WWE Breaking The Code: Behind The Walls Of Jericho

Written by: Tom Hopkins

This would be Chris Jericho’s long awaited DVD. I don’t know why the hesitation in releasing this (Triple H has what, like 15 DVD releases already?) but I’m happy it is finally here.

The Main Characters
Chris Jericho has been around the business for quite a while. He first started in the early 90’s and started making a name for himself in Japan and SMW. He had a run in ECW as well. He graduated to the big leagues in the late 90’s wrestling as one of the star cruiserweights on WCW. Realizing he couldn’t elevate past that he finally went to the WWE in 1999 and really emerged as the star he always claimed to be and knew he was.

The Film (1:46:08)
The usual talking heads start this off. Chris grew up in Winnipeg with his mother (who always feeded his creativity) and his father, a professional hockey player. He was actually playing for the New York Rangers when Chris was born. Chris wanted to be two things when he grew up: a wrestler and a rock star He got into both when he was 8, watching AWA and listening to the Beatles. Chris was a bass player and played in bands all through high school. Some former band mates even appear on the DVD. Chris remembers watching Stampede wrestling and seeing an ad for the Hart wrestling school. He applied but was a year too young so he took a Creative Communications class and he really enjoyed it. He met Jesse Ventura during this time and talked to him for about two hours and Ventura told him to get ready for a life of pain and also get his degree. So Chris got his degree and at 19 he moved to Calgary to join the Hart training facility. Chris met Lance Storm there and Lance jokes about being there with all these out of shape people and that they were the only 2 people there who really wanted to make it. They became quick friends. Chris says that the bad thing about the camp is that there were no Harts there, but the good thing is that it was based on a book that Stu wrote in the 60’s. There’s old footage of the two working at the camp which is pretty cool.

Chris started doing work at local shows (complete with footage!) There’s even an early Jericho promo. He’s doing some sort of voice (doing an HBK impersonation maybe?). Bret Hart remembers watching a news segment on Chris Jericho and saying he liked what he saw. Chris went to Mexico and the fandom there was ridiculous. He worked there for 6-months before getting called to the big leagues down there and he became the Lionheart. Rey remembers watching Jericho on TV and how Chris was able to adapt to the Lucha style. Chris said he was able to adapt to life on the road and he really enjoyed life down there as a single guy – he was a rock star. Chris’ exposure was huge – Christian remembered seeing him on in Toronto. Eventually Jericho went to Hamburg, Germany (ironically where the Beatles stayed), working every night for months in front of the same fans so he really had to change things up a lot. From there he went to SMW to form the Thrill Seekers with Lance Storm. His real experience in SMW was doing promo’s. Jericho went to Japan after that (one of his lifelong goals, along with working in the WWE) and worked for WAR (Wrestling and Romance). Jericho had great matches with Ultimo Dragon – matches that ended up being his exposure and got him his job in ECW. Jericho says that his name was growing among real wrestling fans. Did McMahon know him? Probably not, but Heyman did, Foley did, and Cornette did.

Jericho ended up in ECW after Japan and Heyman threw him the stars right away. Jericho was over huge with the tape-trading hardcore ECW fans. His first match was with Cactus Jack and that got him over as a tough guy for going toe to toe with him. Jericho’s work in ECW got the attention of WCW and Eric Bischoff and soon Chris was off to Atlanta, Georgia. Eric saw Jericho at a New Japan show in California and offered him a job on the spot. Jericho took it and was part of the burgeoning Cruiserweight division. It was another culture shock for him, especially since he was at the advent of the Attitude era. Jericho says part of the reason WCW was beating WWE was because of the undercard. He admits that the WWE’s main events were better, but their undercard was just amazing. Dean Malenko makes an appearance here and it looks like he got a lot older.

Chris remembers one day showing up and Terry Taylor telling him he was turning heel. Jericho loved it since he now has a personality. He would use a lot of rock and roll lyrics in his promo’s and people were getting behind him. He would get time before every match to cut a 30-second promo and the things he said was so over the top that it got him over. Another memorable angle Jericho was in was the Man of 1,004 Holds stuff and Jericho reading it off to the crowd. Jericho was getting over but of course, WCW management frowned on people getting over that weren’t Hulk Hogan or his cronies. Jericho showed up to Fall Brawl without a match and battled a midget Goldberg. Goldberg wasn’t happy with it but it got over way too well and so it continued with Jericho fighting imposter Goldbergs. Jericho had this big angle and people wanted to see the match but the head of WCW was way too fractured on that.

Goldberg basically says (on the DVD) that Jericho wasn’t on his level (even though time and history have shown that he is wrong) and Jericho realized then that he shouldn’t work on WCW anymore. Bischoff says Jericho would’ve made it work but Goldberg didn’t handle it as well as he should have. Jericho was going to get squashed in a minute-long match which Jericho disagreed to. So the whole thing was just forgotten because of personal issues and not because of business. Jericho was done and he wanted out. That was October of 1998 and since he wouldn’t resign until August of 1999; that was about a year of misery. Jericho made the move and pitched the idea of the Countdown clock for his debut. The clock finally wound down on an episode of Raw and his first appearance was exchanging words with the Rock. Looking back Jericho doesn’t like his cheesy faces but admits that people do call it one of the best entrances.

Jericho remembers watching No Mercy 1999 with the Hardy’s/E&C ladder match and now he’s just a “healthy scratch,” and wondering what he did wrong. Just two months in and he was on the sidelines. Vince asked Jericho about working with a woman (in this case Chyna) and on the inside he didn’t really like it but he went along with it because at least it was something. She was the Intercontinental Champion at the time and that was one of Jericho’s dreams to win the title. Jericho said that he saw the light at the end of the tunnel – him winning the title. Jericho did have a feud with Stephanie McMahon and the two had some good chemistry together. Feuding with Stephanie meant feuding with Triple H (her then-storyline husband). Jericho notes how his first angle in the WWE was with a woman but it was a different angle with a woman (Stephanie) that put him over the top.

Jericho “won” the title against Triple H on Raw thanks to a Hebner fast-count and the crowd reaction was huge and it put him into the Main Event stage. More importantly, he got his confidence back. Jericho would then go on to beat the Rock for the WCW title at the 2001 Vengeance PPV and then went on to beat Austin immediately afterwards to become the first ever Undisputed champion. Jericho and Stephanie soon teamed up (though Jericho didn’t really think it worked that well). He main evented Wrestlemania in Toronto at X8 and what should’ve been a proud moment – going on last – was overshadowed by the Hogan/Rock match and perhaps that burned out the fans somewhat. Jericho wouldn’t call it a career highlight but hey, he went on last at Wrestlemania which not many people can say they’ve done. It was only his second Wrestlemania, too, but the first one was bypassed due to the inclusion of Angle (not in the company anymore) and Benoit (murdering jerk who has been deleted from WWE history).

All the boys talk about how good Jericho is in the ring and how he makes everyone better. Not only did he have great matches but he soon found another avenue for his talents – the Jericho Highlight Reel. Jericho wanted to call it the Jericho Junction but he was over ruled and it became the Highlight Reel. From there Jericho went on to feud with the one and only Shawn Michaels. This was one of Shawn’s first matches back after his back injury and the two even ended up wrestling at Wrestlemania. I love how Jericho pokes fun at HBK’s bad haircut, too. Jericho calls that one of the peak moments of his career, especially since he and Shawn stole the show. Jericho went on a run with Christian and they ended up winning the Tag Titles together. They did have great chemistry together. Christian turned on Jericho thanks to the involvement of Trish Stratus.

Chris wanted time off to be at home and that led to his program with John Cena. Jericho doesn’t understand why people rag on Cena since Cena’s work-ethic, although unorthodox, is good. There was a match where Jericho, as a heel, was cheered vociferously. Jericho did think that it was because of his good will he built with the fans. The next night they had a You’re Fired match and Jericho lost. Jericho says his exit was one of his favorite moments despite people thinking he was slighted by McMahon. Jericho knew he wasn’t retired – he just needed time away. He went on tour with Fozzy, he spent more time with his family and Big Show (who lives down the street from him) can attest to that. Chris worked with VH1, too. He talks about Moongoose McQueen and how it is a separate character from Chris Jericho and how people like Brooklyn Brawler got confused. His band beat Howard Stern’s band in a Battle of the Bands and that’s when they stopped being just a cover band and doing their own thing.

Chris during his time off also wrote a book. Chris had a journalism major and he always wanted to use it to write a book. He did (A Lion’s Tale) and it ended up on the New York Times Bestseller List. It was also during this time off that his mother passed away. Chris says it was hard but it showed him that the wrestling stage of his life was over. Chris remembers getting back into the wrestling bug by watching the Cena/Michaels match at Wrestlemania. He watched it and said that should be him. He watched their Raw match and texted Vince that night and his return was set-up. Chris reinvented himself and soon he had his new big feud. Chris took his new cool evil heel persona to badmouth Shawn Michaels and then throw him head-first into the Jeri-tron 5000. Jericho says that was the end of the Y2J era, as his flashy clothes were gone and in its place is a suit-wearing prick. Chris says this character was inspired by No Country For Old Men and by Nick Bockwinkel which he saw on the recently released AWA DVD.

Rey really liked working Jericho and Chris felt that he could work Rey’s style because of his lucha background. The story was simple – Chris wanted to take off Rey’s mask. Chris explains it that he wanted the mask just because he was a jerk and a bully. Jericho went on to tag with Edge and they were going to be huge but Edge suffered an Achilles injury. So Jericho teamed with Big Show (Jeri-Show) and they had a great time. Jericho went on to lose the 2010 Royal Rumble to Edge and the two squared off against at Wrestlemania XXVI. Edge calls that one of his career highlights. We move all the way up to NXT and Jericho mentoring Wade Barrett. Jericho thinks it is funny that these young kids are being mentored by Chris Jericho who isn’t even that old. He thinks it’s good that these NXT kids have someone watching their back. Jericho ends by saying he knows he’s not perfect but he does the best he can every night. The talking heads end with some nice words for Jericho and his career as the program comes to an end. Chris himself says that his ideal send-off would be for him to leave kicking and screaming and just disappear. He doesn’t want the heroes sendoff.

