Best documentary: Rise of ECW vs Beyond the Mat vs Wrestling with Shadows

[jml4life]

 

[HereticBD]

"Rise and Fall of ECW" is probably my favorite out of the bunch.

There was a good period there where the WWE were releasing fantastic documentaries. The weakest one they had was a total smear job on The Ultimate Warrior, and even it was still pretty damn good.

 

[Hitman81]

All great for different reasons. I, of course, would say Wrestling with Shadows is my favorite.

 

[TennBJJ]

I like the ECW doc Forever Hardcore as well. WWE had more money to put into their doc, but FE is a great piece as well

 

[RollSonnenRoll]

"Rise and Fall of ECW" is probably my favorite out of the bunch.

There was a good period there where the WWE were releasing fantastic documentaries. The weakest one they had was a total smear job on The Ultimate Warrior, and even it was still pretty damn good.

Even with that though they didn’t really lie about anything. They only stretched the truth toward the end when they were saying he was missing dates in 96, which he was, and they were showing event posters like he was the main event so it had more impact when in fact he wasn’t. Now all their docs have just blatant agendas

 

[My Spot]

Even with that though they didn’t really lie about anything. They only stretched the truth toward the end when they were saying he was missing dates in 96, which he was, and they were showing event posters like he was the main event so it had more impact when in fact he wasn’t. Now all their docs have just blatant agendas

Did they mention trying to bring him back in late 97?

 

[My Spot]

Another great one is Heroes of World Class. Vastly superior to the WWE one (which wasn't bad).

 

[RollSonnenRoll]

Did they mention trying to bring him back in late 97?

They did not. It ended at him being suspended and leaving in 96 then they briefly touched on the Halloween Havoc 98 match with Hogan

 

[sleepwalk]

"Beyond the Mat" was my favorite of those three.

Evan Ginzburg (associate producer on The Wrestler) did a hell of a job with "350 Days." Very no frills but a lot of good interviews. Nearly a dozen of the wrestlers in the doc died by the time it was released.

As someone who never watched their product growing up, I was surprised at what a flattering job WWE did with "The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA."

Never saw "101 Reasons Not to be a Pro Wrestler." Thoughts?

 

[Pliny Pete]

Wrestling With Shadows had that huge get with the backstage stuff in Montreal and that cant be discounted
If the Screwjob was a real news story, that backstage footage woulda won a Pulitzer, thats how big it was

That being said, Beyond The Mat was earth shattering at the time, never before had the curtain been pulled back like that and all the secrets laid bare for the world to see
Obviously looking at it through todays eyes, it loses a lot because there is no more magic left due to the internet and social media but seeing the backstage wheeling and dealing at WWF shows, the depths to which former stars like Jake Roberts and Koko B Ware had fallen, our first glimpses of Indy wrestling and our knowledge of the overall depressing and destructive nature of the wrestling business all came from this documentary and it blew our minds at the time
This doc put a glowing spotlight on Pro Wrestling and was an extremely powerful piece of journalisting and for those reasons it is and will most likely always be the gold standard to which all others will be judged

 

[Pliny Pete]

As someone who never watched their product growing up, I was surprised at what a flattering job WWE did with "The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA."

Thats interesting cause if you go to boards like Wrestling Classics or Kayfabe Memories, you'll see a buncha long time fans, myself included, that think they did a shit job telling the real story of the AWA and put an extremely pro WWE/anti AWA spin on things
I guess it all depends on perspective lol

 

[Pliny Pete]

Another great one is Heroes of World Class. Vastly superior to the WWE one (which wasn't bad).

One of my favorites, Kevin walking through the ruins of the Sportatorium was a perfect metaphor for the wrestling business at the time

 

[DooHoChoi]

"Rise and Fall of ECW" is probably my favorite out of the bunch.

There was a good period there where the WWE were releasing fantastic documentaries. The weakest one they had was a total smear job on The Ultimate Warrior, and even it was still pretty damn good.

That title say it all

 

[sleepwalk]

Thats interesting cause if you go to boards like Wrestling Classics or Kayfabe Memories, you'll see a buncha long time fans, myself included, that think they did a shit job telling the real story of the AWA and put an extremely pro WWE/anti AWA spin on things
I guess it all depends on perspective lol

I thought they spent a lot of time and focus on how legit Verne was, his knack for merchandising, the production quality for the time, but laid out his lack of adaptability pretty well.

 

[Small Town Andrew]

I went with wrestling with shadows. It was so captivating when it came out and felt like something we were not suppose to see. I saw it when I was an 11 year old kid in probably like late 98 and was amazed at the inside look.

I really like the WCCW documentary WWE did as well

 

[Prelimtapper]

Shadows

 

[moonwolf]

Beyond the Mat because I watched it in the movie theater, RIP

 

[Francis Rossi]

It's hard to pick one. Probably go with Beyond the Mat too, but Shadows is also excellent. Rise and Fall is one of their best talking heads efforts, with Forever Hardcore a nice unofficial companion piece.

 

[TheMaster]

Wrestling with Shadow's can't really be matched as it's on another level with the real life events unfolding to culminate that era's changes in the industry.
I think it still captures the times and even non wrestling fans recognize it's greatness it's a timeless story.



(Peterson was definitely a wrestling fan)

 

[gspieler]

I'm a mark for Bret, and Shawdows was one of the best documentaries I've ever seen.

That said, I have to go with Beyond the Mat. Dennis Stamp(RIP) cuts one of the greatest promos ever in it.