After the usual show-opening shenanigans from Joey Styles, Cyrus (Don Callis), and Joel Gertner, the PPV kicks off with a singles bout between CW Anderson of the New Dangerous Alliance and Mikey Whipwreck. This is not a very hot opener at all. I can understand Paul E. not wanting to push Whipwreck after leaving ECW for WCW, but there was zero star power or money to be made with the Lou E. Dangerously character, CW Anderson, or "Beautiful" Billy. Its not that anyone is incompetent, its just a boring, one-note lower card gimmick while Whipwreck, in his prime, was one of the best and most exciting cruiserweights in pro-wrestling. The match barely goes 5 minutes, which I guess is a good thing? Jobbing out Whipwreck here was a waste of talent when ECW tended to go through cycles of losing star power, re-signing some, and then losing others from 97' on. (1/5)
Things get much better during the next contest - a 6-person tagging pit the babyface trio of Jazz, Nova, and Kid Kash taking on Simon Diamond, Danny Doring, and Roadkill. I wasn't expecting this match to do much for me, but its broken down into two decent parts - an opening stretch that puts the focus on Jazz and Kid Kash (who performs an absolutely sick dive to the floor that looks about a hairline away from paralyzing him) and their rivalry with Simon Diamond and his "heater" Dick and then a straight-up solid tag team match between the teams of Doring and Roadkill and a returning Chris Chetti. Speaking of Chetti, I like how Joey Styles takes issue with Chetti inserting himself into a tag match when he's not "medically cleared" as if guys who are 100% healthy have every right to just throw themselves into any match at any time. Its silly, classic ECW non-logic and somehow, like in a match like this, it somehow works. There's lots and lots of T&A moments here too featuring the scantily-clad Elektra (who made her on-screen wrestling debut as one of The Godfather's hoes according to Wikipedia). The crowd was much more into this than they were the opener and who could blame them - Roadkill and Doring were a decent tag team and Nova's offense was often innovative and exciting. This should've been the opener. (2.5/5)
Next up - a "Dream Partner" match. The speculation coming into this match was that Tajiri (who is backed up Steve Corino) would pick another heel - Rhyno? Little Guido? - or Jerry Lynn to be his partner against Super Crazy, but, I guess just to show how wild and crazy and unpredictable ECW was, the match ends up being Guido & Lynn vs. Crazy and Tajiri. The way they get there is messy and I really disliked the finish (as I have no clue why Guido, after a 10-minute match, would just up and turn on his tag team partner), but some of the action is undeniably terrific. Tajiri was insanely good, Little Guido continued to shine, and Super Crazy could always be counted on to wow the crowd with his stunts in the crowd (he nails a moonsault off the balcony on this night). After the dust settles, Steve Corino cuts another promo and out comes Dusty Rhodes, who cleans house with a bunch of his signature elbows before getting gored by Rhyno. If you can stomach the lack of logical storytelling, you may enjoy this as much as I did. (3/5)
New Jack took on Angel of Da Baldies next. Vito - the most technically proficient Baldie? - left ECW for WCW a month or so before this show. Angel and Jack and the rest of Da Baldies brawl their way around the ring and the arena and the whole thing lasts under 10 minutes but feels longer. The novelty of a New Jack match has really worn off for me at this point, especially when the action is not nearly as exciting and the feuds are not nearly as engaging as they were for him just a few short years before this. By this point, what New Jack did had become so predicable that there was no sense of true danger anymore. Even New Jack falling from somewhere high through a table had become old hat, though the live crowd always popped for it. (1/5)
The long-reigning ECW Television Champion Rob Van Dam defended his title against Sabu in the next match. This was about what I expected it to be, maybe just slightly less sloppy and, as opposed to their previous pay-per-view match - which went thirty friggin' minutes - Sabu and RVD didn't try to force an epic match, wisely choosing to just go balls-to-the-wall from beginning to end with the hardcore high spots. That Wrestlepalooza 98' match also involved a bizarre "double cross" that wasn't really a double cross in the end and, unless I forgot the angle, didn't actually lead to a real split anyway? Again, they thankfully don't bother with too much of that melodrama until after the dust settles and Sabu walks out of the match, leaving a knocked-out Fonzie behind. As one has to know when watching any Sabu match, not every sequence is executed perfectly, but the grit and danger and mystique is there and that's what you get out of a Sabu match that few other performers can bring. This falls well short of being a "must watch" match, but its a fun viewing if you're at all into either of these guys' work. (3/5)
The ECW Tag Team Championships were up next as Tommy Dreamer and Raven defended the titles against The Impact Players (Justin Credible and Lance Storm). Storm and Credible were super annoying so it was nice to see them get their pre-match shtick shut down by Dreamer and Raven, who wrestled "on the same page" for the first time ever (?) here. Having Dreamer and Raven both fully working as babyfaces and no longer bogged down by mistrust allowed this match to flow much better than some of their bouts on the past few shows, but, at the end of the day, we're still talking about a group of guys whose in-ring output could sometimes be described as "underwhelming" (even Lance Storm, the most technically gifted and smoothest worker of the bunch, would be justly saddled with the reputation of being a bore to watch at times). This, like the previous match, was a bit paint-by-numbers, but the old reliable spots all got good responses and the catfight between Dawn Marie and Francine got a huge pop from the crowd. I liked the finishing sequence too as Raven put himself in harm's way to protect Francine and got decked with a singapore cane for his trouble. (3/5)
Main event time - Spike Dudley vs. Mike Awesome for Awesome's ECW World Championship. Some matches are just fun. Sometimes Paul Heyman was right about the match order. Coming into this show, I wondered why they didn't have Sabu and RVD close out the night (it wouldn't have been the first time the World Championship match wasn't the last match of the night) or even the Tag Team Championship match, but watching this, it makes perfect sense. There was simply no match on this card that was capable of following the carnage and craziness that Dudley and Awesome delivered. This match is not a main course - its a luxurious, super sweet dessert with no nutritional value. It is Mike Awesome delivering slams, splashes, and powerbombs that often leave Dudley looking like a rag doll lying in a pile of wooden shards where there used to be a table. Spike does a terrific job in his comebacks - as specious and implausible some of them are - but really, its his bumping and selling and the awesomeness of Mike Awesome (an extra half-point again for that theme song) that make this match the wrestling equivalent of a sugar rush. I've read criticisms that call this match repetitive, but that almost feels like part of the point, an early version of the ridiculous "here's another superkick sequence" or even Suplex City matches that we see today in 2023...only this one its Spike Dudley getting tossed through tables and continuously trying to put Awesome down with the only move in his arsenal that he has any shot of winning with (the Acid Drop). This isn't a masterpiece or anything, but its a good time and absolutely "must see." (4/5)
Despite a very good main event to close out the show, a redemptive Sabu/Van Dam match compared to their Wrestlepalooza 98' dud, and two above-average tag matches, Guilty As Charged 2000's low points - an underwhelming opener and a terrible New Jack match - prevent this from being recommendable as a full show. Still, with a Kwang Score of 2.5-out-of-5, this might be considered one of the better ECW pay-per-views overall as long as you keep your remote close.
FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand
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