ECW was a company led by Paul Heyman in the 90's. It produced some of the biggest stars of the last 10-15 years such as Chris Jericho, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Rey Mysterio, Rob Van Dam, and also gave guys such as Tommy Dreamer, Sabu, The Dudley Boys, and The Sandman a place to make a name for themselves. The company was known for its hardcore wrestling, but it also had an emphasis on lucha libre and technical wrestling with names such as Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, Juvented Guerrero, Too Cold Scorpio and others.
ECW shut down in 2001, but in 2005, they had a one night reunion pay-per-view event. I did not see this orginally when it happened, but I got the DVD a few months ago and have watched it several times since, so I decided to write a review it. It was truly a great event and one of my all time favorites!
Match 1) Lance Storm vs. Chris Jericho
This was billed as Lance Storm's last match and what better way to go out than wrestling the same guy you wrestled in your first ever match. Storm and Jericho have always had great chemistry and it showed here. A very enjoyable bout and a great way to start the show. Justin Credible makes an appearance during the match.
Match rating - 8/10
2) Super Crazy vs. Tajiri (w/Sinister Minister & Mikey Whipwreck) vs. Little Guido - Three Way Dance
For those who don't know, a three way dance isn't like a triple threat match that you see in WWE. To win this match, the other two competitors have to be eliminated. It was fast paced match and featured the first "holy shit" moment of the night as Super Crazy did a backflip off the balcony into the crowd onto Guido, Tony Mamaluke and the rest of the FBI! The action in the ring was just as great with alot of cool moves.
Match rating - 7.5/10
3) Rey Mysterio vs. Psichosis - Extreme Luchador Action
Mysterio and Psichosis had an awesome feud back during the original days in ECW, so I was excited for this match. At first, I was disappointed (as were the fans) because Psichosis strayed away from his normally fast paced gameplan and started using headlocks and other submissions. The match did soon pick up once Mysterio got control and turned out to be a really good bout. My favorite spot was seeing Mysterio dive off the turnbuckle into the crowd on Psichosis into a bunch of chairs.
Match rating - 7/10
The storyline going into this was that some WWE guys from Raw and Smackdown would be invading the show. We found out that they had purchased some seats up in the balcony. After this match, the WWE Smackdown guys led by Kurt Angle and JBL made their way into the arena through the crowd. It was hilarious seeing JBL argue with fans and do what he does best - play the heel. He took his hat off and yelled "The god is here!" haha. Hilarious stuff from Bradshaw. These Smackdown "crusaders" as they were called included Matt Morgan, Carlito, The Basham Brothers, and Orlando Jordan. Angle and JBL led their group into their seats in the balcony. Angle got on the mic and started badgering the fans. The fans started chanting "You suck dick" at Angle and Angle responded by saying "Your mother taught me how!". JBL then got on the microphone and talked some crap to the fans. JBL called out one fan by saying "You! Fat boy! Yeah, you fat ass in the blue shirt, you could beat ECW, that's why you love it so much". JBL talked about how the fans were internet geeks and said "You can't beat me and that pisses you sons of bitches off". JBL continued, but was interrupted when Rob Van Dam's music hit! I really enjoyed that segment because JBL and Angle played off the crowd perfectly and both delivered awesome promos.
Rob Van Dam made his way to the ring accompanied by his long time manager, Bill Alfonoso. Van Dam was injured so he couldn't compete and he discussed that and how much it sucked. He then went through all of his catchphrases such as "Whole F'N Show" and the RVD 420 routine. Then out of nowhere, Rhino ran to the ring and gored Van Dam. Rhino started beating on his leg when the lights go out. They come back on and Sabu is in the ring! An impromptu match is made!
4) Rhino vs. Sabu
As expected with these two, this was a very enjoyable match. Several cool spots with chairs and tables. It also always fun watching Sabu do his impressive moveset with the chairs and what not. Great hardcore match.
Match rating - 8/10
After this match, Eric Bischoff along with Edge, Christian, and Tomko were spotted leading the Raw guys into the arena through the crowd. They brought William Regal, Jonathan Coachman, and Maven with them. They didn't get much spotlight though as Benoit's music hit and he made his way to the ring for the next match, while shaking his head at the WWE guys in the balcony.
5) Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit
Here we have two WWE legends in their own right who started off in ECW. Joey Styles mentions that this is the match that Heyman always wanted to book while they were in ECW, but never got the chance until now. This was a really good match (doubt anyone expected any less). The crowd was heavily behind Benoit throughout it. The only down fall here was that the crowd seemed to be more focused on taking jabs at Edge who just recently entered the arena. They chanted "I fucked Lita", "Lita's got herpes", and "You screwed Matt" towards him. The insults were funny, but it did take attention away from the match.
Match rating - 7.75/10
6) Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka
Wow man, this match stole the show. It was easily the best match of the night as these guys threw everything they had at each other. It came as no surprise though because Awesome and Tanaka had legendary battles in not only ECW back in the day, but in Japan as well. Awesome powerbombs Tanaka through a table off the apron (sick spot/landing). That was the first of many breathtaking spots in this match. Match of the night.
Match rating - 9/10
Paul Heyman made his way to the ring to a standing ovation. Heyman got emotional in the ring as the crowd chanted "Thank you Paul!" Paul delivered a great promo, thanking everyone for what they had done. He then targeted the WWE guys and delivered some stinging insults towards Bischoff, JBL, and Edge. Awesome stuff as always from Heyman.
It was then time for the main event. The Dudleys hit the ring to a standing ovation. Then out came Tommy Dreamer who was followed by The Sandman. I still love Sandman's entrance to this day. He busts himself open with a beer can before the match even starts. He and Dreamer meet up at ringside once Sandman makes his way through the crowd. They pour beer on the boobs of two former ECW women wrestlers. Yet another reason to love ECW.
Before the match can get started some crazy shit takes place. BWO led by Stevie Richards hits the ring. They cut a promo and Stevie proceeds to kick Sandman in the face which starts a huge brawl as the Dudleys attacked them for doing so, but BWO cleans house on them as well. Kid Kash then hits the ring to a great reaction to make the save. He is followed by Axl Rotten and Balls Mahoney who come out swingin chairs! The brawls heads to the outside as the Dudleys, BWO, Rotten, and Mahoney fight near the entrance way. Then Kash decides to have his shining moment of the night as he cuts a backflip out of the ring onto all of the men brawling. INSANE spot.
7) The Dudley Boys vs. The Sandman & Tommy Dreamer
After all of that stuff, the match itself finally starts. Hardcore awesomeness is the best way to describe this match. Blood, tables, chairs, fire, everything you can think of was used here. About mid way through the match, Justin Credible and Lance Storm hit the ring along with Francine. They get their asses handed to them, but Francine is still in there. Beulah runs down and we have ourselves a catfight between the two. Meanwhile the insanity continues as we get a Bubba Bomb through a table. The Dudleys then hit the 3D, but that isn't good enough. They get another table out and Bubba calls Spike Dudley to the ring! Spike has lighter fluid and they pour it all over the table before lighting it on fire! They then proceed to take a bloody Tommy Dreamer and slam him through the flaming table. SPOT OF THE NIGHT. And that's all for this one.
Match rating - 9/10
After the match Beulah comes in the ring to check on Tommy along with Sandman. Sandman canes the hell out of everyone in sight except for Dreamer and Beulah of course. Sandman gets down and checks on Dreamer before yelling out "I need a beer! Somebody get me a beer!" Out of nowhere, glass shatters, and here comes STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN! This was probably my biggest mark out moment of the night right here, even though I marked out several times.
Austin gets in the ring and tells Sandman he brings beer with him everywhere he goes, but he's not only getting beer for him. Austin tells all of his fellow ECW family to come to the ring for a beer bash. The locker room empties as pretty much everyone that competed on this night came to the ring such as Super Crazy, BWO, Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio, Tajiri, FBI, and a shitload more of people. CW Anderson who was at ringside came into the ring as well.
