We start off with ECW Representative Paul Heyman coming out to greet the fans. The crowd is insanely hot already, as usual. He says on behalf of every wrestler who wanted to be hardcore more than a superstar, THE TRIBE OF EXTREME HAS RISEN AGAIN!~! When Paul E. says that stuff it makes me mark out. Weird, yeah. This was right before the “re-launch of ECW”, where Paul was the GM of sorts. “Thank You Paul E.” chant. They’re premiering on Sci-Fi that Tuesday. It didn’t happen because of Heyman, or Vince McMahon, it happened because of the fans, says Paul. He thanks the audience profusely. The famous IF CENA WINS WE RIOT sign gets a screenshot. Paul says, “This is better than Monday Night Raw, this is better than Smackdown, welcome to the rebirth of E-C-W!” Gotta mark out for stuff like that. Too bad it didn’t work out the way he planned. But in reality, who expected it to?
Joey Styles opens us up with a small greeting, then Taz’s awesome ECW music hits. Taz comes out with an orange Brooklyn jersey, and his famous towel on his head. Jerry Lawler’s music hits to huge heat, and he comes out with a disgusted look on his face as he sees the ECW fans. “You suck dick” chants towards Lawler. I have a feeling we’ll hear a lot of those chants tonight. Ya know, Lawler, when he gets the chance, is awesome at generating heat. What better place than the fucking Hammerstein Ballroom? Lawler goes by the announcing booth and pushes Joey Styles down. I wouldn’t do that…
Jerry “The King” Lawler vs. Taz
As the bell rings, Joey Styles is in the ring and he jumps on Lawler. Lawler slams him down and looks to put him in a piledriver. Taz catches him from behind with the Tazmission and The King passes out at about 30 seconds
Analysis: ¼* a fun way to get the crowd pumped up with a Taz win. It wasn’t expected that they have a match more than a squash, and it served it’s purpose well. It was fun for an opener
A recap of the great ECW vs. WWE Head to Head show on the Wednesday before One Night Stand. They show Big Show betraying Raw for ECW. Big Show ended up being one of the better monster champions in recent history honestly. Then they show John Cena vs. Sabu, and the brawl between WWE and ECW afterwards. It was a fun show with a good Rey-RVD match and a nice Foley anti-hardcore promo.
Randy Orton enters to huge heat. This was his obnoxious as fuck period, where he was suspended for smoking pot backstage (correct me if I’m wrong.) His pyro in the ring gets a fucking hilarious response from Taz and Joey; “He’s a superstar!!” Kurt Angle, ECW’s newest superstar (that didn’t last unfortunately. He went to TNA soon after) enters to a big pop from the ECW crowd. Just last year, Kurt was HATED. Easily swayed, are we fans?
Kurt Angle vs. Randy Orton
“Fuck him up, Angle” chant. They circle and Kurt misses a takedown as Orton slides out of the ring. “Pussy” chant for Orton. Ha. Angle gets the double leg takedown and he escapes an ankle lock attempt by getting out of the ring. “Angle’s gonna kill you!” chant now. Tie up into a headlock takeover for Angle. Angle rises and Orton runs him off the ropes, but is met with a shoulder block and a headlock takeover. He gets a two count out of it. Orton gets out with a headscissors, but Angle kicks out of it, and Orton quickly heads out of the ring, much to the chagrin of Angle and the Hammerstein Ballroom. Orton is getting pissed from all these chants, it seems. Double leg takedown from Angle. He puts him on his stomach and slaps him like a bitch on the back of his head, and quickly goes into a full mount. Randy Orton rises up with Kurt on his back, but quickly falls back down. Orton gets to the ropes and Angle breaks. Kurt Angle gives Orton an opportunity for a headlock, it’s taken, but he breaks it. He does that again, and it’s pissing The Legend Killer off. Orton goes into another headlock, but is quickly taken down with a suplex. Irish whip into the corner. Kurt tries to kill Orton, but Randy moves and Kurt hits his shoulder on the post. Randy takes control and hits some strikes as Angle falls. European uppercut by Orton as another “Fuck him up, Angle” chant breaks out. Punches by Randy Orton, then another uppercut. This is getting big heat. Angle quickly explodes into Orton with another takedown, but Angle takes a back elbow off the ropes for one count. Thumb to the eye of Angle and a hard Irish whip into the corner. Knee drops to Angle for a nearfall. “You can’t wrestle” chant as Orton busts out his patented CHINLOCK!