ECW Heatwave 98'

ECW Heatwave 98'

August 1998 - Dayton, OH

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, Shane Douglas was the ECW World Heavyweight Champion, Rob Van Dam was the ECW Television Champion, and Sabu and Rob Van Dam were the ECW World Tag Team Champions. 

Heatwave 98' kicks off with Joey Styles in the ring - like all ECW pay-per-views I've seen - welcoming his special guest color commentator, the ECW Heavyweight Champion, Shane Douglas. There's a little bit of comedy with Francine pulling Styles' face into her breasts and then the usual pre-show video before its time for Justin Credible vs. Jerry Lynn in the finale of their "Summer Series." Over the past few weeks, I think I've seen more Justin Credible matches than I had in the 38+ years before it combined. I'm willing to admit that he's better than I thought he was - he's a great bumper and he knows how to irritate the crowd and he clearly is well-trained in how to work a match from beginning to end - but I wouldn't necessarily call him "underrated." Here, he's working with one of the most fundamentally sound workers in the US at the time in Jerry Lynn, one of the best examples of a guy that was able to get over almost purely on his in-ring work, which is not just sharp, but spirited and subtly flourished with character work. Watching Lynn, you get why you should be cheering for him as a babyface without him having to do much more than just deliver his offense and look determined to win. Credible, meanwhile, is an excellent scumbag, but isn't an interesting one, his fatal flaw as a character (especially in a company so loaded with over-the-top, somewhat bizarre personalities). This was a solid opener to the show and the crowd was very into it, especially once Jason, Chastity, and Nicole Bass got involved. Lynn was the better wrestler, but the right man won this match as Credible was in the midst of a sizable push plus that 2nd rope "That's Incredible" piledriver was a very definitive ending that didn't hurt Lynn one bit. (3/5)

Another "banger" of a match follows as Chris Candido takes on his tag partner/rival Lance Storm in a grudge match. Sunny is on hand for this match and was the centerpiece of this feud. Storm and Candido are both technically sound and this match builds up in intensity properly without having to rely on too many gimmicks or much weaponry. They trade chest chops, they play up Candido's damaged ear, and when Sunny gets involved, the crowd loses their mind (maybe too much as Sunny's involvement ends up distracting from the finish a bit). Other highlights included a terrific suplex to the floor from Storm to Candido and some classic "shtick" out of Candido after he gets blinded by some powder. We get another strong finish as Candido hits an insane Blonde Bombshell powerbomb from the top rope to win the match after Sunny hits Storm with a shot to the balls. I can see the argument that this match was maybe too similar to the match that preceded it in tone (and even in the finish used), but this was equally good and, again, the crowd was hot for it despite it being maybe a bit "straightforward" compared to what some people thought ECW was all about. (3/5)

Joey then sends us to a video showing New Jack getting assaulted in the parking lot by Jack Victory and the Dudleys. Joey says this video shows why the advertised New Jack/Jack Victory match has been cancelled for tonight. Did ECW ever put on a PPV where all the advertised matches actually happened?

Masato Tanaka vs. Mike Awesome is next, a match that made these two essentially "overnight sensations" in the US despite both having extensive runs in Japan prior to this. They'd go on to have several other matches against each other in ECW (and this wasn't even their first ECW match), but this was the one that got people talking and it still holds up nearly 25 years later. Awesome's high flying doesn't always look pretty, but in 1998, there really wasn't anyone else his size doing those spots regularly. Tanaka is fiercely tough, eating some nasty chair shots. At one point, Tanaka powerbombs Awesome out of the ring, through a table, and onto the concrete floor and it is just an incredibly painful looking spot. Tanaka brings him back into the ring and delivers a tornado DDT onto two chairs to get the well-earned win, but this match made both guys look like stars. Despite only going for a little bit over 10 minutes, this feels and is an absolute war. (4/5)

After a promo from Taz, its time for the ECW World Tag Team Champions, Sabu and Rob Van Dam, to defend their titles against the team of Hayabusa and Jinsei Shinzaki (who was known to most US wrestling fans from his work as Hakushi in the WWE a couple years prior). This was billed as a bit of a "dream match" as everyone involved was known for their high-flying and innovative ring work. The match doesn't quite deliver on that promise as it takes a while before it warms up and, truthfully, after watching so much of RVD and Sabu's work in 97' and 98' over the past few months, I've come to the conclusion that their biggest weakness wasn't their inconsistency, but their inability to "fill in the blanks" and string together a cohesive, coherent match. The big spots get reactions, look devastating, and were incredible for their time...but the downtime between them often feels aimless instead of furthering the match's story or raising the suspense. This match runs 20 minutes, but almost feels like 30, dragging in parts. I liked the finish, but I don't see this as the "classic" I'm sure many fans, especially 25 years later, wish it was. (2.5/5)

The Taz vs. The Triple Threat storyline didn't always make sense, but it damn sure made for some legendary and iconic moments in ECW history, especially in the career of Taz. On this show, he gets his rematch against the man who took his ECW Television Championship, Bam Bam Bigelow. At the last ECW PPV, Bigelow and Taz had famously crashed through the ring after a brutal fight so expectations were high for this. Bigelow and Taz waste no time after the bell, Bigelow delivering a powerbomb, Taz no selling it, brawling out of the ring, Taz attempting a dive off the entrance ramp into the crowd, more brawling in the crowd...this is an outright fight with neither guy backing down. I guess people could criticize the lack of selling, but because Bigelow and Taz were both established bad asses and they let the big throws and suplexes register, it feels more like one of those Japanese monster fights than, say, two guys taking turns just hitting their signature spots. Back in the ring, Taz hits a T-Bone Suplex on Bigelow that sends him through a table and you have to give credit to Bigelow for his willingness to take bumps like that from a guy who was considerably smaller than him (and very well might've dumped him on his neck). Back onto the ramp they go and Taz hits a tornado DDT that sends them both through the ramp! The callback to their previous match might've been kind of obvious, but damn if it didn't look wild. Bigelow climbs out first, but doesn't look too hot. Taz climbs out behind him looking like an absolute killer and jumps on his back, bringing Bigelow face down onto the ramp (that couldn't have felt good) and then makes him tap out with the Tazmission (though, on commentary, Shane Douglas notes that Bigelow wasn't tapping, he was reaching for the rope). This match only goes 13 minutes, but it is a really fun and physical 13 minutes and I enjoyed it. I'd go as far as to say that this should've been the main event because the crowd was very into it and it put over Taz huge as the next challenger for Shane Douglas' ECW World Championship. (3.5/5)

