and most important performers in WWE. Some may be disappointed that there are no matches included from Owens' independent days, but one has to be realistic (I personally thought the running time was a bit disappointing, not even reaching the seven-hour mark across three discs).Summing it up, this three-disc set is as good as one could expect for KO, with an entertaining main feature and plenty of strong matches covering a variety of situations, and I would assume that most Owens fans who see this DVD will feel the same way.

Overall Rating: 8/10 - Very Good

Payback 2013

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 173 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: August 26 2013

Despite a familiar line-up and the feelings of relative staleness due to the end of WrestleMania Season, Payback 2013 is surprisingly a great show to watch, and therefore the DVD should provide you with plenty of entertainment.

Here's why: after a very well-received opener for the Intercontinental Title, pitting Bad News Barrett against The Miz and Curtis Axel (replacing Fandango), we get the best Divas Title match since the days of Trish Stratus and Lita as AJ Lee and Kaitlyn put on one hell of a battle. Dean Ambrose vs. Kane admittedly has that filler feeling to it, but the same cannot be said about Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio, which is a World Title with a difference, namely the incredibly stiff offence (based around Ziggler's real-life concussion issues) and a double turn, which is well-executed.

CM Punk returns from a two-month absence to put on a thriller with Chris Jericho, and while the set-up of Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton vs. The Shield feels strange, it is nevertheless a lot of fun to see. The Three Stages Of Hell bout between John Cena and Ryback is a decent main event, even if it is actually one of the weaker matches on the card, albeit due to the high standard of several matches which came before it. The pre-show match between Sheamus and Damien Sandow is also worth watching.

So, don't let anyone tell you that WWE is only interesting on PPV in the run-up to WrestleMania, because Payback 2013 proves evidence to the contrary, and therefore becomes a DVD that is pretty highly recommended.

Overall Rating: 8/10 - Very Good

WWE Tagged Classics: Austin 3:16 Uncensored, Three Faces Of Foley,Chris Jericho: Break Down The Walls and Kurt Angle: It's True

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 252 Minutes
Certificate: 18
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: September 17 2012

One of the final entries in Silver Vision's much-loved Tagged Classics series was its most packed release yet, as no less than four retro documentaries, all from the Attitude Era, were brought together on one set. The quality varies between each one, but there's a hell of a lot of entertainment to be found across the quartet of Attitude content.

Beginning with Austin 3:16 Uncensored, this 1998 VHS was the second release on Austin's career, and is based around a sit-down with Jim Ross. Austin is largely in character here, although his kayfabe answers are hardly insulting to one's intelligence. As the title suggests, Austin's language - which includes ass, b--ch, b-----d, bulls--t and one use of motherf--ker - go entirely uncensored, which was actually a selling point in 1998 (and would be in the modern PG climate, to be fair). The hour-long feature only recaps Austin's adventures from the first four months of 1998, but this does include his pre-Royal Rumble Stunners on much of the roster, his Rumble win, his confrontations with Mike Tyson, his showing in the eight-man tag at No Way Out Of Texas, his first WWF Title win at WrestleMania XIV and his clash with Dude Love from Unforgiven of that year.

This is a really entertaining profile of Stone Cold during part of his peak on top of a red-hot WWF. The downside is the short timeline; had this extended to cover Over The Edge (where Austin and Dude had a classic rematch), more of his incredible feud with Vince McMahon, his rivalry with The Undertaker and more, this would have been a fantastic feature. As it is, it's a fun snapshot of Austin's reign atop the WWF, but you would need to watch other Stone Cold features for the full story of his rise to the top and the reason why he became so damn popular. It is fun, though, to hear Austin say partially in character, and probably partially in truth, that he disliked how Shawn Michaels would brag about not laying down for anybody.

Three Faces Of Foley is more comprehensive in showcasing Mick Foley's highlights thus far in the WWF, as of summer 1998. They include Mankind's initial feud with The Undertaker, the in-depth interviews between Mankind and Jim Ross from 1997, Dude Love teaming with Austin in the summer of 1997, Cactus Jack's WWF debut against Hunter Hearst Helmsley and the infamous Hell In A Cell war with The Undertaker from King Of The Ring 1998.

Foley explains each situation out of character in a conversational manner to The Hardy Boyz, who at that point had yet to make their mark in the WWF. There's also trivia notes and funny stories, such as one from Ric Flair's 40th birthday party (Foley jokes how Flair was already 40 back then, which would have been 1989). There's also clips from the brutal King Of The Death Matches tournament, which Cactus participated in (and won) in Japan in 1995.

