The Rise and Fall of ECW
by Kevin Dunn
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Afa Anoai, Bill Alfonso, Donna Adamo, Kurt Angle, Michael AlfonsoDirector: Kevin Dunn
Brand: Genius
Producer: Paul Heyman
Writer: Paul Heyman
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 360 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-11-16
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: World Wrestling
Product features:
- "E-C-W! E-C-W! E-C-W!" - a chant still heard in arenas around the world. ECW- Extreme Championship Wrestling redefined professional wrestling in thei'90s with a reckless, brutal, death-defying, and often bloody style that came to be known as "hardcore." It attracted a rabid, cult-like following that is still going strong today. This 6-hour, 2-dics set follows the rise and eventual demise
Movie Reviews of The Rise and Fall of ECW
Movie Review: This Is EXTREME...But Not Perfect
Summary: 5 Stars
This was the DVD that started the rebirth of the spirit of Extreme Championship Wrestling back into professional wrestling. Selling out in record numbers and becoming the #2 best selling DVD in WWE (they stopped getting the selling numbers when they were at less than 1,000 sales away from being #1) which lead to the ECW One Night Stand PPV, future WWE releases of ECW, and even the Hardcore Homecoming reunion tour & the Forever Hardcore documentry (which I would recommend right besides this). Here you get a history (not the complete history) of ECW and the influences it's hard on professional wrestling. You only have so much time to condense the history of ECW that they had this DVD cater to those who were under a WWE contract at the time but still, it's a great DVD set.
The documentry stars at how Paul Heyman took over the booking for Eastern Championship Wrestling from Eddie Gilbert and introduced ECW's first home grown act called The Public Enemy. From here, you'll go into ECW first major fued between Tommy Dreamer & Sandman that really "broke taboo" in the wrestling business. The importance of the fans (including good ol' Hat Guy) & city of Philidelphia are heavily discussed along with the production value, how ECW was really "reality based" television, and what made ECW stand out above the WWE & WCW. The influence of pure wrestlers such as Benoit, Malenko, Guerrero along with those such as 2 Cold Scorpio and even Faarooq...oops, I mean Ron Simmons. Extreme lucha libre was discussed as Heyman openily admits that it was Konnan who helped get these guys such as Mysterio, Psichosis, and Juventud into ECW. Also discussed is how ECW was really the beginning for Steve Austin coming into his own as his "Stone Cold" character. One of the biggest stories in ECW history was talked about as Stevie Richards & Kurt Angle himself give their accounts to the crucifixion of the Sandman including never before seen footage of the whole incident & Raven breaking character to apologize. The business relationship between WWE & ECW is also talked about including how the whole thing started with "King Mabel" which led to cross promotion on RAW, the Mind Games PPV, and eventually later Jerry Lawler himself invading ECW. The whole emotional story being ECW gaining...then losing...then gaining their Barely Legal PPV is touched apon along with the stories behind of the main events. Also you hear the behind the scenes stories of wrestlers taking jobs inside the company to help itself out. From here the downfall starts as you hear about financial problems and top wrestlers leaving the company, the entire TNN and how it didn't turn out to be as good as expected along with why Taz (World Champion) and Dudley Boyz (Tag Team Champions) left ECW after being on TNN for one week. The whole Mike Awesome/WCW story including the footage of Taz winning the title...only to be beaten by WWE Champion Triple H on SmackDown before losing the belt to Dreamer, everyone's thought on what ended ECW, and Paul Heyman's thoughts on debuting on RAW in Feburary close the documentry out.
Throughout the whole documentry you get profiles & a little history on such ECW stars like Paul Heyman & Tommy Dreamer themselves, Public Enemy, Taz, Sabu, Terry Funk, The Sandman, Mickey Whipwreck, Cactus Jack, Raven, "Extreme Superstar" Steve Austin, the bWo, the Dudleys, and Rob Van Dam. You also hear stories from these wrestlers (again, under contract to WWE) regarding personal stories from ECW such as Taz breaking his neck, Sabu getting fired, and his reign as the FTW Champion. Tommy Dreamer's account of the fued between him & Raven including the controveral lesbian storyline, RVD's feelings about his involvement at the Barely Legal PPV, Stevie Richards story behind the Blue World Order, Al Snow story of how "Head" restared his whole career, D-Von's take on the whole Mass Transit Incident along with the Dudley's account of being the most hated tag team on the planet. Also throughout this documentry, you'll hear comments from what many called "The Anti-Christ Of ECW" Eric Bischoff in regards to various subjects regarding ECW such as him "raiding" talent like Benoit, Guerrero, Malenko, and Jericho along with Rey Mysterio Jr. & the rest of the luchadors. You will also hear how Bischoff felt about ECW during the Monday Night Wars & how he felt they were never a threat and why they went out of business. You will also hear from Vince McMahon himself regarding why he would help ECW, their working relationship, and if he thinks WWE's "Attitude" came from ECW's "Revolution".