~! Angle reverses and gets a couple nearfalls. Orton bites the arm of Angle as Kurt is on his back. Back elbow to Angle and few more knock him off, and now a standing rear naked choke as the audience chants “Boring.” Angle gets out and looks for a German Suplex, but is whipped into the corner, but goes behind Randy and hits a pretty German suplex. “ECW!” chant by the fans. They duel with uppercuts. A punch from Orton misses, but he hits a forearm. Angle looks for the rolling Germans and he gets them. The crowd likes that. Angle Slam is reversed into an armdrag, and Randy Orton hits his cool dropkick for a nearfall. Headlock is reversed into the back suplex from Angle, and the straps are down! ANGLE SLAM! 1, 2—NO! Nearfall. He locks in the Ankle Lock! Orton reverses and Angle faceplants into the turnbuckle. Orton hits his neckbreaker across the back for a close two count. Orton misses an RKO, but hits a cool back elbow to a running Angle. Orton goes up top, Angle looks for the Belly-to belly. Orton comes down with a crossbody, but Angle reverses it into a nearfall. They’re up and Orton kills Angle with a loud clotehesline. Orton misses another RKO, but reverses an ankle lock into a victory roll. Angle locks in the Ankle Lock again, he grapevines it, and Orton has to tap at 15 minutes.
Analysis: ***1/4 Pretty slow paced for the first ten minutes, but the crowd really made it entertaining, and the last five minutes were really fun. Angle showed here that he still kicks ass even with injuries. They had a better match at Vengeance ’06. It kinda sucks that Angle left before he was established in ECW, but such is the wrestling business. Good match here.
Post match, Orton’s ankle is “broken” and he’s helped to the back by doctors and “Pussy” chants from the crowd.
Live event commercial for the new ECW.
The FBI’s music (a ripoff of No Sleep Till Brooklyn) hits. Tony Mamaluke and Little Guido come out with Big Guido. The crowd isn’t too loud for them. Pretty big pop for Super Crazy and Tajiri.
The Full Blooded Italians vs. Super Crazy and Tajiri
Mamaluke and Super Crazy start. They tie up and test strength and break. They tie up again and Mamaluke gets waistlock, but Crazy gets a wristlock. They have a lot of academic wrestling exchanges after that. Tajiri just comes in and stomps Mamaluke while he is controlling Super Crazy. Headlock by Mamaluke. Crazy tries to run him off the ropes, but takes him over. He hits a fireman’s carry for a two count. They tie up again and Crazy hits an armdrag and some punches. He hits a hiptoss off the ropes to Mamaluke. Armdrag by Mamaluke. Short arm scissors by Tony is countered by Super Crazy with an electric chair drop. Elevated facebuster by Super Crazy followed by a standing moonsault for a close two count. Uppercut by Mamaluke, and Tajiri and Little Guido are now tagged in. A lot of counters are ended by kicks from Tajiri. Tilt a whirl backbreaker is reversed into a fujiwara armbar in a nice counter. Wristlock by Guido. That’s countrered into an armtrap single leg crab. Tajiri hangs Guido up on the tree of woe. Crazy comes in and dropkicks Tony Mamaluke and hangs him on the tree of woe. That pops the crowd. They both hit dropkicks to the face, and Tajiri gets nearfall with a smug cover. Crazy looking for his triple moonsault. He botches the first one, and Mamaluke pulls Guido out. Asai moonsault by Crazy onto the FBI! Big Guido pulls Crazy down as Little Guido takes control. Little Guido whips Crazy into the guardrail as Big Guido assaults Super Crazy. Cover by Guido only gets two. He tags into Tony Mamaluke. Backdrop by crazy sends Mamaluke down, and I’m thinking Tony fucked up the landing. Tony counters something from Crazy, and puts him in a submission while Guido comes down and kicks the FUCK out of Super Crazy. Tajiri comes in to clean house as Super Crazy takes control of Little Guido with a flapjack. He tags in Tajiri. Tajiri counters a back suplex with a heel kick and Mamaluke breaks the pin up. Tajiri puts in a submission I can’t quite think of the name for. Double handspring elbow to the FBI from Tajiri. Irish whip by Guido, but Tajiri stops and fucks Guido up with a sidekick! DOUBLE TARANTULAS!~! That was cool. Here comes Big Guido, but Crazy and Tajiri takes him out with a double kick. Double clothesline by the FBI, but Crazy kicks Guido. Guido kikicks crazy out of the ring and into the stands. They put Tajiri in the corner and hit a double Fisherman’s Brainbuster for the 1, 2, 3 in 13 minutes.