Feature Review
This was a very straight-forward feature on Chris Jericho. Chris is a VERY colorful character but he doesn’t have a whole lot of conflict or dark moments that sometimes make these so interesting. Don’t get me wrong – it was a GREAT retrospective on Chris’ whole career, from wrestling to the other things he does – but it didn’t have periods where you could use the somber music for some depressing thing. That’s a real credit to Jericho the person, and he really does seem like a real nice down-to-Earth guy who knows his place in the wrestling business and he’s very honest about his whole career. If you like Jericho, you’ll love this program.

DVD Features
A) Extras
—Disc One—
1) A Young Fanatic (1:00)
Chris talks about being a wrestling fanatic as a kid and he and his friend acted out the entire Steamboat/Savage match from Wrestlemania III. I love hearing stories about these wrestlers who really love the business and how they would do things like that growing up.

2) Jack Action (4:09)
Jericho talks about his first match (which is shown in full on Disc 2) which was only a few miles away from an insane asylum. The match would be a Broadway (term for time-limit draw which I’ve never heard before but will now steal). Chris said his wrestling name was going to be Jack Action and that was going to take him to the top. Lance saw the name and told Chris how terrible it is and Chris kind of played it off like he wasn’t going to use it. When asked what name he was going to use he had the Walls of Jericho tape in his car and so Chris Jericho was born. Lance and his boss both liked the name. Then his boss came back and told Chris he was going to be Cowboy Chris Jericho from Casper, Wyoming. Lance Storm had the middle initial of T (standing for Thunder) and they had their first match. Lance and Chris both celebrated after their first match and Lance still says it is the second best match of the show. Chris got his payday ($30 – Canadian) and said he got that much for 10-minutes work – he’s rich.

3) Leon de Oro (2:42)
When Chris went to Japan he new he wanted an animal name and Gold Lion was the one he was thinking (Leon de Oro in Spanish) but the promoter wanted to call him He-Man, like the cartoon, complete with a sword. So he was on a show where people would vote for his name. The three choices were Leon de Oro, He-Man and Chris Power. The hosts of the show themselves had masks. Chris lucked out because the name they picked was Leon de Oro. Turns out that the Leon De Oro name won out by 8 people, and only about 115 people voted overall. Chris doesn’t know which fact was more pathetic.

4) The Thrill Seekers Vignette #1 (3:28)
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this and the other one when it was on WWE Classsics.com. It’s basically the Thrillseekers working out in a gym complete with a cheesy 80’s rock song. This was how they built the faces back then. I know nothing makes me happier to cheer for someone than to watch them work out for 3-minutes while shirtless and wearing tight shorts. After the gym the two return to their hotel room but get diverted by two unattractive women who may as well be prostitutes.

5) The Thrill Seekers Vignette #2 (5:15)
The Thrill Seekers are in a forest in Tennessee and they are there to show everyone that they are here to ROCK America! Even then Chris was doing all the talking and Lance was ever stoic. So in their eternal quest to seek thrills, the two find themselves at an amusement park of sorts, playing bumper cars, ice skating (they are Canadian), feedind live bears, playing in an arcade, bungee jumping, taking a helicopter ride and riding horses. And people cheered them when they debuted after watching these videos?

6) “Have You Heard of Chris Jericho?” (1:35)
Christian talks about meeting Chris for the first time. The boys in his small promotion were in awe of him right away thinking of him as a big star already. They went out and Christian said he would ask people if they had heard of Chris Jericho and surprisingly everyone said yes. They even went into a cab and asked a taxi driver and HE knew who he was, too. This was even before he was in WCW or WWE!

7) Paul Heyman’s Roommate (0:50)
Chris talks about calling Heyman for a year to get into ECW and called everyone, even Paul’s roommate Dave who was actually Paul himself. Chris finally talked to him in December of 1995 and Heyman said right away that he was trying to get a hold of Jericho for a WHOLE YEAR.

8) Mister Salty (0:52)
Joey Styles talks about Jericho using a submission that he’d never seen before and so Styles couldn’t identify it so he called it a Mr. Salty (because he’s tied up like a pretzel) so to this day Jericho mentions it every time they see each other.

9) Man of 1,004 Holds (3:56)
This is from the March 30th, 1998 Nitro and it’s one of Jericho’s earliest great promos. Jericho beats Marty Jannetty with the real version of the Walls of Jericho and Jannetty taps immediately. Jericho then reads a list of his 1,004 holds, making him 4-moves better than Dean Malenko, the man of 1,000 holds. #1 – arm drag, #2 – arm-BAR, #4 – ARM-bar. He reads different versions of the armbar which is funny. They go to break and return with Jericho still in the ring reading his moves. The second hour of Nitro starts with all the pyro and Jericho is STILL reading his list. Prince Iaukea comes out and finally stops Jericho from reading. This was cool stuff.

10) Conspiracy Victim (2:33)
We’re at the June 1st, 1998, Nitro. Jericho goes to the Capital to try and get evidence to get his belt back from JJ Dillon. It doesn’t go well and Jericho thinks it is some sort of conspiracy. He is the victim of said conspiracy. Jericho can’t get anywhere and even tries seeing the President of the US! This seemed to drag a bit.

11) Father Knows Best (2:27)
We move to Thunder now, this one from June 11th, 1998. JJ tells Jericho that in order to wear to the belt he must defeat Dean Malenko at the Great American Bash for the title. Chris Jericho’s dad comes out as Jericho throws a tantrum. Ted Irvine (former New York Ranger) comes out and questions Jericho’s professionalism. He tells Jericho not to back down and even references the French Connection and Tim Horton (they must be in Buffalo). He tells Chris to get into the ring and earn the title like a man.

12) “Hello, Lexington” (3:11)
This is another Thunder promo from September 10th, 1998. Jericho is led out from his locker room (a la Goldberg) but he can’t quite make it to the stage. This is totally stolen from This is Spinal Tap and I can safely assume that Jericho has seen that movie. He even tries pulling open the door (which is actually open and it does open in his hands) but he’s locked out. His opponent, Wrath, tries finding Jericho by leaving the ring. Wrath finds him so Jericho runs away.

13) Do You Smell What Y2J is Cookin’? (4:31)
This is from the October 30th, 2000 episode of Raw. Jericho and Rock are about to square off to determine the #1 contender to the belt. Jericho does his Raw is Jericho catch-phrase but the Rock stops him and does some of his own (Finally, The Rock, has come BACK, to Boston). Jericho interrupts him and makes fun of his Just Bring It shirt. The two go back and forth (It Doesn’t Matter What You Think!) and Jericho does his own Do You Smell What Y2J is Cookin’ saying, stealing it from Rocky himself. Rock isn’t too happy with that, of course. Rock tries smelling what Jericho cooked and it smells like Canadian Moose Piss. Rock wants to layeth the smacketh down on the entire family of Jericho’s candy asses. Rock then steals Jericho’s never, EEEVER, catchphrase. This was a really good promo between the two.

14) Sharing a Beer With Stone Cold Steve Austin (14:14)
This is a Post-Raw segment from August 25th, 2003. Jericho introduces this to us as a big end-part to the show that occurs AFTER the show goes off the air. Jericho is in the ring and asks where the hell he is when Austin runs down and brings some beer into the ring. The two throw down on the microphones (with a whole bunch of WHAT’S going on from the fans) and it’s funny stuff. Jericho calls Austin expensive and he tells him that the only thing expensive about him is his drinking habit. They have a great time in the ring together, with Jericho trying to get the fans to agree to him drinking beer with Austin in the most ridiculous way (say Zip-a-dee-dah, zip-a-dee-day) and then Austin praising Jericho’s band. Jericho can’t quite catch the beers Austin throws at him until he finally catches and underhanded toss. They finally share a beer together and then Jericho taps Steve on the shoulder (grounds for physical assault) and it’s a stunner for Jericho! This was a lot of fun.

15) Chris Jericho vs. The Old Man (5:18)
This is a segment that happened after the November 17th, 2009 episode of SmackDown. Jericho introduces this one, too, as the very passionate fans of the WWE and especially the Philadelphia fans. Chris gets on the microphone and yells at the audience, telling them they can’t leave until he says they can. He says everyone in the crowd is jealous of him and even pokes fun at a grandpa at ringside. The Old Man takes his jacket off and is ready for a challenge and Jericho just goes off on him. The old guy cusses at him (F-You, Bum!) and Jericho calls him out for his profanity. Jericho tells the security guard to toss the Old Man and his friend out of the building and then tosses EVERYONE out. That was a lot funnier than it had any right to be.

16) Jericho’s Junction (7:57)
This is a highlight reel of Jericho’s interview segments and tantrums, mostly from his work as a heel and face in both WCW and the WWE. This is all funny stuff (calling Mabel the lovechild of Mr. T and Fat Albert and peeing in William Regal’s tea). There’s even a great thing where a fan tells him to go back to Toronto and Jericho yells back that he’s from Winnipeg, idiot. Probably the best extra on Disc One.

17) Fozzy Music Video – “Let Te Madness Begin” (4:00)
Fozzy is Jericho’s band (They were originally Fozzy Fosbourne but it had to be changed as to not be too close to the Ozzy). I don’t know if this is an original or not but it’s a decent rock number. Jericho’s got a decent voice, too. This is a more recent video of Fozzy since Jericho is rocking the short-hair here.

