Tonight was another chapter in the future best-selling WWE DVD: "The Rise + Fall of TNA Wrestling."

I would disagree that the main event was the only good match on the card. Tommy Dreamer and Raven gave me exactly what I thought I would get: a violent, bloody war. And 2 Cold Scorpio was very impressive in his match with CW Anderson.

Coming from a die hard ECW fan, it was extremely (no pun intended) entertaining show. I took the "F*** you, Vince!" chants as the fans letting Vince McMahon have it for destroying the fed they loved when he created that piece of garbage that aired on Tuesday nights.

I thought the show was horrible. They pulled it out of their a**es, which is why guys declined and even Lynn pulled out. Yeah injured while working out for the match my a**. His back has been screwed up for a while. If they would have planned this PPV a few months in advance, they could have gotten a lock on some guys that didnt work the show and would have been able to tell if Lynn could work or not.

But they had 2 official matches the Impact heading to the PPV and then one was changed. Great build up.

Just a horrible horrible show in my opinion. I really wish they could have gotten guys whom could work a highly entertaining match, would have saved this PPV.

I'm not at all surprised to see you take this angle given your distaste for both TNA and ECW (well, basically anything that's not WWE), Kev, it's just a shame that you feel able to reach such conclusions despite not bothering to even watch the show.

I understand this is merely an opinion based blog but surely the serious sports journalist in you would be aghast at the thought of reaching conclusions and making judgements based on nothing more than second hand reports and opinions.

As for the show itself, i chose not to purchase it so can't comment on it's quality or lack thereof, and hope that in future you'll do the same.

RESPONSE FROM KE: Oh good lord.

I saw some of Dreamer-Raven on a "free" feed and I didn't hear any reaction from the crowd. They did the same sh*t they did back in the day.

I was an ECW nut, living near Philly but the time has come for that style of wrestling to come to an end. It's a shame because guys like Dreamer, Raven, Richards, the Gangsta and the rest can only do that type and can never be anyone or anything else in their career.

This show was a slap in the face to TNA ( and I'm no fan of TNA ) and most of those guys won't be around after a couple of weeks. Just sell the company to Vince and avoid the inevitable...............

I enjoyed the pay-per-view. It was a typical ECW card from start to finish. Comedy match, High Spots match, hardcore match, extreme match, and great Main Event. I havent ordered a pay per view event in over 5 years so that's saying something if this is the first one that I ordered. It was good to see some wrestlers that I havent seen in awhile. And yes, it would have been great to see Paul E. Where was Lance Storm?

RESPONSE FROM KE: Storm has been highly critical of TNA in the past and turned down an offer to be part of the show.

I agree completely. ECW was good for its time, but that time has long since passed. Let it go people. Be happy with the DVDs. It won't ever get better than that.

I forgot to mention. Joel Gertner was excellent as usual. His intro was the best he has ever done. But Bill Alfonso was a waste of air again. Someone shove that whistle down his throat. He cant talk, his interview with RVD was a waste. A good manager works the crowd and interfers when needed. Fonzy jumps around like he is on crack and gets in the way.

lmfao @"diehard" ecw fans. they're so cocky because they love some third rate fake wrestling show. if you're going to watch fake wrestling, just watch the best (wwe), if you're going to watch fake hardcore wrestling watch the hardcore indy shows, if you're going to watch technical wrestling, watch real wrestling (ufc).

seriously, ecw "hardcore" fans should be ridiculed for being obsessed with something so obsolete and insignificant.

I assumed that the Vince chant referred to the WWE not allowing TNA to use the name of the promotion or about half the roster. How dare the WWE not allow a competitor to use their legally owned trademarks!

As I've said in other posts here, I just find this whole show sad. It's such a desperate, transparent attempt by TNA to reach wrestling fans that have not been interested in their product. It was one thing when the WWE did the two "One Night Stand" shows, because the WWE had legitimate ties to ECW. Plus, the shows were run in an old ECW building, in front of old ECW fans, with everyone significant to ECW appearing save for Shane Douglas. This show was in Florida, in front of the same people that would have been there for any other TNA show, and of the four most significant names associated with ECW- Paul Heyman, Joey Styles, Douglas and Rob Van Dam- only one of them was there. Instead, we get "PJ Polanco" and "Cohones". Sad's the only word for it.