Analysis: *** A lot of fun action here. Tajiri looked awesome, Guido got a chance to shine, and Mamaluke didn’t look very bad at all. The crowd loved this one too, of course. Better than the three way match from ONS ’05, and over two times longer. Just really fun shit.
Big Show comes out post-match. Looks like he’ll face off with Big Guido. Low blow to Big Guido by Show. Show just fucks everyone’s shit up in there. I guess this was to establish that Big Show was a monster again. He messes everyone up and just leaves because he’s huge badass like that.
JBL starts talking to the chagrin of EVERYONE. Rey Mysterio is behind him. He pretty much runs down ECW and says he’s announcing on Smackdown. A good line in response to a You suck dick chant, “I see no women out here, and you’re chanting about a male organ. Now who’s the fruit booty?” Really good promo, made better by the crowd heat. JBL was a good talker. I miss him as an announcer. What? Sue me.
Plug for the Rise and Fall of ECW book. I’m sure the DVD is better.
Sabu comes out to his cool music. The crowd likes him of course. I’ve never had a problem with him either. He does botch a lot, but that’s alright, because some of the spots he does hit are fucking cool. Rey Mysterio comes out with his belt, and actual tights. He has those and ECW on the back of his mask to kiss the fan’s ass, but it really doesn’t work. I like the tights better than his normal pants. Oh, and Rey Mysterio is still an awesome worker, even in 2011. I hate people who say he sucks because of the 619.
World Heavyweight Title Match: Rey Mysterio © vs. Sabu
They start off with chairs, looking to duel, but they eventually drop them. “Fuck him up Sabu” chant. Some good counter wrestling with arm wringers and takedowns and whatnot. Attempted kick or something by Sabu. They duel with the chairs now. That was a cool little spot. Air Sabu into the corner on Rey! Drop toehold from Rey to Sabu on the chair. Off the chair, Rey hits a nice hurricanrana. He misses a 619. Kick to the knee of Rey Rey. Sabu throws a chair at Rey and it hits HARD. Sabu already gets the table out. He hits Rey’s head off the table and sets him on it. Rey moves and Sabu eats shit on the guardrail, and Rey hits some punches from there. Rey hits Sabu’s head off the stairs and throws him in the ring. He hits a moonsault to Sabu for a two count. Sabu counters a move from Mysterio and sets him up on the second rope and hits a nice guillotine legdrop for a nearfall. Camel Clutch from Sabu, and a “Sheik” chant breaks out. Arabian Facebuster for a two count. Sabu goes outside and sets up another table. He goes to ringside and Rey hits a dropkick. Sabu gets on the table and Rey hits a nice seated senton through the table to a “Holy Shit” chant. Rey is back in the ring, and Sabu trails behind. Rey gets a cover for two. Springboard legdrop to the back of Sabu’s head for two. Rey sets up the chair and jumps to a cornered Sabu. Sabu moves and Rey backflips off, then Sabu hits a springboard wheel kick. Sabu then fucks up a triple jump moonsault for two. Sabu misses a super Arabian Facebuster. Mysterio tries a seated senton to Sabu who’s in the chair, but Sabu moves and Rey crotches himself. Sabu throws a stiff chairshot at Rey, who goes out of the ring. Rey gets on the table, and Sabu comes down with a triple jump DDT. That barely even breaks the table and they’re both laid out. The doctors come down and they throw the match out at 10 minutes. That’s a retarded finish to a great match. The crowd chants “bullshit” and I have to agree.