—Disc Two—
1) An Introduction by Chris Jericho (1:03)
Chris introduces himself as MC Hammer (just kidding) before saying that finally the WWE monkey’s gave him a DVD. He says that all these matches either had a sentimental value, a stepping stone, or just had meaning to him. He says that some have been released before, but who cares about those other collections.

2) Cowboy Chris Jericho vs. Lance T. Storm (12:04)
This is literally recorded with a hand-held at ringside. This was from a Calgary, Alberta show from October 2nd, 1990. Lance is wearing a ridiculous pink outfit and I didn’t know the T meant tacky. The announcers mention this is the Canadian Wrestling Connection or CWC. I may have misheard what the actual letters stood for but it was CWC. The two start with some mat wrestling before Jericho hits a deep Steamboat-esque armdrag. Lance comes back with an armdrag and a monkey flip out of the corner. The announcer says that Jericho almost hit the roof of whatever Moose Hall they’re in. Humble beginnings and all. Lance connects with a back elbow and a snap suplex gets two. Jericho rolls over Lance’s back drop attempt and schoolboys him for two and that spot was executed very well. Jericho lands a dropkick and covers for two. A kneedrop also gets two. The 3 fans are calling for a piledriver but neither oblige yet. Jericho rana’s Storm over into a cover but Lance hooks the shoulders and gets a two-count on the pinfall attempt. Lance blows a hiptoss but connects with a dropkick. He tries a suplex only to get countered by Jericho into a roll-up for two. Lance bodyslams Jericho and heads upstairs. His crossbody off the top gets two. Jericho comes back with a crucifix for two. The announcers mention that Jericho is announced as from Wyoming for this match. Wyoming? Lance’s belly to belly suplex gets two as does Jericho’s springboard crossbody out of the corner. Lance gets a small package for two, Jericho hits a big splash for two, a backslide for Jericho gets two and our 15-minute time limit match ends with a draw at 11:19. Well, no one ever said Indy timekeepers were any good. This wasn’t terrible but you could tell it was two very green guys working in the ring together. **.

Now this has a special commentary by Striker and Jericho. Jericho’s name here is spelt as Jerico. He tells us the T stands for Thunder, so Lance Thunder Storm. Chris had his whole Rocker outfit ready and was given the gimmick of being a cowboy and being billed as from Wyoming. This was only 4-months into their training and Jericho was a spry 19-years-old. Chris has the black boots, even though he was playing a face. Jericho was a fighter for his convictions from the beginning, even as a green rookie. Chris mentions that he wouldn’t make it out of the Hart Training Camp if not for Lance, and vice versa. This match was actually used as part of the build-up to his match against Michaels, how he started as a Michaels disciple. Chris talks about the music he listened to at the time and he remembered buying his first Poison tape (yes, cassette tape) for $7.99. He also talks about how Lance was just an amazing wrestler and he could do everything (and better than Jericho, too). Jericho had the character, though, and Lance really didn’t. He even compares Storm and Jericho to Lennon & McCartney. That’s pretty bold of him. This was a really fun commentary.

3) The Thrill Seekers vs. The Infernos (6:11)
This is a SMW match from March 12th, 1994. I feel like I may have seen this one already back on Chris Jericho month on WWE Classics.com and when I double-check, it turns out I DID review it already. Lance starts with the first masked man and it’s a simple armbar to start. Red One elbows out of it and Lance comes back with a reverse springboard splash for two. Lance hits a nice dropkick and the Red Two is tagged in. Jericho comes in and he kicks Red Two down to the apron. Jericho follows with a springboard off the second turnbuckle with a shoulderblock. Jericho suplexes him down and covers for two. Jericho uses a chinlock and tags in Lance. They do a double leapfrog leading to a double clothesline for two. The other tag team is called the Inferno’s? Lance snap suplexes Red Two for two. The Inferno’s they are and their names are Fire and Brimstone. That’s good to know but who is who? Jericho hits a flying clothesline and tags in Lance. Both head up to the same corner and connect with a double dropkick and that’s enough for the pinfall at 3:00. The announcer gives the team a 9.95 rating. It was good and exciting but it was a squash match to showcase the high-flying skills of the Thrillseekers. *. We get an interview with the Thrillseekers, too. The video quality on here was surprisingly good, too.

4) Chris Jericho(c) vs. Ultimo Dragon for the International Junior Title (17:45)
This is one of Chris’ Japanese matches and it took place on July 7th, 1995. I love the tracking line at the bottom of the screen – remember those back in the days of VHS tapes and tape trading? Chris Jericho and Matt Striker recorded some commentary for this match which I am listening to as I watch the match. This tape is from Chris’ personal collection. Chris calls Ultimo his greatest opponent and how they main evented against each other for much of 1995. Chris credits Negro Casas, one of his trainers in Lucha Libre, for many of his heel tactics that he uses even today. Chris pokes fun at his outfit which is funny. I like that when they record these commentary tracks they aren’t in character and it’s just two fans watching a wrestling match. Chris shows off his Japanese reading skills (he picked it up while over there). Mick Foley was in attendance here and brought the tape to ECW where Jericho eventually got a job (albeit a year later) and then it got him into WCW when Jimmy Hart brought it to the bookers there. Ultimo and Jericho flip around early and it’s a stalemate. We cut ahead in the tape a bit with Jericho getting a moonsault out of the corner for two. Chris jokes that he can’t do that anymore. Jericho hits a springboard crossbody to the outside. It’s hard to watch the match and listen to the commentary because the commentary is so interesting. Chris says he stayed stateside after Japan to try to get into WWE. Jericho nails a frog-splash off the top for two on Ultimo. Jericho nearly kills Ultimo with a German suplex as the commentary cuts out. What were they talking about that was cut out? Jericho nails a butterfly powerbomb into a cover for two. Ultimo is backdropped to the apron but Jericho misses a springboard and lands hard on the outside. Ultimo follows up with a seated senton on a prone Jericho. Jericho counters with a tombstone. Jericho mentions how he loved how he got into the business and that he wouldn’t have it any other way. He even compares it with guys coming up today and how they didn’t have territories. Jericho talks about his pop-culture influence, especially his band. Ultimo continues with the highspots, knocking Jericho to the mat with a springboard dropkick on the apron and then a somersault plancha. Ultimo locks on a Sharpshooter in the middle of the ring before breaking it and setting Jericho on the top. Jericho shoves him off and follows with a missile dropkick for two. Jericho tries for a Lionsault but Ultimo trips him up and a La Majestral gets two. They have a reversal sequence leading to an Ultimo Tiger Suplex for two. Ultimo tries a rana off the top but Jericho tosses him to the outside. He tries a splash but Dragon lifts up a foot to block. Ultimo tries suplexing Jericho in but Jericho flips out and ends up hitting the Lionsault for two. Jericho’s powerbomb is countered into a rana by Ultimo for two. Another one for Ultimo gets two. Jericho comes back with a Tiger Suplex for two. Jericho tries a top-rope suplex but Ultimo falls on top for two. Jericho rolls through a powerbomb which Ultimo rolls through for two. Ultimo DDT’s Jericho and heads up but Jericho catches him and bodyslams him off for two. Jericho misses a moonsault off the top which allows Ultimo to try a Cancun Tornado (corkscrew off the top). He misses which allows Jericho to do a butterfly suplex off the top which is enough for the finish at 13:18. This is still a good match, although there were some odd-looking spots here. The commentary was awesome and is well worth a listen. ***1/2.

5) Chris Jericho vs. Cactus Jack (14:48)
This is from ECW Hardcore TV (from March 12th, 1996). Cactus does some sort of dance with Stevie Ray and the Blue Meanie and Cactus says he feels like the luckiest man on the face of the earth (doing his best Lou Gehrig impression to boot) until Jericho’s had enough and dropkicks Stevie and Meanie out of the ring. Cactus pounds away at Jericho early until Jericho monkey flips Cactus into the corner and dropkicks him to the outside. Cactus returns to the ring and connects with a running clothesline in the corner. Cactus misses a second one and a dropkick sends Cactus to the apron. Jericho hits a springboard dropkick that sends Cactus outside. Jericho follows and crotches him before hitting a spinning heel kick – one that RVD would do later in his run. Did he steal that from Jericho? Both guys ends up on the apron and Cactus leaps at Jericho, but misses and finds the ringpost instead. Jericho tries a splash off the apron but flies into a clothesline instead. Cactus goes to work with a chair over Jericho’s back. Jericho is neck-snapped over the top rope on his way back in and that allows Meanie and Stevie to get in some cheap shots. Jericho is set up in the Tree of Woe and Cactus drops an elbow onto Jericho’s head. A baseball slide from Cactus sends Jericho outside. Jericho is suplexed on the mat before Cactus bring him back in. Cactus lands a legdrop for two. Cactus sets a chair onto Jericho and goes upstairs but Jericho gets up quickly, tosses the chair at Cactus and then rana’s him off the top. Jericho hits a big splash off the top for two. Cactus comes back with a piledriver and a Cactus clothesline that sends Jericho down. Cactus hits a flying back elbow off the apron that sandwiches Jericho into the guardrail. Jericho comes right back with a back suplex and charges. He is Snake Eyed onto the barricade and out. The Cactus Elbow follows (an elbow off the apron) and Cactus drives Jericho to the mat with a second piledriver. He covers for only two. Cactus tries a third one but Jericho escapes and hits a bridged German Suplex that is enough for the victory at 12:46. This was a bit slowish in the beginning but it really picked up towards the end. The last 4-minutes were all good. **3/4.

