New England Championship Wrestling

Iron 8 Championship 2007

The tag line for this DVD is "The Ultimate Test of Skill, Stamina & Strategy" - New England Championship Wrestling's Iron 8 tournament. Eight of New England's top wrestlers put their work ethic to the test, in a one night competition of guts for a little something called GLORY.

Disc #1

The average independent professional wrestling promotion would normally present a series of drawn-out predictable first round matches and rely heavily on the performances in later rounds to make up for the dreary first half. NECW, however, kicked off their annual Iron 8 Tournament with four extremely competitive evenly-matched contests featuring eight truly deserving wrestlers. Opening round matches included "The Infamous" Bobby Fish vs. Jason Blade, "Straight Edge" Brian Fury vs. Handsome Johnny, "Die Hard" Eddie Edwards vs. Gary Cassidy, and "The Real Deal" Brandon Locke vs. Antonio "The Promise" Thomas. In a million years, you couldn't predict the winners of all four of those pairing. Every match lasted roughly twenty minutes of good old fashioned professional wrestling at its best. These first round matches were included on disc one of this two disc set. The four winners advance to a four-way final match.

Disc #2

Evan Siks & Nikki Roxx vs. Big Rick Fuller & Sean Gorman w/D.C. Dillinger: You might remember Rick Fuller from his days as an overweight jobber to the stars in WCW. These days, in NECW, you might not recognize the man who has lost about a hundred pounds and looks like one of the most menacing wrestlers to ever compete on the independent wrestling circuit. Sean Gorman is actually the manager, but he replaced WWW champion Tanya Lee in this mixed tag team match - but had some insurance at ringside in the form of NECW Triple Crown champion D.C. Dillinger. Everyone knows how much I adore Nikki Roxx, and "The Human Nightmare" Evan Siks is about the most unlikely babyface wrestler I've ever seen. Nobody ever accused NECW head honcho Sheldon Goldberg of going with the grain. The only thing I want more than a hug from Nikki Roxx, is to see her get her hands on that dirty rotten scoundrel Sean Gorman - okay I lied I want the hug WAY MORE. After some shenanigans by the heels, Mr. Gorman managed to score the disappointing pin over the "Best Ass in the Business" Nikki Roxx.

Next Mr. Sheldon Goldberg was joined by NECW Tag Team champions Kyle and Matt Storm, collectively known as the Dogs of War, for the presentation of the NECW Triple Crown championship to the new champion, D.C. Dillinger, who came out and did his best to insult the locals on the microphone. Sheldon Goldberg tried to give Dillinger a lesson in responsibility, explaining that with the NECW Triple Crown comes a level of class. Sean Gorman got greedy for gold and challenged the Dogs of War to defend the NECW Tag Team championships against the team of D.C. Dillinger and Eddie Edwards, collectively known as Sabotage. The D.o.W. accepted but only if Dillinger put his NECW Triple Crown on the line as well. To happen at a later date, and included in the "EXTRAS" section of this DVD.

Iron 8 Finals - Eddie Edwards vs. Bobby Fish vs. Brandon Locke vs. Brian Fury : Managers were banned from ringside and no outside interference will be tolerated and the participants agree that it will be a true challenge of stamina and determination. Sounds a lot like the old ROH "code of honor" to me. For forty-five grueling minutes, four of New England's finest professional wrestlers fought under Iron Man rules - the winner of the most falls would be declared the Iron 8 champion. I'm not going to tell you how many falls each wrestler scored, because I want you to purchase the damn DVD and enjoy it as a fan like I did. I don't work for NECW, but I am a fan who is serious about the responsibility of the influence I've been granted via this website to guide wrestling fans towards things I believe they would enjoy. "The Infamous" Bobby Fish unfortunately ended up with a broken ankle, but it was "Die Hard" Eddie Edwards who had his arm raised in victory and declared the 2007 Iron 8 champion!

BONUS MATERIAL: The NECW production crew included some special extras to spice up your life! First the match between the Dogs of War and Sabotage (D.C. Dillinger & Eddie Edwards), plus Sean Gorman forcing Nikki Roxx to eat dog food and the resulting interview with Roxx. Some special additions to the DVD included Sheldon Goldberg discussing the origins of the Iron 8 tournament, plus interviews with Antonio Thomas, Brian Fury, Bobby Fish, Eddie Edwards, and Brandon Locke about what Iron 8 means to them. Then to cap it all off, Sheldon Goldberg talked about the differences between NECW Iron 8 and ECWA Super 8, followed by "The Infamous" Bobby Fish talking about the ankle injury he suffered at the end of the Iron 8 finals. So as you can see there are lots of added incentives to check out New England Championship Wrestling on DVD.

Final Thoughts: If you're somehow not convinced how good NECW is, all you have to do is head over to NECW.TV and watch their FREE television show. The DVD home releases are like their pay-per-views.

You can watch exclusive episodes of NECW Television at NECW.TV or you can check out the selection of New England Championship Wrestling and World Women's Wrestling home release DVDs at www.necwwrestling.com & www.worldwomenswrestling.com.

Reviewed by Brad Dykens on November 23, 2007.