Main event time - The Dudleys vs. Tommy Dreamer, Spike Dudley, and The Sandman. Before the match begins, we get a lengthy, lengthy intro from Joel Gertner followed by an additional 5+ minutes of The Sandman and the other babyfaces drinking beers before the bell rings. This is the kind of thing that was over huge with the live crowd, but isn't exactly great viewing on re-watch. The most surprising thing about this match is that it actually starts with some honest-to-goodness wrestling and both teams actually playing by the rules a bit. It doesn't take too long before the match falls apart into the wild brawl that it becomes. Credit to Heyman here - aside from the previous bout and pieces of the Tanaka/Awesome match, they hadn't done too much fighting in the crowd or cartoonish "kitchen sink" weapons stuff. This match, for better or worse, does feel the "grand finale" a bit, a match designed to just get all the blood and violence you can without any semblance of a story or pesky "rules." Some highlights include Spike Dudley doing an insane splash from the top of a ladder in the ring all the way to floor (something that even today would warrant a "holy shit" when you consider the ring being 3 feet off the ground and then add another 20 feet and then think about how green and unprofessional some of the guys catching you are), a silly spot where all the babyfaces and the ref hit dropkicks on the heels in the corner, and Dreamer getting the "feel good" win with a DDT on Buh-Buh into a ladder. During the post-match, Jack Victory shows up and is then taken out by New Jack, who brings with him a shopping cart full of even more weapons. The faces eventually run the heels out of the ring and we get a post-match celebration to end the show, which is a cool visual and something the Dayton crowd wanted to see. (3/5)

I've seen this show get called the best ECW pay-per-view ever, but I haven't seen enough of them to know for sure. What I will say is that this show does offer some good variety in action, is practically "all killer/no filler," is sequenced well, and even the less successful matches (like the Tag Team Championships bout) are at least interesting and fought in front of an enthusiastic crowd. The show's Kwang score of 3.17-out-of-5 is well-deserved. You may not enjoy every moment of this show, but there's likely a whole bunch of things here you'll dig. 

FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand

ECW Living Dangerously 98'

ECW Living Dangerously 98'

Asbury Park, NJ - March 1998

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, Shane Douglas was the ECW World Heavyweight Champion, Taz held the ECW Television Championship, and the odd couple team of Chris Candido and Lance Storm were the ECW Tag Team Champions.

The fourth ECW pay-per-view kicks off with The FBI (Tracy Smothers, Little Guido, and "The Don" Tommy Rich as their manager) taking on the team of Jerry Lynn and Chris Chetti. The crowd is into this mostly because the FBI were over as heels and Tracy Smothers was so damn good in this role. Lynn and Guido are the most energetic and athletic of the in-ring performers, but they don't go overboard with fancy high spots and, instead, just deliver a straight-up tag match. A good opener that almost reminds me of the tag matches that some of the early 90s WWE pay-per-views would routinely use to start their shows off. (2.5/5)

The next match is supposed to be W*ING Kanemura vs. Masato Tanaka, but instead, Doug Furnas and his manager Lance Wright show up, representing the WWE. Tanaka is a superb wrestler and Doug Furnas, at his best, wasn't too shabby of a pro either...but these two have a number of miscommunications that mar this match and cause the audience to turn against it at multiple times. The biggest pop comes when Furnas nearly paralyzes Tanaka with an awful piledriver/powerbomb attempt which goes to show how bloodthirsty the ECW fans were. Furnas looks like a million bucks cosmetically, but he seems lost at times. This one has a wacky ending too as Furnas seems to have the match won, but Lance Wright keeps interrupting his pin attempts to tell him to inflict more damage. That ends up costing him the match (because duh) and Furnas turns on Wright by laying him out and putting on an ECW shirt. If this match didn't feature so many noticeable botches, maybe Furnas could've had a decent singles run, but he did not impress here. (1.5/5)

Backstage, Joey Styles reports that the Dueling Canes match they taped earlier between Sabu and Sandman was too violent and that the PPV carriers refused to let them air it. I'm not sure if that match was advertised for the show or not, but if it was, I would've been super pissed that they couldn't air it. Styles explains that the rest of the card is stacked but...its really not. Nicole Bass and Jason show up, they want Joey to roll the footage of Tommy Dreamer arriving to the show alone (the story here was whether or not Beulah McGillicutty would be in his corner for his match later on) to embarrass him. Sure. Whatever. The big takeaway is no Sandman/Sabu match.

In the ring, Rob Van Dam takes on 2 Cold Scorpio next. The crowd is not super into this one to start as Rob Van Dam was still a bit of a pure heel and had not crossed over into "cool heel" territory. For example, RVD gets almost no reaction for most of his signature moves like the Rolling Thunder. I'm not sure when exactly RVD really connected with the crowd, but he and Scorpio do win them over by the end after a very lukewarm to outright hostile first two-thirds of action. RVD doesn't always get the crowd he deserves and, back then, he was often labeled a "spot monkey," but this match actually builds over its comparatively lengthy runtime and is worked like a bit of a dream match as both RVD and Scorpio were known for their high-flying and athleticism and we get some cool "mirror" work in the beginning leading to the action going to the floor and then getting "bigger" as the match goes on. Scorpio may actually shine brighter than RVD as his offense looks extra devastating at times (a springboard front-flip splash from the apron is particularly nasty). We get a bit of a screwy finish as there's a ref bump and then Sabu makes a run-in and is chased away by The Sandman, but this was all pretty commonplace in ECW. Based on the crowd response to this match, this was the era in ECW where the fans attending the show were really there for garbage brawls and "death match" style action and maybe a little bit of comedy, but not really as enthusiastic for the "super junior" or luche libre styles that had once also been part of the mix. That's a shame because this match deserved a more patient crowd. (2.5/5)

The next contest pits The Dudley Boys vs. Axl Rotten and Ballz Mahoney vs. New Jack and Spike Dudley in a wild three-way dance. This is precisely what one would expect - a wild brawl featuring lots of weapons and barely any actual wrestling (though Styles does note that Axl is a much better worker than he's often given credit for in the early going). The biggest and best spot of the match sees New Jack and Spike hit stereo balcony dives onto the Dudleys through a couple of tables. Its a terrific visual. Unfortunately, nothing else that happens comes close to being as cool or fun or creative. Also, towards the end, one of the Dudleys prevents Spike from pinning Axl Rotten (I think it was?), which makes absolutely no sense. Whoops. The similar match from November to Remember was much better and more memorable - even if it didn't necessarily have any more of a story or shape to it. (2/5)

