Search - WWE - The Shawn Michaels Story: Heartbreak & Triumph on DVD

A Nice Counterpiece (NOT REPLACEMENT) To "From The Vault"

D.P. | California | 10/21/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Unlike how the 3 disc sets of Rey Mysterio & Hulk Hogan were their career anthologies & used matches they had on their other DVD's, that isn't the case here. This 3 disc set isn't a replacement for his previous released DVD sets (both DX DVD's & "From The Vault") but another HBK set to add to that collection as none of the matches on the previous DVD sets are used here along with a documentry on his life & career.

The documentry kicks off talking about Shawn growing up on an air force base & becoming a wrestling fan at age 12 to the point where he started doing Ric Flair promos & wrestling in his pool. Shawn tried college but quit to get trained by Jose Lathario & started in World Class & Mid-South Wrestling. The next story is how he met Marty Jannetty in Kansas City & brought him up to the AWA a month after he was there. They're "life in the fastlane" lifestyle & the fued between Doug Sommers & Buddy Rose over the AWA tag team titles is talked about next along with how it lead to them coming to the WWE before Jimmy Jack Funk led to them getting fired. They're experience in working Continental Wrestling and alternating between Memphis & the AWA before making it back to the WWE is discussed. They're second run in WWE is discussed along with the story behind their tag title win being recalled & erased from the record before the story behind their breakup & the impact of the Barber Shop segment that happened between Shawn & Marty. Shawn's morphing from The Rocker into the Heartbreak Kid with Sensational Sherri (R.I.P.) giving him credibility, Mr. Perfect coining the nickname "Heartbreak Kid", and the importance of the Intercontinental Title. The story behind Shawn bringing in Kevin "Diesel" Nash (and what Rick Steiner had to do with it) is briefly talked about before moving on to why he was suspended in late 1993 & how that indirectly planted the seeds for the WrestleMania 10 ladder match. How the Kliq was formed along with what exactly they're "backstage power" was along with various opinions of the group by people such as Vince & Ted Dibiase is talked about. The story behind the WrestleMania 11 match with Diesel is talked about before the story behind Shawn being attacked in a New York nightclub and how Triple H came up with the idea for Shawn to do the "Owen Hart" angle where Shawn passed out. Who's idea it was for the WrestleMania 12 Ironman match along with how Shawn trained for it is talked about next before they go into detail about how Shawn was very bitter & heavily opinionated despite being the champion at the time. A very interesting part was Shawn, Triple H, and Vince giving their sides of the story behind the infamous "curtain call" in Madison Square Garden. Shawn's homecoming at the Royal Rumble '97 was briefly discussed before his forfitting the title because of the knee injury in Feb. '97 is talked about along with what his mom had to do about him "losing his smile." His Hell In The Cell match with Taker & pushing the envilope with DX are both talked about before moving on to Survivor Series '97, how involved HBK really was with the whole incident, and how that effected him backstage is heavily discussed. HBK's injury in the Royal Rumble casket match and wrestling though the injury at WrestleMania 14 while being bitter about passing the torch to Austin is talked about. How Shawn found his wife Rebecca (who he saw on WCW Monday Nitro), got married, and had a child is discussed along with Shawn's heavy downward spiral that led an incident backstage at RAW the week before WrestleMania that resulted in his falling out with Triple H before he found religion though his wife's bible study. The return to WWE is talked about next along with what exactly Triple H had to do with. How important the WrestleMania 19 match with Jericho was along with the heavy details about why the fued with Hulk Hogan resulted in HBK being a heel for a month is talked about. His fued with HBK along with "infamous" McMahonism/God angle is talked about before they go into the DX reunion & why Shawn wouldn't go where he did with the original DX. The documentry closed out with the WrestleMania 23 match with John Cena & how Triple H's injury figured Shawn into the title picture along with how everything was on HBK (not John Cena) to deliever.

DVD extras include the debut of his "Heartbreak Hotel" interview segment, hie "Tell Me A Lie" music video, and his infamous Larry King Live spoof of Hulk Hogan. There were tons of interview outtakes & bonus stories such as Shawn earning his letterman's jacket as a sophmore in high school, how his mom approves of his outfits, the backstage fight that started the Rockers breakup, his wrestling school that produced Lance Cade & Brian Kendrick, discussion of his WrestleMania 21 match against Kurt Angle, Shawn's thoughts about the ladder he used at WrestleMania 23, and Triple H & Chris Jericho talking about the HORRIBLE brown tights Shawn wore at Survivor Series 2002. Hidden extras include a story about heaving trouble learning his left hand from his right, a Midnight Rockers promo from the AWA, the Hardys talking about HBK's influence in a ladder match they had at a fair, Tully Blanchard talking Hogan's reaction to a match he had with Rockers, and Marty Jannetty talking about the Rockers reunion.

