horrorfan_1986

Disc One
The Pegasus Kid vs Jushin Liger - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match - New Japan August 19, 1990
We start off with Benoit in Japan after a few years in Stampede wrestling. Liger is the defending IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion. There are three audio tracks for the match. The first being the regular Japanese, the second of Tazz and Michael Cole and finally the one I picked, Benoit and Dean Malenko while Todd Grisham moderates. I begin to regret my choice before the bell as Grisham mispronounces Liger's name. Come on Toddy, you didn't study up for this? Early on, Liger locks in a painful looking surfboard/claw variation. Grisham asks if the rules are the same in Japan as they are in America. No, they're completely different, you have to pin the opponent for a 20 count.
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Muta Lock by Benoit leaves Grisham clueless what to call it. Both men quicken up the speed not taking any time to rest. Powerbomb by Liger. Lyger hits a sort of Swanton Bomb for the 2. Benoit hits the jumping Tombstone and puts Liger away with the middle rope leg drop. New IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. It looks like I won't be selecting audio track three again. Grisham's mindless talking was great at distracting me from the match. That being said, it is a pretty entertaining match. Benoit was still trying his hardest at being a Dynamite Kid clone and it showed.
15 Minutes. 4 Stars.

Chris Benoit vs 2 Cold Scorpio - WCW Superbrawl 1993
This would be during Benoit's brief 1993 run with WCW. He didn't really make it above the lowcard status, but he did put up a few really good matches. With a couple of Clash of the Champions under his belt, this is Benoit's PPV debut. Sadly, Jesse Ventura's commentary is removed. Benoit is wearing the zebra tights. Good thing he isn't wrestling Chris Jericho. (Get it...zebra...Lion Heart...well fuck you...I thought it was funny.) Benoit with his trademark running chop, but Schiavone calls it a closeline. I shudder to think what Grisham would call it. Scorpio flips around a lot amazing the crowd. Scorpio is best compared as being the black, heavier version of Jack Evans. A lot of back and forth monkey flip/pin attempts. Scorpio targets Benoit's wrist with a sort of bridging figure four on Benoit's left wrist. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it before. Benoit locks in a cross between the Liontamer and the Boston Crab (Think Liontamer only without the knee in the back). Benoit hits a nice belly-to-back Superplex. It looks like it hurt Benoit's neck. Uh...you might want to protect a little more, Chris. Benoit gets a two after a Powerbomb/standing pin. Scorpio counters a Thunder Fire Powerbomb (Gutwrench into a sort of Razor's Edge) with a sunset flip. They fall into the ropes not allowing Scorpio to attempt the pin. Benoit charges into a knee in the corner and Scorpio follows it up with an enzuguri. Scorpio with a twisting Stinger Splash and a corkscrew moonsault gets another two. Time is running out. Scorpio jumps on the shoulders of Benoit from the back, but Benoit just slams him down on his face. The fans love it. Pick up and slam by Benoit. Chris runs to the ropes and delivers a middle rope legdrop, but Scorpio kicks out. 15 seconds left. Small package by Scorpio...1...2...NO. Scorpio blocks a punch, but Benoit ducks one from Scorpio. Benoit looks to hit the Dragon Suplex, but Scorpio drops down and reverse sunset flips Benoit in a pinning position. 2 Cold picks up the win with only one second to go. Several fans in the front row just marks out at what they just saw. It looks like a couple of minutes were clipped from the match because my player only says 18 minutes. Whatever they cut, it wasn't noticeable. This was nothing more than an exhibition type match to take up time. Superbrawl III was a hit or miss PPV. The good matches were fantastic, but the bad were terrible. This is dare I say, almost as good as Sting vs Vader (Main event). For all of Scorpio's spots, he managed not to botch anything and it all seemed to come so naturally. My only complain was removing Ventura's commentary. Removing it caused a lot of dead air. Personally, I would of just had Tazz and Cole call the match as an alt audio track. Still though, for a match just to fill up time, it stole the show. 20 Minutes. 4 1/4 Stars.

Wild Pegasus vs The Black Tiger - NJPW Super J Cup 1994 - Second Round
Back to Japan. Benoit had lost his mask and has grown up from a kid to a wild Pegasus. This is now the second incarnation of the Black Tiger. This one looks a bit froggy though. Hmm. Shoving match begins the contest. Tiger starts to work on Benoit's leg with some leg locks. Slingshot hilo (God, that looks so familiar) to Benoit. Backdrop Suplex by Tiger. O Snap...it's Morishima. Well, before Morishima ate the entire WWE junior division. Inverted Vertical Suplex by Benoit. Tazz puts over how difficult of a move that is to perform. A Powerbomb and snap suplex still only gets a two for Pegasus. Tazz tries to insult Cole asking what he was doing in 1994, but when Cole answers he was covering news around the world, Tazz snaps back with how well that turned out for Cole. HA. Benoit deflects a Missile Dropkick from Tiger. Top rope Frankensteiner from Tiger. Benoit looks to hit either a Super Powerbomb or Superplex, but Tiger shoves him off of the top rope. Benoit counters a flying crossbody into a nice arm drag that takes all of the air out of the future WWE Champion. Benoit covers and moves on to the semi-finals. Not too bad. Pre-injuries, these two always had great chemistry with each other. Tiger was able to save some botches with some amazing balance. Cole and Tazz makes a much better audio track then Benoit, Melanko and Grisham does. I would of liked a few more minutes, but considering this is their second match of the night and Benoit still had one more, it's good enough. 11 Minutes. 3 3/4 Stars.