Tommy Dreamer vs. Justin Credible followed. Before the match began, the fans were treated to a cameo from ECW's newest ringside reporter - Jenna Jameson. I wonder how much Paul E. paid her per appearance...anyway, Credible is backed by his manager Jason and the aforementioned Nicole Bass, a less popular, less successful version of Chyna who also died way too young. As I wrote about in my November to Remember review, Justin Credible isn't a bad wrestler, he's just not very interesting or fun to watch and was just too generic for ECW or really anywhere else. Lance Storm was generic too, but at least he turned his boringness and technical skills into part of his gimmick. Credible is basically X-Pac but without the high-flying skills, bumping ability, or personality. Meanwhile, Tommy Dreamer is a guy who really only works for me when he's involved in a match with a big storyline - for example, his feud with Raven or the tag match he had at One Night Stand II in 06' - but when he's just "Tommy Dreamer: ECW Flagbearer" and he's pitted against someone as generic as Credible, I'm rarely enthralled. This match ends - like so many ECW matches - with a bunch of run-ins and shenanigans, including the return of Beulah McGillicutty and then Mikey Whipwreck, all leading to the feel-good win for Dreamer. Nothing really special here, but I'll give credit where its due and say that the audience was into this and Bass certainly got a ton of heat just for standing around. (2/5)

Next up - Taz vs. Bam Bam Bigelow for Taz's ECW World Television Championship. There's a lot to love here, though this match does have a bit of a mixed reputation. What I think really works is that Taz had really gotten over the idea that the ECW TV Championship was as important as the ECW World Championship so the stakes are high. Because Bigelow had turned on him by re-joining the Triple Threat (which didn't make 100% sense but whatever), there was also some real personal animosity here that comes through in some of the vicious strikes and insane bumps (at one point, Taz hits a T-Bone Suplex on Bigelow off the stage and onto the concrete and its unclear how neither guy suffered a serious injury). The criticisms that most often come up, though, are that there is too much space between the big moments and that Taz really couldn't get Bigelow up for many of them, including a sloppy table spot that would've and could've been much better if Taz actually had the strength and size to make it work (he didn't). There are also many fans who dislike the ending - which sees Taz apply the Tazmission and force the Bammer to tape (out of the ref's few) only to end up crushed through the ring when Bigelow falls back onto him. Whether or not this finish has since been overused, watching it to this day, it still feels like a big, wild, unexpected moment. If nothing else had to go right in this match, that crash needed to and it absolutely did. (3/5)

With the ring broken, Joey Styles cuts to the pre-taped match that was "too violent for the censors to allow to air" but that Paul Heyman has decided to air anyway - Sabu vs. The Sandman. The rumored reason this match was pre-taped was because their November to Remember 97' match was so poorly received that they decided it was a safer bet to let these two wrestle and then, if necessary, edit the match down. I reviewed that November to Remember match and while it does go long and have some unnecessarily repeated spots, it wasn't that terrible. In fact, I'd sooner re-watch that match than this one, which is maybe a touch too "safe" in comparison. I did like how this one started with "Sabu" running in and attacking the Sandman before the match can even begin only for it to be revealed that its RVD dressed as the Homicidal, Genocidal One. From there, the real Sabu runs in and continues to take advantage of the Sandman and we get a whole bunch of spots that are undoubtedly better executed than what they did months earlier but, because they actually work, it almost feels less fun and dangerous. Despite Styles saying that this match was too violent for the censors, there's no blood, no fire, no thumbtacks - its just the usual chairs and tables and because I'm guessing Sandman wasn't on LSD during this match, everything is done competently and without too much downtime. (2.5/5)

Main event time - The Triple Threat's Chris Candido and Shane Douglas vs. Lance Storm and a mystery partner. The storyline coming into this match was that Candido and Storm were the ECW Tag Team Champions but were also feuding at the same time and Sunny (Candido's real life boyfriend) had sided with Storm. Meanwhile, Al Snow - who's match with Eliminator John Kronus had been cancelled due to the ring breaking during the Taz/Bigelow match - had become very popular and had had a handful of matches against Candido and Bigelow starting in late 97'. Anyway, the mystery partner is revealed to be...Sunny. Styles thinks this is a brilliant move by Storm as neither Candido or Douglas would ever dare to attack Sunny, but even if that were true, it still means Storm has to face both guys basically 2-on-1. Also, the corner of the ring that Bigelow and Taz fell through is still broken and is just taped off like a crime scene. It doesn't really matter because a few minutes into the action, Sunny predictably (and in a very poorly executed "spot") turns on Storm and Candido and Douglas beat him down and the match falls apart. The turn leads to Al Snow coming out to a huge ovation and helping to even the sides. Somehow Snow is inserted into the match because he actually hits his finisher on Douglas, pins him, and the bell is rung. Ahhh, ECW. It made no sense to put this on at the end of the show as, even if you do run Taz/Bigelow as the main event, the ring breaking would've still been a very cool visual and unexpected surprise. As a "match," this is not at all worth seeking out, but I could see the argument that the live crowd's reaction to Snow is worth seeing if one was curious about what Snow's "peak" was in ECW. (1.5/5)

With a pretty low Kwang Score of 2.18-out-of-5, Living Dangerously 98' would not be the first ECW pay-per-view I'd recommend...but it may not be the last either (at least it beat out the historically maligned by November To Remember 97' show by a whopping .04 points on my scale). The Taz/Bigelow match is better than average, the FBI were great at this time, Scorpio/RVD is better than the fans treat it, and the three-way dance is the type of fun, wild brawl that ECW did better than any other major US company at the time. The rest of the card is more "miss" than "hit" and the misses aren't just off by inches, they're off by miles. The Furnas/Tanaka match is bad, the main event is a non-match, and Sabu/Sandman, while demonstrably "better" than their match at November to Remember 97' is simultaneously less noteworthy. 

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver

WWE In Your House XI: Buried Alive

WWE In Your House XI: Buried Alive

Indianapolis, IN - October 1996

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the WWE World Champion was Shawn Michaels, Marc Mero was the Intercontinental Champion, and the WWE Tag Team Champions were The British Bulldog and Owen Hart.

