Attention, j'ai trouvé un MAXI PAVE sur un site anglias, je l'ai pas traduit.......
Attention vos yeux!!!
“Hard Knocks - The Chris Benoit Story” tells the story of Benoit’s career, chronicling the important events and matches that have shaped Chris Benoit’s wrestling career and made him who he is today. So with a great career to look back on, would this VHS/DVD release do “The Crippler” any justice? Read On and find out!
Highs and Lows
The Early Years
New Japan.
ECW
Next chapter looks at Benoit’s stint in Paul Heyman’s, Extreme Championship Wrestling. The chapter kicks off with Benoit talking about Too Cold Scorpio, and we see footage of various matches with Benoit and Scorpio. The DVD now moves on to look at the infamous neck injury which Sabu sustained during a match he had with Benoit. Benoit talks about how lifted Sabu up thinking Sabu would land on his front, to pull off the flapjack move, however, Sabu tried to land on his back to make it look like he was back drop, unfortunately Sabu landed on his head, and thus, sustained a broken neck. Benoit talks how Heyman took this injury and created “The Crippler” character for Benoit, but Benoit was concerned about Sabu, and felt very bad that he had injured him. We see footage of some of Benoit’s earlier promo work as “The Crippler”
Moving on Benoit talks about how good it was to have Eddie and Dean Malenko with him in ECW, he states it wasn’t really a political move, more so, it just happened. The DVD looks at when Benoit won his first major championship belt in the US, that being the ECW Tag Team Championship belts, which he won with Dean Malenko. The chapter ends with Benoit discussing his departure from ECW, mentioning that he only left because Paul Heyman hadn’t sorted out a visa for Benoit, and the immigration officials on the Canadian border warned him that if he didn’t have a visa to work in the U.S. he would eventually get stopped and refused entry to the States, so, Benoit didn’t want the to take the risk and left ECW.
Like much of Benoit’s New Japan Pro Wrestling work, his ECW stuff is also quite new to me, so this chapter again was not only very entertaining, but very interesting too, it was very nice to see some of Benoit’s work in ECW, and hear about some of the stories that made Benoit who he is today, although it probably would have been nice to have some comments from Paul. E in there, as he did help Benoit a lot in his career.
WCW
Benoit starts this chapter off by talking about his 3 try out matches with the WWE during the 1995 period, but he didn’t sign with the WWE as he wanted to continue his wrestling in Japan and Vince wanted him to be exclusive to WWE. Benoit mentions that NJPW and WCW had started a working relationship, and that he saw this opportunity and ended up signing with WCW as they allowed him to also work matches in Japan, however, Benoit mentions that his dates in Japan dwindled and dwindled until he was exclusive to WCW. Eddie Guerrero talks about how Benoit was there for him to help him through his own personal problems, and Malenko talks about how close the three were together.
The DVD then shifts focus and looks at The Four Horsemen, and more accurately, Chris Benoit’s induction into the Four Horsemen group, with the late Brian Pillman and Arn Anderson introducing Benoit as a member of the Horsemen. Benoit talks about his time with the group, and along with Arn Anderson and Ric Flair says that the group wasn’t given the opportunity and push that they should have been given.
Moving onto Kevin Sullivan now. Benoit talks about how Sullivan was the booker, and Benoit had problems with him creatively, and this caused a lot of tension between the pair. Benoit says it got to a point where he decided to stand up for himself and against the whole company. We see various clips of Benoit and Sullivan fighting. Benoit mentions that throughout the whole issue, Kevin Sullivan was very professional in the ring and never took advantage of Benoit physically. Benoit mentions that there is a lot more to this story with Sullivan, but he doesn’t want to go into it as he has children from a previous marriage and he’d like to explain it to them first when they are old enough.
The Best Out of Seven Series is now looked at between Benoit and Booker T. Benoit comments on how much he liked working for WCW at this time, but he was hesitant that Booker and he could have seven matches, and still keep things fresh. Booker and Benoit talk about the series and each other.
