This is post #3 where I'll be looking at the 1997 matches from the ECW Unreleased vol.1 DVD and a boat load of matches from YouTube 

Rob Van Dam & Sabu vs. Perry Saturn & John Kronus (ECW Cyberslam 1997 Feb. 1997) - ECW World Tag Team Title Tables & Ladders Match - An absolute war between the two most innovative tag teams in ECW. Bell to bell craziness... it's hard to tell what was planned and what was on the fly. Expect a few blemishes, this was a great ECW tag title match without a doubt.  

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Sabu vs. Taz  (ECW Barely Legal, 04/13/97) Very good grudge match! The crowd was kinda sedate for this match which is totally weird since they'd been building this up for sometime. A straight ahead match for the most part and that's what made this so enjoyable. Others have said they're not the best opponents for each other and that's true. Sabu wrestles a faster pace and Taz either does a squash or something closer to a puro match. The pacing could have been quicker for the intensity factor but I think both guys got legit hurt....maybe I've seen to many Tenryu/Choshu type matches. I think that's the weaknesses - I didn't think they hated one another. And the finish could have been more dramatic. Again, I think I've seen better and am comparing it (duh, it's a review! That's what you are supposed to do!). Watching this right after the tag match above also may have influenced me. Also post match angle which was pretty significant but goofy.

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On YouTube:
Taz vs. Sabu / Franchise vs. Taz (06/06/97 Wrestlepalooza '97) - Taz vs Sabu here is better than Barely Legal because it's at a quicker pace. It's under 10 minutes and is a stripped down version so it keeps it's intensity. It feeds off the events of Barely Legal so the story is that much stronger ...plus you get what you want from both - suplexes & high risk moves. I dig the finish a lot too! But then it gets better... Franchise starts shit talking Taz from the crow's nest. We get a special challenge match for the TV title. It's more of a story arc device but it works so well especially right on the heels of the previous match that I think the whole segment is a classic.

Taz & Chris Candido vs. Sabu & Rob Van Dam (ECW 05/08/97) Pretty chaotic action packed match. They are flying off the top rope, there's a suplex or a move with the chair. Not necessarily a dramatic match but a high energy one...good, good fan cam match. Everything you would want... Candido was great in ECW. Sabu does a great leaping frakensteiner off the chair to Chris. Elks Lodge is like the Hammerstein Ballroom. Probably my favorite ECW venues since the balconies makes it feel so epic...like there's so much to be said for the old architecture compared to modern arenas. But I think the Elks Lodge is the best...everyone is just packed in there..That said the Fan Cam shot is really shaky here because Feinstein keeps needing to move in order to get the shot. So there's a couple other good looking matches from this show that I am going to skip for now...well just one more...

Shane Douglas vs. Pitbull #1 (05/08/97) - It dawned on me that these DVDs don't include the Pit bulls and I've skipped them over too. So we can't have that! It's fun but holy shit, Rick Rude carrying Francine like that :S That's a bit pervy even for ECW. Now you're going to look it up for this - oh great! Butt...whoops...but anyways we get to see the Triple Threat (Franchise, Candido & Bigelow) plus Pitbull #2. *Edit since posting: Been listening to clips from Francine's podcast (super interesting btw) and she mentions this incident and it was unplanned. She says Rude pretty much did whatever he wanted with her in this and at other times. She's over it but yeah that's pretty fucked up. Just wanted to add some info from Francine since I found it*

 
Mikey Whipwreck vs. Spike Dudley (ECW 1997) - Not sure on the date but this is really good stuff! I forgot how much fun Spike was on offense. I think I just recall him taking sick bumps but he was much more than that. Mikey and he wrestled their asses of and this was a precursor to the Super Crazy - Tajiri - Spike - Guido - sometimes Jerry Lynn matches from a year or two later. I put this here chronology because Mikey and Spike shake hands and looks like team up later in '97.

D-Von Dudley (w/ Joel Gertner) vs. Tommy Dreamer (w/ Beulah) ECW (05/30/97 Hazelton, PA) - Fancam at a gym show and this one is a lot of fun. Pre-match jaw jacking and then a simple but enjoyable singles match. Beulah & Gertner at ringside are great. D-von and Tommy can do a match like this in their sleep but dammit! It put a smile on my face

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Spike Dudley (As Good as It Gets 09/20/97): A famous ECW moment as Bigelow press slams Spike into the crowd from the ring!! And the ECW Arena fans body surf him! It's a fun match with a great moment. A person in the YouTube comments was there and said on the 2nd toss into the crowd, no one caught Spike and they thought he was dead. They eventually resuscitate Spike & surf him though... Holy Cow!

Jerry Lynn vs Justin Credible (10/31/97 ECW Fright Fight Stamford, CT) - Really good junior style match. Lynn & Credible worked really well together. This was pretty early in their ECW careers so I think they were working a program to get some interest in them. Not sure if there's much more to it than that!

Back to the DVD!
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Shane Douglas - (ECW November To Remember 1997 - 11/30/97) - In Pittsburgh (Monaca, PA to be exact), The Franchise takes on his former Triple Threat member, Bam Bam Bigelow for the ECW title! And it's a good match - lotsa drama here, lotsa Bigelow working the pro-Franchise crowd. I wasn't a fan of the slow pacing but there were some choice spots and Francine did a great job as usual. This was good stuff if you like both guys & if you're watching a chunk of ECW like me. Also a nice allusion to the Bam Bam vs Spike match above. If you're not a fan or your not invested then, this is not going to keep you entertained.

Missed posting this last week, now it's up!

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Sometime in 1997:
Chris Candido vs. Dr. Tom Prichard (ECW 1997) - Great all action match! It's under 10 minutes and there's a section clipped out for TV. Had to watch this one Not sure on the date so I'm tacking it on at the end.

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Sabu (ECW World Title) 1997 - Not sure when this one was either. It's a TV match so we get the get camera angles for the Elks Lodge. And although this match doesn't have a decision, everything that happened before all of the run kind was great! This is a great example of Sabu doing his match - its quick, frenetic and he's using his body as a weapon. It makes sense against the Beast from the East. Bigelow just needs to be a monster and this works! Bam Bam in ECW was awesome! 

Al Snow vs. Paul Diamond (w/ Chastity) ECW 1997 - I gotta have an Al Snow match. I couldn't find many but Snow and the head gimmick was so over in 97 & 98. It confused the hell out of me how he'd be on ECW and WWF (for a time) but in a way Snow helped me get into ECW because I at least recognized him from the WWF shows and magazines. Same with Bigelow. This isn't much of a a match but it's fun & if you look it up, it is A good representation of Al Snow during this time. Also didn't realize that his Snow Plow finish is a Northern Lights Bomb - sick!

I kinda went overboard for 1997. There's only 3 matches on the DVD which I found wasn't representative of the roster or all of the neat pairings. As I kept looking for stuff, I kept finding interesting matches. The roster seemed pretty damn stacked in 1997. There was fresh blood and new angles (ECW vs WWF/Jerry Lawler for instance) as well as PPVs. They had lost talent but it didn't slow down. 1997 was ECW turning a corner into bigger & better things. Bigelow was just awesome in this setting. Yeah, 1997 seemed like a very good year.

Hang in there and thanks for reading!