wrestling / Video Reviews

Views from the Hawke’s Nest: The Road is Jericho – Disc 3

March 15, 2015 | Posted by TJ Hawke
7
The 411 Rating
Community Grade
12345678910
Your Grade
Loading...
Views from the Hawke’s Nest: The Road is Jericho – Disc 3  

Jericho explains the concept of dark matches. Jericho believes in doing longer dark matches because that is the one advertised match of the show. Jericho also enjoys the freedom that comes with dark matches. He and Cena had similar mentalities in regards to dark matches and apparently had some good ones as a result.

 

WWE Raw
Manchester, New Hampshire
December 29, 2008

John Cena(c) vs. Chris Jericho [Street Fight for the World Heavyweight Championship]

This was in fact a dark match. They recently had two PPV world title matches. Cena won both of those matches.

Jericho started the match by hitting Cena with the microphone. He was in control for a while after that. He struggled at one point to get steel steps from the floor to the ring. Cena avoided a chairshot and then hit a FU: 1…2…3

This was such a nothing match. I wouldn’t care at all, but Jericho just spent part of the DVD talking about how hard they would work in dark matches!

Match Rating: *

 

Jericho talks about how odd it was that he and Rey Mysterio did not cross paths much before 2009. He wanted their feud to be over Rey’s mask, but Vince McMahon said “no one cares about his mask.”

**Vince McMahon never recognizing how big of a star Rey Mysterio was is just mind-boggling. The dude drew money and ratings for the company without being pushed like a star, and I’m starting to think Vince McMahon never noticed. When you think about how poorly Vince treated Rey at different points over the years, it’s amazing Rey took as long as he did to try to leave. The fact that on his way out the door, Vince told Rey that they were forcing him to stay by extending his contract without his consent but refusing to pay for anymore surgeries while he stayed with the company tells you all you need to know about Vince’s character. Rant over.**

Jericho eventually managed to convince Vince it was a good idea. Jericho then put Rey over huge. He called him (hands down) the best high-flyer of all time, and that he was his second favorite opponent ever.

 

The Bash
Sacramento, California
June 28, 2009

Chris Jericho(c) vs. Rey Mysterio [Campeonatos en Mascara – Intercontinental Championship vs. Mask]

This was the best feud of 2009.

Jericho cut Rey off very early by sending him into the barricade from the wheelbarrow position. Jericho worked him over for a while. Rey started to come back after hitting a seated senton to the floor. Rey was going out of his way to bust out some stuff that he doesn’t do on a regular basis. They started going back and forth. The action was awesome and timed perfectly all the way through. ARGENTINEAN BACKBREAKER REVERSED INTO A DDT: 1…2…NO! Rey then springboarded right into a Codebreaker: 1…2…NO! Rey hit the 619, but Jericho then reversed the springboard hurricanrana into the Walls!!! Excellent. Rey escaped, and they did a pinning combo trade. Jericho thought he swiped the mask, but Rey had a second one underneath! 619! Springboard belly flop: 1…2…3~!~!~!

Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck. Fucking amazing. As soon as Rey started his comeback, this was as good as anything that’s ever been inside a WWE ring. They managed to combine intensity/hatred with great highspots/reversals. A remarkable achievement. If Jericho did a little more during the heat that could paid off later on, it would have pushed it over the top into ***** territory.

Match Rating: ****3/4

 

Jericho puts over working in Madison Square Garden. He puts over the Jeri-Show team, but he revealed that he absolutely hated the Jeri-Show name. He refused to let Show or the commentators refer to them as such.

 

WWE Raw
New York City, New York
November 16, 2009

Chris Jericho & The Big Show vs. Degeneration-X (Triple H & Shawn Michaels) vs. John Cena & The Undertaker

Taker got the full druid entrance. The teams went back and forth. The highlight was Taker and Shawn squaring off for about thirty seconds. The second highlight was Show taking both men down, Jericho tagging in, and Jericho then gloating like he had done all the work. More back and forth action. The finishers came out. Cena eventually finished HHH with the AA.

After the match, Taker gave Cena a tombstone.

This match stands out to me for several reasons. The match is in Madison Square Garden, which means Raw has a very unique look to accommodate the building. The match itself is a triple threat tag match with everyone being a legitimate main eventer. The Undertaker and Cena are teaming. You have countless rivalries played off of in very short period of time (the highlight being Shawn vs. Taker). They forego the standard WWE formula of artificially extending the length of a main event with useless filler and just get right to the fun action (not that it should be done all the time, but it was the perfect call here). The simplest way to explain why I liked this match so much though is that it’s fun from beginning to end.

Match Rating: ***3/4

Watch this match here.

 

Jericho buries Christian and Brodus Clay for ruining his Wrestlemania 28 jacket. Half of the jacket did not light up. So, he had to walk diagonally down the ramp during his entrance to cover it.