Analysis: *** Great match that was marred by lack of time and a stupid finish. Sabu kept his botching down mostly and Rey pulled out some stuff we haven’t seen a long, long time. A ***1/2 match, but a stupid finish pretty much spoils it. The finishing spot was awesome, I must admit. Just give Rey a clean finish. It’s not like Sabu was all that heralded in the first place. I know, I know, this was five years ago, but I’m a wrestling fan. I’m still allowed to not like it.
Video package for Foley/Edge vs. Dreamer/Funk. That was a good little feud. Edge and Foley were pretty awesome during that time, even if Foley will never match his ECW heyday in my opinion.
Mick Foley comes out to a mixed reaction. He cuts a hilarious promo; “Yeah, I sold out. I sold out Madison Square Garden! Ya know, there was a time when I cared about ECW. When it was owned by a visionary and a true creative genius. Let’s hear it for Stephanie McMahon! Long live the Alliance, Long live the Alliance!” That cracks me up and even gets a chuckle out of Taz. Now Edge comes out with Lita. I’m not a good joker about Lita, but her promo she cuts after Edge’s is awkward and weird. Edge’s is pretty damn funny though. According to Edge, this is the ECW fan’s Christmas. But there Santa is Jewish, fat, bald, and supplies an endless amount of bullshit. After some more words, he hands Lita the mic to a “You’re a crackwhore” chant. Apparently, Tommy Dreamer is the Innovator of Silence. When she sat his face, that was more action in one night, then any of the ECW fans had in the entire year. She takes a shot at Beulah McGillicutty. That was an awkward promo. Here comes Tommy Dreamer, Terry Funk, and Beulah. Beulah makes it a six person tag match in a pretty awkward promo herself. Is it wrong that I would fuck Beulah? I hope not…that nose isn’t a turn on, if you’re wondering.
Edge, Mick Foley, & Lita vs. Tommy Dreamer, Terry Funk, & Beulah
They start off in a basic six person tag with two people in the corner, which in an Extreme Rules match is pretty stupid. Tommy outwrestles Edge and Edge tags in Foley. Foley wants Funk! Terry comes in and slaps Mick around and Foley goes back to his corner and says “This isn’t a good idea, I don’t wanna be here” which garners a snicker from me. Then all Hell breaks loose as they brawl around ringside. Tommy looks for weapons under the ring, and Terry Funk throws a chair at Foley as Dreamer hits Edge with a water bottle. Dreamer hits Edge with a street sign and throws a garbage can in the ring. He hits Foley with it as the file into the ring. Funk hits Edge with the garbage can. Baseball slide from Dreamer into the garbage can to Foley, which knocks him out of the ring. Dreamer misses Edge’s head with a cookie sheet, and Edge hits him hard with it. Mick Foley beats the shit out of Terry Funk and he takes him down the aisle. He throws him over the guardrail. Back in the ring, Edge runs a ladder into Tommy Dreamer. Edge looks to spear Dreamer, but Tommy reverses and hits a hiptoss to Edge in the ladder. Funk and Foley are back by the ring beating the hell out of eachother. Funk picks up the ladder and does his signature helicopter move that knocks Edge and Foley down. Dreamer and Funk set up the ladder and Funk looks to climb. He gets halfway up until Edge pushes the ladder down! Tommy Dreamer looks for the Dreamer Driver on Edge, but Lita kicks Dreamer in his kahones. “She’s a crackwhore” chant to Lita. That always makes me laugh. Foley and Edge get out a fucking brutal looking barbed wire plywood board. That gets a “holy shit” chant in itself. Foley and Edge suplex the board onto Dreamer, and they pull it off and I cringe like a little girl. Jesus H. They look to do it again, but Funk grabs their ankles and the board falls on Foley. Now Funk is hammering down on Foley. “We want fire” chant from the crowd now. Foley puts the breaks on when he’s almost whipped into the board, but Funk and Dreamer punch in rhythm and throw him into the board. Funk hammers down on Foley who’s stuck in the barbed wire. Outside, Edge crotches Dreamer