ECW One Night Stand 2005

As a bit of nostalgia I decided to watch ECW One Night Stand from 2005 (The good one) and just write a bit about each segment and match, this PPV really attracted me to the brand as I had never really seen any of the ECW TV or PPVs before this and my only real ECW experience was the invasion angle that WWE ran back in 2001. I currently in the Process of downlo.... I mean procuring the ECW PPV back catalogue so if I find any of the past PPVs are worth writing about I will do a quick write up for your reading pleasure.

Segment 1

As we kick off the show we get a little introduction to our announcers for the PPV, the firstly being Joey Styles and then he introduces his partner for the evening Mick Foley, as Cactus Jack.

Beginning Credits Roll.

Match # 1 “LionHeart” Chris Jericho vs. Lance Storm (With Dawn Marie)

I remember the first time I watched this match, I saw it live when the PPV aired on TV and I was blown away by just how technical this match starts off as, I also learned that Jericho and Storm trained together at the Hart school. I had only ever really knew Lance Storm as his Team Canada character in WCW or his Un-American persona in WWE and I couldn’t stand him either way but after seeing this match I had a new appreciation for him.

Lance Storm wins the match by pin fall after Justin Credible interferes hitting Jericho in the head with a kendo stick. Fantastic match even with the screwed finish, was a great way to open the show and the fans obviously loved it.

Segment 2

Pitbull Gary Wolf introduces a video package of all the ECW wrestlers who had passed away.

Match # 2 Three Way Dance match

Taijiri (With Mickey Whipwreck & The Sinister Minister) vs. Little Guido (With the F.B.I) vs. Super Crazy

Didn’t know how to take this match when I first saw it, was never a fan of the WWE version of the FBI and I was never too struck on Taijiri either, since I had never seen Super Crazy I didn’t want to judge. I think we got to see more of Little Guido (Nunzio in WWE) in this match then we ever got to see of him in his WWE career with regards to actual wrestling. This match does feature a pretty sweet balcony dive from Super Crazy hitting pretty much the entire FBI with a moonsault from the balcony.

Little Guido is the first to be eliminated, he gets pinned by Taijiri after Mickey Whipwreck hits the WhipperSnapper on Little Guido allowing Taijiri to get the pin.

Super Crazy wins after pinning Taijiri after hitting a top rope moonsault. Not a bad match, was a little hectic with all the interference that took place but still a quick paced match that kept the crowd interested.

Video Package

A quick recap of the history of ECW

Match # 3 Extreme Lucha Match

Rey Mysterio Jnr vs. Psicosis

Rey announced as Jnr, which was dropped when he came to WWE. I must admit I’m not a fan of the lucha style of wrestling, nor am I a fan of Rey Mysterio... I’m sorry.

This is also the first match that the fans boo during the course of the show, it isn’t as action packed as you would expect it to be from the get go, they do have a really slow start.

Rey Mysterio Jnr wins after hitting the 619 followed by the West Coast Pop to get the pin fall.

Wasn’t to my taste the match but again I’m not really a fan so I’m sorry.  

Segment 3

Almost as soon as the match finishes the superstars from Smackdown turn up to the show to “invade” the show. Also if your watching the DVD of this you can now cut off the Mick Foley & Joey Styles commentary and switch to the JBL commentary which is so much cooler.

Video Package

Another small video talking about the history of ECW.

Segment 3 Continued

The segment continues with Joel Gertner trying to interview the Smackdown superstars but he gets smacked and pushed away, Kurt Angle takes the microphone and starts ranting about how crap ECW is. Then hands the microphone to JBL and he goes off on a rant about ECW too.

This was an interesting idea of the RAW / SMACKDOWN invasion of ECW but it wasn’t really needed, I think this was another case of WWE not believing that ECW would sell if it didn’t have WWE talent on the show.

Segment 3 Still Continued

Their rants get interrupted by Rob Van Dam with Bill Alfonso, he talks about how much ECW meant to him and that if he wasn’t injured he would be performing rather than talking. RVD talks about his ECW career and what he accomplished in ECW. This eventually leads to Rhino interrupting and Goring RVD out of his shoes.

Then the lights goes off and when they come back on Sabu is in the ring... so is a referee!

Match # 4 Impromptu match

Rhino vs. Sabu (With RVD & Bill Alfonso)

I cannot stand Sabu, I think he was just a lot of sizzle but no steak as my friend Jim would say (Follow him on twitter @KingJimmeh), he never really did anything for me as a performer, maybe it’s because I never saw his real ECW work but his work in WWE’s ECW was rubbish. Rhino on the other hand is a different story, I always enjoyed Rhino as a performer in WWE, loved the Gore as a finisher and thought he could actually wrestle and wasn’t restricted to the hardcore style that ECW focused on.

