“THANK YOU, PAUL!” Those words that the ECW fans chanted as Paul Heyman stood in the ring while the One Night Stand pay-per-view was under way, said it all. I don’t know where to start with my praises of this show. Not only did I not get bored and want to talk through it, I didn’t even want to get up to get something to eat – unheard of for me! Every match, and I do mean every, was first rate, and it was obvious that emotions ran high all evening. How to give my opinions of this great PPV? Of that I’m not sure. There was so much that went on, and never having seen ECW and not knowing what to expect only added to my enjoyment.
I don’t want to describe things match by match, because I know I won’t do them justice. I’ll just jump in with what caught my attention at the moments. First, it was apparent (just in case there was a shadow of a doubt) that this would be vintage ECW. The first match was a really good one to start us off. It pit Lance Storm – probably wrestling for the last time – against Lionheart, or as we know him today, Chris Jericho. I loved the fact that they used Y2J’s old name, just as I liked Bubba Ray’s, D-Von’s, and Spike’s clothes that went back to those ECW days. That was no surprise of course, but it did really help to bring me along for the great ride that all the die-hard fans already knew was about to happen. And also, let me add that who won didn’t really matter on this night – the reunions, the energy, that’s what was important here, and it showed.
I had certainly heard about Super Crazy, but to watch his match – well, it was awesome. He was in an International Three Way Dance against Tajiri and Little Guido (Nunzio). Boy, Super Crazy is worth the price of admission all by himself. Rey Mysterio went against Psicosis, another wrestler I had heard a lot about. Again, in this Extreme Luchadore Action Match, the athlete I had never before seen grabbed my attention and would not let go. Psicosis is amazing, and going against Mysterio only made their match more exciting. What incredible moves there were in this match! That huge legdrop on Mysterio by Psicosis while Rey was on the outside railing was just unbelievable! Let the “holy s**t” chants begin.
Rhyno against Sabu, Chris Benoit against Eddie Guerrero, again, two super matches. Mike Awesome went to war with Masato Tanaka, and their match was fabulous. I lost count as to just how many head shots Tanaka took – way too many, that’s for sure. Those commonly heard “holy s**t” echoed from the rafters several times during this battle. Those two men went way over the top to deliver the goods. The last match of the night had the Dudley Boyz against The Sandman and Tommy Dreamer. (Great reception for Dreamer, as this was most certainly to be his last match as well.) Again, another super contest, and when Dreamer was put through a burning table, oh my God!
After a Dudley victory, Sandman wanted a beer. Well, who knows more about beer than Stone Cold Steve Austin! But the beer must wait. Austin calls out all the guys from the back. Taz makes his entrance alone, and Austin intimidates the WWE crusaders into coming down for a fight. Taz and Kurt Angle go at it, which immediately starts off the entire brawl. When the dust settled, the WWE invaders retreated, leaving ECW standing tall. I just loved this finish. I really did not want a run-in of any kind, and I was sure pleased when the WWE attendees were called out instead of volunteering to cause trouble. After ECW had chased both the Raw and SmackDown! guys out of their respective rings last week I wasn’t sure if that’s how it would play out. But it worked out perfectly – there could be no better ending.
Well, on second thought yeah, there could. And there was. Austin asked Mick Foley – how could I forget that he was one of the announcers for the evening, especially when I like him so much – to bring Eric Bischoff to the ring. A 3-D, courtesy of the Dudley’s, a flying headbutt thanks to Benoit, then the 619 by Mysterio. After Stone Cold conducted a mock interview with Bischoff and Eric just blurted out obscenities, there was one more thing left to do. STUNNER! STUNNER! As the Dudley Boyz ‘took out the trash’ and dispensed with Eric, ECW celebrated in their arena.
But the night was not just about sensational wrestling, oh no. With Raw and SmackDown! following through with their threats of invasion, and watching and heckling from a box above the action, their presence provided fodder for a few men. Not the least of these was Rob Van Dam, who went off with a shoot on the SmackDown! players, giving them a piece of his mind. (I must say here that as JBL was yapping away, my friend Linda said that they should just shut off his microphone. In the next second he was tapping away at that mic that was no longer on. Good call!) He said that fans were sick and tired of watching predictable matches week after week. Amen to that! But most importantly, he gave an emotional, heartfelt, and unscripted oration about how not being able to participate in this ECW reunion due to surgery was the hardest thing he has had to face. More than anything, he had wanted to be a physical part of this show and help send the fans home happy. This PPV was even more bitter sweet, since it was RVD who pitched the idea to Vince McMahon in the first place. He stayed immersed in things, and then – no match. He was involved at one point, but surely not to the extent that he would have liked.
Heyman was moved to tears when the ECW fans were rewarding him with their “Thank you, Paul” chants. What he must have been feeling as he stood in that ring soaking up their adoration. Love him or hate him, the man is a genius. Then, it was his turn to shoot, this time on the WWE invaders. In particular, he tagged Eric Bischoff, JBL, and Edge. After giving out the warning, “Wait a minute, hide your wives, it’s Edge!”, he did what, as he pointed out, the scripts won’t let you do. He named names, mainly, Matt Hardy. He told JBL that the only reason that he had stayed the Champion for so long was that Triple H didn't want to work Tuesday's! I absolutely loved both RVD’s and Heyman’s shoots. To say it added to the program is an understatement.
There were also many ECW history moments, and I thought they were great as well. These segments were really fun to watch. Well, maybe not the one when Sabu broke his neck, but most of the others were, even though there were probably other injuries in some of those pieces we were shown. I have the DVD “The Rise and Fall of ECW”, which I have not found the time to watch yet. I’m going to be making time for that, to be sure.
I was going to talk about Raw and SmackDown!, and the two draft picks that have already been made, but I’ve changed my mind. ECW stands alone here, and I don’t want to do anything to take away from that. Whether you thought it was terrific, or the worst thing to happen to professional wrestling makes no difference. It took on a life of its own and did just what sports entertainment is supposed to do – evoke emotion from those who watch it. I started with it, and I must finish with it – thank you Paul, for your creativity and courage to have provided the wrestling community with ECW!
Be safe and God Bless,
Barb.
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