For anybody who hasn't seen it: Jim Cornette has a website where he has posted a few Op-Ed columns, and one addresses the history and problems with "hardcore" wrestling. It's an interesting read.

http://www.jimcornette.com/Commentary_05-20-2009.html

Hardcore justice was a very good ppv. The worst thing about it was the talent not being able too use the ring names that people have grown to love, but the action was great. And I'd like to add a big Fu to Vinnie Mac,for destroying ECW in the first place with that crap he called wrestling on Tuesdays. Last night showed what it should have been like.

Last night was the first time I watched an ECW type show in full! I have never been a die hard fan , but I was intrigued so I ordered it. I was not disappointed.

RVD and Sabu was great! Sabu is definitely homicidal and suicidal! But my favorite matches were Dreamer vs. Raven and Team 3D vs. Axl Rotten and Balls Mahoney.! It was a nice bloodbath! My favorite spot was when Budda lit the table on fire and powerbombed balls through it! I forgot to mention The Gangstas made their presence felt. Also I enjoyed how Tommy Dreamer's wife got involved in the match between him and Raven. The drama and bloodshed was very well put together.

It was great to see 2 Cold Scorpio and Kid Kash gave a great performance! You could tell every wrestlers heart was really into giving a great performance tonight!

Overall this was a very good ppv filled with everything that you could want from ECW. I got my money's worth. As for the Vince chants, after what he gave the true fans on Tuesday nights, I think he kind of deserved it.

Ultimately, Hardcore Justice was not a complete let down. But to answer your question, I do not feel like it was worth 40 dollars. What I expected to be a card of hardcore legends booked in brutally violent yet creative matches, was nothing more than a heartwarming reunion of former comrades getting the chance to perform one last suplex. This was not necessarily a bad thing. It was feel-good story. But when the expected broken teeth and stretchers are substituted with the FBI winning a dance contest and Bubba Ray Dudley light saber battling Balls Mahoney, you're left disappointed.

With that said, the Raven-Dreamer match stole the show. This match showed spirts of what I expected the whole pay-per-view to feature. The ring was stained with blood after the match (mainly from Raven's mouth which was impailed with barbed wire). The RVD-Sabu match was a distant second. Kudos to Sabu for putting on an above-average display with three weeks to prepare. This match was artistically incredible, but I've seen more high-risk stunts in a TNA X-Division match. I'd rank the Dudley Boys (Team 3D) vs. Axl Rotten and Mahoney match third. I expected a lot more weapon use different from the replica Al Snow "heads" and frying pans. The flaming table sort of made up for the weapons let down, but I expected a 3-D through it rather than a powerbomb.

The biggest letdown was Rhino not goring anyone through a table. And if there is one thing we learned at the end of the night it was New Jack and Sandman are still BAMFs.

With all due respect Kev, I think many people were hating the show without watching it.

Let's be honest, there is plenty of animosity towards TNA for throwing it because (a) they can't use the ECW name; and (b) because they are TNA.

While it was by no means the pay per view of the century, it still had a good solid card from front to back, with the top two matches worthy of being called main event. In the non-announced undercard, every match, while not perfect, had its moments.

If they did this every month, would I be in? Probably not, especially since most of the ECW guys look like they've been hitting the buffet line too hard, but for a one-and-done show, it was worth my 35 bucks.

I watched it, and it wasn't all that good overall. It had its moments, but it wasn't worth the $35.

It especially wasn't worth the $35 with no HD broadcast.

First, I have to say, Gus T.T. Showbiz's comment up there is awesome, and as much as I'd like to see TNA succeed, based on this PPV, I have to wonder whether they have it in them. I mean, TNA has a roster of world-class talent and they could put on any type of show they want - they could make TNA the modern-day ECW if they tried to. Right now, though, no matter how you look at it, there's no comparing TNA to any of WWE's competitors in the 90's except a David-Arquette-era-WCW.

I watched "HardCORE Justice" in a bar and I'm glad I didn't shell out the dough for it.

The presentation put me off at first but when the PPV hit its stride it started to grow on me. The arena was REALLY dark and the ring lighting was a weird, almost blacklight-tinted blue. The first few matches were kinda weak. Weirdly, they appeared the be the matches that appealed to "wrestling critics" because they were mostly technical bouts. But, as much as I like guys like 2 Cold Scorpio and Stevie Richards, they ain't exactly Shawn Michaels. They certainly aren't gonna put any butts in the seats trying to chain wrestle on a "hardcore" PPV. I'd be all for integrating some of the better ECW wrestlers into TNA's main roster, but I can't really say history has proven that to be good for either party.