6) Chris Jericho(c) vs. Eddie Guerrero for the WCW Cruiserweight Title (20:40)
This one opened up the 1997 Fall Brawl, an event held on September 14th. Jericho retained his title against Guerrero at the Clash of the Champions but Eddie attacked him from behind post-match and Jericho wanted this rematch. Eddie bails early to try and drown out the Eddie Sucks chants. It seemed to work, actually. Jericho armdrags Eddie and Eddie immediately goes to the referee to complain of a hair-pull. That’s an awesome heel maneuver and the way he did it was just so funny. Jericho escapes from some Eddie headlock take-overs and again Eddie complains of hair-pulling. Eddie oversells a shoulderblock and that gets a good pop from the crowd. Eddie takes down Jericho and pulls the hair in plain view of the ref which is funny considering what he was complaining about before. Eddie throws the first chop at the 3:20 mark and I think there are more to come. Jericho fires back with one of his own and Eddie does another good oversell. Jericho works the arm of Eddie but Eddie powers out of it and gets a near-fall as a result. Eddie tries a La Majestral roll-up but Jericho counters into one of his own for two. The fans chant boring even though the early-goings have been psychologically sound and is telling a good story. Jericho drops Guerrero onto the top rope and hits the Lionsault. He covers but only gets a two-count. Jericho goes to a wristlock but Eddie leaps onto the apron and stuns Jericho over the top rope. Guerrero drops Jericho onto the second rope (in 619 position) and follows with a dropkick to the back. Eddie starts working the back with a chinlock that drives both his knees into Jericho’s back. Eddie tries a surfboard type maneuver to really stretch out the back. Jericho powers out of it and actually reverses but Eddie kicks out of it. Eddie hits a nice slingshot splash onto Jericho’s back. Guerrero even unleashes a Gory Special which Jericho reverses into one of his own. Eddie tries rana’ing out of it but ends up pancaked instead. Jericho misses an elbow drop but Eddie misses a seated dropkick so we’re all square. Jericho hits two running clotheslines in the corner but misses a third one. Guerrero tries a rope-walk but Jericho crotches him and then springboard dropkicks him to the apron. Jericho tries a powerbomb from the apron but Guerrero holds onto the ropes and lands on the apron as Jericho falls outside. Guerrero then falls outside on top of Jericho. Jericho gets in the ring first and Eddie tries a somersault slingshot splash. This time Jericho’s ready and he moves out of the way. Jericho hits a ridiculous release German suplex. He covers but Guerrero’s foot makes the ropes. Guerrero blocks a powerbomb and a clothesline with a Rock Bottom like suplex. Guerrero charges right into a Jericho powerslam. Jericho follows with a spinning heel kick for two. Jericho tries a Majestral roll-up but Eddie counters. So Jericho powerbombs him, holds on for a second on, and then holds on to put him upstairs. A superplex follows but Guerrero falls on top of Jericho on the way down and ends it with a Frog Splash at 17:21 to win the Cruiserweight title. This was an awesome match with some very nice pacing early on and a very hot ending. Guerrero didn’t hit the superplex counter all that cleanly but other than that this was all good. ****1/4.

7) Chris Jericho(c) vs. Juventud Guerrera for the WCW Cruiserweight Title (18:44)
This is from Superbrawl VIII and it took place on February 22nd, 1998. It’s weird that Juvie would put his mask on the line with no repercussions for Jericho. Of course, I wrote that after reading the liner notes. Turns out that this is for the Cruiserweight title. It is hard to imagine that Chris was just a Cruiserweight at this point and only 3 years later he would be the first ever Unified Title Holder in the WWE. They lock up, with Chris still wearing the belt, and they break clean. It looks like Chris is going to wrestle with the belt on tonight. Juvie flips out of an arm-wringer but hits a roundhouse kick into the gut. It was supposed to hit the belt and cause Jericho to take off the belt but it looked like it hit him in the gut. Juvie connects with a nice looking spinning heel kick before grabbing a reverse chinlock. Jericho adeptly sneaks out of it. Juvie hits a springboard “body attack,” which was just a nice way of saying a blown spinning heel kick. Juvie follows with a springboard rana off the top to Jericho while he’s on the apron. Jericho stays knocked out on the mat, even though he’s just pretending, so he can be counted out. So Juvie runs out and elbowdrops him before rolling him back into the ring. So Jericho boots Juvie in the corner and tries a German suplex. Juvie flips out of it but is clotheslined over the top rope when he charges. Juvie rolls to the apron and that allows Jericho to hits a springboard dropkick that sends Juvie to the mat. Jericho follows with a bodyslam to the mat before setting up the steel steps in front of Juvie. Jericho charges off the ring steps to use as a springboard but Juvie catches him and stuns him on the barricade. Juvie tries a springboard splash in the ring but Jericho catches him and hits a spike tombstone for two. Jericho knocks Juvie down and does the arrogant cover for two. Juvie sneaks in a victory roll for two before he’s kicked down. Jericho suplexes Juvie and hits a back splash on Juvie for two. Juvie tries a rana off the top but Jericho catches him and falls back. Jericho heads upstairs but he’s dropkicked off the top rope and he falls down to the outside. Jericho wanders around as Juvie sets up, and hits, a springboard splash off the top. Juvie hits a sit down powerbomb before hitting his 450 splash. He covers and gets the pinfall but the ref sees Jericho’s hand on the ropes and he explains to Jericho that the match will continue. So Jericho cheapshots Juvie from behind and clips the leg. Juvie sneaks in a roll-up for two but he’s clotheslined down quickly. Jericho tries a powerbomb that Juvie reverses into a DDT for two. Juvie sets up Jericho on the top but Jericho shoves him off. Jericho leaps off and right into an atomic drop. Jericho is set up on the ropes and Juvie hits a springboard rana for two. Jericho slams down Juvie but Jericho misses the lionsault. Jericho tries the Liontamer but Juvie rolls out of it into a cover for two. Juvie tries a rana but Jericho catches him and puts him in the Liontamer right in the middle of the ring. Juvie has no choice but to submit at 13:03. Jericho gets on the microphone and thanks his Jericholics and tells Juvie to take off the mask. Juvie takes off the mask and Jericho pulls it away, revealing his face to everyone. That’s sort of anti-climactic here in America, seeing as no one cares about the mask legacy and stuff. The first six minutes of the match were really boring but it really picked up during the last 7 minutes with some really cool reversals. I don’t know why they needed a false-finish here (with two on the DVD to boot!) but whatever. There’s some good stuff to this match. ***1/2.

8) Chris Jericho vs. Dean Malenko (8:32)
This is from the July 27th, 1998 episode of Nitro. Jericho hits Malenko with a dropkick as Malenko gets into the ring that immediately dumps Malenko. Malenko is sent into the ringpost before being rolled back into the ring. Jericho tries a crossbody off the top but Malenko meets him with a dropkick on the way down. Malenko sunset flips Jericho out of the corner but Jericho holds on with a Liontamer. Malenko gets to the ropes so Jericho follows with a springboard dropkick that dumps Malenko. Jericho follows with a plancha as we head to break. We return with Jericho in control. Malenko fights back with a spinning heel kick and a release German suplex for two. Malenko follows with a running lariat in the corner. Jericho blocks a brainbuster with an inverted suplex and a Lionsault. He covers but Malenko kicks out at two. Malenko blocks a butterfly suplex attempt with a butterfly powerbomb. Malenko hoots on the Texas Cloverleaf but Jericho makes the ropes. One of the announcers says how lucky Jericho is despite never mentioning luck when Malenko got the ropes before. Malenko gets caught upstairs and crotched and Jericho tries a superplex. Malenko counters with a top-rope DDT and covers but Jericho’s hand reaches the rope to break. Jericho finds some brass knuckles in his knee pads and tries using them after the ref is bumped but Malenko blocks and picks up the brass knuckles himself. He knocks out Jericho but the referee saw the knucks on his fist and he immediately disqualifies Malenko at 6:22. This was your average WCW Nitro match. It didn’t have too much time to really develop and it had a screwy ending so it fit the mold nicely of what was on Nitro at the time. Of course these two are both awesome in the ring so they made the best with what they got. **1/4.

9) The Millennium Clock Expires (8:43)
This was Jericho’s debut on the August 9th, 1999 Raw. His countdown clock expired as the Rock was in the ring. Jericho came out to a HUGE ovation (it was really the last of the real surprise debuts, especially when WCW was getting less relevant by the hour) and he says he will inject new life into the WWE. Of course the Rock has words for him afterwards. Unfortunately Jericho’s big debut didn’t actually lead to anything big until a few months later (he needed to prove himself in the WWE, after all).

10) Chris Jericho(c) vs. Kurt Angle for the WWE Intercontinental Title (15:43)
This is from No Way Out held on February 27th. Kurt is the European title at this time, which wasn’t at stake. Kurt makes fun of the audience and the Whalers a bit and its amazing how much heel heat this guy had only 4 months into his WWE career. He was definitely my favorite wrestler in the year 2000. Jericho has Chyna in his corner. Jericho starts things off with a hiptoss, to which Angle responds with a slap to the face. Jericho comes back with a clothesline and chops. Angle drop toe holds Jericho onto the bottom rope. He charges when Jericho gets up and is back dropped to the outside. A springboard dropkick follows once Angle makes the apron. Jericho misses a baseball slide and tosses Jericho into the stairs. They brawl on the outside and Jericho hits a nice asai moonsault off the steps. They head back to the ring and Jericho goes to the top, only to get crotched. Angle hits a belly to belly suplex off the top for two. A suplex also gets two. Angle locks on a reverse chinlock but Jericho reverses to a backbreaker for one. Angle fights back and starts working the arm of Jericho. Jericho fights back with his running bulldog and a flying forearm for two. Angle tries for a hurricanrana and Jericho counters with a powerslam. He covers but only gets a two and Angle reverses that into an armbar submission. Jericho works his way out and walks right into an Olympic Slam. This only gets two and Angle is pissed. He gets the IC title from the outside but the referee stops him from using it. This distraction allows Jericho to lock in the Walls of Jericho and Angle makes the ropes. The two brawl on the outside which leads to Angle grabbing the European title, Chyna taking a bump into the stairs and Jericho suplexing Angle into the ring. Jericho tries for the lion-sault but Angle, still with the belt in his hands, lifts it up to block and Jericho hits the belt. Angle covers and gets the pin at 10:14 to become Euro-continental champion. This was a short match, but still entertaining. They would definitely have better. **1/2.