Matches Include:
Midnight Rockers vs. AWA Tag Team Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers - This isn't the bloothbath match that happened on the "From The Vault" DVD but the match where they finally won the AWA tag team championship.
AWA Feb. 10/87

2 Out Of 3 Falls Match: The Rockers vs. WWE Tag Team Champions Hart Foundation - This IS the 2 out of 3 falls match that was taped for Saturday Night's Main Event in which The Rockers won the tag team titles only to have the decision reversed & erased from the record books due to the top rope malfunction. This is the first time this match has been seen anywhere. For those looking for when the malfuction happened, it was during the second fall.
October '90

vs. Intercontinental Champion British Bulldog - This match happened the week before that years Survivor Series & was Bulldog's last match in the WWF until he returned in '94. The story here was HBK working on Bulldog's back which was injured during the match & HBK winning his first I.C. title after Bulldog couldn't hold the superplex off the top rope.
Sat. Night Main Event Nov. 8/92

Royal Rumble Battle Royal - This was the Rumble where Shawn made history by entering #1 & winning the Rumble after pulling off that infamous ending where one foot hit the floor instead of both. This Rumble didn't have the same format as the usual Rumble's as the entries didn't happen every two mins. Other moments to look out for besides Shawn's performance in the Rumble are Bulldog's performance & Bret Hart getting revenge on those who attacked him in his title match earlier in the night.
Royal Rumble '95

vs. Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett - About time they put this match on DVD because this is a "lost classic." This was not only a great wrestling match (one of Jarrett's best in his WWF history) but also the story of each man trying to show off & "one-up" each other thoughout the match added to it by Jarrett doing HBK's pose on the top turnbuckle or Shawn doing Jarrett's strut. Again, a lost classic that finally made it's way to DVD.
In Your House Jul. 23/95

The Rockers vs. La Resistance - This was the Rockers reunion that happened on RAW to further the storyline between himself & Kurt Angle who was facing Jannetty on SmackDown later that week. La Resistance were just bodies for The Rockers to get over on but what was real impressive was how they worked together like the Rockers of old eventhough they haven't teamed together for over 13 years.
RAW Mar. 14/05

vs. Kurt Angle - The sequel to their classic at WrestleMania 21 & this match was no different than the last one in which it had you on the edge of your seat going "ohh & aww" thoughout the bout. I can't describe this match except for it was a classic that you have to see.
Vengeance '05

vs. John Cena - One of the longest "bell to bell" matches in RAW history here. This heavily made up & surpassed their WrestleMania match here. They went close to an hour which you don't see anymore these days in WWE and boy, what a match it was. This was the best HBK/Cena encounter that's happened dating back to their brief series together in 2005.
RAW Apr. 23/07

Other matches include Rockers matches vs. Super Ninja & Super Go, Brain Busters (MSG 1989), and Orient Express (Rumble '91). Solo matches include vs. Billy Jack Haynes in WCCW, British Bulldog (King Of The Ring '96) and Triple H (Dec. '03).

In the end, this DVD set reminds me of how Bret Hart's was in which it doesn't include his most memorable & high profile matches that haven't been put on DVD sets yet such as his matches with Triple H (Last Man Standing from Rumble '04, HITC from Bad Blood '04, Boot Camp Match from the Christmas RAW in '04) but more of his rare performances which makes this one unique set to pick up if your a HBK fan. Personally, I would have liked to seen the Boot Camp match with HHH from RAW since that was very emotional for HBK growing up around the military along with his Gold Rush tournament match against Shelton Benjamin...but like always, you can't win them all. If your just looking for more of his high profile & memorable matches, "From The Vault" might suit you better but this is a DVD set I would recommend.

"

A couple of notes

B. Wile | Round Rock, TX United States | 12/04/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This was a VERY good DVD and it showcased Shawn Michales Career very well. I especially liked the territory footage which showed a very green Michaels, who could barely speak on camera and had to rely on Jannety to carry the interviews. It was amazing to see how much Michaels devloped into the orator he is now and to hear Jannety is pretty sad, as he sounds like his brain is now mush due to some of the drugs he has taken.

