This edition of The Two Sheds Review sees us making a return journey to Sheldon Goldberg’s New England Championship Wrestling. For those of you who don’t know, NECW has an online television show which is available to download, free of charge, from their website. It was by watching this show that I first became aware of their product, and it’s what made me want to explore this company a little more, so now we’re going to take a look at the best bits of their online TV show a couple of years ago, with by taking a look at the Best of NECW TV 2007 DVD.The opening match is a singles contest, featuring “The Talent” T.J. Richter taking on “The Hawaiian Warrior” Makua. It’s a stop-start kind of a match, with plenty of stalling from Richter at the beginning. When the action finally gets going, it’s fast-paced, with Makua showing some good power moves, but losing it by choosing to go to the top rope instead of pinning Richter when he was down. Makua missed the big splash, and Richter capitalised moments later with a roll-up, with his feet on the ropes, for the win.
Then it’s on to “The Exotic” Kristian Frost against “The Real Deal” Brandon Locke. It’s billed on the cover as being an NECW TV title match, but there’s no mention of that here. This was Locke’s first match in NECW for two years, so he was looking to make a point. It’s a pretty even contest between two evenly matched wrestlers, The cowardly heel Frost got the tainted win though, by countering Locke’s sunset flip by holding onto the ropes while he got the pin.
After a promo from the aforementioned Exotic One, it’s on to inter-gender action, with Tanya Lee taking on “Superstar” Ryan Matthews. This was originally meant to be an all-women’s bout, but manager Sean Gorman pulled a fast one an announced Matthews as Lee’s opponent. Matthews offers Lee the choice of lying down and taking the pin, but Lee refuses. Matthews overpowers Lee at first, but the plucky underdog soon manages to fight back, and after a mis-communication between Gorman and Matthews, Lee gets the pin with a roll-up.
The only tag-team match of the collection follows, with “Big” Rick Fuller and Scott Osbourne taking on “The Infamous” Bobby Fish and NECW Triple Crown Champion “Straight Edge” Brian Fury. Two good teams here, with Fuller in particular impressing, showing that he’s not just your stereotypical big man. It’s also easy to see just why Fury was NECW’s main champion at the time, and why Fish is a regular with Pro Wrestling NOAH. The ending - after Fury took Fuller out with a cross body block that sent both men over the top rope, Fish took care of Osbourne with an awesome looking flying knee, getting the pin for his team immediately afterwards.
After a segment which sees the psychotic Michael Sain attacking a fan of his, it’s on to the final match on the DVD, with “Die Hard” Eddie Edwards, accompanied by his manager Sean Gorman, facing Jason Blade. They definitely saved the best for last with this one. Edwards makes a great heel, and it’s easy to see why, like Bobby Fish before him, he’s a NOAH regular. This match is a great example of the NECW product, solid mat wrestling mixed in with some great story telling made for a very good match, and after what seemed like an eternity of great action, and with Edwards looking like he was about to tap out to Blade’s crossface, the bell rang. The time limit had expired, and the match was declared a draw. A fitting ending, considering the great performances from both guys.
No DVD extras to speak off here, so let’s get right down to it.
In conclusion - Best of NECW TV 2007 is another great example of the NECW way of wrestling. Although nearly all of the matches are quite short, they’re all very entertaining, with the Blade/Edwards match clearly the best of the bunch. The production standards are very good, and once again Sheldon Goldberg’s commentary is excellent. My only criticism is that the whole thing seemed to be a little to short. A few more matches, or perhaps a second disc, would have been a welcome addition.
So if you haven’t seen any of NECW’s stuff before, then this DVD is a good place to start.
Three links for you now - www.necwwrestling.com - the main NECW site, www.necw.tv - where you can download their online TV show, and www.worldwomenswrestling.com, NECW’s all-female sister promotion.
With thanks to Sheldon Goldberg for supplying a copy of this release.
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