The Rise and Fall of ECW The Rise and Fall of ECW is a documentary DVD produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It chronicles the history of Philadelphia - based independent professional wrestling promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling . The documentary features interviews with various performers who worked in the promotion including co - founder and former owner Paul Heyman as well as performers Tazz , Tommy Dreamer , Dawn Marie , Stevie Richards , Mick Foley , Rob Van Dam , Spike Dudley , Bubba Ray Dudley and D ' Von Dudley . Rating . This DVD is rated TV - MA in America and has a 15 BBFC Rating , and often does not censor profanity ( unless uncensored footage was not available or found at the time ) . The interviews given by the ECW alumni are uncensored . On the Region 1 edition of the DVD before the main menu of the DVD is shown , a message appears , reading " Intended For Mature Audiences . " Disc 1 . The first disc features a documentary about Extreme Championship Wrestling . Chapters . 1 . Early ECW - ECW ' s early days are discussed . 2 . Public Enemy - Paul Heyman and Tazz talk about Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock , a tag team known as Public Enemy . 3 . Tazz - Tazz talks about how he was brought into ECW . 4 . Sabu - Sabu is discussed . Paul Heyman explains how he partially built ECW around Sabu , mainly because people could turn on TV , see Sabu , and go , " that ' s different " . 5 . Terry Funk - Paul Heyman explains how ECW wouldn ' t have existed without Terry Funk , how the industry veterans at the time were unwilling to ' pass the torch ' to the new generation . Terry Funk , however , looked at people , and went " I can make him . " 6 . The Night The Line Was Crossed - The famous Sabu vs . Shane Douglas vs . Terry Funk three - way dance ( the first ever one - on - one - on - one match ) . This event marked " the return of pro " wrestling " to North America . 7 . Paul Heyman vs . WCW - Paul Heyman ' s history in WCW is explained and how , after they fired him , he cultivated an anti - WCW attitude that he instilled into his roster . As Tommy Dreamer put it , " Joining WCW was like joining the Taliban " in Paul ' s eyes . 8 . Tommy Dreamer - Tommy Dreamer ' s ECW debut is discussed . 9 . The Sandman - The Sandman is discussed . Heyman notes how the audience loved his entrance and antics so much , " his matches became secondary . " 10 . Sandman & Tommy Dreamer Feud - Paul Heyman discusses how the Sandman / Dreamer feud was revolutionary at the time , mainly due to the fact that it blurred the lines of reality in wrestling . It broke kayfabe in the arena ; When Tommy Dreamer & Sandman were brawling backstage babyfaces and heels were shown interacting backstage . It also , however , kept kayfabe , because after Dreamer " accidentally blinded " Sandman , Sandman stayed out of the public eye ; his wife would answer their door at home and confirm that Sandman was blind for the duration of the storyline . 11 . ECW Evolution - Tommy Dreamer discusses how wrestling was filled with gimmicks in ECW ' s early days , and how ECW was different from every other company , mainly for targeting adult males , rather that children like WWE and WCW . Paul Heyman discusses how the times were changing in pro wrestling , and that ECW was the first company to try and cater to the current generation . 12 . Cactus Jack - Mick Foley recounts how he was traded to ECW from WCW in a talent exchange , and was mainly brought in to wrestle Sabu . Strangly , Foley claims he was brought to ECW to help further a working relationship between ECW and WCW . Tommy Dreamer , however , claims it was not nearly that friendly a trade . He claims he was brought as a result of a lawsuit settlement . Judging by the dislike Heyman shows towards WCW , it is probably Foley who is mistaken . 13 . Mikey Whipwreck - Paul Heyman explains that he hired Mikey Whipwreck as part of his ring crew . Then , one day , he saw Whipwreck fooling around in the ring , and hired him , but " never gave him an offensive move " , causing the fans to get behind him . 