DaveyBoy’s Wrestling Menu - HBK DVD Review + No Mercy Predictions
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, October 1, 2008 at 3:02 AM EST






THE WRESTLING MENU #283

Welcome one and all to the 283rd edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

Just the solitary point to mention in this introductory portion of my column today and that is to give a public apology to the dozens of people still awaiting some kind of a reply to their emails. I had originally planned to get through them earlier this week, but a number of happenings at work have basically left me doing close to 3 people's jobs this week. It hasn't been pretty folks and I hope next week allows me less stress and more time to chat on wrestling-related matters.

On with the showstopping show.....


'SHAWN MICHAELS' DVD REVIEW

This is the 2nd & final part of my review on the 3 disc set titled ‘The Shawn Michaels Story: Heartbreak & Triumph’. It will predominantly concentrate on the 3rd disc, but you are still able to view my thoughts on the first 2 discs by clicking on the following link: http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/2008_/1221624119.php


APPETIZERS

Disc-3 Matches

vs JEFF JARRETT (WWF In Your House. July-23, 1995): This match was for Jarrett's InterContinental Title & despite it taking place in Double J's hometown, the crowd were well & truly behind HBK here. The 2 play mind games with each other in the opening moments as they entertainingly mock each other while impressively putting on a clinic of counters. JJ thinks about getting counted out as he gains further heel heat, but upon return, HBK clears the champ to ringside & then nails him & The Roadie from the top-rope. A huge back-drop of Michaels to the floor stems the tide though & the heel locks on an abdominal stretch as The Roadie gets more involved. A flurry of 2 counts soon follows, one from an absolutely perfect dropkick by JJ, who then locks on a sleeper-hold. Shawn bursts out of it with an awesome flying clothesline & then gets 2 counts with a double ax-handle & elbow-drop from the top-rope. Unfortunately, a 3rd trip ends in HBK getting crotched by The Roadie, as Jarrett follows up with a superplex.

The finishing sequence sees a referee bump, some Roadie interference that first succeeds & then backfires, leading to Sweet Chin Music & a new champion after 20 minutes. Very good match-up in which both men seemed to combine with each other terrifically well. A mixture of wrestling styles came into play, while both participants worked the crowd like true professionals. There were a few too many slow spots that kept this from being a classic, but they made sense for storyline purposes. It is just a shame that these 2 were not allowed to have a higher profile bout in the future. Match Rating... 8.5

vs 'THE BRITISH BULLDOG' DAVEY BOY SMITH (WWF King of the Ring. June-23, 1996): This match was for HBK's WWF Championship and Bulldog had no shortage of friends on hand as Jim Cornette & wife Diana were at ringside, Owen Hart was on commentary & Mr.Perfect was the ringside official. A super solid beginning sees a nice combination of mat-wrestling, strength-based action & fast-paced high-flying offense. Davey attempts to slow things down & turn it into a strength contest, but HBK constantly has all the answers & begins to work on his opponent's arm. Following some back & forth action, Bulldog press-slams Michaels to the floor & then suplexes him at ringside. Back in the ring, Davey methodically goes to work & even locks on a surfboard to work on the back. Bulldog dominates the middle portions of the bout, scoring near-falls in between headlocks.

The pace picks up as the match crosses the 20 minute mark & HBK gets a 2 count with a crucifix, both men tease their finishers and Bulldog hits a pile-driver followed by a huge superplex for a 2.9! The challenger then gets the same result by countering a hurracanrana attempt into a huge power-bomb. But HBK fights back by whipping Bulldog hard into the corner & hitting a flying forearm. A ref bump then follows, but HBK hits Sweet Chin Music for the 3 count at the 26 minute mark. The aftermath sees Owen, Bulldog & Vader work over Shawn until Ahmed Johnson & The Ultimate Warror make the save. A solid main-event that delivered all it had to plus a little more. Far from perfect as it was probably 4-5 minutes too long meaning that Bulldog had to apply many restholds, but the bout was still somehow always involving & often excellent. Bulldog could look very good against better opponents & that was the case here. Match Rating... 8

vs TRIPLE H (WWE Raw. December-29, 2003): This match was for HHH's World HeavyWeight Title & emanated from Shawn's hometown of San Antonio. A solid opening sees the 2 play a game of one-upmanship that HBK wins when he sends H to the floor & then takes out both his opponent & Ric Flair with a springboard move off the ropes. Back in the ring, an impressive series of counters & reversals leads to a series of near-falls, before Michaels is back-dropped to the floor swinging the momentum to the heel. A whip to the steel steps appears to dislocates Shawn's shoulder, but he fights back to score a 2 count with a sunset-flip, before H locks on an abdominal stretch & Flair predictably gives an assist.