The second half of the card was much stronger. Once the weapons came into play it actually did come across (almost) like an old ECW show. Even without any of the matches being built up (AT ALL) or having any real context (AT ALL), they were pretty fun to watch. PPV-quality fun? No. But then again, I wasn't a huge ECW fan back in the day - a lot of people really seemed to enjoy it.

There were the obligatory flaming table in the Team 3D match. There were run-ins by guys like Sandman and New Jack (who I honestly think were just there to give ECW fans the warm fuzzy feeling of knowing they're still alive). There were LOTS of video packages.

My favorite wrestler from the ECW days is Raven, and I'm disappointed to say he didn't look too sharp in the ring. Dreamer didn't either. They worked around their limitations to put on a decent hardcore match, but it was marred by unnecessary interference from (what I think were actors playing) the Blue Meanie and Nova. There was a cool barbed-wire crossface by Tommy Dreamer on Raven.

The main event was one of the best "extreme rules" matches I've seen since 2005 or 2006 and it's hard to argue with Sabu and RVD's chemistry in the ring. There was a cool spot where they both went for planchas at the same time and took each other out, and Sabu can still do magical things with a folding chair.

One thing that I didn't like was the (what seemed like) 10-minute tribute to Joey Styles, but earlier in the show they only did a 30-second tribute to all the wrestlers who died since ECW went off the air, and didn't even name any names. Regardless, I'd pick this show up on DVD if it were $5 or less.

It was, indeed, sad. It was THAT hard to watch. I gave it a chance, but just couldn't handle how bad it was. I guess I'm too much of a WWE fan to enjoy it. I watch TNA for Kurt Angle and that's it...this seemed like it could have been SO much better.

First off, let's tell it like it is. Vince McMahon singlehandedly destroyed professional wrestling. Remember the adage 'Competition is good for the consumer'? Vince destroyed the competition FINANCIALLY. He played the role of Wal-Mart in a small town. This of course left the fans lacking in a monstrous way. Jeff Jarrett recognized this and thus TNA was born, and thank the wrestling gods it was. Their X-division alone beats any RAW episode in the past 6 months. TNA is giving the fans what we've wanted for years: better wrestling. So much in fact that there's been RAW episodes with fans chanting 'Boooooring! and TNA TNA TNA!'. LONG LIVE TNA.

Thank you, Vince? Yeah, right. By the time Vince was "pouring" in money, ECW was on it's last legs and by that I mean Sept. 1997 until it's last shows in Arkansas. The ECW that will always be remember where the days before the 1st PPV, the days of searching for ECW on forgotten syndicated channels, the days when ECW actually funded both WWF and WCW with the future of this business. Maybe you would have bought the PPV if the rumored Ric Flair/Shane Douglas was to take place, but it's better that you didn't. You don't understand Northeast wrestling anyways.

RESPONSE FROM KE: Flair wrestling anyone on PPV is a turn-off not an enticement. I don't understand Northeast wrestling? Well, I've only been a wrestling fan for 37 years -- 35 of which were spent living in the Northeast, so go figure.

Crowd was DEAD for RVD vs. Sabu.

... I guess there's nothing more extreme than being dead.

Vince McMahon gave money to ECW, because Paul Heyman was much better at finding good talent and creating new ideas than McMahon was. Paul Heyman brought in Chris Benoit, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Rey Mysterio just to name a few. Without Heyman, WWF/E never would have had Stone Cold Steve Austin or the "Attitude Era", which gave WWF/E their highest ratings in history. A "F*** you, Vince" chant was definitely appropriate not only for his stealing talent and creative ideas from ECW, but also for the way he disgustingly ripped every shred of ECW apart after buying them out. It was very disrespectful to the ECW fans and talent.

"Everything ends badly, otherwise it would never end."

The nostalgia wore of for most people after RVD cost himself a WWE title run.

I was never a die hard ECW fan but last nights show hopefully the end. Like the sing says leave the memories alone.

"RESPONSE FROM KE: ...I don't understand Northeast wrestling? Well, I've only been a wrestling fan for 37 years -- 35 of which were spent living in the Northeast, so go figure."

