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Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews WWECW One Night Stand

ECWonenightstand2005

ECW One Night Stand
June 12, 2005
New York, NY
March 2, 2014

Background: I had mentioned in the December to Dismember review that the 2004 Rise and Fall Documentary was the first step in the revival of ECW. This was step two. The documentary was a huge success. Rob Van Dam reportedly continually pitched the idea of a ECW Pay-Per-View. And here it is.

There was a lot of doubt in regards to how good this show would actually be. Would Vince McMahon ruin it? The InVasion was still kinda fresh in some people’s heads. Would Vince throw out a watered down product? A LOT of people thought this was going to be a failure. Like somehow JBL would be the last man standing or something.

Storyline wise, Paul Heyman wanted to bring ECW back for a One Night Stand, and Eric Bischoff, arguably the most hated man in ECW history, didn’t want it to happen. There was a lot of real life animosity between Bischoff and Heyman due to how Bischoff would raid ECW’s talent roster in the mid-90s. Of course Bischoff was very defensive about how some actually thought there were times when ECW was the #2 promotion in the world (something Bischoff even provides in the documentary). Nonetheless, Bischoff is the perfect heel for this scenario. On the Smackdown side, JBL was also against the show for the standard reason Jerry Lawler was against ECW in 1997. He didn’t think they were in his league and deserved any TV or PPV time the WWE could provide. Both Raw and Smackdown had threatened to invade One Night Stand.

The Card

The crowd is electric early on! ECW! ECW! ECW!

Here comes Joey Styles!

Everyone just seems so happy to be there.

“OH MY GOD!”

Mick Foley is going to be Joey’s commentating partner tonight. Awesome. A lot better than Schiavone and Hudson.

The new ECW intro video package at first doesn’t feel like what ECW is about…but then you realize if ECW ever made it big time this is exactly what it would look like.

Lance Storm vs. Chris Jericho

Storm of course has the beautiful Dawn Marie with him.

I believe Storm had recently retired. Of course, an ECW reunion show with a match vs. Jericho I’m sure was an easy sell. Styles and Foley actually state this this is intended to be Storm’s last match.

Impact Players are talked about from Styles and Foley. Will we see Justin Credible later?

Jericho comes out dressed as Lionheart Chris Jericho, but has the Y2J music. Good thing that theme owns anyway.

Storm and Jericho shake. These guys are best friends afterall.

Amazing chain wrestling to start. Favorite was a Jericho monkey flip being countered into a cartwheel from Storm.

Dawn gets the “she’s a crack whore” chant.

Jericho does a dropkick from the first rope. That just looked cool.

Lionheart chant. ECW crowds were great.

Lance Storm probably had the best dropkick in the business.

Storm even makes a delayed vertical suplex look amazing.

Storm jumps to the top rope, when he jumps back (which makes no sense, but whatever), Jericho dropkicks him in the back of the head! No one cares when spots make no sense when they were amazing.

Chris Candido chant. He had passed away like a week before this and was Storm’s partner in ECW.

Fuck John Cena chant. Because why not.

The Calgary Crab! Or the Straight Shooter, whatever you want to call it.

Justin Credible and Jason are here! Jericho fights them off.

Lance Storm pins Chris Jericho in 7:22. Jericho rolls up Storm, but Storm kicks out and Credible cracks Jericho right in the face! Storm gets the win! Styles says “what a crappy way to win your last match” Match was excellent. I wish it was longer.

We get a Gary Wolfe interview…time to reflect on a lot of ECW wrestlers who had passed.

Rocco Rock, Bam Bam Terry Gordy, Mike Lockwood (Crash Holly), The Original Sheik, Mike Lozansky, Pitbull Anthony Durante, Big Dick Dudley, Chris Candido all honored. Great video.

Yoshihiro Tajiri vs. Super Crazy vs. Little Guido

Tajiri has Mikey Whipwreck and The Sinister Minister with him.

We are reminded that this is an elimination match.

I totally forgot Guido comes out with the whole FBI. JT Smith, Tony Mamaluke, Tracy Smothers, Big Guido. Just awesome.

Never understood how Super Crazy was never a bigger deal.

