26th Sep2016

‘The History of the WWE Hardcore Championship 24/7’ Review

by Paul Metcalf

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If you’ve been a WWE fan for long enough, you’ll know both the good and the bad side of the Hardcore Title. For the most part though you’ll have fond memories of the title that started as a joke, but slowly gained credibility. Now the The History of the WWE Hardcore Championship 24/7 has been released we get to relive it all.

The best discovery when watching the set is that it is presented by Mick Foley, Raven, and RVD. Talking candidly about the matches they reveal how the title was seen backstage. For the fans it turned into memorable “hardcore” matches, and for the lower card wrestlers it turned into a division where they could finally be noticed.

Some of the best part of The History of the WWE Hardcore Championship 24/7 is when the three wrestlers are talking about the title and offering their thoughts. In terms of matches you get everything that you expect, from Mick Foley, Hardcore Holly, to the 24/7 days of Crash Holly. It is not only surprisingly how long the Hardcore Title actually lasted in the WWE, but who actually held it.

With the Hardcore Title actually being in existence through the Attitude Era, as well as when WCW and ECW came into WWE we get to see a good chunk of action. What will please many is the inclusion of many of the ECW wrestlers such as Raven, Rhyno, and Mike Awesome, as well as RVD and Tommy Dreamer. These wrestlers became a big part of the Hardcore Title division, and brought a version of the ECW style to it.

For fans of ECW though each time you hear a commentator say you won’t see hardcore matches like this “anywhere but the WWE” you’ll almost cringe at hearing that. Knowing that this style was prevalent not only in ECW but in Japan, and plenty of Independent federations around the world including America makes that statement just plain lying to fans. This is something we just have to get over though, as we know this is just WWE’s style of trying to be the only wrestling federation to watch.

What remains impressive about The History of the WWE Hardcore Championship 24/7 is the respect WWE give the belt. This includes the fact that the presenters are three people who were important to what it became. For an ECW fan like me though I do admit it made me want to watch some of the classic matches from that company instead, which had more of an edge. For WWE though, this is a very good release that is actually a lot of fun.

We get to see Undertaker as the “American Badass”, we get to see Kurt Angle matches as well as an impressive list of Attitude Era wrestlers we don’t often get to see, even Gangrel. If you want a WWE releasethat focuses on fun matches and pure chaos, this is a very good release that may not be “hardcore” enough for some, but for those who know what to expect from WWE, it is exactly what you are looking for.

***** 5/5

The History of the WWE Hardcore Championship 24/7 is out on DVD and Blu-ray now.

Review originally posted on PissedOffGeek
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