Brilliant Kev, brilliant. You cannot argue with that.

"No regrets on skipping TNA's Hardcore Justice"

I regret looking forward to your review of Hardcore Justice.

jt

Well, at least it wasn't a waste of TNA talent. TNA vs. ECW is not interesting to me. I'd like to see the TNA guys like Stles, Daniels, Lethal, et al. But I have to wade through the rest of the has been's running arounfd there right now.

I'm from the UK and a quite a young wrestling fan, but I have watched a lot of wrestling for my years. To be frank I don't see how this was meant to be good for the old ECW fans to see guys that quite frankly should have stopped doing this to themselves by now, go at it 'One more time!'. I think there are things in the wrestling world that should be left alone and ECW is one of them! The show airs over here on Friday but by what I'm reading its not worth any of my time.

It is becoming more and more obvious now that TNA's (and therefore this PPV's) biggest problem is that people are determined to hate it and will focus on any negatives they can find. Admittedly, this is mostly because of how TNA has screwed up since January, the rest being blind loyalty to WWE.

Hardcore Justice was not the PPV of the decade by any means but IMO it was just as good as any recent WWE or TNA PPV. For "old guys", most of the wrestlers that appeared were still able to perform with 2 Cold Scorpio being particularly impressive. There was also a lot of humour which made the night entertaining. The PPV achieved the job of ending the ECW story on a positive note rather than the sad demise it had a few months ago. As long as they leave it there I will be happy, if they bring it back in the future I'll be the first complaining.

Sadly the PPV was always going to be criticised as too many people had already decided their stance long before it took place. I think if you watched it Kev you would have been satisfied enough.

RESPONSE FROM KE: As I said, I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, so if you enjoyed it, that's great. But I can tell you honestly that aside from RVD-Sabu and perhaps Team 3D-Balls/Axl (only because I have known Axl for years), I have no interest in seeing anything on the card. I didn't think Raven-Dreamer was all that great 13 years ago much less now.

I think the PPV served it's purpose. TNA made everyone forget how butchered their regular product is for the weekend.

If people were really upset with the PPV, I gotta ask - What the hell were you expecting? Granted, Heyman and Joey Styles not being there was disappointing, but the performers are a lot older. I was surprised most were in as good shape as they were. Gertner was hilarious. 2 Cold Scorpio was phenominal - considering. I suppose he's had out of the ring issues, but he's one of the most under-appreciated performers of the era and good to see he's still a great athlete.

Sure, we could have done without seeing a virtually toothless Balls Mahoney, a fat shirtless Simon Diamond, and a cracked up Bill Alfonzo - it was far from perfect; but the show was mostly about the old crowd getting together again to enjoy one more time out with their public. I think they accomplished that.

Wow, that Cornette piece Stephen linked to is a must-read... totally fascinating history lesson. I have that 3rd concession stand brawl on tape, but never until now knew its full significance!

James C's comment sums it up perfectly: "I think the PPV served it's purpose. TNA made everyone forget how butchered their regular product is for the weekend."

First of all, I did not watch the show. I'm not an "old school" ECW fan (growing up in California, I don't think we ever got the weekly shows). I like a lot of the guys that were in the original ECW from what I've seen various places. I'm sure it was a fine show and the guys did well.

To me, this show seemed like a concept that was thrown together about a week ago when they got the last PPV buy rates. They tried to entice people who don't watch TNA to watch TNA for once. But the problem is: There were no regular TNA guys on the show! Save for RVD (totally solid) and Dreamer (jobber to the stars), this was all old ECW guys with no connection to TNA at all. So while there is an iota of possibility that they may have "spiked" the buy-rate with nostalgia (and really, considering how abysmal buys have been for TNA lately 5 more people buying it is a "spike"), how exactly is this getting anyone into the TNA product?

Which brings me back to James' comment. I really, REALLY want to love TNA. Some of my fav wrestlers right now are there. Angle, MCMG, Joe, AJ, Wolfe, Beer Money and so many more -- all the talent is there to do something great. The in-ring action is (usually) unbelievable!

But the best wrestlers keep getting buried by retreads. Rather than try to build a promotion, they just want to throw money around (Hogan/Bischoff/Flair much?). The two best things they had going a year ago -- knockouts and x-division -- barely get on the show these days. Worst, the stories and booking are either atrocious, or non-existent.

