ECW Hardcore Heaven Tape Reviews

Hardcore Heaven `97 - Rob Van Dam vs. Al Snow
Rob Van Dam was just starting to really shine and Paul E. played this trump card carefully placing him against guys that made him look like a million bucks. Snow was fresh off a forgetable stint with the WWF and was ready to make a splash in ECW again.
First out comes RVD, fresh into the "Mr. Monday Night" gimmick. Snow, still in Leif Cassidy garb, is already doing the crazy gimmick, which gets interesting as the match goes on. The crowd doesn't seem into either guy, but these two probably became two of ECW's biggest fan favorites in the next year.
Sadly right off the time up technical problems caused my version to be without sound, but oh well. They both show some good stuff early, but RVD's arrogance gets him sent to the floor with a dropkick. Snow comes out with a pescado and they brawl around on the floor. Snow does a Masato Tanaka like sprint and levels Van Dam with a big lariat.
Back inside, Van Dam hits a strange jumping double punch thing that sends Snow back out. RVD teases his tope con hilo, then misses a baseball slide opening himself up to another lariat. The future ace of ECW comes back in a big way with a dangerous moonsault off the guardrail and follows it up eventually with his tope con hilo!
They end up battling on the top rope which allows Snow to hit a HUGE superplex. The crowd still seems out of it, but then again I can't hear `em yet. Snow goes for another top rope move, which RVD fights off allowing him to hit a good-looking Flying Side Kick. In what may be a botched spot (it didn't look all that bad, but unusual), Snow hits a Fallaway Powerbomb about a foot short of the ropes(?). After another lariat, Snow begins grabbing his head like he's crazy. Van Dam is scooped up and dropped with a Northern Lights Bomb for a 2 1/2.
They continue to fight, but Snow looks slow (though he's supposed to be a step ahead of Van Dam). RVD is sent out to the floor with a dropkick again and Snow follows him out with a tope con hilo, but lands on an invinsible table ass-first (OUCH). They start using chairs, RVD hits his guardrail-assisted Van Daminator, then rolls back in.
Snow is hit with a Spinning Legdrop and sloppily cradled for a nearfall and then the sound FINALLY tunes back in. The crowd is stomping and cheering Snow on...crackle...sound's out again (I swear at the TV). Snow is finally hit with a hideously revealing Van Daminator and pinned at 13:43. Despite the lack of sound I enjoyed this match in `97, I had never seen any of Snow's much better matches and had seen glimpses of brillance in the WWF.
I enjoyed this match a great deal back in the day, but it has aged (not even 5 years) badly. Though I haven't seen any great matches out of Snow (aside from the Benoit one), he has been consistantly good. Van Dam was carriable here, but Snow just seemed unusually off. The highspots were good, but the in between stuff was not that good.
Rating: **1/4

Hardcore Heaven `97 - Shane Douglas vs. Sabu vs. Terry Funk (Heavyweight Championship)
For better or for worse, I have not seen the original Douglas-Funk-Sabu battle that helped make ECW. They showed highlights of "Born to be Wired" on the TV before the show, which tells you something about the toughness of Sabu and Terry Funk. This match would have to be a real stinker to be worse then Raven-Funk at ECW's first PPV, but Douglas's inclusion will keep it from that trust me, unfortunately not that much.
On a side note, "Desperado" is bad entrance music for Terry Funk. Why don't they just tell people he's washed up and be done with it. Sabu's bicep, which was viciously ripped open in the barbed wire match is heavily taped, but he's still going to get in there in put fourth a good effort.
Douglas and Sabu try each other out as Funk looks on. Douglas finally goes after the Funker and a three-way brawl starts on the floor. Sabu helps the Franchise wear down the veteran and each of them get a few nearfalls. Terry slowly falls to the floor by Douglas and brought back in Sabu. The two youngsters -er- non-oldsters continue to work over Funk, but he refuses to stay down.
Finally Douglas hits a prone Sabu with a steel chair and ends their brief partnership. The champion comes right back though with a stiff German Suplex then sends Douglas out, following up with his signature Triple Jump Springboard Plancha. Funk is still dazed and Sabu comes at him hard with a nice Asai Moonsault.