Tilt-a-whirl into an armbreaker from Guido to Tajiri, nice. They go into a chain wrestling sequence.

The way Super Crazy would nip-up from everything was great.

Crazy and Guido end up in the crowd.

O DIOS MIOS!

Super Crazy does a balcony moonsault onto the FBI! I’m pretty sure that was the moment fans realized this was going to really an ECW show and not a watered down show.

FBI interference everywhere. Tajiri mists Guido! Guido gets Whippersnappered from the top! Tajiri pins Guido! It is hard to keep up.

Double springboard moonsault!

Super Crazy wins when he pins Tajiri in 6:12. Crazy gets the top rope moonsault for the win! Can’t believe that was only 6 minutes. It was an amazing 6 minutes.

We get some ECW memories.

Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Psicosis

Psicosis takes off the mask to honor the ECW fans. Although the fans actually don’t appreciate it.

Rey’s theme does not fit here.

They both kinda start off slow, with a small botch in there. Still, it’s good chain wrestling though.

I remember people thinking Psicosis was wrestling for a job with the slow downed pace.

Suddenly the match kicks into high gear with Rey on the railing and getting hit by a Psycho Guillotine!

Psicosis misses a dropkick into the corner and does a violent flip into the mat. Psicosis was so good, shame he also never really got the big push in the WCW Cruiserweight division.

Rey does a seated senton into the crowd and Psicosis!

619 did not get a good response.

Rey Mysterio Jr. pinned Psicosis in 6:22. Rey hits the West Coast Pop for the win. You can kinda tell that Rey’s style changed a lot since becoming a WWE guy. The match wasn’t bad, it was still pretty good for the most part, but it was missing the flow you’d expect from both of these guys. It didn’t help that the previous two matches were a lot better.

Here come the Smackdown Invaders! JBL, Orlando Jordan and Kurt Angle are the leaders here.

We get a you suck dick chance. Angle will own them later. Now we get fuck you Smackdown.

JBL: “I got a ticket you little Mexican”!

Some more ECW memories.

Joel Gertner!

Kurt Angle and JBL embarrass Gertner. Good heel heat.

Angle cuts a promo.

ECW fans: You suck dick. Angle: Your mother taught me how!

JBL talks about how Madison Square Garden sells out with his name on the marquee. I like JBL, but that’s a stretch.

I do think this is one of JBL’s best promos. He buries the ECW fans pretty badly. It’s great.

Here comes Rob Van Dam and Bill Alfonso to shut JBL up!

RVD is megaover…obviously.

RVD points out that he will be shooting from the heart.

“Remember when RVD had a vocabulary?” This is RVD’s best ever promo as well.

RVD basically explains how much better he was used in ECW than WWE. He’s 100% right.

He tells the crowd the idea of an ECW PPV was his.

RVD talks about how crushed he was that he injured his leg how it won’t let him wrestle on the show.

RVD says the line that missing ONS sucks worse than missing Wrestlemania. I’m sure he means that 100% too.

It’s RHYNO!

Lights go out…it’s SABU! Great moment! Impromptu match!

Rhyno vs. Sabu

You got fired chant. Rhyno was fired a few weeks before this show.

Sabu with the springboard dive to the outside!

Nobody threw a chair into someone’s face like Sabu.

Air Sabu in the corner!

Triple Jump Moonsault blocked as Rhyno sends Sabu face first into the chair!

Ref gets GORED!

RVD is back in, nails Rhyno with the chair.

Skateboard! Dropkicks the chair in Rhyno’s face!

Sabu pinned Rhyno in 6:30. RVD puts Rhyno face first on the table….Arabian Skullcrusher through the table! Fun little brawl, great finish!

Foley and Styles steal one another’s lines, which was pretty awesome too.

Al Snow and Head promo! Snow blames Head for inviting the Invaders. Lol.

More ECW memories.

Here comes RAW!

“Oh no there’s Coach now I’m scared”. Lol.

Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero

Eddie plays rudo. While he’s great at it, I wish for this show he didn’t.

There’s an early sequence where Benoit accidentally breaks Eddie’s nose, which I think is the reason this match doesn’t live up to expecations.

