By Scott Bowden
August 11, 2005
Extreme Measures: Scott Bowden reviews Jeremy Borash’s labor of love, FOREVER HARDCORE
“We were like a traveling freak show.”
—Jerry Lynn, former ECW star
“What ECW is, ECW is a bunch of crazies, nuts, kooks, weirdos—that all gather around together. And a bunch of great people, too.”
–Terry Funk, hardcore legend
No wonder Terry Funk felt at home in ECW. When the current former NWA World champion and current hardcore king was recruited in 1994 by ECW founder Tod Gordon, Funk admits that he was less than enthused. It wasn’t that the Dean of Funk U. had a problem with putting over young talent while educating them in the school of hard knocks. The Funker just didn’t want Gordon, who had become wealthy with a jewelry store in Philadelphia and other business ventures, to lose money on a doomed-from-the-start foray in the wrestling business like so many well-off marks before him.
“He said what he’d like to do is start a wrestling company,” Funk recalls. “I told him that I didn’t think it was a good idea. I told him, ‘Tod, this is gonna break your ass. He said, ‘So, it’ll break my ass then.’ So I went up there.”
Funk, who wasn’t interviewed for World Wrestling Entertainment’s THE RISE AND FALL OF ECW release on DVD, helps fill in the gaps in the Philly-based promotion’s storied history in Jeremy Borash’s new documentary, FOREVER HARDCORE.
Along with other stars not currently under contract in WWE, Funk details exactly what made ECW special in the documentary. At a decided disadvantage because of the lack of actual in-ring ECW footage (McMahon owns the rights), Borash’s documentary more than makes up for it with heart. Borash does manage to capture the flavor of ECW by rounding out the interviews with XPW footage.
Side-Note Slam: You’ve gotta love the titles of WWE DVDs. If you’re on good terms with the promotion, it’s positive (THE ULTIMATE RIC FLAIR COLLECTION) and if you’re not, it’s less than favorable (the upcoming SELF-DESTRUCTION OF THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR). With ECW, a “brand” (to use the McMahonism)—and former competitor—now owned by Vince, it’s somewhere in between: THE RISE AND FALL OF ECW. And before Bret Hart signed a deal last week to participate in the November DVD chronicling his WWF career, the former title of the Hitman’s WWE release was entitled SCREWED: THE BRET HART STORY.
Yes, once again, some of the ECW boys are taking on the Vince McMahon machine by participating in Borash’s doc. In a way, they’re the underdogs again, as the still photographs of the angles, promos, stars and matches discussed in FOREVER HARDCORE don’t do them justice. But then ECW’s production values were never on par with WWE’s; in fact, that was the appeal to many fans of the hardcore promotion. Besides, how could McMahon and Company make a complete documentary about ECW without Funk, Raven, Gordon, the Sandman, Shane Douglas and Sabu?
Likewise, Borash has to do without Heyman, Cactus Jack and the Dudley Boyz. However, the voice of ECW, the always-charming Joey Styles appears on the Borash version, adding his insights into what made the promotion successful while also offering his medical diagnosis on Terry Funk’s hardcore condition: “He’s crazy.”
To me, Styles epitomizes what ECW is about: a dreamer with a passion to just be involved in the wrestling business. Just like Tommy Dreamer who lived the dream of busting his ass to eventually get over as a wrestling personality with the tough Philly crowd, Styles overcame the fans’ initial disdain of his over-the-top style to become a top-notch TV wrestling announcer. Raven, a lifelong fan of the business, heaps the ultimate praise on Styles’ work: “My four all-time best commentators are Ross, Gordon Solie, Lance Russell and Joey Styles.” Man, I could listen to guys like Scott “Raven” Levy and Jim Fullington (The Sandman) talk about the business all day—they’re so passionate about the biz and are among the highlights of the documentary.
Also included are interviews with former WWE/WCW writers Vince Russo, Ed Ferrera, Bill Banks and Terry Taylor, all of whom are quite candid in their admiration for the group and the influence ECW ultimately had on the wrestling business in the United States. Taylor in particular really seems to “get it.” Watching FOREVER HARDCORE, I kept waiting for McMahon to pop in to remind everyone that he helped keep the company on financial life support. Another advantage of Borash’s doc: no Eric Bischoff.
Often overlooked as the patriarch of ECW, Gordon kindly credits Eddie Gilbert, who was instrumental in my start as a heel in the business, with helping to educate him about the inner workings of how to put together a TV wrestling show. I say that knowing that Eddie initially looked at Gordon as an easy mark to take advantage of. Eddie brought the Memphis style to Philly, but it was 1990s Memphis: the lazy, recycled approach being used in my hometown by the USWA booker Randy Hales. Really, it was Paul Heyman who adapted Jarrett’s and Lawler’s innovative, often-hardcore approach to promoting professional wrestling in the ’70s and early ’80s and took it to another level.
Kevin Lawler, who accompanied Gilbert to Philadelphia from Memphis in 1993, told me months back: “After a few weeks, I could see that Eddie viewed this as just another payday, a company to run into the ground and suck dry, while stroking his ego for the short-term.”
