Breaking The Code: Behind The Walls Of Jericho DVD Review

(Warning: This review is brought you by a long time Jerichoholic. Any opinions or views are purely the opinion of a longtime fan)

When I first heard that the WWE was going to finally put out a Chris Jericho DVD set I was stoked. It also came at good time after my fifty plus match DVD went missing a couple of months ago. So I figured this came just in the nick of time.

Now before I get into the heart of my review. Let me just say that this DVD set is perfect for a newbie Jerichoholic. It provided a little history, some Jericho essentials, and some nice commentary work by many of Jericho's former and present foes.

This is where the compliments stop.

It was a bad omen when I first picked this DVD set up and saw the cover. The cover features Jericho locking in his Boston Cr??, I mean Walls of Jericho on Edge. I think it would have been a bit more appropriate if they would have had at least a pic of a real Walls of Jericho.

I decided that that I would look past this.

Disc 1 Jericho's history

So I get home and pop in the first DVD. In the first part of the collection we get a history lesson, or lack of, on Jericho. It starts off with pictures and videos of him as a kid. I was ok with this; in fact I thought it added a nice touch to the set.

We then move on to his early years in the squared circle.

It starts with his time with the Hart school, and how he became tight with lance storm. We get a few minutes of highlights and pics, but no mention of his early years when he toured with Christian and Edge. I decided to give this error a pass.

After all, Jericho was still an unknown, it doesn't make it right but I got why they didn't talk much about it.

Next stop is his venture to Mexico.

I guess the WWE felt it wasn't worth mentioning that he and Storm went to Japan before going to Mexico. I thought for sure we would get some good Jericho 101 here. After all, he did spend close to two years there.

Let me fill you in on some of his time in Mexico. This info will not be on the DVD set. Jericho wrestled Mil Mascaras there; it was also where he first met Eddie Guerrero. Probably one of his biggest moments was when he beat a few well known guys like Silver King, Ultimo Dragon, and Negro Casas, to become the NWA Middleweight Champ.

I know some may be wondering why he winning that belt may be a big deal. Let's think about this; a baby face white wrestler takes a belt from three Mexican legends, and holds onto it for almost a year. Call me crazy, but I think it is at least worth a mention.

Also, before I hear something like "It was only the NWA title". It is worth noting that the NWA Middleweight title was a big deal in Mexico. I guess because it wasn't a belt owned by the WWE it wasn't worth talking about.

Next stop land of the rising sun.

The WWE does a decent job mentioning his time in WAR (Wrestling And Romance). Jericho talks a little about the culture and style of wrestling he had to learn there. They even gave us a little footage from his match with the Ultimo Dragon.

What bothered me with this part of the history lesson was how they left out his year in 1995 in Japan. That was the year Jericho wrestled in the Super J cup Tourney. It was during this Tourney Jericho wrestled one of his true classics.

He had a match with a wrestler called the Pegasus Kid. In case some fans have been living under a rock over the last ten years, that wrestler also went by the name Chris Benoit. I know the WWE wants to black ball this guy, but how could they not even mention that match?

From that point on I knew I was going to be disappointed.

Now it's time for Jericho's beginnings in the U.S, (Yes I know he was in Smokey Mountain, but this is when he really made a name for himself) I will be fair here and say that the WWE did a good job from this point on. They covered his brief stint in ECW ok enough. They didn't mention him wining the ECW TV title, but at this point I wasn't shocked by it.

They also did a solid job covering his WCW tenure. It was nice to relive some of Jericho's classic moments from that time. We would see some highlights from matches and promos. In case anyone is wondering, they make no mention of him winning the TV Title, nor do they make any mention of Benoit.

That said; they covered most of the important basics during that period. The WWE showed the Goldberg stuff, the Conspiracy Theory skit, and of course the man of 1004 holds. More importantly, it covers why he left WCW to go to the WWE. Other things are mentioned, but I don't want to ruin all of it for those who plan on buying it.

Of course Jericho's time in the WWE is covered really well. While they didn't show everything that the fans may love and remember. They did good job mentioning his first break through in the WWE when he wrestled China for the IC strap. It also covered Jericho's first real win for the heavyweight title against Triple H and a bunch of other moments that made him great.

