DVD Review: "Bloodsport: ECW's Most Violent Matches" (2005)

Unpolished, low-rent and sloppy, but gritty, ballsy and fun are all terms that apply to what was Extreme Championship Wrestling. This two-disc set presents the most brutal matches presented by the promotion through the mid-90s to the early 2000s. Barbed wire, broken glass, chair shots, flaming tables, flaming branding irons, ladder matches, entrance ramps that give way, thumb tacks ... it's all here.

What this DVD demonstrates very clearly is that the WWE copied so much from ECW during the Attitude era in terms of hardcore matches and the like, which, combined with Vince McMahon's production budget, TV deals and superior character development, allowed for much wider exposure for the "new" WWE to a lot of people who had probably never heard of ECW.

Needless to say, if you're looking for artistry, you won't find it on this DVD. What big-time moves there are not as slick as what we might expect from the likes of some of the WWE fellas, but that's not the point. When you see 55-year old Terry Funk putting his body through hell to entertain the Philadelphia fans who paid their hard earned money to drink beer, cuss, and watch rasslin', that's what ECW was about. Despite how much Vince McMahon has annoyed me over the years, and especially as of late, I'm a WWE loyalist so it's not 100% my taste. I also enjoyed "The Rise and Fall of ECW" DVD a little more because it exposed the business end of the industry rather than just the carnage that often ensued at ECW events, but if you need a fix of violence, this is a solid pick-up.

Overall rating: 6.75/10