GSR

Justin Credible with a side headlock, Gedo shoots him off, goes for a back bodydrop but Credible counters with a spinning DDT. He unloads on him in the corner before tagging in Lance Storm. Lovely standing dropkick by the Canadian. Gedo tries to fire back on Credible but he cuts him off with a poke to the eyes. Sunset flip from Gedo for two before Credible takes his head off with a clothesline. Storm with a German suplex, but Gedo lands on his feet, clothesline and he’s able to make the tag to his partner. Jado with clothesline to the Impact Players, he whips Credible into the corner, who takes the Flair bump, and Jado forearms him off the apron and into the guardrail. Storm leaps to the top turnbuckle off a reversed Irish whip, but Jado is right behind him and pushes his legs out from under him so he crotches himself. Belly to back suplex off the top turnbuckle! Jason Knight is in with a chair, however Gedo cuts him off with a side kick to the mid-section. Drop toehold/elbow drop combination on Jason onto the chair. As he’s whipped into the ropes, Credible with a knee to the back of Jado. Storm charges at him, but he sidesteps and Lance collides with his own partner. O’Connor roll, Storm kicks out and Credible nails Jado in the head with his Singapore cane. Storm schoolboys him but Jado kicks out at the last second for an awesome near fall. Credible calls for a table which he sets up in the corner. Jado blocks the suplex attempt and hiptosses Credible through it. Tiger Driver on Storm, Gedo with a frog splash and an every bit as good near fall as he gets his shoulder up just in time. Gedo ducks a lariat from Credible, thumb to the eye, jawbreaker and a dropkick sends him to the outside. Powerbomb off the middle to Storm and it’s still not enough to put him away. He ducks a clothesline and Jado runs into a superkick from Credible, stuff piledriver and the Impact Players retain. I’m guessing this match is joined in progress as we only get about seven minutes, but what we do get is tremendous. The Impact Players get the heat on Gedo and once he makes the hot tag to Jado, the match just moves on another level. Great high spots, some awesome near falls (especially liked Jado’s kick out after the Singapore cane shot) and the crowd was eating all of this up. Loved, loved, loved Gedo’s eye poke, a receipt to Justin Credible for the one he gave him earlier in the match. Tajiri and Crazy’s hold on my ECW Match of the Month number one postion may just be over.

No pre-match promo from either man as they get straight into things. Rock with a reverse elbow that knocks Angle down and he starts putting the boots to him. He telegraphs a back bodydrop but Kurt can’t take advantage, and Rock levels him with a clothesline before he takes to the outside. Rock is out after him, rams his head into the announcer’s table and then spits water into his face. When he goes to ram his head into a second table Angle blocks it and rams Rock’s own head into it instead. Clothesline on the floor and as the fans boo, Angle grabs the mic and wonders what’s wrong with these people? He says how he was born in this town and born in the Mercy Hospital five blocks from here! Rock nails him in the back and says that it doesn’t matter where he was born! Suplex and a cover for two. Low blow from Angle puts a stop to Rock’s beatdown, and a belly to back suplex for a two of his own. Overhead belly to belly for another near fall. Rock reverses an Irish whip, but when he goes charging in Angle gets a foot up. He then charges at his opponent, however Rock with a boot to the mid-section, DDT and it’s still not enough as Angle is able to get his shoulder up. Samoan drop and Angle has had enough. He rolls out the ring and heads back to the dressing room only for Tazz to come out, grab him from behind and throw him back in the ring. Spinebuster, ‘people’s elbow’ and Angle’s undefeated streak is officially over. Tazz goes to clothesline Angle after the match, but he ducks and nails Rock instead before chasing Kurt up the runway to the back. The work was good as you’d expect with these two, and I liked the way they incorporated the mic work into the middle of the match as opposed the start. The pop wasn’t what I was expecting for Angle’s first pinfall loss, maybe with hindsight looking back, I was anticipating a bit of a bigger deal to be made out of it, not just happening in a throwaway match on Raw. Very surprised to see Tazz’s involvement; both playing a part in the loss and the interaction and clothesline on The Rock. Were they really considering him for a top of the card position or is it just a quick set up to lead to a match to prove he can’t hang with the WWF big boys? We will see…

Kash jumps Rhino from behind trying to get an early advantage, but Rhino reverses the Irish whip and an almighty gorilla press slam. Kash starts to fire back after Rhino chops his chest getting in some shots of his own. Headscissors, nice looking armdrag and a dropkick sends Rhino through the ropes to the outside. Kash with a baseball slide dropkick and a huge springboard plancha. Rhino counters Kash’s punches in the corner with a sit out powerbomb for two and a bruising clothesline takes him off his feet for another two. Kash ducks a lariat and a double jump springboard reverse crossbody for a two of his own. Rhino with a whip to the corner, Kash jumps to the middle turnbuckle and comes off with a moonsault bodyblock, however Rhino catches him and a big powerslam for the closest fall yet. Kash avoids another clothesline and a baseball slide dropkick to Jack Victory who’s on the arena floor. Shoulder tackle to the mid-section of Rhino, a lovely leaping headscissors off the top but Kash doesn’t follow up though and plays to the audience. When he turns around he’s met with a gore then a piledriver for the win. Kash seemed more at home and comfortable after coming across a tad tentative in his first couple of matches. He also showed more and got in more offense than in previous matches, and as a result this was much more competitive than I expected. Decent little match with Rhino being a great base for Kash’s high flying offense. Looking forward to seeing how he progresses over the year ahead from here.

