Across The Pond Wrestling: ECW Unreleased Volume 2 DVD

Showing posts with label ECW Unreleased Volume 2 DVD. Show all posts

Wednesday, 8 April 2015

Two Years of ATPW

Yes ladies and gentleman, it has been two whole years since the first proper article was posted on the then acrossthepondwrestling.blogspot.com. Over those two years we've developed into acrossthepondwrestling.co.uk, built a strong social media following with nearing 2000 followers on Twitter and over 1250 likes on Facebook, created partnerships with TNA Impact Wrestling and WWE Home video that continue to grow, featured numerous British wrestling promotions, and changed from a one man blog to featuring some of the most talented wrestling writers from across the United Kingdom. I'm truly proud of what ATPW has become and I look forward to seeing what the future holds. Believe me, I've got big plans for what ATPW should and could be in two years time.

I wanted to use this article to look back at our ten most popular articles over the last two years, in chronological order, to showcase the story of ATPW (so far) with the ten most important moments. Better get on with it, I suppose!

Five Questions With...Jay Hunter

Wednesday, 12th June 2013. 19:30

Five Questions With... was our first series of article, in which I interviewed a wide variety of wrestling personalities, from wrestlers to bloggers and everything in between, in a thinly vieled attempt to gain a viewership! Our most popular FQW article (and most popular article of all time) was with OSW Review's Jay Hunter. Gaining over 3000 views, Hunter discusses getting into wrestling, how OSW Review originated, the differences between 80's and modern wrestling, his top three matches of all time and more. A big thank you to Jay Hunter for the interview once more, and if you've never caught OSW Review you can check out their website here.

WWE Money in the Bank 2013 Review

Tuesday, 16th July 2013. 00:07

Our most popular PPV review ever (I'm not sure why this one get's more views than any other) with over 350 views. Money in the Bank 2013 featured Randy Orton and Damien Sandow winning Money in the Bank briefcase, whilst John Cena and Alberto Del Rio defended their respective World titles against Mark Henry and Dolph Ziggler respectively. The show received a fairly positive review from ATPW, and can viewed on the WWE Network here.

WWE Smackdown 19th July 2013 Review

Wednesday, 24th July 2013. 00:12

The most popular review of a TV show from ATPW, was the 19th July 2013 episode of Smackdown! Back when ATPW was reviewing almost every wrestling TV shows on the market, for some reason this review has stood out and continued to get views. Whilst criticising Randy Orton for going through the motions in a main event bout with Alberto Del Rio, the review had praise for Vince McMahon announcing Vickie Guerrero as the new General Manager of Smackdown, with a rather optimistic hope that a strong heel Vickie could revitalise the waning brand.

WWE ECW Unreleased Volume 2 DVD Review

Friday, 16th August 2013. 04:30

DVD Review have been a big part of ATPW since it's inception and this one has received over 850 views, proving that there's still a hunger for ECW content out there. There's big praise for the set throughout, notably the variety of matches present on the three disc set and strong presentation from Joey Styles and Tommy Dreamer. A triple threat bout between Bam Bam Bigelow, Sabu and Taz is noted as the strongest of the set, which is still available for purchase here.

Five Questions With...Matt Striker

Wednesday, 21st August 2013. 19:30

Just two months removed from his WWE release ATPW was able to secure an interview with Matt Striker, under the FQW banner. Striker talks getting into wrestling, the circumstances involving his WWE release, his fondest memories of working for WWE, his three favourite matches and more. This is one of my personal favourite FQW interviews, with Striker engaging well with the interview style.

WWE NXT 21st August 2013 Review

Friday 23rd August 2013. 01:47

August 2013 continued to provide articles that have kept people coming back to ATPW with this review of WWE NXT, in it's pre-WWE Network days. Of course, this was the episode that featured Sami Zayn and Antonio Cesaro battling it out in a Two out of Three Falls match. The review of this match was one of my favourite to write and one of the earlier pieces of writing I am most proud of for ATPW. The review also includes an interesting look at a bout between Dolph Ziggler and Rusev, as well as AJ Lee defending her Diva's Championship against Bayley.

TNA Impact Wrestling's Christopher Daniels Interview

Saturday, January 25th 2014. 22:42

The most popular article of 2014 was a BIG interview with then TNA star Christopher Daniels ahead of the 2014 Maximum Impact tour of the UK. Infamous for breaking the news that Daniels contract with TNA was up in April, and gaining coverage from the dirt sheets, this was an article that put ATPW on the map in terms of big name wrestler interviews. It's one of my biggest disappointments that half of the interview was lost due to a recording error, but still I spoke to Christopher Daniels for twenty minutes and no one will ever know what we spoke about!

TNA British Bootcamp's Grado Interview

Tuesday, 25th November 2014. 22:24

Recorded on the telephone in a hospital car park in Aberystywyth (it's a long story), this interview with Grado came at a time where he was featured in the final six of TNA's British Bootcamp. Actually ATPW's third interview with Grado (following a FQW interview and one recorded on the streets of Glasgow for Youtube), this one features a lot of talk about British Bootcamp, getting "over" in America, British wrestling, social media and more. Oh also the possibility of a Grado vs. Goldberg dream match!

