Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28874 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-04-30
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 128 minutes

Video Description
Forever Hardcore tells the amazing story of how tod gordon's eastern championship wrestling got hardcore. Hear straight from the mouths of these misfits, outcasts, and renegades how - from a dive bingo hall in south Philadelphia - they helped usher in a new era in professional wrestling and revolutionized their sport forever. This is an uncensored journey through the highs and lows of a group of athletes who were never supposed to make it and their reflections on why they will be FOREVER HARDCORE. Hear from SHANE DOUGLAS, RAVEN, TOD GORDON, TERRY FUNK, SANDMAN, SABU and many more

Synopsis
A rundown bingo hall in South Philadelphia is hardly a likely venue for a pro-wrestling revolution to take place. But take place it did, and now the rebels who made it happen--former ECW wrestlers Shane Douglas, Raven, Tod Gordon, Terry Funk, Sandman, Sabu, et al--talk about their highs, lows, and why they will be Forever Hardcore.

Customer Reviews

The Other ECW Documentary
One thing I'll say off the bat about Forever Hardcore, it's hard not to compare it to the Rise & Fall... DVD on the same subject (albeit from the WWE perspective). Of course, on the face of it you can mistake Forever Hardcore for the TNA version of ECW, considering it's made by Jeremy Borash, the majority of the contributions are from people on the TNA payroll at the time, and TNA library music does feature prominently - but it's a mistake.

If anything, this set echoes Paul Heyman's philosophy behind ECW, "Accentuate the positives, hide the negatives." Because, although there is no footage to be used as it's all in the WWE vaults (still photographs are used to illustrate some points - the only footage is from XPW) and they don't have access to guys like Heyman, Dreamer, Taz and RVD, the people who do feature on the disc more than make up for it: Joey Styles, Todd Gordon, Raven, Sandman, Shane Douglas, Sabu, Terry Funk, New Jack, Jerry Lynn, Francine,The Sinister Minister (aka Father James Mitchell),The Blue Meanie and Simon Diamond.

A lot of the topics are the same as those touched on in R&F, but a lot of the time from a very different perspective, for example we hear New Jack's side of the story about the Mass Transit Incident - which will leave you gobsmacked that he was allowed within 50ft of a wrestling show ever again (indeed, New Jack's contribution is totally negative - he either justifies attempting to seriously injure people or saying those with more talent and success than he ever achieved like Taz aren't worth anything). We also get Todd Gordon's take on the "mole" rumours, Raven's on the Sandman's mock-crucifixion and aftermatch, the bWo, Douglas throwing down the NWA title, and serveral other stories. There's also conflicting stories about Douglas breaking Gary "Pitbull #1" Wolfe's neck, from Douglas and Gary Wolfe - Douglas saying it was an accident, Wolfe saying it wasn't.

The disc isn't as slick as the WWE version, but again it doesn't need to be as what we're hearing is the important aspect, rather than what we're seeing. So even though half the interviews appear to be conducted from a trailer home sofa, it really doesn't matter - not if we're hearing the truly bizarre story of what happened to the Sinister Minister's hand backstage at Anarchy Rulz 2000 (which is a comic highlight of the disc), or Terry Funk's tearful recounting of the time he gave up a fat WWE cheque to appear at One Night Stand to be at the Hardcore Homecoming instead as it felt like the right thing to do for himself and the fans. However, it doesn't have Borash's tribute to Chris Candido that the US version of the DVD has tagged onto it, which can be found on Youtube.

The thing is, there is a truly great documentary about ECW waiting to be made, but at the moment that's impossible with all the footage in the WWE vaults (and since R&F, plenty of those who were on that disc are no longer under WWE employ), so for the time being the two discs compliment each other. One has a lot of the key players restricted by WWE production and policy (as well as a lack of anyone non-WWE's input), while the other has a lot of detail but it's clearly missing contributions from the key people who are under WWE contract.

Well worth watching.
There will probably never be a documentary that will cover the full story of ECW. With all the tapes - and a good deal of the wrestlers - now in the WWE's posession, since its closing in 2001 the many players in the ECW story have gone their separate ways. In 2005, two separate documentaries - and pay per views - emerged. In truth, both are essential to the story. The first, the Rise And Fall Of ECW, is really the better DVD, featuring as it does the original footage and testimony by two of the most key players, namely Paul Heyman and Tommy Dreamer. Hardcore Homecoming is the funnier, more honest but still slightly lesser documentary, which features a good deal of XPW footage instead.

Aside from the lack of real ECW footage, Hardcore Homecoming benefits a great deal by emphasising what Rise And Fall lacks, and that's honesty. Whether you believe Vince McMahon is a genius or the anti-Christ, his documentary would never be as honest as this one. As such we get testimony from New Jack (the funniest man on the DVD - "Terry Funk has been wrestlin' since 1902!") and Sandman ("I just got crucified, I can't come back yet, it's not Easter!") and former WCW writers Ed Ferrara, Vince Russo and Bill Banks, all of whom are illuminating. Terry Taylor is insightful and, when talking about his bringing the Public Enemy into WWF, poignant. He also sheds some quite shocking light on the alleged mole in the locker room, although you will find yourself having to decide whose word to believe.

Five other men could make this DVD worth buying by themselves, however. Joey Styles, the voice of ECW (at the time not employed at WWE), whilst having a slightly arrogant edge on this DVD, was there for more of what went on than just about anybody else outside Heyman and his account is vital to the story. Tod Gordon, the man who founded the company and the alleged mole. Shane Douglas and Raven (who is wilfully self-deprecating and drops a reference to the never-mentioned Alliance angle in 2001) are probably the company's two most important wrestlers outside of Dreamer. By far the most interesting however, is the hitherto silent Sabu, who speaks here for the first time and comes across as... a normal guy.

Whilst the lack of actual footage is a bit of an issue, this DVD is fascinating, covers several areas not covered by its counterpart, and is just as essential to your collection as the Rise And Fall Of ECW is. The bonus matches - which, notably, include New Jack apparently trying to murder Vic Grimes in a scaffold match - are worth watching once or twice too, even if XPW will never be up to ECW's standards.

Great Documentary. Amateur Release.
The documentary is great, the Powerslam magazine photos and XPW footage easily getting around the copyright issues. Even if Vince Russo briefly appears in it.

This review is more focused on the quality of the DVD itself. The cover claims it is the 'Director's Cut' version, but sadly the Chris Candido interview from TNA isn't included in the Region 2 version. In fact, only the documentary itself has made the transition from Region 1, with no word association segment with Joey Styles or tour of Viking Hall as extras. The back of the DVD appears to have been designed by monkeys, with no less than three typos on the back cover. Eric Bishoff (sp) is the highlight.

But at the end of the day, even amateurs cannot ruin the main reason for buying this DVD in the first place, so it still comes highly recommended.