Example: MCMG/Beer Money matches for the past month have been incredible! But really? A best-of-5 series in 5 weeks? Where is the build-up? Where is the effort to get people interested in the series? If this was WWE or even WCW back in the day, this would have been a multi-month feud with at least 3 of those matches on PPV. We would have had some singles matches between members of each team in between real series matches. Maybe even an "injury" or something, where one of the teams becomes an underdog and has to gut out a win. Instead, the "story" is in the matches themselves -- which relegates the feud to non-importance and makes it utterly predictable that when BM won the first two, that MCMG would win the next two, so really the only match that meant anything was the last match anyway. Stupid booking...

Now, if the last image from this show was Heyman showing up, meaning they gave him the keys to the kingdom, things might be different. Heyman has a brilliant mind and would take this thing to the next level (assuming they got rid of Hogan, Flair, Bischoff, and Russo). Until that time, I will continue to watch TNA during the week and if I can get excited enough about even a couple of matches on a PPV I'll buy it. But given the recent track record of TNA, I might as well just budget that money for something else.

Oh well, on a selfish note, at least I don't have to shell out $40 to see the finale of the MCMG/BM series... one of the few matches TNA has promoted this year I would shell out real cash to see, and they are gonna it away. I guess that pretty much sums it all up, huh?

Steve Austin was hardly an unknown when he came to ECW. He had enjoyed a good stint in WCW before he got injured and ran afoul of Eric Bischoff. Furthermore, Jim Ross, WWE's head of talent relations at the time, was familiar with Austin from his own time in WCW, and JR was not shy about recruiting ex WCW stars like Vader, Ron Simmons, and Mick Foley.

It always amazes me when someone says Vince has ruined wrestling when the FACT is that had it not been for him wrestling would have continued to be a territorial thing and most would have gone under any way. He turned pro wrestling into a money making machine and there was plenty to make. Had Turner/Time Warners greed and Heyman's bad business sense not got in the way, there might still be real competition in pro wrestling. My problem with last nights PPV was ECW ended a decade ago. The One Night Stand PPV in 05 and 06 were well done and true to what ECW was. Then Vince pushed it too far. I think the new ECW started of fine, then it went down hill from there. But, once again, if it weren't for Vince, ECW would have folded much sooner. As Kev pointed out and I have many also done a few times on here, Vince was pumping money into ECW, helped Paul E. get his national TV deal, and put ECW talent on RAW. (I can still hear The King calling it Extremly Crappy Wrestling). And alot of those wrestlers who also blame him made alot of money off of Vince. Another thing, I get the fact that the ECW PPV that TNA did was an obvious storyline rip-off. And that's not my problem. If you think about it any thing you see on TV (including wrestling) or see at the movies is usually an idea that has been done before. Very rarely is anything fresh or original. But if you re-do a storyline, you should try to expand on it, it should at least be as good as the original if not better. This was not the case with what TNA has been doing with anything, let alone the ECW storyline. My biggest thing with all this though, is how the TNA talent roster has been treated in all this. From what I understand Wolff, Morgan and Styles are un-happy. Joe has been suspended. The Dudley's didn't even like the idea. Some of the wrestlers who only get paid if the make an appearance are getting screwed out of money. I don't understand why they would upset their talent roster to just do a storyline that doesn't even fit into their long term plans.

Hey Kev, I read ur blogs several times a week and even though I feel you do seem to have negative writings towards "extreme" stuff I wont harass you about it, I will just comment on what I thought and ask you a ? I did by the PPV ( first TNA PPV I have ever purchased) and if I had just watched the first half I would have been really dissapointed, but once the Team 3D match was on, it got good, it became good old 1990s rasslin' not " sports entertainment". I agree with you that Dreamer and Raven are well past their primes but the match was brutal!! The main event was amazing as you would figure with RVD and Sabu, so I was happy. My big question to you though is, what would you think if TNA took the product they have now ( with the X Division and the great MCMG Beer Money story line Jeff Hardy Abyss Lethal etc) and mixed in some of the Hardcore violence with guys like Dreamer Sabu and the popular ECW guys, cant you at least say that would be a good idea and get more viewers and be a positive change for TNA?

