Mr Butternut Squash Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 I'm watching some ECW '1995 Year In Review' thing at the moment. All my previous exposure to ECW was through a WWE filter so this is my first proper taste. It's great. I like the presentation, as someone said here earlier, there's a rebellious 'punk rock' spirit about it. The "us vs them" vibe comes through, the look and feel of WWF and WCW completely turned on it's head. The crowds are molten and everybody on the roster comes across like an important cog in the wheel. I like that the straightest guy in the room - Joey Styles - also happens to be the voice of this promotion of oddballs. I'm at the point where Sabu has sodded off to Japan and "fuck Sabu" chants are ringing out during the matches.Some random thoughts;I'm not someone that follows the hardcore feds so none of the wrestling looks dated to me. The recklessness of it can make you cringe when you think about how fucked up/dead a lot of these guys would become but it's, . . well, fun to watch for the most part.Pitbulls vs Bad Breed was a good ruck. They look ridiculous in there fetish gear but the Pitbulls have looked like a decent team so far. It resulted in The Rotten boys splitting which led to them tearing each other to shreds with barbed wire in the most brutal match on the set yet. Grunge was long dead even in 1995 but Raven still looks cool as fuck. Why is he hanging with Stevie Richards, a guy who looks like he belongs in the pomp rock era that grunge apparently disposed of? That's a ironic mullet surely. It's 1995! Shawn's was never that hideous/amazing.I forgot about Tarzan Taz and his little tuft of hair These 'comedy' skits of Public Enemy keep on showing up. They're hanging around street corners and nightclubs talking absolute gibberish. I don't know what's going on. They're fucking terrible. But I forgive 'em cause the hard cam shot of the entire ECW arena waving their hands to 'Here Comes The Hotstepper' whilst Rocco and Grunge dance inside the ring is one of the most awesome wrestling visuals I've seen.Styles is nowhere near as bad as I thought he was. I've always liked one man commentary teams. Lance Russell, Gordon Solie, even old school Vince. No chance for egos or pointless bickering and distraction. Let the action breath. He sounds really daft when he does the 'Oh my god!' voice though.2 Cold Scorpio is brilliant. I loved the way he was finding innovative ways to kick Benoit in the balls(!). Him vs Benoit and vs Eddie have been highlights.Between this, the Memphis set and the odd bit of All Japan I'm watching I'm swaying more and more towards the thought that Terry Funk is the greatest and most versatile wrestler that's ever lived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheShowOff Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 The fans shit on Styles when he debuted, because he looked / looks like a nerd. They quickly warmed to him though as he was damn good at calling the action, he was informed and his little shoot tidbits were subtle and not over the top, like when Tatanka was released from the WWF, he made sly little jabs about how Dances With Dudley could possibly team with another Native American wrestler 'looking for work'. I liked his approach and his passion for what he was calling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted May 14, 2013 Moderators Share Posted May 14, 2013 The fans shit on Styles when he debuted, because he looked / looks like a nerd. Â Where've you seen that? His predecessor Jay Sulli was just as nerdy. And shitter at commentary too, not that Styles was any great shakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheShowOff Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 On the Forever Hardcore documentary (possibly extras) Styles goes into detail on it himself, including quotes people used to heckle him with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JNLister Posted May 14, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted May 14, 2013 Why is he hanging with Stevie Richards, a guy who looks like he belongs in the pomp rock era that grunge apparently disposed of? That's a ironic mullet surely  That's the gimmick. He's a flunky trying to be cool like Raven but failing. He wears Winger T-shirts at one point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barearse Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 I'm watching some ECW '1995 Year In Review' thing at the moment. Â Is this a set or are you watching online somewhere? Â If anyone can point me in the right direction online to be able to watch some 1994-1997 ECW please that would be great. My VHS collection is about 200 miles away and this thread is giving me withdrawal symptoms! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Butternut Squash Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 It's a torrent. There's shitload of TVs on Dailymotion  Check this bloke http://www.dailymotion.com/f100003570148919#video=xznhz7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King Of Swing Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 Why is he hanging with Stevie Richards, a guy who looks like he belongs in the pomp rock era that grunge apparently disposed of? That's a ironic mullet surely  That's the gimmick. He's a flunky trying to be cool like Raven but failing. He wears Winger T-shirts at one point.  That clueless putz Stevie Richards never failed to get at least a chuckle out of me and I never tired of watching him take a kicking.  Watching some old shows recently and I'm enjoying pre serious tag team FBI much more than I did originally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPW Kristian Zane Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 This article on wwe.com might be of interest... Â http://www.wwe.com/classics/ecw/what-if-ec...-close-26114690 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted May 15, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted May 15, 2013 ECW would probably have been met with the same situation is was in back when they were super close to going out of business in 1999. If they'd have survived in 2001 (when in reality they were finished running regularly in late 2000) and got on another network, they'd have ran into the same problems and eventually died a death later on. Its romanticized now, but ECW couldn't last without major backing. And if it had got major backing it wouldn't have been ECW. They'd have fucked half of the roster off and wouldn't have been running small halls. Heyman would have had to change the style of the group completely and knowing his philosophy today, would have went in a different direction when it comes to the type of wrestlers he used. That final roster in ECW was bare bones shit because anyone with any value had already left. They said it best of the Rise and Fall of ECW. It was to big to be small and to small to be big. A lot has been learned since 2001. You need high quality production, you need star names and you need to bring in the average Joe to have any chance to succeed. You can't target blood thirsty wrestling fan market. Especially in 2002 when the boom period completely fizzled out. Â Its hard to believe fuck all of that interview with Heyman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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