Let’s go Benoit…Let’s go Eddie…Let’s go Eddie etc….

This match is surprisingly slow, and while it isn’t necessarily bad, it’s disappointing so far.

Eddie hits Benoit with a pretty nice chairshot to the back.

Very nice top rope superplex by Eddie.

Chris Benoit def. Eddie Guerrero by submission in 10:52. Benoit hits a Diving Headbutt, then makes Eddie tap to the Crossface. It was a hard hitting bout and by no means bad, but like Rey-Psicosis there was just something missing in it. Still though, it was good.

Gertner’s back!

Gertner asks something of Bischoff that he says everyone of ECW has been begging to ask him…”Can I please have a job?!” Hilarious!

Masato Tanaka vs. Mike Awesome

The best part of this match is Joey Styles trashing Awesome…and JBL rooting him on…because of his betrayal of ECW in 2000.

Crazy over the top rope suicide dive from Awesome. Unfortunately Joey Styles utters a line on commentary that became awkward when Awesome committed suicide 18 months later. (It’s a shame he didn’t succeed in taking his own life!)

AWESOME BOMB FROM THE APRON THROUGH A TABLE. I think Tanaka is dead. My god!

Big top rope splash from Mike Awesome. What hangtime!

Absolutely sickening chairshots! Tanaka no sells the first couple, but the third takes him down!

Tornado DDT on two chairs by Tanaka! This match is stiff and violent.

God damn Tanaka slams a chair on another chair on Awesome’s face…then does the same from the top rope!

Top rope chair shot!

Awesome is grabbing a table. Top rope Tornado DDT by Tanaka through the table!

Awesome Bomb from the top through the rest of the table! Tanaka kicks out! For sure thought it was over there!

Mike Awesome pinned Masato Tanaka in 9:52. Awesome hits Tanaka with another Awesome Bomb….from the ring through a table on the floor! Awesome adds a suicide dive over the top and the ref makes the count on the floor! Holy shit what a match. Some of the shots make me cringe, but god damn a great match is a great match. Awesome Awesome Bombs a ref at the end.

Here comes Heyman. Some more shootin’ comin’ up.

He isn’t crying, he just was smoking a joint with Van Dam!

He tells Bischoff that it’s not him at a WCW PPV, that he’s in ECW’s house!

Hide your wives, it’s Edge!

Matt Freak’in Hardy!…which actually seems to legitimately surprise Edge.

To JBL: The only reason you were WWE Champion for a year was because HHH didn’t want to work Tuesdays!

This stuff actually may seem tame for someone watching this for the first time in 2014, but at the time, a shoot like this on PPV was a big deal. Remember, this is pre-youtube and pre-twitter. In 2005, this was a great and revolutionary segment.

The Dudley Boyz vs. Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman

I know WWE Network has blocked out some violent spots in this one. If I remember them I’ll mention them.

Oddly, this would be the Dudley Boyz last WWE match.

Tommy Dreamer seems so happy to be there.

Of course no Enter Sandman on the Network. The entrance is still cool though. Sandman is horribly out of shape…but he would be in amazing shape one year later.

The Dudleyz dance to Enter Sandman in the ring. It was a pretty cool vision just overall.

IT’S THE BWO!

Stevie kick to the Sandman!

It’s Kid Kash. He hilariously dumps himself over the top rope.

Balls Mahoney and Axl Rotten!

Poor Nova gets double chairshotted: “That’s more painful than being Simon Dean on TV!”

Kid Kash somersault dives into everyone over the top rope to the outside!

Match begins.

We get some cheese grater action. Which I thought was edited out, but it’s not!

Of course, Dreamer is a bloody mess.

Dreamer wears a ladder and does the spinning ladder spot Terry Funk made famous.

Now Bubba Dudley gets the cheese grater!

The steel tray shots look stiff as fuck.

Bubba just dented a chair over Sandman’s head!

Holy shit is right.

Double Figure Fours is a funny spot here. You know, since the rest of the match had no wrestling whatsoever.

Storm and Credible are back!

That’s Incredible to the Sandman on Barbed Wire!

