Yes, I know Sidney Brown already reviewed it, but I actually got few requests to do this one after the Guerrero DVD review. Besides, our styles are so different, you can feel comfortable with reading both. If you’re in a hurry, though, check out Sidney’s, ’cause this is long.
Old business:
Courtesy Baldo Flores (re: Eddy Guerrero DVD): Hey dude, great review on the DVD… I’m glad you liked the Gringos Locos vs. Santo and Octagon match so much. Little thing I thought you might like to know, to make this match so much more enjoyable, is that even with all the story you saw, I’m not sure if you knew just how much story was behind that pair of piledrivers in the last fall
You see, Love Machine used to fight with a mask. He had a deep, deep hatred rivalry with Blue Panther, and decided to settle it in a Hair vs. Mask match. in the third fall, Barr went ahead and executed a piledriver on Panther, breaking his neck (whether this was kayfabe or not, I cannot recall, since I was a kid back then). Barr said he did not know that in Mexico piledrivers are banned (any move involving dropping an opponent on his head is completely banned here in Mexico, which makes for good storylines sometimes, since the piledriver is treated with so much respect and is sold as near-death move). As a result, Barr got disqualified and lost his mask, and Panther was sent to the hospital and had a long time off. I do not remember how long Panther had been back at the time of the match on the DVD, but i know he still hadn’t had his hands on Barr. i know it had been easily a year, or more since the piledriver incident, so now you can see why that pop was so hellacious once Panther got his hands on Barr, and piledrive him just like he had been piledroven before, and cost him his hair.
That lil bit of story makes this match a lot more enjoyable in my opinion, thought you’d get a kick out of it.
Actually, I knew about Barr using the piledriver and its significance in Lucha Libre, but I didn’t know that he had used it on Blue Panther. That does make the match that much more significant. Thanks!
The Rise and Fall of ECW DVD
The first thing you notice is a “Mature Audiences Only” warning.
Early ECW: Tazz tells us about the early days of “Eastern Championship Wrestling”, owned by Todd Gordon and booked by Eddie Gilbert (one of my personal favorites). Paul Heyman says that Gordon and Gilbert had a falling out, so Gordon turned to Heyman. Heyman compares wrestling to music, talking about how Nirvana came along with their filthy grunge and destroyed all those hair bands. He says wrestling needed the same thing. Enter…
Public Enemy: Flyboy Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge were Public Enemy. Heyman saw them wrestling each other all the time and decided to team them up. Tazz talks about how two white boys rapping was entertaining. We see Rocco Rock diving off the top rope through a table.
Tazz: Tazz was not quite the same as he is today. Back then, he had long hair and a Fred Flintstone outfit on. Heyman called him and asked him to wrestle Sabu. We see clips of their match, and Tazz says he wound up working full-time for Heyman.
Sabu: Heyman talks about Sabu’s reputation, coming out of Frontier Martial-arts Wrestling (FMW). He talks about Sabu’s suicidal tendencies and how they fit in perfectly with ECW’s image. We see clips of Sabu doing insane stuff, including the Atomic Arabian Facebuster.
Terry Funk: Heyman credits Funk with ECW surviving. He says that Funk had the sense to put over the next generation to leave something behind. He contrasts that with veterans who cling to their spot. Thank God people aren’t like that today…**cough**.
The Night The Line Was Crossed: Sabu vs. Shane Douglas vs. Terry Funk. This is one of the first three-ways (if not the first three-way) for the title. They went to a one-hour draw to the delight of the crowd. Shane Douglas confronts Joey Styles and wants Gordon to declare him champion. He coins the term “oblidiatry.” He says “fuck” about five times — all bleeped. Dreamer talks about how Douglas was so pissed off at Ric Flair and WCW that he would vent on camera. That worked out well because…
Paul Heyman vs. WCW: Paul Heyman hated WCW too. We see footage of Heyman in a sombrero during his time in WCW. Dreamer thinks Heyman would have moved to the WWE as Paul E. Dangerously, but he had a niche in ECW. Heyman says they treated him like shit (unbleeped) and he told them to go fuck themselves (also unbleeped). Heyman talks about how Bill Watts was not a people person. That brings to mind Watts’ shoot interview where he says he tried to fire Heyman, but Heyman’s lawyer father probably still has it tied up in court.
Tommy Dreamer: Tommy Dreamer showed up as your typical “blue chipper” babyface. They gloss over Dreamer’s initial difficulties at getting over with the Philly crowd.
The Sandman: Heyman talks about Sandman being the embodiment of ECW. He drank, he smoked, he was a tough bastard just looking for a fight. That’s Philly for ya.
Sandman & Dreamer Feud: Dreamer talks about the incident from Singapore where a U.S. student was caned for crimes that I forget. Heyman took advantage with a “Singapore Cane Match” between Dreamer and Sandman. Sandman won and got to cane Dreamer. We see each of the whacks. Dreamer says there were people crying in the audience. Dreamer took all the lashes and kept standing. Heyman talks about the angle they ran where Dreamer accidentally blinded Sandman and the lengths they went to to put over the angle as legit (working the “smarts” as it were). Heyman credits that angle with changing the landscape.
ECW Evolution: Dreamer talks about the sex and violence in ECW being controversial. Heyman says it’s okay to pay tribute to the Flairs and Theszs, but you have to know when it’s time for a change.
Cactus Jack: Mick Foley talks about the WCW talent exchange that led to him coming to ECW. Jack lost to Sabu and went a little far by spitting on the WCW Title in the post match promo.
Mikey Whipwreck: Whipwreck was part of the ring crew. Heyman asked him if he wanted to wrestle. He says the key is not to give Whipwreck an offensive maneuver. Whipwreck and Cactus Jack won the titles on a fluke. Mikey was a lot of fun because he would always apologize for winning or try to give the titles back.
