The in-thing at the moment seems to be for independent production companies to produce documentaries focusing on certain aspects of the wrestling business. In the past few months we’ve had 101 Reasons Not To Be A Pro Wrestler and Catch: The Hold Not Taken, and now, a documentary entitled Extremely Crazy Wrestling Fans has just been released.
Filmed outside the Hardcore Homecoming Show at the Viking Hall in Philadelphia last summer, this documentary sets out to discover just what makes your average ECW fan so darn passionate.
It’s a sort of hit-and-miss affair. While some of the fans come across as very knowledgeable and very passionate about the show they are about to see, some of them come across as pretty weird. As one fan comments, he wouldn’t normally invite some of these people to dinner, but he’s about to spend three hours in a smoky bingo hall with them.
While the documentary is well put together, and the film quality is certainly a great deal better than 101 Reasons…, it was the little things that annoyed me. Several clips were shown two or three times during the documentary, which detracted from my overall enjoyment of the piece.
We also get to see some of the fans after the show is over, one of them being an irate man who paid $135 for a seventh row seat, but couldn’t see anything, and eventually got thrown out of the building for throwing a piece of paper into the ring. Considering what fans have done at the Viking Hall in the past, you couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the guy.
Filmed outside the Hardcore Homecoming Show at the Viking Hall in Philadelphia last summer, this documentary sets out to discover just what makes your average ECW fan so darn passionate.
It’s a sort of hit-and-miss affair. While some of the fans come across as very knowledgeable and very passionate about the show they are about to see, some of them come across as pretty weird. As one fan comments, he wouldn’t normally invite some of these people to dinner, but he’s about to spend three hours in a smoky bingo hall with them.
While the documentary is well put together, and the film quality is certainly a great deal better than 101 Reasons…, it was the little things that annoyed me. Several clips were shown two or three times during the documentary, which detracted from my overall enjoyment of the piece.
We also get to see some of the fans after the show is over, one of them being an irate man who paid $135 for a seventh row seat, but couldn’t see anything, and eventually got thrown out of the building for throwing a piece of paper into the ring. Considering what fans have done at the Viking Hall in the past, you couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the guy.
Extras come in the form of a streetfight between Raven and Shane Douglas, and a bloody hardcore battle between New Jack and Balls Mahoney.
In conclusion - I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed with this release. If you want to see fifty-odd minutes of crazed wrestling fans shouting at the screen, this this one is for you. However, while it’s not the best wrestling documentary I’ve seen, it’s certainly not the worst.
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