Once everyone got into the ring, Stone Cold turned attention to the WWE Anti-ECW Crusaders. He said he came here tonight to see a fight and challenged the WWE guys to come down and fight them. Stone Cold ran his mouth for about five minutes here saying all kinds of hilarious stuff. My favorite exchange had to be when he was talking to Kurt Angle. He says "Hey, Kurt Angle, you gold medal son of a bitch, get your ass down here". Angle starts pointing and yelling at Austin from the balcony and Austin says "PULL THAT FINGER OUT OF YOUR ASS". Hilarious stuff. Austin tells the WWE guys to come down to the ring or he was gonna come up there so the WWE guys start heading to the ring. Stone Cold keeps running his mouth which is hilariously funny. I have no idea who he was referring to, but as the WWE guys came down the stairs, Austin said "YOU JACKED UP SON OF A BITCH, COME ON DOWN HERE, I GOT SOMETHING FOR YOUR ASS!" Then in one of my favorite lines, Stone Cold says "Alright everybody make some noise for the WWE 'Superstars'" The way he mocked the word 'Superstars' was funny as hell. Austin is great.
The WWE guys finally get into the ring and the battle lines have been drawn. Eric Bischoff busts into the commentary both where Mick Foley and Joey Styles are. Styles and Bischoff argue a bit before Styles completely tells him off. Meanwhile, Raw and Smackdown guys are on one side of the ring and ECW guys on the other. The WWE guys consist of Kurt Angle, JBL, Matt Morgan, Edge, Christian, Carlito, and others. On the ECW side, you've got the Dudleys, Sandman, Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit, BWO, CW Anderson, Balls Mahoney, Tajiri and many others. Before the brawl breaks down, Taz's music hits and he walks slowly towards the ring to a HUGE ovation from the crowd. My next mark out moment is right here as Taz and Angle stare each other down and prepare to lock up. Two of the best submissions wrestlers ever about to throwdown in an ECW ring. Wow. Taz and Angle go at it which causes the rest of the guys in the ring to start brawling as well. It's WWE vs. ECW! Taz and Angle brawl to the outside where Taz chokes out Angle on the entrance way. The ECW guys throw all the WWE guys out of the ring and they all stand at the entrance way.
Stone Cold gets back on the mic and says "Well it looks like you WWE guys just got your asses whipped." Austin then points out that there is one guy he wants in the ring. Austin then tells Mick Foley to bring Eric Bischoff to the ring! Bischoff's guys (the WWE guys) all walk out leaving him alone. Foley drags Bischoff to the ring where Austin gets the Dudleys to hit the 3D on him. Austin then tells Benoit to deliver a flying headbutt to Bischoff. As Benoit is in the air, Austin yells "HE'S GONNA KILL THIS SON OF A BITCH!" Hahaha. Benoit nails Bischoff with the headbutt, then Mysterio delivers a 619 on Bischoff. Then Austin along with Benoit, Mahoney, Dudleys and all the other ECW guys stand over Bischoff. Austin asks Bischoff for his thoughts on the show, Bischoff responds by saying "FUCK ECW!". This pisses Austin off beyond belief. The way he acts when he's pissed is brilliant. Stone Cold then tells The Dudleys to hold Bischoff up. He flips Bischoff the middle finger and delivers a stunner to him in the middle of the ring. The crowd EXPLODES. The Dudleys carry Bischoff out of the arena as everyone in the ring celebrates. The ECW guys all celebrate for a minute or tow before the show ends and Stone Cold and Sandman stand at the top of the entrance way as the show goes off.
Overall thoughts: Awesome show overall. Ususally reunion and nostalgia based shows aren't that good as far as match quality goes, but this one didn't have a bad match on it. In fact, all of them were great. The segments were gold as well. From Heyman's promo to Stone Cold's big ending. It was all great. When I heard the WWE guys would be invading, I figured it would be an overbooked shitfest, but it turned out to add to the show. JBL and Angle's promo when they entered was hilarious. They were the perfect two guys to have lead this "invasion". The commentary was brilliant as Joey Styles is awesome. Mick Foley added alot to the commentary as well. Awesome show with great matches and crazy segments. The ending was phenomenal, great seeing Bischoff get layed out by the guys in the company that he put out of business.
I definitely think this an event you should check out and have in your collection. For nostalgia purposes and because it's an awesome show. I guarantee you'll enjoy it so I HIGHLY recommend. Especially to people who haven't seen it or people who weren't around when ECW was hot and have never seen ECW at all. This is a great reunion show and it's definitely worth the purchase
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