The Extreme Begins: Heyman talks about the NWA being the embodiment of everything that was wrestling up to that point. He says that’s the exact opposite of what ECW wanted to be so after Shane Douglas won the title he threw it down. ECW pulled out of the NWA and became “Extreme Championship Wrestling.” Huge interview and moment. Douglas’ biggest impact on the business. Dreamer says that Heyman and Douglas were the only ones that knew. We even get the footage of NWA President Dennis Corraluzzo calling the act a disgrace. Steven Richards talks about how that condemnation just made ECW that much cooler.
Philadelphia: Heyman stresses the importance of Philly and how ECW couldn’t have come from anywhere else.
The Technical Wrestlers: We see clips of Malenko and Guerrero wrestling. Dreamer talks about the influx of great wrestlers during the end of 1994. Heyman says it was necessary to maintain the audience.
Production Value: ECW knew they couldn’t compete with the WCW and WWE on lighting and pyro, so they accentuated the positives. They talk about not cutting out flubs to make it seem more like reality TV. If someone screwed up, it was left in. If the fans booed the babyface, it wasn’t dubbed over.
The Fans: All of the old ECW alums talk about how great the fans were. We even see someone holding up a WWF sucks T-Shirt. Who released this DVD again? Rob Van Dam talks about the front row fans having their own fans. Mick Foley talks about it being feast or famine with the fans. If they liked your match, they’d let you know, if they didn’t like it they really let them know. We see Bam Bam Bigelow tossing Spike Dudley out into the crowd. The audience bodysurfed Spike around the arena. Great moment.
Raven/Dreamer: Heyman talks about how great it was to have Raven because Raven knew exactly what he wanted and how to do it. Dreamer talks about choking every time he went up against Raven. The angle, which was one of ECW’s best, goes like this — Dreamer was a popular jock in high school. Raven, as usual, was a reject. Now, Raven’s back for revenge. He even brought a fat girl from Dreamer’s summer camp…Beulah McGillicutty. Of course, she’s now a Playboy playmate. From there, Stevie Richards, The Pitbulls, and Brian Lee got involved.
Sabu Gets Fired: Sabu and Tazz became a tag team and even won the titles. Sabu no-showed because he was booked in Japan. Heyman went out to the ring and fired Sabu in the middle of the ring. Imagine if Vince did that to Test or Gail Kim. Dreamer says Paul Heyman doesn’t lie to the fans. He’ll lie to the wrestlers, but not the fans.
Tazz Breaks His Neck: Dean Malenko and 2 Cold Scorpio broke Tazz’s neck with a spiked piledriver. That put him out for nine months. Heyman continued to pay him because they had a handshake deal. Great story.
The Monday Night War: Heyman says ECW was the first victim of the Monday Night War. He notes that WCW raided ECW for Benoit, Malenko and Guerrero just after Nitro began. Former WCW head Eric Bischoff notes that one man’s “raid” is another man’s “acquisition.” You know, if Bischoff came across as slimy on Raw as he does in these interviews, the WWE would make a fortune off him. He asks if Vince McMahon “raided” the local territories back in the day. Well, yes. Yes, he did. Bischoff amazes me by conducting an interview with himself.
B: Did a lot of people leave ECW?
B: Yeah.
B: Was it a raid?
B: No.
Heyman’s reply: “Eric Bischoff is full of shit.” Well said. Heyman says it was smart of Bischoff to steal his talent, he just wishes Bischoff would acknowledge that he did. You can see Heyman getting all riled up. Vince McMahon says the WWE at least paid Paul when they took his talent.
ЎLucha Libre! In response to losing a ton of talent, Paul called Konnan and brought in Rey Mysterio, Juventud Guerrera and Psichosis. This lead to the Lucha Libre revolution in the states, helping to create the hybrid style you have today. Of course, Bischoff signed all of those guys too.
Austin Comes to ECW: Heyman talks about Steve Austin getting fired by WCW, including a hilarious Austin impression. That’s worth the price of the DVD right there. Austin was bitter about getting fired, so he went on ECW TV to vent. Finally, Austin was allowed to complain. Heyman wanted to make Steve champion, but Austin decided it would be better to lose to Mikey Whipwreck and put himself over through promos. Heyman says Austin did a tremendous job getting across his passion for the business.
Promos: Former ECW Producer Ron Buffone talks about how you know when a promo was going to be great. He talks about Cactus Jack’s promos being particularly brilliant. Heyman says Mick Foley’s “anti-hardcore promos” were the most creative in the history of the business.
Cactus Jack Leaves ECW: Pretty much what it sounds like. It’s just his brief farewell speech, available on 2 or 3 other DVDs.
Tazz Returns: Tazz starts to get better and decides to kill of the Tazzmaniac in favor of Taz. Taz became more of a UFC-style personality. Heyman says this led to more of a “big match” atmosphere when Taz wrestled.
Sandman/Raven: Raven brainwashes Sandman’s wife and eight year-old son, Tyler. Heyman says it worked because Sandman was a tough guy who was uncaring, but when his kid kissed Raven on the cheek and said, “I love you more than my own daddy,” Sandman started to cry. We see some Tyler promos and the segment where Raven and Tyler doublecross Sandman. You can see Tyler looking back for his cue, which kind of ruins the moment, but what are you gonna do?
The b.W.o. Probably the most fun angle in ECW. At around this time, the New World Order was starting to run rampant in WCW, so along came the Blue World Order. There was “The Blue Guy” (The Blue Meanie), “Big Stevie Cool” (Stevie Richards), and Nova (today’s Simon Dean). This was actually the culmination of all the parodies they used to do. This one really caught on, though, so they stuck with it.