Terry comes back briefly, but has to sit out for a bit. He returns with a chair and sets up two of them, which he uses to hit a brutal neckbreaker (after Douglas hoists up Sabu's legs) onto the chair structure. Douglas then goes after the ancient Funk's even more beaten down knees and calls him a "cocksucker," that's class.
Things fall apart as Douglas brings in a guardrail. He is cut off though and Funk and Sabu send him into twice. Then Sabu sandwichs Funk underneath it with a legdrop. They finally get it out and Douglas hits a pair of lariats and belly-to-belly on both men. Then they go into the three-way sleeper spot, which is kind of ridiculous. Sabu hits a Triple Jump Moonsault on Douglas for a nearfall, then botches a second one. He goes for a Super Quebrada to make up for it, but Funk rolls out of the way.
The Funker drunkenly headbutts the Franchise several times, but falls down soon after. Sabu hits both men with one Triple Jump Moonsault as Fonzie throws in a table. Sabu sets up the old man as Sabu very slowly accends to the top. In probably the worst-looking thing of the night, Commissioner Tod Gordon saves Funk, but Douglas throws him on and Funk sets Fonzie on as Sabu looks like a fish out of water on the top rope before taking out the commish and his manager with a Flying Legdrop.
Sabu gets right up and the three start brawling again with woo-enducing chops. The referees clean up the debris and Sabu brings in a ladder. He takes both opponents and even the ref, but the Sandman ambushes him. The Sandman hits a Slingshot Somersault Legdrop with Sabu crushed under the ladder. The security drags out the Sandman and Sabu cradled and pinned by Funk and Douglas. He recovers awfully quickly though and hits a Springboard Plancha on Sandman and like five cops. "ECW! ECW!"
Back in the thick of things, Funk goes after Francine, but Douglas stops him with a piece of table. The Funker fights back with his hit you, hit me, hit you spot with a trash can. The Franchise brawls back and hits the belly-to-belly for a nearfall. A piledriver stuns Terry and Douglas sets up a table as ECW locker room collects around ringside.
Francine climbs in and slaps Terry few times, until Dory Funk Jr. shows up!! The older Funk rocks Douglas with three big European Uppercutts and chases the Head Cheerleader out of the arena. Funk cradles Douglas for a nearfall and the two look real bad as they go back and fourth. They end up on the apron above the table and Funk hits an undistinguishable move through it.
Douglas beats Funk in and gets a nearfall and another belly-to-belly gets the same result, so does another, but Funk counters the third with a small package. The Franchise locks up the old man for a the third and gets the pinfall win to regain the title at 26:57.
The post-match is very exciting as Francine returns and Douglas continues to beatdown Funk. Gertner returns with the Dudleys, who stomp away on the dead ex-champion. Gertner proposes Douglas dump Bigelow and Candido and join up with the Dudleys. The Triple Threat will have none of it and a big brawl ensues. The new champ and his cohorts walk out and the Dudleys clear the ring. Balls and Axl can't clear them out, but the Gangsta-Nators can. A one-legged Perry Saturn hits an insane Flying Elbowdrop and New Jack hits Gertner with a chair followed by Kronus's 450 Splash. Everyone celebrates. "ECW! ECW!"
Back to the main event, Douglas looked okay, but below his normal "very good" level. Sabu may have looked the best he has since...I don't know, but he only botched one spot badly, but recovered relatively nicely. Funk looked bad, I mean I know he's in his 50s and his knees should reduce him to something very bad, but this may be the worst I've ever seen him at physically. I guess the barbed wire match took him out for the month, but Paul E. should've saved him for the pay-per-view or something. This was a very disappointing match and it tells you something when the chronically injured Sabu looked the best.
Rating: **

Hardcore Heaven `99 - Super Crazy vs. TAKA Michinoku
Talk about international dream match. ECW's luchador highspot artist and the WWF's most held down talent and perhaps the best Japanese wrestler in the US. Though Crazy ia not an exceptional luchador, he is dynamic and definately capable. TAKA is simply awesome and assures a respectable match as long as he's with another junior or a good worker.