11) Triple H(c) vs. Chris Jericho for the WWE Title (16:25)
Jericho coerces HHH into a title match and then brings out his insurance policy, the Acolytes. Jericho gets a quick drop toe hold after sending HHH to the corner. HHH comes back with the knee but gets back dropped to the outside. Jericho tries the baseball slide but HHH evades and slugs Jericho down. HHH makes the apron and Jericho dropkicks him off to the outside. Jericho drags him back to the apron and tries to clothesline him in but HHH hangs him out to dry on the top rope. HHH blocks a charging Jericho with a high knee and pounds on him in the corner. HHH elbows Jericho off the apron and we brawl outside. HHH has his head sent into the announce table only to have Jericho’s charge hit the boot of HHH. HHH sends Jericho to the steps, bring him inside, and suplexes him down. A knee drop gets two for HHH. HHH goes to the top but Jericho catches him and tosses him off. A blind charge for HHH hits the boot of Jericho who responds with a missile dropkick for two. HHH tries the Pedigree but Jericho turns counters and tries for the Walls of Jericho. He can’t get it so he catapults HHH, into the referee of course. Jericho goes to the top but Shane shakes the top rope and Jericho is crotched. The APA chase Shane to the back as Stephanie throws the title into the ring. Jericho catches it first, slams it into the head of HHH and covers, but the ref is still out. Another ref comes running out but HHH kicks out at two. HHH sees Hebner’s the referee and shoves him around, leading to Jericho knocking HHH down and hitting the Lionsault. One quick-count later and Chris Jericho is the new WWE Champ at 8:38. This was a really fun match, ***.

Of course, HHH has the decision overturned later on in the night, causing a lot of people to be pissed about HHH and his power and the glass ceiling and all. HHH has Hebner reverse the decision on one term, that no one lays a hand on him. HHH agrees to that, fires Hebner, then pedigrees him.

12) Chris Jericho vs. The Rock(c) for the WCW Title (29:42)
This is from No Mercy held on October 21st, 2001. This was during the whole Alliance stuff and talk of Jericho being in the ECW faction. Paul Heyman and JR are calling the action here. JR ponders if Jericho is a choke-artist like Bill Buckner. In all fairness Buckner had he caught the ball probably wouldn’t have made the play on Mookie Wilson and it would’ve tied the game regardless. Boston still had a Game 7 they could’ve won and failed to do so it’s not Buckner’s choke that cost them the World Series. After some initial locking up Rock gets a big arm-drag on Y2J that winds up going into a side headlock. Jericho returns with armdrags of his own. Jericho anticipates leapfrogging Rock but Rock holds onto the ropes and clotheslines Jericho down. Rock and Jericho both go for their finishers early and both are blocked. Rock ends up on the apron and Jericho sends him to ringside with a springboard dropkick. Jericho sends Rock to the barrier before bringing him back in and hitting a corkscrew elbow off the top for a two. Jericho hits a flying forearm for two. Jericho chops away in front of the blurred corner. The blur tem is getting really sharp with their blurring now. Rock tries his own chops but walks into a spinning heel kick for two. Jericho’s backbreaker leads to a senton. Jericho sprawls his back over Rock for a pinfall but Rock turns that into a crucifix for two.

Rock comes back with a flying forearm but gets clotheslined over the top rope. Jericho slams down Rocky and heads upstairs. Rocky makes it to the ropes and shakes Jericho down; crotching himself on the top turnbuckle. There’s a weird discussion with JR saying that would hurt unless Jericho is wearing a cup but he’ll never know the answer to that. That’s certainly an odd thing to mention during a match. Rock superplexes Jericho and both guys are down. Jericho makes it up at nine but walks into Rock rights. Rock hits a Samoan Drop for two. Jericho fires back with a short-arm clothesline but Rock kips up and slugs Jericho to the outside. Rock follows Jericho and slams him into the announce table before bringing him back in. Jericho is clotheslined down for two. Rock suplexes Jericho for two. Jericho charges at Rock so Rock sidesteps him and Jericho is sent flying to the outside. Rocky goes out to retrieve him and brings him back in the ring where he covers for two. Rock locks in a side headlock. Jericho frees himself but his dropkicked is caught by Rock and Rocky slingshots Jericho into the corner and delivers a clothesline as Jericho stumbles out of the corner. Rock seats Jericho on the top but whatever he was going for backfires. Jericho shoves off Rock and hits a missile dropkick that leads to our second double knock-out spot. Jericho hits a swinging neckbreaker and rana’s Rock over for two. Rock walks into a Rock Bottom and Jericho hits the Lionsault. He covers but Rock kicks out at two. The fans thought that may have been it. Heyman calls Jericho a choke artist since he couldn’t put Rock away right there.

Jericho bulldogs Rock and he doesn’t know what to do. Jericho does his version of the People’s Elbow but Rock moves out of the way. Jericho does a dragonscrew takedown and puts Jericho in the Sharpshooter. Jericho makes the ropes as the crowd is divided in who they should cheer for. Jericho falls to the outside in pain and Rock follows. He Rock Bottoms Jericho through the Spanish Announce Table and NOW the ref decides to count them out. Rock breaks the count before he drags Jericho back in. Rock takes Jericho’s elbowpad out of the ring which is a nice touch. Rock stalks Jericho and tries for the Rock Bottom but Jericho elbows out of it. Jericho runs into a spinebuster and it is People’s Elbow time! Jericho pulls the leg of Rock before he can hit the move and Jericho puts Rock in the Walls of Jericho. Rocky almost makes the ropes so Jericho pulls him into the center of the ring for a big pop. Stephanie McMahon runs out and tosses a chair in the ring. Jericho charges at her but walks into a Rock DDT. Rock pulls Stephanie into the ring and Rock Bottoms her. The ref checks on Stephanie and this allows Jericho to hit a forward legsweep onto the chair. He pushes the chair out of the ring and covers. The ref sees it and counts the one-two-three at 23:44 to give Jericho the WCW title. Rocky stares down Jericho after the match pretty much telling him he’s gonna get his revenge and hands him the chair to show this may not have been the cleanest win. This was a huge win for him, the fans were digging it and this was an incredible match. The finish wasn’t completely clean and it looked like the dragon screw takeover was messed up a bit but other than that this was awesome. ****1/2.

13) Chris Jericho vs. Steve Austin for the WWE Unified Title (16:28)
This was from Vengeance 2001 held on December 9th. Jericho had just defeated the Rock in the tournament to decide the new Undisputed WWE champ (with a title that combined the WCW and WWE titles) when Austin runs down to the ring. He slugs Jericho but Angle (who lost to Austin earlier in the night) comes out with a chair shot to Austin that lays him out. To even things up, Jericho is laid out with a Rock Bottom. Rock chases Angle to the back and both men are out as the match starts. Hebner starts the count which doesn’t make sense. How can a match like this end in a draw when it is to decide a champion? Jericho is up first and he covers Austin for two. Jericho stomps away at the Rattlesnake (or the Bionic Redneck as he was known at the time) before chopping away and delivering a flying elbow. Jericho sends Austin to the corner and follows with a clothesline. He tries it again but Austin’s ready and he counters with a spear. Jericho has his face rammed into the turnbuckle about 13 times before trying for a Stunner but Jericho escapes to the apron. He’s smashed off and he lands in front of the broken table of JR’s. Austin fires away with chops and JR immediately calls this a slobberknocker. Jericho is sent into the ringpost a pair of times and then goes old school and rips up the pad over the concrete. Jericho counters and clotheslines Austin and Austin’s head hits the concrete pretty hard. Jericho preps the Spanish Announce Table and he tries a suplex. Austin counters and tries a Stunner but Jericho trips up Austin and he tries the Walls of Jericho. Austin flips Jericho off the top of the table to the floor and he quickly follows with a suplex to the concrete. Austin brings Jericho in and sends him to the corner. He charges but misses Jericho and posts his shoulder. Jericho chops at Austin but misses a dropkick. Austin catapults Jericho into the corner and clotheslines him down for two. Jericho goes right back with an arm-bar that looks like a crossface just without crossing the face. Jericho uses the ropes for leverage but he has to break the hold when the referee finally sees Jericho has been cheating. Jericho suplexes Austin and heads upstairs. Jericho’s axehandle is met by an Austin shot to the breadbasket and now it is Austin firing away with chops. Austin tries a backdrop but Jericho rolls through and locks on the Walls of Jericho. This was the watered down WWE version which looked more like a Boston Crab than the one that really wrenched the back of his opponents. Austin makes the ropes to put an end to that. The ref gets in position to get bumped and sure enough Austin ducks a flying forearm and the ref takes it full on, sending him to the outside. Jericho lowblows Austin and hits a Stunner. Vince McMahon brings out a new referee and the ref tells Jericho to cover Austin. Ric Flair runs out the crooked Nick Patrick and knocks him out only to get laid out by Vince McMahon. Flair is sent into the ringpost. Meanwhile, back in the ring, Austin lowblows Jericho. He sees McMahon and charges after him, stomping a mudhole in him. Austin comes back into the ring with a Thesz Press and the FU elbow. Austin misses a blind charge but catches Jericho as he tries a dropkick off the second rope. Austin gets to do the cooler version of the move for some reason. Jericho immediately taps but there is no ref! Booker T runs in and lays out Austin with the WCW title and quickly runs back into the crowd. Jericho covers as Hebner revives and that’s all she wrote at 12:35. Jericho is your NEW Undisputed Champion. Everyone thought that the glass ceiling was broken at this point but we were just kidding ourselves. This was a whacky match. Austin was almost crippled and Jericho just finished wrestling a match so neither man was considered fresh going into the ring. There was a lot of “WWE Main Event” style wrestling here with all the brawling. It was overbooked as hell once the ref bump happened, too. Still, I thought it was enjoyable and even after 8+ years I could sit through it. ***1/4.

