ECW Best of Cactus Jack Pioneer Entertainment Commercial Tape

Running Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

*The tape opened with a brief, high-energy music video of many Cactus Jack clips. Joey Styles hosted the tape in between clips and match airings.

Sabu (w/Paul E. & 911) vs Cactus Jack 6/21/94

Sabu gave Cactus three enzuguiris early. Sabu back suplexed Cactus and spin kicked him out of the ring. Sabu hit Cactus with a chair at ringside several times. He placed Cactus on the chair at ringside and gave him a tope suicida. Sabu launched off a chair with a flying kick on Cactus in the corner. He dove at Cactus in the corner but Cactus met him with an elbow. Cactus gave Sabu his Cactus clothesline as they both tumbled over the top rope to the floor. Cactus hit Sabu with a chair at ringside twice and gave him his elbow off the apron to the floor. Cactus hit Sabu with a frying pan handed to him by a fan, after which Cactus kissed the frying pan and hit himself in the head with it several times. Cactus gained a near fall with an elbowsmash back in the ring. He missed a somersault top rope senton. Sabu hit a slingshot legdrop on Cactus for a near fall. Cactus caught Sabu on the top rope and attempted a back superplex but Sabu fell on top of him. Sabu dropkicked Cactus. Both men fell out of the ring after a series of counters. Cactus rammed Sabu into the barricade and went for a flip dove into the crowd but Sabu partially moved. Sabu set up a table in the aisle and legdropped Cactus off the barricade through the table. Sabu gained a near fall back in the ring. He charged at Cactus but Cactus sent him neck-first into the barricade. Sabu fought back and back suplexed Cactus on the floor. 911 placed Cactus on a table in the front row and Sabu attempted an Asai moonsault onto Cactus through the table but Cactus moved out of the way. Cactus gained a near fall back in the ring. Cactus hit Sabu with a piece of the table and gave him a corner splash but as he did so Paul E. hit Cactus with his phone. Sabu fell on top of Cactus and pinned him at 13:01. Cactus fought off both Sabu and 911 in a postmatch brawl until Mr. Hughes ran in. Douglas and the Bruise Brothers also joined the brawl and Sabu hit everyone with a somersault plancha. A very good match, slightly below expectations, but a chaotic and fitting end to the show. ***1/2

*Clips from post-match interviews from Paul E. and Cactus were shown. Joey Styles recapped the Cactus-Terry Funk match from Hardcore Heaven '94 and the Public Enemy's interference, along with a clip of fans throwing over a hundred chairs into the ring.

*Clip 1: ECW Tag Team Title: Public Enemy (Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge) (c) vs Cactus Jack & Mikey Whipwreck 8/27/94

Rocco moonsaulted cactus through a table. Grunge gave Mikey an inverted DDT. Rocco went for a drive by but Cactus shook the rope and crotched him. Mikey then rolled up Rocco and pinned him to win the title. Just a minute aired.

*A hilarious interview with Cactus and Mikey aired. Cactus talked about "the A to Z of pro wrestling" making a mark on him, and ultimately told Public Enemy to take their best shot at he and Mikey.

*Funny scene as Cactus dragged Mikey to the ring after Public Enemy called them out. After a pep talk of sorts, Mikey "stormed" the ring, only to get beat up. Cactus evened the odds and threw Rocco out of the ring. End of clip.

Clip 2: ECW Tag Team Title: Cactus Jack & Mikey Whipwreck (c) vs Public Enemy November to Remember 11/5/94

Rocco dragged Mikey to the stage as footage began and hit him with a baseball bat. Rocco stacked two tables on top of each other and placed Mikey on the top table. Rocco was going to give Mikey a drive by through the tables when Sabu and 911 confronted him on the stage. Sabu then threw Rocco off the stage and he took a flip bump through the tables. Mikey attacked Rocco with several chairshots until Grunge attacked him from behind with a bat. Cactus made the save attacking both opponents on the stage. Cactus suplexed Rocco onto a table and then sent him through the table with a great elbowsmash off the top level several feet above the stage. Grunge hit Cactus with a chair as they returned to ringside. Grunge attempted a sunset flip but Mikey sat on him for a near fall. Grunge countered with a near fall of his own and clotheslined Mikey. Grunge jumped off the top rope and clotheslined Mikey with the bat. He then pinned Mikey at 12:34 to win the title. About 4:20 aired, and it looked like a very good match, maybe even excellent by 1994 brawling standards. Definitely a match to check out in some form for most ECW fans. Looked better than ***.

