In Perspective: Will This Be More Than A One Nighter?

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It’s safe to say that WWE’s ECW’s One Night Stand exceeded everyone’s expectations. Wrestling writers and fans of all sorts can be a cynical crew to read. Some will even go out of their way to be hard on a product, despite glowing review. This has not happened to anyone who took the time to watch Sunday’s efforts. There is a debate among all of us, if this really stands for ECW or just WWE’s version of ECW. It’s an important question to ask ourselves but not allow it to get in the way of appreciating a good show. Having said this, I will be purchasing Hardcore Homecoming which also put up great reviews, so I can see Shane Douglas’ version.

It’s very easy to feel disconnected to pro wrestling in general anymore. It’s not “what it was” – even for those of us who passionately love it and will discuss it half asleep at four am with any random closeted fan. This PPV stood for what every PPV should be: an emotionally charged event that reminds us why we care about the business. Those involved with ECW gave themselves each show, no matter where they were. They weren’t half-assing their shows because they could sit on guarantees that they’d get paid no matter what effort they gave. There has always been an understood appreciation between talent involved in ECW fans that transcends what we should “understand” how WWE and WCW “appreciates” our money over the years. From top to bottom, whether this was going to be last of a great era in our business or the revival of ECW, we could feel it all.

In a lot of ways, this was the Wrestlemania for ECW. The biggest possible audience on let’s face it a WWE stage, a much bigger budget than normally provided for ECW events, better equipment and possibility for most of the talent the best payday of their careers. Wrestling wise, I wish the matches had been longer as everyone was reliving the days of ECW and wishing to God we had days like this again. The most disappointing part, wrestling wise, was the fact that the WWE invasion at the balcony, distracted people ultimately from enjoying Eddy Guerrero versus Chris Benoit from the start to the finish. I was looking so forward to that match because I pop for good technical wrestling and people who can tell stories in the ring. There are plenty of other times to tell Edge what an asshole he is, don’t do it during a great match. Benoit and Guerrero are some of the best storytellers in the business and they should have had much longer to tell their story and not nine minutes. Lance Storm versus LIONHEART Chris Jericho was a great way to kick off the show, and both put on a great effort though it did feel a little rushed. It’s so good to see Lance Storm having fun in a ring again with Dawn Marie and then the run in by Justin Credible (and Jason Knight). It was also nice seeing Jericho in his old wrestling black and yellow tights, those little touches give more to the entire presentation of the match. There were nice spots to this match, but perhaps the most striking element of this match is the great chemistry between the Impact Players, Storm, Credible and Dawn Marie. The tag team division is practically dead in WWE and a great way to bring excitement back into it would be to have the Impact Players back full time. Dawn Marie is an important part of Lance Storm’s career and it would be critical to have her apart it as well. I’ve never understood why WWE chose to have her go a different direction just because she’s an attractive female. The woman can draw heat with the best of them. There was a “Candido” chant (second of the night by the way, there was one during the Extreme Heat pre-show) during this match which was incredibly nice to hear, however, neither Joey Styles or Mick Foley made note of it which was disappointing and chose not to bring it up again after the ECW Remembers Tribute Video when there was another chant of his name.

Joey Styles is the “Voice of ECW” and I was pleased to what he contributed to the PPV overall. The announcers are supposed to in some ways represent what the fans are thinking at home, except they get to say it out loud for the benefit of millions of people while at the same time, be a reference for everything we see and put the story over. As much as I love and respect Mick Foley and his work, he was out of his element being the color commentator for the show. Foley to his credit, let Styles be in the driver’s seat for commentary however, any moment where he put himself over too much stuck out or something would be said and there would be silence right after. I think Foley was thinking in terms of how to make this sound like a DVD version of the show. I can’t fault Foley entirely; color commentary isn’t something he normally contributes to the product.

Yoshihiro Tajiri versus Little Guido versus Super Crazy was full of good spots, including the balcony spot from Crazy who clearly earns his name. It’s nice seeing Tajiri treated like an adult and not an inarticulate foreigner. One of Tajiri’s trademarks in ECW was being able to hold the Tarantula for longer than a five count, it’s sad that he only had it for WWE Tarantula standards.

There’s nothing like good video packages of the history of the promotion peppered throughout the show to keep your emotional buttons pressed. It wasn’t always necessary sorrowful, a lot of times it was “oh my god, that was great! I remember that!”

Another match that I was looking forward to was Psicosis versus Rey Mysterio. The right buildup was used by Joey Styles in reminding viewers of their history; however, it clashed with the actual style of the match in the beginning because it wasn’t immediately action paced. I really can’t explain why Psicosis and Mysterio chose to throw a sleeper in to cause the crowd to react in the obvious negative way, other than they must have called the match as they went. I thought overall it was a good effort, but once again not enough time to tell their story. I hope they will get another chance in the future.