Francine is here and she low blows Dreamer!

Catfight with Francine and Beulah!

Dreamer and Beulah double DDT the Dudleyz!

Dreamer mocks the WWEDudleyz “WHAT’S UP” gimmick and makes sure D-Von isn’t having kids.

Sandman is powerbombed through a table.

3D to Dreamer!

Here comes Spike Dudley!

Spike is the key to getting a table on fire!

The Dudleyz win when Bubba pins Dreamer in 10:52. FLAMING TABLE! Dreamer gets powerbombed though and Bubba gets the pin. Wow. So violent but amazing match! Poor Dreamer!

Dudleyz threaten Beulah, but Sandman makes the save…and calls for a beer!

Here comes Stone Cold Steve Austin! Huge pop of course.

He’s wearing a XFL jersey. Lol.

Austin calls for the rest of ECW to come out for a show ending party.

Austin holds off on the beer. Austin challenges the Invaders to a fight!

We get a We Want Taz chant…and here he comes!

Angle vs. Taz showdown…

We have a brawl! Taz chokes out Angle!

Unfortunately this is where JBL stiffs The Blue Meanie. You can see the Dudleyz pull JBL to safety.

Mick Foley brings Eric Bischoff in.

Strategically, only WWE guys actually get a hand on Bischoff. First the 3D, then a Benoit flying headbutt, a Rey 619.

Bischoff lets out a fuck ECW!

Stone Cold Stunner to Bischoff!

The Dudleyz dump Bischoff somewhere outside the arena.

The ring full of ECW alumni celebrate as the show goes off the air!

Last Thoughts

What a show, what a fucking show.

Every match at minimum would be considered good. Jericho vs. Storm? Excellent. International Three Way Dance? Excellent. Rey vs. Psicosis, alright to good. Sabu vs. Rhyno? Good. Benoit vs. Eddie, alright to good. Awesome vs. Tanaka? Amazing, arguable Match of the Year Candidate. Dudleyz vs. Dreamer/Sandman, great.

Everything on this show connected. The history of ECW. The shoots. Even Austin being the man to challenge the Invaders gave ECW legitimacy.

Maybe if you didn’t grow up with ECW you don’t understand a lot of this. Afterall, ECW closed its doors 13 years ago and really hadn’t been all that great since 1999. Even so, you’d have to admit this was a very fun and very good show.

But if you grew up with ECW, well then, damnit, this show was perfect. It’s a shame 18 months later ECW as we knew it would be dead.

This show is great. One of the best Pay-Per-Views ever.

Final Grade: A+

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews WWECW December to Dismember

ECWdectodismember2006
2006 December to Dismember
Originally Posted on 2/27/2014
December 3, 2006
Augusta, GA

Background: It is quite incredible how badly WWE botched the initial vision of the ECW Brand. Starting with the Rise and Fall of ECW Documentary in 2004, ECW still had an opportunity to make bucketloads of money in professional wrestling. For all intents and purposes, that idea dies with December to Dismember 2006. While ECW on SyFy would actually be a fun show later on, and actually be the show that leads to NXT, at the time, fans thought ECW would be the Touchstone Pictures to WWE’s Disney. From June 2006, the 2nd One Night Stand Pay-Per-View, to December 2006, every former ECW wrestler, except for maybe sorta [b]Rob Van Dam[/b] was pushed to the side for the WWE’s version of “extreme” wrestlers. That will be clear in the main event of the PPV. I remember this one being a bad one, so let’s see if that vision remains.

The main story revolves around Bobby Lashley, as he had moved to ECW to be the new big face of the brand. Lashley would last seven more months in WWE. Big Show had been ECW Champion since late June due to the South Philly Screwjob. To be fair, that was RVD’s fault.

The fact that this show is in August, GA is probably as good as indicator that ECW has missed the mark.

The fact that it is a mere 2 hours and 14 minutes is another bad sign.

The Card

The idea of the Extreme Elimination Chamber…I think is actually pretty good. A lot of hardcore stuff can happen in a Chamber. It usually would happen to Chris Jericho though.

Joey Styles mentions that Augusta was best knows for Golf’s Masters. Sounds Extreme!