*They showed Cactus announcing kevin Sullivan would team with him when they would fight Public Enemy at Cactus and Mikey's scheduled rematch on 11/19/94 because Mikey was injured. Another funny Cactus and Mikey interview clip aired with Mikey vowing to beat up Sullivan if he turns on Cactus.

*Clip 3: ECW Tag Team Title: Public Enemy (c) vs Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan 11/19/94

A bloody Grunge hit Cactus with a cookie sheet but Cactus hit him with a metal crutch in return. Cactus knocked Grunge into Rocco. Sullivan hit Grunge with a title belt and Cactus gave Rocco a double arm DDT. Cactus DDTd Rocco again but Sullivan hit Cactus with the belt as he went for a pin. Mikey jumped on Sullivan's back and attacked him. Just 1:26 of the actual match aired, and it didn't look like much was missed.

*An interview clip with Cactus and Mikey aired responding to the previous match. Cactus said he was proud of mikey for standing up to Sullivan.

*Mikey told Cactus he would ask the commissioner for a tag team title rematch. Cactus delivered another great interview until Woman confronted him. Sandman attacked Cactus from behind and hit him with several "cane" shots.

*Clip 4: Cactus Jack vs Sandman (w/Woman) 2/4/95

Cactus hit Sandman in the head with two chairshots and legdropped him with the chair on his head. Cactus hit Sandman with a frying pan twice at ringside. He DDTd Sandman on a chair for a near fall. Cactus also hit Sandman's head with several cane shots and hit his elbowsmash off the apron with a chair placed under his elbow for a near fall. Cactus landed another brutal chairshot and elbowsmash off the apron and pinned him at ringside. Based on the 1:21 that aired, this looked like a brutal match, although I couldn't tell if it was good or not.

*Clip 5: Cactus Jack vs D.C. Drake 2/25/95

Cactus pinned Drake after a double arm DDT. Sandman attacked Cactus with a cane but Cactus fought back and bulldogged him. Woman raked Cactus's eyes but Cactus went after her. Sandman hit Cactus with his cane again several times and Drake joined in the attack. Cactus kicked Sandman and DDTd Drake. He gave Sandman his Cactus clothesline out of the ring and knocked him into a box at ringside. Cactus then dragged supposedly Sandman out of the box, and he had the box's curtain over his body. Cactus removed the curtain and revealed his foe to be Terry Funk for a huge pop. Cactus and Funk exchanged punches until Sandman joined Funk in attacking Cactus. Funk no-sold four cane shots from Cactus and Sandman rejoined the attack. Both Sandman and Funk gave Cactus a ton of cane shots. Several wrestlers, including Mikey and Tommy Dreamer, made unsuccessful attempts to fight off Sandman and Cactus. Shane Douglas entered the ring and watched the attack for a while. Woman tried to convince/seduce Douglas into joining Funk and Sandman as a new Triple Threat. Douglas then hit Sandman with his ECW Title belt and also hit Funk for a pop. Douglas fought off both Cactus and Sandman with the belt. This was the "Funk in a box" angle, and was one of ECW's landmark angles as it turned Funk heel and Douglas face. Great stuff-this whole segment lasted more than 10 minutes.