Why did he bring that up? I guess because it was a match with Punk. Anyway, he goes on to put over his next match with Punk.

 

Extreme Rules
Chicago, Illinois
April 29, 2012

CM Punk(c) vs. Chris Jericho [Chicago Street Fight for WWE Championship]

I’ve been meaning to re-watch this match for a long time, because I was one of the few people at the time that wrote it was great. Most writers seemed to think it was just good.

Both men were in their jeans. Lots of brawling to start the match. Punk threw some chairs in the ring and pulled out a Singapore cane. Punk attacked Jericho’s back with the cane, which actually drew “ECW” chants. More Singapore cane usage from Punk. Jericho hid behind the referee, so that he could poke Punk in the eyes. Punk ended up on the apron, where Jericho delivered a Silver King dropkick. They started to brawl around the ringside area. Back in the ring, Jericho undid a turnbuckle cover. Punk went for a running knee, but Jericho avoided it and Punk crashed to the floor. Jericho beat down Punk right in front of his family, as they cheered him on. Jericho berated his sister, until Punk’s sister slapped him. Jericho went after the sister, and Punk snapped. Punk pulled off the commentator table hood, and sent Jericho through the hood. Jericho backdropped Punk onto the floor. Jericho hit Punk in the back with a monitor and the broken announce table hood. Back in the ring, Punk slowed Jericho’s momentum with a back suplex. Punk slipped on a springboard attempt, and Jericho started smacking him with a Singapore Cane. Punk got a small package out of nowhere: 1…2…NO! Punk grabbed the Singapore cane, but Jericho cut him off with an enzugiri. Jericho pulled out a can of beer and poured it on Punk. Jericho pulled out another beer and started drinking it, which allowed Punk to come back with more Singapore cane shots and swinging neckbreaker. Punk followed it up with the running high knee/bulldog. Punk hit Jericho low with the Singapore cane and signaled for the Go-2-Sleep. Jericho escaped and went for the Walls of Jericho. Punk escaped and hit a snap powerslam: 1…2…NO! Punk went for the diving elbow, but Jericho crotched him. Punk delivered some big strikes though and then managed to hit the Savage Elbow: 1…2…NO! Jericho escaped another Go-2-Sleep attempt and Punk blocked a Lionsault. Jericho escaped another Go-2-Sleep. Jericho sent Punk into a steel chair, face first and rolled him up: 1…2…NO! Punk stumbled to his feet, but then walked into a Codebreaker. Jericho then locked in the Liontamer! Jericho transitioned into a Walls of Jericho. Punk made the ropes, but it’s a street fight. Punk grabbed a fire extinguisher without Jericho knowing. Punk sprayed Jericho! Jericho was wiping his eyes on the referee’s shirt. Punk hit him in the gut twice with the extinguisher. On the floor, Punk gave him a high kick, which sent Jericho onto the Spanish announce table. Punk went to the top rope, and stumbled a bit. PUNK THEN HIT A DIVING ELBOW! That was a long jump. Punk slowly got Jericho back in the ring: 1…2…NO! ANACONDA VICE! Jericho got his hand on the Singapore cane and broke it over Punk’s head. Punk grabbed the chair, but walked into a chair Codebreaker: 1…2…NO!!! This match has been amazing. Jericho went for a Go-2-Sleep, but Punk countered and sent Jericho into the turnbuckle! GO-2-SLEEP: 1…2…3!!!

Original Review: This match was absolutely fantastic, and I couldn’t be happier that the WWE put Punk over strong in a Chicago PPV (again). Punk is a god to these people, and at this rate, he will be a draw in the area for years to come. While the TV segments for this feud have not set my world on fire, they still managed to deliver top-notch performances in their two PPV matches. This is one of those matches that you should go out of your way to see.

New Review: While I would have expected these two to have a more consistently hot atmosphere in Chicago for the clear blowoff to their feud, they managed to compensate for that with a great brawl. I loved the twists and turns of this match. Punk’s sister getting involved was great spot for Punk to fight back, but I loved that Jericho was still able to cut him off again as Punk was not fully in control. Punk finally being able to come back for good when Jericho’s ego got the better of him by trying to pour a beer on Punk twice was both logical and a nice callback to their feud (that I admittedly did not care about too much, but I appreciate the callback all the same). The spots down the stretch were appropriately brutal and exciting, and they kept me compelled all the way through despite the telegraphed result.

Match Rating: ****

 

Jericho explains that the following match was the rare instance of a television match needing to go longer at the last second because of an issue with another segment. It was Jericho’s last match for his 2013 run, and RVD’s first match of his WWE comeback (he had been gone since 2007). They originally were supposed to have a two-segment match and now had to have a three-segment match. Jericho, without a hint of irony, says “I’m the guy” for that kind of situation. Jericho is proud of the match, and anyone should be for being trusted in such a situation. Now, let’s see if it’s actually good.