The 11th In Your House show - subtitled "Buried Alive" - starts off with a somewhat awkward heel/heel match between "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and a pre-"Triple H" Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Both guys were in the midst of relative pushes, though Helmsley was famously just getting out of the dog house after the Curtain Call earlier in 96'. Sadly, the big story of this match - and the next one - has nothing to do with what it is going on in the ring and everything to do with Jim Ross, who was a heel commentary at this point (as you might've guessed, this didn't get over at all), and his microphone not working. Its impossible to understand what the "story" here was supposed to be. Was this supposed to be Vince McMahon, who had been "outed" as the WWE owner on TV, screwing with him? Were the technical difficulties "faked" to further get Jim Ross over as a whiny baby? Or were they actually experiencing technical difficulties that resulted in JR's microphone cutting in and out? Whatever the case, it is incredibly distracting. The action in the ring is good, but the crowd isn't too enthralled - and why would they be? Helmsley was an impossible character to cheer for and while Austin does get some support, he too was very much a heel in 96' and Indianapolis ain't New York, Philly, or Chicago. This was supposed to be Austin vs. Vega (in what would've had to have been their 3rd or 4th PPV match?) but was switched to Austin/Helmsley due to an injury. I wonder if that injury was used as an excuse to try Austin out as a babyface as, surely, they could've filled that spot with any other random midcarder. Anyway...the in-ring work ain't bad as this is Austin pre-neck injury and Triple H was young and energetic and a great bumper. Eventually Mr. Perfect shows up - he was set to make his in-ring return the next night on Raw - and gets involved in the fracas. Its a shame that Perfect's WWE "return" never went anywhere as, had he actually come back to the WWE rather than go to WCW (he left the WWE just a few weeks after this show and popped up in WCW in mid-97'), he could've played an interesting role in the Attitude Era and maybe even found himself in a feud with Stone Cold in 98'. Not a bad match, but definitely hurt by the "technical difficulty" nonsense and a crowd that is only partially into things. (2.5/5)

Next up...another awkward match. The Smoking Gunns had never really turned heel, but because Sunny became their manager in the summer of 96' and Sunny was a heat magnet, they almost turned heel by default as Billy fell in love with her and Bart had to deal with it. Their opponents, the WWE Tag Team Champions, Owen Hart and the British Bulldog, were 100% heel but, kinda like Austin in the opener, had a little bit of crowd support from the older male demographic because they were two of the best technical wrestlers in the company and weren't silly gimmicks. Nothing too special here, but since getting the Network and watching more wrestling from this era with a closer eye, I've definitely come to see why Owen was so well-respected among his peers as he is incredibly smooth and maybe one of the best "PG" heels ever. His offense looks crisp and targeted, he moves with purpose, and though he can take big bumps and sell being overwhelmed or outmatched, he's never "bumbling" or looking like he can't hang with the best - something that separates him from other heels in similar positions (The Miz, for example). The Bulldog is less interesting to watch (aside from trying to gauge how disinterested he was on a scale of 1-to-drugged stupor). Again, even if this match was terrific, it'd be hard to tell with how much time and energy spent getting over the fact that JR is cranky because of the technical difficulties and blames them on Vince. (2/5)

Speaking of Jim Ross, before the next match, Good Ol' JR gets in the ring and takes credit for Bret Hart's upcoming appearance the next night. He berates Vince via a "worked shoot" promo. If I'm not mistaken, this was around the time that Vince Russo had started having greater input in WWE's so there was an increasing number of these types of segments. JR storms off in a huff after this.

Mr. Perfect joined the commentary team for the next match - "The Wildman" Marc Mero defending the Intercontinental Championship against Goldust. Originally, Mero was supposed to be defending against Farooq, but he was out with injury. If I remember correctly, when Farooq returned, he was no longer wearing the silly foam Roman headgear and started the original Nation of Domination with Savio Vega and Crush. Goldust had been working the house show circuit around this time vs. Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker but hadn't really had a major storyline of his own for a couple months (he was briefly involved in the Mankind/Taker feud in the summer of 96'). Goldust and Mero had both worked in WCW in the early 90s and had even been semi-regular tag partners so their chemistry is solid. Unfortunately, unlike the opener, which, while being a heel/heel bout, had a clear design and purpose (to put Austin over in preparation for his Survivor Series match with Bret and to also build up the Perfect/Helmsley storyline), the waters are muddier in this bout. Mero would end up dropping the title the next night, but still needed to look strong coming out of it as the champion. Goldust was also in limbo here with no clear direction - though that would change in December when he turned face. With the purpose of this match not clearly defined, you end up with basically just a rematch between two characters that had become a bit stale (Mero more than Goldust, but neither were "hot" at this time). The live crowd was into this more than the previous two matches, but I'd chalk that up to there actually being a clear face/heel dynamic more than this match actually being above average. At one point, Goldust grabs a mic and threatens the crowd that he's going to shove his tongue down all of their throats. That gets good heat, sure, but feels kinda cheap. Perfect gets involved which brings Helmsley back down to the ring and we get a bit of distraction ultimately leading to Perfect hitting Goldust with a big right hand. That leads to Mero hitting a Samoan Drop and then his Wild Thing (Shooting Star Press) finisher to end the match. Nothing I'd worth seeking out, but nothing too terrible either. For whatever reason, I liked Mero more in WCW. (2.5/5)

The next match is hyped as the Battle of the Powerbombs...so it will end with a chokeslam. Sid was being prepared for not just a World Title match at Survivor Series, but a somewhat unexpected victory there (though, anyone who was aware that the Rumble would be Shawn's hometown in January might've predicted he'd drop the title sometime in the fall and win it back there). His opponent, Vader, was on the unfortunate downturn of his disappointing WWE run and would be a non-factor in 97' aside from putting over Ken Shamrock. Considering the amount of times these two worked together, they don't have great chemistry...though, to be fair, Vader had really toned down his style for the WWE and one gets the sense that he'd lost some confidence by this point. Sid, meanwhile, was never a great worker, but got over with his physical charisma and presence. Shawn Michaels shows up before the match and jumps on commentary and isn't great at it, but he seems sober. They keep it short and the crowd is into things, but this wouldn't make either guys Best Of list. (1.5/5)

After a commercial for the Survivor Series, JR interviews Sid in the back. This isn't quite as classic as some of Sid's other jumbled promos, but he does make a mess of it and its pretty funny. A point for the Master and the Ruler of the World having limited control over the English language. (+1)