Beulah & Dreamer: Ah, the pregnancy angle. Beulah reveals that she is pregnant. Stevie was always nice to her, so Raven turns on Stevie. Beulah tells Raven that it’s not Stevie’s child, but Raven’s mortal enemy, Tommy Dreamer. Raven is about to get physical with her, but Tommy makes the save. Shane Douglas comes out and reveals that Beulah was cheating, but not with Dreamer. It was with Kimona Wanalaya. Beulah and Kimona do a big lesbian kiss (the first in wrestling, not counting Mae Young). Tommy says that’s cool, he’ll take ’em both because he’s hardcore. Thus Tommy becomes a hero to misogynistic pervs everywhere.
ECW & WWE: Heyman says that WWE first realized how big ECW was at King of the Ring 1995 when the fans got bored with King Mabel and started chanting “ECW.” A year later, the WWE came back for Mind Games. In another great “work the smarts” moment, Dreamer and the Sandman accost Bradshaw and Savio Vega during their match at the PPV. Later in the night, Tazz jumps the rail and holds up an ECW sign. It seems rather tame in retrospect, but this was hardcore stuff at the time.
The Crucifixion: Raven had the brilliant idea of crucifying Sandman. Richards and Meanie were freaked out as they helped tie him to the cross because only Raven knew what they were doing. Kurt Angle was at the show, thinking about joining the promotion, but walked out after the crucifixion angle and threatened to sue if he showed up on ECW TV. Heyman professed ignorance, but Angle says either Heyman knew and was lying or Heyman was an idiot for not knowing what was happening on his own show. Either way, says Angle, he didn’t want to be involved. Raven actually had to issue and apology to the fans. Really no different than Bradshaw’s goosestepping earlier in this year.
The Importance of Pay-Per-View: Heyman says they had to make more money to pay the talent and bring in new talent. The audience e-mailed all the New York stations and got them TV exposure. They did the same thing with PPV. In Demand PPV refused to put them on because they thought ECW was “real.” Kind of a backhanded compliment. Finally, they did get on. But…
ECW Loses Their Pay-Per-View: In what has become known as “The Mass Transit Incident,” Axl Rotten no-showed, so they substituted underage Eric Kulas. New Jack decided to take it upon himself to cut the kid open in his first match, severely injuring him. Lawsuits followed, and the PPV companies pulled out.
The PPV is Back On!: Paul had to beg the PPV companies to reconsider. They did, and the PPV was back on. Tazz says it was huge to get PPV.
WWE Co-Promotion: To promote the PPV, ECW runs out on an episode of Raw, responding to a challenge from Jerry Lawler. Bischoff says it was no big surprise at the time. What iceberg? Lawler says he wondered at the time why they gave TV time to the competition. Vince says it would help the “ECW Brand.” Lawler says the ECW guys were really cocky about everything. He made a crack about Tazz looking a lot bigger on the Lucky Charms box.
Barely Legal: RVD vs. Lance Storm: D-Von says everyone was scared to death at the PPV because they knew they had one shot. Buffone says Viewer’s Choice PPV wanted to replace all the production staff with their own people. RVD was pissed off at the time because he wasn’t booked. They threw him on at the last second against newcomer Lance Storm. He gets a good promo in (no, seriously) about going elsewhere.
Barely Legal: Tazz vs. Sabu: This was a big moment because of Sabu’s earlier firing. It was a one year angle where Tazz would beg Sabu to come out time and again, but he never would. Finally, at November to Remember, Sabu came out. The blowoff was held at Barely Legal. Tazz choked Sabu out with the Tazzmission.
The Main Event at Barely Legal: Terry Funk, Sandman, and Stevie Richards wrestled a three-way to determine the #1 contender. Funk would win and go on to defeat Raven for the ECW Title. Dreamer says it’s like winning the World Series.
Raven Goes to WCW & Jerry Lawler Invades ECW: Raven called Dreamer and asked him if he wanted to go to WCW with him. They fought about it because Raven thought Dreamer tipped off Heyman. On Raven’s last night, Dreamer finally defeated Raven. The lights go out and suddenly Jerry Lawler is in the ring. Lawler gives him a shitkicking to kick off a new feud. This was so hot at the time that they had to get Lawler out of there before someone killed him. It worked because Lawler and Dreamer represented to diametrically opposed sides of wrestling.
A Locker-Room Mole?: Todd Gordon stayed on as a figurehead, but Heyman was now the owner. The general feeling was that he was putting Bischoff and Terry Taylor in touch with ECW talent. Heyman says he doesn’t really know what was going on. Heyman fired Gordon and was about to fire Bill Alphonso but the wrestlers asked him to keep Fonzie around. Fonzie and Beulah wound up having one of the best intergender matches in history — even according to Heyman.
The Superstars’ Roles: The wrestlers had to assume many of the roles left behind by those who left. Bubba Ray Dudley wound up doing the deals with arenas. Tazz was in charge of merchandising. Stevie Richards would handle the fan line. People recognized his name, so he had to make up a phone name — Lloyd Van Buren. Tazz wound up running his own dojo.
Paul Heyman’s Creativity: Bubba says Paul Heyman was like the David Koresh of wrestling. Al Snow says Paul can get you to do anything. He let the wrestlers do whatever they could come up with. Tazz says ECW was the Isle of Misfit Wrestlers, taking on anyone the big guys didn’t want. Snow says Heyman can cover up a wrestlers weaknesses. Perhaps a little telling, we see footage of Rob Van Dam. He also says if he hadn’t found “Head”, he doesn’t know where he’d be. Paul Heyman says Snow ran with it. Heyman spent a fortune on thousands of Styrofoam heads to hand out to the fans.
WCW & WWE Imitation: Buffone says that it was a hot era for them, especially thanks to the internet. Dreamer talks about Cyberslam, ECW’s internet shows. Bubba says he really thinks they could have taken over the #2 spot behind the WWE. Bischoff says ECW never came close to being #2, by any measure of success. Oooh Oooh! I got one! WWE made money. ECW lost a little money. WCW lost a lot of money. If I make a dollar, my nearest competitor loses a dollar, and another competitor loses $20 million, I’d say the guy who only lost the dollar wound up second best. Heyman laughs about how Eric thinks he came up with a lot of the stuff he really just stole. Vince says he never really saw them as a threat. Mick Foley says that every time something big happened when he first got there, the fans would chant “ECW.” After a while, it became synonymous with WWE instead of ECW. Heyman says he doesn’t blame anyone for stealing from him. It’s just smart business. Foley says the WWE might have been successful without ECW, but they still owe a lot to them.
Tazz & the FTW Title: Tazz feuded with Bam Bam Bigelow, which led to the infamous spot where Bigelow falls backward and puts them both through the ring. A huge spot at the time that has been ripped off over and again. Tazz says he came up with his own belt, the F*** The World title because Shane Douglas wouldn’t give him a title shot. This led to a big Tazz push. Sabu eventually won the title, making only two champions in the history of the title.
The Dudleys: “The Most Hated Tag Team”: Heyman says people paid to see the Dudleys get beat up. Bubba upped the ante against Axl Rotten and Ballz Mahoney by lighting the table on fire and putting Mahoney through it. Bubba says they incited riots wherever possible. He says they went a little too far at Heatwave ’99. Bubba goes through the front row and insults “the faggot in the Hawaiian shirt” and the “woman who taught her daughter how to suck dick.” None of it’s bleeped, which is nice. A woman spits on Bubba. It seems in a different context after the Pacers/Pistons incident.
Financial Woes: Eventually, the bubble burst. The veterans just couldn’t stay because their checks were bouncing. Spike Dudley says he started to wonder why he did. Lance Storm put his foot down after three bounced checks. He never received another bounced check. Dreamer didn’t get paid for six months. Heyman would just give him money whenever there was some left over. D-Von says Heyman was a creative genius, but never really a great business man. Most of the guys say Heyman’s worst problem was that he couldn’t delegate authority.
The TNN Deal, & Tazz leaves: Finally, they got a deal with TNN, which alleviated some of the problems but only created new ones. Vince thought it was great for the business. He congratulated them, but told Heyman that ECW would have to change to survive. ECW didn’t change. Dawn Marie says they didn’t have the best equipment, but they still made it big. Van Dam says he thought everything was going to take off now. Tazz and the Dudleys left almost as soon as the deal was announced. Van Dam says the individuals were growing faster than the company. Tazz doesn’t think he’s a bad guy because he made the jump to the WWE. Tazz lost the ECW Title in a three-way for the title.
The Dudleys Leave ECW: Bubba and D-Von also left. Bubba says that they weren’t owed any money. They just asked for a reason to stay. Heyman told them to leave if they wanted to. The Dudleyz won the ECW Tag Titles on their final show. They made the mistake of calling out Tommy Dreamer. They beat him down, but Raven, of all people, made the save.
Disappointment with TNN/RVD – “The Whole F’n Show”: Despite being the highest rated show on TNN, they were used as a lead-in to Rollerjam (or “Rrrrrrollllerjammmm” as Heyman used to say). Heyman talks about all the stupid things TNN used to demand (including not saying “hate”, it’s supposed to be “intense dislike”). Not one to cave in, even in his best interests, Heyman created an angle around the problem. This all lead to Heyman’s shoot rant on TNN for not supporting them. Angle says that, once Tazz left, Rob Van Dam was the only one left. Heyman says Van Dam was odd because he was so laid back and he could still draw. In another ominous moment, Van Dam broke his ankle and had to forfeit the title.
Mike Awesome Controversy, Tommy Dreamer Wins the Title: Mike Awesome showed up on Nitro, preparing to dump the title in the trash. Hey, I was there! The cops were called and confiscated the belt before he could trash it. Tazz came to the rescue, showing up on at an ECW show to defeat Mike Awesome for the World Title before Awesome made the full jump to WCW. This led to a match between Tazz and Triple champion vs. champion. Dreamer interference backfires, and Triple H defeats Tazz. Vince says it seemed like the best thing to do at the time. Dreamer would go on to defeat Tazz for the title, in spite of his objections. He wanted to go through his career never having won a title. Bischoff talks about the need to placate advertisers and the network. He says ECW couldn’t cater to its audience and build a mainstream audience at the same time.
The Demise of ECW: Heyman is really pissed. He says that he couldn’t negotiate with a new network because it would violate his deal with TNN, which TNN didn’t even want. Vince says that hindsight is 20/20, but ECW probably should have become more mainstream. Van Dam says he knew ECW was going to fold because Heyman owed him so much money that he couldn’t possibly pay him back. Rhyno says he refused to go out to the ring with everyone at the last show because he didn’t believe it was true. He said that there he was somebody. Dawn Marie was worried that she’d never go out in front of a crowd again because the WWE didn’t call for two years after ECW folded. They talk about how violent it was, causing people to get injured. The other factor leading to the demise was that Heyman was a terrible businessman (according to several wrestlers). Heyman, who still seems in denial, blames the lack of a TV deal. It must be a horrible feeling to realize you’re wrestling for an organization that is pretty much run like Mark Borchardt’s production company. “Uh, $10,000 light bill. $7,500 for film. What’s this? Oh, kick fuckin’ ass! I got a Mastercard!”