 

WWE Raw
Brooklyn, New York
July 15, 2013

Chris Jericho vs. Rob Van Dam

I remember this being too long. Gosh darnit, JBL is on commentary. In 2006 and 2007, JBL’s commentary was the weekly highlight of Smackdown. Now, he makes me wish Michael Madsen would cut off my ears.

RVD got some of his shit in early on, but Jericho cut him off before the first commercial break. ON THE APP, they ended up on the floor, and RVD got more of his shit in. RVD was then in control until Jericho catapulted him into a turnbuckle. That didn’t look good. Jericho was in control again. RVD caught him with a kick to the face and ever-so briefly transitioned into a triangle. Jericho reversed it into a powerbomb. “This is awesome!” chants? I mean, it’s not bad. It’s definitely long. RVD hit a moonsault off the apron as we went to the APP again. Jericho cut him off yet again and went back to working him over. He went after the left arm. Jericho was begging for a reaction. RVD avoided the Lionsault and then hit the Rolling Thunder. Jericho avoided the split-legged moonsault and then hit the Lionsault for a nearfall. Jericho crotched RVD to avoid the frog splash, but RVD then hit a diving somersault to a standing Jericho in the clear highlight of the match. Jericho reversed a hurricanrana attempt into the Walls. RVD was bleeding from the forehead by this point. RVD got to the ropes, hit a spinning kick, and then hit the frog splash: 1…2…3

This was a noble effort, but you can clearly see that they had no good ideas to fill all the time that they had. RVD did not look ready to work such a match (and probably should not have been put into such a position). He was noticeably a step slower in some spots and seemed dangerously close to botching some of his signature spots (the backflip after the shoulder tackle in the corner comes to mind).

Jericho looked fine, but his 2013 run should have made it perfectly clear to him and anyone with any power in the company that he needed to be a heel again.

Match Rating: **1/4

 

Jericho discusses the Bray Wyatt feud. There’s a thin line between self-assured and delusional. Jericho ended up on the wrong side of that for these last few talking heads. He goes into a lot of detail though on the cage dive for this match, and I did find that to be interesting at least. He said that spot is one of his favorite moments of his career.

 

WWE Raw
Baltimore, Maryland
September 8, 2014

Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt (w/ The Wyatt Family)

Even after all the damage done to Bray Wyatt since he lost to John Cena at the 2014 Wrestlemania, you can see he was still quite over here. Well, the crowd was still lighting up their cellphones for his entrance at least.

Bray tried to escape right away.  That didn’t work, but he got control soon enough. Jericho made a comeback. He hit the Lionsault but couldn’t apply the Walls. Wyatt fought back and hit a superplex. Wyatt then did the Exorcist walk to escape, but Jericho blocked it. Urinagi from Wyatt. Frankensteiner from Jericho. Jericho climbed to the top of the cage, but he saw Luke Harper and Erick Rowan waiting for him. Jericho shrugged his shoulders and then decided to give Wyatt a diving crossbody from the top of the cage back into the ring. Jericho came up hobbled. He appeared to tweak his right knee. He couldn’t walk properly. Jericho was trying to crawl out, but Wyatt grabbed onto him. They struggled as Wyatt straddled him from behind. Wyatt then went after the injured knee before diving out for the victory.

Jericho was left hanging out of the cage with his injured knee. Wyatt then slammed the door into the injured knee. He then gave Jericho Sister Abigail in the ring to decisively end the feud.

The match was just as boring as their two PPV matches for the majority of the time. It picked up big time at the end though. Jericho’s dive was a cool moment, and everything after that was done well enough. They just couldn’t tell a compelling story all the way through.

Match Rating: **3/4

 

Jericho talks about the importance of the “steal the show” mentality. He may have been trying to be ironic about it because a Randy Orton match was next on the DVD. Has there ever been a wrestler consistently pushed to the main event in the last fifteen years who wrestled less like someone who cared about stealing the show? “My matches are Stairway to Heaven. Every one of them.” Jericho went full-cringe for this talking head. You have to see it to believe it.

 

Night of Champions
Nashville, Tennessee
September 21, 2014

Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton

I’m counting on the commentators to explain why these two are having a match. I’m in trouble.