Main event time - an "unsanctioned" Buried Alive match between The Undertaker and Mankind. These two had been feuding for a ton of 96' and would continue their rivalry into 97' and then 98'. Taker's matches with Shawn Michaels are often noted as his best, but Foley deserves to be considered 1B for how many really good matches they had with somewhat goofy gimmicks (like this one). After some back-and-forth brawling, Mankind gets launched into the rail in a nasty spot. Undertaker busts out one of his first of two big dives soon after, these two not holding anything back to get the crowd into it. They fight near the gravesite before ending up in the crowd and Mankind gets sent back to ringside over the guardrail (this is when Undertaker hits his second impressive dive). Mankind ends up with a spike, but we, unfortunately, don't get any "color" (which would've been completely warranted into an "unsanctioned" match). Mankind brings a chair into the proceedings too and they go back towards the grave where they fight inside of the hole. Undertaker launches Foley off the gravesite and onto the arena floor with a big hip toss. Back in the ring, Foley hits a DDT onto a chair, but the Undertaker won't stay down and eventually hits Mankind with a chair shot to the back following by a chair-assisted leg drop. The next big moment happens once they're back on the floor as Mankind exposes the concrete, but his attempt at a piledriver fails and he is sent crashing back into the steps in a messy heap. I'm not sure what they thought was going to happen there, but physics wouldn't allow it to be anything other than brutal. Taker brings the stairs into the ring and uses them on Foley before hitting a Tombstone. Taker brings Foley to the grave and buries him for the win...but the match doesn't really end there as, after getting the W, Undertaker is attacked by a very non-menacing Terry Gordy in an Executioner mask. The story goes that Gordy was brought in as a favor to Michael Hayes (who was working as "Dok Hendrix" at the time), but that most everyone knew it would likely be disastrous as Gordy had suffered permanent brain damage 3 years early after a drug overdose put him in a 5-day coma. The Executioner is assisted by a bunch of other heels in burying the Undertaker in a scene straight out of 1994. This may not have been the last time they did a crazy "burial" storyline for the Undertaker, but it might be the last truly hokey one. All in all, the action in this match was good, but I'd still consider this one of their "lesser" bouts just because of the silly gimmick and post-match angle. (3/5)

Overall, Buried Alive is a breezy viewing - one of the positives of the In Your House series was their brevity - but I wouldn't look here for any classics. As they say in that Tim Robinson sketch, this show is more interesting than it is good. The main event is better than one may expect considering the gimmick, the opener is fun to watch just because of its mix of elements, and nothing is woefully terrible (even the big man match between Sid and Vader is tolerable). With an overall Kwang Score of 2.5-out-of-5, this is the kind of show that wouldn't have been worth the $19.99 it cost to watch at the time, but does have some highlights that fans of this era may enjoy revisiting.

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver

WWE WrestleMania XXII

WWE WrestleMania XXII

April 2006 - Chicago, IL

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, John Cena was the WWE Champion, Kurt Angle was the World Heavyweight Champion, Shelton Benjamin was the Intercontinental Champion, and the US Champion was Chris Benoit. The Women's Champion was Trish Stratus, the Cruiserweight Champion was Gregory Helms, the WWE Tag Team Champions were Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro, and the World Tag Team Champions were Kane and Big Show. 

After Destiny Child's Michelle Williams (also a Chicago native) sings "America The Beautiful" and another couple of pre-show hype videos, its time for our opening contest - Big Show and Kane defending the WWE Tag Team Championships against the team of Carlito and Chris Masters. This is a perfectly fine opener and plays out pretty much exactly how one would expect as Kane and Big Show "get their shit in" and win the match in under 10 minutes. I was shocked to read that this was Big Show's very first WrestleMania win. Nothing too offensive, but also nothing I'd ever want to revisit. (2/5)

After a word from Shawn Michaels backstage, the Money in the Bank Briefcase was up for grabs in a ladder match between Shelton Benjamin, Matt Hardy, Rob Van Dam, Bobby Lashley, Finlay, and...Ric friggin' Flair. The previous year's Money in the Bank match was hailed as an instant classic, but this one is a bit of a hidden gem. I love the mix of talent here as you have two really athletic high-flyers in Benjamin and RVD, the experienced ladder ace in Matt Hardy, but then three wildcards in powerhouse Lashley, innovative brawler Finlay, and the dirtiest player in the game, Ric Flair, wrestling in a gimmick match unlike anything he'd ever done before in a 30+ year career (at this point). And, while he's not in the whole match, Ric Flair is the quiet MVP (speaking of MVP, the reason he's not in this is because he had not yet debuted, which kinda blew my mind). What I love about Flair's performance is that he doesn't do his shtick or get cutesy at all. Instead, Flair basically just bumps and bumps huge, showing that he could still take an ass-kicking as good as the rest of the pack. He takes a superplex off the ladder early, gets carried out, but then returns later on just to eat another crazy bump off the ladder from a Finlay Shillelagh shot. If seeing Flair take two huge falls isn't enough for you, Shelton Benjamin's acrobatics are also incredible and his execution is flawless here. Still, its Rob Van Dam who is clearly the most over - aside from 'Naitch - and while his offense doesn't look nearly as crisp as Benjamin's, it gets much bigger reactions. I kinda wish the match would've ended with a bigger move rather than just RVD, Hardy, and Shelton brawling atop a pair of ladders before RVD just shoves their ladder over as it just feels a little anticlimactic after an otherwise really fun match. I wouldn't quite call this "must see," but what I like about it is that it isn't your typical ladder match filled with nothing but high-flying or convoluted, choreographed spots. Instead, you get a mix of different styles and wrestlers that you may not see as the "ladder match type." (3.5/5)

Backstage we get a segment with Gene Okerlund, Randy Orton, and Batista. This is followed by some petty McMahon bullshit as, in the ring, The Fink announces that Bret Hart won't be making appearance because he was "uncomfortable" with being on the show. They could've, y'know, just not had him come out. The other 2006 inductees do come out, though, with Vickie Guerrero getting the biggest ovation as she was representing her husband Eddie, who had passed away just 5 or so months before this. 

In the ring, Chris Benoit defends his United States Championship against John Bradshaw Layfield. This was an awkward match not because Benoit and Layfield didn't deliver a stiff, physical contest but because it had one foot in "Eddie Tribute Match" and the "Eddie Tribute" stuff was kind of Rey Mysterio's thing too. (There's also the added non-bonus of this being a Chris Benoit match.) At the time, I was a big Benoit fan and didn't see anything in JBL, though I've come around a little bit on that and, at the very least, think he's better than Kane. On re-watch, I was more accepting the finish, but the match still didn't quite "click" for me despite the intensity being there and the live crowd reacting big to the Eddie tribute moments. Not outright bad, but just felt unnecessary on this show. Its weird but maybe if they had had more time, they could've built up to the finish better or made it come across as more of a war? Just a weird match. (2/5)

Edge vs. Mick Foley have the most hardcore match in WrestleMania history next. There's barbwire, there's thumbtacks, there's even a flaming table. Hell, even Lita gets "color" at one point. This match is non-stop action from beginning to end, the crowd loses their mind multiple times, and I like how there is a very clear escalation of violence as the spots get "bigger" as the match progresses. This is the kind of match that one has to believe Foley and Edge worked out from the first to last minute, but because Foley was such a great storyteller and Edge was such a good dance partner, it still comes across as largely organic and character-based, not overly choreographed or convoluted. I do wish they had had maybe a little more time, but there's something to be said for how "tight" this match is kept and Edge and Foley's ability to give space between the big spots for things to register with the audience. People love the Foley/Orton from a year prior and talk about this one being somehow lesser, but I believe this one stands on its own quite well. (4/5)