—Disc Three—
1) Chris Jericho(c) vs. Hulk Hogan for the WWE Undisputed Title (14:42)
This is from the May 2nd, 2002 episode of SmackDown. Hogan is crazy over in Pittsburgh. They lock-up and Hogan shoves off Jericho because Jericho is small and Hogan is big. Another lock-up gets the same result for Jericho. Jericho is pissed and rolls to the outside, kicking the announce table and then limping around in a funny spot. Jericho walks into a side headlock before walking into a hiptoss and a bodyslam. Hogan works on the arm of Jericho but Jericho counters with a back suplex that finally knocks the bandana off of Hogan. Jericho wipes his pits with the bandana and then puts his ear to the crowd. Jericho misses an elbowdrop and slugs at Jericho in the corner. Jericho is sent to the corner but meets a charging Hogan with an elbow. Jericho heads upstairs but he’s caught and press slammed off. Hogan slugs at Jericho in the corner and the ref tries to get him away from the corner, which allows Jericho to low blow Hogan. Hogan returns fire by ducking a charging Jericho in the corner and Jericho flies to the outside. Hogan tries putting Jericho on his shoulder and sending him into the ringpost but Jericho wiggles free and Hogan collides with the ringpost himself. Jericho hits a Macho-esque double axe-handle from the top rope onto Hogan on the outside and follows with another Macho staple of whipping his throat over the top rope as he leaps to the outside. Jericho chokes at Hogan inside the ring. Jericho charges at Hogan on the ropes but Hogan ducks and Jericho crotches himself. Hogan delivers elbows but misses one running off the ropes. Jericho bulldogs Hogan and hits the Lionsault but out comes HHH. There was a stipulation here that he can’t touch Jericho during this match. HHH just smiles and joins the announce team. Jericho ducks the big boot and DDT’s Hogan for two. Hogan starts hulking up, hits the big boot, bit Jericho blocks the Legdrop and puts Hogan in the Walls of Jericho but Hogan is able to reach the ropes. Jericho’s not happy and shoves the ref before getting a chair from the timekeeper. He whacks Hogan in the back with it as HHH mentions something about the Undertaker and sure enough, Taker’s music goes off. Jericho is distracted by the music and Hogan rolls him up for the pinfall at 10:21. Jericho attacks Hogan from behind and since the match is over, HHH attacks Jericho. This wasn’t as bad a match as I thought it was going to be, so it has that going for it. I don’t like how stupid it makes Jericho look, though. The music goes off and he’s not able to cover the guy? It happens all the time, too. This was a decent Hogan TV match. **1/2.

2) Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels (29:06)
This is their Wrestlemania XIX (03/30/03) match-up. I remember Jericho’s more recent feud with Michaels (that resulted in the match further down below) but I don’t recall this one at all, even though I actually watched the product at the time. Michaels is firing off some confetti from cannon’s on his way to the ring and with his haircut he’s doing his best to emulate the greatness of Johnny B. Badd. Some of the cannons don’t even fire but Shawn makes a joke of it to make him look like too much of an ass. The fans are firmly on Michaels as the match starts. They slug it out leading to Jericho getting tossed to the outside. Michaels teases a slingshot plancha but Jericho moves and Michaels lands on the apron. He hits a baseball slide instead. He brings Jericho back in and tries a high crossbody off the top but Jericho rolls through for two. A spinning heel kick follows. Jericho tries a running bulldog but Michaels tosses Jericho into the corner and then applies a figure-four. Jericho reverses the hold but Michaels makes the ropes to break. Michaels works the leg (kneecrusher!) and even tries a spinning toe-hold. Jericho kicks off Michaels and Michaels ends up posting his shoulder. Jericho tries tossing Michaels but Michaels skins the cat and headscissors Jericho to the outside. A slingshot plancha hits for the Heartbreak Kid and the two brawl up the ramp. Jericho blocks a dropkick and puts Michaels in the Walls of Jericho as the referee begins to count out the two men. Jericho breaks the count but then heads right out and sends Michaels back into the ringpost. Michaels makes the apron so Jericho meets him with his trademark springboard dropkick. Jericho hits a side suplex in the ring and then smacks Michaels yelling at him that he’s in fact better than him. Jericho hits a suplex for two. Jericho does a Wrestlemania version of the Arrogant Cover before locking on a chinlock with a knee to the back. Michaels counters a backdrop with a swinging DDT. There’s a cool spot where both guys are out and so Jericho kips up to mimic Shawn. Of course, Shawn does it for real and goes to work on Jericho, hitting a clothesline and a backdrop. His back must’ve healed already judging by the moonsault he just hit for two. Michaels goes for a crucifix pin that he changes into a roll-up and we have a series of pinfall-reversals. Jericho goes for the Walls but Michaels leverages his way out of it. A Northern Lights suplex gets two for Jericho. Michaels bridges out and tries a backslide which fails. Jericho clotheslines Michaels down. He bulldogs Michaels and hits the Lionsault. He covers but Michaels kicks out at two. Shawn’s rana attempt is blocked and countered into the Walls of Jericho. I miss the WCW version of the hold where Jericho stood up and really arched the back of his opponent. The WWE version of the hold was just a Boston Crab. Michaels reaches the ropes so Jericho tries it again only to get cradled for two. A double-underhook backbreaker sends Michaels to the mat and Jericho heads upstairs. He hits a back elbow once Michaels returns to his feet and Jericho starts tuning up the band. A super-kick connects and Jericho covers for two. Michaels comes back and slingshots Jericho into the turnbuckle/ringpost and then schoolboys Jericho on the way back down for two. Jericho tries a top rope back suplex but Michaels counters in mid-air and falls on top of Jericho for two. Jericho tries a superplex now and again Michaels counters – this time by shoving him off. Michaels follows with a flying elbow drop and now he starts tuning up the band. Jericho ducks it and puts Shawn back in the Walls. Michaels again makes the ropes. Jericho charges at Michaels but runs into a Sweet Chin Music. Michaels covers and Jericho kicks out at two. Jericho sends Michaels to the corner where flips up and over. Jericho charges but Michaels leaps over him and rolls him up for the pinfall at 22:32. That finish came out of nowhere. Michaels offers a handshake after the match and Jericho hugs him before kicking him in the balls. This was a very good match, although the work of Jericho to soften Michaels back didn’t really lead anywhere. These two had very good chemistry together, though if it were more psychologically sound this could’ve been a lot more special. ****.

This is the third and final match with the Jericho and Striker commentary. This was Jericho and Shawn’s first match together and Jericho says how big a fan he was of Michaels growing up. Striker asks Jericho is he knows that when he walks into a room he knows he’s better than the other boys in there and Jericho says he does have some tricks up his sleeve and he knows he has the potential to put on better matches. Chris thinks that Shawn was a bit nervous at the beginning, because this was still very early after Shawn made his big comeback. Striker asks if Jericho feels a connection to Canada when he’s wrestling and Jericho says it is a good question but he doesn’t. Jericho mentions vintage Shawn Michaels and jokes that he didn’t say vintage Alicia Fox and Striker wonders if she’ll even be relevant by the time this DVD came out. Jericho talks about working in new moves here that he hasn’t done in years because it was Wrestlemania and they had time to develop the match and do that sort of stuff. Striker asks Jericho what he did during his time away and Jericho says he just wanted to get away, be with his family, tour with his band, and just basically reboot. He didn’t want to come back until he was ready. Jericho does go on to say that wrestling is the best business in the world. Chris even talks about Christian Rock music and Jericho reveals himself to be a religious guy. I never realized that. He talks about his fellow wrestlers and how he always cheers for people to make it (unless they do him wrong) and even compares it to a painter. You’d rather have many colors (wrestlers) than two of them. Striker asks why the Walls changed it into the Boston Crab and Jericho says the guys in the WWE were just too big. Chris talks about his evolution of the Lionsault, too. Jericho was doing a moonsault but everyone was doing it so someone suggested doing it off the second rope in the middle. He says that sometimes it was hard to do it so he went to the Walls and then the Codebreaker, which is a move he liked since you could do it out of anywhere. Jericho said he actually stole the move from Japan matches he saw. Striker talks about guys (like the Miz) imitating JERICHO now. Jericho says he enjoyed the match and they wanted to steal the show, which they did. Jericho ends by saying this is the best match of his career.