on the guardrail. Edge throws the barbed wire board onto Funk. Lita gets another small spool of barbed wire. Foley wraps the barbed wire around his arm. Foley busts Funk open even more when he punches Terry with the barbed wire. In the corner, Mick rubs it on his face. “You sick fuck” chant now. Foley beats him up some more, and Terry is bleeding like hell! They take Terry to the back to the applause of the crowd. Now it’s pretty much two on one. Here comes Barbie for Mick Foley! He hits Dreamer with the barbed wire baseball bat. Lita comes in and hits a Jeff Hardy low blow leg drop to Barbie between Tommy’s legs. Ouch. Foley gets out Mr. Socko and puts the Mandible Claw on Beulah! Dreamer gets pissed and beats on Foley. Dreamer gets the Mandible Claw put on him while Edge spears him. Now they focus on Beulah. Edge makes some pretty funny sexual signals towards her. He bends her over like he’s fucking her and locks in a pumphandle, but Terry Funk is coming through the crowd with a barbed wire 2X4! He has a bloodstained bandage around his eye! Dreamer hits low blows to Edge and Foley. Funk hits Foley with the 2X4. Then he hits Edge with it. He lights it on FIRE!~! He hits Foley with it a couple times! Goddamn, Mick Foley is the craziest fuck I ever met. Foley crawls to the apron, and FUNK KNOCKS FOLEY THROUGH THE BARBED WIRE BOARD!~! Funk taunts him, and Edge KNOCKS HIM INTO IT~! Dreamer hits the DDT, and a crossface with the barbed wire. Lita kicks Tommy in the face, and Beulah comes in! CATFIGHT~! CATFIGHT~! Dreamer Driver to Lita! Beulah and Beulah and Tommy do Dreamer’s pose! Edge comes back with an Edge O Matic with the barbed wire and SPEARS BEULAH! He does the funniest pin I’ve ever seen, pretty much dry humping her for the 1, 2, 3, at 18 minutes.
Analysis: **** Absolutely crazy match here. Foley, even though he was aging, was still a crazy damn madman, and Funk fucked himself up pretty badly too. Edge held his own quite well, while Dreamer was his usual insane self. This match was barbaric, and it featured a lot of crazy ass bumps and the crowd just added to the enjoyment. I love hardcore matches that aren’t just spot, wait, spot, wait, and this wasn’t it. It was an intense, hate filled battle. And an awesome one at that.
Another promo for ECW on Sci Fi. My favorite episode was the July 4th, 2006. I taped it. I loved it, still do. I have no idea why. Big Show started his ECW Title Reign there.
They show RVD and John Cena preparing for their match.
Balls Mahoney comes out to a Balls chant. I’ve always been a mark for this guy. He’s funny and he swings a chair like he’s a damn executioner. Here comes Masato Tanaka, who’s battles with the late Mike Awesome are some of the best matches in ECW history. Watch their match from November 2 Remember 1999. It’s insane. They also had match of the night at 2005’s One Night Stand
Balls Mahoney vs. Masato Tanaka
They shake hands. They tie up and Balls locks in a headlock. Shoulder block off the ropes by Balls. Hiptoss by Balls, but Tanaka hits an armdrag. Crossbody by Tanaka gets two. STIFF elbow in the corner by Tanaka. Balls catches Tanaka in a powerslam off the ropes. The “Balls” punches. That always makes me laugh. He winds up the last one and it knocks Tanaka down. Balls gets sent over the top rope and audibly yells “OH SHIT” when he falls on his ass. Tanaka dives the the second rope and they brawl on the ground. Balls takes a beer cup and smacks Tanaka with it, Tanaka returns the favor and whips him into the corner. Tanaka tries to run and hit him with a chair, but Balls moves. Balls throws Tanaka in the ring with his chair. Balls goes up top, but Tanaka hits a superplex for a nearfall. Tanaka goes up top but Balls meets him and hits a superplex of his own! 1, 2—no! Balls gets his chair and Tanaka has one too. They duel with the chairs, but Tanaka kicks Balls in the gut and looks to hit him with the chair, but Balls moves and SCRAMBLES TANAKA’S BRAIN WITH A HARD CHAIR SHOT~! So that’s why they’re banned…okay, I’m kidding, but still. Match was only five minutes.
