The show kicks off with your typical ECW stuff - a backstage promo from ECW World Champion Steve Corino and then an in-ring segment featuring Joey Styles and Joel Gertner - before we get a tag team match pitting Joey Matthews and Christian York against the heel tandem of Simon Diamond and Swinger. Before the match, Dawn Marie shows up and announces that she will agree to manage whoever wins the match. That was a nice way to give this match some extra "pep" and some stakes, even if it reeked of lazy sexist/misogynistic booking whereby we, the audience, are meant to believe that female managers are automatic sex partners for whoever they manage? Anyway, these teams have good chemistry, put in a ton of effort, keep the pace brisk, and deliver a bunch of great tag team maneuvers and high-impact moves. The match and the teams involved are a bit too irrelevant - even in the context of ECW in 2000 - for this to be considered "must see," but it is above-average and a hot match to start the show. After the match, Dawn Marie (shockingly) doesn't join up with the babyfaces, but aligns herself with the heels. (3/5)
EZ Money vs. Balls Mahoney follows a promo from Rhyno. I wasn't expecting much of this, but Balls brought the goods, this match being much of a straight-up wrestling match than I thought it'd be. As Styles always notes on commentary, for a guy known for delivering chairshots and wild brawls, Mahoney could wrestle with the best of em' too (or at least the best of ECW's roster). I liked how Hot Commodity (EZ Money's stable with Elektra, Chris Hamrick, and Julio Dinero) all got involved and that it took a team effort to defeat Mahoney. Again, nothing I'd consider "must see," but an above-average match that exceeded my admittedly somewhat low expectations. (3/5)
Mahoney getting screwed leads to an impromptu match as Nova makes the save and then finds himself wrestling Julio Dinero. This might've been Nova's peak in terms of overness as the crowd was fully behind him and his always-innovative offense. This wasn't as good as either of the matches that came before it, but it was also an "impromptu" bout and didn't get as much time as either other bout. For what it was, it was fine. (2.5/5)
Next up - the ECW World Tag Team Champions Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke defend their titles against Danny Doring and Roadkill. The story coming into this match was that Doring and Roadkill were rumored to be leaving the company (personally, I don't remember anything about that) and promised that, if they did not win the titles, they would split up forever - which played into the rumors. I really liked the visual of seeing Roadkill standing up and being dwarfed by Big Sal Graziano, which is no small feat. Doring and Guido started things out for their respective teams, the Sicilian Shooter and the Dastardly One trading holds and showing off their respectable technical skills before making the tag to their partners. Mamaluke used his speed and agility to take the fight to Roadkill, but Roadkill was able to cut him off using his size advantage, eventually planting him into the ring with a sidewalk slam (affectionally dubbed the "Dirt Road Slam" by Styles). Out to the floor they went, where Roadkill and Sal did a bit of brawling before Mamaluke came flying out of the ring. Back in the ring, the heels took over, cutting the ring in half and working on Doring. Roadkill got the hot tag and took out both members of the FBI, powerbombing Tony Mamaluke before delivering an awesome springboard splash onto Big Sal on the outside. Doring looked to hit something off the top rope but Guido cut him off. Doring eventually brought Mamaluke down with some sort of fireman's carry-type move that look horrendous and drew a "That Move Sucked" chant. Doring looked to go for a pedigree but got smashed in the head by a title belt shot from Guido. Roadkill came back in but got caught in a double team submission. Doring made the save, superkicking Mamaluke off the apron and over the guardrail in a tremendous spot. That looked like it might've killed him. Roadkill caught Guido and hoisted him up for Doring to hit his legdrop and we got new tag champs! The crowd was really into Doring and Roadkill's victory. This wasn't perfect as there were a few questionable/"botchy" moments, but this was still really, really good and felt like a big moment, which was very rare for ECW at this time. Not quite "must see" or "should see," but I could see the argument for it. (3.5/5)
CW Anderson took on Tommy Dreamer in what was billed as an "old school grudge match" on commentary. Anderson spit in Dreamer's face before the match, which was a good set-up for the fight that followed. Dreamer was mega over with the Manhattan Center crowd (no surprise there). Anderson was a good opponent for Dreamer as he was a solid overall worker - sells well, offense looks impactful, knows how to tell put a match together. Dreamer is not a guy I rate very highly, but Anderson is a much better worker than I thought he was. I really liked the viciousness of CW's attack on the outside, targeting Dreamer's shoulder with assistance from a chair. Dreamer gets busted open and they fight their way into the crowd. Dreamer goes for a suplex on the floor, but Anderson counters it and then drags Dreamer back towards the ring. The Innovator of Violence retakes control briefly before Anderson cuts him off by attacking the shoulder again. Anderson applies an armbar but Dreamer reaches the ropes. CW continues to work on Dreamer's arm and puts a chair into the corner. Dreamer whips him into it and both men are suffering. CW looks to hit a bulldog onto a chair, but Dreamer counters it into an atomic drop and then launches himself off the second rope for an elbow drop. Dreamer uses the ring boy's towel to pull CW's face along the top rope in a bit of a goofy spot. CW then drags the ring boy himself into the ring and whips him into Dreamer. CW comes charging but the ring boy gets his feet up! Dreamer hits a Tornado DDT but only gets 2! I'm not a huge fan of the goofiness there (especially considering how intense and good this match was), but the crowd loved it. Lou E. Dangerously gets involved and Anderson hits a DDT. This brings out Paul E. Dangerously, who cracks Lou E. with a cell phone. Dreamer hits a Spiccoli Driver and this one is --- not over! Only a 2 count for that. Wow. Good false finish there. The match continues and CW hits a suplex before grabbing a chair. Anderson stacks up the chairs and goes charging into the corner, but crotches himself on the 2nd buckle. Dreamer hoists CW up onto the post and has him in a Tree of Woe. Dreamer places the chairs in front of CW's head and hits a running dropkick! That looked wicked. Dreamer