3) Chris Jericho vs. John Cena(c) for the WWE Championship (19:20)
This is a “You’re Fired” Match from the August 22nd, 2005 Monday Night Raw. Eric Bischoff booked this one with the proverbial deck being stacked against the champion John Cena. I wonder why this one just wasn’t used as the Main Event of Summerslam, which probably would’ve been just the day before this, or at least have it until the next PPV. Cena is on fire early but gets tripped up by Bischoff while going to the ropes. Jericho school boys Cena for two as JR calls Bischoff’s actions, “horse manure.” Jericho chops at Cena in the corner before choking him with his boot. Jericho tries a splash in the corner but Cena ducks out of the way and Jericho eats ringpost before falling to the outside. Bischoff gets in a few cheapshots on Cena, including low-blowing the champ as we head to break. Jericho controls in the ring, even choking Cena with his knee while arguing with the referee. I love old-school heel tactics like that. Cena gets an inside cradle for two but Jericho’s still in control, clotheslining Cena down for two. Jericho sets up for a superplex but Cena pancakes him off. Cena tries a high crossbody but he crashes and burns instead. Cena comes back with a shoulderblock and clotheslines. He sends Jericho to the corner and charges only to find Jericho boot. Jericho charges but gets caught in FU position. Jericho rolls through it and puts Cena in the Walls. Cena tries reaching for the ropes but Bischoff pulls it away and Jericho pulls Cena into the middle of the ring. Cena manages to make it to the ropes anyway. Cena tries an FU only to be hampered by his back. Cena powers into the move anyway and it hits but he takes to long to make the pinfall and Jericho’s too close to the ropes anyway. Bischoff actually puts Jericho’s foot on the ropes to break the pinfall. Bischoff then hands Jericho some brass knuckles and Jericho lays out Cena with them. Jericho covers but Cena kicks out at two. Jericho tries again but it’s the same result. Bischoff distracts the ref by bringing the belt to the apron but the cruel hand of fate intervenes and Jericho is slung into Bischoff. Cena picks up Jericho on the rebound and hits the F5 to retain the title and end Jericho’s career at 12:48. Bischoff gets in the ring and fires Jericho. He didn’t finish the job so now he’s out of a job. Jericho tries begging for his job back, asking for another chance, but to no avail. I thought this was really exciting with some really cool stuff thrown in. I liked how Cena sold the back the whole time, even while doing his finisher. I’m surprised that Jericho was actually booked to look that strong in his final match and it wasn’t a complete burial. I guess he left on good terms and the door was open for a possible return. ***1/2.

4) Save_US.Y2J (9:45)
Chris was “fired” in that last match until his return here, on Monday Night Raw on November 19th, 2007. Randy Orton’s in the ring and some guy is running to the arena with a torch (get it, passing the torch) until he’s clotheslined down by some guy in the building. We don’t see person’s face but his back and his mannerisms look familiar. The music hits in the arena and the code (which had been airing on the television shows leading up to this) is finally broken: Save_Us.Y2J! Jericho’s music hits and a short-haired version of Jericho (looking a lot slimmer) comes out. Jericho makes fun of Orton (and his Supercuts hairstyle) before saying he’s going to save us from Orton and he’s going to be taking that WWE Championship from him.

5) Chris Jericho vs. Jeff Hardy (12:49)
So how do you capitalize on the return of a legit main-eventer? Have him challenge for the IC title of course! This is from te March 10th, 2008 Raw. The two men brawl to start, leading to Jericho dropkicking Hardy to the outside. The Raw took a commercial break and when it returned Jericho had Hardy in a headlock. I guess it was the commercial rest hold of choice tonight. Jericho misses a blind charge and goes up and over to the outside leading to a Hardy baseball slide. Hardy follows and tries his walk the barrier thing, but Jericho evades and sends Hardy headfirst into the announce table. Jericho rolls him into the ring and covers for two. Jericho misses the bulldog and Hardy comes back with the whisper in the wind for two. Jericho comes back with a Northern Lights suplex for two. Hardy bridges out of it and rolls up Jericho for two. Mule kick sends Jericho to the corner but Hardy misses a seated dropkick. Jericho goes to the top now, hits a crossbody, but Hardy rolls through for two. Jeff tries the twist of fate but Jericho pushes him off and hits the Lionsault for two. Jericho tries the Wall of Jericho but Jeff rolls him up for two. Hardy hits the Twist of Fate when Jericho misses an enzuigiri but Hardy goes for the swanton instead of covering. Jericho moves and one Codebreaker later becomes an 8-time Intercontinental Champion at 8:10. This was a spot after spot match with no connecting storyline. Still, the spots hit so it makes it an automatic **.

6) Chris Jericho(c) vs. Shawn Michaels for the World Heavyweight Title in a Ladder Match (28:49)
This is from No Mercy 2008, an event held on my Mom’s birthday (October 5th). Jericho walks underneath the ladder on his way to the ring. Shawn goes for Sweet Chin Music Early and Jericho quickly escapes to the apron. Michaels tries a spear in the corner only to have Jericho move and Michaels posts his shoulder. Jericho falls over Michaels and Michaels bridges out (but there’s no pinfall). Michaels is clotheslined to the apron and Jericho hits a springboard shoulder-block from the middle rope, a variation on the dropkick he normally uses. Michaels is sent into the ringpost and he retrieves the ladder set up on the ramp. He charges at Michaels but gets tripped into it thanks to a drop toe hold. Michaels grabs another ladder but gets tripped up and put in the Walls. Jericho brings the ladder into the ring only to have it see-sawed into his face from Michaels on the outside. Michaels sets up the ladder and climbs. Jericho catches him and tries to power bomb him down but Michaels rolls through it. Jericho tries to slingshot Michaels into the ladder but Michaels actually lands on the second step and starts climbing up. Jericho knocks the ladder over and Michaels lands throat-first on the top rope. Jericho drives the ladder into Michaels gut and then drops it on his back. Michaels is sent to the corner and he flops over leading Jericho to try a bulldog. Michaels pushes him off and Jericho ends up getting his leg caught in the ladder that is leaning in the corner. Michaels drops Jericho off with the ladder still wound in him and stomps his leg a bit more. Michaels sets up a ladder in the corner and then hits a knee-crusher on the edge of the ladder. A figure-four follows. Jericho is able to reverse it and then he kicks the ladder in the corner to see-saw it into Michaels face! Jericho follows with a slingshot into that ladder (which is in wedged on the bottom rope. Jericho keeps slamming Michaels face (and eye) into that ladder before sandwiching his head between the ladder steps. Man, this could really use a blade job right about now.

Jericho climbs and Michaels shoves him off. Jericho lands on his feet and he props the ladder on the ringpost, sticking out into the ring in the corner. Jericho tries sending Michaels into the ladder but Michaels reverses and Jericho lands on top of the ladder and then to the outside. Jericho’s mouth has been busted open it seems. Michaels then drops the ladder from the inside onto Jericho before going out himself. Michaels slams the ladder three times into the gut of the champion before setting up the SmackDown announce table. Well, it isn’t being used now so it’s a perfect candidate to be broken. Jericho is set up on the table but Michaels takes too long to get up the ladder and Jericho recovers. He follows Michaels off and tries a back-suplex through it but Michaels counters in the air and falls on top of Jericho. Jericho makes it into the ring as Michaels climbs the top rope with a ladder in hand. Jericho sees him and dropkicks the ladder into him. Jericho then climbs the ladder that is leaning in the corner that Michaels is in and Jericho is trying to superplex Michaels off the turnbuckle, off the ladder, into the ring. Michaels shoves him off the ladder and then connects with a flying elbowdrop onto the ladder! Shawn wanted to inflict harm onto Jericho but it looked like he hurt himself just as badly in the process. Michaels is up first and tries for Sweet Chin Music but Jericho counters by tossing the ladder at him. Jericho puts the ladder onto Michaels and follows with a Lionsault – another move where the person doing the move risks his body to cause even more damage to his opponent. Jericho gets a second ladder and sets it up, pinning Michaels under the bottom rung. Jericho climbs up as Michaels is there, helpless. Michaels uses his foot to leverage the ladder, push it up and kick Jericho to the outside. Jericho landed hard on his knee there and he really could’ve blown it out. Michaels sets up the ladder in the ring and manages to grab the title but Jericho is back in and pushes Shawn off onto the ropes. Jericho takes his turn at climbing now (on one leg no less) but Shawn is able to recover and knock Jericho down. Jericho’s hung on the ladder (like a Tree of Woe) leaving Michaels free to get the belt. Lance Cade runs out (he’s Jericho’s boy here) and he knocks Michaels off. Michaels superkicks him and then runs back up the ladder. Both guys battle over the unhooked championship, playing tug of war with it. Jericho headbutts Michaels off and holds onto the title to end this at 22:19. This had all sorts of crazy spots and the things they did were just brutal. They played their parts so well and they were there just to batter the other person. I don’t know how long Jericho kept the title but he had to have messed up his knee there. So yeah, this was all sorts of awesome. I loved everything about it except for the run-in and a couple of sloppy looking parts in the beginning. ****1/2.