H gets a 2 count with a high knee lift, yet appears to hurt his knee performing the move. So HBK locks on a crowd-popping figure 4 leglock. Flair breaks it up & that allows Hunter to attempt a pedigree. But HBK back-drops out of it & hits his trademark flying forearm & top-rope elbow-drop soon after to have the crowd in raptures. Flair breaks up a Sweet Chin Music attempt though & a ref bump follows that allows H to hit a belt shot for a 2.99 count. The ref then takes another bump, leading to Eric Bischoff replacing him. Michaels gets another near-fall after ramming HHH's head into an exposed turnbuckle. More 2 counts follow for both men as H gets busted open. The finish then comes after 26 minutes (excluding commercial time) when H runs into Sweet Chin Music from absolutely nowhere & HBK falls on the champ to seemingly win the title to an almighty pop!

But Bischoff realizes that Shawn's shoulders were also down for the 3 count & declares the match a tie! Wow... What a sensational match & a television bout at that! These 2 are simply masters of filling out a 25+ minute match without having any slow passages & they proved it here. Always entertaining & constantly involving, this bout didn't even require any huge spots to keep the crowd on the edge of their seats. Even the controversial finish was pulled off nicely, meaning this is one of the best WWE television bouts ever!!! If it had not been for Angle vs Benoit 11 months earlier, this probably would have been my match of the year! Match Rating... 9.5

THE ROCKERS vs LA RESISTANCE (WWE Raw. March-14, 2005): The Rockers reunite here on Raw in 2005 to take on Rob Conway & Sylvan Grenier in what was a tryout of sorts for Marty Janetty. The veteran shows he still has some pace in the early going, even if his kip-up hasn't kept up with Shawn's. Stereo planchas by The Rockers pop the crowd, but Conway sends HBK to the floor to sway the momentum to the heels. Decent action follows with Michaels playing the face in peril & even needing to be saved by Marty on a near-fall. HBK & Conway get into a battle of chops & the face strikes with a flying forearm from nowhere to enable him to get the hot tag to Janetty, who cleans house with dropkick after dropkick. Soon after, a Rocker Dropper & Sweet Chin Music combination gets the win after 6 minutes. A very nice nostalgia-filled match that gave the crowd what they wanted & wasn't too bad of a tv bout in isolation either. Match Rating... 7

vs KURT ANGLE (WWE Vengeance. June-26, 2005): Both men are initially careful not to give their opponent an opportunity to capitalize on a mistake. This sees a variety of counters with Kurt threatening multiple times to lock on the ankle-lock. At ringside, HBK blocks an Angle Slam attempt, but Kurt scores with a German Suplex through the Spanish announce table. A couple of intense European upper-cuts & a huge power-bomb to the corner gets Angle a near-fall, before Kurt goes to suplex city & gets multiple 2 counts. Following a choke-hold, HBK puts together his trademark offensive flurry with a flying forearm, a kip-up, multiple clotheslines & a top-rope elbow-drop. Angle counters a Sweet Chin Music attempt with a clothesline, but Shawn then counters an Angle Slam attempt with a killer tornado DDT for a 2.9! Kurt does then hit an Angle Slam for a 2.9 of his own, before locking on an ankle-lock. But HBK counters causing a ref bump & is then sent to the floor apparently injuring his knee.

