DaveyBoy’s Wrestling Menu #195 – ‘D-Generation X’ DVD Review
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 at 12:10 AM EST






THE WRESTLING MENU #195

Welcome one and all to the 195th edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

My weekly column-writing streak is now just 1 week short of 1 year!!! It’s been a tough job getting to this aim, but there is only one week to go now. “Yippeee!” I was going to say “Hoorah”, but was worried I’d lose half of my readership!

I’m sure some of you may be a little disappointed that I am not commenting on Kurt Angle’s signing with TNA this week. To be honest, it took me enough by surprise to actually require a little more time to process it all. And as we know, a week is a long time in professional wrestling, so who knows what else will be reported between now & next Wednesday, when I will comment on the situation.

Apart from that, there isn’t all that much report. I suppose congratulations are in order for the Australian Women’s Basketball team, who became World Champions on the weekend. Now if only the men could get their act together! Good to see the USA was consistent too; 3rd in the men’s & 3rd in the women’s.

And if you’re not down with that, I got 4 words for you: On with the show…..


'D-GENERATION X' DVD REVIEW

This 1 disc set is simply titled ‘D-Generation X’. I believe it is a re-release of a videotape released by the WWE in 1998, but I am unsure if that videotape had a total 3 hour duration like this DVD does. It features a documentary portion that runs for 55 minutes & is broken up into 12 chapters. It also features 8 complete matches.


APPETIZERS – Documentary

Voiceover narration is done by Michael Cole & we begin this portion of the DVD by seeing how Triple H & Chyna force Cole into doing that job. To keep it topical, we also see the many times in the past that DX has embarrassed him, as well as other non-wrestlers (such as Vince McMahon & Sgt Slaughter) in the ring. We then view the basic birth of D-Generation X as Shawn Michaels & Triple H were forced to tag together in a match against Mankind & The Undertaker. Not long after, Triple H helped HBK defeat DaveyBoy Smith in London for the European Title. But the announcement that made it totally official that DX was a new stable was a backstage segment on October-13, 1997. That segment is shown here.

Some more comic moments from DX are shown, before highlighting the fact that the stable became so popular so quickly, that they had their own pay-per-view of sorts in December of 1997. At that event, Triple H & Sgt Slaughter wrestled, as did Shawn Michaels & Ken Shamrock. We next see many swiftly edited highlights specifically of Triple H….. First of him wrestling & then while on the mic. Most of this footage is of him during the DX days, but there is some footage of him in the WWF before he formed this partnership with HBK. Next featured is Chyna & we mainly see footage of her mixing it up physically against some of DX’s male opponents.

Shown next are minutes on end of some of DX’s most degenerate moments. Basically, this includes most of the segments concerning nudity, swearing & the now popular catchphrase “Suck It”. A few more miscellaneous highlights that seem to be very random leads into Shawn Michaels being featured. This begins with extended highlights of his tremendous ‘Bad Blood’ Hell In A Cell match against The Undertaker.

Also shown is the mock fight between HBK & Mike Tyson, that ended with Iron Mike joining DX. Of course, this is followed by Tyson double-crossing them at WrestleMania 14, which resulted in ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin’s first WWE Championship reign. Earlier on during WrestleMania 14, Triple H defeated Owen Hart in a European Title match & the final 3 or so minutes of that bout is shown. And from the same ppv, extended highlights from the entertaining ‘Dumpster Match’ pitting The New Age Outlawz against Cactus Jack (Mick Foley) & Chainsaw Charlie (Terry Funk) is shown.

Following on next are further miscellaneous highlights of The New Age Outlawz (‘Road Dogg’ Jesse James & ‘Bad Ass’ Billy Gunn). While no actual wrestling bouts are shown, both locker-room & in-ring segments are highlighted, predominantly being aimed at either Foley & Funk or The Legion Of Doom (Hawk & Animal). Disappointingly, The Road Dogg’s famous mic intro is not shown in full.