He also just said a new ECW Champion will be crowned. How’s that for a spoiler. Unless Show was stripped up the title ahead of time and I don’t remember.

The Hardy Boyz vs. MNM

This was one of two matches advertised beforehand, and none of these men are even in ECW. The Hardyz made an open challenge that was actually answered by the Voodoo Kin Mafia (New Age Outalws) in TNA. MNM reunited to accept.

Melina’s entrance is pretty awesome. Why hasn’t a Diva copied it yet?

Good start with Mercury and Matt Hardy. I don’t know what Mercury’s personal life was like at the time, but it seems like he’s excited to be on Pay-Per-View, like he’s getting a 2nd chance or something.

The fact that Nitro can do a standing Shooting Star Press is ridiculous.

Nitro and Jeff Hardy were trading the IC Title around this time I believe as well, which makes this match make more sense in storyline context.

There are a lot of great double team moves happening here. If MNM got bigger, the Hardyz vs. MNM would have been one of those Dream Matches mentioned somewhere down the line.

I can’t believe Johnny Nitro, John Morrison didn’t become a bigger star than he was. I know he can’t talk, but he literally has everything else from a wrestling standpoint.

Melina just screamed and it was horrifying. Absolutely horrifying.

Nice double vertical suplex reversed into a double neckbreaker by Matt Hardy. It is interesting that these four are having a good tag team match that isn’t involving a lot of high flying stuff.

Awesome heel spot with Mercury setting up the Twist of Fate and Morrison teasing the Swanton, but Matt countered. They did a Poetry in Motion right before as well.

Here comes the high flying stuff! Nitro and Jeff Hardy hit over the top rope dives to the floor onto the others.

Melina needs to stop screaming. It’s distracting to the match.

Surprised WWE Network didn’t block out Melina yelling out “Crack Whore”.

The Hardy Boyz def. MNM when Jeff pinned Nitro at 22:33. The finish is awesome. Nitro accidentally dropkicks Melina off the apron, and Jeff gets a near-fall. MNM hit the Snapshot (a great double team move) on Jeff, but matt just breaks up the count in time. MNM goes for a top rope Snapshot…but Matt breaks it up and hits a double Diamond Cutter to MNM off the rope. Swanton on both MNM members then Jeff pins Nitro for the three. Very good match. Knowing that this PPV ends to early, they shoulda let them go 10 more minutes.

Striker’s Rules Match: Matt Striker vs. Balls Mahoney

I do think the Matt Striker teacher gimmick was pretty solid. It seemed like a take off of Steve Corino.

Striker says this will be an Extreme Enforcement of the Rules match. No top rope moves, no eye goughing, no foul language. I mean, it’s not like Balls Mahoney is coming off the top anyway…

Striker has a picture of his face on his ass. I hope that isn’t the highlight of the match.

Joey Styles and Tazz keep hyping up Balls Mahoney’s amateur background. Look, if the aspect we are selling about Balls Mahoney is his wrestling ability, once again, we’ve missed the point.

I was wrong. Mahoney to the top! Striker shakes the top rope though. This match sucks by the way.

Give the crowd credit. They are behind Balls.

Balls Mahoney def. Matt Striker by pin in 7:12. Balls got the pin after the Ball Breaker (although they don’t call it that). I understand the lack of weapons in the opener. But Balls Mahoney was called the Chair Swingin’ freak for a reason. This match was boring and was not good.

Now for the worst moment of the show I think: Sabu found unresponsive backstage. Fans chant bullshit. Will Sabu make it to the Chamber?!?!

Elijah Burke and Sylvester Terkay vs. Little Guido Maritato and Tony Mamaluke

Burke cuts a promo about the Elijah Experience. I didn’t like Burke at all in his whole WWE run…but I loved his TNA run as the Pope.

I forgot about Trinity!

I hate that Taz is trying to be Jerry Lawler on commentary. He’s not good at it.

Little Guido owns. Always has. He steals Burke’s beanie hat and wears it himself. It’s funnier to see than it is to read here, I promise.

Terkay almost botched throwing Little Guido over the top rope. So much for putting that power on display.