Matches Include:
Double Dog Collar/2 out of 3 Falls Match: Tag Team Champions Raven & Stevie Richards vs. The Pitbulls - The match itself featured plenty of broken tables before anyone had ever heard of Bubba & D-Von Dudley along with so many important appearances & storyline twist in a single match than a month's worth of WWE TV featuring ECW stars such as owner Tod Gordon, Bill Alfonzo, Tommy Dreamer, Taz, Paul Heyman, and 911. This was Stevie Richards breakout match for the next couple of years as this was an out of control brawl & one of the most famous matches in the early history of Extreme Championship Wrestling.
Gangstas Paradise '95
("ECW: Hardcore History")
2 Out Of 3 Falls Match: Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Psichosis - This match showcased the "Extreme Lucha Libre" period of ECW where the luchadores brought their fast paced/high risked/high impact style seen in Mexico into the ECW enviroment where they're allowed to have no limits to what they can do or use in a match. These two went out there & put on quite a performance before the "extreme" element came into play in the third fall with tables & chairs but quite a showcasing for this era of lucha libre in ECW.
"Hardcore TV" Oct. '95
Ladder Match: ECW Champion Sandman vs. Mikey Whipwreck - Eventhough this was an offical ladder match, don't let the name fool you as this isn't the typical "climb the ladder & grab the belt" ladder match as the ladder is only there to be encouraged to be used as a weapon as you can win the match by pinfall/submission. It should also be noted that we also get a promo from "Extreme Superstar" Steve Austin on both men before the match & taking Sandman's manager, Nancy "Woman" Sullivan (Chris Benoit's future wife), with him on the way out. This was a brawl and with the way the match was setup, the ladder was used throughout the entire match as both a weapon & to make other moves more impactful to the point where Sandman got busted open from a shot right to the face from the ladder. It was as good of a match as you would expect with everyone's favorite "underdog" becoming the top man of the company.
"Hardcore TV" Aug. '95
ECW Television Champion 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Sabu - Weapons were used more as objects to set up moves & make them more impactful (as usual with Sabu's offense) than as weapons while doing both a mix of high flyin' & ground wrestling with some high impact moves like a powerbomb and even the very first move of the match being a stiff kick Scorpio gave Sabu that everyone in the building heard. I can't really describe this match past it being a lost classic in ECW history between two wrestlers who have been heavily underrated for their actual wrestling skills throughout their careers.
CyberSlam '96
Tommy Dreamer vs. Raven - Their final encounter & this match showcases what was great about the ECW enviroment...anywhere else you go in wrestling at this time, if you knew that a wrestler was leaving the company after a match, you know they were going to lose & put the other guy over but you weren't sure here still just based on the fact that Tommy never beat Raven for over 2 years. The had fighting through the crowd & all around the arena & Raven using all of his tactics & members of his nest to stop Dreamer who just wouldn't be denied this time. ECW classic here but it got overshadowed by what happened after the match involved the returning "Mr. Monday Night", Jerry "The King" Lawler and the rest of the ECW locker room.
WrestlePalooza '97
Television Champion Taz vs. Bam Bam Bigelow - This was from Living Dangerously '98. This was really something to witness as it looked like a "david vs. goliath" match just from looking at the two but Taz did more than hold his own against Bigelow. Certain moments in the match include Bigelow punching through a piece of table straight to Taz's face & Taz being knocked out from hitting his head on the guardrail while suplexing Bigelow off the ramp into the crowd. The ending was really shocking & made a heavy impact to the point that then-WWF writer Terry Taylor openily admitted that he stole that idea & used it in WWF during an angle involving Undertaker & Big Show.
Living Dangerously '98
("ECW: Deep Impact")
Television Champion Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn - What can be said about their series of matches that hasn't already been said. This match topped their match at the PPV before & what can I say but this was professional wrestling at it's best right along Flair/Steamboat & Angle/Benoit.
Hardcore Heaven '99
("ECW: Extreme Revolution")
The biggest critism I have (despite the fact that non-WWE wrestlers weren't interviews or heavily discussed) with this is that some of the facts are incorrect. Despite how WWE made it look, Anarchy Rulz wasn't Taz's last match in ECW when he ended up wrestling there for the rest of the year including a PPV match against RVD. The Tod Gordon mole story which Tod explained better on the Forever Hardcore DVD which revealed it was a work but yet WWE make it look like this was something that was really happening. And how it was made to look like Dreamer was the last ECW Champion when he was only ECW Champion for around 20 mins. But overall, a great DVD documentry.
Summary of The Rise and Fall of ECW
Ecw was the original wrestling company to introduce violence and intriguing storylines into their show. This 3 hour documentary takes you through the birth and death of this legendary company. Disc 2 contains bonus footage of some of the best matches ecw had to offer. Ecw! ecw! ecw! Studio: Genius Products Inc Release Date: 11/16/2004 Starring: Paul Heyman Rob Van Dam Run time: 300 minutesSimilar DVD Movies
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