XXXXer's Bottom Line: The Top Ten Extreme Wrestling Tapes
Apr 16 '02
The Bottom Line Wrestling, both foreign and domestic, can provide one with hours of entertainment. However, if you want to be sickened and repulsed, watch this stuff.
When I first started here on Epinions.com back in April 2001, pretty much the only thing I was reviewing regularly was wrestling tapes, and a year later, although I have expanded my reviews to include a variety of obscure and old horror and sci-fi as well as other movies I enjoy, I still have a keen interest in pro wrestling, specifically in extreme wrestling. In recognition of my one year anniversary on the site, I’m going to return to my roots for a few reviews (or more) and provide for you simply the greatest extreme, so-called “hardcore,” wrestling tapes available on the market.
In the early 1990’s I caught the pro wrestling buzz, and developed a keen interest in the bloody, extreme wrestling that was featured in the Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) federation. Over the years, I’ve scoured the world for the best in extreme wrestling, and I’ve acquired quite a collection of obscure wrestling tapes, and this top ten list is an accumulation of what I feel is the best in extreme wrestling tapes available for your viewing enjoyment.
A word of warning: If you think that the WWF is the most extreme wrestling on the planet, I’d probably suggest you don’t even bother with the stuff I’m including here. These tapes, for the most part, are not for the faint of heart and include some incredibly graphic “real” violence. I’ve divided the list into five American release tapes and five Japanese tapes. Even if you can handle the American tapes, the Japanese matches, where wrestling is still revered for the “sport” rather than the “spectacle,” include some of the most wicked stuff I guarantee you’ll ever see.
Anyways.... on with the list!
THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY - AMERICAN RELEASE TAPES:
++ XPW’S BAPTIZED IN BLOOD 1 or 2
Okay, so this is actually two tapes, but I don’t particularly like southern California’s Xtreme Professional Wrestling promotion too much, and this is about the best this promotion has to offer. These two tapes chronicle the USA’s king of the Deathmatch tournament, with volume 1 featuring the 2000 tourney, volume 2 featuring the 2001 version. XPW features thumbtacks, barbed wire, nails, glass, lightbulbs... you name it, but the action is often kind of lame, and the talent not so hot, so I’ll say check these out only if you’re an extreme wrestling fanatic. To these folks, XPW’s BAPTIZED IN BLOOD should provide some entertainment.
BEST MATCH: Volume One: Supreme vs. John Kronus
Volume Two: Supreme vs. Vic Grimes
++ ECW’S BEST OF CACTUS JACK DVD
Perhaps the ultimate wrestling compilation tape, particularly for those of us who get off on seeing blood and brutality (well, maybe not get off... but still). One of the most extreme men ever to step foot in the ring is featured on this three and a half hour (!!) DVD that chronicles his journey through the ranks of perhaps the U.S.’s most extreme wrestling promotion. You’ll see a variety of dangerous style matches on this collection, and some of the greatest matches ever seen in ECW, including matches between Cactus and Terry Funk, Sabu, and The Sandman. If you like extreme wrestling, you simply have to see this.
BEST MATCH: Cactus Jack vs. Terry Funk in an extreme weapons match
++ BEST OF BACKYARD WRESTLING
Really, any of the backyard wrestling tapes deserves to be seen by anyone who calls them self an extreme wrestling fan. All of these tapes deliver action that you won’t believe, with amateurs duking it out in homemade rings in their own backyards. These tapes all contain some of the most brutal wrestling spots I’ve witnessed, and remain some of the best tapes to pop in, drink a few beers and enjoy. They now have released four volumes in this series (and counting!).
BEST MATCH: Your choice
++ ECW’S HARDCORE HISTORY
Another release from THE American hardcore wrestling federation. This tape covers what I firmly believe is the best period of ECW’s existence, from 1995 to 1996, when the federation was just beginning to come into its own. The talent level at this time was unbelievable, and the matches that were featured on your average ECW card were spectacular. On this tape, you’ll see loads of the biggest names in pro wrestling history, including “The Franchise” Shane Douglas, Taz, Sabu, and Chris Benoit, as well as some of the greatest tag teams including The Pit Bulls, The Eliminators, and The Gangstas.
BEST MATCH: A tossup: either the “Extreme Lucha Libre” match between Juventud Guerrera and Rey Misterio, Jr. or the “High Incident” scaffold match between Tommy Dreamer and “Prime Time” Brian Lee
++ FMW’S RING OF TORTURE
Truly FMW, or Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, is a uniquely Japanese federation, but Tokyo Pop Video’s FMW tape series has been Americanized for your pleasure, and RING OF TORTURE is probably the best commercial release compilation tape in the series. On this tape you’ll see barbed wire, ninja weapons, broken glass, and some stiff wrestling moves that have got to hurt. Not only do you get extreme men’s matches, but in FMW the ladies also get extreme, oftentimes having matches as brutal as those featuring male wrestlers.
BEST MATCH: Jason The Terrible, Hosaka, and Matsunaga vs. Super Leather, Kanemura and Hido in a three-man tag team war -- This match is just crazy with Matsunaga having a pane of glass shattered on his chest
***
Okay...here comes the obscure stuff. You’ve probably never heard of any of these tapes, but these are the hardest of the hardcore... the absolute most brutal wrestling tapes you’ll ever see. Watch at your own risk!