Wild Pegasus vs The Great Sasuke - NJPW Super J Cup 1994 - Finals
Same night as before. Both men had byes through to second round. Benoit defeated Gedo in the semi-finals. Sasuke went through El Samurai and Jushin Lyger. Tazz lets his negative feelings about Sasuke known before the match even begins. All of the Super J Cup participants are kneeling at ringside. Cole claims Malenko is standing up. HA...an actual good joke by Cole. Some chain wrestling to start. Benoit unleashes some chops before locking in the Boston Crab. Sasuke with a Bow and Arrow, but Benoit twists out of it landing on Sasuke's head. Some annoying woman is yelling for Sasuke. Sasuke counters a monkey flip with a HUGE fly over. Camera shots of some of the wrestlers at ring side. As Tazz calls them dolphin (Super Delfin) the Power Ranger (No clue and apparently Tazz doesn't know either
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). Tazz even calls Sasuke, Delfin and El Samurai at various parts of the match. Tazz makes fun of Taka some for cheering on Sasuke. Sharpshooter attempt by Benoit. Sasuke wont tap out though. Tazz complains about the ref not counting when Sasuke's shoulders are on the mat. Michael Cole gives himself a new name: Michael 'Tiger' Cole.
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Both men are able to get 2 counts for German Suplexes. Sasuke suplexes Benoit from the apron to the floor below. While the Japanese wrestlers look after Sasuke, Tazz yells for Malenko to check on Benoit. Sasuke with a sliding dropkick sends Benoit back to the floor. Missile Drop to the outside by Sasuke! A variation of the moonsault gets a two count for Sasuke. Both men on top, Benoit fights with Sasuke. SUPER GUTWRENCH SUPLEX to Sasuke. Benoit covers...ONE...TWO...THREE! Benoit picks up the win and the Super J Cup 1994 title. Wow. For as short of a match as it was, they managed to get in so much action. It made it next to impossible to recap without doing it as I watched. Benoit was top form tonight. The best part about these Puro matches is how free Benoit looks. Unlike the Angle series, Benoit's matches are mixed up a lot more. It came down to anyone being able to pick up the win as opposed to knowing how the Angle/Benoit matches would end. To his credit, Sasuke was incredible as well. I really need to see more from him. He's looking like one of the best wrestlers of the 90's. For 90's WWE fans, you might remember Sasuke early on in the Lightheavyweight division days. Sadly, he left before the title was introduced. This easily has become one of my favorite Benoit matches ever. To top it all off, Tazz and Michael Cole were hilarious during the entire match. Cole is actually entertaining when he doesn't try so hard. 19 Minutes. 4 3/4 Stars.

Chris Benoit vs Sabu - ECW November 2 Remember 1994
A few months after the J Cup, Benoit started working in ECW for the first time. I believe this is his first match on a major show. Benoit's WWE music is dubbed in. Sabu has some generic Arabian music. Sabu runs to the ring and lunges for Benoit's legs. Benoit moves out of the way. Punch...kick. Benoit hits Sabu with a Stun Gun. Knee to the midsection. Benoit picks Sabu up for either a backbody drop or a flapjack. Sabu falls at an angle where he falls directly on the top of his head. Sabu quickly rolls out of the ring. Paul Heyman and 911 looks after Sabu. For once, Joey Styles is at a loss for words. No contest. The match only lasted for about a minute before the accident happened. From the look of it, the match had potential to be good. While accidents are never a good thing, breaking Sabu's neck ended up giving Benoit the character he'd have for the rest of his career. Let's face it, being able to claim you legit broke someone's neck is an easy way of making you look like a bad ass. The Crippler is born. 1 Minute. Not Rated.

Chris Benoit vs Al Snow - ECW Double Tables 1995
This is pre-head Al Snow. Snow just looks like a generic jobber with a mullet. Snow looks like a larger and heavier version of the 1-2-3 Kid. The match starts with arm work from both wrestlers. Test of strength sees both bridging to avoid a pin. Superkick by Snow. More chain wrestling until Benoit gives Snow an elbow. Benoit throws Snow out of the ring and sliding dropkicks Snow into the railing. Benoit celebrates, but Snow comes back with a springboard dropkick. Snow misses a sliding dropkick. Snow with some kicks forces Benoit out of the ring. Snow teases a top rope move, but Benoit moves out of the way. Stun Gun to Snow. Benoit avoids the Missile Dropkick. German Suplex gets Benoit a 2 count. The match starts to slow down. Benoit hits his running chop attack. Benoit taunts the crowd asking if this is the best America has to offer. The ECW audience is very into Benoit. Benoit heads to the top rope to hit his Swan Dive. Benoit takes his time to cover giving Snow a chance to kick out. Powerbomb to Snow. Cover. 1...2...NO. Snap Suplex by Benoit. Benoit continues to play to the crowd, obviously Snow isn't much of a challenge for the Crippler. German Suplex gets a two count. Snow reverses a Dragon Suplex into the Snow Plex (Wheel Barrel into a German Suplex). Snow's too exhausted to take advantage of it. Huge release German Suplex by Snow. Snow avoids a closeline to hit one of his own. Snow with a lot of bad looking stomps in the corner. Backbody drop to Benoit. Another poor looking Superkick. 1...2...NO! Benoit kicks out. Snow delivers a weird Fisherman plex that just comes off very sloppy. That gets a 2. Benoit nails a German Suplex. Benoit gets the three after a Dragon Suplex. Post-match has Benoit hit another Power Bomb to continue the Crippler gimmick. Joey Styles instantly overrates the match calling it a MOTYC. As bad as 1995 was, I wouldn't say it was even close. The match went downhill once it became an one sided contest. Al Snow did the unthinkable and showed that he had some talent. Unfortunately, he also showed that he wasn't quite ready for the big times with so many sloppy moves near the end. I could so see Snow calling moves several times during the match. The first five minutes were extremely good though. I'm not really sure why the WWE included this match, granted it's better than I remember it being. However, with this being the only full ECW match we get on the DVD, they could of picked something better. A Malenko tag match would of been very enjoyable. Another Scorpio match would of been appreciated as well. But I guess the WWE felt they needed to cater to the dozen Al Snow fans. For that, it's one of Snow's best matches ever. 14 Minutes. 3 1/2 Stars.


