Rating: Summary: This DVD is what ECW is all about. Review: This DVD is very well put together by the people at ECW and Pioneer Entertainment. It contains some classic ECW moments including the infamous Raven/Sandman Barb-Wire match, the match in which Chris Benoit breaks Sabu's neck, and Perry Saturn's infamous scaffold elbow drop onto Steve Williams. Also included is Taz vs Sabu from Barely Legal 97 as well as Rob Van Dam vs Jerry Lynn, and Mike Awesome vs Masato Tanaka. These matches and more make this DVD a very good variety of old school ECW and the newer ECW. It's a great DVD for any ECW or wrestling fan.
Rating: Summary: E-C f'n W! Review: The name says it all. Or should I say... the ECW part says it all! Nothing comes close to ECW and nerver will. This video shows why ECW is Extreme. It goes from 2 great WRESTLING matches to the brutal barbewire match between Sandman and Raven. I think Sandman was enjoying it more than me! Then comes a tag-team match where Perry Saturn dropped an elbow from the ceiling! That was basically the whole match, but what an ending... ECW style. The last match was one of my favorite. Tommy Dreamer and Beaula (however you spell it) take on Shane Douglas and Francine in a tag-team match. They start off cursing eachother off and then it turns into the most uncensored match in wrestling history. A fan gets into the action! The highlight of the match (and video), is when Dreamer goes to piledrive Francine...... but pulls her top off in doing so! Overall, I really enjoyed and watched it three or four times the first day. So WWF, WCW, you guys can continue your f'n soap operas and what you call wrestling. As long as ECW's around, I'm living a dream!
Rating: Summary: ECW's first in-stores Review: ECW: Extreme Evolution, to my understanding, is the first video to be in "common" video stores that is especially about ECW. Extreme Championship Wrestling is my favorite wrestling promotion, seeing as WCW sucks and WWF gets old. This video showcases some good matches that helped ECW evolve into extreme...Match 1: Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn for the ECW TV title at Hardcore Heaven '99: This was a good match, and definately one for the record books, but most ECW fans saw it on the first episode of ECW on TNN (which doesn't exist anymore, to my knowledge). RVD and Jerry Lynn are best when they're working in the same match against each other, and this was only their first confrontation. Best part: Jerry Lynn powerbombs RVD through a table with a sunset flip. Match 2: Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka for the ECW World title at some PPV: Tjis is probably the best match on the tape. Awesome and Tanaka can take anything and come back from it. Heck, Tanaka kicked out of the Dudley Boys' infamous 3-D! Awseome went to WCW recently, so he's prbably pretty slow now, but he could fly through the air like a cruiserweight, even though he's 290! Best part: Sitout Awesome Powerbomb through a table from the ring apron! Match 3: Raven vs the Sandman Barbed Wire match for the ECW title back in '96: The Sanmdan and Raven's feud ended here. Sandman finally got his wife and kid back soon after, but it's not mentioned. This is an okay Barbed Wire match, but, as usual, it's kind of slow. Nothing really inovative, and it's nothing compared to Sabu vs. Terry Funk in Barbed Wire. Best part: Raven DDT's Sandman on a broken table. Match 4: Terry Gordy and Dr Death Steve Williams vs the Eliminators: The only time these guys met, and I expected a lot. Sadly, this match is slow and the moves don't look too painful. Perry Saturn and John Kronus (Eliminators) were great back in the day, but this match doesn't measure up to ECW. Best part: Saturn elbow drops onto Terry Gordy from the cieling's scaffold! Match 5: Tommy Dreamer and Beulah vs. Shane Douglas and Francine: This one's okay, but I hate hate hate! catfights. Girls rolling around, pulling hair. I'm not kidding, their stupid! Dreamer finally piledrives Francine, but he gets screwed in the end. Best part: Beulah moonsaults Francine and she and Tommy pose.
Rating: Summary: great video Review: In an era where WWF became a cartoon network. And Hogan ruined WCW. Everyone didn't notice how great ECW was. This tape is awesome!!! Raven vs Sandman in barbed wire was great both men risked their lives. They put on a great match RVD vs Lynn was awesome. Even though I have that match from the Hardcore Heaven 99 ppv. It was still a great stiff match. Awesome vs Tanaka was damn good match I have that ppv also. Beulah and Dreamer vs Douglas and Francine was damn riot!!!!!. That match was so wild a fan hits Douglas with a steel chair. I didn't really like the Eliminators vs Gordy and Williams Saturn's elbow drop was great though. I recommend this tape ECW in 95 and 96 was great!!! I would recommend any of their tapes. ECW is great athletes hardcore action and great wrestling.