Things get underway quickly as Crazy dropkicks TAKA out to the ramp. Michinoku returns fire with an Otani-like Springboard Dropkick that sends Crazy to the outside. TAKA does his Springboard Plancha tease (backflip) to get some heat. Back inside they pick things up, namely Super Crazy does with a big Swinging DDT. Michinoku bounces back and takes over with Kaientai heel tactics in the corner.
Crazy hooks a sleeper twice, but TAKA escapes it both times. He continues with his arrogance and dominance with a big Tornado DDT. The WWFer goes for a second, but gets powerbombed. TAKA bounces right back with a huracanrana and dumps Crazy out with a Jerry Bump. Michinoku actually follows through with his signature plancha this time, but misses it and hits the guardrail hard. Super Crazy follow it up with what I assume is a Springboard Moonsault Suicida.
Back inside, TAKA sells his knee being injured, so Crazy taps into his scientific ability, but targetting it. Michinoku makes a brief comeback, but the Insane Luchador avoids his moonsault and hits three of his own. TAKA cuts off another highflying move with a dropkick and hits another gorgeous missile dropkick. He hoists Crazy up and drops him with the Michinoku Driver II, but cannot cover him.
Crazy turns it around on his Japanese foe with two powerbombs in succession the latter being a Azteca Bomb, which gives him the win at 8:28. This was a brief match and the psychology was minimal, but everything was well-executed and the crowd was pretty hot for it.
Rating: **3/4

Hardcore Heaven `99 - Yoshihiro Tajiri vs. Little Guido
Another hot junior matchup on an ECW PPV, this time the highly well-rounded Japanese Buzzsaw and the Billy Robinson trained Italian grappler extrordinaire.
Tajiri makes a nice entrance (though this is prior to his Muta-like look) and the crowd definately appreciates his talents. He throws a kick at Guido from the ramp and spits on Big Sal E. Graziano. Once he's in the ring, all three play up this as being a heated match, which is always an advantage.
Tajiri's kick leads to him getting assaulted by Maritato on the ground. He turns it around forces another standup, where he uses his kicks to gain control. Guido rallies himself though and regains the advantage in the corner and hooks on a Fujiwara Armbar, which is followed up by a missile dropkick to Tajiri's weakened arm.
Tajiri cuts off Guido's advantage by rolling out and dodging a pescado. He quickly follows up with a plancha that even gets a piece of Graziano. After posting Maritato, the Italian rolls back in and tries to catch Tajiri coming in. The Japanese Buzzsaw hits a stiff kick and goes for a sunset flip, which Guido counters briefly, until Tajiri turns around and locks on the Tarantula.
Big Sal punches Tajiri and the Italian Shooter goes on the offense. He attempt a head scissors, but it propelled over the ropes and does a belly-flop on the ramp. Tajiri tries to followup, but Guido hits a drop toehold and then a Sicilian Slice (Leg Guilltoine Drop) on the rampway. Back inside, Maritato lights his foe up with some chops and hooks on another Armbar, which he oddly lets loose of.
He draws the ref into the corner, allowing Sal to powerslam Tajiri giving him the nearfall. Guido locks on a keylock, but Tajiri escapes. Sal again gets a few licks in, but it is Maritato who has to finish him off. Guido tries to brawl with Tajiri, tries a powerbomb, and tries to hook his Sicilian Crab, but Tajiri fights back.
The Japanese Buzzsaw's offense is brief and Guido hooks on another arm submission, this time a Cross Armbreaker. Tajiri escapes and finally mounts his comeback after a bizarre spinning crucifix hold, but Guido is not weak enough for him to hit a big move yet. Upside down in the corner, Maritato follows prey one of the best sliding dropkicks ever and Sal gets booted off the apron. Tajiri's onslaught continues with a stiff reverse roundhouse kick and brainbuster for the pinfall victory at 11:06. A solid match and though it did not have the highflying that Crazy-Michinoku did it was much better overall.