7) Chris Jericho vs. Rey Misterio for the Intercontinental Title in a No Holds Barred Match (22:41)
Just 7 months later and Jericho is now vying for the IC title instead of the world title. This is from the Extreme Rules show, held on June 7th, 2009. I don’t know when the WWE’s PG-era started (judging by last match it must’ve been before that) but I don’t know how extreme it is if there is no blood involved. I’m not blood-thirsty by any means but some matches just call for it, like the match before. Chris’ music goes off but he doesn’t walk out. He’s actually by the merchandise stand. He complains about the Misterio masks that Rey wears and mentions how he wore a Rey mask while watching SmackDown before he ambushed him. Chris’ heel persona here was so good. He was just a calm villain and had this aura of smug arrogance around him. He got great heel heat just walking through the crowd. He even uses big words to really confuse the masses. Jim Ross hypes Rey and his masked wrestling background (he’s the first masked IC champion according to JR. Did Kane ever win the IC title? I know he had a WWE reign but can’t remember an IC reign off the top of my head). Rey attacks to start and they’re already fighting outside. Rey uses the top of the Raw Announce table to slam into Jericho before following with a seated dropkick. Jericho tries sending Rey into the steps but Rey actually flips over them and then dropkicks them into Jericho’s knee. That was pretty cool. Rey sends Jericho into the steps and then into the barricade. Jericho fights back in the ring and slingshots Rey into the bottom rope. Rey is sent to the corner and flips onto the top rope but Jericho shoves him off and Rey is crotched – falling onto the apron. Jericho tries his springboard dropkick but Rey counters with a dropkick of his own. A modified 619 (over the ringpost) sends Jericho to the outside and Rey follows with a high crossbody. Rey tries a 619 in the ring but Jericho is up and shoulderblocks Rey down. Rey responds with kicks to the legs of Jericho and a roll-up gets two. Jericho reverses and uses the tights but only gets two. Jericho’s sunset flip is escaped by Rey so Jericho tries the Walls. Rey counters that with an inside cradle for two. Rey is clotheslined down for two. Jericho slides Rey under the bottom rope right to the outside, which is another cool spot. Jericho drops Rey onto the table piece used at the beginning of the match before bringing Rey back in and covering for two. Jericho goes to the chinlock and tries pulling off Rey’s mask but Rey kicks his way out of danger. Jericho tries a charge in the corner but misses and posts his shoulder. Rey follows with a ridiculous looking tope suicida. Rey hits his springboard senton and he headscissors Jericho over. A rana is blown (Rey didn’t hook the legs) but Rey gets two out of it anyway. Jericho is set up for the 619 but this time Jericho catches him and gets a backbreaker for two. Rey tries another rana only to get powerbombed down. The Lionsault misses but the 619 to the back of the school does not. Rey tries a springboard splash only to get caught with the Codebreaker. Jericho covers for two. That would’ve been a cool finish but I’m happy that this match is still going on. Jericho, frustrated, grabs a chair from outside and charges only to have Rey dropkick it into his face for two. Rey gets an Arabian Facebuster for two. Rey sets up the chair in the corner and Jericho is dropped into it thanks to a Drop Toe Hold. Rey tries for a rana after springboarding off the chair but Jericho catches him and puts him in the Walls. Rey grabs the chair and whacks Jericho with it, setting him up for the 619. He tries it but Jericho grabs his mask and pulls it off. Rey hides his face allowing Jericho to schoolboy him for the pinfall and the title at 14:41. I really liked the finish. This one took a while to get going but once it did there were all kinds of cool spots. ***1/2.

8) Chris Jericho vs. Undertaker (14:05)
This is a match from the November 13th, 2009 episode of SmackDown!. This is Jericho’s and Undertaker’s first match against each other. Josh Matthews interviews Jericho and calls Taker the “Dead Man.” Jericho refutes this in a decent promo. Despite this the announcers go full blown with the Dead Man stuff. Jericho is shrugged away early and Taker connects with a legdrop on the apron. Jericho counters the rope-walk with an arm-drag as we head to break. Jericho is pounding Taker as we return. Jericho blocks a Taker charge in the corner with a boot and follows with a second rope dropkick for two. Jericho boots Taker to the outside and hits a weak-looking elbow off the apron. The fans are about as excited as the announcers are at this match. They are so dead I actually think they may be at Nassau Coliseum – a place that NEVER makes any sound. They trade punches and it occurs to me that no one (at least what I’ve seen on this month’s matches) knows how to work a match anymore. It’s punch-punch-punch, big move which is then countered into punches and a big move for the other wrestler. Case in point, Taker hits Snake Eye and Jericho follows a clothesline right afterwards. Jericho pounds on Taker in the corner and hits the Codebreaker. Jericho covers but Taker kicks out of people’s finishers with great ease. Jericho imitates the throat-cutting of Taker and tries a Tombstone which Taker reverses. Jericho flips out of it, chops the knee of Taker and hits the Lionsault. Taker sits up before Jericho can even cover as Striker goes ape-shit with the monikers for Taker. It’s Darkwing Duck level bad, which is even worse since DW was supposed to be a joke. Jericho puts Taker in the Walls but Taker reverses that into Hell’s Gate for the submission at 9:50. Big Show comes out to give Taker some punishment and that draws out Kane. We then go backstage to McMahon calling Long and booking the tag team match for next week. Well, can’t wait to see the payoff to this! That match was crap. Maybe I just don’t have the mindset for today’s type of match but this is my opinion so that’s all I really care about. And what the hell is it with Taker treating Jericho like that? He killed all three of his finishes. Jericho was the first Undisputed Title Holder – he’s not some “up and coming wrestler who needs to pay his dues.” *.

9) Chris Jericho(c) vs. Edge for the WWE World Title (21:00)
We end with Jericho’s Wrestlemania XXVI match against Edge that took place on March 28th, 2010. Edge was just a nine-time champion by this point (how insane is that?). Edge hits a flying shoulderblock early and pancakes Jericho out of the corner. Edge sets up a spear but Jericho is wise to it and quickly escapes. Edge follows but nothing really comes out of it on the outside. Edge is booted getting into the ring and a baseball slide sends Edge back to the outside. The announce team are setting up Jericho and Edge as road-travelers together since they are both Canadian which is a stretch since Edge is from Toronto and Jericho from Winnipeg. Plus, Jericho was already in WCW when Edge was coming up through the ranks. Why try and add a backstory to something that really doesn’t need it? Jericho goes to the chinlock (which looks like a Million Dollar Dream actually) as the crowd goes silent. Jericho’s charge in the corner finds nothing but the ringpost. Jericho’s springboard dropkick ends up with Jericho standing on the apron since Edge had moved and Edge knocks Jericho to the outside. Edge follows with a clothesline from the apron. Man, these two have no chemistry right now and they aren’t doing anything to draw the crowd in. There’s probably like 60,000 people here sitting on their hands. A top-rope Edge-O-Matic gets two and maybe only a few claps from the fans. Edge hits a cross-body off the top which Jericho rolls through for two. Cole mentions how these two know each other so well and again I wonder how that’s possible since they ever even had a feud before this one. Edge counters a sunset flip for two so Jericho gets up and just kicks him right in the face. The Codebreaker is blocked and Jericho is dumped into the corner. Edge preps for the Spear and finally the crowd comes alive. The Spear is attempted but Jericho flips out of the way and locks on the Walls. Edge manages an inside cradle to counter for two. The Lionsault misses and Edge connects with an Edge-O-Matic for two. Edge comes back with an Impaler DDT for two. Jericho tries the Spear but runs into a big boot instead. Edge tries for his Spear again and again Jericho has an answer – the Codebreaker. Jericho covers but only gets two from that. Jericho starts booting away at Edge’s injured Achilles and again puts Edge in the Walls. Jericho changes it to a single-leg version (on the bad leg) but Edge somehow manages to make the ropes. Edge gets a roll-up for two and a Cactus clothesline sends both men out. Jericho grabs his title but Edge stops him from using it. Edge is dropped over the top rope and bumps the ref and Edge is knocked out with the title belt. Jericho covers but Edge kicks out at two. Edge gets up and walks into a Codebreaker. That is enough to end this at 15:47. I don’t know, for a Wrestlemania World Title match I was expecting something a bit more epic. It wasn’t terrible but there seemed to be way too many slow spots here absolutely nothing was going on. I did enjoy Jericho’s work in here, especially working the ankle (which really could’ve used some more time) and clean pinfalls always score some extra points from me. ***1/2.

B) Audio/Video
This is the standard Dolby Digital 5.1 offering WWE usually puts out. It sounds great but there was an issue with the video. WWE was going to the widescreen stuff and that’s great. However, during the main program we had the current recorded footage in Widescreen while the older footage recorded for other DVD’s is in the box format with WWE sidebars. It gets real annoying when watching matches that weren’t originally intended for widescreen (namely: every match on here) as the sidebars are there the whole time. There is a dragon overlay in the margins which is cool. I guess for future releases the background will change based on the DVD set. I got used to it quickly, but it is a big adjustment over other releases. I have to say, once the Widescreen matches were on, they looked really good.

C) Packaging / Liner Notes
We have the usual fold-open DVD case with the three discs and a little folder including the liner notes. This one ups the ante a bit by including a slip-case that is a flashier version of the cover.

D) Easter Eggs
Surprisingly none.

Overall Review
The usual array of trailers starts off the collection (Legendary (2:19), WWE Classics On Demand – still not available on Time Warner, WWE Home Video, the Ricky Steamboat DVD, Best PPV Matches of 2009-2010, and a newer Don’t Try This At Home message with Edge included now). I already talked about the main program and the disc one extras featured some cool things, and there were some really good matches on here. There were some noticeable omissions match here, but most of that can be attributed to that murdering bastard, Chris Benoit. So there were some WCW and WWE matches that just couldn’t be shown, like his super-hot tag match against Triple H and Austin (where Triple H first tore his quad) because Benoit was Jericho’s tag partner. A lot of Jericho’s early feuds weren’t shown either (I’m thinking of his Chyna feud which resulted in his first major WWE title). I would’ve liked some more WCW matches, too, especially a few more with guys like Malenko and Guerrero. I don’t know how closely Jericho picked the matches but I certainly think he should’ve asked for some more matches with those guys. Other than that I was content with what was picked. He certainly grabbed his big matches from his WWE days and even some cool rarities like his first match and some SMW stuff. Plus, there was a LOT of good quality matches. Aside from Jericho’s early matches (and a match against Undertaker), there was nothing under ** here, and 8 matches at ***1/2 or better. There were 4 matches at **** or higher, too, which shows the quality matches that Jericho has on a consistent basis.Overall it is an excellent retrospective on the career of Jericho and it’s well worth a look for true Jericho fans.

Overall Rating
9.0

10.0      Perfect
9.0-9.5  Near Perfect, Highly Recommended
8.0-8.5  Really good disc, Recommended
7.0-7.5  Good DVD, Mildly recommended
6.0-6.5  Above Average DVD. Mildest of mild recommendations
5.0-5.5  Decent all around disc, but catch it on TV
4.0-4.5  Great Movie but horrible DVD
3.0-3.5  Horrible movie but great DVD
2.0-2.5  There’s at least some merit to this DVD, but not much.
1.0-1.5  Horrible DVD, don’t even bother
0.0-0.5  Worst DVD ever