Since Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back has been out for a while, I'd like to somewhat joke about a scene in the movie. The whole purpose of this movie is for Jay and Silent Bob to stop the "Bluntman and Chronic" (not KroniK) movie from being created in Hollywood for monetary reasons, and also, since many people on the internet are posting bad criticism about the movie, especially towards the characters Jay and Silent Bob. Later on in the film, Jay and Silent Bob get their money from the movie, and they decide to use it on travelling costs to beat the living shit out of anybody who posted bad stuff about them on the internet.
So with this story, it makes me wonder on how truly mad wrestlers are at me for all of the things I've said over the nearly 3 year period that I've wrote columns here at LoP. Not that I'm afraid of them buying plane tickets to kick my ass, but I'm just curious. I know a handful of wrestlers have told me that they dislike what I've wrote about them, namely Crash Holly. Crash got pissed at me when I called him a "jobber" because he lost to Rhyno about 2 weeks in a row, even though he had the Lightweight title, and for wrestling on Heat for the majority of his matches. Crash was so mad that he dedicated an entire 2 hour audio commentary to me. So if he's openly pissed at me, I'm sure some of the guys in the WWF locker room got wind of what I do everyday.
But hey, I just write about what I see and read about wrestling, and as Ben Affleck says in "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back", the internet has given everyone in America a voice about anything. Well, it's given me a voice about professional wrestling, which I express every day. And I'll admit, I do get out of hand sometimes, but it's only for the love of wrestling that I have and the passion I have for writing. Many English teachers have said that I put a lot of emotion into my writing. So when I'm pissed, I write with intent on being angry. If I feel very good, I'll write mostly cheery things. Usually, I'm in a mood to joke around, which makes for the PDC to have a lot of sarcasm, which many perceive as negative.
Hopefully, no million dollar wrestlers will start buying plane tickets to come kick my ass. The funny thing about Jay and Silent Bob was that they were able to track posters down just from what they posted on the internet. I suppose they did a little research on the IP addresses, somehow received the addresses from the internet provider, and found their way to the houses. Getting the IP address, unless the posting forum shows it, and actually getting a provider to tell you the address is quite hard to do. People wonder why I still call myself "Mr. Tito".........
Since we're somewhat on the subject of planes, it's a big shame that Billy Silverman has quit the WWF already. Very big shame. He was a great referee, and he caught flack for something he never should have. Silverman PAID EXTRA OUT OF HIS OWN MONEY to trade in the WWF provided Coach plane tickets for 1st Class tickets, which is considered a no-no in the WWF. I guess with the Glass Ceiling and the Hierarchy in the WWF, only certain wrestlers are allowed to travel 1st Class, which the WWF provides. Guys like Rock, Austin, Triple H, Undertaker, probably Kane, and any others who have great star power or seniority receive 1st Class tickets by the WWF. The rest receive Coach tickets. Billy Silverman received Coach and with his own money, again, traded them in for 1st Class tickets. HE'S USING HIS OWN MONEY!!!!! It's quite pathetic of the WWF to get pissed about that, especially when it's coming out of his own wallet. It just goes to show you that there's a major power system in the WWF. Also, I guess there won't be any more B.S. in the WWF anymore, har har.
Oh, by the way, see Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back if you haven't yet. I've caught it twice now, and I laughed my ass off both times. Check out ViewAskew.com, too. No, they didn't pay me a dime or ask me to plug the movie.
But anyway, let's review some old ECW stuff. On to the PDC.
First of all, let's discuss the tape cover, cause two things caught my attention. What in the hell is up with the handcuff on the dude on the front? He has "HARDCORE" tattooed on his back, and his hands behind his head, but the handcuff on his right arm is disturbing. I don't know what visual effect that Pioneer was going for. Secondly, a FINGER OF SHAME goes out to Pioneer for placing a picture of Rob Van Dam on the back cover. RVD has absolutely NO PART in this video, with the exception of the small clips they use as the background when the promo music is playing. Van Dam does not fight in any matches on this video, nor does he show up for anything. Any die hard RVD fan would be pissed if they saw this. It didn't bother me too much, cause I knew what I was buying, but for anyone else, it's quite dumb to do this.
The video is the same as the other 3. Styles is talking before each match, and the same graphics are used. So let's discuss each match, one by one.