Rating: ***1/2

Hardcore Heaven `99 - Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn (TV Championship) This was the feud that elevated RVD to the top spot and pushed Jerry Lynn higher than he'd ever been in pro wrestling. This was the second and arguably the best match of the series
The match starts nicely with some good matwork, which the crowd actually cheers (those ECW fans, I can't figured `em out). Then they do a great sequence of leap frogs, RVD goes for his split dropdown, Jerry tries to counter with a legdrop, RVD moves and goes for a kick from the crowd, which Lynn ducks, and they try to hit an elbowdrop and somersault legdrop respectively, but end up at a stalemate. The fans really eat it and up and play to RVD's posing.
Lynn finally picks things up and they go into another sequence this time it's like 8 or so spots. The only flaw was Jerry was supposed to land on his feet at the end, when RVD went for a monkey flip and didn't quite do it. The fans love this sequence too, but its time to transition. They exchange blows and Van Dam gets knocked silly on the apron and off with a Jericho-like Springing Dropkick. Lynn follws up with his always better-than-average plancha and though he overshoots some, it's all good.
He continues on RVD with dropkicks and a springing legdrop as the Champ tries to get back in. After lighting Rob up with some chops, he hits a super bulldog, which RVD takes rather awkwardly. Fonzie stops Lynn's top rope follow up and holds a chair up, so the Van Daminator can be hit. In another cool series, Jerry jerks away the chair, ducks the kick, and blasts Van Dam with the chair - it's all to ECW-like.
Lynn comes into the corner fast, but is hoisted and crotched on the ropes. Rob quickly nails a springing back kick, which sends Lynn sailing out to the floor in a violent spill. I don't know the legitamacy of this injury, but its obvious Lynn was hurt. His nose is bloodied and he is very slow to get back up. Van Dam lifts him up like dead weight and sends him into the frontrow.
After giving Lynn a short break, RVD hits a very athletic lariat over the guardrail. Jerry returns fire with a dropkick and stumbles back into the ring. Lynn hits a beautiful sunset flip out of the corner, but can't put RVD away. Van Dam hits a huge spinebuster and a Northern Lights Suplex, but neither get him the win either. He sets up the challenger on the top rope, but Lynn comes back with a Sunset Flip into a Powerbomb for a nearfall.
Jerry Lynn hurries outside and sets up a table for god knows what. He and Van Dam continue to brawl and the Champ gets the better of him and even springboards off the guardrail and hits a Van Daminator (chair tossed in by Fonzie). Lynn battles back though and finally seems like he'll be able to use the table as he goes for a suicidal huracanrana. Van Dam dumps him over though and he takes another violent spill onto the Timekeeper's table.
Rob Van Dam is in control and hits his Corkscrew Legdrop from the apron as Lynn is drapped over the railing. Jerry is rolled back in for a nearfall and so the brutality continues. They get on the apron again, hoovering above that table. Lynn gets a chance and goes for a Swinging DDT, but Van Dam sets him back on the apron and lariats him back over.
Back inside again, Van Dam calls up Alfonso and is apparently looking for his Monkey Flip with a chair. Lynn ducks him and sends him out to the apron. They exchange blows, but Lynn slingshots himself over and hits another Sunset Flip/Powerbomb, this time sending RVD through the table. The wood explodes under the champion and Lynn rolls him him, but only squeezes out a 2 3/4.
Fonzie tries desperately to help Rob, but Lynn chucks the chair at him and knocks him stupid He hooks RVD with a German Suplex, but again its not enough. He goes to the top, but Van Dam catches him with a kick. Rob sets up a chair and the two battle on top, eventually falling off (which they weren't supposed to). Lynn hits his own Van Daminator and they go into a cradle sequence with Lynn nearly hooking his Cradle Piledriver.
