This could almost be called ECW: Glorious Past and Horrible Present! However, despite my hatred of the current ECW product, WWE have at least picked (for the most part) the best of what ECW have done in the last year and with the release of ECW's The Most Extreme Matches, The Rise and Fall of ECW and now ECW: Extreme Rules there is thankfully nothing left from ECW's past for McMahon to plunder and exploit.

Presented by Joey Styles and Tazz, this is a combination of the matches and highlight reels of a number of notable wrestlers (Sabu, Sandman, Balls Mahoney), but the absence of many others is baffling (no look at Dudleys, Tommy Dreamer, Rob Van Dam or even former owner Paul Heyman himself). These are all far too short and the ones of the newer ECW stars (CM Punk and Kevin Thorne) seem a little pointless if you don't include any of their matches. The inclusion of Kelly Kelly (arguably one of the worst divas ever) and Ariel's tarot card reading was just an excuse for WWE to show off her… ahem… assets! However, there are lots of highlights, including Jerry Lawler's hilarious invasion from WWE and Chris Benoit breaking Sabu's neck by suplexing him onto his head, which is just scary to see and gained Benoit the nickname 'The Crippler'. One odd thing is the inclusion of Tazz's victory over Shane Douglas; this was such a big deal at the time that it truly deserved to be here in full.

With sixteen matches on offer it'd be cruel to say that everything after the original ECW incarnation is terrible, but when you compare any of the matches from the new ECW TV show to any of the matches from the first disk then you'll see why ECW is such a joke. Nowhere is this seen more clearly than in their recent December To Dismember PPV.

ECW World Heavyweight Championship Match ****
Sandman vs. Cactus Jack

I love Sandman - he's so cool that it's hard not to! As with most of the matches, this is a brutal mixture of barbed wire and canes and is pretty hard to watch at times. This early Mick Foley match is great for seeing how he developed his character(s) over the years and I can't believe he's still walking after all of this!

Steel Cage Weapons Match for the ECW Tag Team Championship ***
The Gangstas vs. The Eliminators

Any match that involves New Jack is going to be brutal (what with him being a former bounty hunter!) and this is no different. A great match, spoilt by the constant playing of The Gangstas music for the first four to five minutes of the match.

Scaffold Match ***
Tommy Dreamer vs. Brian Lee

For those who don't know, Brian Lee was the Underfaker, just in case you do a double take and think that it's the Deadman in ECW. To win this match you need to push your opponent from the wobbly scaffold (constructed by The Sandman -I kid you not!) through the tables. This match is helped by having both the original Joey Styles commentary and an alternate commentary with Tommy Dreamer and Jonathan Coachman; Dreamer reveals a lot of information about the match and the ECW style.

Stairway to Hell ****
Sandman vs. Sabu

Sabu and Sandman - it just doesn't get any better than this! A gruesome match to watch, but like anything from this disk it's just mesmerising.

Dudleyville Street Fight **
Buh Buh, D'Von & Big Dick Dudley vs. Sandman, Tommy Dreamer & Spike Dudley

Not a great match but still watchable enough to justify its inclusion. Dreamer and Sandman work well with this match, but the Dudleys feel a little awkward.

Championship Unification Extreme Death Match ***
Taz vs. Sabu

Again, the inclusion of original and new commentary by Tazz and Joey Styles is great and makes this match even greater than it is. Both were injured and so the match isn't as great as it should be, but still a strong showing from both.

ECW World Heavyweight Championship Match ****
Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka

Despite how extreme this match is, it's probably one of the few pure wrestling matches here. Tanaka and Awesome work so well together that it's not surprising that they had so many rematches. Simply awesome! (No pun intended).

Tables, Ladders, Chairs & Canes for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship ***
Steve Corino vs. Sandman vs. Justin Credible

I wish this had been under elimination rules, as it felt too generic in terms of the action and there is so much going on that the whole thing becomes a little confusing. All three wrestlers get lots of offence in, but the victory is not as satisfying as some other matches.