*Clip 6: Cactus Jack & Shane Douglas vs Terry Funk & Sandman (w/Woman) 3/18/95

Douglas hit Sandman with several cane shots and then alternated cane shots for Sandman and Funk. Douglas accidentally caned Cactus, who shoved him in response. All four men fought near the entrance and Cactus hit Funk with a trash can. Sandman gave Cactus a weak back suplex at ringside. Cactus fought back and legdropped Sandman with a chair over his head. Douglas hit Sandman with a chair and then hit a tope. Funk returned to the ring with a flaming branding iron and hit Cactus with it. Funk removed Cactus's shirt and branded his chest with the flame. Douglas attacked Sandman with a cane as Funk piledrove Cactus on the flaming branding iron, although from a wide shot it looked like he might have missed (thankfully) the flame. Funk then pinned Cactus. About 3:00 aired, and it looked like an average match with a number of brutal moments.

*Cactus talked about his match with Funk at 4/15/95. Another great interview.

Cactus Jack vs Terry Funk 4/15/95

Cactus attacked Funk as they went from the bleachers to the stage. Funk hit Cactus with three chairshots and threw a bunch of chairs onto Cactus from the balcony. Cactus fought back with a couple chairshots. Cactus jumped off the balcony level with an elbowsmash but Funk moved and Cactus crashed through a table on the stage. Funk hit Cactus with a chair as they returned to ringside. Cactus hit Funk with a metal crutch, a cookie sheet and a frying pan but Funk hiptossed him into the barricade. Funk hit Cactus�s leg with a chair as the leg was caught in the barricade. Funk brought a table into the ring but Cactus whipped Funk into the table twice. Funk fought back and hit Cactus with the table. Cactus recovered and dropkicked Funk into the barricade. Cactus attacked Funk with a toilet seat and a plunger. He rammed Funk face-first onto a chair at ringside. Funk slammed Cactus off the apron to the barricade. Cactus whipped Funk into the barricade and took him towards the entrance. Cactus brought a garbage bin into the ring and hit Funk with it. Funk fought back and broke a glass bottle over Cactus�s head, busting him open. Funk sliced Cactus�s arm open with a broken bottle. Funk slapped Cactus and insulted him on the mic. Mikey tried to come to Cactus�s aid but Funk threw him out of the ring and into the crowd. Myers also ran in but Funk beat him up as well. Funk hit Cactus�s leg with two brutal chairshots and applied a spinning toehold but Cactus rolled him up for the first near fall of the match at 12:25. Cactus DDTd Funk on a chair for a near fall when Sandman attacked Cactus for an apparent DQ as the bell rang at 12:48. However, Cactus then pinned Funk 10 seconds later. Sandman caned Cactus and poured lighter fluid on him. Funk then threw fire at Cactus and attacked him with a flaming branding iron. Cactus grabbed the flaming branding iron and chased Funk with it. A wild, crazy ending to the show. Not a classic match, but a fitting main event for its chaos and brutality. ***1/2

*They showed clips from 5/13/95 when Sandman defended the ECW Title against Cactus Jack and then Shane Douglas. Cactus DDTd Sandman for a near fall when Shane Douglas placed Sandman's foot on the bottom rope. Then they showed the other match. Sandman belly to belly suplexed Douglas and pinned him.

*Clip 7: ECW Title: Sandman (c) vs Cactus Jack 7/1/95

Cactus elbowsmashed Sandman off the apron and whipped him into the barricade. Cactus had barbed wire wrapped on his elbow while Sandman's gut was wrapped in barbed wire. Cactus hit Sandman with a metal crutch and wrapped the barbed wire around his head. Cactus placed a chair on Sandman's head as well and hit a second rope legdrop for a near fall. Cactus gave Sandman several punches with a barbed wire wrapped fist for a near fall. Woman caned Cactus but Cactus pushed her down. Sandman attacked Cactus from behind, but Cactus staggered back and both men knocked the ref down. Douglas came in and piledrove Sandman, then hit Cactus with a piece of a broken "cane". Sandman then pinned Cactus to retain the title. A total of 4:20 aired, and it looked like a good hardcore match but not great.

*Clip 8: Raven, Stevie Richards & Dudleys vs Cactus Jack, Tommy Dreamer & Pitbulls 8/5/95

Raven rammed Pitbull 2 into a fan's chair. Cactus hit Big Dick Dudley with a chair and Pitbull 2 hit Richards with a chair as well. Raven hit Dreamer with a chair but Dreamer fought back. Dreamer piledrove Raven on a chair but Cactus then DDTd Dreamer on the chair. Raven pinned Dreamer (1:47 aired).