THE REAL DEAL - JAPANESE PRO WRESTLING:
Most of these tapes are Japanese release compilations, and are for the most part strictly in Japanese only, but you won’t care once the flesh hits the barbed wire.
++ BEST OF THE JAPANESE FIRE DEATHMATCHES
Japanese tape that features some of the most insane matches ever. Think you’ve seen it all? Check this tape out. Fire is perhaps the most dangerous weapon that you can use in a wrestling ring, because once it hits, there’s no such thing as “faking it.” Burns are burns are burns, and you’ll agree after seeing some of the matches on this tape.
BEST MATCH: Gedoh and Jedoh vs. Shoji Nakamaki and Yukihiro Kanemura in a Scramble Fire Tag Match... this match is brutal. The ring is surrounded by whipping flames, and ends when Kanemura is powerbombed onto a pool of burning gasoline and ignites
++ IWA KING OF THE DEATHMATCH 1995
The infamous king of the death match tournament featuring the likes of Cactus Jack, Terry Funk, Terry Gordy, Shoji Nakamaki, Tiger Jeet Singh and many more. Highlight after highlight and some of the most extreme bumps you’ll ever see. Watch Cactus’s head get stomped into a pile of thumbtacks, Terry Funk get blown up by a C-4 explosive, human bodies becoming living pin cushions.... if you have the guts!
BEST MATCH: Terry Funk vs. Cactus Jack in the finals. Barbed wire, Weapons, Land Mines... another unbelievable match.
++ W*ING WRESTLING BEST OF 1992
Arguably the second most brutal wrestling promotion in Japan, W*ING is kind of a mixture of wrestlers who frequently perform in either the FMW promotion or Big Japan (BJPW). This tape chronicles the year 1992 in the wrestling fed and features a multitude of insane, ultra violent and bloody matches. You get a whole bunch of the biggest names in Japanese wrestling including Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, Mr. Pogo, Yukihiro Kanemura, Jason The Terrible, and the 450 pound HeadHunter Twins. Included on this compilation are cage matches, barbed wire bat matches, scaffold matches, fire matches and more, and the blood really flows!
BEST MATCH: Misuhiro Matsunaga vs. Mr. Pogo in a fire deathmatch
++ CROCODILE DEATH MATCH
Sort of a greatest hits compilation of incredibly brutal action from the Big Japan Pro Wrestling Promotion. Although all the matches here are shown in highlights only, you’ll see piranhas, power drills, cactus, scorpions, scaffolds, light bulbs, thumbtacks, even a crocodile used in a wrestling match. This tape is beyond ANYTHING you’ll see in the U.S., and is well worth the time you’ll spend trying to track down a copy of this tape.
BEST MATCH: Any one of a whole truckload; this whole tape kicks bASS!
++ HISTORY OF THE BIG JAPAN DEATH MATCH 1
Here’s another great compilation tape from the Big Japan wrestling promotion. You’ll see many of the matches from the above CROCODILE tape in their entirety, along with a few new highlights. BJPW includes the most insane matches I’ve ever witnessed in my ten years as a wrestling fan. This tape is most definitely not for the faint of heart, but if you have the guts, it’s a must see and worth the time and effort it takes to track a copy of this down.
BEST MATCH: Mitsuhiro Matsunaga vs. Kendo Nagasaki in a Piranha Death Match. There’s a tank of real piranhas in the ring, and the loser is the guy who gets thrown into the tank!
***
AND One more for the record books
++ REAL WRESTLING INJURIES
Think wrestling is all fake? This 5 1/ 2 hour (!) tape will change your mind. Included are nasty falls, broken bones, internal injuries, and some of the most severe “blading” you’ll ever come across. I don’t really know if this tape is an official compilation tape or not; I got a copy off of Ebay, but if you can locate it, this tape is just beyond description.
A FISTFUL OF HIGHLIGHTS:
# The Gangstas Vs. D-von Dudley and Mass Transit -- The infamous match that resulted in a lawsuit. New Jack of the Gangstas carves 17 year old Mass Transit’s head wide open with an exacto knife, resulting in blood loss so severe that Transit almost died. Not for the squeamish, this match will upset your stomach.
# Ian Rotten Vs. Mad Man Pondo -- Rotten and Pondo are both ripped open (literally!) with a pair of household scissors. When I say “ripped open,” I mean it! Perhaps the most disgusting match I’ve ever seen.
# Sabu Vs. Terry Funk -- The legendary “Born to be Wired” main event from an ECW show. The ring is draped in barbed wire, and both of these guys are cut open badly.
# Manny Fernandez Vs. Invader #3 -- A match from Puerto Rico wherein the Invader suffers internal injuries and begins vomiting blood in the middle of the match. Pretty sick.
***
So there you go. Ten tapes that are worth the effort to track down for anyone “hardcore” enough to handle them. I’d especially recommend the Japanese tapes, as they include some of the most insane wrestling action I guarantee you’ll ever see. Many of these tapes are available on a variety of sources on the internet ( I’d recommend www.offthetoprope.com or www.rfvideo.com ) , and most can also be found on Ebay.
Hope you enjoyed the list, and thanks for reading!
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