10 Best Wrestling Documentaries Ever

Wrestling fans have a lot to thank the team behind 2004's The Rise and Fall of ECW, without which we may not have got the following year's One Night Stand reunion (or, for that matter, the 2006 edition, where John Cena fought RVD - and a couple thousand New York die-hards - at the Hammerstein Ballroom).

The film - five hours in total, though helpfully split into six distinct chapters - explores, as you might have guessed, the tumultuous journey of Paul Heyman's Extreme Championship Wrestling as it struggled and ultimately, failed, to get a foothold in the competitive late '90s pro-wrestling scene.

Though it was produced by WWE, the portrayal of one of the promotions it cannibalised in 2001 is fairly generous, giving pause to anyone who still believes financial mismanagement was soley to blame for its demise. Heyman, for example, discusses the lack of cooperation from TNN - despite relatively high ratings - and facing censorship for having the temerity to feature lesbian characters at a time of relative social conservatism.

Unless you came of wrestling age during the Attitude Era, you won't have had the opportunity to live through ECW in all its foul and depraved glory - and watching this is probably the next best thing.