*A Cactus interview aired in which he ran down Tommy Dreamer.

*A hilarious, classic interview aired in which Cactus appeared as Mick Foley, dressed in a suit and tie. He declared himself anti-hardcore and said Dreamer and the fans had a problem with being hardcore. He called Tommy a "sweet, sensitive guy" among other things and told fans not to encourage Dreamer to be hardcore. A clip aired with cactus at an amusement park with cotton candy in hand. Then they showed a clean-shaven Cactus at "home" with his young son talking about Christmas. Fantastic segment capturing the unique, humorous and often eccentric wit that Mick Foley displayed in 1995.

Terry Funk & Tommy Dreamer vs Raven & Cactus Jack 11/18/95

Cactus came out wearing a Dungeon of Doom t-shirt. Raven and Cactus held their opponents at bay early on. Funk and Dreamer quickly fought back and took the fight to ringside. Funk hit Cactus with a chair and threw the chair into the ring at Raven, hitting him in the head as well in a cool spot. Funk emptied a garbage can in the ring and hit both opponents with a �25 MPH� sign. Stevie Richards tried to interfere on Raven�s behalf. Funk and Dreamer placed Richards in a shopping cart and rammed it into the ringpost. Dreamer clocked Raven with a VCR as Funk assaulted Cactus with a snow shovel. Funk also hit Cactus with a dust pan and even hit the ref with it. Funk grabbed a golf club and hit a great chip shot on Raven�s crotch. Dreamer sliced open Raven�s head with a cheese grater. Raven and Cactus regained the advantage as Raven choked Funk with a toilet seat. Raven and Cactus clotheslined Dreamer with a chair. Cactus appeared to stab Funk�s arm with scissors as Raven DDTd Dreamer. Raven and Cactus continued to dominate the fight outside the ring. Raven and Cactus attempted to clothesline Dreamer with the chain but Dreamer dove onto the chain causing them to collide. Dreamer DDTd Raven but Cactus then hit Dreamer with a �speed limit 30� sign. Raven and Funk brawled outside the ring as Cactus took off his shirt, revealing an Eric Bischoff t-shirt underneath. Dreamer won a slugfest against Cactus and hit him with a loud chairshot. Funk dropped the shopping cart on Raven at ringside. Dreamer hit Cactus with the trash can. Cactus fought back and gave Funk a double arm DDT onto a chair. Raven hit a tope on Dreamer. Raven went to pin Funk but the ref was still knocked out. By this point all four men were bleeding. Cactus hit Dreamer with a paint bin and a fan�s crutch. Cactus brought out Bill Alfonso to count his pin attempt of Funk but only gained a near fall. Taz came in and pounded Funk. Raven attacked Dreamer but Dreamer fought back with 2 DDTs. Dreamer piledrove Raven on a chair and Funk pinned Raven at 13:37. Just a wild match from start to finish with a ton of weapons, several of which were very creative and unique. A great match, but not excellent because the athleticism was nothing special. ***1/2

*A clip aired with Cactus talking to Raven about Mikey and their tag team title win. Raven rejected Mikey as cactus tried to push Mikey's qualities to him. Raven shoved Cactus. Funny segment, again.

*A classic Cactus and Mikey interview aired. Cactus had the Mr. Potatohead toy. Cactus ripped an ear off the toy and put glasses on it, comparing it to himself and saying like himself, Mr. Potatohead was now hardcore. Cactus, wearing a "W W F'N F" shirt, praised Mikey and asked him to go to the WWF with him. Mikey just walked off.