The footage starts just as Tajiri launches Super Crazy over the guardrail and into the audience, and Tajiri with a kick to the head on him as he returns to the ring. Handspring elbow, but Crazy is back to his feet and dropkicks Tajiri who tumbles through the ropes to the floor. It’s Crazy’s turn to launch his opponent into the front row and a lovely Asai moonsault follows. Double jump moonsault for two, and Crazy unloads with punches in the corner before repeating in the opposite one. Nice series of pin attempts with both men getting their fair share of two counts. Tajiri with a dropkick to the head and he steps outside to pick up a chair. He’s about to clock Crazy, but he gets in first and dropkicks it into his face. As he grabs his leg, out of nowhere, Tajiri levels him in the head with the chair. He slams Crazy’s face into it and then kicks the back of it so the steel collides with his head. We return from an ad break as Tajiri is bringing a couple of tables into the ring while Crazy has been busted open from that kick to the back of the chair. Double foot stomp off the top puts Crazy through one of the tables, but he’s still able to kick out of the pin. Tajiri props the second table up in the corner, Crazy ducks the kick and a tilt-a-whirl into a powerslam through that one. Crazy brings a third table into the match and goes to moonsault Tajiri through it, however it doesn’t break and he ends up powerbombing him through it for the win. Steve Corino immediately attacks Crazy after the match, while the referee seems more concerned with getting the remnants of the table out of there as opposed to trying to stop the attack! Jack Victory is also out and the guy throws a great looking punch. It’s not long before Crazy starts to hold his own against these two, which brings out Rhino who smashes him with an almighty gore. The four of them put the boots to Crazy until Sandman’s music plays and he takes an absolute eternity to make his way through the audience and make the ‘save’ (although you can’t really say he made a save, Corino et al just stopped focussing on Crazy). When he eventually gets into the ring he Singapore canes everyone, but as he goes to hit Tajiri for a second time he blows the mist in his face and Rhino gores him. Piledriver for Sandman and Crazy, and Cyrus says the nobody stands up to the Network, and if there is anyone in the back, in the arena or anywhere who’s got the guts to stand up to the Network, he suggests they come out and meet the Network face to face. Balls Mahoney and his steel chair have got the guts and answer the challenge. As Cyrus starts laying the verbal smack down on Balls, he doesn’t realise that his ‘Network’ have vacated the ring and he’s all alone in there. He tries to apologise and back off but Balls isn’t having any of it. Just as he’s about to cave his skull in with his chair, Corino is back in to grab it and Rhino gores him, while Cyrus again says the nobody stands up to the Network! Another real good match in the series, although it’s probably my third favourite of the ‘death matches’, primarily due to the fact it was so short (not even seven minutes in duration). The best thing about this was the way the match built, as you would’ve had no idea whatsoever that it was a death match for the first half of it. The opening section is pure wrestling and there is a really nice pinning sequence in this, and Tajiri has a gorgeous one off a fireman’s carry to look out for. It was only the second half where they bought out the tables and chairs and the violence levels escalated. My one gripe is on Crazy’s comebacks (and it’s a common trait with him), that he takes an absolute pounding and then as soon as it’s his turn on the offense, he’s back running and flying around as if there was never anything wrong with him in the first place. The post-match angle was what it was, and lasted about as long as the match itself. Never thought I would see someone make a slower run-in/save than Mick Foley and his bad knees, but the Sandman manages it!

Interview segment opens where Steve ‘Chance’ Martin announces A.J. Styles as the ‘Rookie of the Year’ and is sure he’ll be going to the big three someday. A.J. thanks the fans and says he doesn’t want to wresatle for anyone else, when they are joined by Jeff G. Bailey. Bailey opens up by saying how the snow has gone and that must be a disappointment for Styles and Martin as he understood they’re both into snowballing! He refers to them as life partners and claims Martin has been pushing Styles down people’s throats from day one and states that A.J. only beat K-Krush, a WWF superstar, because of help from Jorge Estrada. As a man he’s not fit to breathe the same air, let alone get in a wrestling ring with him, and says he should be hanging out at the adult book store infront of the glory holes trying to hustle to get enough money to fill his AZT prescription! Fortunately for him though, K-Krush is now in Memphis at the request of the WWF so he can make them some money as this floundering company couldn’t afford to keep him. Bailey wants his TV title back and doesn’t need Krush to get it, while he tells Styles that he doesn’t deserve that ‘Rookie of the Year’ award and that Onyx could wrestle circles around him. He’s going to get A.J. put in hospital, and tonight will be the first steps of his taking control of the company. Mega Rumble to crown a new Wildside Heavyweight champion. The rules are that two men start off and a new man enters every minute and you are only eliminated by being thrown over the top rope. Razor (one half of Southside Trash) and Silky Boom Boom are the first two participants. A bit of a miscommunication and Boom Boom with a bulldog after running up the turnbuckles, only to get jumped by entrant number three, Rowdy, the other half of Southside Trash. Frenchy Rivera is number four, and boy is this guy fat. He seems to have come to an arrangement with SST to let him have Boom Boom, but no, it’s just a rouse and he double crosses them with a double clothesline. Rukkus enters with a steel chair and the SST eliminate themselves by jumping over the ropes when they see him brandishing it. What a shitty way to get them out the match. Turns out that Rivera and Boom used to team together as ‘Hot & Heavy’, and when Southside Trash take a powder they go out after them. They didn’t go over the top rope, but both teams fight on the floor and to the back so it looks like we’ve seen the back of them. Skinny Kenny comes out at number six and we’ve got a match again. The irony in Kenny’s name being that he’s not so skinny. We return from an advertisement and John Arden has joined the two of them, and as is becoming a bit of a feature, he’s the partner of Kenny. Entrant number eight is Shasta McNasty and the big guys continue. Onyx is in to help Rukkus and this looks like it’s just got interesting. Mark E. Mark is next to arrive and we finally have our first legit elimination as Rukkus and Onyx team up to get rid of Kenny. Shasta with a big splash in the corner to Onyx, and Mark E. follows up with a clothesline before tossing him out of there in something of a surprise. Number eleven is Damien Steele, and Rukkus returns the favour with a splash in the corner to Shasta and then throws him over the top rope to the floor. Arden eliminates Mark and we’re down to three in the ring. We’re back up to four with the arrival of Tery Lawler, but as soon as he enters we’re back at three as Arden is eliminated by Rukkus. Nice overhead throw/suplex from Rukkus to Steele, and Lawler does the elimination honours. Unlucky thirteen is Terry Knight who Lawler and Rukkus immediately team up on. White Trash is next, carrying a ‘stop’ sign and a toaster, the latter of which he breaks over Lawler’s head. Rukkus with a press slam on Knight (I don’t know if he was supposed to drop him to the floor, but it looked like he lost him on the press slam and had to just toss him over the ropes). Lawler throws Trash through the middle ropes and he and Rukkus end up tumbling to the outside too. Trash empties his bag of weapons in the ring and this is starting to resemble a ‘hardcore match’. He clocks Lawler with a frying pan and a cookie sheet, but he responds with a couple of hub cap shots to the head. The dazed Trash is then easily eliminated and we have our final two. This doesn’t last much longer, as while Lawler is admiring his handiwork Rukkus cracks him in the back of the head with a stop sign and he falls over the top rope to the floor. Jeff G. Bailey is back out and says how people were wondering who his man was in this Rumble. He asks Rukkus to give him ‘his’ title, and although reluctant at first, when Bailey passes him an envelope of money he hands it over and Bailey says that he now control the heavyweight title. Not the most exciting of Rumbles, as once Onyx was eliminated it was obvious who was winning (providing Styles wasn’t a later entrant). Hated the Southside Trash eliminating themselves, and then the lame exits of Rivera and Boom Boom fighting them to the back, although maybe Frenchy was just too fat to take the bump over the top rope to the floor? Can’t say that a lot of the participants in this showed me something that I would look forward to seeing more from them. The crowd came alive for Onyx’s entrance and I was surprised to see him eliminated so quickly. Jeff G. Bailey continues to be a joy with what comes out of his mouth. The guy has got no filter, nothing is off guard and he couldn’t care who he offends with his language.