We end this section of the DVD with arguably DX’s most (in)famous moment, and that was of them invading WCW. Close to the full version is shown, which includes them attempting to speak to Eric Bischoff at the WCW office in Atlanta, attempting to speak to Ted Turner at the CNN Center & attempting to break into the arena that was staging an episode of WCW Nitro.


MAIN – Matches

SHAWN MICHAELS vs MANKIND (Raw. August-11, 1997): This bout actually took place before DX was formed. Mankind (Mick Foley) brings a garbage bin to the ring & is met by a flurry of punches by HBK. Michaels then uses the bin as a weapon, escapes a mandible claw & sends things to the outside where there is some terrific high-impact action up against the guardrail & then the announce table. Back in the ring, HBK misses sweet Chin Music & runs into another mandible claw. He escapes it by falling to the outside & hitting a suplex on to the announce table. This was all in the first 4 minutes!!!

Back in the ring (following a commercial break), we see some good back & forth action, as Triple H & Chyna come out to ringside for a better view of their foe Mankind. Michaels removes Foley’s mask as the pace finally settles down, if only a little. ‘Ravishing’ Rick Rude then makes his way down to ringside, and he, Triple H & Chyna finally team up to overwhelm Mankind, which results in him walking into Sweet Chin Music at the 9 minute mark (excluding commercial time). Terrific television main-event that was extremely frenetic & had more action than most matches that are twice this length on ppv. There’s just something about the Michaels-Foley combination that clicks! Match Rating…8

TRIPLE H & SHAWN MICHAELS vs MANKIND & THE UNDERTAKER (Raw. August-18, 1997): This bout took place the night after SummerSlam, where Triple H defeated Mankind in a very good cage match, and HBK (as special guest referee) inadvertently cost ‘Taker the WWE Championship against Bret Hart. Mankind begins the match & controls the momentum against both opponents. When Undertaker tags himself in, the team of the previously bitter enemies continue to dominate. That is, until Chyna gets involved & crotches Mankind up against the ringpost. It’s all one way going for the heels then, as HHH & HBK team very well & cut the ring in half while laying into Foley.

The hot tag is finally made to ‘Taker, who cleans house of both opponents & then targets HBK. However, following some interference from Rick Rude, Michaels hits 2 wicked chairshots on the dead man, for the DQ result at the 8 minute mark (excluding commercial time). Not a sensational match, but a good storyline advancement bout, as the HBK/Undertaker feud was furthered very successfully. Another above average television main-event. Match Rating…6.5

TRIPLE H vs BRET ‘HITMAN’ HART (Raw. October-6, 1997): Bret begins by taking control of Triple H through his usual technical wrestling offense. Every time that Triple H looks as if he can get back into the bout, Bret counters somehow & regains control. Shawn Michaels strolls out to ringside and his presence, as well as picking his nose with the Canadian flag, distracts The Hitman & allows Triple H to finally mount some sustained offense. Going to a commercial break, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart & DaveyBoy Smith come out to negate HBK. Some solid, if unspectacular, back & forth action ensues, with the outside parties getting more & more involved. Chyna breaks up a ringpost figure 4, which makes Hart attack her, only to walk straight into HBK’s Sweet Chin Music. Bret isn’t able to recover & is counted out at the 8 minute mark. Yet another decent tv main event, which was more solid than anything else. Match Rating…6

TRIPLE H vs SHAWN MICHAELS (Raw. December-22, 1997): This was a match for HBK’s European Title & the 2 friends were forced to wrestle against each other by Commissioner Sgt Slaughter. Totally a comedy bout with both men (over-)acting intense at first & even mocking each other to a certain degree. The 2 finally tie up, resulting in HBK falling down to the mat allowing Triple H to comically run the ropes & pin Michaels for the rehearsed title change in less than 2 minutes. HBK grabs the mic afterwards & feigns disappointment. Practically a non-match, but a decent segment that I didn’t mind too much at all. All in all, 7 minutes in length. Match Rating…N/A, but Segment Rating…6

SHAWN MICHAELS vs OWEN HART (Raw. December-29, 1997): This bout was for HBK’s WWE Championship & was held not too long after the infamous ‘Montreal Screwjob’, so it was always going to be interesting. An intense Owen attacks before the bell with a flurry of punches & is extremely aggressive in trying to hurt the champion, including a big suplex on the entrance ramp. Following a commercial break, Owen continues the assault anywhere but in the ring. Ironically, it isn’t until these 2 are back in the ring before the outside interference of Chyna sways the momentum into HBK’s favor.