After a fun backstage segment involving a whole slew of WWE's most famous/infamous "freak" characters, Booker T and Sharmell take on The Boogeyman. This wasn't a mat classic and it wasn't supposed to be, but unlike the Benoit/JBL, this was fun. Sharmell was great here and while I still think she didn't do quite enough in her brief time as an on-screen talent to merit a Hall of Fame induction, she was a terrific partner to Booker T in this feud and in the King Booker run that came not too long after this. The Boogeyman was not a gimmick that could have ever lasted super long, though I am surprised they haven't brought him back multiple times over the years as he did get big reactions and had plenty of physical charisma. Though the in-ring action is slight, this match hits all the notes that it needs to. (2.5/5)

Mickie James challenges Trish Stratus for the WWE Women's Championship match next. This is one of the most memorable women's matches of its era and, arguably, of all time. I'd argue that this may actually be the best mixture of T-&-A, NC-17 action with hard-hitting, physical wrestling that the WWE (or any company?) ever produced - which is not necessarily surprising when you look at who was in the ring. At the time, James was considered one of the best females workers in the US, but I'd still consider her a bit underrated for her creativity and willingness to throw herself into a storyline like this. Its a shame that, despite knocking this storyline and feud out of the park, the writers and creative department would struggle to find meaningful stories for her in the years to come. Now, I can totally see the 100% valid criticisms that this match delves too far into the NC-17 (nearly X-rated even) realm, objectified both women with beyond-suggestive moments, and the fact that James and Trish were essentially forced to crank up the raunch to 11 in order to earn their minutes and keep Vince happy. All those things mean this match hasn't exactly aged well. But what shouldn't be forgotten is everything else about this match. Ignore the blatant misogyny and you are left with an absolutely kick-ass, violent, and smartly-worked wrestling match that just happens to feature James wrestling in what was basically her underwear. And the audience cares about it and reacts to more than just the pseudo-sexual pinfalls. This match delivers on every level, even the skeazy, impure levels that I'd hate to admit enjoying in front of my wife. (4/5)

I'm far from a Mark Henry fan and certainly wasn't one when I first saw this bout, a Casket Match, against The Undertaker, back in 2006. But on re-watch, I must say that this is actually better than I remembered it and surprisingly easy to get through. I once semi-raved about an Undertaker/Kamala match from (I think) 94' and how, even if it was painfully obvious that Undertaker was going to win, I gave credit to the Deadman for still going out there and not only selling for his much less over opponent but also busting out his "greatest hits" in order to make the people happy. Here, Undertaker goes the extra step and performs one of the most impressive over-the-top-rope, running planchas off his career, clearing the casket itself to hit Henry on the floor. Its the kind of bump that the Undertaker didn't need to do, but did anyway, just to give the crowd a "moment." Say what one may about the Undertaker's in-ring performances, but at this point in his career, he was rarely lazy or "phoning it in," even when there was no real reason for him to give 110%. Henry was essentially a tomato can at this stage in his career, still years away from his big Hall of Pain push, and while there was nobody on Earth who believed Henry would end the Phenom's streak, Undertaker takes his offense like a champ and helps Henry deliver a relatively fast-paced match that doesn't waste much time with over-dramatic casket nonsense or needless rest holds. Not a great match by any means, but considerably stronger than I recalled it being. (3/5)

Shawn Michaels vs. Vince McMahon in a Streetfight is next. The crowd was "pro-heel" all night, but Michaels also received some boos just because the company had been playing up the Montreal Screwjob for weeks leading up to this - even re-enacting the Screwjob on Raw only with Shawn getting "screwed" - and Bret Hart had been inducted in the Hall of Fame the night before so the Chicago was extra ready to shower HBK with "You Screwed Bret" chants and whatnot. Still, because Vince was (and is) so loathsome, Shawn had the crowd cheering for him by the end. This has more "Smoke and Mirrors" than the Edge/Foley match from earlier, but this is pretty wild in its own right as Vince took some big hits from a ladder and a trash can. I love Shawn having the match won but refusing to just "beat" McMahon, opting instead to inflict as much punishment as possible (including hitting him with an elbow drop through a table while Vince had a trash can around his head). The cameos from the Spirit Squad and Shane McMahon are nice, but don't lead to any real shift in momentum as Shawn dominates from beginning to end aside from maybe a minute or two of Vince on offense. I wouldn't call this a "must see" match because there are better Vince matches out there, but this was fun for what it was, the crowd was very into it, and I liked Jim Ross's commentary (he really seemed to get a kick out of calling a match where Vince was just getting his ass kicked for minutes on end). (3.5/5)

The World Heavyweight Championship was on the line next as Kurt Angle defended title against Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio. The crowd is decidely pro-Angle and not super into Rey, which is a real shame and definitely detracts from the match. I remember being underwhelmed with this match when it happened so I was surprised by just how awesome the first third of it is. Angle looks like a total animal, suplexing both Orton and Rey halfway across the ring in a great spot. I really liked the pace they cut, but things got wonky once Angle started scoring "blind pins" (submissions actually) on the other competitors. The fact that Angle literally won the match twice just made the crowd upset and played into the predictably of Rey's victory, which would've probably been much better received in nearly any other town in the country (save for maybe NYC and Phillie). I understand wanting to preserve Angle's credibility, but a triple threat match offers so many other ways to do that than having him get screwed out of the title (especially when Mysterio's victory was supposed to be an untarnished "feel good" moment). Mysterio's victory also comes a bit too out-of-nowhere for me as this match runs just short of 10 minutes despite featuring so much good action. With another 4-5 minutes of time, these guys would've probably strung together a much better finishing sequence and its a shame they weren't able to do so because so much of this action was really, really good. (3.5/5)

To cool off the crowd, we get a Playboy Pillow Fight between Candice Michelle and Torrie Wilson. I'll give some credit to Torrie here as she actually performs a couple of honest-to-god wrestling moves. Unfortunately, the crowd has zero interest in anything other than a potential nip slip...despite the ability to use the internet to see these two naked 24/7 anytime they want for free. This is the opposite of the James/Stratus match and, while the women are much more scantily clad, the result actually makes everything less sexy and more tedious and boring. A half point for Torrie's effort, I guess. (0.5/5)

