Search - Hardcore Forever on DVD

An EXTREME Boxset

D.P. | California | 11/29/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In a nutshell, this is the 3 non-WWE owned Extreme Championship Wrestling (the original promotion, not the Sci-Fi channel stuff) related projects put together in one big boxset. These three projects are Forever Hardcore Documentry, and both Hardcore Homecoming events held in the old ECW arena. In all of these DVD sets, they can't use any ECW copywrites (mainly footage) and can only use fan photos & footage from the Hardcore Homecoming event & the old XPW wrestling federation to get certain points across. Here's what you get with everything:

HARDCORE HOMECOMING
This was the alternative of the WWE's "ECW: One Night Stand" event in 2005. Disc one was the actual event featuring Chris Chetti & Mikey Whipwreck vs. C.W. Anderson & Simon Diamond, Blue Meanie vs. Tracy Smothers, 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Kid Kash, New Jack & Kronus vs. Bad Breed, Jerry Lynn vs. Justin Credible, Sandman vs. Raven, and a no ropes barbed wire 3 way dance between Terry Funk vs. Shane Douglas vs. Sabu. The second disc was full of behind the scenes events like a hidden New Jack promo, a tour of the former ECW area, Axl Rotten with the fans outside, Shane Douglas & Francine meeting for the first time in years, and watching the fans enter the area as the doors open, the "Q&A" session after the event. There's an interview with Axl Rotten & another one with Blue Meanie who talks about the events at both ECW events from the weekend & gives his side of the story involing the assault by J.B.L. Matches from the XPW promotion (since they couldn't use any ECW footage) featuring Douglas vs. Candido with an apparence from Sabu, Douglas vs. Funk, Douglas vs. Justin Credible, Jerry Lynn vs. Juventud Guerrera & a hidden match between Axl Rotten & Kronus. There's also snippets & outtakes from the "Forever Hardcore" documentry with the wrestlers talking about things revoling around Hardcore Homecoming along with a hidden clip of Joey Styles telling a story about an incident involing his wife, Dawn Marie, Electra and their boobs. Commercials & video clips from the website round out the DVD extras.

HARDCORE HOMECOMING: NOVEMBER REIGN
This was the final farewell show & a chance for those who were unable to work the first show a chance to work in the ECW arena again. The disc one matches feature Blue Meanie vs. Danny Doring, C.W. Anderson vs. Matt "Spike Dudley" Hyson, Balls Mahoney vs. Kronus, Shane Douglas vs. Pitbull #2 in a Dog Collar Match, the rematch of the original Taipei Death Match between Ian & Axl Rotten, Jerry Lynn vs. PJ "Justin Credible" Polaco, and a tribute to Terry Funk. Due to the Team 3D vs. Sabu/Terry Funk not legally allowed to be on this DVD set, the second disc heavily makes up for it in extras. You get matches from the Hardcore Homecoming show in Pittsburg featuring Blue Meanie vs. Tracy Smothers, Danny Doring & Roadkill vs. Chris Chetti & C.W. Anderson, hardcore 3 way between Ian Rotten vs. New Jack vs. Balls Mahoney, and Jerry Lynn vs. Justin Credible. Also there are two XPW matches between Shane Douglas vs. Vic Grimes along with Jerry Lynn vs. Psichosis vs. Juventud Guerrera. Three archival matches between Chris Benoit vs. 2 Cold Scorpio, Al Snow vs. Sabu with an appearence from Terry Funk, and Rey Mysterio vs. Juventud Guerrera. Vince Russo & Ed Ferrara's comments on ECW and a hidden extra of highlights from Public Enemy's time in XPW round out this DVD set.

FOREVER HARDCORE: DIRECTOR'S CUT
This was the best non-WWE documentry I've ever seen and is the perfect counterpiece to "Rise & Fall Of ECW." You hear stories from wrestling historians, former WWE/WCW behind the scenes talent, and the icons of ECW that weren't under a WWE contract at the time so you get all the stories raw & uncut. Also they have opinions from those who were in WWE/WCW behind the scenes & wrestling historians. Todd Gordon; Shane Douglas; Sandman & Raven; Sabu; Konnan; and New Jack all tell their side of stories & angles involving them that WWE told on their DVD. There's also stories that WWE didn't tell on their DVD that get told here like the angle where Shane Douglas broke Pitbull #2's neck; the hardcore fued between Axl & Ian Rotten; the incident where Terry Funk was caught on fire by Cactus Jack; the falling out of Francine & Shane Douglas; New Jack & Vic Grimes balcony fall that almost ended their lives; the story of the "Born To Be Wired" match between Funk & Sabu; and how former WWE writer Terry Taylor talks about how he openily stole ECW ideas for WWE storylines (which Vince denied on the WWE DVD). Disc two includes interviews outtakes & extra stories along with hidden extras such as a tour of the ECW arena. The XPW matches on here are Sabu vs. Terry Funk, Shane Douglas vs. Chris Candido, New Jack vs. Vic Grimes, Jerry Lynn vs. Chris Hamrick, Sandman in a brawl against Konnan & Psichosis, and two hidden matches between Chris Chetti vs. Chris Hamrick & Sabu vs. Kronis.

In the end, this is the last of the REAL ECW that you will have the chance to see so pick this up if you haven't gotten these 3 DVD sets already."

ECW as it should be.

Thomas Schatzman | Longneck DE | 03/18/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I recieved this set, I was so excited. I had seen the Forever Hardcore documentary while at a friend's house and was just blown away. It is the perfect companion to the WWE's Rise and Fall DVD. It featuresd guys who weren't under contract with WWE and shows the other side of the story. I particularly enjoyed two parts: the Crucifiction of the Sandman as described by the guys involved, Raven and Sandman; and the Mass Transit incident by the guy who was basically responsable, New Jack. This is the best documentary I have ever seen.

I attended the Hardcore Homecoming event in person. It was the greatest wrestling show I attended, and I was at Wrestlemania 15 in Philly and the inagural ECW Pay Per View, Barely Legal. I knew most of the wrestlers,(not by name, but they knew me by sight) and it was great to see these guys again. It was an amazing night, and now I have the DVD to remember it.

November Reign was a nice addition to the set. I wasn't at this event, but I heard how great a time everyone had.

All in all, this was SOOOO worth the money. Long live ECW!!!"