They battle on the ropes again, but this time Lynn goes down and Rob hits a Split-Legged Moonsault for the nearfall. He follows up with a huge Frog Splash, but doesn't pin Lynn quickly enough and almost gets cradled for the three. Fonzie hands Rob a chair...Van Daminator...even higher Frog Splash and an RVD victory at __:__. They high-five each other afterwards and the fans pop for that. Both guys worked hard and Lynn really looked especially awesome. It had to be hard to get your ass kicked worse than the champion, who you had to put over in a major way. This was the best match of the series for whatever reason and one of ECW's very best.
Rating: ***1/2

Hardcore Heaven `99 - Taz vs. Buh-Buh Ray Dudley (World Championship)
What a poor main event and though the Dudleys didn't have a match going into it and Taz vs. Chris Candido probably wasn't going to be spectacular, this is not better. I guess because both are Heyman brand champions they'd work well together or at least that's Heyman's logic. Taz kicked Candido's ass in the first match and was hit with 3-D. The Dudleys had a poor match of sorts with Balls Mahoney & Spike Dudley. Balls spit fire into Joel Gertner's face and the wounded stud muffin has been having the Dudleys jump people all night. Taz finally calls them out, they jump Chris Chetti, D-Von breaks his hand, and there's your main event.
Buh-Buh comes out alone with the Tag belts and the lack of music adds a weird effect. The bigger of the half-brother team goes into a rant about beating up Chetti (Taz's cousin) and talks about how he's going to win the title.
Taz comes down and turns things on early with his Brooklyn Boot and a Waterwheel Suplex. He grabs the mic and makes this an "FTW Rules - Falls Count Anywhere" match, but Buh-Buh comes back in and gains control. Simple brawling works well enough for Dudley, until he's hit with a drop toehold on the ramp and then a big FTW sign.
They return the ring briefly and take it to the floor. Into the crowd they go, where they work there way through very slowly. Buh-Buh Ray bangs Taz's head and the blood begins to flow. Out in the lobby, the brawl continues as Taz bleeds like a pig. They fight their way back to the ring, where Buh-Buh goes on the offensive.
More brawling really brings this match down. Taz finally comes back with a super head-and-arm suplex, but D-Von comes to the rescue with a reverse DDT. Buh-Buh keeps on hammering the champion and whips Taz's blood on his face. Taz hits a clothesline, but the big Dudley returns fire quickly.
The table is brought in and Buh-Buh sets it up in the corner. He sets up another on in another corner for god knows what. Taz makes a pissed off comeback and the referee tries to stop things, but is tossed through table #1. A Lyger Bomb and a Back Suplex-Neckbreaker with D-Von isn't enough to put down the champ. They go for 3-D, but D-Von is DDT'd and Buh-Buh is T-Boned through table #2. Dudley kicks out, but is hooked with the Tazmission and quickly taps out at 12:57. This was a poor match, other than the ending, which had some nice work and a very gory winner.
Rating: **

Hardcore Heaven `00 - Steve Corino vs. Yoshihiro Tajiri
Simple background: Corino's with the Network, Tajiri and he were buddies, until the "Japanese Buzzsaw" refused to drop the TV title to Rhino, who was the Network's top guy. Corino comes out to his supercool theme and man o' man, I mark out for the "King of Old School." Then out comes Tajiri, who I love even more, he was probably my favorite in ECW at this time. Corino does a nice racist promo (not that I'm anti-Japanese at the least, but I know its just a schtick from him and this is ECW). Tajiri catching him with a high kick shuts him up.
Tajiri goes pretty stiff on Corino, who comes right back with some offense before being caught in the Tarantula. They battle on the runway, Tajiri hitting a vertical brainbuster on it that leads to Corino bleeding. Back inside, Tajiri bites the gash, then dropkicks it out of the tree of woe. Corino's juicing big time now and his blonde hair is totally red ala Ric Flair.
Tajiri doesn't let up, using a chair and then a table dropkicking both into Corino. Jack Victory tries to help his buddy, before Tajiri hits a springboard double lariat on them. The Old School Hero battles back though, backdropping Tajiri from the ramp back in and through a table that gets him a 2 1/2. Corino is horribly bloodied, but continues though. A Fisherman Suplex gets a nearfall, so does a Northern Lights Suplex. Styles and Cyrus put this over so well it makes me miss both of them.