Main event time - Triple H challenging John Cena for the WWE Championship. I don't remember this match being as good as it was, but, at the time, the popular narrative was that John Cena couldn't wrestle and needed to be "carried" and that Triple H was often boring and worked too deliberate of a pace. But Cena is very good, if not quite as good as he would become over the next several years, and Triple H keeps the pace brisk, hits his signature offense with gusto, and bumps and sells huge when he needs to (without laying it on too thick). This is Triple H wrestling a match that isn't about himself, something I'm not sure he pulled off nearly as well in later years when he was tasked to do similar things with Jeff Hardy, Edge, and CM Punk. The other key factor helping this match is the atmosphere. Chicago hated Cena on this night, but Triple H wisely sticks to his heel role for the most part (aside from the huge babyface moment when he hits a crotch chop to a massive ovation). While Cena would put on an even more impressive and colorful performance in front of a hostile crowd at One Night Stand a few months later, I like how Cena keeps his head down in the match and doesn't play to the crowd too much - its the right tenor for a WrestleMania event, for a WWE Championship match, for a bout against a threat as serious as Triple H. I think calling this match a "masterpiece" would be going too far. There's nothing revelatory to find here. This is just a very good match in front of a very hot crowd with a finish that is satisfactory but not special. This match doesn't even come across as a particularly violent or physical "war." But the story is terrific, the character work is subtle but effective, and everything they do works and gets a reaction. I'm not sure they ever topped this one. (4/5)

Though its Kwang Score isn't all that high - a 2.95-out-of-5 - this is rightfully considered one of the best WrestleManias of all time. (Its also important to note that its Kwang score would go up considerably if you took out the Playboy Pillow Fight, which was kind of a "necessary evil" on this show, a filler match between the two strong World Championship bouts.) There are simply not very many shows that deliver as many entertaining matches that are fun and engaging in such different ways. HHH/Cena is nothing like Trish/Mickie and, while they're both "weapon heavy," Vince/HBK and Edge/Foley aren't similar either. Angle/Orton/Mysterio is a bit rushed and features some questionable booking choices, but its highlights are arguably the best bits of actual wrestling on the entire show. Flair's performance in the Money in the Bank match is awesome (even if the rest of the match isn't quite as thrilling). A personal favorite show of mine and one that I'd put firmly in the category of...

FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand

ECW November to Remember 97'

ECW November to Remember 97'

November 1997 - Monaco, PA

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, Bam Bam Bigelow was the ECW World Heavyweight Champion, Taz was the ECW Television Champion, and The Full-Blooded Italians were the ECW Tag Team Champions.

Tommy Rogers vs. Chris Candido is our opening match and the crowd is not super enthused about how it starts. By 97', Rogers had been wrestling for close to 20 years, but looks pretty, well, fantastic (he was in a team called The Fantastics with Bobby Fulton in the 80s). Despite having a lengthy and varied career, Rogers and Fulton never had the big run in the right place at the right time so, by 97', the average fan probably had no clue who he was. Candido was more famous as he'd been in the WWE (as "Bodydonna" Skip, with his real life fiance Sunny as his manager), but was a much more serious character in ECW. Still, this style of match, in front of this crowd, earns chants of "Boring" because they dare to actually show the audience some scientific wrestling and build to the big spots (which aren't nearly as "big" as the type of stuff Sabu, RVD, and Whipwreck were doing). Anyway...they do win the crowd over as they build to what fans seemed to believe was going to be the finish, but Candido's buddy Lance Storm shows up and then Jerry Lynn appears and the match becomes a tag match. I guess that trope wasn't invented by the WWE in the mid-00s? The crowd doesn't seem super enthused, but the action does become a bit wilder once Lynn and Storm join in. At one point, Tommy Rogers hits the "Tomakaze," which I had no idea he invented (?) as I always thought it was something Christian came up it (its his Unprettier/Killswitch finisher). This started out a bit slow, picked up nicely, and then peaked well once it became a tag match. Not a bad opener. (2.5/5)

If anyone could pull a good-to-great match out of Justin Credible, one of the blandest workers in ECW and maybe all of 90s/00s wrestling history, it should've been Mikey Whipwreck. Whipwreck is a guy that I had not seen much of before I got the Network and began seeing his brief run in WCW and then some of his bigger matches in ECW. I know ECW diehards respect his resume, but I'd still consider him pretty underrated. Whipwreck played an undersized underdog, but he could absolutely go and was so quick and wild that the ECW cameras often missed his craziest moves (which they do here, twice). Credible was a heel so, in ECW, that often meant working a slow, methodical pace to get heat from the fans (who came to see blood, craziness, wild brawls, scantily clad women, etc.). Of course, good heels - like Candido and Storm, in the opener - were often able to work that "anti-ECW" style in the opening minutes but then spice it up just enough to keep the audience engaged and build to the more typical "extreme" style. Justin Credible was not that good yet and I'm not sure he ever got that good. When Whipwreck rallies, there's fun to be had, but this isn't his best showing either (some say injuries were already taking their toll despite him being only 24 when this match happened, but I'm not 100% sure that was the case). I liked the upset finish, but this was a disappointment. (1.5/5)

Backstage, Al Snow is talking to Head. Before the next match, Joey Styles mentions a video package going through the Sabu/Sandman rivalry, but the video is edited out of the Network version. Maybe because of licensing whatever song they used? Or was it because it shows Sabu throwing a fireball into Sandman's face? 

Back in the ring, Pitbull #2 challenges Tazz for the ECW Television Championship. Tazz was mega-over. Pitbull #2 hits him with a powerbomb early, but Tazz fights back, hits a pair of suplexes and then wins via his Katahajime (Tazzmission) in something like 90 seconds. I'm not sure what the story was here that would lead to Pitbull #2 getting absolutely buried, but they did leave the company shortly after so I'm guessing it was a conflict with Paul E. This is the sort of match that Tazz's haters would point to as proof that he was a guy that bought into his own hype because he acts like a total bad ass, but actually was 5'9'' and maybe 220 and was only booked like a shooter. After the match, Tazz takes out the other Pitbull and then cuts an X-rated promo about Brakkus, a WWE talent who was there as part of a pro-WWE stable led by manager Lance Wright. Yes, in case you were wondering, ECW was running two separate (but sometimes joined) pro-WWE groups in late 97'. Its hard to call this a good match, but it was an entire 5-minute segment so its worth a couple points. (2/5)