Paul Heyman Debuts on Raw: This was the night right after Lawler quit. Heyman replaced Lawler on commentary and immediately got in trouble during the Trish Stratus strip segment. Yeah, Heyman was the controversial thing with that segment. Everyone talks about the impact on the business. Jericho says it closed down four years ago and still people chant. Paul gives his take on risk and failure. “Sometimes half the fun is failure.”
Wow! More on the main program in the final thoughts.
Disc Two: Extras:
Sadly, no ECW theme songs, but it’s better than paying $80 for the DVD.
ECW Tag Titles, Double Dog-Collar Match: Raven & Stevie Richards (w/Beulah) vs. The Pitbulls (9/16/95).
Pitbull #1 is Gary Daniels. Pitbull #2 is Tony Durante. Beulah tells us that Stevie is injured and can’t wrestle tonight. She asks to make it 2/3 Falls. The Pitbulls agree.
First Fall: Pitbull #2 ties chains himself to Raven and hangs him over the top rope from the dog-collar. Pitbull #1 runs to the back and pulls Stevie Richards to the ring, kicking and screaming. Inside, Raven recovers and piledrives Pitbull #2 through a table to pick up the first fall victory at 2:10
Second Fall: Raven and Richards double DDT Pitbull #2, but #1 makes the save. Richards superkicks Pitbull #1 for two. Pitbull #2 brings in another table. The Pitbulls grabs Richards and superbomb him through the table to pick up the second fall at 4:20.
Third Fall: Pitbull #1 beats Stevie around with the chain, and they brawl into the audience. Pitbull #2 brings in yet another table as Richards and #1 continue their brawl on the outside. Raven whips Pitbull #2 into Referee Jim Molyneaux. The Dudley Boys (Dudley Dudley and Dances With Dudley) run in and help Raven and Richards double superbomb the Pitbulls. The Pitbulls no-sell and double DDT Raven and Richards. The Pitbulls superbomb the Dudleys out of the match. They set up Raven for the superbomb, nearly killing him by bouncing his head off the edge of the table. Molyneaux recovers. ONE, TWO, THR-NOO!!! Raven chokes out Pitbull #2 with an ether-soaked rag in a rib on Jim Cornette. He legdrops Pitbull #2 through one table and dives on him to put him through a second one. Richards is still surviving on the other end. Pitbull #1 crotches him on the top rope and suplexes him for two before Raven sneaks in to break it up. Beulah gets in the ring for no particular reason. Francine runs down to get in a catfight with her. Raven makes the save with the DDT on Francine. Tommy Dreamer runs out to replace Pitbull #2. He DDTs Raven for the win and the titles at 14:39.
But wait! Evil Good Referee Bill Alphonso, who always enforces the rules and is thus a heel, rightly strikes the win from the record books and returns the titles to Raven and Richards. Commissioner Todd Gordon runs down and restarts the match, telling Fonzie to shut the hell up with his “rules” and his “order.” Big Dick Dudley comes out and chokeslams Dreamer. Fonzie, who had previously banned the chokeslam from ECW, unbans the chokeslam for one night only. Oops. 911 comes out and DESTROYS Alphonso with a chokeslam. Pitbull #2 recovers and the Pitbulls deliver a super stacked powerbomb on Raven and Richards. Insane move. Gordon counts. ONE, TWO, THREE. (19:45) Generally regarded as one of the best matches in ECW history, this really hasn’t aged all that well, and you really have to know the angles behind it all to get everything out of it. ****1/4
2/3 Falls: Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Psicosis (10/17/95).
First Fall: A very svelte Joel Gertner does ring intros en Espaсol. Rey tosses Psicosis to the outside and follows him out with a plancha into the crowd. Rey gets back in…and comes back out with a tope. Back in, Rey finishes the first fall quickly with a huracanrana rollup. (1:21)
Second Fall: Psicosis misses a charge to start the second fall. He backdrops Rey over, but Rey lands on his feet and comes back in with a huracanrana. Psicosis bails, but Rey comes out on him with a rana from the apron. Psicosis offers a handshake. Rey accepts, so Psicosis delivers an enzuigiri. Rey takes a hard bump off a corner whip. Psicosis ties him up in the reverse tree-of-woe and charges into a shoulderblock. Psicosis gets a broncobuster and a powerbomb for two. He plants Rey with a spinebuster into a sasurigatame (Sharpshooter). Patience isn’t a big thing with locators, so Psicosis takes him to the outside and smashes a chair into Rey’s knee. Back in, Psicosis gets a slingshot legdrop but misses a charge. Rey cartwheels into a huracanrana, but his springboard moonsault is countered to a Tombstone Piledriver. Psicosis ties things up at 7:05.
Third Fall: Psicosis powerbombs Rey into a table and tosses him into the crowd. Psicosis follows up with an over-the-top rope tope into the crowd. Back in, Psicosis misses a wild charge and goes over the top rope. Rey follows him out with a springboard flip into a vertical splash. Have I mentioned how tame Rey is in the WWE? Rey sandwiches Psicosis’ head in a chair and tosses him into the ringpost. Back in, Rey delivers a huracanrana from the top rope for two. He springboards onto Psicosis with a somersault plancha. Psicosis whips him into the railing, puts Rey on a table, and SMASHES him with a chairshot. He then follows it up with a TOP ROPE SENTON THROUGH THE TABLE! Back in, Psichosis powerbombs him, puts the chair on top of Rey and performs a twisting senton splash off the top for the victory at 13:53. Nice to see Psicosis win one for a change. ****
ECW Title, Ladder Match: The Sandman (w/Woman) vs. Mikey Whipwreck (10/28/95).