Back in the ring, Kurt locks on another ankle-lock for over a minute, but Michaels won't tap & eventually escapes the hold. He then hits Sweet Chin Music from out of nowhere & both men almost get counted out. HBK finally rolls onto his opponent & the end result is a 2.99999. Kurt then heads up to the top-rope, but whatever he was attempting is met with Sweet Chin Music & it's all over after 26 minutes of fantastic action. I am actually in the minority here & believe this bout to be slightly better than their initial WrestleMania 21 match. So much so in fact, that I rated this my 2005 match of the year! The main reason I preferred this was because Kurt Angle was predominantly in control of the offense here & he was at his crisp & intense best. Meanwhile, HBK was at his best when it came to selling & psychology in this bout. He conveyed not being able to match Angle on the mat exceptionally well & the entire storyline of the bout was just spot on. A sensational bout that contained pretty much all the elements a classic wrestling match should. Match Rating... 9.5

vs JOHN CENA (WWE Raw. April-23, 2007): This was a non-title match not too long after the WrestleMania 23 match between these 2 that Cena had won. It also took place in London - England and shocked all watching by lasting for almost an hour, so forgive me if I am not as detailed as usual with my recap here. The first 5 minutes sees a nice variety of mat-wrestling which Cena gets the better of to frustrate HBK. In fact, Cena dominates the opening 10 minutes with a headlock being his main offensive weapon. The following 10 minutes sees more even action as the 2 really start to get into it. Michaels hits his flying forearm & top-rope elbow-drop, but Cena sees Sweet Chin Music coming from a mile away. It is interesting to see the crowd react to the false finishes here as very few tv matches go beyond this point.

At ringside, Cena is thrown into the steel steps & HBK then works on the champ for minutes on end. The one-armed man still manages his trademark flurry though & even hits his 5 knuckle shuffle. A subsequent F-U only gets a 2.5 count, as Cena settles into working over his opponent's back afterwards. As the bout crosses the half-hour mark, Cena hits his top-rope fame-asser for a 2 count & then the action really picks up to what appears to be the finishing sequence. HBK blocks a top-rope F-U & counters into a power-bomb, before needing to escape from an STF-U. The action then heads to ringside where Shawn tries to pile-drive Cena on the steel steps. A back-drop puts paid to that & the 2 then brawl on the announce table. Back in the ring, Cena locks on an STF-U for over a minute before Michaels reaches the ropes. A series of counters then sees HBK hit Sweet Chin Music, but he cannot capitalize soon enough to earn a pinfall!

The 2 look out on their feet at this stage, as Cena eventually gets in position to hit another F-U. But HBK squirms out & hits a sudden super-kick for the victory. We get to see 38 minutes in all, but that is excluding commercial time. All in all, the 2 apparently wrestled for about 56 minutes! To say this was an unexpected pleasant surprise is an under-statement. WWE basically swerved viewers with having this match last for as long as it did & the 2 wrestlers used that fact to their advantage during the bout. I personally still slightly prefer the WrestleMania 23 match-up between these two, but this was also very good & was performed terrifically by 2 true professionals. Match Rating... 8.5


MAIN

Easter Eggs & Conclusion

EASTER EGGS

- On Disc-1, go into the 'Chapters' menu & highlight 'Growing Up'. Then press 'left' twice to see Shawn's mother explaining that he is ambidextrous and often got confused which side was his strongest.

- On Disc-1, go into the 'Chapters' menu & highlight 'Midnight Rockers'. Then press 'left' twice to see a very early 2 minute long promo from the young Midnight Rockers shortly after their AWA debut.

- On Disc-1, go into the 'Chapters' menu & highlight 'The Ladder Match'. Then press 'left' twice to see a 30 second speech from Jeff Hardy where he talks about seeing HBK & Razor Ramon in their infamous WrestleMania 10 Ladder Match & then trying some of the moves at home.

- On Disc-2, go into the 'Extras' menu & highlight 'Billy Jack Haynes vs Shawn Michaels'. Then press 'right' & then 'left' to see a 2 minute long story told by Shawn regarding Jose Lothario teaching him to do a back-flip.

- On Disc-2, go into the 'Extras' menu & highlight 'The Rockers vs The Brainbusters'. Then press 'left' three times to see a 30 second clip of Tully Blanchard suggesting that Hulk Hogan was upset that The Rockers & Brainbusters upstaged his upcoming main-event match at a Madison Square Garden show.

- On Disc-3, go into the 'Extras' menu & highlight 'The Rockers vs La Resistance'. Then press 'right' twice to see Marty Janetty talking about The Rockers reunion match on Raw. Marty emotionally calls it the highlight of his career. 2 minutes in length.