Michaels hits a perfect pile-driver & a huge DDT, but can only get successive 2 counts. He then locks on a sleeper-hold, but that also comes up short. Out of nowhere, Owen finds some energy & begins a huge flurry of offense that proves what a large repertoire he had. It’s all delivered with great pace & intensity as well, with HBK selling everything very entertainingly. The match ends in a DQ win to Owen when he locks on the Sharpshooter & is on the receiving end of a crutch shot from Triple H at the 8 minute mark (excluding commercial time). An excellent television main-event that was very much worthy of a ppv bout. Very intense, fast-paced & entertaining. Match Rating…8

SHAWN MICHAELS vs THE UNDERTAKER (Royal Rumble. January-18, 1998): This was a ‘Casket Match’ for Shawn Michaels’ WWE Championship. Very good beginning to the bout, with HBK employing a hit-and-run methodology to negate the greater strength of the dead man. It’s successful up until a huge back body-drop on Michaels, which takes him out of the ring for Undertaker to dominate. Michaels is even slammed into the casket, but is out of there in less than a second. Back in the ring, HBK tries to quicken the pace once more, but is less successful this time as the phenom takes control & attempts to slow the pace down. HBK escapes another trip into the casket by throwing powder into the eyes of his opponent, affecting his sight & allowing the champ to regain control. A further trip to ringside sees HBK weaken The Undertaker with some steel-step shots & a huge piledriver on those same steps! If that isn’t bad enough, Triple H assaults the challenger with his crutch, and HBK follows up with a chairshot. ‘Taker fights out of the casket, but walks straight into a sleeperhold back in the ring.

HBK then hits his patented top-rope elbow drop & Sweet Chin Music combination, but the dead man fights out of the casket once more (with a crotch grab no less)! This results in The Undertaker putting together a flurry of offense, but he misses HBK on a charge & falls into the casket himself. Michaels follows up with a top-rope elbow drop onto ‘Taker into the casket, where the 2 presumably fight (or have a discussion about what they are going to do after the show). Back in the ring, Undertaker hits a huge chokeslam & a tombstone piledriver into the casket! But The New Age Outlawz & Los Boricuas come out to attack the dead man, until the lights go out & Kane appears to apparently help his brother.

But this is the WWE & Kane (after attacking the interferers)….. ummm, the DVD then shifts back to the extras page, not showing the finish to the bout. That is just ridiculous! For those unaware, Kane turns on his brother, allowing HBK to win the bout at approximately the 20 minute mark. This match has aged rather well, as I didn’t recall it being so entertaining & enthralling. HBK’s fast-paced & entertaining offense was once more at the forefront, but The Undertaker also played his role very well. It’s arguable that Michaels has never been the same as this was the bout in which he suffered his back injury. Successful pay-per-view main event at the very least. Match Rating…8.5

TRIPLE H, THE NEW AGE OUTLAWZ & SAVIO VEGA vs ‘STONE COLD’ STEVE AUSTIN, CACTUS JACK, CHAINSAW CHARLIE & OWEN HART (No Way Out. February-15, 1998): This is a ‘Non-Sanctioned Anything Goes’ match & we thankfully get the patented Road Dogg mic introduction before the bout. In fact, all entrances are included & take almost 9 minutes to complete. The bout breaks down right from the beginning with all 8 men in the ring. But Stone Cold clears the congestion with multiple shots from a trashcan lid. This only spreads the mayhem to ringside where the faces use all sorts of weapons to dominate DX & Vega. Believe it or not, the out-of-control nature of the bout lasts until the 7 minute mark, when it finally settles into some sort of a genuine tag match!