Disc Two
Chris Benoit vs Eddie Guerrero - WCW Monday Nitro - October 16, 1995
Both men had just signed with WCW a couple of months earlier. Guerrero had made his Nitro debut two weeks earlier while this is Benoit's first match. Benoit is still sporting his Wild Pegasus look. A lot of fast paced action in the early going. All three commentators tries acting very impressed and excited by Guerrero and Benoit. However, Mongo is just an embarrassment as a color commentator. You're left scratching your head trying to figure out what he's trying to say. Eric Bischoff on the other hand still has that auro of smugness where you're not sure if he's being honest or not. With Benoit on the outside, Guerrero botches an old school 619 (AKA the dive tease). Guerrero attacks Benoit though. Guerrero attempts to closeline Benoit while Chris is against the post, but Benoit ducks. While Benoit works over Guerrero's injured arm/shoulder back in the ring, Bischoff plugs the main event for tonight. Ric Flair teaming with Sting vs Arn Andersong and Brian Pillman. I only bring this up because this would be the match where Flair would turn on Sting and join up with Pillman and Anderson. The trio would start up the Horsemen again. But, you can't have the Horsemen without a 4th member (Sorry Roma). Benoit would be revealed as the newest member on a future edition of Saturday Night within the next few weeks. In addition to that, you have Pillman's replacement in the group calling the match in Mongo. *Cues 'It's A Small World* Anyways, back to the action. Eddie reverses a hammerlock suplex (Second time) into a crossbody for the two. Snap Powerbomb by Benoit that Bischoff just marks out for. Even the quiet crowd seems to take notice of it. Eddie makes the mistake of using his injured arm to punch Benoit. The punch ends up hurting Eddie more than it does Benoit. With Eddie turning his back to hold his arm, Benoit grabs ahold and hits the Dragon Suplex (Old finisher) to pick up the victory in his Nitro debut. It might seem like a little thing, but I love how they used the injury as a direct cause for the finish. It bugs me so much whenever a match features an injury, yet it's forgotten in the end. This was a great little TV match, which sadly the fans in attendance didn't appreciate. You can't blame the fans since neither wrestler was really known. Even though it may seem as if WCW wasted this match for an undeserving crowd, it did have many purposes that were met. The most obvious thing is that it gives much needed exposure to both wrestlers. You can't care about a wrestler until you see a wrestler. By the end of the match, just by looking at some of the fans faces, you could tell that they took notice. The match also sets up a future rematch in order to have Guerrero prove that he can beat Benoit with a healthy shoulder. While these two did continue their mini feud over the course of the next few weeks, it never became anything too important. Finally, if these two could put on such a good match on Nitro, if you're a fan, you have to assume that when they're on PPV, it will be even better. It's a nice little plug for future PPV's. The likes of Steamboat, Austin and Rude may of been gone, but this was just a hint that WCW wasn't done with flat out quality wrestling matches. 9 Minutes. 3 Stars.

Chris Benoit vs Kevin Sullivan - Falls Count Anywhere - WCW Great American Bash 1996
By now, Benoit was a part of the 4 Horseman, got a hair cut and even traded in his Pegasus tights for Horseman tights. He now looked the part of a WCW wrestler as opposed to a jobber. This feud was originally booked to be Pillman against Sullivan. Pillman convinced Bischoff to send him to ECW to help build up his Loose Cannon gimmick, but Pillman managed to screw over Bischoff and sign with the WWE. Needing a replacement, Benoit was thrown into Pillman's role. The feud originally came out of tensions stemming from the Horseman joining forces with the Dungeon of Doom to rid the wrestling world of Hulk-A-Mania (It amazes me how many people thought they could actually do it). Arn Anderson was still on the fence for who's side he was on. Benoit attacks Sullivan during Sullivan's entrance. Rapid headbutts to Sullivan. The two battles into the fans punching and kicking each other. Fighting up the stairs, they head into the men's bathroom. Dusty Rhodes goes crazy. It's almost as if wrestling in the bathroom was his wet dream. Sullivan slams Benoit's head with the stall door several times. Benoit annoyingly, just stands there and takes it. How believable is that? Sullivan tries flushing Benoit's career down the drain, but Benoit blocks the urinal push. Sullivan takes a stall door hit. Dusty gets excited when he sees a woman in the men's bathroom. Calm down there Dusty, you're liable to have a heart attack. Da Dweem...Da Dweem. Err...anyways. Sullivan tries bashing Benoit's head in with a bag of paper towel rolls. Hmm, it would of probably been more effective to wrap the plastic bag around the face of Benoit instead. Then again, that's not a great thing to show on a program geared for all ages. Sullivan and Benoit fights back in the arena. Benoit is kicked down the stairs. Benoit uses logic and doesn't force himself to fall down any more than his body allowed. So many times you see wrestlers try and keep the momentum to roll down all the way. That just makes it look extremely fake. Sullivan kicks Benoit down the rest of the stairs. Back at ringside, Benoit tries to pull out a table. Chris has some problems due to how the ring is set-up (There's a metal bar that cuts the space under the ring in half. Sullivan gives Benoit more time by allowing Chris to whip him into the rails. Benoit pulls out the table as the pair fights back in the ring. It should be mentioned that Sullivan had used a table on Benoit at a previous PPV, so we actually have a weapon brought in because of it's involvement in the feud. The table is set-up on the top rope. Sullivan and Benoit battle on the table. Benoit nails a Superplex from the table to the mat. Benoit is able to pin Sullivan. After the match, Benoit continues to assault Sullivan until Arn Anderson runs down and shoves Benoit off of Sullivan. Arn turns back and begins stomping away at Sullivan showing where Arn's true alliance lied. The Horseman continue to kick away at the Taskmaster until the Dungeon jobbers comes out. Benoit and Anderson celebrates back to the lockerroom. One. There was only one wrestling move/hold used in an entire Chris Benoit match. and guess what? That's all there should of been. One of the least believable things in grudge matches is when the wrestlers actually wrestle. How are we, the viewers, supposed to believe you want to kill each other when you're trading wristlocks? For mainstream wrestling, this match was ahead of it's time. The whole brawling in the crowd was so Russo 1999, yet this was done three years earlier. Even though this seems to be the blueprint for every WWF Hardcore Title match, this match made the match feel believable and logical. They didn't do any spots where it would be unbelievable to have the wrestlers get up. They kept it simple, yet it was effective. The Sullivan feud would be the feud that really made Benoit a star. Ironically, it's also the cause of Benoit's glass ceiling in the company. I'm not sure when the real hatred began between Benoit and Sullivan, but the two could put on some great matches together. Sometimes real life hatred pays off. For many years, this was one of my favorite matches. 10 Minutes. 4 1/4 Stars.