The Foley feature is a good one, but even better is the Chris Jericho documentary, Break Down The Walls. An early example of the in-depth career retrospectives that are now a WWF/WWE trademark, this covers Jericho's first year with the company in great detail: his iconic debut in August 1999 (and the story behind his Millennium Clock), his Jerichoholics, his feud with Chyna, his battles with Chris Benoit and his great matches opposite Triple H from 2000. As well as comments from other wrestlers (such as The Rock, Edge and Christian and Triple H), we get a brief history of his pre-WWF adventures (although references to his WCW run are omitted), a tour of his house and a feature on his band Fozzy (at this point, Jericho was maintaining the gag that he had Fozzy frontman Moongoose McQueen were different people, despite the obvious similarities).

This is an excellent documentary for Jerichoholics, and is good enough that it would probably convert non-fans into Jerichoholics. Fortunately for Chris, his star would only continue to rise in the future, and many years later, we would get an even better documentary on Jericho's career in 2010 (Breaking The Code).

Lastly, It's True focuses on Kurt Angle's first year in the WWF. We see his introductory vignettes, his debut against Shawn Stasiak from Survivor Series 1999, his European and Intercontinental Title wins, his 2000 King Of The Ring triumph, his love triangle storyline with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon and his first WWF Title win over The Rock at No Mercy 2000.

Unfortunately, this is the weakest of the four features here, because it's produced from an in-character standpoint. Angle maintains his on-screen persona rather than acting normal, and the contributors maintain that he's arrogant, unlikeable, nerdy etc. A few minutes of this approach may have been sufficient, but a full hour is too much; and whereas Austin's real-life character mirrored his on-screen persona (making the kayfabe approach more acceptable for his feature), Angle on TV and Angle off TV are (mostly) very different. This is still enjoyable, but not as much as the other profiles on this set. Making matters worse, the WWF/WWE has yet to release another Angle compilation (although TNA did release Kurt Angle: Champion in 2008).

Overall, though, this four-part Tagged Classic is a great trek through the Attitude Era, and at times a fascinating glimpse into how much the WWF/WWE, and their home video/DVD releases, have changed since 1998-2000. If WWE ever allows John Cena to say "motherf--ker" completely uncensored on a future DVD, I will be very surprised (but totally amused, nonetheless). If you loved the Attitude Era, you'll really enjoy this two-disc set.

Overall Rating: 8/10 - Very Good

Raw's Most Memorable Matches

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 86 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Clear Vision Ltd/Silver Vision
Released: April 3 2007

Raw's Most Memorable Matches followed the similar SmackDown release, and again offers a few matches at a budget price. Given the long and eventful history of Raw, it was always going to be a stretch to suggest that the show's most memorable matches are within this 90-minute DVD, but there are some gems nonetheless.

The first is Jeff Hardy challenging The Undertaker for the Undisputed WWE Title in a July 2002 Ladder match. It's a very dramatic bout, and you would never know from watching this that Hardy was as stale as an old piece of toast at this point in time, as he delivers his last truly great performance before leaving WWE for the first time in 2003. Match two pits Triple H against Ric Flair in May 2003, culminating a one-night storyline where Flair (then HHH's chaperone, no pun intended) looks to prove to HHH that he really was and is The Man.

Triple H returns to face Kane in June 2003, in a bout which is fairly good but is more memorable (and is genuinely memorable) for Kane finally unmasking in the aftermath, as per the stipulation. (Some people thought this meant the end of the Kane character; how wrong they were.) Following this is a Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho match from July 2003 which is very good, but a slight notch below expectations; it certainly isn't a disappointment, but it follows and would be followed by superior HBK vs. Y2J collisions. The DVD ends with a brilliant Michaels vs. Shelton Benjamin clash from May 2005, with one of Shawn's greatest ever superkicks providing an incredible finish.

Only the first and last matches have been released in full on other DVDs, so this is a nice little release to pick up while we wait for 2003 episodes of Raw to be added to the WWE Network. Considering that it is a bargain-priced DVD, and assuming that you don't take the title too seriously, this is well worth picking up.