The FBI are the faces here right? I just realized that although the FBI had never been faces. But it surely isn’t Burke and Terkay.

I don’t see why I am supposed to care about anyone in the ring. I care about Little Guido by default. If this match was supposed to put over Burke and Terkay, it isn’t doing a good job.

Elijah Burke and Sylvester Terkay def. The FBI when Burke pinned Mamaluke in 6:41. Burke uses the Elijah Experience, AKA the Stroke or the Skull Crushing Finale for the win. Terkay nails Guido with a Muscle Buster at the end. Take that Samoa Joe! Match was okay at best. No surprise Terkay didn’t last.

Sabu’s heading to the hospital! He might have a broken neck!

Daivari vs. Tommy Dreamer

Here comes Muhammad Hassan! No, it’s just Daivari. I never understood how Hassan had to go but Daivari kept his job doing the same exact gimmick. He also has The Great Khali with him. Khali just debuted back in May and destroyed Undertaker for a bit. Now he’s in Daivari’s corner n the ECW PPV. He’d be World Heavyweight Champ six months later. Wrestling is weird that way.

Poor Tommy Dreamer. Maybe we’ll get a chair shot in this one!

On commentary they are talking about the Sabu deal, and I totally forgot that Paul Heyman was actually a heel here.

Tommy Dreamer clearly sees Khali pull down the top rope but he goes flying over anyway. Ref saw it too and sends Khali to the back.

We get a “fuck’em up Dreamer, fuck’em up” chant. Yeah. I don’t think there will be any fucking up tonight.

Daivari def. Tommy Dreamer by pin at 7:22. Dreamer was gaining some momentum with a tree of woe dropkick. Crowd was behind him. Goes for the DDT, but Daivari escapes and uses a roll up…a fucking roll up with the tights being held to get the win. Dreamer runs after Daivari which leads to Khali meeting Dreamer on the ramp. He does the double choke bomb and Dreamer crashes hard on the ramp. Pretty damn sick move to be fair. Who knew Khali would have the most Extreme moment on the show so far? Match was pretty uneventful. Tommy Dreamer putting over Daivari on an ECW Pay-Per-View isn’t a good decision.

Poor Dreamer.

Heyman inserts [b]Hardcore Holly[/b] to replace Sabu in the Chamber. Fans boo. Hell, I think even WWE fans would didn’t care for ECW would boo. I would boo. And I like Hardcore Holly.

Mike Knox and Kelly Kelly vs. Kevin Thorn and Ariel

Knox’s theme music is the same that they used for a promo video of when Jim Ross kissed Vince McMahon’s ass and Undertaker turned heel.

Kelly Kelly wishes CM Punk good luck in the Chamber, much to the chagrin to Mike Knox. Damn, CM really stands for chick magnet doesn’t it?

Kelly Kelly’s gimmick is an exhibitionist. Boy fans were disappointed by that one.

Is it just me, or is Ariel a lot hotter than Kelly?

Why didn’t WWE keep Ariel? She could wrestle. Had a great look.

Ariel and Kevin Thorn def. Mike Knox and Kelly Kelly when Ariel pinned Kelly in 7:43. Mike Knox heel turn! Crowd chants CM Punk. Knox leaves Kelly and she doesn’t stand a chance against Ariel. To be honest, this was the rare match that would have been better if it was just the women. But it wasn’t terrible.

The Sandman shows up. Gets a good reaction and beats the crap out of Thorn. I assume this was all setting up the New Breed vs. Originals feud in 2007? But it was a solid segment.

Bobby Lashley interview. Crowd boos, of course.

Let me say something about Big Show before the main event. You can tell here that he was hurting and very out of shape. Probably why he took a year off after this. That and he’s in the Chamber for like 3 minutes.

ECW Title Match: Extreme Elimination Chamber: Big Show© vs. Hardcore Holly vs. Test vs. Rob Van Dam vs. CM Punk vs. Bobby Lashley

[b]Paul Heyman[/b] comes out first. He’s about to cut a promo, which apparently he told Big Show backstage before this that he was so upset about the show and how it was going that for the first time ever he didn’t want to come out for it.