CONCLUSION

Oh man, people are going to want to know whether or not this is better than Shawn's earlier 'From The Vault' DVD, aren't they...??? Well, to be honest, they are difficult to compare. The reason for that is that the 2 sets are meant to go hand in hand. There is practically no duplication whatsoever with regards to the 2 sets & they really do complement each other well.

If one had to choose, it would depend on what a fan prefers to see. The earlier 'From The Vault' set had higher profile matches which lent towards the more gimmicky in some form. Where-as this set predominantly concentrates on straight-up wrestling and also includes the documentary portion obviously.

That documentary portion is pretty darn good as it is both informative & entertaining at the same time. There is a wide variety of ground covered in there & it is an under-statement to suggest that Shawn's life & career has been a story worth telling. It seems fairly honest to me, making it even more worthwhile. As for the promos, stories & deleted scenes, there is nothing to write home about apart from the Larry King spoof, but they are handy in the overall package.

As with most WWE DVDs, the ultimate quality relies strongly on the matches included and I am happy to state that they are indeed of a high quality here. The AWA match against The Ninjas & WWF matches against The Brainbusters, Orient Express & Jeff Jarrett were little gems, while the bout against The Harts was at least interesting. If anything, the Rumble could have been cut down or excluded entirely to allow room for something else. On Disc-3, the match quality is consistently high & helped an enormous amount by the fact that it contains 2 excellent matches from Raw.

Is this the best WWE DVD ever released...??? No, but when you think about it, it cannot be because there were so many great matches that were not placed on here as they appeared on the earlier 'From The Vault' set. But when placed together as a 5 disc set, then we may very well have ourselves the best WWE combination of releases, if that makes sense. So, if you can spare the money & you are not a HBK hater, then my recommendation is to get both Shawn Michaels DVD sets. I know that I own them both & I am very pleased that is the case.


DESSERT

No Mercy Predictions

REY MYSTERIO vs KANE: I am unsure if there is an obvious opener on this card and it is just a matter of which pop WWE would rather prefer; Rey's, Matt's or Batista's. Do not be too surprised if you hear Batista's music open up proceedings, but I think the safer bet is here as Kane is still agile enough to not make this a plodding bout. To be honest, this feud has never really taken off & I am unsure it ever was going to. Any interest added by the late stipulation which will see Rey unmask if he loses this match is actually negated by the fact that it only makes the bout's winner more predictable. I just can't see Rey unmasking right now as it wouldn't serve too much of a purpose. Winner: Rey Mysterio

MATT HARDY vs MARK HENRY for the ECW Title: Haha, I can't remember the last time I even watched a second of the weekly ECW show, but it appears as if I haven't missed too much if this feud is still chugging along. Meanwhile, I have still got to see Miz, Morrison, Chavo & Evan Bourne on the 2 main shows. I've just got to find some footage of Jack Swagger & Ricky Ortiz & I'm set. Anyway, the big gorilla could win the title back here or he may not. Personally, I'd give Matt a little more of a run myself though. What would I know and what do I care in all honesty. Winner: Matt Hardy

BATISTA vs JBL in a #1 Contenders Match: This could get downright ugly folks. In JR speak, this is gonna be a slobberknocker and I don't think we will be seeing too many mat-wrestling holds. It actually has the potential to be pretty ordinary, especially if it goes on for too long. The match will also be hurt by the predictability factor, because unless Batista is taking some time off, I really don't see what good a JBL win would do here. Cross your fingers and hope for the best folks! Winner: Batista

BETH PHOENIX vs CANDICE MICHELLE for the Women's Title: Speaking of crossing your fingers & hoping for the best, I also fear for this match-up. I have actually always been a fan of Candice Michelle... Something about her work ethic, amongst other things, impresses me. But since her run of injuries, she really has lost all confidence and has got fairly sloppy in the squared circle. Beth will really need to take care of her here. The other problem this bout will have is a mixed crowd response as Beth is currently playing a tweener role of sorts due to her association with the comic genius that is Santino Marella. That will not assist the crowd in getting behind Candice at all and I think that will be evident come Sunday night. It might just be best to have Santino come out to make us laugh & forget about the wrestling that is going on in the ring. There is some chance that Santino may accidentally cause an upset here, but I don't think it would be the right time with crowds not re-warming themselves to Candice just yet. Winner: Beth Phoenix.

