· Bloodfeuds Vol. 1: Raven vs. Chris Jericho (Disc One)
· Professional wrestling historian Scott Hudson opens up inside the super-cool WCW Studios. He does a rundown of all the great feuds in WCW history. Verbal blowjobs begin immediately, as Raven vs. Chris Jericho is considered the “feud that started it all.” What, no love for Old School vs. America’s Most Wanted?
· The Beginning: Raven says the Chris Jericho needed the type of villain who could match him in the ring, but outsmart him with the mind games. Paul Heyman says Chris Jericho would not have been as successful in WCW if not for Raven. Chris Jericho echoes those comments. We get the awesome video package of Abyss’ rise to a world title shot and all those wonderfully cryptic promos from James Mitchell, which leads right into the first match.
· WCW World Heavyweight Title: Abyss vs. Chris Jericho © (Clash of the Champions VI: Into the Fire – 3/20/07) – One should not expect a technical classic like Jericho’s previous defense against Cage, methinks. Jericho circles Abyss to start, who in turn doesn’t move at all. MINDGAMES~! They lock up, but logically Abyss is much stronger than the puny Jericho and shoves him aside. Scott Hudson and Stevie Richards are STILL going on about the Horsemen-thing. Another lock up attempt is an epic fail for Jericho. Jericho feigns the lock up and instead kicks Abyss a few times in the legs. Jericho loads on a few chops but Abyss no-sells them and tosses Jericho outside the ring. Jericho quickly gets back in and unleashes a fury of chops, punches, and forearm shots with CANADIAN VIOLENCE~! Abyss gets whipped into the ropes and hit with spinning heel kick. Jericho tries for a dropkick but Abyss is sick of it and just swats it away. Here it comes baby! Abyss kicks Jericho as Jericho is getting up, and then Abyss lays in the stomps. Abyss picks Jericho up and slams him back down. An elbowdrop by Abyss gets two. Abyss gets Jericho in the turnbuckles and wails on the Lionheart. Abyss nails Jericho with the running hip attack for two and we cut to our first commercial. Back from break and Abyss is utilizing the good old boot choke on Jericho. Jericho ducks a clothesline and chops Abyss into a corner. Running splash by Jericho is met with a boot by Abyss. Abyss tosses Jericho outside and Mitchell gamely nails him with the cane. Abyss goes out and bodyslams Jericho on the cold, hard concrete. Abyss drags Jericho onto the ramp and tosses Jericho back. Abyss goes up top (?!) but Jericho hits the ropes to crotch Abyss. Jericho superplexes Abyss back into the ring for two. Jericho comes off the ropes with a clothesline but Abyss catches him with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Abyss chokes Jericho on the mat. Abyss hits Jericho with a running body splash in the corner for two. Sidewalk slam from Abyss gets two. Abyss lifts Jericho with a military press but Jericho slides down the back with a roll up for two. Abyss immediately murders Jericho with a big boot. Abyss tries to clothesline Jericho outside but Jericho pulls the ropes down sending the big man crashing onto the ramp. Jericho nails the missile dropkick from the turnbuckle to the outside ramp. Jericho clotheslines Abyss back into the ring and then slingshots onto Abyss with a splash for two. Running enzuiguri by Jericho gets two. Jericho lifts the legs for the Walls of Jericho but Abyss kicks him off. Jericho chops Abyss a few times and whips the big man into the ropes. Abyss ducks a clothesline but Jericho lionsaults onto him (in the standing position!) for two! Awesome! Abyss gets a swift kick to the head and a bulldog for his troubles. Lionsault follows up but it only gets two. Jericho goes for the Walls again but Mitchell distracts him. This allows Abyss the opportunity to hit the Shock Treatment on Jericho. He makes a late cover though and Jericho gets a foot on the ropes. Abyss lifts Jericho up with the chokeslam but Jericho counters with a SWEET tornado DDT! Ten count starts and both men get up around the seven-mark. Abyss levels Jericho with a few punches. Abyss lifts Jericho onto the turnbuckles and goes up for an avalanche samoan drop. Jericho fights out of it with some elbows and Abyss drops back to the ring. Jericho flies off with a sunset flip and gets the pin at 21:20! (****) Talk about solid! Jericho escapes up the ramp with his belt and celebrates. Mitchell isn’t fazed though and Raven makes his WCW debut by attacking Jericho out of nowhere! Raven levels Jericho with some sick Singapore Cane-shots. Raven drags Jericho into the ring and Abyss nails Jericho with the Black Hole Slam. Raven hits Jericho with the Raven Effect DDT. Show ends with Raven doing his trademark pose over Jericho.
· Raven’s First Promo: Raven opened up Nitro the next week with a promo. To be completely honest, it’s not as great as people make it out to be; however, it’s still one of Raven’s top ten promos of all time. Here, we get the promo in its entirety. Raven gives a tirade about Jericho being the stereotypical pretty boy, etc. Raven says, “people like Jericho” cause “problems like Columbine.” Wow. Raven tells Jericho that he’s not interested in the belt, merely interested in ending Jericho’s career. And that’s the promo. Raven tells us that he was told by Jim Cornette to go out there, make the crowd hate him, explain why he hates Jericho, and say something controversial. Hudson talks about all the mail they received a few weeks later after the VT-shootings. Hudson says that was just an unfortunate circumstance for all involved. Heyman admits that he played up that part of Raven’s promo for a long time because of what happened at VT. That’s pretty low-class. Jericho calls the promo one of Raven’s best.
· The First Encounter: We get a clip of Cornette telling Jericho to pick a partner for tonight to face Raven and Abyss. Heyman says a lot critics thought he should have held Raven’s in-ring debut off until the PPV, but he defends his choice by saying he got that “air of dread” out of the way. Jericho, Raven, and Hudson defend the choice. Then we get a clip of Jericho asking AJ Styles to be his partner over Chris Benoit, which was a kind of tie-in point for the Horsemen-storyline that was running consecutive to this. AJ agrees and we go straight to the match.
· Abyss/Raven vs. Chris Jericho/AJ Styles (Nitro Week 47 – 3/26/07) – This is from the three-hour Nitro days, so the match should be lengthy. Jericho wants Raven to start, but gets Abyss instead. Jericho doesn’t even bother with a lock-up as he goes straight to the CANADIAN VIOLENCE~! on Abyss! Abyss counters an Irish whip but Jericho ducks a clothesline and nails Abyss with the spinning heel kick. Jericho goes after Raven but Raven drops down. Abyss tries a big boot but Jericho ducks it and nails the dropping sleeper-neckbreaker. AJ gets tagged in and he kicks Abyss a few times. Abyss goes into the ropes and gets dropkicked for two. AJ goes for his moonsault-DDT but Abyss catches him and powerslams AJ. Abyss tags in Raven to pretty big boos. Raven hits AJ with a drop toehold and then a few stomps. Suplex by Raven gets two. Back suplex by Raven gets two. AJ telegraphs a back drop by Raven with a kick and nails the discus lariat! AJ tags in Jericho but Raven quickly tags in Abyss as we cut to break. Back from break and Abyss has AJ in a nerve pinch. AJ fights out with some kicks but gets stopped with a vicious boot. AJ is YOUR face-in-peril folks! Powerbomb by Abyss gets two. Leg drop gets two. Abyss tags Raven. Abyss bodyslams AJ on Raven’s knee. That gets two. Raven hits a wonderful running knee-lift, that according to Stevie Richards is worth a “million dollars.” Guaranteed that the current wrestling fan will not get that one. Raven suplexes AJ onto the turnbuckles! OUCH! And then hits an elevated neckbreaker off of them! That only gets two. Raven lifts AJ for the Raven Effect but AJ counters with a Northern Light’s suplex for two. Both men up and AJ nails Raven with the PELE KICK out of nowhere! AJ makes the hot tag and Jericho explodes into the ring. Raven ducks a punch and tags Abyss though to HUGE heat. Abyss steps over the ropes and Jericho kicks the top one to crotch. Jericho follows up with a springboard dropkick sending Abyss to the outside (but not before Raven made a tag). AJ flies over the ropes out of NOWHERE with the swanton. Jericho is ready to dive onto both but he gets lowblowed by Raven and nailed with the Raven Effect for three at 13:51. (***¼) Ah, the good old days. Out come Bobby Roode, Ric Flair, and Mike Awesome to beat up AJ Styles. Raven and Abyss work Jericho over themselves. Chris Benoit makes the save with a chair.
· The Hanging: Jericho reveals that it was his idea to do the hanging. Raven loved it and puts it over as just another example of the brilliance Jericho brought to the table. Hudson reveals that he and Stevie were both incredibly uncomfortable with watching it. We get a clip job of Jericho vs. Petey Williams with Jericho forcing Petey to tap to the Liontamer (this is a fantastic match by the way, so YouTube it if you can). Afterwards we get the full video of Raven jumping Jericho with the chain. Raven does all the good stuff (whipping, choking, punching, etc.) and Jericho bleeds for it. Raven wraps the chain around Jericho’s neck, sends Jericho over the ropes, and hangs him. Heyman says they didn’t show the footage for weeks afterwards because it was too controversial, but reveals that it was actually just done so to put over how sadistic Raven was for doing it.
· Enough is Enough: Chris Jericho opens up Nitro the very next week with a simple promo. “I want Raven at Stampede.” And he throws down the mic. That’s it. As he leaves, Raven shows up in the crowd and agrees. This promo is made so brilliant by everything Jericho does in addition to his one-liner. His body motion, facial expressions, etc.
· Cage Match: Abyss vs. Chris Jericho (Nitro Week 49 – 4/9/07) – The title is not up for grabs, as this is simply for revenge and to keep Raven from interfering. Jericho unloads immediately with the CANADIAN VIOLENCE~! Abyss gets whipped into the ropes and nailed with the spinning heel kick. Jericho beats Abyss into the corner and chokes him with the boot. Jericho nails Abyss with a facewash for ouch-effect! Jericho nails Abyss with a bunch of vicious chops. Jericho nails Abyss with a clothesline in the turnbuckle. Abyss counters an Irish whip but Jericho springs off the turnbuckles with a twisting body press. Jericho doesn’t attempt to pin as he continues beating up on Abyss. Jericho charges Abyss with a clothesline but Abyss picks him up and slams him into the cage! Jericho staggers and gets mown over with a clothesline by Abyss. Abyss tosses Jericho into the cage again. Abyss nails Jericho with a sick powerbomb. Abyss throws Jericho into the cage like a spear. Abyss locks on a nerve pinch as we see Jericho is busted open and we go to break. Back from break and Abyss drops the leg over Jericho. Abyss places Jericho between the ropes and cage and nails Jericho with a big splash! And then another one for good measure. Jericho sinks down and Abyss nails his running hip attack! Jericho’s a bloody mess. Abyss slams Jericho into the ring. Abyss goes to the second turnbuckle and dives off with a bodysplash and connects! Jericho counters a chokeslam attempt with some elbows but gets nailed with a big boot. Elbowdrop follows up from Abyss. Abyss chokes Jericho on the mat. Hudson points out that Abyss isn’t trying to win, just hurt Jericho. Well duh. Jericho gets whipped into the ropes and nailed with the Black Hole Slam! Abyss goes to leave but stops and turns around. Lots of stalling here. Jericho gets whipped in, ducks, and nails a flying forearm on the return! Abyss gets tied up in the ropes as we cut to break. Good thing about these DVDs? No commercials. Back from break and Jericho is rubbing Abyss’ face in the cage. Double play shows Jericho hitting a missile dropkick to the side of Abyss’ head while Abyss was still tied up! Hudson says we’re out of commercial breaks. Jericho nails Abyss with the step-up enzuiguri. Jericho tries to leave but Abyss grabs his foot. Abyss ducks an enzuiguri by Jericho and tosses Jericho right into the cage again. Jericho gets caught in between the ropes and cage, but a second bodysplash by Abyss hits nothing but steel! Abyss is bleeding too now as Jericho climbs up the cage and MOONSAULTS OFF (!!!!) landing on Abyss! Oh man what a spot. A couple of replays. Jericho nails Abyss with the bulldog, and nails a Lionsault! Jericho points to the door but Raven comes up through the ring and stops him. Abyss crawls out of the cage to win at 20:22. (***) I’m deducting a star for what was a great match because I hate gimmick matches where the ending defeats the purpose of the gimmick. Abyss gets back in and Jericho gets beat up again. Raven locks the door and they just maul Jericho until Brock Lesnar (he was feuding with Abyss at the time) comes out for the save. Brock rips the cage door off and clears out the ring.
· An Unlikely Alliance: A quick video shows us the history of Chris Jericho and Brock Lesnar. Heyman says putting two former enemies against a common enemy isn’t just a wrestling-staple; it’s a creative-staple. Jericho puts Brock over as a great talent whose ego could occasionally get the best of him. Raven calls Brock a prick. We get a clipped match of Brock and Jericho vs. Abyss and Raven from Nitro. The match is pretty much the same story as AJ/Jericho vs. Abyss/Raven with a few differences. Afterwards Abyss and Raven decimate Brock and Jericho. See, this is how you make a heel look effective.
· Spring Stampede: First, another Raven promo. Raven hypes the Stampede match against Jericho. Pretty good Raven promo, as can be expected. Jericho says that there was a lot of pressure to deliver in their match, because the ratings had begun their upswing. Raven says he never had any doubt that they could deliver. Heyman talks about the immense pressure of juggling his two biggest storylines at one time because the Horsemen-rebirth angle was going on concurrently. He admits that in retrospect, Jericho vs. Raven probably should have went on before Styles/Benoit vs. Roode/Awesome so that he could close the show on the Horsemen-angle. Hindsight is 50/50, and creatively that makes sense, but who cares since it all worked out anyway? We then get Jericho’s awesome sit-down interview with Scott Hudson, where Jericho dresses like Raven and mocks him. Great stuff.
· Non-Title Match: Chris Jericho vs. Raven (Spring Stampede 2007 – 4/22/07) – Jericho doesn’t waste time with lock-ups as he tackles Raven and pummels him with CANADIAN VIOLENCE~! They brawl with each other out of the ring. This is sick stuff as they’re just beating the shit out of one another. Jericho chokes Raven with a cord. The ref pulls them apart finally and they get back in the ring. And they go at it again! Raven kicks Jericho in the nuts though. Raven kicks Jericho in the head a few times. Raven whips Jericho into the turnbuckle and then nails Jericho with the clothesline coming out of it. Raven slams Jericho’s head into the mat and then chokes him. Raven rakes Jericho’s eyes on the ropes. Jericho fights back though and gives Raven some stiff chops. Jericho clotheslines Raven out of the ring. Jericho slingshots out onto him! Jericho chops Raven on the guardrail but Raven pokes the eye. Raven SLAMS Jericho HARD into the guardrail! OUCH! Raven whips Jericho into the apron and then suplexes Jericho onto the concrete floor. Raven breaks the ten count and drags Jericho over to the announce table. Raven slams Jericho’s head into the table and chokes Jericho with a cord! Raven goes for another suplex but Jericho grabs Raven’s legs and slingshots Raven into the steel post! Jericho rolls in the ring and climbs up the turnbuckle. Jericho dives off onto a bleeding Raven. Jericho whips Raven into the guardrail hard and then nails a bulldog on the concrete floor! Jericho rolls Raven in and follows up with some elbowdrops. Jericho nails Raven with a release German suplex! Raven drags Jericho into the steel post shoulder first. Raven takes the arm and jumps over the ropes to outside while holding on it. “Shades of Randy Savage!” – Special Guest Commentator Tito Santana. Raven climbs onto the ramp and suplexes Jericho from inside the ring outside onto the ramp. Raven charges Jericho but Jericho back drops Raven into the ring. Jericho springboards off the ropes and nails Raven with a missile dropkick! Jericho lifts Raven up but Raven rakes the eyes again. Raven chokes Jericho on the middle rope. Running knee lift by Raven is followed up with a knee drop on Jericho. Hudson notes that neither man has attempted to make a pin at this point. Raven pummels Jericho some more. Jericho ducks a clothesline but Raven ducks a spinning heel kick and the referee gets taken out. Jericho gets nailed with another lowblow. Raven ties Jericho up in the ropes and goes outside to get the ring bell. Raven charges but Jericho gets a boot up. Jericho nails the bulldog on Raven and follows up with the Lionsault. Jericho grabs the legs but drops them to pick up the ring bell. Raven staggers up and Jericho DRILLS him with it. Unfortunately the ref woke up just in time to see that and calls for the DQ at 19:24. (****¼) I remember at the time a lot of people really thought this match sucked because there was no “story” to it and there were no “pin attempts,” which was EXACTLY THE POINT. These two weren’t trying to win a wrestling match; they were trying to KILL EACH OTHER. Jericho is pissed and nails the referee with the bell. Raven’s post-match beatdown with a steel chair is clipped out, apparently.
· The Alliance Strengthens: Heyman quickly notes the Nitro the following night was the first to beat Smackdown in the ratings. We get a clip of Jericho and Brock getting beaten down by Abyss and Raven with chains, and the set-up to the Dog Collar Match. We also get two promos, one by Jericho and one by Raven, cut together into a video, which is awesome. This is all to set up the Brock/Jericho vs. Raven/Abyss Dog Collar match.
· Dog Collar Tag Match: Abyss/Raven vs. Chris Jericho/Brock Lesnar (Clash of the Champions VII: Hardcore – 5/15/07) – Oh yeah baby. This is one of those matches where it’s just all brawling all over the place. Kind of hard to recap, but I’ll do my best. Scott Hudson talks about the seething hatred that exists between Raven and Abyss. Raven is chained to Jericho, of course, and Abyss to Brock. Hudson puts over the unlikelihood of Jericho and Brock teaming. Both teams stare each other down before tearing into one another. Hudson also notes that anything goes. Jericho and Raven immediately spill out onto the ramp while Abyss and Brock go at it in the ring. Abyss whips Brock with the chain but Brock then spears Abyss! Brock nails Abyss with a few punches, the chain wrapped around his hand for better effect. Meanwhile, Jericho is ramming Raven’s head into the set-up at the stage! They brawl down off the stage and into the crowd. In the ring Brock is taking off the turnbuckle padding when Abyss splashes him into it! Raven nails Jericho with a sick chairshot. And we cut to break. Back and Abyss is choking a bleeding Brock with the chain. In the crowd Jericho suplexes Raven on the concrete. Jericho nails Raven with a chair a few times. They brawl over to a concession stand and Raven blasts Jericho with a beer bottle. Brock and Abyss are brawling around the ring as Brock slams Abyss’ head onto the announce table. Brock yanks Abyss into a vicious clothesline. Brock grabs the ring bell and blasts Abyss in the head with it! Raven slams Jericho’s bloody head onto a fountain drink machine! No one is drinking out that one now. Raven hits Jericho with a trashcan. Brock charges Abyss but Abyss moves and Brock hits the steel post. Abyss then chokeslams Brock through the announce table! Raven gives Jericho a running knee lift. Raven pulls a cookie sheet from an oven, drops the cookies, and drills Jericho with it. Abyss drops Brock over the guardrail with the snake eyes. Abyss bodysplashes Brock in the corner of the guardrails. That takes us to break. Raven jumps off a table but Jericho catches him and hot shots him on the same table. Jericho clears out the fans and then hip tosses Raven onto a bunch of chairs! SICK! Brock ducks a boot from Abyss and puts Abyss on the concrete with an overhead release belly-to-belly suplex! Brock is a mess and he rolls Abyss into the ring. Jericho takes wrap a chair around Raven’s head. Brock powerslams Abyss for two. Brock sets Abyss on the turnbuckles and superplexes him into the ring. Raven back drops Jericho over the guardrail into the ringside area. Raven pulls Brock off the cover and outside. Raven slams Brock head first on the apron and Abyss comes outside also. Abyss bodyslams Jericho. All four men end up back in the ring. Abyss and Raven take Jericho with a clothesline using the chain. Both men choke their respective enemies. Jericho is bleeding now. Raven suplexes Jericho onto the turnbuckle and then hits the elevated neckbreaker but Brock breaks up the pin attempt. Jericho rolls up Raven for two, Brock rolls up Abyss for two. Jericho clotheslines Raven onto the ramp and then jumps onto him off of the turnbuckle! Abyss charges Brock in the turnbuckle with a bodysplash but Brock moves out of the way and Abyss hits the exposed turnbuckle. Brock then amazes the WORLD by hitting Abyss with the F-5! Brock covers. Raven tries to make the save but Jericho snaps him back with the chain and Brock gets the three at 29:11. (****¾) It’s almost the exact opposite of the classic Old School/AMW match from ’06, and that’s part of its charm. Hard to give it the full monty with the commercial breaks and some other minute problems, but still an awesome match. Post-match shenanigans are cut out though.
· And that’s it for disc one.