This DVD was released in 2003 and it features a short documentary and 10 matches. The documentary covers Mysterio's career up through 2002. Some cool features include Mysterio touring the place in Mexico where he first began wrestling around the age of 15. From his childhood to his early training and competition in Mexico to WCW to the first year of his WWE career (2002). It's all covered here. Very interesting documentary. Now onto the matches:
1) Rey Mysterio Jr, Heavy Metal & Latin Lover vs. Psichosis, Madonna's Boyfriend, & Fuerza Guerrera - AAA When Worlds Collide 1994
The match starts off with some fast paced lucha libre style action then Madonna's Boyfriend got tagged in and the pace slowed. The different styles in this match didn't work too well as the pace changed too drastically too often. There was some fun action here though as well as few breathtaking spots such as Madonna's Boyfriend tossing Mysterio across the railing several feet into the crowd. The anti-climatic finish also caused me to lower my rating a bit as the fans and commentators didn't even notice the match ended until the bell rang. Decent contest. Besides a few spots, it's nothing worth watching.
Match rating - 5/10
2) Rey Mysterio vs. Dean Malenko - WCW Great American Bash 1996
This was Rey's debut in WCW and he certainly made an impact. Malenko and Rey started off exchanging manuevers which resulted in several standoffs. The match was pretty back and forth for the opening minutes, but Dean Malenko soon shifted into control as he began working over the arm of Mysterio. Malenko used various submissions to work over Mysterio's arm for several minutes which resulted in the match becoming dull for a moment or two, but it soon picked back up. Mysterio recovered and he & Malenko went at it in a great finish sequence with alot of near falls. Fantastic match.
Match rating - 8.5/10
3) Rey Mysterio vs. Psicosis - WCW Bash at the Beach 1996
Psicosis and Mysterio had feuded everywhere from Mexico to ECW prior to this match so the excitement for this one was definitely there. As usual with these two, it was a fast paced match with multiple breathtaking spots. Psicosis did try to do what Malenko did in the previous match on this set by grounding Mysterio, but it didn't last for long. Psicosis did alot highflying in this match himself including a huge suicide dive over the top rope. Mysterio did his share of aerial tactis as well including one of the best moonsaults I've ever seen. It's almost like Mysterio stalled in the air for a few seconds, just a crazy corkscrew moonsault type maneuver. Amazing stuff. This was a great match and a damn good PPV opener.
Match rating - 8/10
4) Rey Mysterio vs. Dean Malenko - WCW Nitro - July 8th, 1996
The first encounter these two had at The Bash earlier on this DVD was outstanding so I was expecting the same here. As mentioned earlier, their first bout featured a rather slow period where Malenko worked over Rey's arm for several minutes, but this match right here didn't have one slow second. These guys went at it in an action packed battle for the WCW Cruserweight Title. Several jaw dropping moments in this match, most notably when Rey went for a springboard backflip to the outside and missed Malenko thus landing belly first on the cement. That was crazy! The battle went back inside where Malenko hit a HUGE gutbuster off the top rope on Mysterio! That was INSANE! Malenko threw him up the air and put his knees up as Mysterio dropped down stomach first onto them. Malenko covered Rey, but pulled his shoulder up before the count of three. Dean did this several times, but ended up paying for it as Mysterio rolled him up for a quick pin to become the new cruserweight champion! Awesome match! Just as good or better than their previous encounter. I personally enjoyed it more than their first bout.
Match rating - 9/10
5) Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero - WCW Halloween Havoc
I just recently watched this match for the first time on WWE's Wrestling's Greatest High Flyers DVD and was amazed. With that in mind, I was excited to see this match again so soon. I was planning to give it another watch sooner and later, but thankfully it came sooner than expected. This match is the classic that everyone remembers from Rey and Eddie in WCW. It's an awesome match with loads of counters and nearfalls. Classic!
Match rating - 9/10
6) Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho - WCW Bash At The Beach 1998
This match was pretty short, but was very entertaining none the less. The story here was that Jericho injured Rey's knee a few weeks prior and this was Rey's shot at revenege. It was a No DQ match so the match spilled to the outside where Rey climbed up on a lifeguard stand at the stage and hit a hurricanrana on Jericho off it! Awesome move! The action went back into the ring where Mysterio ended up getting the victory after Dean Malenko distracted Chris Jericho. Short match, but very fun.
Match rating - 6/10
7) Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero - WWE Smackdown
This was Rey's debut on Smackdown. Thankfully they made this a competitive bout instead of a squash like I was expecting since it was Mysterio's debut. Fun mix of high flying and technical wrestling here and the result was a solid match. Nothing outstanding, but an entertaining watch none the less.
Match rating - 6/10
8) Rey Mysterio vs. Kurt Angle
Really good match between Mysterio and Angle here. It was a rematch from the SummerSlam PPV a few weeks prior and these two delivered once again. There were several times that I thought the match was over because of how close the near falls were. The ending was epic as Angle ran up the turnbuckles and hit a huge angle slam off the top rope on Mysterio for the victory.
Match rating - 7.5/10
9) Rey Mysterio vs. Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit
Wow! This was an awesome match. Quite possibly my favorite on the DVD. So many innovative multi man and combination manuevers. The nearfalls in this one had me on the edge of my seat more so than any other match on this DVD. There were so much action here that I can't even begin to name all the big moves that took place. The most notable were a double 619 on Angle & Benoit and Mysterio springboarding off the top rope and delivering a leg drop to Benoit while he had Angle in the crossface. Just a phenomenal match with tons of action, not much else I can say.
Match rating - 8.5/10
10) Rey Mysterio vs. Jamie Noble
This was nothing more than a quick TV match. Not even gonna give it a rating. Fun little match, but it only lasted five minutes if that.
Overall thoughts: I got this DVD for free as a bonus back when I bought WrestleMania 22 on DVD back in 2006, but now eight years later, I finally got around to watching it all the way through. The documentary was very well done and quite interesting. The match selection was great. You get some classic bouts along with some milestones in his career such as his WWE debut. I definitely recommend checking this out especially if you're a Rey Mysterio fan.
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