The ECW Tag Team Championships are on the line next as The FBI (Little Guido and Tracy Smothers w/ Tommy Rich) defend the titles in a 4-way dance featuring The Dudleys, Balls Mahoney and Axl Rotten, and New Jack and Kronus. This is about as "classic ECW" as one match can get, though I'll admit that saying so is ignoring some of the better innovations that ECW should get credit for. But in most people's minds, this sort of match does exemplify the ECW spirit: its a tag match but some teams feature two members and some three or more, its a tag match but nobody is bothering with actual tags for most of it, New Jack and Kronus don't show up for the first 5+ minutes (at which point, New Jack's entrance theme plays until their elimination), the whole match is violent and chaotic but there's no real "story" or escalation - its just craziness from start to finish, despite the match featuring close to a dozen wrestlers, there are probably less than a dozen actual wrestling moves performed in its entire 15 minute runtime. That's not to say there weren't some highlights, though, as the match kicked off with a classic Joel Gertner promo, Bubba hit an awesome splash to the outside at one point, we saw a cheese grater get used, New Jack smashed a guitar over someone's head (I forget who), Kronus hit his 450, the Dudleys' elimination is fun and gets a brilliant reaction (Bubba accidentally hits D-Von with the 3D due to Gertner's interference), and when things do settle down to Rotten and Mahoney vs. The FBI, we get some interesting storyline development as referee Jeff Jones turns heel by refusing to make the count for Balls and Axl. Its a screwy finish, but this match ending "cleanly" would almost seem inappropriate. This is "kitchen sink" ECW and while it likely wouldn't work nearly as well in most other US promotions (especially in the 90s), in this environment, the crowd digs it. (3/5)

Backstage, Tommy Dreamer arrives with Beulah McGillicutty in tow and talks about his upcoming match against Rob Van Dam. This feud was all about Dreamer representing ECW and Rob Van Dam being "Mr. Monday Night" and being aligned with the WWE...even though, as far as I know, he wasn't actually getting paid by Vince McMahon (though, maybe he was in a roundabout way as Vince was providing Heyman something like 50k a month at some point?). Regardless, Dreamer is not one of my favorites, but his best work was clearly in his ECW years. Van Dam would have much better matches with much more agile opponents, but this match had something that some of those didn't - true heat. The crowd absolutely hates Rob Van Dam here, which is kinda silly because its so clear he was an ECW guy (even if the character he was playing meant he had to claim otherwise). I like Dreamer's selling early and Rob Van Dam focusing on Tommy's injured foot - its a rare moment of actual ring psychology on a show that mostly ignores that kind of thing. That sort of attention to detail and - dare I say - restraint goes out the window soon after, though, as the match becomes a somewhat interesting but imperfect clash of styles between Dreamer's brawling and RVD's high-flying and "spot-fest" antics. There are moments when the two styles come together to create something unexpected, such as when Dreamer stops RVD from hitting his split-legged moonsault by kicking him in the balls or the way they tease, counter, but then eventually deliver Van Daminators to eachother, but there's also a repetitiveness and lack of real suspense or escalation that makes things feel disjointed and inorganic as they move work from spot to spot. Things really go off the rails when Stevie Richards shows up (he had been working in WCW) and then Furnas and LaFon (who were WWE guys) show up and then evil ref Jeff Jones gets involved for the second time of the night. It becomes a complete clusterfuck and the thread holding things together - that this is a "flag match" pitting an ECW avatar vs. a WWE avatar - is completely lost as we get too many unrelated side plots and mini-feuds cluttering up the story. As someone unfamiliar with each storyline, my ignorance is likely the key reason for my confusion...but reading other people's reviews, I'm not alone in thinking that what could've been a fairly straight-forward match ends up suffering from overbooking. Oh, and Sabu showed up in the end too, to lead to the next match... (2/5)

Sabu vs. The Sandman in a Tables and Ladders (and, as Joey Styles points out, chairs too) match. Like the tag team match but longer and somehow with even more nonsense and less selling, this match is notorious in some corners of the internet as the worst match in ECW history. The funny thing is, I could just as easily see the argument that this is somehow one of the best matches in ECW history. The match goes too long. The selling is... "inconsistent" (to be nice). There is no escalation or raising of the stakes as Sabu and Sandman essentially perform the same series of big crazy spots ad nauseam. But keep that part in mind: they're performing almost non-stop crazy spots, both men recklessly throwing themselves, ladders, and chairs all over the place. It is a violent, bloody match where things go wrong just as often as they go "right." It is as sloppy a match as any that had ever happened on PPV and there's something very true to the ECW aesthetic about that. Sometimes the "botches" in this match make it better - for example, at one point Sandman gets struck with the edge of a falling ladder and it leaves him with a terrible gash on his head, and, from that point on, he has no choice but to "sell" the damage because, well, there's no way not to sell that damage. The same eventually happens to Sabu as the "Homicidal, Genocidal One" becomes naturally fatigued by the sheer number of tables he's put himself and his opponent through. This match's 20-minute runtime feels like twice as long not because it is slow and boring, but because it is a war of nothing but hardcore wrestling. There's no preamble. There's no feigning that they might actually perform a legit wrestling move (though, there are a couple thrown in there, one of which - an Electric Chair by Sandman that sends Sabu crashing into the mat - is devastating to watch). It is what it is and while I wouldn't call it great, I'm not sure it deserves the reputation it has and may even be remembered better if the fireball spot towards the end hadn't been a misfire and they'd have been able to come up with a more clever way to finish things. (2.5/5)

Main event time - Shane Douglas challening Bam Bam Bigelow for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. This show is coming from Douglas' hometown, so he's the babyface even though he was technically a heel. Bigelow absolutely dominates him and Douglas spends the majority of the time bumping and selling for the champion. I love Francine - whose on crutches - also doing her best version of Miss Elizabeth (the worried valet) but still coming across a bit more like Sensational Sherri due to her shrill screaming. The crowd is fully behind Douglas and his babyface performance isn't terrible, but this match didn't hold my attention and the finish felt a bit out of nowhere and unearned (as Bigelow had dominated so much of the bout) after literally 20+ minutes of Douglas only getting the occasional hope spot - most of which Bigelow shrugs off. Not a match I'd ever want to revisit. (1.5/5)

With a Kwang Score of 2.14-out-of-5, you won't find anything close to a classic on this show, but there are some moments to enjoy and only the main event and the uninteresting Credible/Whipwreck match are real disappointments. Everything else is middling-to-average (with the wild tag match standing out as the clear Match of the Night) but not too far off what one might to expect. Lots of critics have called the Sandman/Sabu match an abomination and one of the worst matches in PPV history, but part of me feels like it is such a trainwreck it might actually deserve a few more points - the rare instance of a match so bad, it's good. Overall, though, if you're seeking out the best of what ECW had to offer, I'd look almost anywhere else.

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver