Tony Cecchine is a good grappler who has helped a lot of people. I’ve met the guy and TRUST ME, he doesn’t make a ton of money.
Truth be told, most of the BJJ guys around took a look at and stole from his original catch series. There were a lot of unique and new things there that weren’t being done in BJJ.
He has worked with former UFC fighter Shonie Carter and Shonie has always had good things to say about Tony. BJJ Blackbelt Shawn Chitwood collaborated on a project with Tony which ended with them parting ways unceremoniously, BUT, even with the bad blood, Shawn attested that while not the best grappler he’s ever rolled with, that Tony was a very good grappler and knows what he’s doing with catch wrestling.
As far as Eddie Bravo and Joe Rogan, they bashed Tony AND Catch Wrestling. Which is funny because Eddie’s signature move the twister, is simply a wrestler’s guillotine. Josh Barnett HAS used catch wrestling to be an elite HW grappler in MMA. The head grappling instructor at Xtreme Couture is Neil Melanson, who is a Catch Wrestler.
The facts are, is Tony a great businessman? No. Has he hyped his ad copy to try and get sales? Yes. Do most people? Yes. Is he a good grappler with things to teach people? Yes. He has never claimed to be a competitor. He’s never claimed to be an MMA fighter. He’s always represented himself as a self-defense person, not a sport grappler. But I think if you could, you’d find A LOT of BJJ guys have used stuff from Tony’s tapes.
Also, if you want an academic and Bullshido worthy investigation into this crap, check this: http://catchwreste.blogspot.com/2010/01/jake-shannon-and-kris-iatskevich-catch.html