THE UNDERTAKER vs THE BIG SHOW: Did someone say slobberknocker earlier...??? Well, here's another one & this one probably won't be pretty either. And I'm not just talking about The Big Over-Acting Show here (lets see how many times he flashes that stupid grin this time). This will be your standard big man brawl with lots of interference that will probably not end cleanly. Who knows? Vicki may end up changing the rules of the bout as it goes along. As for a winner, a potential DQ result makes it difficult to predict, but since I am a little face heavy on victors thus far, then I suppose we can let Show get the victory here. Hell, we all know the feud will continue, so I suppose that makes some sort of logical sense. Winner: The Big Show

TRIPLE H vs JEFF HARDY for the WWE Championship: So we are back to where we were earlier in the year with these 2, albeit on a different brand. Has all that much changed...??? Well, despite many things occurring in the timeframe, I am not so sure that all that much differs now as compared to the last time these 2 met on ppv. H is still near the top of the heap & Jeff is still being tested for a potential Championship run. I really don't think that Jeff has gone beyond that as yet due to his February/March suspension and a couple of other little hiccups along the way. Yet, the fact that he is once more main-eventing a brand means that WWE (& Triple H) still have high hopes for him. What is required is for Jeff to prove to everyone what he is capable of by pulling off a fantastic match against Trips here. He is capable of, so now he just needs to realize that potential. Either way, I doubt he is winning the title just yet. Winner: Triple H

CHRIS JERICHO vs SHAWN MICHAELS in a Ladder Match for the World HeavyWeight Title: Oh man, I am unsure if many people realize this, but this could be the dream match of quite a few wrestling fans. Seriously, if these 2 are at their best, they could blow the roof of the arena here and the ladder match gimmick was always going to be the best avenue to do it in my opinion. The only query is HBK's fitness as there are some nagging injury issues hanging over his head which may not allow him to perform at his best. That would be a real shame, but you get the feeling that this bout wouldn't have been booked in the first place as what is sure to be the main-event of the night, if HBK wasn't able to give it his all for at least this night... Maybe the last night for a couple of months. And that is what I think may happen here; These 2 wrestle the house down with a possible match of the year contender... Y2J wins & some kind of injury angle is played out to allow HBK a much-deserved break. Well, that is what I hope occurs anyway... Especially the bit about the match of the year contender. Winner: Chris Jericho


Ok, so there we have the 2008 version of No Mercy as it currently stands. It is a little difficult to tell if there will be an 8th match added to the card. It may depend on how fit Shawn Michaels & The Undertaker are, because that may result in some shortened matches if they are nowhere near 100%. If there is an extra bout added, it will likely be a SmackDown encounter such as a Kozlov squash, Benjamin vs R-Truth or some multi-man bout involving MVP, Kendrick & The Colon Brothers amongst others. If an extra bout is not required, I can see a multitude of segments filling in time that could involve the likes of Kozlov, Santino, Charlie Haas, Randy Orton, Priceless, CM Punk, Jesse & Festus.

Overall, the 'No Mercy' card does not exactly stand out in terms of quality. In fact, it is extremely reliant on its 2 main-events as the rest could be very very ordinary. In normal circumstances, a casual fan may simply choose to skip this show, but 4 words may make this anything but normal circumstances. Those 4 words are Michaels, Jericho, Ladder Match.


Ok, I am just 17 columns away from the big 3-0-0, so why does it seem like an eternity away? Hopefully, I will be less busy next week & that will relieve some pressure. That way, if you send me an email, I will actually have the chance to reply to it. But right now, I can't promise anything unfortunately. I will get there, it is just a matter of when! My email 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=159

All going to plan, I will indeed be here come next Wednesday with my review of the No Mercy pay-per-view. Apart from that though, I have yet to plan out any topics, so let's hope that some ideas crawl their way into my brain over the next week. As always, 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.


And remember that DaveyBoy's Album Reviews can be viewed at: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/user_reviews.php?memberid=268913


DaveyBoy’s Wrestling Menu. 2002-2008

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