ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling) Unreleased Volume 1 is a best-of collection hosted by Joey Styles (who was the commentator for ECW). I have a problem right off the bat and that is WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) claiming that this is the first time that these matches have been released to DVD and blu-ray. While this is correct for blu-ray the following matches have been released on DVD before with the Delta releases from the UK being a good example. Does this necessary make this a bad collection? Hell no it doesn't.

The matches they do include in this set are very top notch and worth watching (the list of matches will be stated at the end of the review). The matches do suffer from censorship like music replacement and bleeping out the cuss-words. One bizarre case is them censoring out Sabu diving through a table (the match was Tazz vs Shane Douglas at Guilty as Charged 1999) while the rest of the matches he does it they leave it in. The music they used to replace is laughable at best but I guess the reason they did it was due to licensing. The censoring of the “bad words” I do have a big problem with as this release isn't aimed at kids by any means so us grownups don't really need words like...well you know those words so I don't really need to say them (what a cop out) censored out. Cause let's face it there are stuff in this set that are far more offensive then an old man saying “cocksucker”. Again that does not make this a bad release.

What's the deal with airline food? C'mon whats up with that?

If you are looking forward to any special features then sadly people who have the DVD version miss out as only the blu-ray version has any. Special features included in the blu-ray are two matches from the 1994 event “The Night the Line Was Crossed”, Tommy Dreamer vs. Jimmy “Super-fly” Snuka, and a 60-minute three-way dance for the ECW World Championship Terry Funk vs. Sabu vs. Shane Douglas.

And ehhh uuhhh I uhh aint drunk ehh I uhh swear ehhh.

I do see this appealing the people who are interested in seeing what ECW was all about and using this release as a gateway drug before moving onto some of the much better releases. The hardcore ECW fans would already have these matches on much MUCH better home video releases. Overall I do recommend checking this one out as it was a good watch but there are much better ones out there.

Like you never farted in a wrestling ring before.

Here's the list of matches that are included in this release:

(NWA World Title Match)

Shane Douglas Vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

Hardcore TV (August 27, 1994)

Tommy Dreamer Vs. Raven

Hostile City Showdown (April 15, 1995)

Deal Malenko and 2 Cold Scorpio Vs. Tazz and Eddie Guerrero

Heatwave (July 15, 1995)

(ECW World Television Championship Match)

Dean Malenko Vs. Eddie Guerrero

Hardcore TV (July 28, 1995)

Shane Douglas Vs. Cactus Jack

Cyberslam (February 17, 1996)

Chris Jericho Vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

The Doctor is in (August 3, 1996)

(Tables and Ladders Match for the ECW World Tag Team Championship)

Rob Van Dam and Sabu Vs. The Eliminators (Perry Saturn and John Kronus)

Cyberslam (February 23, 1997)

Sabu Vs. Tazz

Barely Legal (April 13, 1997)

(ECW World Heavyweight Championship Match)

Shane Douglas Vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

November to Remember (November 30, 1997)

(ECW World Tag Team Championship Match)

Sabu and Rob Van Dam Vs. Hayabusa and Jensei Shinzaki

Heatwave (August 2, 1998)

(ECW World Television Championship Match)

Rob Van Dam Vs. Jerry Lynn

Hardcore TV (August 15, 1998)

(ECW World Heavyweight Championship Match)

Shane Douglas Vs. Tazz

Guilty as Charged (January 10, 1999)

Impact Players (Lance Storm and Justin Credible) Vs. Rob Van Dam and Jerry Lynn

Heatwave (July 18, 1999)

(ECW World Heavyweight Championship Match)

Mike Awesome Vs. Masato Tanaka

November to Remember (November 7, 1999)

(ECW World Heavyweight Championship Match)

Tazz Vs. Tommy Dreamer

Cyberslam (April 22, 2000)

(ECW World Heavyweight Championship Match)

Tommy Dreamer Vs. Justin Credible

Cyberslam (April 22, 2000)

(ECW World Television Championship Match)

Rhino Vs. Sandman

Heatwave (July 18, 2000)

(ECW World Television Championship Match)

Rhino Vs. Spike Dudley

Massacre on 34^th Street (December 3, 2000)

Jerry Lynn Vs. Christian York

Hardcore TV (December 30, 2000)

(ECW World Tag Team Championship Number 1 Contenders Match)

The Unholy Alliance (Yoshihiro Tajiri and Mikey Whipwreck) Vs. Kid Kash and Super Crazy Vs. The FBI (Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke)

Title: ECW Unreleased Vol.1

Genre: Sports, Wrestling

Running Time: 7 Hours 30 Minutes

Distributor: WWE Home Video, Shock Records

Rating: MA15+ (Strong Sporting Violence)

Price: $25 - $35

Recommended: Yes (but most hardcore fans would already have these in their collection)