After Corino sets up a table, he DDTs Tajiri, who goes out. Coming back in, Corino hooks on an Abdominal Stretch, Tajiri quickly reversing it into the Octopus! Victory finally comes in to interfere, but he is sprayed with the green mist and the fans love it. "The King of Old School" hits a desperation powerslam that gets a 2 1/2. Tajiri just seems annoyed by it and taps into his kickboxing background, beating Corino down with various kicks and punches that gets a big pop out of the fans. One last head kick gets a big "ooohhh" and Tajiri lays him out on the table, puts him through it with a Flying Double Stomp and scores the win at 10:25. Kintaro Kanemura rushes in and he and Jack Victory wear out Tajiri, before Dusty Rhodes comes out and cleans house.
How the WWF couldn't use Tajiri properly and didn't even sign Corino is beyond me. While the latter has great mic skills and has nice appeal to Mid-Atlantic and newer indy fans alike with his gimmick and moveset. Tajiri can really do it all and tonight he just played the vicious lil' bastard he can be using his artistic and stiff strikes to make Corino come across as a sympathetic heel and start his ascent up the card. Unfortunately Tajiri was never made to a main guy, even though the fans loved him, he was the best talent in the company and could do it all. This match just shows he can elevate people better than most people in ECW.
Rating: ***

Hardcore Heaven `00 - Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn
It's simple, RVD's game was elevated as never before by Lynn in their first encounter. They met again with similar results because, quite frankly, Lynn is an excellent worker and can make a guy like Van Dam look like a mega-star. Both were injured at about the same time and ECW had really missed the boat on Lynn thus far. RVD's comeback was hot news, Lynn's wasn't, so he plays the sourpuss and hopes to defeat Rob, which he hasn't done yet and is in company with most of the ECW boys.
They start with their usual sequenced stalemate that I won't try to describe because its too long and complex to spend a paragraph on. Rob gets the first shots in with a high kick and a cartwheel moonsault deal that's pretty good. Lynn cuts off RVD's showboating and sends him to the floor with a Jericho-esque Springing Moonsault then hits a Slingshot Somersault Plancha.
RVD comes back with his usual spots on the floor: spring-off-the-guardrail back kick and a corkscrew legdrop off apron. He misses his Springing Moonsault and THWACK! he hits nothing but floor. Back inside, Jerry gets a 2 1/2. He continues with a Facefirst Suplex and a Minnesota Jam for a 2 3/4. A Jumping DDT spikes RVD for another nice nearfall. They do another repeated counter sequence out of Lynn's Tornado DDT, ending with double lariats for another stalemate.
Fonzie rolls through the ring and leaves a chair. RVD gets to it first and artisticly tries to set up for the Vandaminator, Jerry blasting him with the chair instead than counters a legsweep, legdropping RVD for another nearfall. Cyrus craps on Fonzie as he should, the inteference is annoying. Van Dam does all his typical spots that get several nearfalls, Cyrus says a few are new, but I don't remember them being new at all.
Lynn avoids Rob's Monkey Flip and hits a Sunset Flip/Powerbomb on the chair for a hot nearfall. He unfancies things a bit with a superplex that gets another nearfall, but the fans are noticably less into that one. Lynn avoids a shoulder tackle on the apron, spins and legdrops Rob, I've seen him do that spot a few times and that one looked to be the best. This allows him to set up a table below them and they do a lot of battling above it teasing who'll go through, ending when Jerry bulldogs Rob into it. Lynn takes out Scotty Anton with a Somersault Bodyblock off the apron and takes RVD back inside.
Lynn goes up top, Fonzie shoves him off though and he ends up crotched and is nailed with the Vandaminator. The fans seem upset by Fonzie and Cyrus leaves the broadcast booth as RVD sandwichs Lynn under a steel chair with the Five-Star Frog Splash. Steve Corino and Jack Victory come out and attack "Mr. Pay-Per-View." Lynn and Van Dam fight them, but Rhino rushes in and Gores Lynn. Rob goes after him and is Rhinobombed as Cyrus encourages him. RVD fights back with a spin wheel kick and a Flying Side Kick that takes out Rhino. Vandaminator on Cyrus by Rob, Vandaminator on Fonzie by Lynn, Vandaminator on him by RVD and the "Whole F'n Show" seems to have this one in the bag.