Chris Benoit vs Booker T - Match 8 in Best of 7 Series - WCW Great American Bash 1998
I guess Benoit didn't do anything of value for two full years since we skip ahead to the Bash two years later. Hmm, sadly they skipped over Benoit's great feud with DDP and Raven. After feuding with DDP and Raven over the US title, Benoit starting a feud with Booker T over the TV title. The pair drew in several matches. Before the feud could finish, Booker lost the TV title to Fit Finlay in a truly "WTF?" move. Contrary to his WWE push, after his initial fine booking in 1996, Finlay was treated as nothing more than a lowcard act. So Finlay being a champion was just bizarre. To decide who should challenge Finlay for the TV title, WCW brought back the Best of 7 series, last seen in 1986 with Magnum TA vs Nikita Koloff (Over the US title). With the series tied at 3-3, match seven was booked for Thunder. In the match, nWo member, Bret Hart interfered helping Benoit win to help lure Benoit into joining the nWo. Once Benoit realized what happened, he refused to accept the win. JJ Dillon ruled that the 7th match would be thrown out. Instead, the two would wrestle at the next PPV with the winner facing Finlay later on in the night in the title match. It should be noted that in their previous matches, neither man could really be in control for most of the match. However, now Booker is going into the match with a bum knee. Benoit goes straight for the knee. However, he then goes after Booker's back and then his arm. I'm not quite sure of the logic, but I assume Benoit is just trying to wear down Booker's entire body. I suppose it's Benoit's way of being unpredictable since Booker will never be able to defend his entire body. Benoit is in control for a long period. Booker hits an enzguri to finally get away from The Wolverine. With both men knowing each other so well, we get a lot of reverses. Benoit tries pulling out old moves like the Dragon Suplex, but even that doesn't work. Benoit with the Flying Headbutt, but is too exhausted to capitalize on it. Booker botches the Ax Kick to the back of Benoit's head. So Booker hits it again from the front. Missile Dropkick by Booker scores the victory and the series. I realize Booker just hit three finishers in a row, but the finish still seemed to come out of nowhere. I'd blame that on the commentating though. You'd think that Tony and company would get excited once Booker started hitting the finishers, but they keep the same monotone voice. So instead of feeling like the ending, I assumed Benoit was going to kick out and we were going to get another good 5 or so minutes. Much like the previous seven matches, the match is slow building to an exciting (Although not too exciting in this case) ending. This is one of the weaker entries in the best of series. Match Seven was so much better. Now, time for a rant. I know that the Best of Seven series was very popular, but it was terribly delivered. Think about this, how much sense does it make to have Benoit and Booker kill each other in a month over the course of eight matches JUST to earn a TV title shot? Why the hell would anyone choose to wrestle in these matches when there's lowcarders getting TV title shots WHILE the series is going on? So Benoit and Booker has to win a shot at the title by winning 4 matches, but fucking Mike Enos (Great wrestler btw) gets a shot for doing jack shit? I love the idea behind the Best of Series, but make it be able the title, not the title shot. Booking wise, I would of ended it in seven matches (With Benoit winning due to Hart interfering.) Which would set up Benoit vs Finlay and Booker vs Hart (Which happened at the next PPV IIRC) for The Great American Bash. Benoit wins the belt and we get some kind of screwy outcome for the Hart/Booker match. This would then set up an interesting 4 way feud between the previously mentioned wrestlers. But whatever. What is sad is that neither Booker T nor Chris Benoit had time to captialize on the success of the series. Benoit took some time off to rest up while Booker would end up injured a month later. This SHOULD of been what pushed both guys to being main eventers in 6-8 months. I know I've been saying a lot of bad, but matchwise, it was good, not great, but still good. IIRC, it was easily the match of the night. If you're wondering Booker ended up winning the belt later on against Finlay in an unmemorable match. Due to the success of this series, the WWE tried (And failed) twice at doing in in the past 5 years. 16 Minutes. 3 1/2 Stars.

Chris Benoit vs Bret Hart - WCW Monday Nitro - October 4, 1999
We pass over all of Benoit's great tag team matches with Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn. At this point, Benoit is finally the WCW TV Champion. Nitro was taking place from Kansas City (The Kemper Arena) where five months earlier, Owen Hart fell to his death. This is their tribute match. Harley Race is the special guest referee. A lot of technical wrestling (Or as Bobby Heenan calls it, Dungeon wrestling) in the early going. Both men are taking it slow. The poor commentating continues as Bobby Heenan tries to tell jokes during the entire match. Both Tony and Mike Tenay just ignores Heenan's comments. While Heenan is fantastic at doing the comedy, with the tone they were setting for the bout, it wasn't appropriate. Hart gets a little more physical with some punches, so Benoit busts out the chops. Hart smartly goes back to the chain wrestling. First big spot of the match sees Benoit nail a Suicide Dive to Bret. Back from the commercial break and Hart is in control. Hart shows signs of turning heel not long after this match by being physical with Benoit. Benoit comes back with the Three Amigos. Flying Headbutt only gets two though. Benoit gets two rolling German's, but Bret blocks the last one. Benoit locks in the Crippler Crossface, but Bret won't give up. Hart slowly reverses the Crossface into the Sharpshooter (Very Summerslam 1991-like). So much emotion is on the face of Bret as he's screaming for Benoit to tap. Finally, Benoit can't take and he gives up. The pair hugs as Bret points to the sky. This is possibly the only match of real value from Bret in his WCW days. To be fair, Benoit carried him as well. By the end of the match, Hart looked utterly exhausted. However, considering Hart had only had a few matches (In the past month) since last wrestling in February, the fact that this match was so good is a true testament to the quality of both wrestlers. For a thirty minute match, there's very little spots in the entire match. Benoit was able to wrestle his kind of match without any real frills and just a very slow pace building encounter. I know many feels this is not only the best Nitro match ever, but also the last good thing the company ever did. That might be overstating things a bit, but I would be willing to say that a match never outdid this one before the company went out of business. My only real complaint is Bobby Heenan. At one point, he even asks Mike Tenay if this was their first match together. When Tenay said it wasn't, Heenan said it must of been years since the last one. You could almost hear the sigh in Tenay's voice as he corrects Heenan that they've wrestled a few times in WCW and once in 1999 already. Ignoring that, you still have one of the better matches from WCW's existence. 24 Minutes. 4 Stars.

