ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling) - Wrestlepalooza '97

Here is a quick run down.-Shane Douglas wrestles Taz's cousin Chris Chetti for the T.V. title-Tracey Smothers and Little Guido vs. The Pitbulls-The Dudley Boyz vs. Balls Mahoney and The Sandman-ECW champion Terry Funk vs. Chris Candido-Loser Leave Town match:Tommy Dreamer vs. Raven-Sabu vs. Taz 2-Taz vs. Shane Douglas-Tag Title Match: Dudley's vs. The Eliminators.Buy the video or DVD. ECW is without a question the best wrestling promotion of the 90's. Now we are just left with waterdown and reused storylines and the worst wrestling company ever, that only wishes they could be ECW, XPW. XPW just takes ECW talent and put on crappy shows.

Wrestling for the hardcore fans! Taz Wins ECW World TV Championship from Shane Douglas in UNDER 3 Minutes & Tommy Dreamer Finally Scores A Much Anticipated Victory Over Raven After Over 2 Years of Feuding & No Victories!

YES CLASSIC MATCH UPS BUT TOO SHORT ,NOT ENOUGH TO FILL IN FOR THE PRICE TAG ....PAUL HEYMAN NEEDS TO RELEASE SOME OF THE 3HR PPVS LIKE HARDCORE HEAVEN 2000 .GUILTY AS CHARGED 2000 ,NOVEMEBER TO REMEMBER 2000..THOSE WOULD BE WORTH BUYING MR.HEYMAN

NOTE: I UPDATED THIS REVIEW IN 2013Television Champion Shane Douglas vs. Chris Chetti - We got a classic promo from Douglas in reference to the "sweep" that happened in the Stanley Cup finals earlier in the week before agreeing to have a clean wrestling match. Chetti caught Douglas off guard with repeated dropkicks & armdrag takedowns heavily working over the arm causing Douglas to resort to tactics different than what he originally proposed in the beginning by using Francine as a distraction along with elements on the outside from the guardrail to a chair only for Chetti to adapt using the chair himself. This was a good opening match that saw Chetti as a rookie make an strong first impression.Pitbulls vs. F.B.I. - Guido started out trying to hit & move avoiding getting caught but it didn't work long as the Pitbulls used their superior power advantage & double teaming with arm wringers & sandwich clotheslines causing the F.B.I. to resort to dirty tactics like eye pokes & Tommy Rich on the outside while taking advantage of the referee for a double team. It was a basic tag team match showcasing the styles of both teams.Sandman & Balls Mahoney vs. Dudley Boyz - This was just a four way brawl both in & out of the ring all the way to the snack bar that saw everyone getting hit with either a chair or the singapore cane or guardrail such as Sandman's over the top dive squeezing Bubba between him & the guardrail followed by another dive with the singapore cane that not only hit Devon but his partner as well while a chairshot busted Balls open & later a 3D on a chair in what was just a non-stop brawl.ECW Champion Terry Funk vs. Chris Candido - Before the match we got a very emotional speech from Stevie Richards who was originally scheduled to receive this title shot only to suffer a neck injury. Funk kept taking down Candido along with tossing him to the outside while delivering hard chops & punches plus a slap in the face before Candido came back throwing Funk & brawling in the front row while heavily working over his neck with multiple piledrivers & neckbreakers using both a table & chairs but Funk attempted to fought back going after Candido's neck but Chris was able to keep countering & work over Funk's neck using the frankensteiner. This was honestly a Chris Candido showcase more than anything as he told a great story of constantly working over the neck of Funk as Terry didn't do much past his brawling style of throwing punches & slaps to the point where the crowd was very vocal at the end of how they felt the match should have gone.Tommy Dreamer vs. Raven - Tommy Dreamer vs. Raven - Tommy Dreamer had never scored an official victory over Raven throughout their entire feud in ECW & this was his final opportunity to do so as it was no secret (based off the "YOU SOLD OUT!" chants) that Raven was leaving to go to WCW. The fight got taken to the outside of the building back in within the opening minutes as the brawled through the crowd with Dreamer thrown off the bleachers through the merchandise table, both men thrown into guardrails, Raven hit with a legdrop takedown, and both men bleeding. They made their way back to the ring after a few minutes where the fight continued with both men trading low blows & the females at ringside going at it along weapons coming into play like a drop toe hold onto a chair & later one man launched off the top rope onto the open chair & a road sign taking out more than one person followed by a piledriver on it. While this could be debated if this was their best match from an in-ring standpoint, no denying this was the most emotional encounter they ever against each other heavily playing into the factor that it was Dreamer's last chance but stay tuned afterwords as one feud ended & another one began right away with an invasion lead by one person nobody ever expected to see in the ECW arena.[Rise & Fall Of ECW; Top 25 Rivalries]Taz vs. Sabu - "The Grudge REMATCH Of The Century" here as Sabu came in with his ribs taped yet still attempted his daredevil offense such as the springboard dropkick & leg lariat while Taz stayed on his game taking Sabu down followed by crossfaces & a submission stretch working on the ribs but Sabu kept fighting back going aerial with the moonsault & flip legdrop only for the "high risk" to not pay off on one move allowing Taz to execute a series of Taz-plexes & even going to the top himself for an attempted senton only for Sabu to come back including putting Taz through a table with Taz coming back catching Sabu in the Tazmission. This wasn't the high quality that their previous match was but more fast paced & aggressive at times.Television Champion Shane Douglas vs. Taz - Douglas was watching the show from the balcony & had a few choice words for Taz which eventually lead to a challenge where Douglas would put the belt on the line where Taz had to make him tap out in under 3 minutes or else he would be suspended for 60 days without pay with Douglas heavily working over Taz's previously injured neck with moves like a neck snap, neckbreaker, and DDT while Taz attempted to apply the Tazmission. This match was too short to be of anything significant but did it's job in the end.Tag Team Champions Eliminators vs. Dudley Boyz - Saturn had a broken leg & was scheduled for surgery causing Commissioner Todd Gordon to request them to forfeit the titles only for Kronis to fight them alone taking them down with kicks only for Big Dick to get involve allowing the Dudleys to both double & triple team Kronis causing Saturn to take matters into his own hands on more than one occasion. This wasn't much of a match past it being a handicap match but it was all about how Joey Styles stated, "Perry Saturn is from another world."This was a fun show from beginning to end that had everything from entertaining comedy, hardcore brawling, emotional drama, and shocking surprises that nobody would have expected so this is one show I would go out of my way to get.