As the DVD moves on, we are now shown Jim Ross announcing that Owen Hart died in a tragic accident, Benoit talks about how he was wrestling on a WCW house show when news flittered through of Owens’s death. An emotional Benoit speaks of Owen, and how he misses him. The DVD then looks at the memorable Owen Hart Tribute match on WCW Nitro, Benoit talks about how Bret approached him to do the match, and how the match is regarded as a great match, but Benoit says it doesn’t fit into any categories, its just a tribute match for Owen Hart, which is extremely true as the Owen Hart match was one of my all time favourite WCW moments ever.
The focus shifts to Benoit’s WCW Championship victory at the Souled Out PPV in 2000. Benoit talks about how he was fed up with WCW at this point and how he had made this clear with WCW management. Benoit talks about how he was only given the World Championship belt for political reasons, rather than rewarding him for his hard work, he also says he had seen enough guys get stabbed in the back, and he knew that when he won the title it wouldn’t be any different for him, so it was time for him to leave, and this brings the chapter to an end.
Benoit spent quite a few years down in WCW and the WWE had a lot to cram into this chapter, but in my opinion they managed to do it, and do it well. The chapter gives a good insight into some of the major angles and matches that Benoit was involved in during his time in WCW. It was nice to look at the Owen Hart tribute match from Nitro, in what has to be one of WCW greatest and most emotional moments, it was truly good stuff, big thumbs up for this chapter.
WWE
At this point in his career Benoit says he was fed up with the wrestling industry, and upon entering the WWE, he was worried how he would compare to guys like Stone Cold, The Rock and Triple H. Benoit talks about his match at his first Wrestlemania in 2000 when he won the Intercontinental Championship, and how big a deal Wrestlemania was to him. Benoit goes onto talk about how WWE was different than WCW, with the WWE being about opportunities, unlike WCW. Benoit then talks about his feud with The Rock, which culminated in a match at the Fully Loaded PPV. Then the match at Wrestlemania X7 is looked at with Benoit and Angle, Benoit talks about that being an enjoyable match as he and Kurt got to chain wrestle one another, and Benoit speaks highly of Angle.
The Injury
As you may have guessed by the sub title, this chapter looks at Benoit’s injury which he sustained during 2001. He starts off by talking about the pain he was in and how it was over a period of time, and how he was concerned that he would not only hurt himself but possibly hurt people who he was working with in the ring because he couldn’t work correctly. We then see footage of the 2001 King of the Ring, in which Benoit’s injury worsened and he was forced to have surgery. Benoit talks through what was wrong with his neck, and that he had talked to “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff before having the surgery as Orndorff had been through a similar injury. Benoit talks about being drafted to the Smackdown Brand in 2002 as number 3 , which made him realise that he would eventually return from the injury.
The Comeback
Benoit talks about his return to the WWE, on a edition of RAW in May 2002 in his home town of Edmonton, he talks about how great it was to get back into the ring after a year on being on the “shelf”.
Royal Rumble 2003
We see some of the build up to the WWE Championship match between Benoit and Angle, and then we see some of the highlights from the match with Benoit talking about how much he likes working with Angle. We also see the aftermath of the match with Benoit getting a standing ovation from the fans in attendance, after what was truly one of the best WWE Championship matches I have seen.
Royal Rumble 2004
We skip a whole year this time to the 2004 Royal Rumble in which we see Paul Heyman telling Benoit he will be the number 1 entry in the Rumble match. We see footage of Benoit’s victory in the Rumble, with him eliminating Big Show. Benoit talks about how he hadn’t really fought in a match for that amount of time before the Rumble, and it was a big achievement for him to of won the Rumble.
Wrestlemania XX
We see footage of Benoit moving to RAW, and the events leading up to the match at Wrestlemania. We then see highlights of the match, with Benoit saying that this one match was the pinnacle of his whole career. Benoit’s family and friends, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero and Chris Jericho make some special and emotional comments about Benoit’s victory at Wrestlemania XX. The chapter finishes with a fantastic Chris Benoit video package.