Dudley Boyz vs. Tommy Dreamer & Sandman ****

Wow! A great match with lots of surprises and a fabulous ending, though I wish they had shown the whole aftermath as well.

Rey Mysterio vs. Rob Van Dam ****

Both wrestlers were on a roll at this time and give each other as good as they can get. This is not a bloodbath; it's more like a classic lucha match that's just beautiful to watch. It's spoilt by having a commercial break part way through but it's not a drastic problem.

Mixed Extreme Tag Team Match ****
Mick Foley, Edge & Lita vs. Tommy Dreamer, Terry Funk & Beulah

If only they hadn't spent so long at the beginning doing terrible promos then I would have marked this match higher. With Funk, Foley and Dreamer involved you have to be prepared for the worst and all six get an amazing showing here. It's surprising how much they put each other through. Warning: this match is not pleasant to watch!

Extreme Rules Match for the ECW World Championship **
Rob Van Dam vs. Big Show

All of ECW's woes can be traced back to here. RVD was arrested for driving while under the influence of drugs and this was his punishment. I think I'd rather take some jail time, as Big Show is just slow and boring!

Extreme Rules Match for the ECW World Championship ***
Big Show vs. Ric Flair

It was during this match that I sat pondering this question, "What does 'Extreme Rules' actually mean?" Is it the same as a No DQ match? I thought the whole point was that every match was 'Extreme'. Did I get that wrong? Although I love watching Flair, even he can't get a great match out of Show.

Ladder Match to Determine the # 1 Contender for the ECW World Championship ****
Sabu vs. Rob Van Dam

This is a great match and almost a glimmer as to what two great ECW wrestlers can do. My one problem with this match is that there are too many points where both wrestlers call the match to each other. As the ECW TV show is only an hour long, I feel that they were given this match move for move in order to fit the timeframe (an ad break didn't help either) and so it doesn't feel as spontaneous as others in the past. Sabu botches so many moves that he is clearly 'suicidal' and also a 'danger to others'.

Extreme Rules Match **
Rob Van Dam & Sabu vs. Test & Mike Knox

Why is this here? Why? Though exciting, this is still not as entertaining as it should be and thankfully RVD and Sabu carry Test and Knox through this match.

Extreme Rules Match *
Rob Van Dam vs. Hardcore Holly

A horrible garbage brawl that doesn't do anything to get either Holly or RVD over. RVD will never be booed and so his push from the main events and the title shots is possibly one of the biggest mistakes in wrestling since Eric Bischoff told Steve Austin he'd never make any money!

I'm not sure what this disk is trying to do. If its main aim was to prove that ECW was great in the past and now it's terrible then it's a rousing success! The current whole roster consists of nineteen wrestlers (not including divas) and of these there are probably only six or seven that I'd actually pay to watch. RVD is one of the most popular wrestlers in ECW or the WWE; he has been used almost in a jobber status since he lost (read: was stripped of) his world titles and WWE have continued to book new wrestlers, yet old WWE rejects in ECW and fans have turned on them, turning off the program in droves. The only reason ECW went out of business in 2001 was because Paul Heyman was a terrible businessman; if he'd had the financial might of McMahon or Turner then he would have run both WWE and WCW into the ground with ECW's innovative match styles and entertaining storylines. Wrestlers like the Dudleys, Rhyno and Mike Awesome would never have left the company if Heyman hadn't been bouncing their paycheques for months (Rhyno was owed almost $50,000!) and eventually wrestlers who had become disillusioned with WCW and WWE (Chris Benoit, Raven, Chris Jericho) would be jumping to ride the ECW wave rather than to WWE. Sadly that never happened and even with McMahon's chequebook to back them up, it seems the ECW is doomed to failure; given the evidence presented in ECW: Extreme Rules I'll be surprised if it can survive for very long without the creative force of Paul Heyman behind it.

Reviewed by David Simpson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).