just as described. good job

ECW, as every educated fan knows, raised the bar for pro wrestling in this country back in the mid-90's. Fans sick of the inane garbage surrounding Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels in the WWF suddenly found themselves in Wrestling Heaven. At the same time, WCW was entering a dreadful Hulk Hogan-centered era that chased away even long time supporters of the former NWA territory. Many of those disenfranchised fans were drawn to ECW, and not just for the brutal, often gory content.In fact, ECW to this day is often incorrectly identified as nothing but a chair swinging freak show, a batch of minor leaguers whose only chance to get over was to amp up the sex and violence in order to compensate for a perceived lack of athleticism and star power.The truth, as usual, is far more complex than that ignorant assumption. If the table breaking, profanity, and liberal juicing were all the company had to offer, the disillusioned audiences that began spreading the ECW gospel would have quickly found themselves bored with the product, and by 1997 would have dropped the promotion en masse in order to concentrate on the much improved storylines being produced at that time by the "big 2". In fact, this too-short time span, from approximately mid-'96 until early '99 could be debated by youngsters and open minded old timers as the most exciting in the industry's history. Nay-sayers will likely point to the late-70's through the early 80's, when over a dozen territories drew robust crowds and shared top talent liberally.Despite nay-saying from respected veterans such as Ric Flair, Jerry Lawler, and Harley Race, the truth is that ECW was far and away the most well-booked, intelligently planned and passionately performed promotion that the wrestling world had seen in quite some time. In fact, only the mildly stodgy old man in me keeps me from proclaiming, without doubt nor fear of reprisal, that ECW was the closest thing to a model franchise in this country, ever. Eh, to the moon with wishy washy political correctness: even the great Mid-South/UWF and early 80's World Class had more flaws than Paul Heyman's living vision. ECW is the greatest American wrestling promotion in history.Alas, like most truly great events, Neil Young's axiom "It's better to burn out than to fade away" is most apt here. Or is it that our most treasured popular culture figures left us too young (ECW, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles) to go bad, leaving the beloved in question with no chance to wear out his/her/it's welcome?Only time will tell if ECW is ever regarded with true appreciation by the current and former leaders of the business. I believe that to gain that respect that the company deserves, those with the clout to eventually define ECW must see it as intended; from, if not the very beginning, at least close to the roots until it's demise, or sharp decline due to the financial deficits that undoubtedly helped to inspire its working class storylines, characters, and passion for a higher lot in the industry. It's an amazing journey, and just as one would be doing one's self a major dis-service by turning to the few chapters of a particularly gripping and epic mystery novel, hopping aboard as late as Wrestlepalooza '97 would be like watching 'The Godfather Part II' without being enlightened to what attracted one in the first place. But...If you don't have time to savor the full gourmet meal, Wrestlepalooza '97 is an exquisite side dish, or appetizer. The classic moment of shock that swept through the ECW Arena's audience when a certain "King" of wrestling makes his dramatic debut has lost none of it's power; on the contrary, with the benefit of knowing how everything eventually played out, the "Royal introduction" is even more dramatic now then at that time.

It's ECW on DVD... do I need to say any more? Any fan of the original ECW will want to add this to their collection.