The new three-disc set Rey Mysterio: The Biggest Little Man is the second release on Mysterio from the WWE. Instead of featuring a documentary and selection of matches, the DVD features 29 matches interspersed with introductions from Mysterio taped in San Diego. While there is plenty to love about this DVD, there is also one major flaw that often lies in WWE DVD releases.
The compilation features the When Worlds Collide six-man tag match with Mysterio, Heavy Metal and Latin Lover versus Madonna’s Boyfriend, Fuerza Guerrera and Psicosis, and matches against Dean Malenko (Great American Bash and Nitro 1996), Eddie Guerrero (Halloween Havoc 1997, or as it is listed in the DVD “Halloween House.” Who proofs these things?) and Chavo Guerrero (Smackdown debut in 2002). All great matches yes, but the problem is they were released on DVD on 2003’s 619 DVD! In addition, the Halloween Havoc match is featured on Guerrero’s DVD as well. What WWE seems to fail to understand is that people who buy these DVDs, especially on specific wrestlers, buy them all. As great as Rey’s match against Guerrero is, I don’t need three copies of it. Considering that there are three other matches with Guerrero on the DVD, WWE should have placed another match in here — a tag match with Edge against Chavo and Eddie would have been a nice touch. It is a shame that the late 2002 time period of “The Smackdown Six” as they were dubbed is completely overlooked as well. While I understand that they don’t want Chris Benoit on any compilation discs there were some great matches from that period that didn’t involve him that could have been included.
The other 21 matches however save the compilation, which of course means people will buy it and WWE probably still won’t get the message. To their credit, the rest of the matches on the DVD are spectacular, including an amazing match against Dean Malenko at Halloween Havoc 1996 and a pair of bouts against Ultimo Dragon. Also nice surprises were the inclusion of Rey’s Starrcade 1996 match against Jushin Liger and a Nitro match against Blitzkrieg. While Rey’s ECW run was skipped on 619 it is covered here with matches against Psicosis and Juventud Guerrera.
The DVD skips right from 1999 to 2002, ignoring Rey’s time in WCW without a mask. The WWE portion of the disc features matches with Kurt Angle (Summerslam 2002), Smackdown matches against Matt Hardy and Tajiri, and of course his Wrestlemania 22 title win over Kurt Angle and Randy Orton. Most of the WWE portion however focuses on his relationships and feuds with Eddie and Chavo Guerrero (or as it says in the listing “Guerrera”). Rey talks about missing Eddie and their matches, which include their tag title match with The Bashams (No Way Out 2005) and two more matches with Eddie (Judgment Day and Smackdown). Rey has four matches with Chavo on the DVD, which seems excessive even if they are good to great matches. While the Smackdown debut and Great American Bash 2004 matches are worth watching it would not have been a huge loss not to include them. However the brutal Falls Count Anywhere match (No Mercy 2006) and I Quit Match from Smackdown in October 2006 stand out — two absolutely phenomenal matches, even if the fact that the angle revolved around Guerrero’s death and included his wife Vicki is a little nauseating. Also included is Mysterio’s match with Shawn Michaels from the Eddie Guerrero tribute show on November 15, 2005, which is a fantastic addition to the DVD.
I am torn in some ways at the end result of the DVD. WWE has really gotten great at producing documentaries, but the one on the 619 DVD was terrible. It would be great to see a well-put together documentary on Mysterio. On the other hand, that would have cut at least half of these matches out of the set, and sometimes just having a collection of matches is a great thing.
If you are a Rey Mysterio fan, you will love this DVD. Even with the repeats, the match quality is great and there are some awesome rarities on the set. While there will always be matches left off DVD sets that have fans wishing they were there, there’s enough on this set to send you home happy.
RELATED LINK