Rating: Summary: Just a few problems Review: The tape kicks off with Rob Van Dam versus Jerry Lynn. Although this was a great match I don't understand why it was placed on this tape. This match was shown on the very first episode of ECW on TNN so most fans have seen it. Not a bad match to start off the tape...but also not a great one. I understand why they wanted to put an RVD match on the tape since he is the top star of the promotion but if it was up to me I would have put the RVD/Sabu respect match on. The second match is Tanaka versus Awesome. This is a very good match. Both men take insane moves from each other. The powerbomb out of the ring through a table is insane. Awesome is an amazing big man and Tanaka is an all around amazing wrestler. Sandman versus Raven was not a great match...but I understand why it was placed on the tape. It used to be impossible to find this match in its entirety. Although I did not enjoy the match it was still good to see what I had been missing for so many years. The Eliminator's versus Steve Williams and Terry Gordy is a match that has taken a lot of heat from the ECW fans. I guess for good reason. All four men are great wrestlers but this match was a bit slow. I must admit I am guilty of fast forwarding a bit. I do understand why this match was on the tape since it was in the old intro to ECW TV and it was also impossible to find. The tape could have done without this match. Sabu versus Taz was a great match at the time. It had good drama to it and some rather stiff moves. This was the first real grudge match on ECW pay per view and it defiantly earned it's place on this tape. Dudley's versus Spike and Balls was nothing spectacular. I am not a big fan of a total brawl so I did not enjoy this match. Fast-forwarded most of it. The flaming table stuff was pretty good. Dreamer and Beulah versus Douglas and Francine was not a bad pick. I still think that the Dreamer/Beulah versus Fonzi/RVD was better. This is a pretty good tape. I still think that the Sabu/RVD respect match should have been on it. Also Douglas/Sabu/Funk from the night the line was crossed should have been on. Still this is a good tape for newer ECW fans as well as older ones who never got to see some of these matches.
Rating: Summary: (Almost) Best of ECW Review: Extreme Evolution is a great showcase of ECW's hardcore style and great wrestling matches. The set-up upon opening is an exciting montage with nice extras including some of ECW's best single hardcore moments. Pioneer has accomplished an excellent feat in cleaning up the picture and bringing out the sounds from ECW's old masters. I've seen some of the video tapes ECW put out themselves and the quality was "good" at best. This DVD brings out the bone-crunching mat hits and table cracks with incredible sound. My only beef is with the match selections, mostly with the Eliminators match which was boring. The other match-ups were excellent, with the only possibility being perhaps better matches between the two competitors chosen for the DVD.
Rating: Summary: Good, But not the best Review: When this DVD beame available, I was elated! I have been a fan of ECW for a couple of years now and was excited that they came out with the best of the best. When I got done watching it, I can't say I wasn't disappointed. On the plus side, Taz vs. Sabu and Jerry Lynn vs. Rob Van Dam are excellent matches and are the best of the best. I had a problem with the barbed wire match between Sandman and Raven. Although it was good, it was not the best. I felt the Sabu vs. Terry Funk was a more violent, more brutal match to show. It was definitely a match that I felt was left out. I felt a big let down with the inclusion of The Eliminators vs. Terry Gordy and Steve Williams. What a terrible match. All in all, good matches, but borrow it from someone else.
Rating: Summary: A good look at Extreme Championship Wrestling Review: The Extreme Evolution DVD is very well put together, with wonderful graphics, sound, and an easy to use menu system. Some of the extras include wrestler bios, and "extreme moments". The entire disc is narrated by Joey Styles - who does a nice job, and has never looked better. However, it does have it's letdowns. I would have liked it to include more matches. Also, the wrestler intros (music, the classic walk down the isle) are cut. Styles just introduces the matches with a little bit of background, then it goes direct to the ring with all the wrestlers already in the ring and being introduced by ring announcer. While none of the actual matches (bell to bell) are cut up, the addition of the classic ECW style introductions, with the fans going wild, would have been nice. I feel part of what made ECW so popular, was the music, and the entire arena singing along to Metallica's "Enter Sandman" for The Sandman, and "Walk" by Pantera when Rob Van Dam makes his way to the ring. All in all, this compilation of matches is a good look at Extreme Championship Wrestling for those who might be new to the promotion. It's nice to see ECW come to DVD. I hope the next one is even better.
Rating: Summary: ECW, ECW, ECW! Review: For fans that have not seen ECW this is for you! The only reason that I gave it 3 stars is because of the fact that they have had better matches than some of these, but hey that is what sequels are for right? Also because in some of the matches you could not hear the announcer at all. Other than that I chanted ECW, ECW, ECW out of the comfort of my home!
Rating: Summary: "Extreme" but not "Hardcore" Review: ECW is known for its' great athletes, death-defying matches, and great angles. With a HUGE selection of matches to choose for the greatest ones of all, ECW did a pretty good job but could have been better. I think all the matches were great but they could have added a match like the Sabu/Funk Born to be Wired match to top it off. Overall, an outstanding movie and I think its' a must have for any ECW fan.
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