14 . The Extreme Begins - Paul Heyman says that he knew that he had to get out of the " old school " mentality of pro wrestling . The controversial moment where Shane Douglas threw down the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt , declared Eastern Championship Wrestling ' s title to be the ECW World Heavyweight title , and spurred ECW ' s departure from the NWA is discussed . 15 . Philadelphia - Paul Heyman says that Philadelphia was the perfect place for ECW , because of its famous rowdy fans that WWE and WCW could not get , but ECW managed to attract . 16 . The Technical Wrestlers - Explains how wrestlers like Chris Benoit , Eddie Guerrero , Dean Malenko , 2 Cold Scorpio and Ron Simmons helped establish ECW as the home of better wrestlers than anywhere else , and that it was not just a place to hit people with chairs . 17 . Production Value - Long time ECW Producer / Director Ron Buffone discusses how they wanted to create a reality - based product . Paul Heyman says that there was no way to compete with the WWE and WCW production value , so they hid their negatives ( ECW ' s limited TV production budget , pyrotechnics etc . ) and showed off the positives ( wrestling and interviews ) . 18 . The Fans - Paul Heyman says that fan interaction was a main draw of the product . When they went to the arena , they knew they would be a part of the show , not just spectators to it , and appreciated that . 19 . Raven / Tommy Dreamer - Paul Heyman says that he has never seen somebody embrace his character the way Scott Levy embraced the Raven character , and that it inspired him to be more creative . Raven ' s feud with Tommy Dreamer is discussed . This feud helped Tommy Dreamer be accepted by the fans . 20 . Sabu Gets Fired - Tazz explains that even though he and Sabu were Tag Team Champions , they did not get along backstage . A clip of Paul Heyman announcing that Sabu was fired for no - showing an ECW Tag Title defense in favor of touring Japan for more money is shown . 21 . Tazz Breaks His Neck - Tazz talks about how he broke his neck during a match , and then walked into the hospital emergency room with Tommy Dreamer . Tazz says that Paul Heyman paid him his minimum guarantees per his contract every week when he was off TV . 22 . Monday Night War - Eric Bischoff claims that despite what Paul Heyman would have you think ( that ECW was the first victim of the Monday Night War by having top and irreplaceable talent leave ECW for WCW ) , WCW never ' raided ' ECW . He claims Paul ' s wrestlers left because they weren ' t getting paid ( this was a falsehood on Bischoff ' s part ) ; at this point in ECW ' s history , they were not yet bouncing checks , and that the athletes knew WCW was a much larger place to showcase their talent . He does though make a fairly interesting point by asking if it was a " raid " on Vince McMahon ' s part when he took top talent from the local NWA territories in the 1980s because he was starting up a national expansion , and that it was not a " raid " in Vince McMahon ' s mind or in the minds of anyone currently employed at World Wrestling Entertainment . He concludes by saying that the people who left WWE and ECW to come and work for WCW were personal and moral decisions made by the wrestlers themselves , not a raid . Paul Heyman responded by saying " Eric Bischoff is full of shit and like many , never gave ECW the credit that ECW deserved . " And that stealing his ideas and his innovations and pawning them off as his own ideas was what put WCW on the map . Curiously , he " praised " Eric for doing so because he was in a ratings war against a rival company and needed the talent and ideas to compete with them . Paul then shrugs and wonders aloud as to why Eric never fessed up and said , " I stole that from ECW . " He then added with what appears to be a small smile that they sued WCW over blatant plagiarism " tons of times . " Seconds later , Vince McMahon admits that he raided ECW , and that WCW did too . He goes on , however , to state that he compensated Paul for hiring his talent , something Eric Bishoff did not do . 23 . Lucha Libre ! - Paul Heyman says that after WCW stole his talent , he called Konnan , who sent over Rey Misterio Jr . and Psicosis , bringing Lucha Libre to North America . WCW eventually signed them too . 24 . Austin Comes to ECW - Steve Austin was fired from WCW ( over the phone ) and went to ECW where he delivered several anti - WCW tirades . Paul Heyman does a very humorous imitation of Steve Austin on their conversation . 