Chris Benoit vs Sid Vicious - WCW World Title - Souled Out 2000
Okay, let me see if I can get this all right. The main event was originally going to be Bret Hart defending the WCW title against Sid Vicious who was had just turned face. Meanwhile, Jeff Jarrett and Chris Benoit would continue their 2 PPV feud into a third one. To celebrate the 3rd PPV, they were booked in mock Three Stages of Hell match (A full year before the WWE thought of it). The only difference was that the matches were going to happen all throughout the show. However, at the final Nitro before the PPV, Jeff Jarrett received a concussion. To make matters worse, Bret Hart finally went to the doctor's and found out that he had a severe concussion. The difference between the concussions was that Bret's could permanently hurt him if he wrestled. That concussion is what ended Bret's career. Don't worry about Jarrett, he'd be back by the next PPV. That left two huge matches (4 really) in jeopardy. So the bookers decided to just throw Benoit in the title match and find a new champion. According to some reports, Benoit had already given his notice with the company. Others say it wasn't official. Benoit on the DVD, believes that the title was given to him as a way of keeping him around. Arn Anderson is your special guest referee in this battle of the former Horseman. After the first few shots of the match, the camera cuts to the entrance to see Perry Saturn and David Flair watching the match. Soon all of the refs and lowcarders are out as well. The commentators tries to pass this as all of the wrestlers having such respect for both wrestlers. If they wanted to do that, bring out the big stars. Seeing Brian Knobbs does nothing to make the match feel important. Sid uses big power moves to destroy Benoit in the early going. Benoit strikes back with some dropkicks to the knees. Benoit continues to work over the knee with a Figure Four Leglock. MUTA LOCK!@@@@!! Benoit uses a leglock to keep Sid immobile on the mat. I guess Sid wasn't listening to Benoit because I could clearly hear Benoit say "Grab the ropes Sid." Sid's reply: "Huh?"
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A Flying Headbutt only gets Benoit a 2 count. Sid is very over tonight. Everything is being played to Sid's big comeback. And here we go, Sid Hulks Up and delivers a HUGE chokeslam. Benoit rolls to the ropes so that his foot is under the bottom rope when Sid covers him. Anderson breaks up the pin attempt. The fans are booing. Sid pulls Benoit up, but Benoit surprises Sid with the Crippler Crossface. Sid's right foot is under the bottom rope as soon as he's on the mat. Anderson doesn't see it and Sid is forced to tap out. Mixed reaction from the crowd. Cut to the wrestlers in the entrance and we see Saturn pushing past people. Apparently, he didn't want to stay a minute longer than he needed to.
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With the story of the match being Sid preparing for his comeback, the rumor of WCW giving Benoit the belt just to have him stay sounds plausible. The match had so many logical problems. If you're preparing for a comeback, why would it only last seconds before the wrestler lose? Why would you have the more over wrestler job? Why would you have Anderson so blindly miss the fact that Sid's foot was under the rope? Why would you waste what is supposed to be a huge moment for a face (Winning their first World Title) in such a lousy way? If you want to know why you can no longer tune into TNT to watch Nitro on Monday Night's, it's because of booking like this. For Benoit's part, he tried his best to carry Sid. I enjoyed the leg work, but it felt as if Benoit told Sid in the back to not even bother with anything, that he'd come up with a way of making the match watchable. Benoit at least did that in this very one sided battle. I seem to remember it being better than their Fall Brawl '99 match though. 15 Minutes. 3 Stars.

Chris Benoit vs Steven Regal - Brian Pillman Tribute Show - May 26, 2000
Five short months later, Chris Benoit is now a member of the WWE. Benoit had just started his second IC title reign earlier in the month defeating Chris Jericho. As for Regal, he quietly left WCW in February. By May, he was working in the Memphis developmental territory. Regal was really at a crossroads in his career. His last WCW run was an utter bomb and his short time in the WWE was highly unmemorable. It should be mentioned that this is not a WWE event. It was one of the few events that saw WWE, WCW, ECW and Indy stars all on the same card. Anyways, Michael Cole and Dr. Tom Prichard are commentating for the DVD. Prichard (Who also wrestled on the show) is gusting over the match from the very beginning. Typical Benoit start of just trading locks. Prichard mentions how there were some 'Boring' chants in the early going. Benoit busts Regal open with some headbutts. I can't think of a single match were Regal wasn't busted open against Benoit (Singles match only). Regal pulls out a standing dropkick that even surprises me. Regal locks in the Surfboard/Dragon Sleeper variation. Prichard mentions how he shows this match to all of his students. According to the good Doctor, Regal and Benoit aren't letting the fans dictate the match tempo. Rolling German's by Benoit. Regal with Super Butterfly Suplex (Double Underhook), but Benoit kicks out at two. Quick pin attempts follows. Benoit hits a jumping Tombstone and follows that up with a Flying Headbutt (Sometimes it was hard to tell the difference between Benoit and Dynamite) attempt, but Regal moves out of the way. Back up, Benoit hits his old standby, the Dragon Suplex. Crippler Crossface forces Regal to tap out. William Regal will tell you, himself, that this is the match that convinced Vince McMahon to bring him up to the main roster again. This one match really revitalized Regal's career. It had been so long since Regal put on this entertaining of a match. Regal was able to show that he still had it. As long as he's given the time, he's an asset to any company. The truth is, this match is all about Regal, not Benoit. Now, I'm not saying Benoit was bad, rather he was incredible. But then again, he was putting up these great matches all the time. This was just another night for Benoit. My only issue with the match is Tom Prichard. I don't know if he intended on making it sound this way, but he makes it out that you shouldn't do what the fans want. It's as if you should only wrestle the way you want to. You convince a rookie of that and he'll bomb. Benoit knew from the wealth of his experience how to entertain the fans. Due to that, worrying about crowd reaction wasn't important in the first few minutes because Benoit knew (While the fans didn't always) that he was building to an exciting finish that would make fans love the match. Trying to say that you shouldn't play to what the fans want is idiotic. Without trying to sound too much like a blind mark, very few wrestlers were as talented as Benoit at building a match. I'd compare it to Prichard telling aspiring actors to ad lib because Anthony Hopkins does. Prichard does bring up a good point about how everything has a purpose. Neither man was wasting any time or energy doing anything other than working on their opponent. It makes the fight more realistic if both acts as if it's not safe enough to play to the crowd. While the match is a cherished gem by many, it's a bit overrated as far as people claiming it's a MOTYC. Still, one of Regal's best matches ever. 14 Minutes. 4 1/4 Stars.

Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle - Raw Steel Cage Match - June 11, 2001
After months of feuding with each other in a variety of matches, it comes down to this. Chris Benoit is currently one-half of the Tag Team champions with Chris Jericho. WWE World Champion, Steve Austin, is the guest commentator. Angle escapes from an early Crossface by Benoit. Benoit completes two of the Three Amigos. Angle blocks the third and breaks out three Gutwrench suplexes. Both men awkwardly fight on the top rope. Benoit nails a Super German Suplex. Angle climbs up, but pulls a Jeff Hardy by deciding to jump instead of just climbing down to win the match. The top of the cage Moonsault by Angle misses. Austin begins yelling at Angle. Incase you don't know, Benoit was already in the feud with Steve Austin. Benoit nails several rolling German's and climbs up to the top of the cage. Benoit actually thinks rationally as he plans to climb down. Steve Austin leaves the announce table with a chair. He's threatening to bash Benoit with it. Benoit knowing that climbing down is no longer in the equation realizes that he needs to get back in the ring. Hmm...climb down or headbutt down? Pfft...as Tazz used to say, "Wolverines gotta fly." Huge top of the cage headbutt. That can't be good for a guy with an already bad neck. Benoit tries to escape, but Austin throws referee, Teddy Long, out of the way and holds the door shut. Benoit dropkicks the door into Austin's face. Angle is able to grab Benoit's ankle before he escaped. Enziguriby Benoit to be freed from Angle. Benoit heads back to the door, but Austin slams the cage door on Benoit's head. Angle wakes up, but decides against using the door, not wanting to be near Austin. Angle climbs over the top and down to the floor winning the match. After the match, Austin nails Benoit with some terrible chair shots. It's funny how memories can be so wrong. I've heard a lot of people claim this to be a MOTYC. It's not even close. Angle and Benoit had much better matches around this time period. What annoys me is the fact that the WWE chose this match over all other 2001/2002 Benoit matches. There's so many better choices for the DVD than this match. The Jericho Ladder match (RR 01), w/ Jericho vs Two Man Power Trip (Raw 01), vs Austin (SD 01), the TLC 3 (SD 01), vs Angle (WM 17), vs Jericho vs Austin (KOTR 01), w/Angle vs Mysterio and Edge (NM 02 and 2/3 Falls from SD 2002), and the 4 way with Angle, Eddie and Edge from SD in 2002. All of those would of been a better pick than this. This match was more of a spot driven match, which they are far better than having to rely on that. While the match did have it's moments and was becoming quite exciting near the end, the cliche ending hurt it a lot. Does EVERY cage match have to have the cage door slamming spot? It is, however; one of the better cage matches in Raw history. But then again, is that really saying much? 15 Minutes. 3 1/2 Stars.

Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle - WWE Title Match - Royal Rumble 2003
A few weeks after the last match, Benoit went out with neck surgery. He'd eventually return in July 2002. We pass over the entire Smackdown Six fall greatness. This is the tail end of the SD Six days. Chris Benoit had earned this shot by defeating The Big Show on an episode of Smackdown. Before the bell, SD referees comes out and orders Team Angle (Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas) to the back. It looks like we're going to have a clean match. Angle avoids an early Sharpshooter attempt. Benoit DDT's Angle on the apron. Angle's bleeding from the nose. Back and forth Rolling German's. Snot rocket and Benoit heads to the top rope. Angle meets him up there with his trademark belly-to-belly top rope suplex. Benoit locks in the Crossface, but Angle reaches the ropes. Benoit is like "Oh yeah?!" and puts Angle in his own Ankle Lock. Angle reverses it into the Ankle Lock, but Benoit reverses that into another Crossface. Angle somehow manages an Angle Slam, but Benoit kicks out at two. Ankle Lock by Angle. More dual Rolling German's. Not wanting to be out down, Benoit hits the over the top German Suplex. Angle looks dead. FLYING HEADBUTT. 1...2...NO. Angle somehow kicks out. Angle hits an Alley Oop with Benoit coming down head first on the turnbuckle. ANGLE SLAM. ONE...TWO..NOOOO! Benoit kicks out! CROSSFACE by Benoit. Angle reverses it into an Ankle Lock. Benoit keeps trying to kick him off, but Angle holds on. Finally, Angle leg vines Benoit. Benoit can't hold off and finally taps out. While they didn't include this, after the WWE cut to some ad and they came back to the ring, the crowd was giving Benoit a standing ovation for the spectacular match. Now that's more like it. As great as their Unforgiven 2002 match was (A forgotten gem), this was unbelievable. Without question, the WWE MOTY for 2003. This PPV was absolutely horrible, but luckily this match came around to save it. It's quite comical when you look at the two title matches from the show. Raw produced the single worst title match of 2003 (Any WWE title). Meanwhile, SD produced the MOTY.
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They probably could of took off a few seconds at the end for the Ankle Lock, but with Benoit fighting it as much as he did, it didn't look nearly as bad as some of Angle's other matches (WM 21 anyone?). The only thing I would of changed would of been giving Benoit the win. The crowd was begging for it and Angle was in pretty poor shape. There's really no reason to take such a drastic risk with your life just so you can wrestle at Wrestlemania. Benoit vs Brock would of been more than enough to make up for the loss of Angle vs Brock. With Angle safely taking the surgery earlier, we still would of got the Angle/Brock feud in 2003. While Benoit had to wait another 14 months before he'd get a title match on PPV, this is the match that proved he was capable of being a main eventer. Benoit may of had a broken neck, but he could still go. One of my favorite matches ever. 20 Minutes. 5 Stars.