The Rock tells Rikishi that although he appreciated what he did for him on Monday, tonight is a different night. He then turns his attention to the Big Show and his ‘investigation’ into the result of the Royal Rumble and says how he can turn his findings sideways and stick them straight up his candy ass! Michael Cole points out that Rock and Rikishi were forced to go one on one by Triple H and Stephanie after being partners last week, as it’s their way of trying to ‘divide and conquer’ the new alliance between them. Onto the match itself and the two of them exchange rights before a clothesline drops Rikishi although he’s straight back to his feet. Samoan drop and a headbutt as Rikishi takes it to the ‘people’s champ’. Rock avoids the charge in the corner and he plants Rikishi with a spinebuster for two. He chokes him over the middle rope and goes for a suplex, but he can’t get the big man up and Rikishi counters with one of his own. Rock with a Samoan drop for another two count. A DDT has no effect on Rikishi (those old wrestling stereotypes of hard headed Samoans!) and he levels Rock with a thrust kick. ‘Rikishi Driver’ attempt, but Rock escapes and an ugly looking ‘Rock Bottom’ that Rikishi doesn’t appear to take right. Second ‘Rock Bottom’ and this one is much smoother than the first. He unloads on Rikishi in the corner, whip to the opposite one is reversed and Rock ends up squashing Earl Hebner who had gotten in the way. Belly to belly, Bonzai splash, but before Hebner is able to make the count Big Show is out to attack him. Hebner throws the match out as Show screams that now Rock is his. Chokeslam to Rock and here is Triple H who hits the pedigree on Rikishi. Too Cool try to make the save but don’t fair well. Pedigree on Scotty, then Show with a double chokeslam on them as everyone is left laying whil Show, Hunter and Stephanie celebrate in the ring. The crowd lapped up Rock’s promo (as they always do), but were pretty muted for the match itself. I think they were clearly confused about who to cheer for and who to boo, and as a result there wasn’t much heat to this and it didn’t really benefit Rikishi (who up until now they’d been doing a great job in pushing). That botch was awful and a really lame ending with Big Show interfering.

Edge and Christian are here to defend the honour of Terri Runnels, on behalf of their friends the Hardy Boyz, after the Dudleys put her through a table on Monday night. Dudleys sprint to the ring where they are met by Edge and Christian. Bubba throws Edge over the top rope to the floor and they start double teaming Christian. Edge hooks Bubba’s ankle as the Dudleys run the ropes, Christian then ducks D-Von’s clothesline and hits a belly to back suplex on him. Missile dropkick by Edge to the back of Bubba and Christian with a swinging neckbreaker. Double flapjack on D-Von for two. Bubba strikes Christian with a cheap shot from the apron and D-Von with a reverse DDT as it looks like the Dudleys have turned the match around. ‘Wassup’ spot behind the official’s back when he is trying to stop Edge from coming in to help his partner. Bubba pounds on Christian in the corner, headbutt to the groin and a high backdrop. Samoan drop from Bubba, who then climbs the turnbuckle but is too slow (getting distracted by Edge), and Christian with a low blow followed by a top rope frankensteiner. A pair of tags and Edge takes it to the Dudleys. Nice spinning heel kick to Bubba and a DDT on D-Von for two. Double backdrop on Bubba who rolls to the floor, no chance of a rest though as Christian with a springboard plancha off the middle out to him. In the ring Edge ducks a D-Von clothesline and catches him with the ‘spear’ for the win. Post-match Bubba whips Christian into the ring steps, and they hit 3-D on first Edge and then Christian. The Dudleys set up a table on the arena floor, lie Edge on it and powerbomb Christian from the apron onto Edge and through it. Solid little tag match. Simple dynamic with Christian taking the beating and Edge coming in for the hot tag (which plays to his strengths as he is the more ‘flashier’ of the two) and getting the pin. Nothing offensive, but nothing worth going out of your way to see and there is definitely better to come from these teams.

Crazy is introduced second, sprints to the ring and Guido high tails it out of there. Guido starts arguing with someone in the crowd and Tajiri kicks him in the lower back before Crazy dropkicks him out the ring. Tajiri and Crazy trade armdrags, Tajiri takes to the floor and Crazy is about to dive onto him, however when he runs the ropes Guido hooks his ankle tripping him. Guido goes for a springboard double axe handle off the top rope, but is met by a Tajiri kick to the mid-section. Tajiri ducks a clothesline and with the arm swinging, Guido slaps on the Fujiwara armbar. Tajiri breaks it by biting Guido in the forehead and the two then exchange slaps to the chest. Dropkick to the legs take Crazy and Guido off their feet, and the two appear to be making a deal to work together and take out the Japanese Buzzsaw. Double clothesline, Guido with a tornado DDT that Tajiri blocks and he crotches him on the top rope before boxing his ears with a kick that sends him tumbling to the outside. Tajiri follows him out and as the two of them fight on the floor, Crazy with an Asai moonsault. Crazy throws a couple of chops to Tajiri’s chest, he tries to retaliate with a kick but Crazy grabs the leg, however this just allows him to transition to the Tarantula. Russian legsweep on Crazy by Guido and Tajiri gives him a round of applause and shakes his hand, only to double cross him with a pair of kicks. ‘Tree of woe’ and a dropkick to the face. The fans chant ‘one more time’ and is about to oblige, but as he runs is met by a Crazy missile dropkick. Guido with the ‘Maritato’ and Tajiri is out of there (much to the fans disappointment who boo and call ‘bullshit’ at it’. The two of them ignore the chants and continue with the match regardless. Crazy misses a reverse crossbody and Guido with the ‘Sicilian slice’ for two. It appears that Crazy is tapping off a Kimura, but the official either doesn’t notice or doesn’t know what a ‘tap’ means. Irish whip, Crazy leaps to the middle rope, but as he springboards backwards with a flying forearm, he’s caught with another Fujiwara armbar. A loud ‘where’s my pizza chant?’ starts and Guido just gives them all the finger! Crazy with a series of punches in the corner, whip to the opposite one is reversed and when he goes to leapfrog over the inrushing Guido, he catches and then plants him face first to the canvas. He’s pissed that it doesn’t get him the three so throws Crazy to the outside, and as he stands on the ringside table, bodyslams Crazy through it. That’s still not enough to put him away though. Crazy with a headscissors and a spinning DDT for a two of his own. Moonsault off the bottom turnbuckle and as he goes for one off the middle Guido gets his knees up. The ‘Maritato’ is blocked with a low blow and a powerbomb for a near fall. Delayed brainbuster right on the head and that’s enough to finally get the three and the win. I think it’s impossible for these three to have a bad match and completely different to what they did last month (bar Tajiri still being the first one eliminated and Crazy getting the win instead of Guido). The Tajiri elimination seemed out of the blue, but maybe it’s a case of getting him out of there early to avoid the ‘obvious’ result. I’ve ragged on ECW crowds aplenty, however this lot were top class (with the exception of that ‘bullshit’ chant) and Guido gets so much heat and response from them. Really liked the new stuff such as the transitions into the Fujiwara armbar, the missile dropkick/’tree of woe’ spot and Guido even resorting to bodyslamming his opponent through a table to try and put him away. Real good match and that brainbuster for the finish looked nasty.

Simon Diamond is with his entourage in the ring and he has a problem. He is interrupted by Judge Jeff Jones who tells him that he does have a problem, and out walks Mike Awesome (who is now tag team champion with Raven as well as being the Heavyweight title holder). Awesome tells Diamond and Kash that they do have a problem and gives them the chance to get out of the ring and live, or stay in it and die. Of course Simon Diamond and chums flee, however Kash throws his top at Awesome and attacks him. Irish whip reversal, Kash takes a running leap at the champ who catches him and launches him overhead with a huge belly to belly. A right hand and Kash bumps big for it. Splash in the corner, big body splash and Kash kicks out at two. Awesome tosses him to the floor and a double axe handle off the apron. He rams him into the guardrail, but as he charges at Kash he backdrops him over it and into the front row. Excuse the choice of words, but awesome springboard plancha from Kash out onto him. Jeff Jones is in the ring and he takes a swing at Kash with his gavel, he ducks out the way though and nails him with a double underhook into a sit out piledriver. He may have gotten the worse of things, but Jones distracted Kash enough and gave his man time to recover. Awesome with a shoulderblock over the ropes back into the ring. Whip to the corner, Kash avoids the charge and a nice leaping huracanrana, although Awesome is straight back to his feet and levels him with a clothesline. ‘Awesome Bomb’, however no cover and he goes outside to collect a table. He lies Kash on it and climbs the turnbuckle. Kash is up and after a bit of back and forth, ‘Awesome Bomb’ off the top through the table to retain his title. I’m higher on this than everyone else it would seem, but maybe that’s because I’ve had a bellyful of Awesome vs Tanaka and it’s nice to see something different. I say ‘different’ because Awesome still gets a lot of his usual shit in like the overhead belly to belly and the powerbomb off the top in. Kash did a good job here, bumping around and getting Awesome over as this monster. Super impressive springboard plancha to the floor, and I think the move he hit on Jeff Jones is his eventual finisher. In essence though this was a squash (similar to the ones Awesome had against Little Guido) and not the sort of match you would expect from your World champion on PPV.

Never knew that ECW ran this match and we see security carefully bringing out the explosive barbed wire boards. Grimes’ cohorts of Angel and DeVito head out as the introductions are made, but they stay at the top of the entrance aisle. Balls ducks a clothesline and start jabbing Grimes while the crowd chant his name. Irish whip reversal, Grimes with a powerslam followed by a senton. ‘You fat fuck’ chants aimed at him. What a nice bunch the ECW crowd are! A back elbow sends Balls through the ropes and he only justs holds on and avoids falling into the barbed wire board. Grimes grabs a pizza cutter and uses it to slice Mahoney’s forehead. Balls reverses a whip to the corner then nails Grimes with a lovely superkick. Now it’s his turn to carve up his opponent, stabbing him in the head with a fork. Spinebuster for two before he misses an elbow off the middle. Grimes with a Samoan drop, he then heads up top hitting a frog splash elbow. Lackadaisical cover sees Mahoney kick out. He goes up a second time, but Balls is back to his feet, takes his legs out from under him and with Grimes crotched on the top turnbuckle, clocks him full force in the head with a chair. Balls steps outside and with the help of Jim Molineux brings the barbed wire board into the ring. Grimes blocks the superplex, fires back with some punches and then pushes Balls backwards into the board and we get a small explosion. The subsequent pin sees Balls kick out and Grimes goes to collect the other explosive board. He unloads with punches in the corner and then climbs to the middle turnbuckle so he can punch him some more. Grimes plays to the crowd though, Balls with a low blow and a powerbomb onto the board. Unfortunately though the explosion doesn’t go off this time. Balls has to improvise and puts a chair over his opponents head, drops the leg and gets the win. I thought this was okay, but I didn’t really get into the match and it felt a lot like ‘wrestling by numbers’ (a bit of basic action, the ‘gore’ section and then the finish). I don’t know what I was expecting when it came to the explosions, but I think I was expecting something on a par with the FMW matches so this looked disappointing. I suppose they achieved what they wanted out of the match and going the gimmick, even if the finish was anti-climactic with the second explosion not working.

Steve Corino insults the crowd then notices the Sandman’s wife, Lori Fullington, amongst them. He says how she’s a ‘hardcore icon’ in the ECW dressing room and that she’s had more of the wrestlers than Dusty Rhodes has had matches! He claims that Raven, the guy she left her husband for, was no ‘angle’, then calls Tyler a ‘bastard’ saying that Sandman isn’t even his real dad. Noting that Lori hasn’t ‘put him over’, he wants her to put him over on the PPV and refers to her as a ‘whore’. Lori slaps him, then Corino grabs her and throws her into the ring. Rhino is out and he and Jack Victory hold her while it looks like Corino is planning to sexually assault her on live TV. Sandman makes the save but Rhino cuts him off with a clothesline, piledrives him and gores Lori through a table. A bunch of security and officials head out to try and calm the situation while Sandman tends to his wife. Corino is back and says “one whore down, on to go”, and he’s not waiting for later. He tells Dusty Rhodes that he’s the new American Dream around here and he’s going to kick his fat ass! The Dream is out and Corino is reluctant to get tied to the bullrope so Dusty with a bionic elbow and the referee is finally able to attach it to his wrist. Joey Styles points out that the official is H.C. Loc, who Corino and Victory bludgeoned in Milwaukee sending him to the hospital where he needed 53 stitches in his head. They establish that there is no escaping from your opponent as Corino attempts to roll out the ring but Dusty just yanks him back in. The Dream clocks him with the cow bell a couple of times then pulls Corino to the outside. For the next few minutes they head around the building and into the crowd hitting each other with the cow bell, with both ending up bloodied. When they return to ringside Victory attacks Dusty to give Corino the advantage. He digs the cow bell into his cut and then lays the Dream’s head across a steel chair that Victory had passed to him. Corino climbs the turnbuckles but is too slow, and Dusty uses the bullrope to pull him down and he goes crashing face first into the chair. The Dream uses the cow bell to rip at Corino’s upper arm, clocks him again in the head and Victory is up on the apron pleading that his man has had enough. Corino manages to fight back and wedges the chair between the turnbuckles. As he goes to ram Dusty into it, the Dream gets in there first. Victory throws Corino some tape but he drops it and Dusty picks it up. Bionic elbows for Victory and Corino, then with the officials help, they tape the cow bell to Corino’s forehead. Chair shot to the head, Loc gives Corino the finger and Dusty drops the elbow for the win. Didn’t care for any of this. Corino’s promo felt desperate with the combination of ‘insider remarks’ and the use of words like bastard and whore. Then we have man on woman violence which is something I could do without too. For what it’s worth, that was one heck of a bump Lori took and looked like it could have easily broken her in half. The match itself wasn’t much either. The old ECW trope of fighting into the crowd ‘because that’s what you do in ECW in a gimmick match’, and both men bleed a fair bit. Finish was awful with the referee getting involved, even though Styles claimed it was payback for what they did to him in Milwaukee. It looked bad for starters and if Loc was going to involve himself, why didn’t he do anything earlier to counter Victory’s interference? Liked the start where they got over that there is no way to escape when you are tied to the bullrope, and Dusty ripping at the arm with the cow bell but that was it.

Crazy sprints down the aisle and nails Tajiri with a springboard dropkick before the match has even gotten underway. Tajiri ducks a clothesline and a dropkick to the knees takes Crazy off his feet. He rolls to the outside but Tajiri follows him. Crazy reverses an Irish whip and Tajiri goes crashing into the guard rails, however when he rushes at him, he gets backdropped up and over into the front row. A cool spot where Tajiri has set up a chair in the ring, he kicks Crazy in the back of his head so his face falls onto the chair, and a swift front kick to the back of the chair sees the steel colliding with Crazy’s face. Tajiri ties him up in the ‘tree of woe’, positions three chairs infront of his head and then dropkicks the lot busting him open. Tarantula and he wipes the bloodied forehead of his opponent onto the referee, before biting the cut and spitting the blood into the crowd. Crazy with a clothesline, a Lionsault for two and a powerbomb as he starts to fight back. He sets up a table on the outside and puts Tajiri through it with a legdrop off the top to the floor. Chairshot to the head busts Tajiri open too, before Crazy throws a bunch more chairs into the ring. Handspring elbow from Tajiri and a brainbuster. He looks to suicideplex Crazy through a table, however he manages to fight him off and shoves him backwards with Tajiri doing well to leap over and avoid it. Missile dropkick by Crazy, he then lies Tajiri on the table and moonsaults through them both for two. With that no longer fit for purpose, Crazy heads out and brings in another one. Tajiri counters a powerbomb into a DDT onto the pile of chairs. Bodyslam and he covers Crazy under the chairs before placing the table over him. Double foot stomp off the top through the table to his chair covered opponent and Tajiri gets the win. These two had the best ECW match of January and although it’s early, every chance they’ve just had the best one of February too. From the moment Crazy sprinted to the ring and nailed Tajiri with the springboard dropkick you could sense the urgency and that these two just ‘don’t plain like each other’. I did worry that this might be a carbon copy of the Mexican Death match but I needn’t have worried at all. A few similar spots, but Tajiri has plenty of nice touches so you don’t feel like you’ve seen this all before (kicking the back of the chair into Crazy’s face, involving the ref by wiping the blood on him, biting the cut and spitting the blood into the crowd etc), plus there was a heavier emphasis on the use of tables and chairs here. I get why people might think they were taking too long setting things up, but I never saw it that way. I’d rate this a touch below the January match, but that takes nothing away from this which is still a great match.

Kash with the go behind into a full nelson which Tajiri escapes from and reverses into a hammerlock. These jerks then start a ‘boring, boring’ chant! Tajiri does something which elicits a reaction, but we don’t see what as RF is zoomed in on Kash who has a look of disbelief on his face to their response to the wrestling. A vicious looking and sounding kick to Kash’s head, and when they chant ‘one more time’ he slaps on a side headlock! That’ll teach ‘em! Kash with a couple of armdrags, a hiptoss and a dropkick which sends Tajiri to the outside. He badly botches a dive to the floor (he looked caught in two minds about what to do) and quickly quashes the ‘you fucked up!’ chants with a springboard reverse crossbody. A pair of knife edge chops, Irish whip and Tajiri with the handspring elbow. Overhead German, Kash lands on his feet, he goes for one of his own but Tajiri puts a stop to that with a back kick low blow. A kick to the head floors Kash and a series of stinging slaps to the chest in the corner. Superkick, Kash then counters the powerbomb with a huracanrana. Tornado DDT off the middle for two. He goes for a second but Tajiri reverses it, crotches him on the top rope and gives him another kick around the head. He ties him in the ‘tree of woe’ and a baseball slide dropkick to the face. Kash counters a tornado DDT with a backslide for a great near fall. The closeness of that is enough for Tajiri to stop playing around and a kick to the back of the head followed by a brainbuster gives him the win. This reminded me of Little Guido’s match against Kid Kash, in what was primarily a showcase for Guido, with this one being a showcase for Tajiri. The Japanese Buzzsaw was so good here and had the crowd eating out of his hands. Loved the way that he slapped on the side headlock when they chanted ‘one more time’, a matter of seconds after chanting ‘boring’ at the wrestlers. Masterful stuff! I don’t know if the ‘boring’ chant got to Kash as he seemed more off than you would expect from him. His dropkick that sent Tajiri to the floor barely connected, then it looked like he got caught in two minds over the dive to the floor, even trying to save it by skinning the cat. Tajiri’s strikes were all on point tonight both looking and sounding great, and a quality Kash near fall right at the end with the backslide.

Erik Watts is with the Dangerous Alliance and he and CW jump Crazy when his back is turned. The two of them hold him so Lou E. can hit him with his phone, however Crazy moves and he nails CW instead. Spinning heel kick to Watts, dropkick to Bill Whiles and he’s all alone in the ring with Dangerously. A series of punches in the corner before laying him on a table that Whiles had earlier set up. Asai moonsault to the floor onto CW and ‘Beautiful’ Billy, followed by a senton off the top to put Lou through the table. A break in the match for advertisements, and when we return Crazy is bloodied and on his knees. Crazy counters an Anderson powerbomb into a DDT through a table (busting him open), before bringing another one into the ring and setting it up in the corner. He goes for a body scissors, but CW reverses it with an awesome wheelbarrow suplex through that table for a two. Whiles grabs Crazy’s ankle distracting him and Anderson drills him with a left. Billy then gets up on the apron and holds him, CW with a superkick, however Crazy moves and he connects with his partner sending him crashing to the floor through yet another table. Crazy brains Anderson with a chair shot and a beautiful top rope quebrada gets the three. Only six minutes but a fun short garbage match, much better than their one on 2/5 and the best thing I’ve seen from CW so far. Super hot opening section and the crowd then stay with it and pop for everything for the rest of the match. Would’ve benefited without it being clipped for advertisements so we could see what busted Crazy open.

Dreamer heads to the ring on his own and there is someone in full view of the camera with a ‘Corporal Robinson is extreme’ sign! It’s the first time ECW have been to Milwaukee and when Dreamer enquires if this is WCW or WWF territory and both questions get booed, he determines it must be EC ’FN’ W territory! He calls out Raven, but a rather skanky looking Francine is out instead. She tries to cut a serious promo about how Raven was blinded and DDT’d her by accident, but the audience are more concerned with chanting ‘we want puppies’ at her. Footage of the DDT airs and it backs up what Francine was saying, before they get interrupted by the Impact Players and Dawn Marie. Dreamer insults Dawn and challenges either of them to step in the ring with him. Storm says that they are the World tag team champions, which means they’re a team and if Dreamer wants a fight he better find his fat ass a partner and they’ll give him a tag title shot because they like kicking his ass. Dreamer gives the impression he’s about to pick someone from the crowd to be his partner, when Francine announces Raven as his partner. Dreamer’s not happy and turns to confront her, but that leaves him opened to be attacked from behind by the Impact Players. Double back bodydrop, the Players put the boots to Dreamer and this horrid ripped off version of ‘Come Out and Play’ starts playing. Raven is out and wearing black jeans and a black sweater. Knee lifts all around and the snot rag on Justin Credible. Storm goes to superkick him, but he moves and hits his own partner instead. DDT to Storm and Credible makes the save just in time. ‘That’s Incredible’ on Raven and this time its Dreamer doing the saving. He throws Credible to the floor and then over the guardrail as they go for a walk around the building. No fighting, just walking. Storm and Raven slug it out in the ring while Dreamer and Credible continue their walk. Raven with a drop toehold that sends Storm crashing head first into a chair. As Dreamer and Credible head back to the ring it looks like a fan pushes or takes a swing at Credible as he appears to throw a jab at them before the camera quickly cuts away. Raven wedges a chair between the turnbuckles and whips Storm into it, before Dreamer hands him an entire row of seats. Stereo drop toeholds on the Players into those wooden seats. Credible goes flying over the top rope to the floor after being whipped into the turnbuckles, Raven goes out after him and levels him with a Singapore cane. Dreamer with an awesome Death Valley Driver off the middle through a table. Dawn makes the save and we get the ‘catfight’ spot. Jim Mitchell is out (in Sinister Minister gear now), Francine with a bronco buster but Dawn gets her feet up. Mitchell hands Raven some powder, Dreamer has Dawn set up for a piledriver, Raven throws the powder at Storm who ducks and he hits Dreamer instead. Francine goes to check on him and a ‘blinded’ Dreamer DDT’s her. Raven tends to Francine and carries her to the back leaving Tommy all alone. He goes for a DDT on Storm but Credible nails him with one of the belts for a nice near fall. Storm with a spinning heel kick from the top, spike ‘That’s Incredible’ onto a chair and the Impact Players retain. There was almost a ‘soap opera’ feel to this match with the various storylines: you had the reluctant partners, the appearance of Jim Mitchell and the Dreamer ‘blinding’ and DDTing of Francine playing off the Raven/Mikey match where Raven DDT’d her. It suffered a bit in the middle as the camera was jumping around between Dreamer and Credible in the crowd and Raven and Storm in the ring, but that was sandwiched between a hot opening (I especially liked the early pin attempts after the wrestler’s had hit their finishers) and a very strong closing stretch. I couldn’t work out whether the audio had been sweetened or not, but if not, the crowd were super into this (much more than you would expect). The years haven’t been kind to Francine who just looks rough out there in next to nothing playing this ‘sex symbol’ role and it’s weird seeing Raven wrestle in his streetwear, although this protects the Kayfabe in that he wasn’t scheduled to wrestle so why should he be in his ring wear?

This match is being taped for TNN and Big Sal is back with Guido tonight. Up until the moment Crazy hits the Asai moonsault, move for move the match they did the night before in Lacrosse. When he returns to the ring Crazy starts saying something to Sal, who grabs him and pulls him to the outside. Sal whips him into the guardrail and runs, attempting to squash him against it, however he moves and Sal goes careering over it and into the front row (a staple Sal spot). Crazy with a plancha off the guardrail to Sal while Tajiri and Guido fight out in the aisle. Same Tarantula set up between Crazy and Tajiri that they did the previous night. Guido whips Crazy into the corner and as he goes to vault over him, Guido catches and pancakes him face first to the canvas for two. Handspring elbow from Tajiri, but Guido snatches him and hits a Russian legsweep for another two. Tajiri blocks the ‘Maritato’ with a kick to the groin, Crazy with a tornado DDT and Guido just about kicks out. Lionsault sees Guido get his knees up, only to get boxed around the ears by a Tajiri kick and then eliminated after a brainbuster. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Tajiri who responds with a flying headscissors, but a spinning heel kick sends him to the floor. Crazy with another Asai moonsault, this time though Tajiri moves, he lands on his feet and gets dropped with a superkick. As the crowd chant for ‘Super Crazy’, Tajiri spits on them and then covers his ears. Handspring elbow and a dropkick to the face. Tajiri turns to the ringsiders, forgets about his opponent and gets levelled with a clothesline. German suplex, but Tajiri flips all the way over, lands on his feet and a standing huracanrana. A second rana and Crazy rolls through with a sunset flip for two. Tajiri goes for a leapfrog, however Crazy with a low blow and a quebrada off the top for the win. Good stuff as you’d expect with these three, although the second half of the match (Crazy vs Tajiri) felt rushed. Whilst the early goings were a repeat of the night before, as always there is enough new stuff and spots to keep it interesting. Surprising to see Guido eliminated first as he always fares better in the house show matches. Guessing with this one being recorded for TNN it shows where they actually consider him in the pecking order.

Lou E. Dangerously has something to say, but I’m really not interested. CW opens with some lefts that stagger Crazy. After they mess up a simple slide through the legs, Crazy with a headscissors and CW takes to the outside. Bill Whiles is up on the apron and gets met with a dropkick, and as the Dangerous Alliance confer on the floor, Crazy with an Asai moonsault onto them. He goes to nail CW with a chair but Anderson gets in there first with a superkick, sending it into his own face before Whiles passes him a table. CW climbs the turnbuckles as if he’s about to put Crazy through it, but he’s too slow, Crazy swipes his legs out from under him and hits a rana off the top. Punches in the corner with the crowd counting along in Spanish, CW then reverses an Irish whip and spinebuster through the table for a two. Lovely overhead suplex/throw by Anderson. Whip to the corner, Crazy avoids the charge and a springboard tornado DDT. He heads outside to bring in a couple more tables, then places a chair over CW’s head and hits the legs of it with another chair. Springboard legdrop puts CW through a table, but the referee just stops counting at two when he sees Lou has gotten up on the apron (not even in the ring, on the apron!). Whilst the official is seeing to CW, Whiles enters the ring walking right past him, swings at Crazy (who was grabbed and being held by Lou) but he moves and he nails his manager instead. He throws a chair at Whiles and then sets up another table. Moonsault off the top, but the table doesn’t break and just flips over with CW underneath it. Crazy improvises and goes for a Lionsault, however his positioning is off as he lands on the upright table leg in a horrific looking spot. Thankfully he is okay, covers Anderson and this one is over. This was strange and not what I was expecting at all. I thought we’d have CW utilizing his scientific wrestling to try and keep Crazy grounded, but it not working and Crazy mixing in his flying to eventually come out on top. As it was we got something very reminiscent of the two matches CW had against Sabu last month, right down to the spinebuster through the table and Crazy with a Sabu like top rope rana after Anderson had climbed the turnbuckles. Like when has Super Crazy ever used tables or chairs unless in a ‘death’ match against Tajiri? Here he is using them aplenty. Didn’t like the way the official just stopped counting when Lou E. got up the apron. If he had gotten in the ring I could understand it, but on the apron, no just continue the count. Then we have Bill Whiles getting into the ring brushing right past him and he doesn’t see or hear anything? That moonsault that led to the pin was the scariest thing I’ve seen in this project so far, and that includes Low Ki’s slip off the ladder in that CZW tag match. I genuinely thought he had impaled himself on the upright leg of the ladder. Disjointed, spotty, zero flow, things that annoyed me, just a bad match. I’m certain these two would’ve had a far better match without any of the tables and the like.

It’s fair to say that when you’ve seen one Mike Awesome vs Masato Tanaka match you’ve seen them all! I can understand wrestler’s doing the same match on house shows, going from city to city where you have a new audience each night, but when you’ve wrestled on TNN about three weeks ago and then do the same match again… The finish this time was a sit out powerbomb off the top through the table as opposed to the ‘Awesome Bomb’ (which to be fair looked great), and they added in a spot with Tanaka dropkicking a chair into Awesome’s face prior to the tornado DDT onto the chair, but that was it. I feel a bit tight considering that these two do work hard and take unnecessary levels of punishment for our entertainment, but I’m past caring when it comes to this match now.

Guido with a leg trip takedown and he starts slapping his opponent. Side headlock by Kash, Guido shoots him off, leap frog, Kash blocks the hiptoss, Guido then ducks a clothesline and counters into a backslide for an early two. Irish whip reversal, Kash springboards off the middle but is caught with a Fujiwara armbar and has to scramble to reach the ropes. Scoop powerslam from Kash for two. Guido takes to the floor, Kash with a baseball slide dropkick which sends him crashing into the guard rail and he follows up with a pescado. He slam’s Guido’s head into the turnbuckles and looks to superplex him back into the ring, however Guido is able to fight him off and ‘Sicilian slice’ for a two. He backs Kash into the corner, motions to slap him, but says “fuck you” and unloads with boots to the mid-section instead. Guido climbs the turnbuckles to argue with the crowd and Kash with a nice looking sunset flip. High backdrop from Kash. He again goes to whip Guido into the ropes, but this time he keeps hold of the arm and reverses it into a Russian legsweep for a near fall. One ‘Maritato’ later and it’s all over. Solid match. I’m guessing Kash was still quite new to ECW at this point as this was more about showcasing Guido (who worked most of the way on top). Kash was a lot more grounded than I expected too, only doing one pescado, still you saw enough from him to show that he won’t be out of place in this company.