25 . Promos - Ron Buffone and Paul Heyman says that the promos delivered by Steve Austin and Cactus Jack ( particularly the latter ' s " anti - hardcore " remarks ) where " the best promos in the history of the business . Bar none . " 26 . Cactus Jack Leaves ECW - Cactus Jack gives his thanks to the fans before leaving ECW . 27 . Tazz Returns - Tazz talks about the transformation of " The Tazmaniac " to " Taz " , and his return to ECW . Paul Heyman says Taz brought a " big time atmosphere " that was missing from pro wrestling . " Taz became our Ultimate Fight Style persona . " 28 . Sandman / Raven - The legendary Sandman vs . Raven feud is discussed , including Raven brainwashing The Sandman ' s son Tyler , and The Sandman breaking down and crying . Paul Heyman says it was the most emotional storyline ECW ever did . 29 . The bWo - The bWo ( Blue World Order ) is discussed , and how it was initially just another in a string of parodies of many aspects of pro wrestling , but almost immediately stuck . 30 . Beulah & Dreamer - The Beulah McGillicuty pregnancy angle is discussed , and the first ever lesbian angle in wrestling ( between Beulah and Kimona Wanalaya ) . ECW was subsequently removed from almost every TV station they were on . 31 . ECW and WWE - Vince McMahon ' s curiosity with ECW is discussed , starting at the 1995 WWE Pay - per - view King of the Ring in Philadelphia , when fans started chanting " ECW " during the show . 32 . The Crucifixion - The infamous " crucifixion " of Sandman ( by Raven ) is discussed . Kurt Angle explains how he was originally supposed to go to ECW , but left after the incident , threatening legal action if his image was aired on the same broadcast as the crucifixion . Paul Heyman claimed he did not know Raven was going to go that far . Angle believed him at the time , but now wonders if he was lying . 33 . The Importance of Pay - Per - View - Tazz says that the only way to expand the company was to get on pay - per - view . Paul Heyman says that the fans were " their army . " , and e - mailed PPV stations to get ECW on PPV . The PPV networks almost didn ' t put ECW on PPV , because they thought ECW was real . 34 . ECW Loses Their Pay - Per - View - The Mass Transit Incident is discussed and how it got " Barely Legal " taken off the air . 35 . The PPV Is Back On ! - Paul Heyman negotiates with the PPV networks , while ECW ' s fans bombard the same networks with e - mails and phone calls , to reinstate ECW ' s first PPV to the 1996 schedule . 36 . WWE Co - Promotion - Vince McMahon said that an ECW co - promotion was good business for all sides . Jerry Lawler , barely hiding his contempt for ECW , even condemning them for having pride in themselves ( " They actually thought that they where better than " us " , the WWE " ) , says that ECW was full of " miniature wrestlers " . ) . He questions again why Vince allowed ECW to be on their programming . Vince later goes on to say he himself wasn ' t quite sure what his mindset at the time was . 37 . Barely Legal : RVD vs . Lance Storm - Rob Van Dam vents his frustration with only being on the Pay - Per - View as a fill - in after his match . 38 . Barely Legal : Tazz vs . Sabu - Tazz recaps his near year long feud with Sabu , saying it " made " both of them . 39 . The Main Event At Barely Legal - Stevie Richards says that he admitted to Terry Funk before the main event that he " didn ' t know what he was doing here . " ( He was in the main event . ) Paul Heyman says that Terry Funk ' s ECW World Heavyweight Championship win was the impossible dream coming true . Stevie Richards says that not ten seconds after the PPV went off the air , the transformer blew , and they barely got the whole broadcast on the air . Paul Heyman says that after the show was over , everyone in the company was crying , because they all had a hand in getting them there . 