ECW Original Talks Forthcoming WWE ECW DVDs, Why He Never Jumped To WWE

ECW Original Joel Gertner was the featured guest on the most recent episode of the In the Room podcast on VOC Nation. Interviewed by Pro Wrestling Illustrated contributor Brady Hicks and his panel of co-hosts, Gertner discussed his work in the heyday of one of pro wrestling’s most celebrated promotions, serving as a manager for the Dudley Boyz and as a commentator during the latter part of his run.

Gertner noted that he is still a fan of WWE and that he is extremely pleased with the WWE Network these days, adding that the company recently added a huge cache of vintage ECW material to the network in recent weeks. He enthusiastically pointed out that much of the newly added shows are from 1997 and 1998 and they include some of his best work with the Dudleyz. Joel also advised that he was recently tapped to contribute to WWE’s forthcoming ECW DVD retrospectives.

“I was up in Stamford a week or two ago,” Gertner said. They have two different home video releases coming out next year, the first of which they interviewed me for, would be a Dudley Boyz compilation and then the other one [is] OMG: 50 Craziest Moments In ECW History. That’s going to be coming out in the latter part of next year. So I contributed towards that.”

Wrestling DVD Network confirmed the release of the above-noted DVD projects earlier this month. The site did not have details to indicate whether or not the Dudley Boyz DVD will be a documentary or a compilation of matches, but Gertner’s participation in the project strongly suggests some sort of documentary or narrative component. Regarding the OMG compilation, in addition to Joel Gertner, ECW Originals Tazz and Tommy Dreamer will also be featured in the countdown-style production. This collection will be the third installment in WWE’s OMG series.

In the Room Host Brady Hicks asked Joel if he had ever gotten the chance to jump to WWE when some of ECW’s biggest names were leaving the small promotion for bigger opportunities. Gertner briefly discussed his talks with WWE, noting that although he had the chance to leave ECW, he couldn’t make the offer work at the time.

“I can tell you that there was at least one opportunity,” Gertner said. “There was a time before TNN, so before I was on a contract… and I spoke with one of the [agents] and we talked and I was given an indication of kind of a range of what the compensation might be and then creatively what I would be brought in for and I considered it. You know, at the end of the day, I was really loyal to ECW and things just kind of timed out in a certain way…and it made sense for me to take the ECW deal that was put in front of me. Yeah, there were definitely a couple of opportunities.”

Joel said that he was more than happy to stay with ECW during their deal with TNN, advising that he had a strong sense of loyalty to Paul Heyman. He also said that he enjoyed working with Rick Rude as a commentator on the TNN shows and said he had no regrets about his career choices in hindsight.

Joel Gertner told the In the Room hosts that he currently teaches math at a “retail education center” and does part time financial services work on the side. He is also seeking voiceover work and has his own podcast on iTunes, entitled 69 Minute Eargasm. He made brief appearances with TNA after the demise of ECW and also appeared on WWE’s ECW One Night Stand pay per view in 2005.

[Top image via WWE; WWE Network photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images; Joel gertner and the Dudleyz via WWE]