Guest shez316 Report post Posted June 18, 2003 I am looking to get into ECW. I am from the UK and all the ECW PPVs and shows are on DVD here. From my search of the forums and other sites the best ones seem to be: Path of Destruction Hardcore History Barely Legal Heatwave 98 Anarchy Rulez 99 November to Remember - 95 Scott Keiths "best ECW show ever" Anyone have any of these. What ones do you think I should pick up first. Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest razazteca Report post Posted June 18, 2003 Deep Impact is good 8/19/00 Tajiri vs Psicosis match from tv 8/9/97 Barbed wire match of Funk vs Sabu 12/9/95 Whipwreck vs Sandman vs Austin Bill Alphonso with the blade job from hell Austin Mania! promo mocking Hogan Cactus Jack doing a classic promo It Hurt Pre-Mankind style Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Angle-plex Report post Posted June 18, 2003 Path of Destruction and Hardcore History are the best, IMO. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Anorak Report post Posted June 19, 2003 Big Ass Extreme Bash 96 - Entertaining show all round with Rey Jr/Juve and Foley/Whipwreck being especially good. The latter match is way above the usual ECW brawls. Heatwave 98 - Very solid show all round I'm currently collecting the Hardcore TV series which follows ECW tapings throughout 1995. I presume its directly from the vaults of their weekly tv that year and its being done in a roughly chronological order (odd bits seem back to front but then again i would guess that taped stuff was shown selected in a certain order back then). The DVD'S run approx 30 minutes shorter than the others (2 hours instead of about 2 and a half) but with Foley, Benoit, Malenko, Scorpio and Guerrero featuring alongside your Whipwreck's and Sandman's its a must-have. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chaosrage 0 Report post Posted June 19, 2003 Path of Destruction is really good, but get Barely Legal first. It's probably the best ECW PPV ever from top to bottom. But more than that, it was their first PPV. This is where they went all out to try to prove to people who haven't seen them that they were a legit contender to WCW and WWF. They don't even expect you to know anything about them beforehand. It'll show you what ECW's all about. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest razazteca Report post Posted June 19, 2003 Best of Cactus Jack is a must have, just for the promos he did. Especially the Doritos and I'm Hardcore promos. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Karnage Report post Posted June 19, 2003 P.O.D. is a pretty good DVD...only bad match was the taipei glass one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Zero_Cool Report post Posted June 19, 2003 The Cactus Jack dvd is so awesome, as was stated earlier. You get just about all of the good, and true, the I'm Hardcore! promos are just classy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EL DANDY~! 0 Report post Posted June 19, 2003 I own Hardcore History, P.O.D., Deep Impact, and Barely Legal. I am only disappointed with Deep Impact, but even that has the Awesome/Credible vs. Lynn/Tanaka tag match during both teams respective summer series, and the Psicosis/Tajiri 8/19/00 ECW on TNN match, probably the last true great junior match in ECW. Also the promos and the extras are GREAT. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest shez316 Report post Posted June 19, 2003 Thanks for all the info guys. Anorak What Hardcore TV DVDs would you recommend I pick up first? I'm a big fan of Benoit, Foley and Guerrero! I decided to order POD and November to Remember 95 first. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DVD Spree Report post Posted June 19, 2003 Dude, I've done EXTENSIVE reviews of ECW DVDs. See here: Extreme Evolution http://thesmartmarks.com/artman/publish/ar...ticle_473.shtml Path of Destruction http://thesmartmarks.com/artman/publish/ar...ticle_587.shtml Crossing The Line Again http://thesmartmarks.com/artman/publish/ar...ticle_772.shtml I wrote the review for Barely Legal, but I don't think I grabbed or posted it. Get the American ECW releases EE, PoD, DI and HH discs. The UK-only Delta Music ones are a bit iffy, with overdubbed music and no extras. My recommendation is to pick up any individual shows you like, but stay the hell away from the Hardcore TV discs - they suck many kinds of ass. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Anorak Report post Posted June 19, 2003 I think the Hardcore TV series is good value, 1995 was arguably ECW's best year in terms of an all round enjoyable product and although Deltamusic sometimes has slightly annoying quirks/imperfections in how they compile matches and tinker with stuff (I hate the overdubbed music as well) but they're relatively cheap. I've been trying to look up ECW shows held in the first half of 95 to see how they correspond to the DVD's and although some matches go back on themselves somewhat chronologically I assume its because of the order they were originally featured on ECW TV for storyline purposes etc (releasing Vol 4 before 5 is stupid). All the key/well known matches from the first 3 months or so of the year all seem to be there like Snow vs Benoit, Douglas vs Blanchard, Scorpio vs Malenko, Scorpio vs Guererro, Guererro vs Malenko etc. All the main angles and fueds like Dreamer vs Raven, Cactus vs Sandman, the fighting Douglas reign, the triple threat, Public Enemy vs Sabu/Taz stuff and Funk's comeback are all at least decently covered. ECW's shows were never imune to some sloppy bush league wrestling because of the company's size but surely these releases represent a great chance to follow (at least roughly, I don't think there's a lot of stuff missing) a full year or so of a company's best year? If anyone knows more details on how accurate these DVD's are at compiling weekly TV from 1995 then i'd appreciate their input. Shez: I'd reccomend getting them all in order myself to follow things through from the start. Not all the TV matches taped away from the ECW arena are great but all but the first contain at least a couple of good matches and lots of good promos and storylines. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Karnage Report post Posted June 19, 2003 (edited) Get the American ECW releases EE, PoD, DI and HH discs. The UK-only Delta Music ones are a bit iffy, with overdubbed music and no extras. My recommendation is to pick up any individual shows you like, but stay the hell away from the Hardcore TV discs - they suck many kinds of ass. Are the Delta Music ECW DVDs Region 0? Edited June 19, 2003 by Karnage Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest shez316 Report post Posted June 19, 2003 Yes, they are region 0. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Betty Houle 0 Report post Posted June 19, 2003 Path of Destruction is probably the best; Deep Impact is decent as well. I've never seen the Barely Legal DVD. Did they cut anything? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest CoreyLazarus416 Report post Posted June 19, 2003 I have Barely Legal, Deep Impact, and Heat Wave 98 on VHS, so I'm unsure of the extras (if any). Barely Legal is somewhat overrated, though. Good show, true, but Douglas/Pitbull #2 really drags it down (the match just refuses to end, dammit). So, I'm echoing the sentiments of Heat Wave 98 and Hardcore History. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest mesepher Report post Posted June 19, 2003 I have Barely Legal, Deep Impact, and Heat Wave 98 on VHS, so I'm unsure of the extras (if any). Barely Legal is somewhat overrated, though. Good show, true, but Douglas/Pitbull #2 really drags it down (the match just refuses to end, dammit). So, I'm echoing the sentiments of Heat Wave 98 and Hardcore History. yeah, Douglas and Pitbull seems to go on forever, but the 6 man tag match is insane! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DVD Spree Report post Posted June 19, 2003 If anyone knows more details on how accurate these DVD's are at compiling weekly TV from 1995 then i'd appreciate their input. They're not at all like a year-in-review or anything - just a bunch of random, generally shitty matches in chronological order (the first DVD starts at Christmas and goes on from there). Honestly, there are endless tape traders that do much better Hardcore TV comps that cover teh important stuff as well as good matches - the DVDs seem pretty arbitrary in their match/angle selection and aren't really worth it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest jm29195 Report post Posted June 19, 2003 The Hardcore tv dvds I have from Delta (I'm uk to) Decent matches are:- Vol 2:- Al Snow vs Osamu Nishimoura- Snow's ecw debut Chris benoit vs 2 Cold Scorpio Taz and Sabu vs Public Enemy Al Snow vs Chris Benoit Vol 3:- Tommy Dreamer vs Steven Richards- Raven's debut Cactus Jack vs DC Drake- match is crap but there's a killer Funk angle afterwards Chris Benoit/Dean Malenko vs Sabu and Taz Shane Douglas vs Tully Blanchard is pretty good aswell and is NOT the long one Vol 4:- Dean Malenko vs 2 Cold Scorpio Sabu vs Mikey Whipwreck Eddie Guerrero vs 2 Cold Scorpio- Eddie's US debut Terry Funk/Sandman vs Douglas/Cactus Jack The Tommy Dreamer vs Raven Gauntlet match is pretty entertaining aswell Vol 5 :- Dean Malenko vs Eddie Guerrero ***** Malenko/Benoit vs Whipwreck/Norman Smiley Douglas vs Scorpio Douglas vs Marty Jannetty Plus all dvd's feature loads of cool Foley/Funk/Raven promos and also have the start of the Raven/Dreamer angle. Definetly worth getting as they are only 7.99 from Play.