Chris Benoit vs Triple H vs Shawn Michaels - World Heavyweight Championship - Wrestlemania XX
Finally, we come to the conclusion. After his amazing match and even more incredible reception following the match, Benoit was headlining one more PPV. While Benoit was pushed back down the card in 2003, at the end of the year, the new push began. It started at Survivor Series when Benoit forced Brock Lesnar, then-WWE Champion, to tap out. He then went into the Royal Rumble match as the number 1 entry. 29 other men later, Chris Benoit was the winner. Instead of challenging Brock Lesnar (We assumed), Benoit went to Raw the next night. From there, Benoit forced his way in the middle of the Shawn Michaels/Triple H feud which had been reignited in December 2003. And here we are. The NYC crowd is very pro-Benoit. Oddly enough, Shawn Michaels is booed more than Triple H. Thus, Hunter plays the tweener in the match. Benoit tries to convince Michaels to let him get a piece of Hunter first. Michaels doesn't want to hear it and pushes Benoit back. This leads to all three men fighting each other. Hunter is thrown out of the ring giving us our first one-on-one battle. Nice Northern Lights Suplex gets Benoit a two on Michaels. Hunter comes back in. Hunter and Benoit battle to the outside. Trips shoves Benoit backwards into the ring frame with Michaels then sliding into the back of Benoit causing both Hunter and Benoit to be knocked down. Moonsault by Michaels to both opponents. Hunter gets a Pedigree on Michaels, but Benoit breaks up the fall. Benoit is turned up into the tree-of-woe by Hunter. Triple H whips Michaels into the corner smashing Benoit. Hunter tries again, however; Michaels reverses it and sends Trips into the awaiting boot of Benoit. German Suplexes by Benoit to Hunter. Sweet Chin Music only gets Michaels 2 on Hunter. Hunter attempts the Pedigree on Benoit, but Benoit reverses it into a Crossface. Michaels breaks it up. Michaels hits a German Suplex on Benoit to a loud round of boos from the New Yorkers. Benoit reverses a second one into the trademark three. The crowd changes it's tune and loves it. Sweet Chin Music to Hunter. Michaels covers...1...2...NO. Benoit pulls Hunter out of the ring to continue the match. Crossface to Michaels. Michaels looks to tap out, but Hunter grabs his arm, keeping it from hitting the mat. Hunter begins tearing apart the Smackdown and Spanish announce tables. Benoit joins him on the Spanish announce table trying to German suplex him. Michaels breaks it up. Michaels and Hunter locks eyes and double suplexes Benoit through the Smackdown announce table! Michaels is a bloodied mess as he climbs back in the ring begging for Hunter to join him. Oh...it's on. Hunter is busted open from a post, but manages to hit a Pedigree. One...Two...NO! Benoit breaks up the fall out of nowhere. God damn this match has a lot of finishers. Sharpshooter by Benoit to Hunter. Hunter looks to tap before Michaels stuns Benoit with SCM. Michaels covers Benoit, but Benoit lifts a shoulder at two. Michaels looks to hit SCM again on Benoit, but Benoit ducks and throws Michaels over the top rope. Hunter gives a kick to set up the Pedigree, but Benoit reverses it into the Crossface. The crowd is going crazy. TAPPPP!!! TAPPPP!!!! TAPPPP!!!!...oh...wait that's me. Hunter rolls the Crossface over, but Benoit hangs on. With Hunter in the middle of the ring, he finally taps out erupting the crowd. As Benoit celebrates, Eddie Guerrero comes out and the longtime friends who worked together all over the world takes in the moment as both are World Champions at the end of Wrestlemania. Sometimes great matches are overrated. And yet, sometimes, great matches are somehow underrated. This is even better than I remembered it being. Hunter was surprisingly on top form while the crowd was glued on everything Benoit did. Michaels was over the top like always, but even he decided to take it down a notch or two. After the disaster booking of Benoit's first World title win, this was such a better way to win the title. No face wants to win a title by having the other wrestler made out to be the true hero of the match. Unlike the Sid match, Benoit was made to be the hero of the match just as he should of been. Thinking back to 2004, I had a gut feeling that Shawn Michaels was going to pull out the victory. However, based on how the crowd reacted, Michaels winning would of been such a terrible way to end the show. The crowd would of most likely enjoyed it more had Hunter won it as opposed to Michaels. Benoit really needed this victory to prove that he wasn't the Buffalo Bills of pro wrestling. While I'm not pleased with how the title reign went, it's no denying that it started off perfectly. This is (In my opinion) the second best match in Wrestlemania history. I do still prefer the rematch at Backlash though, even if this one is better. Benoit forcing Michaels to submit to the Sharpshooter in Canada = Priceless. 25 Minutes. 5 Stars.