Overall the last few chapters regarding Benoit’s time in the WWE were all well put together, and very insightful. They don’t go into as much details on specific subject as they could, and that maybe a good thing, because for quite a lot of 2002 and 2003 Benoit wasn’t really used as well as he should have been, but that doesn’t really matter, overall these chapters are well worth watching and finish the main package off excellently.
DVD Extras
Pegasus Kid vs. Jushin Liger
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match (Tokyo, Japan - 19.08.90)
Alternate Commentary: 1. Michael Cole & Tazz. 2. Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko & Todd Grisham
Chris Benoit vs. Too Cold Scorpio
WCW Superbrawl (21.04.93)
Wild Pegasus Chris Benoit vs. Black Tiger
Super J Cup Tournament Round 2 (Tokyo, Japan - 16.04.94)
Alternate Commentary: 1. Michael Cole & Tazz. 2. Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko & Todd Grisham
Wild Pegasus Chris Benoit vs. Great Sasuke
Super J Cup Tournament Final (Tokyo, Japan - 16.04.94)
Alternate Commentary: 1. Michael Cole & Tazz. 2. Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko & Todd Grisham
Chris Benoit vs. Sabu
ECW November 2 Remember (05.11.94)
Chris Benoit vs. Al Snow
ECW Double Tables (04.02.95)
Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero
WCW Monday Nitro (16.10.95)
Chris Benoit vs. Kevin Sullivan
WCW Great American Bash (16.06.96)
Chris Benoit vs. Booker T
Best-of-Seven Finals, Great American Bash (14.06.98)
Chris Benoit vs. Bret Hart
Owen Hart Tribute Match, WCW Monday Nitro (04.10.99)
Chris Benoit vs. Sid Vicious
World Heavyweight Championship Match, WCW Souled Out (16.01.00)
Chris Benoit vs. William Regal
Brian Pillman Tribute Show, (26.05.00)
Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle
Steel Cage Match, WWE Raw (11.06.01)
Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle
WWE Championship Match, Royal Rumble (19.01.03)
Chris Benoit vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels
World Heavyweight Championship Match, Wrestlemania XX (14.03.04)
The Neck Injury
WWE Raw (02.07.01)
Crossface Collection
WWE Confidential (24.01.04)
Raw Magazine Cover Shoot
WWE Confidential (03.04.04)
WOW - These extras are pretty amazing, I can honestly say that there is not one bad match on the list above, well, they are all superb, well the match with Sid is not superb, but still pretty good. The matches from NJPW are great, and the extra commentary is great, with Michael Cole and Tazz being my favourite to listen to. Benoit’s ECW and WCW matches are extremely entertaining, with Al Snow having a great match with Benoit. My favourite match was the Owen Hart tribute match, to see that in full again really made my day, as I hadn’t seen it since it was on TV many years back. One match that I had been looking forward to see was the Benoit vs. Regal match from the 2000 Brian Pillman memorial event, I heard about the match for such a long time, and when I watched it, I can honestly say it didn’t disappoint. All the extra matches and features are well worth watching. Certainly one of the best set of extras on a WWE DVD today.
Overall
You can be as critical as you want about the WWE’s current product, but their home video releases are something else, they are fantastic. To be honest, I didn’t think any DVD set would come close to Ric Flair’s, how wrong I was, this is certainly on par with Flair’s DVD, and if you’re a huge Benoit fan, you might even rate it higher than that.
The main feature has been put together excellently, and really gives the viewer a great insight into the career of Benoit , from the start, to where he is currently at. The main feature is packed with footage from New Japan, ECW, WCW and WWE and makes great viewing, plus comments from all Benoit’s family and friends, plus the man himself, it gives you a closer look at “The Crippler”.
While the VHS version only gets the main feature, DVD viewers get a whole heap of DVD goodness which is fantastic and certainly well worth the money. I would recommend that not only Benoit fans pick this VHS/DVD up, but any wrestling fan should pick it up, because it shows a great insight to a modern day legend, and is full of great wrestling matches.
Points 10/10
