XPW Wrestling Television: The Complete Second Season

Big Vision Entertainment

www.bvdvd.com

www.thexpw.com

$19.98

Reviewed by Joe Babinsack

Awkward is the first word that comes to mind with XPW.

Sure, Xtreme Pro Wrestling never quite hit the heights of insanity, nor the nadirs of disgustingness, as Incredibly Strange Wrestling or Extremely Strange Wrestling did. And at the core of it, XPW sported a roster of talent, guest stars and ECW alumni that made it a significant operation on the independent scene.

But not only is it a question of where do you start, but what do you include? Not only is it a question of debate about the porn industry’s invasion of professional wrestling, but it’s a question of how far Rob Black took the rivalry and heat with Paul Heyman. Not only is it a question about how extreme XPW took hardcore wrestling, but how far did they go with their TV shows in NOT featuring wrestling on this 2nd Season.

I’ve all but avoided reviewing this three disc set because of those questions.

Which is unfortunate, but the thing is, there’s always been another DVD or book to look at. One of the problems with XPW is that I’ve got to trot out the old “here’s another version, another splinter, another group that can claim a legacy to the infamy of the original ECW.”

That’s the one in the mid-1990’s, kiddies, not the Vince McMahon product.

Of course Vince did have his pockets in ECW; which again, only muddies the water more, and makes the whole review all the more awkward. The point I’m awkwardly making is that I’ve already touched upon a half dozen or more storylines, significant tangents and vast need for backstory, to the point that the hardcore fans reading this are screaming “what about ______?” and the more mainstream fans are wondering what this is all about, since XPW only existed for three years, only featured garbage wrestling, and only persisted due to the name value of aging ECW guys and the promotional efforts of Shane Douglas on the East Coast version.

But then again, XPW was the brain child of Rob Black, was the result of strong production efforts of Kevin Kleinrock, and while most of XPW’s alumni never migrated to a national promotion, they do persist in their talents, and many have appeared on the ill-fated MTV “Wrestle Society X” series.

Ok, the main point in that paragraph being that Kevin Kleinrock owns Big Vision, and co-owned XPW, and his efforts to bring many independent wrestling promotions national exposure through that distribution company is one that deserves a lot of support.

Unless you’re one of those fans satisfied with only having one promotion rule the industry….

But my train of thought recently has been on different ways to present the professional wrestling product. We’ve seen the efforts of Martin Karadagian detailed, in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, from the excellent efforts of Kurt Brown and Steve Sims. Karadagian’s version of professional wrestling was all about the spectacle, with simpler matches with outrageous characters.

XPW was all about outrageously hardcore matches, with a variety of characters – from outrageous to pedestrian (ok, pedestrian for the porn world, in many instances.) But XPW also integrated the ECW stars and attempted to expand its reach across the country.

Well, of course, the story goes that Rob Black wanted a piece of ECW, but Heyman wasn’t budging.  Maybe because he already had a sugar daddy of sorts. Maybe because there was a level of extreme that even Heyman wasn’t going to go to, a level of mainstream disdain and disrespect that he didn’t want associated with his brand. Strange, ironic, maybe even hypocritical to those in the know, but seemingly the reality.

With the Second Season of XPW, the TV show was wildly different than most wrestling shows.

Mostly because it didn’t feature actual wrestling matches!

The biggest complaint some have about current products is that there’s too much non-wrestling on them, but XPW’s efforts –despite the often cheesy packaging, undoubtedly purposeful casting and scene-settting, and complete difference of perspective on the characters – seem to have an interesting result.

They arguably have a purpose and a strategy.

While some of the skits and storylines are just bad soap opera, the reality is that professional wrestling, at its core, is … bad soap opera.

On the other hand, there is a trade-off away from putting up squash matches, bad matches or overusing talent and not properly setting up big matches. XPW, in essence, built a TV show around establishing its characters, and making you want to come to the house shows to see the action, instead of putting the action on TV.

XPW seems to have stole the opening montage of ECW, and jams it down the viewers’ throats way too often, but it’s a cool assembly of big spots, big stars and lots of action. Overall, it’s an infectious video.

What I like is that XPW’s efforts to build characters is unique and a marketing strategy worth consideration. The best example is Pogo the Clown. Now, Pogo’s whole character is reprehensible, but wow, how better to display the character of Pogo as a wrestler, than to do the vignettes of him in action, in the playgrounds, walking with a kid, and then digging the dirt over skulls and fingers.

Crazy, disgusting, and not even Vince has the coconuts to do such a character, but … well, it was fascinating despite its heinousness.

Is this sort of marketing worthwhile? Profitable? Is it worthy of professional wrestling in the year 2008?

That’s arguable, but it’s an argument worth having. We live with a couple of products that simply have not remade themselves in far too long, and the interest is just fading away. Could more than just fans learn something interesting in XPW’s product?

That’s the sort of fascination I got from the XPW Second Season. Sure, the bonus matches (because there HAS to be some wrestling!) are good and bloody and hardcore to the max, but the whole product is one that, while awkward, is actually something to appreciate. Not that it’s always good, and not that it’s really that bad, but in the end, the XPW experiment, just like the WSX one, is one that should be driving other people to learn from the mistakes and the innovations and improve the overall product.

Joe Babinsack can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Yes, I screwed up and didn’t give props to Kurt “Vandal Drummond” Brown or Dr. Lucha Dave Sims on the Karadagian story. My apologies and best wishes to Kurt.

If the interest is there, I’ll do more on the XPW promotion. Too much distraction for a good review of the Second Season…ok, don’t say it. Don’t email it either.

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