The only real complaints is what was left out. They edited out the section on Kurt Angle (probably because he went to TNA) and the last half of the DVD is very rushed and doesn't really focus on some of Michael's latest items. Also, Sid is never mentioned, nor do they review the feud that He and Jannety had over the IC Belt. Chyna is never mentioned, there are no interviews with Hall, Nash, or Sean Waltman (only Hall is working for TNA so they could have used the other two) so you felt that a lot of the story wasn't being told from another perspective.

Also, Bret Hart fans will be enraged not because of Michaels giving his side of the Montreal hit, but because of the blatant lie given by HHH when he states that Hart's contract was going to expire the day after Survivor Series. In actuality, Hart had more than 4 weeks left on his contract and cold have lost the belt any time anywhere during those weeks.

Other than any of that, I would highly recommend this DVD!"

A very good documentary, and a good collection of some low p

Ritwik Bhuyan | India | 09/20/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Overall it's a good DVD set. The documentary is excellent, so are the extras. As far as the matches go, what I like is that they haven't included matches previously released in 'From The Vault' DVD set. Unlike the earlier set, this set contains some of Shawn's excellent but low profile matches. This DVD set combiner with From The Vault DVD set makes a good Shawn Michaels collection. My only complaint is that neither of these two DVD sets contain the HBK vs Kurt Angle match that took place at Wrestlemania 21.

I wish the WWE releases another 3 disk DVD set on Shawn Michaels some years from now. That would make a complete collection of HBK's career along with the previous two DVD sets."

An objective and fair documentary of Shawn's career coupled

Miketheratguy | Wisconsin, USA | 06/09/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"THE SHORT: A load of great matches plus a documentary that is surprisingly straightforward and fairly objective. Don't be afraid to get this if you already own "From the Vault", both combine to make a great Shawn Michaels retrospective without overlapping matches.

THE LONG: Let's get this out of the way immediately- Shawn is one of the best performers in the history of the business. He is also one of the most cocky and manipulative. That being said, I was very satisfied with the way this dvd looked at his career. This is one of the WWE's most straightforward and genuine dvds.

In the documentary, Shawn briefly discusses growing up and then swiftly moves to his early days in the AWA and his partnership with Marty Jannetty, who shows up to add some welcome testimony as well. We then move on to Shawn's solo career, his early days as the Heartbreak Kid, the forming of backstage power team "The Clique", and his eventual exit and return of the company. Of course all the expected milestones, friendships and enemies are covered. Shawn comes across as pretty candid, and if I may say more turned down and believable than usual, as he covers sensitive subjects such as Montreal, drug abuse, and his religious interests.

Unlike Bret Hart's documentary, which featured Bret speaking almost exclusively (to at times the dvd's detriment), an air of authenticity is lent to this release as people as high up in the company ranks as Pat Patterson, Triple H, and Vince Mcmahon both celebrate Shawn as expected, but also freely admit to having several problems with him as well. Triple H describes being fed up with Shawn's drug abuse and Vince and Pat complain more than once about his attitude and stubbornness, and it was refreshing to see them being blunt about it and not beating around the bush in typical shrugging "But it's HBK!" fashion.

For his part, I don't think Shawn completely redeems past behavior and alleged incidences of him playing politics and refusing to job to other wrestlers, but maybe they caught him on a good day- I do believe that, despite Shawn still being Shawn, he comes off here as more personable and self-aware than I've ever seen him. He cracks a couple jokes and has moments where the cynic doubts his honesty, of course. But for the most part he seems relaxed enough to leave the HBK persona behind and be real, and not just WWE's version of "real". Let's put it this way- this is the least "show-bizzy" I've ever seen Shawn, and it was a compelling documentary.

As for the matches, it's Shawn Michaels so of course you're getting your money's worth as far as wrestling is concerned. A favorite of mine is the legendary untelevised match of the Rockers vs. The Hart Foundation, where had it not been for the top rope breaking the Rockers would have been officially declared tag champs. Shawn complains about the quality of this match although the performances are solid, and I can't help but be thoroughly amused when Jim Neidhart is startled cold in the middle of the ring, eyeballing the broken rope, and loudly declaring "GOD **** IT!!! SON OF A B****!!!!!" Before resuming the match.

Is there more I would have asked for? Aside from personal favorite matches, honestly not much. I still think Shawn used to be a complete jerk behind the scenes and nothing will make me totally accept that. But I was very satisfied to see a more mature Shawn covering this and many other subjects, and also happy to see people chime in to give their own thougtful comments about things such as Montreal and Shawn's behavior. An informative and engaging documentary couple with some fantastic wrestling. What more could you want?"