Making Noise, Drinking Cider: Maffew at PCW Road to Glory Night 1

Friday, 27th March 2015. 19:53

The only writer other than creator James Marston to make the Top 10 is Botchamania's own Maffew! Proving instantly popular on ATPW, Maffew brought his own fanbase over to ATPW and introduced a different style of writing to the site, as he looked at the first night of PCW Road to Glory tournament. Featuring a no holds barred looked at the show, with a refreshingly honest review, Maffew also offered plenty of laughs and gags to keep things entertaining. Brit-Wres reviews always prove popular and this is the most popular of them all on ATPW.

TNA's Rockstar Spud Interview

Monday, 30th March 2015. 23:16

Coming as part of the #ATPW24 campaign that raised over £200 for MIND, there was a special interview with then TNA X Division Champion Rockstar Spud! Spud discussed the previous night's WrestleMania, changes in the Spud character, his on-screen feud with Ethan Carter III, his involvement in the second series of British Boot Camp, his return to the British indy scene and what the future might hold for Spud. It's our most popular article of 2015 so far, and for interview conducted by someone nearing 60 hours without sleep, is bloody good if I do say so myself!

I hope you've enjoyed this trip down memory lane as much as I have have, or if this is your first ATPW article has enjoyed what is ensentially a starter pack to knowing what we do here at ATPW. To all those who have viewed ATPW in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, China, Israel, Canada, Ukraine, Turkey and anywhere else over the last two years a big thankyou and I hope we continue to produce content that keeps you coming back for more. Peace, love and wrestling. James.

Friday, 16 August 2013

WWE ECW Unreleased Volume 2 DVD Review

WWE's latest DVD and Blu Ray release see's the company take another look back at Extreme Championship Wrestling library in ECW Unreleased Volume 2. Now available for purchase from www.wwedvd.co.uk priced at £19.99 for DVD and £22.99 for Blu-Ray. The set takes us from October 1993 to September 2000, expect to see some of ECW's most familiar faces like Tommy Dreamer, Sabu, Bill Alfonso, Taz, Steve Corino and Rob Van Dam, alongside rare ECW appearances from Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton and The Steiner Brothers!

Content Listing

Disc One

We Are Back

Tommy Dreamer vs. Tazmaniac

NWA ECW Hardcore TV, 19^th October 1993

Tag Team Match

Terry Funk & Arn Anderson vs. Sabu & Bobby Eaton with Paul E. Dangerously

ECW When Worlds Collide, 14^th May 1994

Hardcore Legends

Terry Funk vs. Cactus Jack

ECW Hardcore Heaven, 13^th August 1994

“I Quit” Match

Tommy Dreamer vs. The Sandman with Woman

ECW Hardcore TV, 4^th October 1994

Wrestling Machines

Six Man Tag Team Match

ECW Television Champion Eddy Guerrero & The Steiner Brothers with Tazz vs. Cactus Jack, 2 Cold Scorpio & Dean Malenko with Raven

ECW Wrestlepalooza, 5^th August, 1995

ECW World Heavyweight Championship Number One Contender’s Match

Tommy Dreamer vs. Raven with Buelah McGillicutty, Stevie Richards & The Blue Meanie

ECW Holiday Hell Tour, 29^th December, 1995

Tag Team Match

The Public Enemy vs. The Gangstas

ECW House Party, 5^th January 1996

Disc Two

A good idea at the time

Extreme Hardcore Shoot Fight

Chris Jericho with Todd Gordon vs. Taz with Bill Alfonso

ECW Lost Battalion Hall, 13^th April 1996

ECW World Television Championship Match

2 Cold Scorpio © vs. Shane Douglas

ECW A Matter of Respect, 11^th May 1996

The Flagstaff

Sabu vs. Chris Jericho

ECW Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvannia, 2^nd August 1996

Six Man Tag Team Match

Dick Togo, Terry Boy & Taka Michnoku vs. Gran Hamada, Gran Naniwa & Great Sasuke

ECW Hardcore TV, 27^th March 1997

Tag team wrestling done right.

ECW World Tag Team Championship Three Way Dance

The Eliminators vs. The Gangstas vs. The Dudleys (Devon Dudley & Big Dick Dudley) with Bubba Ray Dudley

ECW Buffalo, New York,17^th May 1997

Disc 3

Real Heat

Eight Man Tag Team Match

The Sandman, ECW World Television Champion Taz, Tommy Dreamer & Al Snow vs. Sabu, Rob Van Dam, Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon with Bill Alfonso

ECW Hardcore TV, 5^th January 1998.

ECW World Heavyweight Championship Match

ECW Wrestlepalooza, 3^rd May 1998.

