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The
Rise And Fall Of ECW
WWE Home Video
Who would have ever thought World Wrestling Entertainment
would put something like this out? By far the most
candid, least revisionist
(and longest, clocking in at 2:50!) documentary they ever produced,
better than any 10 “shoot” interviews. In the end,
predictably, no one person is blamed for the titled rise and fall
of this premier
indy wrestling company, but fans finally get to hear Paul Heyman’s
side of the story, from the man himself.
No one but WWE could have created an all-encompassing history of
Extreme Championship Wrestling (I guess owning all the wrestling
footage in
the world really pays
off). It starts with the Pennsylvania-based Eastern Championship Wrestling,
showing how and where Heyman came in (disgruntled former WCW talent),
and the comings
and goings of many major and minor names (Sabu, Raven, Steve Austin). You
get to see how the “extreme” came to be (a mix of general dissatisfaction
with early 1990s cartoon character wrestling and some crazy-ass Philly fans)
and how prominent the actual “wrestling” was (never before had American
fans seen a mix of Japanese wrestling and lucha libre.) Heyman could really tap
into the emotions of the crowd (dig the section on the Tommy Dreamer-Sandman
feud; we see, in-depth, the Singapore caning angle – and how Dreamer
let Sandman legit cane him to a bloody pulp!).
Kudos to WWE for letting the ECW workers who never worked for WWE (or left
on bad terms) shine. You can’t tell the story of ECW without mentioning
original owner Todd Gordon, the Shane Douglas-NWA title controversy, perennial
everyman
the Sandman or the ultimate heel of Raven. Sabu gets more than a mere mention
(unlike, say New Jack.) People are left out (Chris Candido, Justin Credible,
and truly the unsung hero of ECW, Jerry Lynn) but we do get to see, for the
first time, Raven crucifying Sandman (which caused a then-unsigned Kurt Angle
to walk
out on the company in disgust.)
On top of Heyman’s candid comments, we hear from Eric Bischoff and Vince
McMahon, who surprisingly are not in character, revealing what they really thought
of ECW. Bischoff disputes fans’ claims that ECW was the true number two
promotion in the mid-to-late 90s (in terms of production values, names and sheer
dollars, he’s right, but from a fan’s perspective, he still doesn’t
get it). Bischoff denies even borrowing ideas from ECW, which are countered with
video evidence and Heyman exclaiming, “Eric Bischoff is a liar!” McMahon,
being his true smug self, admits to borrowing ideas, but says he was never
worried about competing with ECW because he could buy and sell them at a
whim.
If anyone is to blame for the fall of ECW, The National Network and various
pay-per-view companies are the villains. TNN not advertising ECW ever surely
speeded the decline
(surprisingly left in the final cut are Heyman’s comments about how the
network was really only testing how WWE would fit with their programming), as
did PPV non-payments. Heyman’s lack of business sense is mentioned,
but not enough to make him a true villain (where did all the money from the
sold-out
houses go? What about the over-priced merchandise?).
Words cannot do this video justice. You have to see it. ECW is the company
that spawned a million indy wrestling imitators (who should copy less the “extreme” and
more the production and presentation.) Also included is a bonus disc of seven
matches, some with alternate commentary.
Reviewed by: Sal
Lucci
Reviewed on: January 4, 2005
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