Ep. 9 1997 ECW Barely Legal

The Lapsed Fan goes extreme for the first time this week, as the co-chairmen of TLF go hard on the very first ECW pay-per-view, 1997’s Barely Legal.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro assess all that was ECW, including exclusive insight from a 2010 interview Jack conducted with Paul Heyman discussing the state of the pay-per-view industry at the time ECW was looking to break in, and the absurd lengths the promotion had to go to to convince the PPV industry they weren’t “real”or somehow akin to UFC.

It’s a table-busting look at a revolutionary night, including:

- Sabu’s penchant for setting up high spots without immobilizing his opponent first

- Joey Styles’ blend of technical analysis, histrionics, and jabs at WWF and WCW

- Heyman’s booking methods, including more than one twist at the end of virtually every major match

- Why the Taz character worked

- Why ECW struggled

- A look at Rob Van Dam at the point just before anyone cared much about him

- Terry Funk’s self-destructive peccadilloes and inspiring performance

- Blue. World. Order.

All that and so much more, as The Lapsed F’N Fan walks up to the line of legality with a one-of-a-kind take on ECW Barely Legal.