(Guest written by Matt)
What a great payperview this was! Even though I’ve never been a particularly big ECW fan, and even hated ECW during certain periods, I know a great wrestling event when I see one and this was it. The matches are great. The commentary is great. The crowd and atmosphere are electric. They basically took everything that was once great about ECW and turned it into one super event, just the very opposite of what they did to ECW a year later. I’m pretty sure the majority of actual ECW cards didn’t even compare to this. Not just the matches themselves, but I also loved the storytelling with all the heels from Raw and Smackdown threatening the show and laughed super hard even at childish comments like Kurt Angle saying “I went to an ECW show once and I left halfway through because it sucked!” And all the little things they did in tribute, like having WWE guys who once wrestled in ECW back under their ECW images and entering to their ECW themes again. If you were to look at this event as a piece of ongoing WWE storytelling, it wouldn’t make much sense, and would be full of plot holes. But looking at it as what it was actually intended to be at the time, it is one of the best tributes I’ve ever seen. The show is loaded with awesome video footage of great ECW moments over the years, and feels like an ongoing Apter mag article. Its unbelievable how awesome this event is, and on the flip side how awful the “rebirth” of ECW ultimately would end up being just over a year after this. I probably won’t have much to say about the individual matches since its much easier to criticize than to praise.
Lance Storm def. Chris Jericho: What a great scientific wrestling battle. I loved how both guys were back under their ECW images and wrestled the ECW style as was the norm throughout this show. Even though this match was relatively short, it featured enough high spots to make it an instant classic. The ending didn’t really make much sense, but you have to think of it in terms of the “finishes” being tributes to ECW as well, and not to be taken too seriously. If this had just been a straight up wrestling match with a clean finish, that would have been a tribute to WWE of 2002, not ECW of the 90s.
Super Crazy def. Tajiri and Little Guido: You mean Nunzio? LOL. I thought this was another great ECW style match. I like how it was done as a traditional three way with all three guys fighting it out at once, and having liminations rather than just one fall to a finish. It was actually better than most of the WWE’s three ways. My main complaint would be that Super Crazy won, because I was hoping for Tajiri and he was actually doing things in WWE at the time, whereas Super Crazy was just a Mexicool, but I guess I’m missing the point.
Rey Misterio def. Psychosis: According to Scott and Justin, Misterio was booed out of the arena in this match for wearing his WWE outfit, using his WWE music, and using the 619. It wasn’t so apparent to me watching on VHS that this was the case though. There were some boos, but it wasn’t overpowering. Anyway, this was a good luchadore style match, but not nearly as good as their mid-90s WCW classics, mostly because these guys were starting to show a lot of wear and tear from years in the ring. Another great thing about this show is the fact that they had tributes to every aspect of ECW wrestling, one of those being the luchadore style which ECW brought to America and WCW copied. I was hoping Psychosis would go over because I’ve never seen him beat Misterio in spite of the dozens of matches they had in WCW.
Sabu def. Rhyno: This was one of the weaker matches on the card, but still pretty good. It was a brawl and a spot-fest, but I guess just because I dislike both guys, it was hard for me to get too into the match. I also thought it was BS that the washed up, broken down Sabu actually won. The booking of the finishes was a weakness of this event in general, as usually the more “legendary” ECW guy went over instead of the younger, better workers who actually had futures in the WWE. But again, I guess that’s not what this event was about.
Chris Benoit def. Eddie Guerrero: Another great scientific wrestling battle akin to the Storm-Jericho match. Joey Styles kept hyping the fact that these two never wrestled in ECW, but they did have plenty of matches in WCW and WWE before this. Like the first match, they didn’t really give as much time to this bout as you would have expected, but it had enough excitement to make it another classic in the history of these two.
Mike Awesome def. Masato Tanaka: This was my least favorite match on the show. I have no idea who Masato Tanaka is but I was big time cheering for him to destroy Mike Awesome nonetheless. Its impossible for me not to think of that retard as That 70s Guy or The Fat Chick Thrillah. Anyway, this was basically a power match with tables and other weapons. I guess its kind of what I used to think ECW was like based on the Apter mags alone. The match was okay, but just seemed like weapons for the sake of weapons, and plus Awesome won which sucked.
Dudley Boyz def. Tommy Dreamer and Sandman: I expected this match to suck big time, and I guess objectively in the ring it did suck. But it was one of the greatest tributes to ECW and hardcore wrestling that could be imagined. Every possible weapon and hardcore spot was included in this match. There was tons of interference so that every former ECW guy affiliated with the WWE had a chance to be a part of the show. Lots of blood, nonstop action, a little bit of T&A and an insane crowd. What more could you ask for?
The ending of the card was great with all the ECW guys coming out, and Stone Cold Steve Austin challenging all the WWE heels to come down and get their asses kicked. It actually made absolutely zero sense, but this was just a fun tribute show and it didn’t really matter in the greater scheme of things. Besides the WWE got the last laugh when all the ECW legends found themselves being buried by The Big Show, Daivari etc. in a year’s time. If this had just remained a tribute and last hurrah, and if the legacy of ECW hadn’t been ruined in 2006, I would consider this one of the top ten PPVs in WWE history.
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