Remembering the Bloody Days of the Squared Circle

June 1, 2010 Patrick Hickey Jr. DVD & Blu-Ray, Professional Wrestling 0

Ever since the ECW promotion was resurrected by Vince McMahon early last year, every hardcore fan has tried their hardest to get back into the brand, but nevertheless has found themselves wishing for the old days when the brand was totally extreme and different than any other promotion in the world.

Some believe that the storylines on ECW today aren’t as raunchy, while others feel the matches aren’t as violent. Well, now with the release of “Blood Sport: ECW’s Most Violent Matches,” ECW fans now have the most extreme matches all in one collection. Blood Sport not only delivers the goods as far as serving up some of the bloodiest battles ever seen in ECW, it’s chronologic presentation serves as a great addition to the backbone of the history of the promotion featured on “The Rise and Fall of ECW.”

ECW fans will also be happy to know that not one match from any previous DVD is found on this collection, making it a one of a kind gem for any nostalgic fan or collector. Featuring classics such as the Raven vs. Terry Funk match for the World heavyweight title, the main event from ECW’s first pay per view and the infamous I Quit match between CW Anderson and Tommy Dreamer in addition to 17 other matches, this DVD is unlike any other wrestling collection out right now.

However despite the high amount of action on the collection, the matches on the first disc are from the first few years of ECW, with poor production value and camera work that only real fans of the promotion can enjoy. Some fans may opt to just throw in the second disc of the collection, which filled with matches including Taz, Shane Douglas, Tommy Dreamer and the Dudley Boys that are sure to satisfy the most blood thirsty of fans.

Another shortcoming of the collection is the way Paul Heyman chose to introduce each match. While no one doubts the fact that the Bill Alfonso- Beulah McGillicutty match was a violent one, saying things like, “It was one of the most important five minute stretches in wrestling history,” is just that, a stretch and a bad one at that. If this collection didn’t have any commentary from Heyman, none of the rich history of the promotion would be lost or tarnished, but for some reason, the WWE decided to have Heyman exaggerate his exploits in ECW before every single match, making his voice annoying and tiresome by the end of the collection.

In the end however, things like that really don’t take away how violent the matches are in this collection and how well they represent an almost lost era in wrestling history, making “Blood Sport: ECW’s Most Violent Matches” a must own DVD for any devoted fan of the promotion.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14267 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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