RESPONSE FROM KE: To answer your question, I wouldn't mind Sabu in TNA (never been a big fan of Dreamer's work, though) and I have written several times in the past that I think Raven should have a spot. I also have no problem with Rhino and Stevie Richards.

So let me get this straight, If i buy a house out of bankruptcy, and its mine, all mine and i decided to paint the walls blue, im going to have bunch of neighbors call me horrible for changing anything about it, Hey guess what Its mine now i can do anything i want to it... I know, not the best analogy, but play along, Vince buys ECW, Hey its his!!! he can( unfortunetly) depending on your opinion, do anything he wanted with it, and he did,,, and if you didnt like it dont watch it,, Dreamer worked there till the end.. so i dont wanna hear anything about him,
I liked Joey Styles on the recent ECW show on WWE On Demand, ": hi, im Joey styles and im here with..( turns around and looks)... oh thats right, there all gone!" Vintage!!!

I find it funny how you always bash TNA or anything Non WWE Related..even finding a way to slurp Vinnie Mac in your post about the TNA ECW PPV...

RESPONSE FROM KE: Yes I "always" bash TNA and "always" praise WWE. I wish you "always" read this blog, because then you would see the error in your statement. Yeah, I'm so anti-TNA that I also posted interviews a few days ago with Tommy Dreamer and Axl Rotten promoting the PPV. And I didn't "bash" this PPV. I said it didn't appeal to me but I can understand if you are a die-hard ECW fan that it appealed to you.

I saw Hardcore Justice at a friend's house. Overall I thought the show was pretty good. The main even with RVD and Sabu was really good rivaling anything the WWE puts out there currently. Dreamer looked better than I have seen in a while and he and Raven told a good story in the ring. You would have enjoyed that aspect of their match Kevin since I've read many times that you feel that aspect is often missing in many WWE matches. The tag match between Team 3D and Balls Mahoney/Axel Rotten was pretty good, classic Dudley boys fodder. The Gangstas coming out and brawling a bit was cool as well. And I agree with others that 2 Cold Scorpio was impressive. All in all I thought it was well worth watching. The guys in TNA can learn something about intensity from last night and the WWE stars can see how to connect with fans and how to tell a story.

Honestly Kevin, from reading your blog for a long time I can say that if you had an open mind and didn't look for just the negatives you would have enjoyed the show, especially the aspects I mentioned.

Firstly, this article reads like a review of someone else's review. If this is indeed the case, and you are indeed getting paid by the Baltimore Sun, I would advise your employers to consider terminating your contract at once on the grounds of half-a**ed journalism.

Secondly, your point that the "F--- You, Vince!" chant was inappropriate because Vince McMahon funded them to create talent, ideas, storylines and creative direction that he couldn't come up with himself defies logic.

Vince McMahon admits that raiding ECW's talent roster and not giving anything back would have been unfair business. This is admitting that he both needed ECW and was willing to pay for it. Proving that even Vince McMahon, a person you clearly admire very much, viewed ECW has a worthwhile INVESTMENT.

it was only upon taking CREATIVE control of the brand, that Vince McMahon managed to destory it in record time. Consider how long ECW lasted WITHOUT money and how quickly it died undern McMahon's WWE control.

Thus, the "F--- You, Vince!" chant was directed at McMahon's blindness towards his own creative failings and was entirely justified as Vince McMahon's blindness was responsible for many people losing their jobs, which is a rather bad thing to have happen to you, as you, Kevin, may soon discover.

RESPONSE FROM KE: FYI -- I don't have a "contract." I've been employed by The Baltimore Sun for more than 20 years, so I don't think you're going to get your wish.

I didn't order it but I watched it on the internet through a website I watch that streams games and such, and well I'm glad I didn't pay for it. It was good, but I don't think it would of been worth $40. Not much else I can say that hasn't been said, but the worst part of the PPV was watching Team 3D and the Gangstas hug AFTER the Gangstas attack Team 3D. That was bad.. but it was cool seeing New Jack and Mustafa.. where in the hell did TNA dig up Mustafa anyways??

The dude that was pretending to be the Blue Meanie was terrible. Why did the Blue Meanie not go?

Shame on you for expressing a harmless opinion!! I'll be frothing at the mouth for weeks because someone I've never met wrote an opinion that I disagree with on a blog that I voluntarily choose to read.

Stephen's post and link to Jim Cornette's commentary is really worthwhile, thoughtful commentary. Highly recommended reading!

