DVD Review: Blood, gore and kicking ass on DVD

If you're a wrestling fan and love the old days of ECW and the violence they could only give to us, don't hesitate for one second on purchasing the DVD Bloodsport: the ECW's Most Violent Matches. It's a 10. That's it….go buy it.

Now, if you're still here, you may need a little bit of persuading. This is the WWE's third ECW title (seeing how they now own practically all that was ECW) and it's the best one yet. This DVD features matches from all the way back in 2000 up until last year's ECW PPV, One Night Stand.

This two disc DVD set has some crazy matches which made me almost cringe. Two of the most violent matches involve glass and barbed wire, in that order. Axl Rotten vs. Ian Rotten in a Taipei Death Match is just too crazy not to see. A Taipei Death Match involves the participants to tape up their hands, stick them in glue and then roll their fists in broken glass. I have no clue why these two agreed to beat the crap out of each other with broken glass, but they did. And it's on film.

The Barbed Wire match features the Living Hardcore Legend, Terry Funk against the maniacal Sabu. This match isn't for the weak hearted because there is a lot, and I do mean A LOT of blood and lacerations in this match. Watching until the end where the two can't move because their entangled with each other due to the barbed wire surrounding their bodies is almost surreal. Paul Heyman even comments after the match that he was so squeamish about how the match turned out that he never ordered another match of its kind during his ECW days.

Other noteworthy match ups that don't involve buckets of blood are Rey Misterio Jr (when he was twenty) vs. Psichosis in an amazing high-flying Mexican Death Match, RVD vs. Sabu in a Stretcher Match (how RVD didn't break his neck during this one is beyond me), Bam Bam Bigalow vs. Tazz and Rhino vs. The Sandman. The other matches are great too, and have some amazing spots.

At a time where TNA Wrestling is getting more attention, and in my mind, will be stealing thunder from the WWE this year, it's still nice to see how ECW made it's mark on the industry and how there's still a demand for wrestling of this graphic nature. I would definitely like to see ECW come back. I have a feeling that we'll see a second volume of this series in the future. Wrestling fans: buy this, now.

Want to know more about glass fights and barbed wire matches? Email Peter at popeyepopsolive@hotmail.com