Review of Forever Hardcore

Introduction

It is fair to say that when World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) purchased the assets of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 2001, that a little part of pro wrestling history was lost. Sure, the ECW that folded at that time was a far cry from its 1995 cult heyday, but it had remained a company that was very close to its fans, unlike the major WWE and WCW promotions.

That little bit of history was lost, primarily, because McMahon had a tendency to re-write history for his own means. The "Monday Night Wars" DVD which told of the rivalry between WWE and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was that way inclined, and there was no reason to believe that McMahon would change his ways for lowly ECW.

Although it was a more truthful production that had been expected, the WWE`s "Rise and Fall of ECW" documentary again saw some participants being careful with their words. Furthermore, WWE chose not to interview the likes of Todd Gordon, Shane Douglas, and Terry Funk for the feature, ensuring that some of the story of ECW was never told.

That was until the release of "Forever Hardcore", a documentary partly produced by TNA Wrestling personality Jeremy Borash. Unlike it`s WWE counterpart, this feature made use of the thoughts of Gordon, Douglas, and Funk, as well as other ECW luminaries who were privy to backstage events. The documentary promised to broach subjects that The Rise and Fall of ECW refused to, such as the infamous New Jack/Mass Transit incident that occurred in November 1996.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL, and is good for a DVD of this genre. The feature attempts to use the same type of format that has won the WWE DVD department so many plaudits, with interview footage for the various participants carrying the story.

In terms of video quality, the new video footage is not of the high standard of WWE productions, with the image lacking just a little detail. But this is, after all, interview footage, and what is on offer here is more than acceptable.

There are also some video clips used from the XPW promotion, all of which fit well into the feature.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and is very good for a DVD of this genre. The audio is mixed well, with all interviews easily audible over the top of the generic rock soundtrack.

Features

There are no extras available here.

Conclusion

Following in the same topical footsteps of the WWE`s "The Rise and Fall of ECW" two-disc set, Forever Hardcore seemed destined to sit in the shadow of its more illustrious counterpart. After all, how could it possibly hope to reach those high standards, without access to the ECW video archive, and with the legal limitation of not even being able to utter the term "ECW"?

That may seem a rhetorical question, but the truth is that Forever Hardcore is a very good documentary, which makes up for these limitations by making the best of the available personalities, as well as an independent archive of photographs.

Many of the personalities interviewed tell a tremendous story, especially the likes of Raven, Douglas, Funk, Gordon, Bill Apter, Terry Taylor, and Jim Mitchell. Furthermore, the stories that they do tell are often more insightful that anything heard on "The Rise and Fall of ECW", especially the disturbing details of the New Jack/Mass Transit incident, which is mentioned only in passing on the WWE release. I also found Douglas` story of denouncing the NWA World Title belt, and Gary Wolfe`s tale of his broken neck, to be riveting listening.

As for the still images, they clearly cannot compete with the video footage at the WWE`s disposal, but are still able to tell the ECW story. In some ways, those who have seen the ECW video footage on numerous occasions, will be glad of the different perspective given by these photographs.

One thing that is interesting about Forever Hardcore is that it does make some assumptions as to its viewers` inside knowledge, which in different ways, is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Those who have some inside knowledge of the business will delight in recognising such terms as "getting colour" (bleeding) and "the book" (the writing of a wrestling show). Those who do not will likely work out such terms quickly, but such wording takes away ever so slightly from the accessibility of the documentary.

That, however, is just a minor issue, and overall, Forever Hardcore is an excellent documentary for those who have an interest in ECW, or in the inner-workings of the modern wrestling business. In many ways, it is a great companion to the Rise and Fall of ECW DVD, which provides so much of the great ECW footage that Forever Hardcore cannot. All of the major topics are discussed here, from the beginnings of Eddie Gilbert`s booking, to the day that Paul Heyman showed up on RAW, unbeknown to the remaining members of the ECW roster.

Forever Hardcore is available in UK shops, retailing at £7.99, though it is available for less if you shop around. At that price, it is an excellent keep-sake of what was a fascinating time in the wrestling business.