(I didn't go over every aspect because I didn't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen it.)

Disc 2 and 3 Jericho's greatest matches deemed by the WWE

This was probably the most disappointing aspect of the set. On this DVD set we are given nineteen matches from Jericho's almost twenty year career. I realize that it would be impossible for the WWE to cover all of them, but it would have been nice to be given more than nineteen of them.

My main issue was with the match selection they chose. While they did throw in the staple matches you would expect to see. Matches like Jericho vs. HBK at WM 19, HHH vs. Jericho title match, his debut match with Storm, and a couple others. For the most part none the matches they gave us were really classics. They covered eight years of Jericho's early career in seven matches.

Here is the rundown of his early matches given
Debut Match

"Cowboy" Chris Jericho vs. Lance T Storm (Canada)
The Thrill Seekers (Jericho and Storm) vs. The Infernos (Smokey Mountain Wrestling)
Chris Jericho vs. Ultimo Dragon for the International Junior Heavyweight title (Japan)
Chis Jericho vs. Cactus Jack (ECW)
Chris Jericho vs. Eddie Guerrero for the Cruiserweight Title (WCW)
Chris Jericho vs. Juventud Mask vs. Title (WCW)
Chris Jericho vs. Dean Malenko for the Cruiserweight Title (WCW)

That's all we get in this set. No matches from the Super J tourney, Mexico, ECW Title win, WCW TV Title win, are to be found. Jericho has had some classic bouts with guys like Silver King, RVD, 2 Cold Scorpio, TAZ, Gedo, and Pegasus Kid. How none of these matches made this DVD set is beyond me.

While the two WCW matches they did put on were Jericho essentials. They left out a lot of other goodies they could have thrown on. To make matters worse; the Dean Malenko match they did show was a crappy nitro match that ended in a DQ. I really had to scratch my head when I saw that this one made the cut.

Let's move on to the WWE matches shall we?

In Jericho's ten years in the WWE we saw a lot of classics. His biggest feuds in the WWE were with the Rock and HBK. While we did get two HBK matches, the only Rock Match we got was the match at No Mercy when he became the undisputed champ. I'm sorry folks, but that is just unacceptable in this Jerichoholics eyes.

"How about some his classic bout with Benoit for the IC Title"? You should know better by now than to ask that. I really didn't expect to see any of Benoit's stuff on this set. Never mind the fact that those bouts they had were a good portion of his great matches in the WWE.

That's okay because he had some great bouts with Angle, HHH, Stone Cold, Christian, Eddie Guerrero, and others right? Well the powers to be decided that it was not necessary to show many of those. Also, don't expect any TLC, MITB, Hell in the Cell, or Elimination Chamber matches.

Here is the rundown of his WWE Matches in the WWE

Jericho vs. Kurt Angle for the IC strap
Jericho vs. HHH for the Heavyweight title
Chris Jericho vs. The Rock
Chris Jericho vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin
Chris Jericho vs. Hulk Hogan for the Heavyweight title (Ugggg)
Chris Jericho vs. HBK WM 19
Chris Jericho vs. John Cena (His match where he was fired)
Chris Jericho vs. Jeff Hardy for the IC Strap
Chris Jericho vs. HBK (No Mercy 2008)
Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio in a Mask vs. Title Bout
Chris Jericho vs. Taker 2009
Chris Jericho vs. Edge for the Heavyweight title at WM 26

Those are the twelve matches that the WWE put on this collection. I could have thought of at least ten other matches that could have and should have been on this set. While they did have the decency to give us an Angle match, the one they did was not one of their better ones. They had some classic bouts, and there should have been more on this set.
We would only see one match with the Rock, Stone Cold, and HHH. How can the WWE not include the Hell in the Cell Match with Hunter? Hogan vs. Jericho; are you freaking kidding me! That had to be one of Chris Jericho's worst matches ever, and he didn't even win the match!

Final Summery

If you are a new Jericho fan that wants to learn the basics, than this set is for you. You will get a few tidbits of info you may have not known and get to see a few great matches from his past you may have not seen. If you are a true blue Jerichoholic; do yourself a favor and stay far away from this set. Go on ebay. I promise you will find a much better collection of Jericho matches than this.