The Rise & Fall of ECW

This DVD was a so good that I have watched it about ten times.It's nice to hear what was really going on from the wrestlers themselves.Even though ECW was basically a commercial(they couldn't get on TV so they just bought an hour of advertising time and ran the show) for all but the last year of it's existence, it's still surprising to learn that the wrestlers were handling all the merchandise and even answering the phones.It's even more surprising to learn how many people weren't getting paid on a regular basis.And it's down right mind blowing to learn that the people who weren't getting paid were the ones who stuck around the longest.I really only have two problems with this DVD.First, they only interviewed people who were contracted by the WWE at the time of filming and the reason why is extremely clear.Vince McMayhem wanted to make sure that no one told the truth about him and how he worked long and hard to destroy ECW, just like he did to the NWA.And he succeeded, his boys were "team players" and I wouldn't be surprised if Vince actually scripted their interviews.The second thing I didn't like was how they pretty much glossed over the TNN year.Heyman talked about how he hated TNN but they never explained any of the on screen madness from that final year.I would have loved to know why Billy Corgan showed up for two minutes and was never seen again.But I guess it would have been impossible to cover everything so I can't really complain.This is a definite must see for anyone who ever liked wrestling.

I had my doubts about seeing the video, I thought it was going to be biased against ECW which partially it is with Paul Heyman being the loudmouth leader but it takes in various viewpoints from Vince McMahon, Eric Bischoff, Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio, Steve Austin and others all talking about what made ECW so cool.

Make no doubt about it, ECW lived up to its tagline "The leader of Extreme" wrestling put up fabulous show despite a low budget (many of these shows looked like and were filmed in run down arenas).

I liked the way they also played classic matches from the era, so if your new to ECW and wondered if the hype about is real, then you'll see it is.

Its great to see the interviews too explaining how they did certain storyline, Steve Austin's reign in ECW, which basically was a crybaby gimmick cheapshotting Eric Bischoff for firing of WCW, but it lead to Austin being a bigger star.

We see the evolution the Lucha Libre wrestling invading ECW, something that WCW would adopt so ECW was the first to create certain standards that the WWF and WCW would follow.

Bottom line is this is a great video/DVD, its well worth buying or renting wrestling fans.

This, as the title suggests, is all about the former wrestling promotion ECW, which went under back in 2001 after owner Paul Heyman filed for bankruptcy.

It features many of the former employees along with owner Paul Heyman and producer Ron Buffeon speaking on the promotion and what it stood for. They cover all of the things that made ECW famous such as the great story lines, the hardcore brutality, and the outstanding scientific wrestling, as well as Lucha Libre. As well as that, they shoot on the not-so-appreciated and controversial aspects of the promotion such as the defiant and counter-culture angles and incidents such as the infamous Mass Transit Incident and the storyline with Raven and Sandman.

It also talks about how it was before ECW was bought by Heyman and went "extreme." I learned a lot about the era when it was owned by Tod Gordon. I hadn't even previously known that ECW hadn't started off as being a hardcore promotion.

Another aspect of this documentary that I liked is how they take the time to split up the first section of it into taking time to talk about all of the company's most famous wrestlers, such as RVD, Raven, Sabu, Terry Funk, Sandman, Mick Foley and many others.

They talk about the Monday Night Wars and the Invasion angles as well, and I found it very interesting to hear the different sides of the story from WCW's Eric Bischoff, WWF's Vince McMahon, and ECW's Paul Heyman.

This is 320 minutes, but I would say the documentary itself minus the bonus matches lasts around 265 minutes. That may seem like a very long time, but I watched this in one sitting, and it was a 4 and a half hours that felt like 2.

This also had a great moral and a very conclusive ending, so it's well worth the time spent. Long live the original ECW!!!!!

Simply put, I absolutely LLOOVVEEDD it! this DVD was worth the time it took to track one down on eBay, as its sold out everywhere I've looked. This disc didn't prove ECW justice though, as nothing short of being there during it's prime would, but it comes damn near close!! It includes about 90% of the greatest moments in ECW history, but including every moment is an endless, impossible task. If you happen to come across it in stores, don't pass up the opportunity to purchase this excellent, historic DVD. In my eyes, this was the greatest wrestling DVD I have ever bought/watched, and my collection (1985-Present) is well into the hundreds!!! This has to be a must for any wrestling fan, past or present, young or even old. It's just that damn good!!!

I wish I had paid more attention to ECW, because it was different between it the WWF and WCW.

This DVD tells the tale of the history of ECW: Extreme Championship Wrestling.

ECW was very different from the WWF or the WCW. but I was more of a WWF fan.

I got this DVD to learn all about ECW.

I'm surprise that the WWE was able to stay true to what was ECW.

This DVD will shock you, make you laugh, make you cry, and will make you feel like it's ECW.

The Rise and Fall of ECW is one DVD that is worth buying just for ECW and wrestling fans.

If you want to see what ECW was like back then then the Rise and Fall of ECW is for you.

I give The Rise and Fall of ECW 10 out of 10.

This DVD is EXTREME! ECW!