H.C. Loc is the official for this match which is the first time I’ve noticed him reffing. Guido with the go behind and takedown and he starts paintbrushing Crazy across the back of the head. Fujiwara armbar off a ducked clothesline, and Guido gives it up when he realises Crazy isn’t going to submit. Irish whip, Guido with a leapfrog and Crazy with a huracanrana that he doesn’t quite get all of. Customary ‘you fucked up!’ chant from the dreadful ECW audience. The wrestler’s don’t miss a beat though and Crazy whips Guido into the corner and goes charging in only to be met with a back elbow. When Guido charges back though Crazy catches him with a powerslam. A series of punches in the corner that Crazy goes to repeat in the opposite one, however Guido picks him up and counters with a powerbomb for a two. Crazy takes to the outside, Guido with a pescade but Crazy just steps aside and he crashes to the floor. We then get chants of ‘we want chairs’ and ‘tables, tables’ from this lot. As the two make their way aroung ringside you can clearly hear a fan yell ‘RF video sucks!’ which made me laugh. Crazy misses a reverse crossbody and a ‘fame-asser’ off the middle by Guido for two. ‘Rude Awakening’ neckbreaker and Crazy only just kicks out. Crazy with a clothesline and a Lionsault for a two of his own. Moonsault off the bottom turnbuckle but Guido gets the knees up. Crazy then ducks the lariat, boot to the mid-section and a brainbuster for the three. Crazy doesn’t even celebrate the win, immediately rolling out the ring and heading back to the dressing room. Disappointing match here. This reminded me of the Tajiri/Crazy/Prodigy three way from Danbury on 1/14 where it felt like the wrestlers were just going through the motions as the fans were more concerned with the fights in the stand as opposed to the wrestling action. Here it was as though the ‘you fucked up!’ chant affected them and they thought ‘why should we bother?’ Crazy not even celebrating after he got the win and heading straight to the back certainly indicates something was up with him. It’s what these fans deserved after their chants and serves them right they only got a five minute match. Talking of chanting, I don’t get why the fans would chant for chairs and tables in a match that involves these two?

Spike offers Mikey his hand before they get underway, but Mikey just makes fun of the way he waves to the crowd and pulls childish faces at him. Spike with a boot to the mid-section, he then puts his glasses on Mikey and pokes him in the eyes. Some real nice wrestling from these two to open that sees Spike get an early two count after a Magistral cradle. Spike then transitions from a Greco Roman knucklelock into a three quarter nelson for another pinfall attempt and this opening is tremendous. Mikey with some chops and he ‘Whooos’ along with the crowd. Irish whip reversal, and Mikey just about hangs on to a tilt-a-whirl to drop Spike head first on the top turnbuckle ‘snake eyes’ style. Another reversal on the Irish whip, Jim Mitchell grabs Spike’s leg distracting him and Mikey clips his knee. Indian deathlock with a reverse chinlock. As Mikey distracts the official, Mitchell gets some shots in before Whipwreck drops Spike over the guard rail and then drives a chair into his throat. Mikey throws him back into the ring but he takes too long, getting sidetracked, and when he’s up on ther apron Spike nails him with a forearm that sends him crashing backwards into the barricade. Spike with a chairshot to the back from the top turnbuckle to the floor and he’s, on landing, nicely back to selling that knee which Mikey had been working on earlier. Crossbody off the stage. Whip to the corner, however Mikey moves and Spike crashes shoulder first into the ringpost. No idea what it’s called, but a sort of reverse suplex into a stunner. Two count only as Spike is able to reach the ropes and Mikey spits at the official as he didn’t get the three. Excellent finish sees Mitchell again grab Spike’s leg off an Irish whip to try and distract him, but this time Spike senses something and with his back turned, as Mikey slides towards him, he jumps up out the way and lands with a sit down splash to his chest. One ‘Acid Drop’ later it’s all over. Enjoyed this and it was so nice to see Spike in a ‘wrestling’ match, not one which involved copious amounts of chairs, table breaking and resembled more of a stunt show. We had one chairshot and a bit of brawling on the floor and that was it. The opening was really good and reminded me of old scientific grappling from 70’s World of Sport, and both showed they are more than capable at that style. Finishing stretch was also very nice and really cleverly worked. Didn’t catch what name Jim Mitchell was going under, but don’t think he’s the Sinister Minister just yet.

There's already a thread discussing all this http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/38011-wwes-unseen-matches-dvd/

I know it's all subjective but I've never seen anyone throw around 4 3/4+ star ratings as liberally as you do.

We’ve missed what happened earlier in the Show, but this is being teased as a handicap match as Rock is out first followed by HHH and the Big Show. Rikishi’s music plays and Jim Ross says how he’s obviously offered his services to The Rock as he’s his partner. Show is all over Rock to begin with until he misses an elbow drop. Rock unloads with a flurry of right hands, but Show reverses the Irish whip and catches him with a powerslam. A series of boots to the mid-section, Irish whip and this time its Rock’s turn to reverse things as he holds on and turns it into a DDT. Show breaks up the pin, he then misses a splash in the corner and Rock is able to tag his partner. Rikishi with a superkick and as he runs the ropes HHH nails him in the back. However it has no effect and a solitary right drops Hunter and sends him to the floor. Sideslam from Show on the big man. Rikishi telegraphs a backdrop (don’t they all?) and HHH with a facebuster. It doesn’t have the effect it usually does though and Rikishi just about manages to execute a Samoan drop (although he’s close to losing HHH who seems to land shoulder first). Both men make the tag and Rock is able to get the first shots in on the Big Show before nailing him with a DDT. Spinebuster on HHH, he goes for the ‘Rock Bottom’ on Show, but Hunter with a low blow. The New Age Outlaws are out to attack Rikishi and the official calls for the DQ on seeing them. HHH and Show double team Rock in the ring until Cactus Jack and his dodgy knees make one of the slowest looking saves you’ll see. Cactus levels them both with a 2x4 and he and Rock use it to clothesline Show over the top rope to the floor. HHH rushes back to the ring one more time, but Rock just clocks him with a steel chair as the show goes off air. Average match, although a bad idea watching this after the HHH & X-Pac vs Rock & Big Show tag as there were a fair few similarities. I liked how, after his match against HHH and his performance in the Royal Rumble, teaming Rikishi with the Rock cemented his position at the top of the card. Mick Foley should never do anything that involves him running mind!