Overall
At the time of it's release, Hard Knocks blew away fans. The only other WWE DVD that was close in quality was Ric Flair's first. After 2005, the DVD lost it's spot as the best WWE DVD though. However, it's easily one of the best though. The single factor that makes this such a fantastic DVD aren't the 5 star matches or the other good matches, but the sheer diversity of the discs. With the exception of the Mick Foley DVD, has a DVD really showcased so many promotions? You get to see WCW, ECW, WWF, WWE, Pillman Memorial, and to top it off, 3(!) Puro matches. To this day, the WWE has yet to release any other Puro matches (That they didn't jointly own) on their DVD's. Even both Eddie Guerrero DVD's are without any. For just the Great Sasuke match in good quality and multiple audio tracks alone was worth the 20 dollars.

I really only have two gripes with the DVD. First was the audio tracks. Mainly removing Jesse Ventura from Superbrawl and having Todd Grisham destroy the three Japanese matches with his asinine questions. My other problem is a common one I have with DVD's - match choices. While some were obvious ones to put on (Rumble, Mania XX, Sullivan) but others really had no business being on the DVD. They could of picked a better match to showcase his ECW days than the Snow one. While he did win the WCW World Title, the Sid match wasn't necessary either. Benoit had much better PPV matches in his final year. I'm disappointed that the WWE didn't include a single tag match. Worst yet, the WWE somehow didn't include Dean Malenko in a single match. It's like having a Triple H DVD without a Rock match, it's a terrible idea. The Hog Wild match against Malenko, the SD 2001 one with Steve Austin and the two out of three falls with Mysterio and Edge are the three matches I really wish would of been included. I do have to wonder if the Puro matches were originally going to be on the DVD or not. It seems as if they had to cut out some major matches, while maintaining a basic story of his career. But even with those issues, scanning the DVD ratings I gave, you get two 5 star matches and the worst match was 3 stars. Compared to most WWE DVD's, that's amazingly good.

With Chris Benoit being a taboo in wrestling now, I'm not even sure how hard this DVD set is to find now. It's a shame. Good luck trying to find a DVD in America with some Super J Cup matches, 5 Star WWE and a match where there's a lady in the men's bathroom. DA DWEEM!!!!~! Sorry. With only two discs, Benoit's DVD manages to be better than most wrestler's three disc DVD's. Had the events of 2007 not happened, we might of had a three disc sequel by now to fill in the missing pieces. On the plus side, most of the missing ones can still be found on DVD if you look hard enough. Sadly, it looks like the Austin/Benoit match will never see the light of day on DVD.

Overall Grade: A

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King Steventon

I only had a flick through certain parts, but I agree with most of this, it's an amazing DVD, it would probably be my favourite if it wasn't for, well.... >_>

I think you, and pretty much everyone, overated the Sasuke match. There really isn't much story or psycology in it outside of the Tiger/Dyno tribute they were doing and the finish was pretty bad. Apparently it was meant to be a top-rope tombstone but Benoit wasn't able to hit it properly. Sasuke's willingness to DIE FOR THE WIN was great though. I wasn't too hot ont he Angle cage match either, just seemed like a bunch of suplexes and dive spots, and Angle's selling was poor (being on offence a minute after a missing a moonsult from the top of the cage?).

Likewise I think you may have underated the WCW Booker match, I thought it was great and maybe one of Booker's best matches ever.

Glad you loved the triple threat though, I seem to remember you calling it overated alot >_> Yes, now you see the error of your ways. I wasn't too big on their Backlash rematch, too much focus on HBK and an incident that happened 7 years ago, and alot of dead space in it.

I don't think you can buy this DVD still, amirite?

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Crocker

If you go on ebay you should be able to get a copy

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horrorfan_1986

Idk, if everyone thinks the Sasuke match is great but you, ever think maybe you're the one with the wrong view? Then again, opinions can't be wrong. I can't see the finish originally going to be a top rope Tombstone. Benoit just did the Jumping Tombstone and how Sasuke was standing on the top rope, it would take an unbelievable amount of strength and balance for Benoit to do it.

I'm curious though, what would you give the match rating wise?

I'd strongly urge you to watch some of their other WCW matches. Match seven blew this one out of the water.

There's a difference between overrating and thinking something is bad. I never thought the Triple Threat was bad. However, based on the fact I was bored the last time I saw it (At points), I didn't feel it deserved the 5 star rating. However, I would of still given it a 4+ rating.

You might be able to get lucky. I'd check with any store that buys back DVD's or ones that typically have a lot of older ones. If that fails, I'm sure there's several sites you can order it from.

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King Steventon

Oh, I think it's a great match, just not the five star classic people make it out to be. For me, it's the same as the TNA triple threat, Meltzer sprinkled snowflakes on it because he's a mark for sprints/fast-paced matches, that made it famous and everyone then has the assumption that it's amazing, I have to wonder if people would rate it so highly without it's aura. If I was rating it I'd say four stars was a fair mark, something like Sasuke/Liger from the same night was alot better even with the botched finish. And the finish was meant to be a top-rope tombstone, I can't remember where I read it, but I'm fairly positive that's what it was. Don't see how that's unrealistic as it would have played into the Dyno/Tiger tribute they were doing. But hey, to each their own, I'm not saying it's a bad match at all.

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horrorfan_1986

I'll easily admit the Triple Threat from TNA is overrated. It was a good match, but once it ended I was left thinking "That's it?" I'd only give it about 4 1/2 Stars.

I think 4 stars is low balling it a bit. I know I couldn't find reason to give it five though.

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King Steventon

Well that feeling was what I felt after watching Sasuke/Benoit last time I guess. The first half was kinda dull for me outside the initial minute or so and it didn't pick up until they started busting out the big dives and I wasn't a fan of the finish at all.

If you havent seen Liger/Sasuke I'd recommend checking that out. Wouldn't happen to have a link to that Benoit/Booker match, if its better than their GAB match I can't imagine not enjoying.

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Mrs Teddy

My friend has a copy of this which HE GOT SIGNED BY BENOIT at an autograph signing back in 05, pretty ftw.

I downloaded and watched the story part of the DVD ages ago but never got round to watching the matches, will have to borrow it off my mate. I have the 2003 Rumble on DVD and watch the match with Angle alot.. definitely worthy of 5 stars.

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horrorfan_1986

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The entire Best of Seven series.

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