Tag Archives: ECW
Top 10: Episodes for Dark Side of the Ring Season 3
Posted on January 27, 2021 by Jerry Whitworth | Comments Off on Top 10: Episodes for Dark Side of the Ring Season 3
Top 10: Episodes for Dark Side of the Ring Season 3 by Jerry Whitworth
Vice's hit documentary series Dark Side of the Ring is well into production of its expanded third season with eight of its fourteen episodes allegedly revealed. Wrestler Mance Warner shared an image via Twitter claiming season three will include among its topics Brian Pillman, Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW), Nick Gage, WCW/NJPW Collision in Korea 1995, Smith Family (including Jake "The Snake" Roberts), and Ion Croitoru. Mike Johnson of PWInsider also claims an episode on Chris Kanyon is in development. With over half the season revealed, the only question that remains is what will fill out the rest of the series' third installment. We already know what will not be included in Chyna/Joanie Laurer. Following the announcement of the third season, it was revealed plans included featuring the deceased performer but were scrapped when it was learned her family was already well into producing a documentary film on her life and untimely passing. Lets then take a look at what could still emerge in the series this year.
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Posted in 1990s, CHIKARA, CHIKARA, Extreme Championship Wrestling, Professional Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment, Wrestling
Tagged Dark Side of the Ring, ECW, Jerry Whitworth, Top 10, WCW, WWE, WWF
The Wrestling Time Machine: June of 1995
Hear ye, hear ye!!!
That's right, plebeians!
It's the latest installment of The Wrestling Time Machine!!!
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Posted on June 17, 2018 by Bobby in Extreme Championship Wrestling, Professional Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment, Wrestling, Wrestling Time Machine
Tagged "Dirty" Dick Slater, "Flyboy" Rocco Rock, "Jungle" Jim Steele, "Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart, "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, "Spark Plug" Bob Holly, "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson, "The Franchise" Shane Douglas, "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair, "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan, 2 Cold Scorpio, 911, Adam Bomb, Angelo Poffo, Axl Rotten, Bam Bam Bigelow, Bart Gunn, Beaulah McGillicutty, Big Van Vader, Bill Alfonso, Billy Gunn, Bob Backlund, Bobby Eaton, Booker T, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Brian Knobbs, Bunkhouse Buck, Cactus Jack, Chikara, Colonel Robert Parker, Dave Sullivan, DDP, Dean Malenko, Diamond Dallas Page, Diesel, ECW, ECW World Heavyweight Championship, ECW World Tag Team Championships, Extreme Championship Wrestling, Gangrel, Hack Meyers, Hakushi, Harlem Heat, Hulk Hogan, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Ian Rotten, Irwin R Schyster, Isaac Yankem DDS, Jeff Jarrett, Jerry "The King" Lawler, Jerry Sags, Johnny Grunge, Kama, Kamala, Kimberly, King Mabel, Lord Steven Regal, Luna Vachon, Mabel, Man Mountain Rock, Max Muscle, Men on a Mission, Meng, Mick Foley, Mo, Mustafa Saed, New Jack, Paul E. Dangerously, Pitbull #1, Pitbull #2, Randy "Macho Man" Savage, Raven, Razerhawk, Razor Ramon, Savio Vega, Scott Taylor, Scotty 2 Hotty, Shawn Michaels, Shinja, Sir Mo, Sir Robert of Eaton, Sister Sherri, Skip & Sunny, Smokey Mountain Wrestling, SMW, Stevie Ray, Stevie Richards, Sting, Sycho Sid, Tatanka, Taz, Ted DiBiase, Tekno Team 2000, The Bad Breed, The Black Phantom, The Blue Bloods, The Bodydonnas, The Diamond Doll, The Extreme Encyclopedia, The Gangstas, The Mad Capper, The Master, The Million Dollar Corporation, The Monster Maniacs, The Nasty Boys, The Phantom, The Pitbulls, The Public Enemy, The Renegade, The Roadie, The Sandman, The Smoking Gunns, The Undertaker, The Vampire Warrior, The World Wrestling Federation, Tod Gordon, Tommy Dreamer, Travis, Troy, TT2k, WCW, WCW Bash at the Beach, WCW The Great American Bash, WCW United States Championship, WCW United States Championship Tournament, WCW World Tag Team Championships, WCW World Television Championship, World Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment, WWE, WWE Championship, WWE Intercontinental Championship, WWE King of the Ring, WWF, WWF Championship, WWF Intercontinental Championship, WWF King of the Ring, WWF Mat Caps, Yokozuna
Wrestling Time Machine: November of 1996
Posted on March 29, 2017 by Bobby | Leave a comment
We Don't Need Roads Where We're Going…
Hello fans! I'm your guide, Bobby Fisher and this…is…THE Wrestling Time Machine! So on today's post, we'll be talking about November of 1996. I AM going to try to be more active on our eponymous website. So…November of 1996 was an interesting time for both of the Big Two.
