Extreme Rising

Originally, I wasn't going to discuss the Extreme Rising promotion shut down because the unprofessional that surrounded the company made the management seem like a bunch of ECW marks that were trying to revive a nostalgia act that was completely over done. However, the details that have emerged in the past week show the "promoter" of the company is a scum bag so this is to let people know about the situation so that Extreme Rising doesn't rip off any other fans.

First, it's obvious that the "era of extreme" ended over a decade ago and hardcore wrestling is a cliche for the current pro wrestling market. ECW was great and had a lot of great stuff, but it wasn't perfect, despite the divine view that some fans might have of the promotion. The revolution of Extreme Championship Wrestling is a discussion for another time so let's discuss the most recent exploitation of extreme. It was two years ago that Extreme Reunion ran a show at the ECW arena and the show was a disaster. Sabu, who was booked as main event performer on the show, was taken to the hospital just hours before he was scheduled to wrestle and the story made TMZ headlines. Justin Credible arrived at the building in a condition unable to performer and was subsequently unbooked from the card. Thankfully, it's been reported that both competitors have addressed their problems since Extreme Reunion and they are healthy. The talent cancellations were only a few of the mishaps of the initial show, as nonsensical booking and lack luster matches had the crowd chanting "refund" during the main event.

Since the debut show, Extreme Reunion was renamed Extreme Rising and ran a few shows, but they cancelled more shows than they actually ran as planned. They also announced a TV deal, which was delayed and then didn't make the air. There were five shows announced this year and they were all canceled. The most recent cancellations were last week and it seems as though the promotion has shut down. The promoter, Steve O'Neil announced that all events were canceled and that the fans that purchased tickets in advance should contract credit companies directly for refunds. However, they fans that have purchased tickets have said that they can't get refunds so basically, O'Neil ripped them off.

The concept of Extreme Rising could have worked eight years ago when there was a buzz about the relaunch of the promotion with a mixture of ECW originals and top independent talent, but after the WWE version of ECW soured many fans on the brand, who wants to see another cheap rip off of ECW? The lack of a market for another extreme promotion for a current audience was obvious when shows were canceled for low ticket sales, but that's no excuse to rip off the fans. The Extreme Rising social media accounts have been deleted and the promoter hasn't addressed that the fans didn't get a refund for the canceled shows. The bottom line is Steve O'Neil is a scum bag and the fans deserve to get a refund. On a better note, The House of Hardcore promotion has offered a discount for fans that purchased Extreme Rising tickets for an HOH show next month so it's great that Tommy Dreamer is trying to help the fans.