The use of the WWE talent throughout the PPV was at times enough and at times too much. The biggest surprise to me that I haven’t seen mentioned in various commentaries was the lack of Jerry Lawler in this invasion angle. I think considering Lawler’s history in ECW, that would have gotten a good reaction from the crowd and could have let a guy like Gene Snitsky stay at home if he wished. I felt JBL played off the heel heat best, despite showing his unprofessionalism on the Blue Meanie later on in the night. Coach and Orlando Jordan provided good sidekick flavor, Kurt Angle held his own in reaction, while Edge just enjoyed being himself. It’s pretty easy for fans to hate everything that Eric Bischoff represents, afterall, it’s accepted among the ECW fans that he raided talent when he worked for WCW.

JBL’s promo could have been cut by two minutes and gave those two minutes to a match, however, it did bridge to the incredibly heartfelt shoot by Mr. PPV, Rob Van Dam. The fans were with him all the way throughout his entire shoot which needed to be said. It was the greatest promo of RVD’s career and hopefully the truth won’t get him de-pushed even further. Apparently Rhyno represents “selling out” because it seems to be always him that is doing the swerve turn on the boys. The Sabu entrance was too cool and in typical ECW fashion, an impromptu match occurred. It’s ridiculous how much Sabu is willing to go through each night for the entertainment of the fans (my father simply puts it “he’s a nut”) but that’s what makes him an incredible blessing to pro wrestling. RVD decided to pull out a spot where he delivered a baseball slide like drop kick into a chair to Rhyno’s face which got a good reaction. It’s always a pleasure to appreciate Sabu’s insane style and work ethic and it’s great to see RVD and Sabu in the same ring again.

Mike Awesome versus Masato Tanaka is worth watching for the brutality of the match and Tanaka’s high pain tolerance. The crowd was completely into the match which really gave more to the match. Mike Awesome is a gifted big guy for the risks he takes, however, he did nothing to protect Tanaka in the bumps he took. There’s nothing more important in a match than protecting your opponent, it’s your life out there. I was watching how he dropped the powerbomb on him through the table and a little bit to the left or right where a piece of plunder was sticking out could have caused some serious damage. If there is a reason to study this match, it’s to show why you should protect your opponent’s body. Awesome also looked gassed out/fatigued – I’m not sure if he can keep up with a WWE PPV match pacing on a day in and day out basis. Despite this, both men came out great in retrospective to the match and presentation.

Following this was Paul Heyman addressing the fans and the entire business for this moment that you could feel would be huge. Paul Heyman’s shoot was incredible to witness. Surreal is putting it lightly. Calling out Edge is what I’ve been waiting for someone to do since the Matt Hardy/Lita/Edge story broke out. The heat toward Eric Bischoff and JBL, completely magical. It’s one thing to read the transcript but it’s quite another to see Heyman bring it to life. If you need one reason to buy the replay or purchase the DVD, Paul Heyman gives it to you with his shoot. It made me wish he would just keep going, preaching his message about what is wrong with wrestling today.

The final match of the night, if anything says ECW, it’s the Dudleys versus Sandman and Tommy Dreamer. These guys all made their name with ECW. Dreamer was emotional on his way to the ring and kudos to him for all his hard work over the years and behind the scenes of this show. Seeing the bWo again was great: Big Stevie Cool, Nova and the Blue Meanie: the days that Stevie Richards was Big Stevie Cool and not Chris Master’s jobber; the days that Nova wasn’t pushing the patented Simon System. Kid Kash was a little out of place to be involved in this; if he is getting a contract with WWE, I’d rather him make a bigger impact on a WWE themed show and not a ECW one. Axl Rotten and Balls Mahoney were used appropriately as well as Credible and Storm again in this chaotic ECW style match but what will stick out in memory is the cheese grater causing the crimson red from Dreamer’s head, the catfight between Francine and Beulah (despite her botched DDT spot with Dreamer but emotionally no one cared that she messed it up – welcome back Beulah!) and the flaming tables spot at the end. I really expected more weapons from the crowd which was another trademark of the ECW experience and that was somewhat disappointing that didn’t occur throughout this match more.

The party continued when Stone Cold Steve Austin came out, ordered beers and the ECW crew to come out to celebrate, to beat up the WWE guys (Taz putting Kurt Angle in the Tazmission for example was a highlight and I wish would lead to a actual match between these two) and Eric Bischoff to receive finishers from ECW/WWE guys in the ring. Historically, it’s great to see both Sandman and Austin together drinking beer and ended a fitting tribute to ECW in a party spirit of celebration and that’s putting it in perspective. Thanks for reading and as always your comments are welcome at Bam@4sternstaging.com.