Tagged "Hollywood" Hogan, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, "The Franchise" Shane Douglas, "The Stalker" Barry Windham, 2 Cold Scorpio, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Brian Pillman, Crush, Dean Malenko, Diesel, ECW, Fake Diesel, Fake Razor Ramon, Flash Funk, Goldust, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Jerry "The King" Lawler, Jimmy Hart, Kevin Nash, Lex Luger, Mankind, Marc Mero, Milton-Bradley Karate Fighters, Nerdfect Strangers, Raven, Razor Ramon, Rey Mysterio Jr, Rob Van Dam, Rocky Maivia, Sabu, Scott Hall, Tazz, Terry Gordy, The Dungeon of Doom, The Eliminators, The Executioner, The Gangstas, The Giant, The NWO, The Pitbulls, The Rock, The Sandman, The Undertaker, WCW, WCW Halloween Havoc, WCW World War 3, Wrestling Time Machine, WWF, WWF Survivor Series
Wrestling Time Machine: ECW Flux Capacitor Volume 1
Posted on July 20, 2016 by Bobby | Leave a comment
Just call me "Bobby Styles" and this…is…THE Wrestling Time Machine!
This is NOT a wrestling smorgasbord.
Allow me to preface by saying this is the first volume of my Wrestling Time Machine blog, something I talk at length about on our podcast that we do here. Today we're going to be tackling ECW, what I would consider the first year. This first year starts with "The Franchise" Shane Douglas defeating 2 Cold Scorpio with a Pinfall decision, in the NWA World Title Tournament on August 27th 1994 and ends with a real BARN BURNER of a match in what was the final confrontation (in Extreme Championship Wrestling, anyways) between a young Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko. The WWE Network is a smorgasbord of classic wrestling of all kinds, albeit missing some of wrestling's essential main courses. The WWE Network, while it boasts "Every WWE/WCW Pay-Per-View", The WWE Network misses out on just about most of the ECW Pay-Per-Views and Specials. This is unfortunate, because Pay-Per-Views provide of course a sense of closure for much of a given month's events, and where even new stories can be born.
So litigious. Much metal.
Though all is not lost, if Paul Heyman and the ECW Brass was good at anything, it was knowing that their target demographic may not always be in the market to pay to view, and so many episodes of ECW Hardcore TV were simply highlight episodes, devoted to the most recent Pay-Per-View, devoted to keeping fans not only enlightened of the match highlights, but also of any major story beats and new developments. By far the biggest omission that deserves mentioning is the lack of actually licensed music throughout the whole show. Now…I get it, WWE's a big company, and ECW was known for using music without necessarily worrying about frivolous things like getting the rights from the artists, etc. You know, the little things, and so it came to pass that WWE is forced to use very generic tunes for the entrances of the ECW performers. Something is lost in the incredibly generic tunes, some of the attitude-the balls of ECW is muted, it feels almost too sanitized. Now granted, I don't think we can necessarily fault the WWE for this, or even Heyman and whomsoever was in charge of designating entrance music. ECW was, for all intents and purposes, small show, a small organization. They barely (and often times didn't even) made end's meat, let alone had the extra cash to shell out for licensed music. This didn't stop them from trying though…
"Delightful fun for the whole family and a treat for children of all ages!"