Woman is Nancy Sullivan-Benoit. Before the match can begin, Steve Austin interrupts to complain about WCW and insult the fans. In a fun ironic moment, he makes fun of the Sandman for drinkin’ beer and tryin’ to look cool. Austin to Nancy Sullivan: Don’t even think about looking’ at me pissed off, because you’re the one who married a midget, not me. (And this was before Benoit!) Austin picks Woman up and takes her to the back as the match begins. Mikey ducks underneath the ladder and smashes it into Sandman’s face. Mike goes for a Rockerdropper, countered to a powerbomb on the ladder by Sandman. Sandman gets the drunken somersault splash to Mikey and the ladder. Mikey rolls out, so Sandman throws the ladder on him. Sandman sets the ladder across the guardrail and ring apron. He reverse suplexes Mikey on the ladder and legdrops him. Mikey reverses a whip into the railing and blasts Sandman with a couple of chairshots. Mikey ranas him from the ladder to the floor. Sandman comes back with a backdrop into the crowd. The ladder gets set up near Hat Guy, and Sandman barrels out onto it, see-sawing it into Mikey’s face. Back in, Sandman misses a slingshot elbowdrop onto Mikey. Mikey hits him in the face with the edge of the ladder. Mikey follows up by suplexing the ladder into Sandman. Mikey goes up and finishes with the Superfly Splash onto Sandman and the ladder. (15:03). Cactus Jack comes out to hog the glory, but the rest of the locker room comes out to hoist Mikey onto their shoulders. Nice stunt exhibition, but not much more. **3/4
Easter Egg Alert!: Highlight “Mikey Whipwreck vs. The Sandman” and push “RIGHT” twice. You’ll see Mikey’s training session with the Public Enemy to prepare himself for the ladder match.
ECW TV Title: 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Sabu (2/17/96).
This is from Cyberslam ’96. Scorpio kicks Sabu right in the mouth. He misses a spinkick. Sabu connects with one of his own. Sabu springboards off a chair into a leg lariat in the corner. Scorpio falls into the railing off a Sabu dropkick. Sabu sends him into the crowd and hits him with a springboard somersault plancha. Back in, Sabu gets two. Sabu with a slingshot kneedrop, but Scorpio counters a powerbomb to one of his own. Scorpio follows up with a Guillotine Legdrop. He sets up a chair and bulldogs Sabu into it. He tries it again, but Sabu spikes Scorpio into it. Sabu springboards off the chair into a clothesline. Somersault plancha by Sabu. Back in, Sabu hits a springboard leg lariat, but runs right into a crescent kick. Scorpio runs over Sabu with the chair. Scorpio with the Stinger Splash in the corner. Sabu slips out of a Rock Bottom and Victory Rolls Scorpio for two. Scorpio comes back with a back kick counter to a chinlock. Sabu goes to the camel clutch. Scorpio powers out and drops Sabu, but Sabu clutches to a chinlock. Scorpio squirms out and punts Sabu in the nuts. To the outside, Scorpio blasts Sabu with a platter. Scorpio suplexes Sabu back in for two. Scorpio grabs a surfboard, then a leg crucifix pin. Sabu slips out and stomps away. He delivers a somersault legdrop but hurts himself. Scorpio comes back with a moonsault for two. Sabu tosses the chair into Scorpio’s face. Arabian facebuster gets two. Sabu springboards into a moonsault onto Scorpio and the chair. Sabu hurts himself, of course. Scorpio comes back with a Tombstone Slam (with Sabu clearly signaling not to drop him on his head). A slingshot splash gets two for Scorpio. Scorpio goes up and misses a splash. Sabu goes up, but Scorpio catches him and powerbombs him off the ropes. Styles, for some reason, calls his mistake a faux pas, but a faux pas is a social mistake, not just any mistake. Not to pick nits or anything. Scorpio goes up, but Sabu crotches him and delivers a Super Victory Roll from the top. That gets two. Sabu topes out onto Scorpio. Back in, Sabu delivers a clothesline for two and locks in a cross armlock. Scorpio flapjacks Sabu and lifts him into Fireman’s Carry. Sabu armdrags out of it, sending them both over. Sabu moonsaults onto him but hurts his own knee again. Into the crowd, Sabu sets up a table, puts Scorpio on it, and springboards off the chair, off the ropes and onto Scorpio, shattering the table. Scorpio recovers first and gets two once they get back in. Sabu leapfrogs a backdrop and counters a gutwrenchbomb to a huracanrana. Sabu gets two off a springboard moonsault. He misses a moonsault. Scorpio goes up and delivers the Reverse Tumbleweed. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO!! Omigod!! Scorpio with the Oo-soto-gari (STO). He delivers the Guillotine Legdrop onto the chair set up on Sabu’s face. Sabu goes up and counters something to a top rope rana for two. Scorpio hits the 450-splash but refuses to cover. Scorpio grabs the chair and SKIES off the top rope with it. Sabu dodges, sets the chair on Scorpio’s face, and springboards into a legdrop. Again, this time Sabu slingshots into a legdrop. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO!! Time expires at 30:00 (actually 30:04). Another match that was just a collection of spots, but you have to give them credit for making it through 30 minutes of action. ***3/4
The rest of the matches have alternate audio commentary, so I’ll be using those.
Tommy Dreamer (w/Beulah) vs. Raven (w/Lupus & Chastity) (6/6/97).
This is from WrestlePalooza ’97. Jonathon Coachman and Tommy Dreamer are the alternate commentators for this. Coachman says that if any man every locked down Beulah, he’d be a very lucky man. Dreamer makes jokes about Coach dating Beulah. Fans are all over Raven because he’s leaving for WCW. Lupus interrupts and tells Raven to leave now instead of facing Tommy Dreamer. Raven runs, so Dreamer tracks him down near the exit. They brawl all the way through the crowd as Coach maintains WWE kayfabe, souring at the mention of Tajiri. Raven delivers a piledriver on the floor. Dreamer talks about feuds working because the two characters are antitheses. Dreamer backdrops out of a Raven piledriver. Dreamer splashes him through a table. To the rail, Dreamer atomic drops him on the railing. Finally, they get to ringside where Dreamer bulldogs Raven on the concrete. Back into the crowd, they go up to the Eagle’s Nest (the announce booth). Raven tosses Dreamer onto a vending machine. Back to the ring, Raven drop toeholds Dreamer into a chair. He follows it up with a shot to the balls. Dreamer cracks that Beulah did not get any that night. Raven slams Dreamer off the top onto a chair. Dreamer comes back with a DDT counter to a hiptoss (which he claims he invented). Dreamer grabs a sign out of the audience and smashes Raven in the head with it. Dreamer piledrives Raven into the sign. Lupus breaks up a cover, though. Beulah comes in and DDTs Lupus. Dreamer and Beulah gloat, so Raven lowblows both of them. Chastity maces Dreamer, setting up a Raven dropkick. Raven begs Beulah to come back to him. She seems receptive at first but lowblows him as she gets closer. DREAMER WITH THE DDT! ONE, TWO, THRE-KICKOUT! Oh no. Dreamer goes for another, but Raven drives him into the ref. Dreamer hits him with another DDT and counts his own pin. The late Louie Spicolli runs in and attacks Dreamer with the DDT. He puts Raven on top. ONE, TWO, THR-NO! Spicolli sets up for the Spicolli Driver (Death Valley Driver), but Dreamer counters to the DDT. Raven sneaks up and DDTs Dreamer. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Raven goes for another DDT, but Dreamer counters to the DVD. Dreamer finishes with the DDT to the road sign to end, finally, their three year feud. (15:06). The lights go out and when they come back, Rob Van Dam is standing there. He delivers the Van Daminator to Dreamer. Dreamer comes back with an atomic drop, but the lights go down again. Sabu is there. They doubleteam him until Dreamer hits them with a double DDT out of nowhere. The lights go down again. Now, Jerry Lawler is out. He taunts the crowd until they want to kill him. He calls out the ECW locker room, so Paul Heyman comes out and gets stomped down by RVD and Sabu. The Gangstas come out, but they get taken out too. Dreamer finally recovers and tackles King. RVD saves Lawler. Lawler gets in a series of shots on Dreamer. Sandman comes down and gets in a few cane shots on Sabu. RVD takes Sandman out. Spicolli takes out Ballz Mahoney, who came to help out Beulah. Finally, Tazz comes down and scares everyone out of the ring to make the save. See, this match and the angle that follows demonstrates the difference between overbooked and heavily-booked — just as there’s a difference between “meaningful” and “meaningless.” I’m not a big fan of the in-crowd brawling segment, but the rest is good. **** for the whole thing.
ECW TV Title: Tazz vs. Bam Bam Bigelow (3/1/98).
Tazz and Michael Cole are on alternate commentary. This was all a part of the “Triple Threat” (Shane Douglas and Chris Candido). Bam Bam double-crossed Tazz as a part of the angle. This comes from Asbury Park, NJ, so Bigelow is the hometown boy. Tazz takes Bigelow down into the Fujiwara Armbar. Tazz armdrags him over and clotheslines Bigelow over the rope. To the outside, Bigelow catches Tazz and rams him into the ringpost. Back in, Bigelow spikes him with a powerbomb. ONE, TWO, T-kickout by Tazz. Tazz comes back and absolutely LEVELS Bigelow with a clothesline. Nice. Tazz tries to T-Bone him over, but Bigelow shifts his weight to land on top for two. Bigelow charges, but Tazz backdrops him onto the ramp. Tazz tries to Tazzplex Bigelow into the crowd, but he hits his head on the railing as he does. They brawl in the crowd. Bigelow clotheslines him over the railing, and they get back in the ring. Bigelow DDTs Tazz and goes up for the rounding moonsault. ONE, TWO, TH-Tazz kicks out. Bigelow tries to set up a table, but it’s broken. Tazz notes the table gives Bigelow a bigger fight than Tazz did. Tazz battles out of a powerbomb and T-Bones Bigelow into the table. ONE, TWO, TH-Kickout by Bam Bam. Back to the outside. They fight over a piece of the table, and Tazz punches through the wood, catching Bigelow on the jaw. Back into the crowd for some boring brawling. Seriously, if ECW would cut those parts out of their matches, they’d all be ****+. Tazz finally starts no-selling until Bigelow hits him in the nuts. Bigelow drags Tazz back in, but Tazz pops up into the Katihajime. Bigelow throughs himself back, and they go through the ring. Tazz reveals he hit his head on a beam and got knocked out. Bigelow drags Taz out of the hole and pins him at 13:36. When they were actually in the ring, it was okay, but there was too much outside brawling where they just walked around. The ring spot is pretty cool, though. **1/2
Easter Egg Alert!: Highlight “Tazz vs. Bam Bam Bigelow” and push “LEFT” twice. You’ll see the Triple Threat angle setting up Bigelow vs. Tazz.
ECW TV Title: Rob Van Dam (w/Bill Alphonso) vs. Jerry Lynn (5/16/99).