Analysis: *1/2 Too short to be anything but filler, but it was fun and fast paced and a sick finish, so it’s worth a watch honestly. I wish Mike Awesome could have done a return match with Tanaka, but so is wrestling. I really enjoyed Awesome too. It’s a shame he commited suicide. May he rest in peace.
Video package for RVD/Cena.
Eugene comes out for a poem reading. The crowd is disgusted and chants, “Shut the fuck up!” Then, The Sandman’s WWE music hits. I really wanted Enter Sandman because his entrance at the first One Night Stand was epic, with the fans singing along and whatnot. But I still think his WWE music was pretty cool. What? It’s my review. After his long entrance, Sandman beats the shit out of Eugene with his cane.
“RVD” chant before RVD even comes out. Now RVD comes out to a big pop. The crowd in the aisle embraces him. Cena? TOTALLY different story. You may have heard the famous crowd reaction for him, but if you haven’t, I suggest you get your ass to Youtube. If you’re one of those nonsensical Cena haters, then this is your cup of tea. He throws his hat into the crowd, and it’s thrown back. He throws his shirt into the crowd multiple times, but it’s thrown back time and time again.
WWE Title Match: John Cena © vs. Rob Van Dam
Like I said, immense heat for this match. ECW fans may be heartless, but damn, they provide an atmosphere when its needed the most. RVD walks up to Cena and does his thumb taunt with a response from the crowd. Toilet paper being hurled at Cena, followed by a “FUCK YOU CENA!” chant. He looks at home as a heel. The bell has rung.
A tie up to start. RVD powers him back slowly, but Cena eventually runs him into the corner. Why is the ref asking for a clean break? Isn’t this an ECW PPV? Oh well. A couple shots in the corner to RVD, irish whip, and a Fisherman’s Suplex to respond to a “You can’t wrestle” chant, which I find great. Another tie up into a headlock for Cena. RVD runs Cena off the ropes, and Cena hits a shoulder block. Cena dodges an enziguiri from RVD, but RVD knocks him silly with a mule kick. “Whole fuckin’ show” chants now. They have a pretty intense staredown. They exchange punches. “Boo” for Cena, “Yeah!” for RVD. Cena gets the upper hand for a bit, but RVD eventually punches him down. Cena reverses an Irish whip into a powerslam for a two count. Cena clotheslines RVD out of the ring, followed by a “Same old shit” chant. Cena responds to that by coming from the top and dropping the forearm to the knee of RVD. Awesome. They brawl on the outside a bit. Cena rocks RVD’s head off the table. Cena holds up the belt to huge heat. Cena tries to hit RVD’s head off the stairs, but RVD blocks, climbs on the steps, and hits a nice little moonsault to Cena to a pop. RVD gets a chair. Cena disarms him with a punch and a irish whip into the guardrail. RVD tries a moonsault off the railing, but Cena pushes him into the crowd. Cena tears up a “Fuck you Cena” sign and hits RVD with it, then throws him back to ringside. Cena falls over on the rail, and RVD hits a WONDERFUL spinning leg drop to the impaired Cena. Nice spot there. If RVD is motivated, he can wow the shit out of you…but you already knew that. Cena slowly tries to get back in the ring, but RVD kicks him. Guillotine leg drop to Cena on the apron. RVD gets the chair again and hits the Surfboard with a chair! That gets a nice little nearfall. Spinning leg drop to Cena. Rolling Thunder on the chair covered Cena! That gets a nearfall as well. That was a good spot too. RVD sells that, and Cena gets up eventually, but goes right back down with a powerslam. RVD lays the chair on Cena and tries the Split Legged Moonsault, but Cena gets his knees up and RVD sells that well. Crowd is not happy with that. Cena gets up and DDT’s Van Dam for a close two count. Cena picks up the chair and sets it between the second and top turnbuckle. CATAPULT INTO THE CHAIR~! Fuck, that sounded brutal. He seriously goes headfirst into it, and that gets a nearfall. Cena looks so damn comfortable as a heel in this match. Cena hits his Spinout Powerbomb. “Same old