hits a piledriver but doesn't go for the cover for some reason, opting instead to grab a table. He slides the table into the ring and hits Anderson with a sidewalk slam onto it. Anderson gets up and tosses a chair into Dreamer's skull. Didn't like the no-selling there. Anderson hits a superplex off the top rope onto th table but only gets 2. Anderson grabs another table and puts it into the corner. Dreamer hits a big neckbreaker to cut him off, though, and then sets up the table with the legs pointing outward. Dreamer looks to slam CW onto it, but CW reverses his momentum and ends up driving Dreamer onto the underside of the table! I must admit to not having seen that before. Anderson makes the cover and gets the victory, a bit of a shocker considering how established Dreamer was as a top guy in ECW. Like the previous bout, this never reached the level of being "must see," but it was very good and maybe even a career match for Tommy Dreamer. I wasn't a big fan of all the shenanigans that took place as these two didn't really need it. At the same time, I did enjoy the escalation of violence for the final third of the match and absolutely loved the finish. (3.5/5)
Rhyno defended his ECW Television Championship against Spike Dudley in the next match. This one was never going to be a lengthy battle of technical prowess, but that's not the point - sometimes you just want to see two guys bust out all their signature stuff, throw in a ton of high-risk and high impact weapon spots, and keep the violence coming. I really like how Spike brought the fight to Rhyno right from the start, trying to use his quickness and ingenuity to cut the big man's legs out and prevent him from hitting the Gore. The Manbeast is simply too tough, though, and when he dominates, he absolutely punishes his undersized opponent. There were some really cool moments throughout this contest including a ridiculous balcony dive from Spike Dudley that looks like it could've ended very, very badly. I'm a bit surprised that this match isn't really talked about as anything special as I found it to be a solid 10-minute match that served both characters/performers well. (3.5/5)
Mikey Whipreck and Tajiri took on Super Crazy and a mystery opponent - Kid Kash - in the next bout. These four have tremendous chemistry and, while I'm sure ECW fans at the time might have been a bit tired of seeing these guys work together, watching this match in isolation offers plenty of evidence of why Paul Heyman would book them in so, so, so many matches together. Tajiri and Whipwreck's double-team maneuvers are insanely good, though I don't think their "odd couple" alignment made enough sense outside of the ECW bubble for WCW or, more realistically, WWE to ever bring them in. That's a shame too because they were awesome. The teams get plenty of time - close to 20 minutes - and do a great job of escalating the violence and throwing in every high spot imaginable. Not everything is executed perfectly and there are some moments of glaringly obvious cooperation, but not enough to keep this from feeling like a competitive, physical battle and a hell of an entertaining match. The finish was terrific too as double stomps off the top rope (assisted by tables and chairs) were ultra rare back then, even in ECW. (4/5)
Main event time - Steve Corino defending his ECW World Championship against Jerry Lynn and Justin Credible in a 3-Way Dance. One month prior, Corino had won the title in a similar-style match - Double Jeopardy - which also involved The Sandman. I criticized that match for ending with a heel/heel final, noting that the booking seemed like it only got Corino halfway to being a fan favorite by not doing enough to make him sympathetic or to make Credible look like the corner-cutting cheat he should've been. Here, the match's layout puts even more of an emphasis on Corino's toughness, but makes the same mistake again. Credible grabs the microphone at one point and berates his opponents as he beats them down - a move that reeks of being straight-up lifted from a much more charismatic and over performer (The Rock). Francine is involved in the finish and ends up eating a great superkick out of Credible but while this might've worked to put more heat on Credible, Francine was so loathed that its more of a "just desserts" thing than a spot that makes us hate Credible more. He basically beats Lynn clean with the That's Incredible and we're back to what was once again basically a heel vs. slightly lesser heel match. The crowd chants for The Sandman, which is a shame because Corino was such a great worker at this time. Really, his bumping and selling throughout this match is so good that it's a shame that so much of the story and spotlight seemed to be built around Credible, the least over and least interesting worker of the three. In hindsight, it would've been cool if they had run this as just Lynn vs. Corino and seen what the fan reactions were. I'm guessing Lynn would've had more support initially...but Corino had a way of really getting the crowd behind him by the end of his matches as he took crazy punishment and kept fighting. The biggest spot of the match is ruined by poor camerawork as Credible and Corino make their way up to the balcony and Corino hangs off of it, only to get blasted by repeated cane shots that send him to the floor. We don't see him land (or what he landed on or how he landed), which is a shame because better footage would've probably made it a more memorable moment. Then they make their way back to the ring and Corino counters something to hit his finish for the win. Not a fitting ending for what was, at times, a serious, violent brawl. Your average ECW main event in that all three guys worked hard but the booking was highly questionable and things might've been better with a more simple set-up. (2.5/5)
With a Kwang Score of 3.19-out-of-5, this may be the best overall ECW pay-per-view of all time despite happening near the very end of the company. Few would consider ECW's 2001 roster to be the best in the company's history, but a show like this proves that there was still enough talent in the locker room to put on a great show from beginning to end. Doring and Roadkill had come into their own as a babyface tag team. Tajiri could still be counted on to put on great matches. Steve Corino was awesome. CW Anderson had stepped up. While not the highest rated ECW pay-per-view on this site - that honor goes to Hardcore Heaven 99' - there is plenty to enjoy on this show, a late-era, slept-on delight that offers a little bit of everything that made ECW great, from hardcore brawling to lucha-style high-flying to old school wrestling anarchy.
FINAL RATING - Watch It
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