ECW World Tag Team Championship Match

ECW Hardcore TV, 29^th June 1998

A Real Clash of Styles

FTW World Heavyweight Championship Three Way Dance

ECW Arena, 8^th August 1998

ECW World Tag Team Championship Match

ECW Hardcore TV, 23^rd August 1999

Stepping Up

ECW World Heavyweight Championship

ECW on TNN, 1^st October 1999

Three-Way Dance
Yoshihiro Tajiri with Steve Corino & Jack Victory vs. Super Crazy vs. Jerry Lynn

ECW November to Remember, 7^th November, 1999.

The Ultimate Underdog

ECW World Television Championship Match

ECW on TNN, 28^th January 2000.

ECW World Heavyweight Championship Three-Way Dance

End of an Era

Review

Firstly, I'd like to point out that I haven't seen Volume 1 of the ECW Unreleased Series so I won't be able to make any comparisons between this set and it's predecessor. I have however seen a number of other ECW DVD's that WWE has produced since purchasing the company back in 2003, and have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this three disc DVD set.

The set is presented by former ECW commentator Joey Styles and ECW Legend Tommy Dreamer. It's great to see Dreamer working with WWE once more, after a piss poor run in TNA. Styles and Dreamer work well as a pairing, and it's clear that the two get on well outside the studio as well, a lot of the time it feels like we're dropping in on two friends talking about how they used to live, which is a welcome change to the clinical feel of some of WWE's recent DVD releases. Styles and Dreamer not only give a good view of what was happening with ECW at the time, but feel balanced in their views, giving a good lead in for the match you are about to see. It's a shame then, that we don't see the pair before every match, as their insights into the feud always helps to bring the action to life for me.

What really stands out on this set for me was the variety of match styles that are presented. On previous ECW DVD's that I've watched, the focus has been very much on the extreme and hardcore matches. Whilst I'm a fan of these matches, watching nine hours worth of them does become a bit of an overkill, so I was pleased to see a sound mixture go into this DVD. Of course, you get your fair share of the Hardcore Brawls that ECW became known for with bouts like Public Enemy against The Gangsta and a classic "I Quit" match between Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman, but thrown in along the way are fantastic wrestling matches, like the Michonoku-Pro Six Man Tag showcase and a Three Way Dance between Tajiri, Super Crazy and Jerry Lynn.

Whilst a lot of the matches on the DVD are fun to watch, there are some that remind us that ECW wasn't exactly perfect. Take the bout on Disc 2, between Chris Jericho and Taz. Sounds like it could be a good match right? Think again, because this is billed as an Extreme Hardcore Shoot Fight. Now I've seen the match and I've still no idea what that means. It was essentially ECW's attempt to incorporate MMA in to wrestling and it failed. I hope TNA is taking notes here. Another one I'd throw on the heap would be Public Enemy vs. The Gangstas, it's violence for violence sake. I'm not a fan of this style of wrestling, there doesn't seem a whole lot of thought gone into the match, just grab the nearest object a hit someone in the head with it.

Something that caught my attention throughout the set, is the crowd. These matches are all helped tremendously by the crowd in attendance. ECW crowds were known for being wild and crazy, something that comes shining through on this box set. When compared to most of the crowds we see today at WWE and TNA shows, the ECW faithful were head and shoulders above the rest. Expect humorous chants, loud pops and fan interaction, that brings that extra edge and excitement to the matches throughout the set. The other thing that lifts a lot of the matches is the commentary of Joey Styles. Styles is much better at commentating alone, as it's clear to hear he doesn't enjoy being shackled by a color commentator trying to get his stuff in as well. Styles really helps to pull you into the match, and his ability to cover the back story of a contest whilst still describing what's happening in ring is second to none.

I also enjoyed being able to see some rare appearances in ECW from Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton and The Steiner Brothers, and whilst their matches aren't exactly the best that are included on the set, in terms of history it's nice to see them included here. The same goes for a number of wrestlers farewell matches in ECW, especially the Dudley Boys' ECW World Tag Team Championship bout against Spike Dudley and Balls Mahoney, as we all know how succesfull both Buh Buh Ray and D-Von went onto be in the WWF and later TNA.

Some of the earlier footage isn't of particularly great quality, making the matches a little difficult to get into, this can be said for later stuff that is shown via "Fan Cam" as well. No matter how good the action is in the ring, if you can't see what is happening then you can't really connect with what is going on in the ring. This certainly improves as the set goes on and once we reach the ECW on TNN era, the footage has improved ten fold.

To buy or not to Buy...

Personally, I would recommend this set to any pro wrestling fan. The variety of matches on display, along with the strong presentation from Joey Styles and Tommy Dreamer, plus rare matches from wrestlers not really associated with ECW are all selling points for me. There really is something for every fan to enjoy here.

My Top Three Matches From This Set

1. Sabu vs. Taz vs. Bam Bam Bigelow, ECW Are a

2. 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Shane Douglas, ECW A Matter of Respect,

3. Dick Togo, Terry Boy & Taka Michnoku vs. Gran Hamada, Gran Naniwa & Great Sasuke ECW Hardcore TV,