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ShooterJay Report post Posted June 19, 2003 I have all the ECW comp DVDs, and Path of Destruction and Hardcore History are tied for the best, followed by Extreme Evolution and Deep Impact. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest jm29195 Report post Posted June 19, 2003 I reckon Path of Destruction's the best of the bunch- all good/great matches and only the Tai Pei match is pretty crap but there's a decent angle in there so it's ok by me Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest shez316 Report post Posted June 22, 2003 Just finished watching November to Remember 95. This is the first ECW outing I have seen. I thought it sucked. S. Keith called this the best ECW show ever! I'm watching POD next, hope it gets better. Anyone have any thoughts on November to Remember 95? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest geniusMoment Report post Posted June 22, 2003 I have almost all of the ECW television shows on tape from January 1995- June 1998 and to be honest I was dissapointed in the ECW dvds I have picked up. The music and the general atmosphere of the shows, with innovative cut-ins, really added a lot to the product. I guess this is the same reason why I never liked ECW ppvs. The dvds and ppvs make ECW seem like just another garbage brawling promotion wrestling in a crappy ring when at one time they were much more than that. If you really want to see ECW go to a tape trading site and buy the real ECW television shows. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest geniusMoment Report post Posted June 22, 2003 The ppvs and dvds just lack the smart-ass, creative and anti-authority attitude which is a big part of ECW. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest jm29195 Report post Posted June 22, 2003 imo November 2 Remember 95 has really not aged well at all, I think the only match that stands up to today's standards is Rey mysterio vs Psicosis. Most of the other matches are all hardcore brawls, which while innovative at the time (Funk/Dreamer vs Cactus/Raven) are now pretty much meaningless after having been diluted by all the hardcore stuff that wwf and wcw ddi later. Also in retrospective, the Taz vs Sabu angle would be remembered a lot more fondly if one of the participants wasn't the Smackdown colour comentator and the other a washed up shell in the indies. It's still preferable over what wwf was putting out at the time though (iyh 4 I think with Mabel vs Yoko, Jannetty vs Golddust and Bulldog vs Diesel) imo, path of destruction is the best ecw dvd, a much betterv mix of styles, if you can't get into ecw after watching this, then don't bother getting any more! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest shez316 Report post Posted June 22, 2003 Thanks for all the expert info guys. Anyone know of a good UK tape trading site? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DVD Spree Report post Posted June 22, 2003 One of my readers Steve Sewter was kind enough to direct me to http://www.strongstyletapes.com, which comes highly recommended from a few folks. They're UK-based, prices start at £8 per tape, and they usually delivery in about 10 days. Worth a look, at least. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DVD Spree Report post Posted June 22, 2003 And much as I hate to double-post, I should probably point out that, IMO, the best all-round ECW show is probably Guilty As Charged '99. Hot ass Tajiri-Super Crazy match, great RVD-Lance Storm match, and a decent Taz-Shane DOuglas bout. A lot of people champion Heatwave '98 as ECW's best show, but the RVD/Sabu vs Hayabusa/Shinzaki is overrated and sloppy as all hell, Tanaka-Awesome is good, but they've had better (i.e. on the Extreme Evolution DVD), and the rest is pretty much filler. Just in case mine is such "expert opinion". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Anorak Report post Posted June 22, 2003 I'm not a big fan of ordering tapes from dealers on-line (which is why I buy the DVD's mostly) and if you're going to take a chance on SST then make sure you don't put in an overly big order so if you get crap service it doesn't cost you an arm and a leg. I've been sent wrong tapes, black and white tapes and even not recieved stuff before from them. Beware of video quality as well, probably knock one VQ off what's stated, some stuff varies unbelievably when it apparantly shouldn't. If you order HARDCORE TV stuff then be prepared for a LOT of adverts & Joey Styles shilling. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest shez316 Report post Posted July 7, 2003 Just finished watching Path of Destruction. Truely awesome stuff! I really enjoyed this DVD. I enjoyed all the fights except for the Glass fists match, boy that sucked! Thanks for recommending this DVD guys. I'm thinking of Heatwave 98 or Anarch Rulz 99 next. Which one should I go for? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
