[1995-08-29-ECW-TV] Eddy Guerrero vs Dean Malenko (2/3 falls)

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

I can't watch this match again. Never really enjoyed it all that much. I take back my embarrassing "this crowd sucks" rant from a few years ago, as I get the moment, but it's just not a match I enjoy or care to see again. It needed to be here though, as the denouement of the Guerrero/Malenko feud in ECW.

[El-P]

ZZZZzzzzzzzzz.......

I'm sorry to not enjoy this as much as I want too. EIther it's my taste which have evolved far from this sort of stuff, either it's not really that good of a match and feels like an exhibition. Dean is way overrated anyway. Great mechanic, but works in a vacuum. I don't know what to think about this anymore. Maybe I should give it a last chance.

[Tim Evans]

Watched this again and it still feels like a Exhibition. I guess that it's fitting that it ends in a double pin.

[PeteF3]

The work here is probably the best of the series to this point...but it all still feels empty. This is pretty much the starting point that led to things like Kurt Angle video packages where he promises that his match with Samoa Joe will be the Match of the Year--wrestlers whose kayfabe goal is to put on an aesthetically pleasing match more than winning. That's simply a change in philosophy that I have never been able to get behind. In fairness, I can't fault the crowd as much as Loss did initially for not buying what was being sold--because that would imply that these two made any effort to actually connect with a crowd to begin with. Instead they wrestled in a vacuum, didn't advance anything, and didn't tell any real story besides, "these two are even." I can't blame the fans for not wanting these two to leave, really--at the time, and looking at WCW '95, it's hard to envision the company having any clue how to utilize these guys. Malenko's post-match promo gets over, since he does every Mick Foley cheap pop trick he knows, but is pretty awful.

[Jetlag]

This was a pretty good match. These ECW matches usually have a kind of chopped up rhythm but they approximated an almost lucha title match vibe, starting with matwork into armdrags into bigger throws and then back to matwork again. It had a nice resistance to basic holds, learned spots and counter moves vibe that made it feel competitive enough. I don't see how the match was "even" - Eddie controlled standing, Malenko was better on the mat, later on Malenko had to make a comeback (and a nice one he made, ramming into Eddie's leg to create an opening). I hate it when wrestlers stand there and listen to the crowd chanting, so the working in a vacuum here was fine by me. Admittedly the finish to the 1st fall was kind of blown and poor, but most of the other work they did was pretty fantastic without going overboard. Didn't have a problem with the double pin ending because really who gives a shit when both guys left the company anyways. Navarro/Solar matches also end in double pins, so what? This was not Navarro/Solar but a lot better than your typical 90s junior stuff.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Eddie Guerrero vs Dean Malenko - ECW 8/29/95 2 Out of 3 Falls

"PLEASE DONT GO!"

This made the Eddie DVD set from 2004 so it was a match I watched a lot in high school. I think it was match I knew I supposed to like but I could never get into it like the other matches on the set. I skipped Enter Sandman match based on the fact it seems the only available version is clipped and it is not that heralded. In August, these two traded the TV championship. Right before this match, Eddie drop the belt to Scorpio, which is where this all started back in late 94. This would lead to the 2 Gold Scorpio gimmick with Scorp/Sandman as an odd pairing. I am surprised that Heyman did not try to get Scorpio over as a workrate equal as these two. Instead Heyman brought in the luchadores to fill the workrate void. This is the famous 2 out of 3 falls sendoff for these two before they head to WCW. 

First Fall: I would love to know what they thought they accomplished in this fall. Eddie hit a superplex for two in what should have been finish or at least a hotter nearfall. Then hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Then Malenko just started doing moves even though he took the last three moves. Then Eddie scored the pinfall with a rollup. It was just so weird. Very spotty. Usual good opening chain wrestling then a pretty good tumbling pass. I liked Eddie's armdrags. Then it kinda dragged. Somewhere Malenko believed rollups was the best way to finish the match. A lot of Steamboat maybe? I dont know this did not do much for me at all. 

 

Second Fall: "This move has been called the Sharpshooter and Scorpion Deathlock, but it is actually called the Texas Cloverleaf." Joey those are two different moves, you tool. Malenko zeroes in on the leg. Terrible transition. Knots it up with the Cloverleaf well at least they paid off that spot from Hostile City Showdown and showed the Cloverleaf was a finisher. Tied 1-1. This is a very ok match. 

Third Fall: Was fucking awesome. Where the hell have these two been this match? Good transitions. High impact moves. Hot Finish stretch. Malenko jumps Eddie who is still smarting from the Cloverleaf. Malenko is actually kicking ass and it feels like a good control segment. Then Eddie uses a Tornado DDT as a good transition! Wow! Eddie gets his great Brainbuster/Frogsplash combo. I loved Malenko throwing Eddie half way across the ring on the second Tornado DDT. Another great transition. Super gutbuster! Yes! Good double pin situation which cements the narrative of eveness and "good wrestling". Third falls salvages an otherwise meandering, aimless match. ***1/4 

 

[Makai Club #1]

This is the drizzling shits. Awfully boring match. It's filled with boring grappling and aerial stuff from Eddie. None of it was compelling in anyway. It's smooth but who cares when it's so dull? The pacing was bad with everything dragging with a painfully slow pace. The crowd was so bad too. Non stop please don't go chants. Shut up. *

[JKWebb]

This match is a great example of why I love watching wrestling chronologically.  Yes, the match itself isn't the best, and I think their best vs. each other in ECW is probably the Hostile City Showdown match from 04/15/95.  But, this was all about the moment.  If you follow along their feud in ECW, and it leads you here, you can see and feel the emotion from the crowd and from Dean and Eddy post-match.  I really enjoyed the moment, and what they meant to this timeframe of ECW and ECWs fanbase is probably why this is so fondly remembered and an important addition to compilations.