*Clip 9: ECW Tag Team Title: Cactus Jack & Mikey Whipwreck (c) vs Eliminators (Saturn & Kronus) 2/3/96

Cactus threatened Saturn with a broken bottle. Mikey came in but Cactus shoved him away. Mikey dropkicked Cactus and kicked Saturn, saving Cactusc from a shot from Saturn and the broken bottle. Mikey dropkicked Kronus and clotheslined Saturn. Mikey gave Saturn a spinning huracanrana off the top rope and hit Kronus with a boot. Mikey backed into Cactus and Saturn superkicked him. Mikey was given total elimination and Saturn pinned him to win the title (1:29 aired). Raven went after Mikey but Cactus shoved him away from Mikey. Cactus then attacked Mikey and Raven hit him with a chair. Cactus DDTd Mikey on a chair.

*A Cactus interview aired in which Cactus explained his actions against Mikey, saying he was a drunk and a drug addict. Cactus declared his allegiance to Raven.

Cactus Jack (last ECW match) vs Mikey Whipwreck

Cactus overpowered Whipwreck early on and deluged him with punches in the corner. Cactus took the fight to ringside and tried to hit Whipwreck with a chair but Mikey moved with each attempt. Cactus rammed Whipwreck into the barricade as fans offered him weapons that were too harmless for Cactus�s taste. Whipwreck gave Cactus his own Cactus clothesline over the top rope to the floor. Whipwreck back suplexed Cactus on the floor. He gave Cactus a Russian legsweep on a chair in the ring. Whipwreck jumped on Cactus but Cactus dumped him over the top rope onto a ringside table. Cactus set up a table at ringside and back suplexed Mikey head-first into the upright table. Cactus came off the second rope to the floor with an elbowsmash on Mikey and hit him with a metal crutch. Cactus held a chair but Mikey superkicked the chair into his face. Mikey beat up Cactus in the crowd and hit a great springboard somersault plancha into the crowd. Cactus recovered and gave Mikey a Cactus clothesline over the barricade to ringside. Cactus suplexed Mikey on the floor and dominated him as the fight reentered the ring. He piledrove Mikey for a near fall. Cactus tore Mikey�s neckbrace off and DDTd him for a near fall. Cactus draped Mikey�s neck on the bottom rope and legdropped him. He attempted to piledrive Mikey on the floor but Mikey backdropped him into the crowd, only for Cactus to give him a neckbreaker on the barricade. Cactus launched himself off the barricade at Mikey but Mikey moved and Cactus took a mini-Nestea plunge head first into the barricade. Mikey hit Cactus 5 times in the head with a chair and gained a near fall. Mikey continued to assault Cactus with a chair. They again fought into the crowd and Mikey suplexed Cactus near the stage. Mikey hit a plancha/tope/dive onto Cactus from the third level above the stage (about an 8 foot drop). Mikey went for a top rope move but jumped into an elbow from Cactus. Cactus hit Mikey with a chair three times, piledrove him on the chair and pinned him at 17:19. An excellent match, devoid of much of the lengthy hype or over the top nature of ECW extreme spots, but everything was paced very well and Mick Foley gave ECW fans a significant reason to miss Cactus Jack. ****

Okay, so maybe you can get a Cactus Jack comp tape somewhere for less than the 22 dollars or so I paid for this tape. But for a 2.5 hour comprehensive look at Cactus in ECW, this was an outstanding effort. There are a couple clips and matches I would have liked to see, but I also felt that every clip of matches and interviews they included added to this tape and all clips were necessary. The selection of interview clips wasn't perfect, but overall did a tremendous job of capturing not only Cactus's wit and thought processes, but also how his speaking style and humor evolved during his ECW tenure. Only 4 matches were shown in their entirety, but that's understandable given the time constraints and dedication to a comprehensive tape. They made 4 very good and appropriate choices in the 4 matches that they aired unedited, as they were all great matches. If you want a crash course on Cactus Jack's ECW tenure and in a commercially released tape, this is a must-have for you. As an ECW fan, I had so much fun watching this tape because even though I had seen all 4 complete matches before, I had never seen many of the match and interview clips in between. Not all match clips looked good, but the clips were all short, so the tape kept moving right along. The couple interview pieces given ample time were among the funniest and most innovative I've ever seen. Great tape, bottom line. If you can get your hands on this for a reduced price, there's no reason anyone who gave a damn about ECW should not get this tape.

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