This is from Hardcore Heaven ’99. Michael Cole and RVD are on alternate commentary. The entrances take forever. They fight over a wristlock, into hammerlocks, hammerlocks on the mat. Nice avoidance sequence follows and is appreciated by the fans. Quite a lot of showboating from Van Dam bogs down the match. Lynn pounds away in the corner. He and Van Dam go through a reversal sequence, and Rob plays to the crowd again. Van Dam peppers him with kicks. Lynn springboards into a dropkick, sending Van Dam to the outside. Lynn flies off with a crossbody. Back in, Lynn legdrops him in the ropes and delivers a top rope bulldog for two. Lynn goes up, but Fonzie crotches him. Van Dam goes for the Van Daminator, but Lynn ducks him. Van Dam kicks Lynn off the ropes, sending him to the floor and knocking him unconscious. Van Dam stalls for a while. He whips Lynn into the crowd, stalls for a while, and dives out onto Lynn. Lynn comes to and dropkicks Van Dam over the railing. Back in, Lynn sunset flips Van Dam (or Brisco Rolls him) for two. Lynn tries to counter Rolling Thunder, but Van Dam nearly takes his head off with a spin kick. Van Dam counters a Tornado DDT to a Northern Lights Suplex for two. Van Dam sets Lynn on the top, but Lynn counters to a sunset flip powerbomb for two. Lynn sets up a table, but Van Dam attacks him before anything can happen. Fonzie tosses a chair to Lynn, and Van Dam springboards off the railing with a Van Daminator. To the apron, Lynn sets Van Dam on the top, but Van Dam backdrops him off the top rope to the floor. Van Dam sets him up on the railing and comes off with the corkscrew legdrop. Back in, RVD gets two. Van Dam dropkicks the chair into Lynn’s skull. Van Dam sets Lynn on top from the apron. Lynn goes for a Tornado DDT, but Van Dam counters to a clothesline. They battle in the corner, and Van Dam gets backdropped to the apron. Lynn sunset flips into a powerbomb, sending Van Dam through the table. Back in, ONE, TWO, THR-NO! Lynn takes the chair from Fonzie, ducks the Van Daminator, and takes out Fonzie with a SICK chairshot. Van Dam sets up a chair and puts Lynn on top. He tries a belly-to-belly, but Lynn reverses. They slip off to a big “you fucked up” chant. Van Dam covers for two. Lynn hits his own Van Daminator for two. They run through a pretty sloppy sunset flip reverse sequence. Lynn goes for the piledriver. Van Dam backdrops out of it, but Lynn schoolboys him. Van Dam comes back with the split-leg moonsault for two. Lynn counters a slam to a reverse DDT attempt, but Van Dam snapmares him over and delivers a legdrop. Van Dam delivers the five-star, but Lynn counters the cover with a small package for two. Fonzie tosses in a chair, and RVD hits the Van Daminator. Van Dam goes up and delivers ANOTHER five-star frogsplash for the win at 26:55. Some of the early problems with the stalling and injuries dragged down what could have been a classic. ***1/2
Easter Egg Alert!: Highlight RVD vs. Jerry Lynn and push “RIGHT” once. You’ll see Van Dam showing us a scar on his face that he received from the match.
Steven Richards Apologizes for Leaving ECW: Richards talks about injuring his neck and getting paralyzed for nearly an hour. Richards was pissed off at Heyman anyway, so he left for WCW with little notice. Raven eventually signed with WCW, and they were reunited. Richards talks about Raven threatening to get him fired if Stevie didn’t shut up about jobbing to him. He gets choked up as he apologizing for leaving.
Tazz Seeks Paul Heyman’s Blessing: Tazz talks about debuting for the WWF at the Royal Rumble. He called Paul Heyman on the way to Madison Square Garden. He talks about his goal of wrestling at the Garden. He asked Heyman for his blessing, and Paul gave it to him. Tazz gets choked up too as he talks about the support Paul gave him. He talks about how Heyman has sacrificed his life for ECW and compares it to Vince sacrificing for Wrestlemania. The more you listen to the former ECW guys, the more it really does feel like a cult. Tazz and Richards look like those former Koresh followers that were deprogrammed, but still feel guilty over it.
Paul Heyman: Travel Agent: Jericho runs through all the jobs the different guys had. He talks about how Heyman would leave everything until the last minute. Jericho called to quit ECW over travel arrangements, but wound up packaging his bags ten minutes later. He tells a story about Heyman getting him a bereavement fare for his dead brother-in-law “Chris Benoit.” This leads to a funny story about Jericho and Johnny Smith trying to figure out if they were supposed to be related to each other because they both got the fare for Benoit’s “funeral.” Also, Heyman forged a doctor’s note in case the airline questioned it. Jericho says if it was any other promoter, you’d quit on the spot, but it was Paul Heyman.
Final Thoughts: Another winner from the WWE. The main program actually winds up being better than the extras for a change. In fact, it’s probably the best main program they’ve ever done, chronicling virtually every major event in ECW during it’s history. Unlike the “Monday Night Wars” DVD, this one isn’t whitewashed in the least. Of course, Shane Douglas and Todd Gordon don’t appear, but we’ve got Heyman, Bischoff, and McMahon each giving us a different take on the events. The matches are a matter of taste, but even non-ECW fans can’t deny the historical impact these types of matches had on today’s wrestling. Just an all-around fantastic job.
Highest recommendation for “The Rise and Fall of ECW.”
J.D. Dunn
NULL
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0 - 0.9
Torture
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1 - 1.9
Extremely Horrendous
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2 - 2.9
Very Bad
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3 - 3.9
Bad
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4 - 4.9
Poor
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5 - 5.9
Not So Good
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6 - 6.9
Average
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7 - 7.9
Good
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8 - 8.9
Very Good
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9 - 9.9
Amazing
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10
Virtually Perfect