shit” chant. Sure. Five Knuckle Shuffle. Cena stalks RVD for the FU and taunts the ECW fans. RVD counters that and hits a spinning wheel kick! Punches by Cena to the cornered RVD. Irish whip to the corner across the ring, Cena runs, but meets the foot of RVD. Cena falls back, and RVD looks for a moonsault, but gets powerbombed off the turnbuckle, and RVD sells it like it killed him. RVD tries to crotch Cena on the top rope, but Cena falls out of the ring. Cena crawls to the apron, and Van Dam dropkicks him out of it, and Cena hits the guardrail on the way down! RVD gets a table and slides it into the ring. RVD sets the table up in the corner. Cena is in the ring. RVD approaches him, but Cena quickly goes into the STFU. RVD makes it to the ropes. The stupid ref, probably showing bias, counts, then pulls Cena off. Cena pushes John Fennigan (the ref), then Fennigan pushes back. Cena’s all like NO YOU DIDN’T MOTHERFUCKER and totally just decks the bejesus out of him. He then superplexes RVD. Cena throws the steel steps into the ring, and hits RVD with a STIFF shot with them. Damn, that sounded nasty. Nick Patrick, a Smackdown ref, comes down and counts the nearfall. Cena lifts RVD up for the FU, but RVD grabs the ropes. Cena FU’s RVD to the outside. A man in a bike helmet is like FUCK YOU CENA and spears his ass through the table. It’s Edge. Cool. RVD comes in, and hits a Five Star Frog Splash (I like Eddie’s better.) RVD tries to wake up the ref, but to no avail. Paul Heyman runs down and is like COVER HIM BITCH, and RVD covers, Paul E. counts, ONE, TWO THREE! RVD is the NEW WWE/ECW Champion at 20 minutes! RVD goes up into the balcony and celebrates with the ECW fans. Paul E. has a beer with the ECW roster. This was a great moment marred by Vince McMahon’s disagreement with Paul Heyman on the booking of ECW. Big Show holds up RVD (he took the title from him a month later in a match that has been one of my favorite. Sorry, I know RVD-Show wasn’t a GREAT match, but it’s one of my favorites…deal with it.
Analysis: ***1/2 The match wasn’t all that. It never really got going, and didn’t mean all that much in retrospect. The crowd made this what it was. They HATED Cena. You think Cena is hated now? Fuck that shit; he was VILIFIED and RESENTED in this match. And Cena absolutely loved it. You could see how at home he was as a heel, and he had an edge that we haven’t yet to see in a very long time. RVD didn’t get the most out of this, as he and Sabu got busted for drugs (you knew it was gonna happen) and RVD lost the WWE title to Edge on an edition of RAW in a triple threat match also featuring John Cena. The finish also pisses me off too. I don’t mind the ref bumps, but I would have given RVD more of a clean win. I know it re-started the Edge/Cena feud, and that’s dandy, but give Rob Van Dam his moment. He deserved it after busting his ass to become a good worker. The crowd added about a 1/2* to this match, but give Cena and RVD their due; they basically worked this match by what the crowd did. That is what wrestling is supposed to be; catering to fans and entertaining them. That’s exactly what they did.
Final Analysis: Well, this was a show. In terms of actual in ring action, this was much better than ONS 2005, but not as great overall emotionally, and the nostalgia factor wasn’t there. But this show is about as solid as you can get. FIVE matches get three stars or more, including a four star match. So just disregarding the ECW part, this is the best PPV of 2006. But including some of the moments (RVD), the crowd, (all night), and obviously, the wrestling, this is one of the better shows you’ll see. Yeah, the main event does have a pretty stupid ending (Edge…you bastard), but it’s the textbook example of how heated a match can be when you have the right participants. Just a crazy good show, and you should download/buy/rent this one, because it’s a beauty.
Best Match: Edge/Foley/Lita vs. Dreamer/Funk/Beulah (18:44) ****
Worst Match: Tazz vs. Lawler (:35) ¼*
FINAL GRADE: 8 out of 10.
So with that, I’m checking out….JSP
No comments:
Post a Comment