At WrestleMania 26, the storied career of Shawn Michaels spanning 25 years came to a dramatic conclusion in an epic rematch with WrestleMania’s longest undefeated superstar, The Undertaker. Just before the finale of his show-stopping career, WWE Home Video released the second career retrospective for the Heartbreak Kid, titled My Journey.
My Journey is another 3-disc set, similar to Heartbreak & Triumph, but instead of providing a documentary on the first disc, My Journey is primarily filled out by matches, and framed by a sit-down stage interview with Michael Cole. Despite the heat he often gets (and deserves) for his announcing skills, Cole does a tolerable job in the interview setting.
Unlike Heartbreak & Triumph, though, the controversy is mostly glossed over. Moments like the Montreal Screwjob at The Kliq, that were discussed in-depth the first time around, are only hinted at on this release. The only thing close to controversy is Michaels’ candid comments on his match with Hulk Hogan. Michaels generally does a good job of setting up the matches, and specifically why they were important along his journey.
These matches include everything from an early televised bout against One Man Gang in which Michaels simply played jobber, through his early tag team career, to branching off as a singles competitor, to carrying the championship, through his departure and return to the ring, through WrestleMania 25. The match list on the first disc is similar to the first release, but from there on out many of the matches are different. Within the framework of My Journey, the choices make sense. Still, many fans will find a lot missing from the release despite roughly 9 hours of content.
Shawn Michaels’ infamous Royal Rumble victory is missing this time around. Still absent is his classic Iron Man Match with Bret Hart; instead My Journey provides an early bout between the two. Also curious is that Ric Flair’s “career-ending” match against Michaels is talked about, but instead of included is replaced by an earlier match between the two. It’s hard to believe that this early bout will be as emotionally important to either Michaels or fans, as the ending of the latter was one of the best in wrestling. The most curiously absent though is the original ladder match between HBK and Razor Ramon. And the last three inclusions leading to the classic Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 25 seem to hold little significance.
That said, there are an abundance of great fights here, including Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle at WrestleMania, which may be the best. One match on each disc also contains an alternative commentary from Mr. WrestleMania and Cole, which is a nice touch. It’s a solid collection, presented well, but it’s hard not to think the truly definitive story of Michaels’ career has yet to be put on DVD.
Full Match List
-Shawn Michaels vs. One Man Gang (1-11-85)
-Midnight Rockers vs. “Playboy” Buddy Rose & “Pretty Boy” Doug Somers (3-20-86)
-Midnight Rockers vs. The Nasty Boys (3-5-88)
-Rockers vs. Brain Busters (3-18-89)
-Rockers vs. The Hart Foundation (11-25-89)
-Shawn Michaels vs. Bret “Hit Man” Hart (6-2-92)
-Shawn Michaels vs. British Bulldog (3-6-95)
-Shawn Michaels vs. Sid Vicious (9-11-95)
-Shawn Michaels vs. 1-2-3 Kid (3-4-96)
-Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind (8-11-97)
-British Bulldog vs. Shawn Michaels (9-20-97)
-Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker (1-18-98)
-Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho (3-30-03)
-Shawn Michaels vs. “Nature Boy” Ric Flair (6-15-03)
-Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle (4-3-05)
-Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H (9-19-05)
-John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Edge vs. Randy Orton (4-29-07)
-Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton (11-18-07)
-Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho (9-7-08)
-Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels (4-5-09)
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