40 . Raven Goes to WCW and Jerry Lawler Invades ECW - Paul Heyman feels that Raven leaving to go to WCW was mainly a creative disappointment than a business one . Jerry Lawler ' s " invasion " of ECW was shown . Tommy Dreamer says that the common reaction to Lawler being in the ECW Arena was " How dare Jerry Lawler show up at ECW . " After the show ended , Jerry Lawler bolted out of the arena for fear of his safety . Jerry Lawler admits that he honestly thought that ECW was a trash promotion and that it was " Extremely Crappy Wrestling . " 41 . A Locker Room Mole ? - Todd Gordon ' s supposed activity as a mole is discussed , where he , Bill Alfonso and Terry Taylor attempted to get several ECW wrestlers to go to WCW . It ' s worth noting that on the alternate documentary " Forever Hardcore " , this was claimed to have been a big work . However , on this documentary , the ECW alumni refer to it as a real occurrence . 42 . The Superstars ' Roles - Buh Buh Ray Dudley tells how he came to be in charge of hiring venues for ECW shows . Chris Jericho mentions how Taz ' s job was to create merchandise , and Tommy Dreamer , Little Guido and D - Von Dudley would ship the T - shirts . Dreamer would also book the shows , Tazz ran ECW ' s wrestling school , the " ECW House of Hardcore " , Stevie Richards ran the fan line , and Dreamer would also collect the money from the concession . 43 . Paul Heyman ' s Creativity - The ECW wrestlers talk about how much of an asset Paul Heyman was , and how accessible he was to his roster . Al Snow is also discussed , including the creation of his infamous mascot " Head . " 44 . WCW and WWE Imitation - The wrestler ' s feel that in 1998 ECW was perhaps the number two wresting organization in the world . Buh Buh Ray Dudley even felt ( and to this day feels ) that ECW could have perhaps taken over WCW . Eric Bischoff claims that ECW was never the number two promotion , mainly on the fact that in this time period WCW and WWE were having a back and forth struggle for number one . Vince McMahon admits that he stole several ideas from ECW , but never considered them a threat . Many ECW wrestlers feel ECW helped spawn WWE ' s " Attitude Era . " McMahon , however , respectfully denies this , noting that the " Attitude Era " was a verbal , in your face mentality , as opposed to ECW ' s violence . 45 . Tazz & The FTW Title - Tazz discusses his feud with Bam Bam Bigelow and the genesis of his FTW Title . 46 . The Dudleys : " The Most Hated Tag Team " - The Dudley Boyz and Paul Heyman discuss the time period where the Dudleys would be so hated , they would insult the fans ( including accusing a mother of teaching her daughter to suck dick , and calling fans epithets like " faggot " and " fat , bald motherfucker " ) , and start riots . D - von later said that some of the fans waited in the parking lots after the shows just to say , " No security . Now what do you got ? " 47 . Financial Woes - The beginning of ECW ' s darkest days are discussed , where checks were bouncing , ( Tommy Dreamer states he wasn ' t paid for six months ) and wrestlers were leaving . The wrestlers called Paul Heyman ECW ' s greatest asset , but was also its greatest enemy . 48 . The TNN deal and Tazz Leaves - ECW ' s debut on TNN is discussed , and how excited the wrestlers were about it . Vince McMahon recalls congratulating Paul at the time , saying " now you have to change , to appeal to a mainstream audience . " Tazz ' s ECW departure is discussed . 49 . The Dudleys Leave ECW - Buh Buh Ray claims that Paul never owed either Dudley any money , but the Dudleys needed to know what they had to gain by staying in ECW . He told Paul " make us want to stay . " They even asked for a one dollar raise , but Paul ' s mindset was " you stay here cause you want to stay here . " Feeling that Paul wasn ' t prepared to make them even a token offer , they jumped to WWE . 50 . Disappointment with TNN / RVD - " The Whole F ' n Show " - ( " Main Article : ECW on TNN " ) Despite the fact that ECW was TNN ' s highest rated program , it had nothing to do with TNN ' s help . Paul Heyman relates how TNN never aired a commercial for ECW , never gave a newspaper radio ad or a press conference to promote the show . The only time that TNN aired a commercial for ECW was during the show itself . As a parody of their treatment by the network , ECW censored everything from their theme song ( citing it was too " demonic " ) to the word " hate " . ( They preferred " intense dislike " . ) ECW ' s treatment by TNN was another factor in putting ECW out of business . Rob Van Dam is discussed . 