Let's get down to thumbtacks, though. The first year
of ECW is…pretty intense. The very first episode I mentioned at the top of the article also featured another pinnacle in ECW history, Tommy Dreamer being caned by The Sandman. This, along with Douglas' epic speech about what ECW really is, how important new blood was to wrestling , this set the tone for the entire promotion. This wasn't your father's wrestling, and that's what made it unique. ECW had a finger on the pulse of what wrestling could be, and what many fans at the time and even still to this day, think it should be. While ECW dabbled in extremely violent performances, that was simply the icing on the cake, the real substance of the promotion would be found in performers like Shane Douglas, Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko-to name a few-who could put on spectacular matches without the need for barbed wire, or cattle brands. Tazz is another highlight in ECW's fledgling year, and his first experience on commentary can be heard through the WWE Network's archive, as he was a guest commentator with Joey Styles for a special match.
Pictured: A man who still hasn't retired yet…Probably.
While ECW had
few veterans in the form of wrestlers like Terry Funk, the fuel that kept it's engines running was the
Totally Gnarly.
influx of young talent given a stage to shine on that didn't involve being a jobber to the stars, or relying on silly gimmicks. If I've learned anything though, it's that ECW was no stranger to silly gimmicks. Just ask Surfer Ray Odyssey.
Pictured: Someone hopped up on goofballs.
There are many other things to talk about when it comes to ECW's fledgling first year. The brilliant promo work of Shane Douglas, and The Franchise's one-sided feud with "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair, the formation of The Triple Threat to serve as combating force against The Four Horsemen. The introduction of the mysterious, brooding Raven and his obsessive groupie goofball Stevie Richards. Towards the beginning of July 1995 we see the introduction of The Dudley Boys, and before too long, their ever-expanding family. For Big Daddy Dudley, THE THIRST was oh-so-real. I'd say one of the biggest highlights though, in watching ECW was the surprisingly decent promo work of The Public Enemy. For those not familiar, this Tag-Team consisting of "Flyboy" Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge were essentially WWE's Cryme Tyme, before Cryme Tyme, and they saw much more success than the WWE duo. Though The Public Enemy had some great matches with The Pitbulls and a feud that could only be described as "Actual War crimes of the 1990s" with
"Welcome to the WARROOM, Boys!"
The Gangstas, The Public Enemy would soon depart, like many others, for greener pastures in WCW. Sure, Billionaire Ted's money may have seemed appetizing, but I would argue that The Public Enemy didn't get a fair shake (again, like countless others) in WCW, at least on the company's flagship program WCW Monday Nitro. Rocco and Johnny could deliver decent enough promos to carry a story, and yet, WCW's Tag Team Division was very much an afterthought, even prior to the N.W.O.'s emergence.
Just Say, 'When'…
By far, one thing that does bear mentioning when discussing ECW, is the strange weapons opponents sometimes used to inflict pain on one another, even during this first year. Often when reading about ECW, or even watching it, you'll see the Hardcore standbys-chairs (wooden and steel!), tables, Singapore canes, trashcans, etc. but eagle-eyed viewers will see such strange weapon fodder as plastic dinosaurs and cheese graters.
I suppose I'll close out this first edition of The Wrestling Time Machine by giving just some final thoughts on the first year of ECW…ECW was a welcome alternative to the then-WWF, and WCW, both promotions which suffered from their own problems. The WWF was struggling to push and build younger talent into main event stars, while still relying on hackneyed cartoon gimmicks based on garbagemen, french pirates and Portuguese Man-o-Wars, while WCW was ramping up it's cartoon gimmicks to eleven with the Dungeon of Doom all whilst relying on older stars in Hulk Hogan, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair and Randy "Macho Man" Savage. ECW focused on just being unique, and what made wrestling good. Stories didn't need to be larger than life, and opponents that could go out and wrestle with the skilled technician of a brain surgeon didn't necessarily need to have a built-in story for the match beyond, "These two guys are fighting". ECW wasn't afraid of it's fans, and didn't push matches, agendas, or stories it knew the fans didn't want, something any person in the creative field should take away as an important lesson.
