Extreme Video Enterprises
Mission Statement 2003
Wrestling has long been a staple in my household. My grandmother
watched Gorgeous George with her mother. My father watched Buddy Rogers with
his friends. I’ve watched everybody form Bruno Sammartino to Zach Gowen with
my father. Whenever wrestling is on television, there is always a television
in my house with either a warm body watching it or a VCR taping it. I’ve
met wrestlers at conventions and autograph signings. I’ve seen wrestling
shows in person. I’ve even visited the very first WWF merchandise store in
Danbury, Connecticut in 1989.
I’ve seen Owen Hart, Droz, and Mick Foley carted off on
a stretcher. I’ve also seen Superfly Jimmy Snuka jump off the top of a steel
cage, Mick Foley jump off the top of the Hell in the Cell, and Shane McMahon
jump off the side of the TitanTron. When I was 7, I split my head open trying
to fly like my favorite wrestlers. I’ve read every book published by a WWE,
WCW, or ECW wrestler. I’ve collected WWF magazines and Apter mags when I
was a kid. I’ve collected the very old 12” solid rubber WWF figures. Wrestling
is religion in my household. Monday and Thursday are sacred nights of prayer.
I started watching wrestling somewhere around the time
of WrestleMania III. I’d seen the colorful characters on the weekend Superstars
show and then the Monday Night Prime Time Wrestling show with Bobby Heenan.
I even taped the only episode of the Bobby Heenan Show.
I have amassed a collection of what must be five thousand
wrestling events of some kind. I’ve put this web site together because I
want to share them with you, other viewers. If you want to trade videos,
please e-mail me at ExtremeVideo@aol.com. Please don’t ask to buy tapes.
I do not sell videos. If you look over my list and you don’t have any wrestling
videos to offer in trade, e-mail me anyway and we may be able to work something
out. Look over the rules and regulations web page before you e-mail me.
ExtremeVideo Enterprises Mission Statement 1999:
ExtremeVideo Enterprises is a non-profit, non-sectarian, non-religious
organization that promotes the friendliness between people that are all
over
the world keeping wrestling alive.
I know that I am not considered as prominent in the wrestling industry as
others, not one bit of disrespect intended to those athletes, but
I disagree with that classification.
The entire purpose of my trading these wrestling videos is to keep alive
the
art of wrestling. Call it a sport or call it an entertainment medium but
either
way it's still an art form. I watched the "old timers" wrestle when I was
a kid
and fell in love with it before it was cool to like wrestling and still
love it
now. The new-found popularity will be short-lived. I guarantee it. The
mainstream media will only hurt the wrestling industry with it's claims
of
abuse, etc. and portrayals and publishings of adverse occurences. Don't
get me
wrong, bad things do happen, but every time wrestling is mentioned in a
news
broadcast, something is bad is either said or implied.
Bad things also happen in baseball, like team brawls, umpire fights, etc.
but
are the bad things that happen mentioned every time baseball is brought
up
on the news? Not a damn chance! Football is another sport that is similar.
Bad things happen there. Just a few years ago, a New York Jet was stretchered
off the field after suffering multiple broken vertebrae. Is that mentioned
every time someone on a news broadcast mentions the Jets? Not a damn chance
there either! Hockey is a sport plagued by constant brawling and
controversy. That makes the news occasionally but the attendance is still
sweltering to say the least. Nobody is trying to undermine hockey for that,
and some wrestlers, namely Bret Hart, praise Hockey for it's worth as
character building ( I think it's in a different category than wrestling
as
there is too much hostility in hockey)...but wrestling is the constant
subject of scrutiny. And I know why. For years, watching Professional
Wrestling has been considered a lower-class hobby. Only poor people watched
wrestling. Now, with the class mobility seeking members of our society in
prominent media places, it is taboo to like wrestling. In their minds, it
is only taboo because people will frown on the for doing so...and we can't
have that can we? These are the kinds of people that wake up and turn on
their trendy radio or trendy television and find out what's fashionable for
this certain day and then they plan their fashion for that day. And as we
all know, fashions change on a daily basis. For years it was trendy to bash
wrestling and give it zero credibility in the mainstream media. I remember
that wrestling magazines (or Aptermags as RVD would call them) weren't
displayed along side of other prominent mass magazines(Time, Newsweek).
Wrestling magazines were usually next to crossword puzzle magazines and
almost always within 5 magazines of Cracked or Mad magazine. My, my,
my...how the tide ever so swiftly changes course. Wrestling will only be
trendy until some ego in a puffed out suit behind an ad executive desk
decides to give the head ego in charge the idea that wrestling shouldn't
be
on the top ten trends list. Like Axl Rotten said at the Cyberslam 98 Q&A
Session: "I was hardcore before it was cool to be hardcore." Same here, Axl.
That takes care of the sports side of wrestling.
Now for the entertainment aspect.
I have no problem with any person stating that wrestling is a form of
entertainment. I agree with that statement, by the way. That explains why
the
women are involved. Nobody on the planet can tell me that they are watching
Debra because they are interested in her athleticism. The obvious response
is
that people are intereted in her "puppies". Quite frankly, I don't think
she has any or was hired because anyone thought she had it. She was
probably hired because Vince McMahon had an idea that would revolutionize
the female role in wrestling. I am an avid Shakesperian and read plays and
watch theater avidly. I have never met or heard of anyone saying that
Shakespeare is garbage because Hamlet knew that Claudius murdered his father,
or that because King Lear knew what he was doing when he banished his three
daughters, Shakespeare was a fool. In fact, and it is of this writer's
opinion that, anyone doing so would have a zero chance of getting along in
life, for understanding Shakespeare's world is the key to understanding
ours. Nobody on the planet complains of any Braodway play or any other
theater show for that matter for being choreographed or "staged" or "fixed"
or any of the other multitude of adjectives associated through the media
with wrestling. For those who see wrestling as an entertainment medium,
whether or not it is choreographed or not is of no importance. It is of my
opinion that choreographing is the way to make a better performance. And
performance is the one key factor that keeps wrestlers going every night,
300 nights a year in the big federations or 150 nights a year in the
independents. Wrestlers love to perform. Therefore, if everything that a
match is comprised of is choreographed, then it makes for a better
performance. Rob Van Dam, one of my personal favorites, prides himself on
his workmanship in terms of performance...not how many matches he's won or
lost. Bret Hart prides himself on the fact that he's never hurt any other
wrestler that he's ever been in the ring with, which is another form of
performance...he doesn't pride himself on how many matches he's won. To
sum it
all up, wrestling is an art form and will be around for a long, long time
to come...whether or not it's popular. As long as there is one fan in the
crowd, wrestling will be there. Don't put too much creedence into the
beliefs and subvertion of the mass media, for it is a government imposed
mistake that is impeding the nation's growth.