Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19789 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

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.

Extreme Talking Heads
This is an excellent documentary on the history of the original ECW, one of the most influential wrestling promotions ever. On this we hear from the likes of Terry Funk, Sandman, New Jack, Raven, Shane Douglas, Joey Styles, Francine and Sabu. There contributions are very honest and at times very funny(Sandman and New Jack are hilarious). This goes into more detail on things like the Mass Transit Incident and the Crucifixion Angle.
There is also alot on other famous moments and matches such as the fire at the ECW Arena, New Jack's balcony diving and the infamous barbed-wire match between Funk and Sabu. There is no footage of ECW (WWE owns the library). But there is footage of old ECW guys in XPW, which is strange considering the two promotions were bitter rivals.