Hey Scott,
I realize your hatred for ECW and especially every reincarnation that keeps tainting whatever legacy the original left behind...but I have a double header of EXTREME soundbytes that you and your readers might enjoy. Matt Hardy and Stevie Richards stopped by W.H.I..P. Temple Update Wednesday morning to talk everything from Vince being a "psychotic genius" to wrestlers wearing shirts in the ring "not being wrestlers."
Both interviews are at http://jjpowerhour.wordpress.com/extreme-rising/
Shane Douglas will be on Friday at 10 a.m. EST on W.H.I.P. on IHeartRadio
Thanks a bunch!
"Hatred" is a strong word. Perhaps it's more that I didn't treat ECW and Heyman with the slavish devotion that the idiot hardcore mutant fanbase did, and there was a lot of people who e-mailed me on a constant basis who were too blinded by their own fandom to realize that I was right and they were stupid. But I wouldn't say "hatred" as such.
"who were too blinded by their own fandom to realize that I was right and they were stupid."
ReplyDeleteHarsh lol
There's something about Heyman that I just find so damn unlikable. Even as a commentator he was grating, especially when he says "word up to my boys Limp Bizkit" during Wrestlemania X7.
ReplyDeletethat right there should have tipped u off. if ur friends with fred durst and his "meg" hat... kill yourself.
ReplyDeleteIf you were a traditional wrestling fan, I can understand, why ECW was nothing for you, but from character development to storytelling it was WAY ahead everything from back then and even from today. Maybe the hardcore part was a little bit exaggerated, but they could bring everyone over - even guys like Mikey Whipwreck, Little Spike Dudley or Tommy Dreamer.
ReplyDeleteYes it was no Bret Hart vs Owen Hart or Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat, but they tried to make the best out of everyone, something what is missing today.
Scott was a Stampede guy, ECW was very different from the old school Canadian style. ECW was great, and I was hooked like crack when I finally got to see some tapes. ECW perfectly captured the absolute debauchery that was the 90's. The say anything, do anything attitude that existed during those years. Heyman developed or exposed the talents that made up the midcard of WCW make Nitro a success. Many of those guys went on to become WWE main eventers. ECW also laid the foundation for the entire Attitude Era. Heyman was a bad business man and had all his workers stolen by the big 2. His biggest fault was his inability to deliver the big pay off (RVD winning the World Title for example). Heyman's commentary with JR was fantastic, not his fault Vince was pimping Limp Dick at Wrestlemania X7.
ReplyDeleteWhether you loved ECW, hated it, tolerated it, or thought it was ok, one thing remains true...
ReplyDeleteStevie Richards is the best!
It's fascinating how ECW is both dated and timeless. The hardcore wrestling, violence against women, male angst/aggression thing is very dated but the concept of every character having a role in the overall story of the promotion is very timeless. The WWE of 1985-1989, 1992, and 1997-2001 exemplify other examples of this timeless successful concept.
ReplyDeleteThe more characters that are involved, have a story and a feud, the more reasons for fans to watch, buy tickets, and buy merch.
Yes, good storytelling and character development is never dated. Compared to ECW in the 90s current WWE product is a dinosaur from the 80s.
ReplyDeleteI'm not at a computer that can listen to the podcast at the moment but can somebody provide the context behind the t-shirt to the ring comment? Not that I disagree (I think far too many wrestlers do it), but aren't both Hardy and Richards guilty of that trend?
ReplyDeletein fairness Stevie only wore a half shirt, exposing his belly, so he's only half guilty b/c he wasn't covering anything up.
ReplyDeleteAnd Matt would pull his shirt off halfway thru a match to pop the girls. It was one of the Hardy's signature spots.
Except he still wore a shirt during his heel Version 1.0 days....
ReplyDeleteThe only knock on ecw is that a lot of those matches suuuuuucked balls and/or were extremly overrated by the mutants. For instance that three way where funk won the title is awful but its put up like a classic, same with that horrific sandman v sabu match at n2r. I like ecw and was a fan at the time but for every eddie vs malenko or rey vs psychosis match there were ten douchey Shane douglas promos or fifty hit new jack with a cookie sheet then lay on table for 5 minutes while he jumps off a balcony match
ReplyDeleteThat was Heyman's gift. He looked at who he had, and figured out what is best about them. Like Coach Bombay in Mighty Ducks. Vince looks at the people he has, says UGH, and shits on all of them. Like disgruntled Coach Bombay at the very beginning of the Mighty Ducks.
ReplyDeleteDid he? I thought he was topless by then.
ReplyDeleteNow that is a fantastic fucking analogy
ReplyDeleteI prefer paul e dangerously to heyman every day of the week
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Anything that can link The Mighty Ducks to Pro Wrestling is awesome.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Matt Hardy and shirts, did anyone ever notice that for a really long time in the earlier Hardy Boy days it seemed like Matt only had ONE fucking shirt? I only noticed it because it had a teeny tiny hole in the chest.
ReplyDeleteProbably because they came up with an outfit change on the fly and they just kind of had to go with what they had. It's surprising to think that kinda stuff happened a lot but it was pretty common, if you were on the road and they gave you a quickie character change you didn't get a whole new outfit & gimmick thrown together from corporate, you just had to go with what you could. That's how Chaz ended up wrestling in his boxers and Lo-Down ended up in matching track shorts.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if Scott is anything like me, but if I'm neutral or not in love with something and people praise it all the time (Holler if you hear me, Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee's Hush!) it makes me dislike it more.
ReplyDeleteECW has been hurt most by ROH, IMO. Yeah, ECW had great character development but the in-ring product was so god-awful shitty, plus it doesn't age well and doesn't hold up to repeat viewings. Contrast that to ROH which, until recently, was really interesting characters and great matches.