Overall Rating: 7.5/10 - Good

The Road Is Jericho - Epic Stories And Rare Matches From Y2J

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 412 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: March 16 2015

Released earlier this year, The Road Is Jericho quite literally takes you on the journey that is the varied and eventful career of Y2J himself, Chris Jericho, mixing a collection of career-spanning matches with talking head clips of Y2J in a moving limousine (actually not en route to a wrestling event, funnily enough). His 2010 DVD was amazing, but how does this latest Jericho compilation fare?

We begin in ECW with Chris' TV Title win over Pit Bull 2, which is fun to watch but is a bit overloaded (a common theme amongst ECW matches from this era). We then move onto WCW, and some rather good cruiserweight matches against Ultimo Dragon and Dean Malenko respectively (the Malenko match is superior as Jericho is by then a heel and showing the charisma that would become a trademark during his WWF/WWE stints).

The first WWF/WWE match on the DVD is actually more than a year into his initial tenure, and is a forgotten Steel Cage match against X-Pac. It's good but lacking in real meaning, hindered by Pac's persona being the total opposite of vibrant at this point (plus it was the third Cage match on a WWF PPV in as many months, which I realised after watching this encounter). We next get a fairly good Last Man Standing bout against Kane, although their feud is most remembered for the fact that it was instigated by a spilt cup of coffee (which joins the Japanese shampoo that Booker T and Edge fought over on the list of pretty poor reasons to ignite wrestling disputes).

We then get three matches from 2001: a clash against Steve Austin with Mick Foley as a ringside enforcer (it feels very surreal to watch Stone Cold as a heel nowadays), a short but enjoyable and very heated meeting with Booker T for the WCW Title and a hidden gem of a(nother) WCW Championship bout with Kurt Angle at that year's Rebellion.

At this point, the DVD is emphasising rare gems over memorable classics, so it's surprising that this is what we get next in the brilliant Y2J-Rock bout from Royal Rumble 2002. It's simple and not massively memorable in terms of spots, but everything just works; it's the perfect example of a match where everything just clicks to create a highly enjoyable clash. We then see Y2J face Triple H on SmackDown!, notable because, as Jericho points out here, this is the only time that Y2J ever officially beat HHH on-screen in a singles match (which obviously says more about the WWF/WWE booking team's thought process than Jericho's ability levels).

Following that is an acceptable but unmemorable Raw clash with Jeff Hardy from 2003, at which point Jeff was very much disinterested and would leave WWE a few months later. The next match is a 2005 Raw meeting between Y2J and Edge, which is alright but is more notable for occurring just as the Edge-Lita-Matt Hardy story had broken, making this the first of many times that the future Rated R Superstar would be hit with chants of "You screwed Matt!"

Since Jericho left WWE later that year and didn't return until late 2007, there is a long time gap before the next match, and it is a Last Man Standing match between Y2J and Shawn Michaels to culminate their phenomenal 2008 rivalry (and I was actually there to see this in Manchester). We then surprisingly get a dark match against John Cena, which is okay for what it is, and is followed by the highlight of the DVD, a five-star battle against Rey Mysterio from The Bash 2009 (one of my favourite matches from the last ten years).

The overrated three-team tag match from the 2009 MSG Raw is memorable solely for the star power involved, although even Chris acknowledges this as the reason that this match is here. We then don't see any more of Jericho's second WWE run; we pick things up several months into run number three via a fun Chicago Street Fight against CM Punk at Extreme Rules 2012, followed by a really enjoyable Raw meeting with Rob Van Dam in 2013. Concluding the DVD are two great 2014 matches with Bray Wyatt (in a Cage on Raw) and Randy Orton (at that year's Night Of Champions) respectively. The Blu-ray has four additional matches, although only one has not been released before (Y2J-Rey from a June 2009 Raw).

The Jericho talking spots are inserted between matches, although they aren't always about the subsequent bout, instead at times discussing specific career chapters relevant to the spotlighted time period. They are entertaining and at times provide some revelations; however, they aren't must-see and the format means that there are some glaring omissions when it comes to discussion topics. That being said, they are definitely worth watching in between the matches, for the first viewing of this DVD anyway.

To conclude, this DVD isn't quite in the same league as Breaking The Code. However, it is a very enjoyable and entertaining look at some of Jericho's most memorable matches,  but is more notable for bringing together plenty of hidden gems and unreleased battles. If you're a Jerichoholic, you will love this DVD.

Overall Rating: 8/10 - Very Good