Under Gordon, the company mostly used local wrestlers, including J.T. Smith, an employee at his jewelry store. Eddie used his connections — and Gordon’s money — to bring in “established” (i.e., older) stars ostensibly to give the promotion credibility. He booked guys he’d worked with during his first stint in the WWF (Don Muraco and Jimmy Snuka) and legends he’d always admired (Terry Funk and Stan Hansen). Trouble was, Eddie wasn’t using the older guys to put over and create new stars — he was keeping the aging wrestlers on top.
As former ECW front-office employee and current ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky tells Borash: “The product wasn’t good with Eddie Gilbert as booker. It wasn’t the right product for Philadelphia at the time. It was very Memphis.” There’s a part of me that wants to hit Sapolsky with a steel chair, as Memphis was as much an influence on ECW as ECW was to the evolving WCW and WWF in the late 1990s. Plus, Gilbert booked the first appearance of ECW’s eventual franchise player Shane Douglas, who was repaying Gilbert for his first big push in Bill Watts’ UWF.
However, I understand Sapolsky’s point: Recycled Memphis ideas weren’t going to put ECW on the map. It took a rebel, an innovator—and, really, an instigator—like Paul Heyman to do that.
While the boys in FOREVER HARDCORE admit that Heyman was no businessman, most concede that he was the creative force behind ECW, the perfect complement to Gordon, who knew how to make a dollar.
When asked about Heyman, Sandman says, “Intelligence borders on insanity. Paul could be one of the best motivators in the world, like a Knute Rockne-type of motivator.” (As a huge Notre Dame football fan, I find that comparison pretty funny.)
According to some of the boys, Heyman could be inspiring one minute and infuriating the next. “One minute you’d want to put a gun to his head,” Levy says, “and then 30 seconds after talking him you’d say, ‘God, he’s the best, I love him!’”
A gun? New Jack explains to Borash that he always took a more tactful approach in dealing with Heyman. “We bumped heads a couple of times. I’d yell, ‘Go get the knife!’” (New Jack displays more affection for the ECW arena rats, fans who lusted after the boys, whom he recalls fondly in the documentary.)
Given the way ECW ultimately unfolded, perhaps Funk best sums up the dichotomy that is Paul Heyman: “He’s an insane, crazy, Einstein-type of…moron.”
After Gilbert and Gordon had a falling out, Heyman caught the owner’s ear, explaining that he needed to create new stars and build up ECW as a rebellious faction that could be a serious thorn in the sides of the WWF and WCW. He advised him to drop the “Eastern” from ECW in favor of “Extreme” to better represent what the company now stood for: the anti-WWF.
The promotion went on to develop an intense cult following, first in Philly and then slowly nationwide, with tape traders reacting strongly to the product. Along the way, careers were made, as stars like Scott Levy found his voice with the Raven character and the Sandman dropped the beach-boy gimmick in favor of the beer-swiggin’, cigarette-smokin’ everyman. “They looked like real people—not characters,” Konnan says.
To this day, Levy, who endured a lame gimmick like Johnny Polo in the WWF prior to arriving in Philadelphia, is thankful for the opportunity to work in ECW. “If it wasn’t for the two or three years while I was there, there wouldn’t have even been a career afterwards,” he says.
Like WWE’s DVD version, FOREVER HARDCORE details how Heyman double-crossed the NWA, this time with Douglas’ perspective. It was especially interesting to hear how some with the company didn’t like the way Paul handled the situation with the NWA and the late Dennis Carluzzo, including Styles. The former ECW performers also explain how Heyman continually tweaked the product, featuring the hardcore violence that seems to define the group to this day, while also featuring solid mat wrestling and the luchadores. The boys pour their hearts out to Borash—detailing angles involving Gary Wolfe’s legit broken neck and Raven crucifying the Sandman.
While ECW stars were aware at the time they were apart of something special, most, like Francine, also seemed to know it was too good to last.
In the wrestling war of the late 1990s, WCW and WWE continued to rip off ECW’s style and its stars, leaving the group nearly a shell of itself by the time they appeared to be on the verge of potentially succeeding nationally.
The DVD closes with Borash’s tribute to the late Chris Candido, who died before he could be interviewed for the documentary.
Kudos to the boys who participated in FOREVER HARDCORE for keeping the legacy of ECW alive—not for personal profit but out of a love for the business many of them will never experience again. Especially a guy like Terry Funk, who turned down a much bigger payday to work McMahon’s ONE NIGHT STAND in favor of Borash’s HARDCORE HOMECOMING show. And kudos to Borash for giving fans everything that WWE’s RISE AND FALL OF ECW isn’t. As Borash himself says: “This era clearly defined and changed the lives of every person involved, from the champions to the fans.”
Not too bad for a wrestling promotion that started out in a ring in front of 80 fans at former Phillies slugger Mike Schmidt’s sports bar in Philadelphia.
Sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, always fascinating, HARDCORE HOMECOMING can be ordered at www.foreverhardcore.net.
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