Rob goes up for the Frog Splash again as Anton gets up on the apron. He quickly rushes at RVD and shoves him off the top and Van Dam takes a nasty spill that sees him land half on the ramp. Anton rolls Van Dam back in and Lynn hits the Cradle Piledriver for a 1...2..Kickout! A second Cradle Piledriver on the chair (according to Styles) does the trick though, Lynn finally beating RVD at 19:50.
I like Lynn and nobody carries RVD like he does. The interference was bad and definately dropped this match down a bit. The finish was also bad, Anton could've swerved RVD at any other time and it could've been made to have the same impact, this just made Lynn's win mean less. Rob's such a great athlete and the potential is really there, but he just seems so below his development level. I guess both coming off injuries meant this match could only be so good and I think it may have been the worst of their feud, mostly because of the aforemantioned negatives. These matches can seem redundant and hackneyed, but a lot of very good matches come across like that if their part of a long-running feud. Personally I think their reliance on complexity takes away more than it adds, the superplex was about the only normal thing in this and the fans didn't take it seriously.
Rating: **3/4

Hardcore Heaven `00 - Justin Credible vs. Lance Storm (World Championship)
Justin Credible's championship reign was just bad booking. Tommy Dreamer finally captured the ECW World Champion by defeating Tazz, but "never got to wear the belt" as they put it. Justin came in, threw down his tag belt (deeming it and insulting his partner Storm) and beat Dreamer and took it. He comes out first in what was to be a three way dance and says he won't fight anyone, but the departing Storm. Dreamer wants in, but JC says he will disgrace the World title and leave, so Tommy has to wait until another day because, as Heyman puts it, "he has (ECW) by the balls." He shakes Storm's hand and walks to the back, I hate the false advertising, but like the uniqueness and very ECW-like nature of this, plus Storm can carry JC better on his own. Everyone's introduced and we are underway.
Storm attacks, Justin is sent to the floor and kept their a few times. Nice slow build, JC getting some heat. Finally Lance dives out with a pescado and is met by a caneshot. Lance blades (don't know if I've seen him do that before) and they brawl a bit. Justin sets up a table on the runway allowing Lance to come back and attack. They exchange a bunch of chops, which get loud "woos."
They do some okay-to-good stuff inside, restholds tugging down the crowd heat. Storm's stuff is solid as always, but JC seems worse than his usually carriable self. Storm reverses That's Incredible into a Northern Lights Suplex for a two. JC comes back with a stiff superkick and continues with some chair use. The fans fall asleep as they do some stuff, the champion finally getting hip tossed over-the-top and through the table on the ramp.
Storm hooks the Half Crab and has things in order, until Francine nails him with her shoe. Dawn Marie hurries in and attacks, JC pulling her off and taking her out with That's Incredible. He goes after Storm, who greets him with a caneshot and then piledrives Justin for a nearfall. JC comes back with That's Incredible, which Storm kicks out of for a decent pop. The champ catches him with a Swinging DDT for another nearfall and both seem dazed. A few more nearfalls and the crowd doesn't seem to care. Finally Justin hits his Tombstone again for the uneventful win at 12:29. Dreamer returns and teases a reconciliation with Francine before hitting the Death Valley Driver (yelling "Louie" as he does it) to send the fans home happy after a lackluster main event.
I hate to say ECW doesn't deliver because their PPVs are always fun to watch live. I don't remember loving this one in particular and this main event capped off one of their weaker shows. Storm looked good, but below his normal level and Justin seemed way off. Not that the champ was ever too much to watch, though he could be carried to pretty good matches...this wasn't one. The crowd was totally dead after a hot, but disappointing RVD-Lynn match, which was a tough act to follow. I actually think Dreamer should've been thrown in as this would've had the heat and couldn't have been made any worse.
Rating: **