[1999-09-19-ECW-Anarchy Rulz] Mike Awesome vs Masato Tanaka vs Taz

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Looks like word had gotten out by this time that Taz was leaving, based on the "You Sold Out" chants. Stupid mutants. Mike Awesome is in the crowd with Judge Jeff Jones and wants to get in the ring. Paul Heyman is there trying to hold them off while Taz is egging them to come in the ring. "We've been using footage of Tanaka beating Mike Awesome to build up Tanaka" is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard an announcer say, so congratulations Joey. The match becomes a three-way dance after Heyman gives in. Taz gets eliminated quickly when both guys pin him at the same time, which shifts the title feud to Awesome-Tanaka, which is a major upgrade. This is like all Awesome-Tanaka matches in that you either like the style or you don't, but they do what they do very well. It's not really personally my thing, but I can respect it as a Grade A effort. And I do think the booking of this helps it a lot because the quick Taz elimination is a shocker and the new top feud to carry the company is given a great chance to shine. Good stuff in front of what I'm guessing was ECW's biggest crowd ever.

[Tim Evans]

I guess it's fitting that cocky Taz gets eliminated early but it still feels like a ripoff. I remember being pissed watching this live cause I had no idea who Awesome was. Tanaka/Awesome was good but almost all the matches they had together seemed to be the same. Hard to watch in 2015. Tanaka should be nicknamed Mr. CTE with all those chairshots to the head.

[tim]

Taz really gets it from the crowd and Styles mentions that word has gotten out among "internet fans." Pretty good way to send off the top guy and introduce a new one. Awesome/Tanaka was a fun spot fest but talk about over the top.

[joeg]

Man did I love this back in 8th grade. ECW TV had just came to my area earlier that summer so this was my first time seeing ECW PPV. As a bunch of 8th graders growing bored of WCW and WWF we all loved this. We loved the angle to set up the 3 way dance, we loved the crazy crowd, we loved Awesome and Tanaka murdering each other. I mark this PPV, this angle and this match in particular, as the point where I really fell in love with wrestling.

[soup23]

Promo starts out that results in a 3 way dance. The match starts and within 3 minutes, Taz is eliminated. A good shock value and one that when it happened, I was all in for as something different. I think Paul E and the locker room emptying out was a nice touch. Awesome vs Tanaka have the "good" version of their match. With the huge crowd and the backdrop of the title hanging in the balance, the table spots and big moves work better in this context as they hold some gravity. Awesome bomb through table for the win was built up and got a huge reaction. This was a big moment that held up fairly well. ***1/2

[PeteF3]

Paul E. loved to book his champion to be the first one eliminated in any kind of multi-way match. It's a good idea here since Taz is on the way out. We get Tanaka-Awesome by numbers after that, but there's nothing really wrong with that besides the brain-scrambling chair shots that Tanaka no-sells, but hey--that's what they're going to do, you know that coming in. Taz comes out to hand the belt over to Awesome and the trained seals who were chanting obscenities at them all applaud.