[2000-01-27-ECW-St. Petersburg, FL] Super Crazy vs Yoshihiro Taijiri vs Little Guido

[soup23]

The main focal points of ECW so far and the stars of the show. I will give ECW this in that they booked some cool looking venues. This was a "fall out of bed" enjoyable match for these three but was entirely effective in what they were trying to set up. Have an all action 8 minute fest to get the crowd into things. Sal got tossed around and none of the spots felt too contrived. I can't ask for much more. ***

[Loss]

This is a unique venue for wrestling. I like it. Big Sal continues the running gag of being the most useless bodyguard in wrestling, constantly getting beaten up and taking bumps during matches. This match didn't really come together for me, but it was a nice teaser of what these three can do, and I did see a couple of things I hadn't quite seen before, like Tajiri applying the tarantula from the angle he did. Tajiri was the guy being pushed as a star at the time, so I was surprised to see him eliminated first, but I'll never complain about Guido getting more ring time, even if the crowd never recovered from that elimination. I compare Guido to Psicosis in terms of being underrated and always being in the bridesmaid role when he was capable of so much more.

[Migs]

In coolness of venue, this is the opposite of the hotel ballroom from the week before.

 

These guys could have this match in their sleep, basically, but it's still fun. Nice to see Guido go over, and relatively clean (there's interference but it doesn't directly lead to the finish).

 

Looking at these house show cards from around this time really gives a sense of how stale ECW was... not seeing very many fresh matchups.

[GSR]

Note to self: must watch the ECW stuff in order next month! Practically the same match they do the next night in Fort Lauderdale, although it’s pretty cool seeing it from a different camera angle (and in a unique looking venue). They omit the Crazy quebrada over the guard rail to the floor and Tajiri gets eliminated after a Maritato followed by a quebrada, but those are the only differences in the first half. Guido and Crazy mix it up a bit more, and Sal’s interference sees him pull Crazy from the ring and squash him against the guard rail. Guido gets the knees up on the moonsault off the middle turnbuckle and Maritato again for the win.

 

Still a good match, but it loses a bit of it’s lustre when you’ve seen it once and know what is coming next.