They went back and forth for a bit. Orton cut him with a punt to the ribs. Scintillating. Orton then worked him over for too long. Orton kind of targeted the back/midsection. I’m being generous. Jericho eventually just started coming back because it was time to come back. Jericho begged for crowd response and then went for the bulldog/Lionsault combo. Orton avoided the latter and hit a backbreaker. Orton avoided the RKO and hit the Lionsault for a nearfall. Orton avoided the Walls. Jericho played possum and avoided the Punt of Death. Walls of Jericho! Orton escaped by kicking Jericho away. Draping DDT. Jericho played possum again and then hit the Codebreaker for a nearfall.Orton then played possum. Jericho dived off the top rope, and Orton hit the RKO: 1…2…3

Old Review: I did not find this match to be interesting at all, but the wrestlers managed to get the crowd invested at the very least. I also did enjoy the finish with Jericho’s “playing possum” strategy serving as the inspiration Orton needed to defeat him.

I’ve not seen all three of Jericho’s PPV matches since he returned. The dude comes across as an aging artist who doesn’t know that he’s not cool anymore. He gave countless interviews in the 2008-2010 time period about how he should not be a bayface anymore. He was correct. What’s annoying is that I know if he came back as a part of a heel tag team or something like that, he would seem right back in his element. I do not understand why he and the WWE do not see what a bad idea a Chris Jericho babyface character is at this time.

New Review: On the second watch, I realize this was a battle between the two men that unified the two world titles in the company: Jericho in 2001 Orton in 2013.

I still think the meat of the match (everything before the finisher teases and reversals) was just lifeless and pointless. I did however enjoy the closing stretch a bit more this time, and I actually feel more confident about the rating now (whereas I felt like I was being too generous the first time around). The match was not awful, but just missing the key ingredients that I look for in WWE matches.

Match Rating: **3/4

 

Watch some Chris Jericho matches for free!

Chris Jericho & Christian vs. Rob Van Dam & Jeff Hardy vs. Bubba Ray & Spike Dudley vs. Kane [Great TLC Match]

Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels [Last Man Standing]

Chris Jericho vs. John Cena

Chris Jericho vs. Daniel Bryan

Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk

Chris Jericho vs. Jeff Hardy

Chris Jericho vs. Hulk Hogan

Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels

Chris Jericho vs. RVD

Chris Jericho vs. Kurt Angle

Chris Jericho vs. Eddy Guerrero

Chris Jericho vs. Eddy Guerrero

Chris Jericho vs. Alex Wright

Chris Jericho & The Big Show vs. John Cena & The Undertaker vs. Triple H & Shawn Michaels

Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Steamboat, Roddy Piper, & Jimmy Snuka

Chris Jericho vs. Batista vs. Edge

Chris Jericho vs. Kane

Chris Jericho vs. Shelton Benjamin

Chris Jericho vs. Jack Swagger

Chris Jericho vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Chris Jericho vs. Road Dogg

Chris Jericho, The Big Show, & Randy Orton vs. John Cena, Batista, & Rey Mysterio

Chris Jericho & Kurt Angle vs. The Rock & Steve Austin

Chris Jericho & The Rock vs. Test & Booker T

7.0
The final score: review Good
The 411
This DVD is fascinating overall. The concept (Jericho talking about his wrestling career while he rides in a limo to a rock show he's doing) is a bit hokey, but it's just window dressing to the actual concept of the DVD: Jericho talking about some of his most common opponents and/or significant feuds of his career. That occasionally leads to some good anecdotes from behind the scenes that I had never heard before, and I'm always appreciative of that. As usual though, the "talking part" of this WWE DVD left me wanting. Very few WWE DVDs have overcome that though, and I don't know how possible it is for WWE to produce in-house documentaries or features like this without them feeling too biased. It's just the nature of in-house documentaries (WWE is obviously not the only entertainment company that has fallen victim to that issue). The bigger issues with this DVD are the match selection and Jericho's final few interview segments. In an apparent attempt to shoehorn as many opponents as possible for Jericho to talk about, the DVD features a *ton* of average matches that no one needs to collect or watch again. There are some great matches for sure on here, and I don't really mind that I sat through too many average matches (and a few clunkers as well). It just needs to be noted that the match selection is not consistently strong throughout. I can't really paint a sunny picture of how poorly Jericho comes across in the final few segments though. Based on this, you would think he's someone entering the midlife crisis stage of his life, and he does not seem to recognize that his runs in 2013 and 2014 were, in fact, the runs (pardon the crudeness). When you watch the documentary from Jericho's first DVD (as I just did in the last week), you can tell that Jericho is proud of his accomplishments, but he's fairly self-aware of the parts of his career that were not as strong. In that DVD, he talked about how he relishes being the villain and never wanting a Ric Flair-style goodbye from wrestling, because his character is the villain who should be dragged away kicking and screaming. Would that Jericho even recognize what he's become since he returned again in 2013? And if he cannot recognize how flat his last two runs were, what value does he bring to the business going forward? With all that being said, this DVD was consistently entertaining and interesting, but it's far from being a must-buy.
legend

article topics :

Chris Jericho, TJ Hawke