I'm trying to imagine a scenerio where Vince McMahon would bring his storylines to a screeching hault and dedicate an entire PPV to a promotion that hasn't existed in a decade+. Would Vince dedicate 3 weeks of TV time to a AWA reunion show? Crap I probably just gave TNA another idea.

I have no actual evidence of this, but this whole thing seems to epitomize the problems with Dixie Carter calling the shots. Yes she understands certain business values & how they help grow a company, but her inability to identify with wrestling fans and what they want is going to doom this company.

For the same reasons that being super rich & "hands on" doesn't turn every sports owner into George Steinbrenner or Mark Cuban, money & an interest in wrestling doesn't turn Dixie Carter into Ted Turner or Vince McMahon.

Wow, I guess you can't have an opinion that doesn't view things outside the WWE as anything but awesome wrestling we should all love if we know anything about wrestling... I myself haven't seen Hardcore justice and I have no plan on wasting the few hours I get outside of work on a show with mixed reviews mostly on the lines of "if you loved the 90's ECW , you'd like this. If you didn't watch ECW in its prime you'll find it washed up wrestlers being thrown a bone" Why would that appeal to me? Not being interested in this show doesn't mean you worship at the altar of the WWE Universe, I use these blogs to keep up to date with the wrestling I don't have time for and all these "your bias" comments make me chuckle because most of them are born out of the same mentality as the WWE sheep who hate anything outside of the company, you have to follow the crowd who know wrestling OR you’re a WWE sheep that knows nothing... it’s sad wrestling comes down to the same thinking split on two sides of the same coin. Me personally I will continue to depend on this blog's insight and fairly unbiased comments, while I laugh at the childish wrestling camps fighting anyone that doesn't fit there thinking.

Thanks Eck

Its so funny that pro wrestling is about the only thing in the world where people actually complain about something good being given away!

Maybe Peter Schmuck was right about wrestling fans?

to the guy that said wwe future best selling dvd the rise and fall of TNA isnt that kinda contradicting yourself cause your saying tna is horrible and its gunna go under because it sucks but you said the dvd about it would be a best seller tell me for something to be a best seller dont people have to like it in the first place?

For all of you that keep saying Vince raided ECW's talent and that contributed to what happened to ECW, you really have no idea what your talking about. WCW took Jericho, Benoit, Guerrero, Saturn, Raven and the list goes on. WWF/E took some of the talent also but Vince would let some of the former ECW that he had under contract work an ECW show. This wasn't the case with WCW. ECW would have folded in 97 had it not been for Vince, Heyman will even tell you that. The fact that the company even made it as long as it did, considering how horrible of a businessman Paul was, is amazing. Wrestlers weren't even getting paid at the end and Paul was in debt over his head until Vince bought the rights to ECW.

I personally enjoyed the PPV. It did what it was supposed to do - provide ECW fans with another night of entertainment.

I didn't go into the PPV hoping for top of the line in-ring action. I was a lot more realistic than that. Half these guys were below average back then. I'm sure they're not going to improve with age.

I only wish that I skipped it. Was expecting EXTREME wrestling for their last show and not hugging and dancing. If only they would have held off on this for at least a month or so, maybe the wrestlers would look like wrestlers. Half of they were so of shape that it wasn't even funny. Was a waste of $35.00 in my book and can't imagine paying to see it live

I think it's pretty funny that people seem to think you "bashed" hardcore justice in your review of it. Even though you state that you didn't watch it. And your so called review is five lines in which you never state your opinion on the show, but instead just talk about what you heard about it. And you even ask people to tell you if it was worth the money. I may not be a genius but that sure doesn't sound like a review to me people! Give the man a break he writes great reviews about wrestling. Have you ever thought that maybe what he likes about wrestling is different than what you like about it? If his reviews of TNA and their Pay per views seem to bother you so much, then just shut up and leave. I mean i don't think your complaints are going to change his mind or anything. He's a critic he gets paid to state his opinion... did you read that part? HIS OPINION!!! Just because he doesn't like something doesn't mean he thinks people who watch it and like it are stupid. Sorry for the rant but i just get tired of listening to people bash critics for doing what they are payed to do!