The heels initially isolate Chainsaw Charlie (Terry Funk) & dominate him for almost 5 minutes. Cactus finally gets tagged in & cleans house, but a low-blow by Triple H, and a DDT & steel-step shot by Billy Gunn see the heels back in control. Vega then wraps Jack (Foley) in barbed-wire, before delivering a couple of huge chairshots. But a missed chairshot by Gunn sees Cactus make the tag to Stone Cold & the crowd goes absolutely nuts. Austin cleans house & quickly hits the Stone Cold Stunner on Road Dogg for the victory at the 18 minute mark. To the delight of the audience, Austin also hits a stunner on Chyna in the aftermath. This was an out of control train-wreck, but an entertaining one. Difficult to rate for that reason, but the lack of structure did hurt it a fair bit. Match Rating…7

TRIPLE H vs OWEN HART (Raw. March-17, 1998): This was an impromptu match after Triple H challenged Owen for his European Title while doing commentary. Owen has a huge cast-like brace on his leg due to an ankle injury. Chyna comes out early on in the bout & hits Owen in the ankle with a baseball bat. Triple H follows up with a leglock of sorts & the referee stops the bout & awards the title to Triple H at just the 2 minute mark. Throwaway non-match that was merely an excuse for a title change. Even then, there was not much to it. Match Rating…N/A, but Segment Rating…5


DESSERT - Conclusion

It’s a little difficult to sum up this DVD as it’s pretty obvious that it is a reissue of sorts. However, when considering that fact, it does stack up relatively well. The documentary portion of this 1 disc set is very inconsistent & struggles to tell any sort of story at all (chronologically or otherwise) successfully. It’s sort of like the DX entrance video; Visually entertaining, but occasionally bordering on the annoying with it’s swift editing & duplication. It really needed to settle down on more occasions.

Furthermore, this documentary portion of the DVD excluded some of DX’s most famous skits, such as the Nation Of Domination impersonation. That was very disappointing in my opinion & I can only think that there was some underlying reason as to why especially that skit was left off.

However, the match selection was a genuine pleasant surprise for me. Most of the bouts were well above average & make today’s television main events pale into comparison! Of course, having (a fully fit & practically at his best) HBK involved always helps. In fact, this DVD would play well as an accompaniment to Shawn Michaels’ “Boyhood Dream” DVD (which I have yet to view).

The matches almost save this DVD & definitely make it worth a watch, unless you are a HBK despiser. But all in all, in telling the DX story, it doesn’t do a very good job. I wonder if it would have been better had the WWE added more detail & extras upon its DVD re-release.

In conclusion, this is a wildly inconsistent DVD that is entertaining at times & is almost saved by the quality of some of the matches included, but ultimately fails to sufficiently do its job & cover D-Generation X correctly. Worth a watch if you really like DX (or Shawn Michaels), or haven’t seen much of the stable’s late 90’s antics. Otherwise, not recommended at full recommended retail price.


That’s another DVD review served up for you. If anyone would like to contribute any feedback or ask any questions, you are more than welcome to. My e-mail address is DaveyBoy123@bigpond.com. But if you are an LOP Forums member, it would be much appreciated if you could leave feedback on my thread at http://www.lopforums.com/showthread.php?t=217

Most will be glad that there is no DVD review planned for next week. It has quickly come around to the ‘No Mercy’ pay-per-view, so I will have my predictions up for that event. What’s the bet that SmackDown cannot replicate the success of Raw’s Unforgiven? I also will have my thoughts on Kurt Angle signing with TNA. I am not exactly certain of what my third topic will be at this stage, but I’m sure I will think of something between now & then. As per usual, my column will be posted at the same Wednesday time on the same LOP channel. Until then, this is DaveyBoy signing off & asking you to remember that dinner is best served in 3 courses.


DaveyBoy’s Wrestling Menu. 2002-2006

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