Heyman actually calls the six men in the match the six greatest ECW superstars ever. I wonder how sick that line made him.

I believe this is the last time we see Paul Heyman until he comes in to aid Brock Lesnar in 2012.

Once again, I think the match idea is great. This match has loads of potential.

Champ Big Show is here first. He takes the pod with the barbed wire bat.

CM Punk is next. Crowd is clearly on his side. Punk takes the pod with a chair.

Here comes Test. Him and Big Show are on the same side in the story. Test takes the crowbar pod.

Taz mentions he’s wrestled some crowbars. Was that an undercard match on Flair vs. Broomstick?

Bobby Lashley time! And the crowd goes mild! I do think Lashley was fine in everything he did before ECW. He takes the table pod.

That means we start with RVD vs. Hardcore Holly.

Looks like Holly is also on the Show-Test-Heyman team!

RVD does some nice Spiderman spots. Does a springboard press, but misses Holly and catches the chains of the chamber. He misses the 2nd press and hangs himself up on the top rope.

RVD hits a Rolling Thunder over the top rope onto Hardcore Holly and the steel. Holly vs. RVD has been an entertaining five minutes.

CM Punk is in. He does a Sabu throwing chair spot to Hardcore Holly, then a springboard clothesline. RVD gets his revenge, doing a real Sabu throwing chair spot which hits Punk perfectly on the head.

It’s a shame we never got RVD vs. Punk in a major program.

Punk sends RVD into the corner with a chair propped up. This match is getting good!

Holly takes control, gets a superplex on Punk.

Predictably Test is next, and nails Punk with the crowbar and then tries to skin RVD with it (RVD had been busted open). RVD is starting to get chair happy, nailing both Test and Holly before hitting Punk with the skateboard.

Five Star Frog Splash to Punk and Punk is gone. Wrong man to go first, but it was smart to make RVD the one to do it to minimize the boos.

Test nails Holly with a big boot and surprisingly eliminates him.

RVD goes to the rope of Show’s pod, but Show holds RVD’s foot down. Test hits two chair shots then sends RVD crashing to the mat. He puts a chair on RVD’s face, then drops the elbow from the top of the pod. Test eliminates RVD. Great spot. Horrible result, as the two guys who were most over with the crowd are the first two of the first three out. “Where’s my refund” chants start up.

Heyman’s riot guys keep Lashley in his pod when he’s supposed to get out, but Lashley uses the table to break through the chains on the roof (wha?). Lashley beats the crap out of Test, slamming him through one of the pods (which because of the table left in there doesn’t really create the same impact it normally does). Test eventually is gone after a Lashley spear.

We await the Lashley-Big Show confrontation. Lashley is throwing furniture at Big Show’s pod.

When Big Show gets in, he beats on Lashley’s chair with the barbed wire bat. It eventually gets caught in the chains and he loses it. Lashley promptly throws Big Show through a pod.

Bobby Lashley wins the ECW Title and Extreme Elimination Chamber, last defeating Big Show at 24:42.Lashley counters a Show Chokeslam into a DDT. Eventually Lashley hits a spear and gets the pin. There is a small crowd pop there. Then it gets all silent.

Gotta love how the table was just used to break through the pod and nothing else.

The match isn’t awful, but the people and booking decisions surrounding the match made it a lot worse. The crowd did not want to see Bobby Lashley beat up Test before finishing off the Big Show to win the title.

The opener was fun. But then the next four matches are completely whatever. In fact, all of them are matches that belonged on TV and not PPV. Dreamer losing to Daivari served what purpose exactly? Were they really pushing Daivari? Other than the opener and the main event, there were no videos to promote why these matches were happening (although the Mixed Tag had a storyline to it at least).

There are some bright spots though. Opener was very good. Sandman appearance was okay. Extreme Chamber was pretty okay quality wise.

And that’s enough to avoid a flat out F for me.

Note: After I posted this, I learned either through Hardcore Holly’s book or Sabu’s Talk is Jericho…I don’t remember which…that Sabu failed a drug test and that’s why he was taken out of the Chamber. Doesn’t change anything grade wise, but it’s interesting to note.

Final Grade: D