DVD REVIEW: BEFORE THEY WERE STARS…REY MYSTERIO JR
Courtesy of Steve Rockamaniac:
Through the years, Rey Mysterio Jr has broken through all the barriers that stood before him to ultimately end up on the top of the wrestling world. We’ve all heard the story of how he broke into ECW and was part of what would be an American invasion of Lucha Libre stars who would then move onto WCW and ultimately Rey Rey would climb to the top of the WWE in 2006, and in 2008 continues to be there. But where did he come from? And was he that good in his earlier days? Well these questions are answered in the Big Vision DVD release “Before They Were Stars: Rey Mysterio Jr”
The DVD’s main feature brings you 6 matches from Mysterio’s days in Mexico. English Commentary is provided by Kris Kloss of XPW and WSX fame, who is alongside “the legendary” Manny Peeples. Optional Spanish Commentary by Larry Rivera of XPW fame and Konnan, who needs no introduction.
Unfortunatly the DVD stars off on the wrong foot as the first match is a complete write off. It features Rey Mysterio teaming with Torrero against Jerry Estrada and Negro Aztecas. As soon as it begins Mysterio goes down with a knee injury, and the heels (Estrada/Negro) go on a 10 minute beatdown using weapons, The ref has no control at all, the commentators have no choice but to consistently question how bad he is, and all the while some people walk in front of what is a super shaky camera. The matches are under classic lucha libre rules where you must score 2 pinfalls to win the match so after about 10 minutes of beat down Torrero makes a quick comeback and gets a surprise pin. However the comeback is short lived as another 5 minutes of heel on face beatdowns ensue, then shortly after the 16 minute mark, the ref decides to take power and DQ’s the heels giving Mysterio and Terrero the win.
Quite frankly this match should not of been included on the DVD, and even the commentators weren’t into it, Luckily the rest of the DVD is not nearly as bad as this match so if you could get past it then you will be rewarded with some classic Mysterio battles.
Match 2 features Mysterio taking on another well known Mexican star in Juventund Guerrera. The match takes place in a match that is in a middle of a bullring in Mexico. The ref has horrible hair and suspenders which he gets made fun of by the commentators for. However this match is a hell of a lot better than the first match as it begins with some technical back and forth action and leads to Juvi scoring the first pinfall at the 5 minute mark. Right after this, the action picks up as the high fly lucha libre action comes into play, Mysterio gets even with a pinfall at the 8 minute mark and Mysterio ultimately pulls out the victory after 12:40.
Match 3 is a tag match which show shades of the first match on the DVD as it breaks down into a mele. It features Mysterio and Octagon (who for those who have seen El Generico in action looks exactly the same) teaming against Pentagon and the huge Russian mafia monster KGB. The refs go back to sucking major balls in this match and after 19 minutes Pentagon and KGB get the victory via countout due to interference.
Match 4 gets back to the good stuff as 6 way lucha action features Mysterio, Super Calo and Leon Negro against Juventund Guerrera, Psicosis and Halloween, There are 2 refs overseeing this match who still have trouble maintaining order but this actually ends up being a decent 6 way back and forth match up with Psicosis scoring the win for his team at 9:12
Match 5 is the highlight of the DVD. It is a 23 minute classic return battle between Rey Mysterio and Juventund Guerrera. The first 6 minutes of the match is similar to their earlier match on the DVD as its technically back and forth which is followed with some quick paced action. Juvi scores the first pin at 9:39 with a full nelson slam. Rey Rey ties it up at 13:13 with a sit down powerbomb and then the match breaksdown as outsiders begin to get involved when the ref gets knocked down. At one point or another it seems that the entire lockeroom gets involved, and ultimately climaxes with Konnan making the save for Mysterio who uses the bat Konnan brought to the ring to knock Juvi out just in time for the ref to revive and count the 3 at 23:08.
The final match, which should have been flipped in order with the previous match as that was worthy of being the main event, features Mysterio, Super Calo, and Leon Negro against Los Hombres de Ex, or in English, The X-Men, yes that’s right The X Men of Wolverine, Cyclops and Gambit. The match starts offer with equal exchanges between competitors and handshakes of respect with each standoff. At 7:21 it appears that the first pinfall goes down but since there was two refs they were counting different sets of shoulders down as Super Calo and Gambit had each other pinned for the count of 3. A brawl of all 6 men ensues and some run ins happen and that basically ends it after a run time of a hour and 40 minutes.
Extras include 4 more lucha libre matches including Konnan, Octagon and La Parka against Cibernetico, Jerry Estrada and Perro Russo in a steel cage match, as well as a Mask vs Mask match pitting Psicosis and Ultraman 2000 which features a appearance by Mysterio.
If you’re a hardcore Mysterio fan then adding this to your collection is a must, if your not then it’s a coin flip, the low price might be good enough to justify the purchase mostly for the Juvi/Mysterio battles.
“Before they were stars: Rey Mysterio Jr” is now available on DVD from Big Vision Entertainment for the super low price of $9.98. For more information head on over to Big Vision’s website at www.bvdvd.com and also check out all of my previous reviews at www.maineventradio.com/reviews.htm