51 . Mike Awesome Controversy & Tommy Dreamer Wins The Title - Mike Awesome leaving ECW while still ECW champion is discussed . They than go into Tazz defeating Mike Awesome for the belt , and bringing it to WWE for a while ( to help gain the belt and ECW some more exposure ) before losing it to Tommy Dreamer . It ' s interesting to note that for whatever reason , the DVD acts as though Tommy Dreamer was the last ever ECW Champion ( or at least a reigning champion ) . He was , in fact , neither . He lost the belt twenty minutes later to Justin Credible . 52 . The Demise Of ECW - The closure of ECW is discussed . Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff suggest that ECW went under mainly because of the one - dimensional nature of the ECW product , and that it appealed to only a small segment of a national audience , and therefore it was doomed to either go under or remain a small company . Several of the wrestlers stuck with it , but suspected they could never be paid the money they were owed . Even though attendance was high , the wrestlers knew ECW was done . Rhino admits to being in denial about ECW going out of business . Several of the wrestlers felt that their whole world came crashing down . Buh Buh Ray felt that ECW went under because of the violence level , as well as Paul ' s mismanagement of the company , something many ECW alumni agree with . Paul , however feels that ECW went under because they had no ( sympathetic ) network television . " That ' s the only reason . " He didn ' t stop there , saying that if anyone says otherwise is either " dead wrong " or " doesn ' t know what he is talking about . " 53 . Paul Heyman Debuts on Raw - Paul Heyman debuts on Raw as an announcer . Paul feels that he had to go to WWE in order to move on , and get on with his life . The wrestlers feel that Paul ' s dream was to be his own boss , but did not get that opportunity . Vince McMahon feels that Paul Heyman should be commended for everything he accomplished , and that Paul ' s realization that he had to move on spoke very highly of his character . The DVD is closed with all the wrestlers giving their thoughts about what made ECW so special , and Paul Heyman closes it out by saying : " You cannot achieve success without the risk of failure . And I learned a long time ago , you cannot achieve success , if you " fear " failure . If you ' re not afraid to fail , man , you have a chance to succeed . But you ' re never gonna get there unless you risk it , all the way . I ' ll risk failure . Sometimes , half the fun is failing . Learning from your mistakes , waking up the next morning , and saying ' Okay . Watch out . Here I come again . A little bit smarter , licking my wounds , and really not looking forward to getting my ass kicked the way I just did yesterday . ' So now , I ' m just a little more dangerous . " Disc 2 . 1 . Raven & Stevie Richards vs . The Pitbulls in a 2 out of 3 Falls Dog Collar Match for the ECW World Tag Team Championship . ( Gangsta ' s Paradise . Philadelphia , PA , 9 / 16 / 95 ) 2 . Psicosis vs . Rey Misterio Jr . in a 2 out of 3 Falls Match ( Hardcore TV . Philadelphia , PA , 10 / 17 / 95 ) 3 . The Sandman vs . Mikey Whipwreck in a Ladder Match for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship ( Hardcore TV . Philadelphia , PA , 10 / 28 / 95 ) 4 . 2 Cold Scorpio vs . Sabu for the ECW World Television Championship ( CyberSlam . Philadelphia , PA , 2 / 17 / 96 ) 5 . Raven vs . Tommy Dreamer ( WrestlePalooza , Philadelphia , PA , 6 / 6 / 97 ) 6 . Bam Bam Bigelow vs . Taz for the ECW Television Championship ( Living Dangerously , Asbury Park , NJ , 3 / 1 / 98 ) 7 . Jerry Lynn vs . Rob Van Dam for the ECW Television Championship . ( Hardcore Heaven , Poughkeepsie , NY , 5 / 16 / 99 ) Steven Richards Apologizes for Leaving ECW Tazz Seeks Paul Heyman ' s Blessing Paul Heyman : Travel Agent Aftermath . According to some sources , in June 2005 , the 2 - disc set has become the best - selling wrestling DVD of all time , even surpassing " WrestleMania XX " , and led to the ECW One Night Stand PPV event . Also as a result of these sales , WWE has published a new ECW DVD titled , released in February 2006 . Wrestling Observer newsletter gave it the award of Best Pro Wrestling DVD of 2005 .