Tagged ECW, WCW, Wrestling, Wrestling Time Machine, WWE, WWE Network, WWF
Mirror, Mirror: What If WWE Didn't Win?
Posted on January 3, 2016 by Jerry Whitworth | Leave a comment
Mirror, Mirror: What If WWE Didn't Win? by Jerry Whitworth
About a week ago, I discussed in detail my history with pro wrestling. Therein, I spoke on 2001 being a terrible year for wrestling fans. AOL Time Warner had sold WCW to WWE as ECW, after losing its TV deal with TNN, would likewise sell out to WWE. What's interesting about these events is that TV deals were at the root of both downfalls. For WCW, Eric Bischoff had secured funding to buy the company but wouldn't sign the deal unless TNT and TBS agreed to continue airing Nitro and Thunder, respectively. Reportedly, that sticking point lead AOL Time Warner to sell WCW to WWE for a ridiculously low price (as several WCW personalities claimed they could have bought it themselves for the price sold). As for ECW, it was a company on the rise that was abandoned by TNN after airing the promotion for a year and that was troubled by its past use of adult content to find another network. Now, it's important to note, neither WCW or ECW had bad ratings. At the height of Nitro, it was one of the highest rated shows on TV and even when it fell, it was still a huge draw for TNT. It just lost money because of poor management within the company (part of which stemmed from its parent company being unfamiliar with the industry it was invested into). All of these details considered, if some circumstances would have been amended, both companies could have easily survived and likely thrived. For example, if Bischoff won his battle to buy WCW, it either could have had the arrangement to remain on the AOL Time Warner channels or he could have moved to another station (like, perhaps, TNN which was looking to drop ECW when it saw how much wrestling could draw for the station). Also, what if ECW either remained on TNN or moved to another network (say, perhaps, MTV, which got into the wrestling game in 2001 with WWF Tough Enough and later Wrestling Society X). Lets take a look at what could have been.
Posted in Wrestling
Tagged Chikara, ECW, PWG, Ring of Honor, ROH, TNA, WCW, WWE, WWF
Hello, Again
Posted on December 27, 2015 by Jerry Whitworth | Leave a comment
Hello, Again by Jerry Whitworth
Considering the popularity of my introductory post to the Nerdfect Nation, I thought I'd speak on my history with pro wrestling considering it's such a huge aspect of our content and coverage. I first came into contact with the WWF in its auxiliary ventures, receiving some of the LJN action figures as a youth (an eight-inch rubber Hulk Hogan and some of the thumb wrestlers), watching Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling on TV, playing WWF WrestleMania on the NES, and getting my face painted like the Ultimate Warrior because everyone else was doing it (I always wanted to get a Tonka Wrestling Buddy but they alluded me). The earliest aspect of an actual wrestling program I can recall is my dad leaving it on one night when he fell asleep and I saw Papa Shango put a voodoo curse on Mean Gene Okerlund in 1992 on Superstars which terrified me. I would, however, come back to the product later where I became a big fan of Hakushi (as I was seemingly born into an interest in Eastern martial arts thanks to my father) and where I was introduced to wrestlers like the "Portuguese Man O' War" Aldo Montoya, 1-2-3 Kid, and Tatanka all of whom in which I also became a fan. A casual viewer at best, Hakushi seemed to appear less as my interest grew in the "Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels. I officially wouldn't became a fan of wrestling, however, until WrestleMania XII in 1996.
Posted in Bios & Introductions, Wrestling
Tagged Chikara, ECW, Jerry Whitworth, Kaiju Big Battel, Lucha Underground, New Japan, WCW, Wrestling, WWE, WWF