Chris Benoit/Dean Malenko vs. Sabu/Taz: It's quite funny to see Tazz in this match, cause he's barefoot, has longer hair, and has a really weird outfit. Not that the Tazz he eventually evolved into, although his wrestling style is still the same here. Before the match, Benoit and Malenko attacked Public Enemy, and it was funny to see Rocco Rock get thrown around in a wheelchair. This match was somewhat boring at times, with a lot of stalling by Sabu and surprisingly, Chris Benoit. Just from watching this match, he wasn't the polished wrestler you see today, back then. Malenko was better and he seemed to have a mean streak to him in this match. He was called the "shooter" for some reason. Benoit and Malenko would eventually injure Tazz and get the win over Sabu. Public Enemy would later return for a big ol' brawl. I've seen a lot better from all 4 competitors.
Gangstas vs. Eliminators: I believe this match was from Gangsta's Paradise, if I'm not mistaken. It's in a cage, which only eliminates the top rope moves. However, Perry Saturn compensated that by jumping off the top of the cage, several times. The match was sloppy at times, namely from Mustafa, but it had some really nice trashcan shots. It's not the shitty WWF hardcore trashcan shots, but the ones that look to actually hurt someone with contact. I guess, for some reason, that ECW was leaning towards making Saturn and Kronus a part of the Triple Threat, cause Shane Douglas ran down to help out. I didn't quite like that idea. This match featured lots of blood, if that makes you sick to your stomach. Good overall.
Raven/Stevie Richards vs. Pitbulls: Oddly, Raven asked to get this match changed to a Best 2 out of 3 match since Stevie Richards was "claimed" to be hurt the night before. It was a dog collar match, and Raven, by himself, won the first fall. Geesh, what a bad decision. You should see the winning piledriver, however, by Raven on Pitbull #2 on the table. #2's head just shattered the table on his way down, but only in the center of the table. Nasty stuff. Richards makes his way into fall number 2, which is pretty brutal. Pitbulls work better as a team here, and they eventually kill Stevie Richards by powerbombing him off the top rope and into a table. It wasn't quite as safe as those spots now done in the WWF. No way there. Pitbulls won fall number 2. The third and final fall was brutal, with lots of bleeding and more table spots attempted. Raven took out one of the Pitbulls after 2 table spots (one botched), which led to Tommy Dreamer running down to join the other Pitbull. Dreamer pinned Raven, but Bill Alfonso came down and reversed the decision. Alfonso made the bad decision to legalize the chokeslame for one night, as Big Dick did his, but that prompted 911 to kill Alfonso with one. I guess it was a long time coming to Alfonso. Match was very chaotic, and one to see if you haven't already. Oh yeah, you should see the nasty table spot Raven took, where only his head hit the table when coming down from a top rope powerbomb. Yuck!
Shane Douglas vs. Pitbull #2: This match was probably more technical than others, with some great psychology. The injured Pitbull #1 angle was very nicely done by ECW, and it would only get better once a masked Rick Rude entered the picture, later down the road. The crowd was heavily into it, too, cheering for Pitbull #2 to "break his neck"! You know a feud is good when any kind of fans cheer that. Decent match overall, and way better than the match done at Barely Legal.
Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guererra: Usual from these two, really. They did their usual high flying moves, and Rey actually did the Splash Mountain pinning spot (Razor's Edge off the top rope, but Misterio turns it into a pin off a Frankensteiner) against Psychosis at WCW's Bash at the Beach 1996. What else can I say, other than another great match between these two? Well, it is weird seeing both wrestle in masks, as opposed to unmasked, like their later years.
Tommy Dreamer vs. Prime Time Brian Lee: Damn, I miss Prime Time. He was really tough in ECW, but he was a joke in the WWF as "Chainz of the DOA. This match features the big scaffold spot you see on the never-ending Extreme Warfare, Volume 2 promo on all of the ECW shows, as Brian Lee goes crashing down about 20 feet into many tables in the ring. How that couldn't have really hurt, well, that's a mystery to me. This feud was quite awesome in its day, as Lee was Raven's Hitman who was paid to destroy Dreamer, no matter what, to keep him away from Raven.
LAST WORD: Damn, this was a tough video by ECW. Probably one of their bests, although there are a few matches that I really enjoy off the Path of Destruction video to rival this. I gave POD an A-, but since Hardcore History features 6 matches instead of 5, with all of them being somewhat watchable, we'll go that extra mile and give this video a
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@That's all for today. I hope you enjoyed today's discussion and Multimedia Review. I have my eye on Best of Backyard Wrestling 2 for a future review, but I don't know if it's worth the money to basically see a repeat of the first video. Could be different. I'll be back, tomorrow, to discuss ratings and some WWF stuff. Until then, just chill till the next episode.
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Take Care, and Thanks for Reading.