Loss Posted December 2, 2010 Report Share Posted December 2, 2010 Talk about it here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted December 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2010 The point being sold big time on commentary seems to be that Stevie held his own with Sabu when no one would have expected it. Decent-ish match, and one that probably accomplished its goal to get Stevie over as a wrestler who can do more than comedy just fine. I could have done without the Blue Meanie spots, as I'm not sure what purpose he served, but whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollinger. Posted December 24, 2010 Report Share Posted December 24, 2010 Seems like Meanie's only place was to allow Sabu to get some of his big spots over without completely destroying Richards. Helped to get him over as tough without getting him any more offense against Sabu than he should. I dug it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victator Posted December 25, 2010 Report Share Posted December 25, 2010 I like this match okay but the best match at House Party 96 was the Konan/Sandman match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kronos Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 Stevie wresting in that Headbangers Ball t-shirt: was it meant as a joke, that he thought he was "studly" but really dressed and acted like an IROC driving douche from 1989? Sabu starts this one chasing a stooging coward Stevie, before hitting one of his patented over the top chair dive. Really, this match doesn't have a lot in the way of pacing or direction. It's just an excuse to throw spots, mostly by Sabu. Which is not to say that some spots aren't cool in their way - the sunset flip to the floor was sweet, as was Sabu putting himself through a table (albeit some of them foolish, which is the point). I gather Stevie's role was to be yoshihiko in this match, and he performs well enough. And of course Styles is working hard to sell Richards's non-wimpiness. I do think my favorite spot was Stevie's sudden superkick out of nowhere because it suggested some kind of dramatic reversal. I'm only half through the disc, but this match may be the worst on so far. As an excuse for Sabu's crazy spots, it's amusing enough, I guess. But I found it quite boring, and I was supposed to be cheering. I have seen lots of Sabu checklist-of-spots matches that I recall enjoying, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resident Evil Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 I looved this match as I'm a humongous fan of Sabu and a pretty big fan of Richards too. I am kind of surprised that the superkick to end all superkicks was not mentioned here. The way Richards desparately hits it out of nowhere and how Sabu, Styles and Heyman react to it is incredible. It makes you think Richards has a chance at this. Both men become stronger as a result of this match. It is one of the 2 best superkicks of all time. This match was meant to elevate Richards and it did. Great stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kronos Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 I looved this match as I'm a humongous fan of Sabu and a pretty big fan of Richards too. I am kind of surprised that the superkick to end all superkicks was not mentioned here. The way Richards desparately hits it out of nowhere and how Sabu, Styles and Heyman react to it is incredible. It makes you think Richards has a chance at this. Both men become stronger as a result of this match. It is one of the 2 best superkicks of all time. This match was meant to elevate Richards and it did. Great stuff. I know Styles was desperately trying to put over the fact that this match will elevate Stevie's toughness. I just didn't see it. I saw Stevie getting his ass kicked over and over and eventually having to be carried out by Meanie. When a football player gets injured, the crowd cheers and respects him when he stands up and limps off the field, even if someone helps. They don't usually cheer when he gets carried off. If that's the point of the match, let him show his exhaustion a bit more. "I'm tough, so I will be destroyed even in the face of this crazy offense." I didn't see it during the match, which was partly my point about the missing sense of story. I did mention the superkick, as it's the only real bit of the match that shows a sense of the dramatic. This is a forgettable match to me. Hell, I might even now be misremembering the ending, less than 24 hours later. But that's the point. It did not make an impact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainmakerrtv Posted January 27, 2011 Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 Stevie wresting in that Headbangers Ball t-shirt: was it meant as a joke, that he thought he was "studly" but really dressed and acted like an IROC driving douche from 1989? I always figured it as him trying to be like Raven, but being such a clueless putz he gets everything wrong. Raven has his leather jacket and punk/grunge/alternative T-shirts, while Stevie has his cut off shorts and 80's hair metal tees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Liska Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 Stevie wresting in that Headbangers Ball t-shirt: was it meant as a joke, that he thought he was "studly" but really dressed and acted like an IROC driving douche from 1989? I always figured it as him trying to be like Raven, but being such a clueless putz he gets everything wrong. Raven has his leather jacket and punk/grunge/alternative T-shirts, while Stevie has his cut off shorts and 80's hair metal tees. That's how Raven has described the gimmicks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death From Above Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 When a football player gets injured, the crowd cheers and respects him when he stands up and limps off the field, even if someone helps. They don't usually cheer when he gets carried off. You've been watching football on a different planet than I have. I've never seen a football player get carted/stretchered off the field without a round of applause, even if it's someone the locals despise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack_Briscoe_Is_My_Hero Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 ECW's business model was to please the live crowds moreso than those at home. WWF and WCW had national TV shows to build from and PPV's to build to. The crowd loved this, and had more respect for the Studdly one at the end than they did in the beginning. Mission accomplished. Is the fan who looks like a member of the Ramons in the bottom left hand corner of the main camera anyone important? I remember seeing him at a lot of shows including all the big PPV's through the late 90s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BackToBionic Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 Is the fan who looks like a member of the Ramons in the bottom left hand corner of the main camera anyone important? I remember seeing him at a lot of shows including all the big PPV's through the late 90s. Faith No More guy. I don't know anything about him other than he's a part of that group of northeast guys that seemed to make it to an AWFUL lot of ECW/WWF shows around this time. The most famous of those guys being Vladimir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbaugh Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 Kind of a fun match, but once I saw the guy rocking the Kerry Collins Carolina Panthers jersey I couldn't stop thinking about it. I get wanting a jersey of your favorite team, but outside of a Ray Carruth jersey, I'm not sure he could have made a worse choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Ridge Posted June 29, 2013 Report Share Posted June 29, 2013 This had to have been Richards big coming out match as somewhat of a threat. The sunset powerbomb to the outside is always a big move. Styles still referring to move as Frankensteiner. Big table spot with Sabu leg dropping Richards. Oh, that small package was close! I like how Sabu sells shots to his face like his jaw has been broken. Not the best looking Atomic Arabian face buster. The one he hit on Hak Myers was so much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soup23 Posted December 2, 2014 Report Share Posted December 2, 2014 This sums up a lot of ECW in a nutshell to me. Decent spots, some trying of "elevation" for Stevie and ultimately no emotional connection on my part leaving me to feel mundane about it. Joey is screaming Oh My God and I don't care as nothing was as visceral as the German Vader gave, Paul E is out to attack the meanie for some reason. Blah. (**) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteF3 Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Good match that was overlong. Stevie did a good job holding this together and his countering of Sabu's lariat-out-of-the-corner the second time with the Stevie Kick was really well done, the high spot of the match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted January 17, 2021 Report Share Posted January 17, 2021 The yearbooks are not kind to ECW. Easily the promotion that fares the worst looking back on it years later even if some angles and plenty of promos are still solid or at worst recognizable for their influence at the time. But the passage of time is harsher on Sabu than anyone. Whether he benefitted from Paul E.'s smoke and mirrors, a reputation from working "extreme" matches that made tape trading circles at the time or a lack of overexposure, almost nothing of his is good in modern eyes. It consistently appears as though he's coming up on the fly with spots to try fly with zero connective tissue between them, any story surrounding the match or anything else going on in the promotion for that matter. Leave the memories alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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