1995 was indeed the year that professional wrestling changed forever. It was a time when Jeff Jarrett would fight Bob Spark Plug Holly on WWF TV and it was the year that Malenko and Eddy had some of the greatest matches in wrestling history, the year that Rey Jr. debuted in America (for all intensive purposes mind you), it was the invention of Double Tables and it was first ever Three Way Dance and it was the year that ECW set the stage for what we are watching today, so as I said... there is no way in the world that you "understand" Northeast Wrestling if you only "liked" the original ECW. I can understand someone who writes in the Baltimore Sun being an avid wrestling fan, with Baltimore's fine wrestling history and all, but the glory days of the Great American Bash will not be a subsitute for the most important 4 year span in wrestling history, Sept 93 until Sept 97, ECW, Philadelphia, PA, Northeast Wrestling.

"No regrets on skipping TNA's Hardcore Justice"

Why didn't you just say: Those grapes are sour.

-- MrJM

"Vince McMahon was secretly pouring money into the company to keep it in business."

If you had read "Hardcore History: The Extremely Unauthorized Story of ECW" by journalist Scott Williams, you would know that the checks from Vince were to offset advertising dollars that ECW lost due to Vince's scheming.

It wasn't a gift.

It was a settlement.

-- MrJM

RESPONSE FROM KE: DId I ever use the word "gift?"

I saw the show and was disappointed. The Raven Dreamer match up should have had an appearance from Kimona or Beleulah or both. That was a big angle in ECW and I am not sure if either valets were contacted.

RVD-Sabu was great, but why did Taz not wrestle? He is on the TNA roster. He had some classic battles with Sabu. Have him wrestle Sabu and RVD wrestle Rhino. If I remember correctly Rhino was the one who injured RVD's leg ending his TV champion reign in ECW.

Spike Dudley was needed badly in the team 3D match and where were the Luchadore's? ECW contracted several Mexican wrestlers in it's day. Would have loved to see a Super Crazy v Psychosis match.

Tajiri, Shane Douglas, Steve Austin, Terry Funk, Mikey Whipwreck, Lance Storm, Dawn Marie, etc. were all MIA.

The fact they did not have a tribute list of wrestlers that ECW has lost was sad, but I undertsand that.

Tommy Dreamer, who booked the show, should have known the histories and had matches based on them. Even if Douglass had no interest in wrestling, have him do a promo. He was one of the best in the business when he was at ECW as is Mick Foley.

Great to see a tribute PPV, but I could have booked it better and I am a nobody.

Another sad anti tna column. Get off Vince's lap. The ppv itself was actually really good. I enjoyed it. The booking was good. The pay per view built up nicely to the main event. I'd have to say out of all the wwe ppvs i've seen this year, Hardcore Justice was better.

I'm a wrestling fan who enjoys wrestling all across the board..WWE,along with FCW,TNA,ROH,WEW...and many more.ECW was one of my favorite shows during the 90's. Hardcore Justice was horrible. Good effort, but no go. WWE's ECW One Night Stand 2005 and 2006 in my opinion was the best send off for a brand with a good chunk of history in the wrestling biz. When I saw Vince's new ECW on sci-fi, I figured it would show case new talent, and it did.(Cm Punk,Jack Swagger,ie.). They put ECW to rest and continued show casing new talent from FCW through NXT. With TNA doing pretty well,there was no reason for another "Extreme" run. To many faces missing for it to be a good send off or ppv. No Pauly,Shane Douglas,Super Crazy, Joey F'n Styles,Lance Storm, and list could go on. TNA should have at least thrown in some of there talent. Good to see the Gangstas,Justin credible, and 2 Cold Scorpio.Thanks for still entertaining. I understand what Kevin was trying to get at.

"I saw the show and was disappointed. The Raven Dreamer match up should have had an appearance from Kimona or Beleulah or both."

You are a retard. Beulah is Dreamer's wife, and was heavily involved in the finish of the match. They just didn't call her by her old ECW name. Some ECW fan.

I did buy the PPV. And there were matches that fun or amazing to watch like the FBI vs Kash/Diamond/Swinger match (mainly the dance off), the Joel Gertner segment, Raven vs Dreamer and RVD vs Sabu matches. But all in all, not worth $35. This is my first TNA PPV purchase, and, if this is what they produce, it will be my last. Some of these guys have shown why they haven't had any mainstream success in 10 or 15 years. The Team 3D vs Rotten/Kahoneys match was embarrassing and hard to watch.