RVD interferes in the match hitting Rhino with the Van Terminator in the corner.

Sabu wins the match after hitting the Arabian Skull Crusher using a chair through a table following the interference from RVD.

The crowd are on their feet and chanting loudly, was a quick match but was good, Rhino is a lot quicker than you would think he would be. I think a little too much emphasis is put onto Sabu using chairs, he doesn’t really hit anyone with them, he just does moves off them, hardly impactful.

RVD, Sabu and Alfonso celebrate as they head to the back.

Segment 4

Al Snow is in the back talking to HEAD about the ECW one night stand show, this leads into another video package about ECW’s history.

This leads into the arrival of Eric Bischoff and the Raw superstars, for their part in the invasion. I really think this angle took the spot light away from the ECW guys and I think that was a bit crappy.

Match # 5 Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero

No one would have thought these two guys wouldn’t be with us now at this stage, you have two of the best technical wrestlers in the world ever and its a sad case that neither of them are still around.

However this match would have been made a bit better if Eddie had dropped the gimmick he was running at the time just for this one night to be part of ECW rather than the Smackdown story.

Chris Benoit wins via submission after locking Eddie in the crippler crossface. Fantastic match is without a doubt in the top 3 matches of the whole show. These guys bring a real wrestling aspect to a company based on a hardcore style. Its just a shame the fates that awaited both these men.

Video Package

A bit more of an advertisement to THE RISE AND FALL OF ECW dvd.

Segment 5

Joel Gertner is back to try and interview Eric Bischoff, he pleads for a job working for Eric Bischoff, Easy E has him removed and cuts a promo on ECW, starting to think this was some really bad booking!! We could have had another match here instead.

Match # 6 Mike Awesome Vs. Masato Tanaka

This takes the prize for the match of the night, these guys tear it up and regardless of how many times I watch this match I’m always captured by how freaking violent it gets.

On a side note though, if you’re watching the DVD of this PPV you need to listen to the JBL commentary for this match, it is hilarious! He doesn’t really sell the match but certainly provides more entertainment then Joey Styles commentary.

Mike Awesome wins after hitting Tanaka with an Awesome Bomb out of the ring onto a table, followed by a dive onto Tanaka outside to get the pinfall at ringside. WOW, they must run up one hell of a bill in this match for tables, they smash loads of them. Even the crowd turn in this match, they start proper on Mike Awesome but by the end they are cheering him as much as Tanaka. The only problem I ever had with this match was that every move that Mike Awesome does gets the prefix Awesome!!! A bit unnecessary I think!

After the match Awesome hits an AwesomeBomb on the referee, don’t quite know why but its funny as hell. 

  

Segment 6

Paul Heyman makes his way to the ring and cuts a pretty cool promo on the Raw / Smackdown superstars, the highlights being about JBL’s WWE title reign being due to HHH not wanting to work Tuesdays and Edges relationship to Lita at the expense of Matt Hardy, that gets a massive “You Screwed Matt” chant. Otherwise pretty much the same stuff as usual, thanks everyone who helped put the show together and thanks the fans for supporting the show.

Made sense for Heyman to get some microphone time during this show, but again it does slightly take away from wrestling aspect of the show.

Match # 7 Tag Team Match

The Dudley Boyz (D’Von & Bubba Ray) vs. Tommy Dreamer & The Sandman

The first thing I need to mention is that their entrance music is dubbed as they used “Bombshell” not their previous theme that is used on the DVD instead, also Tommy Dreamer’s entrance isn’t his original music either, in fact neither is the Sandman’s music, he gets some sample track instead of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”. Wow. WWE really skimped out on the production for this DVD.

I cannot stand the Sandman, he just can’t really wrestle, he may have been a big deal in the original ECW but on this show he just comes across as a bit of a drunken mess, later on this is highlighted during the final segment, he is just a pillock, again as Jim would say “All sizzle and no steak” (Follow him on twitter @KingJimmeh). Tommy Dreamer isn’t too bad, never had a problem with him as I enjoyed his work during his 2001 during the invasion and also the work he did after that when he remained in the company. Then we get to the Dudley Boyz, that’s all you really need to say isn’t it, they are the most decorated tag team EVER, certainly one of the most popular and have managed hugely successful runs in ECW, WWF / E and TNA, they are exceptionally talented and are probably one of my top 5 tag teams of all time. Hell even my good friend 12ve-Pac and I parody the Dudley Boyz for our WWE 13 characters (Follow him on twitter @SiteOfShite).

Before the match starts we get an appearance by the bWo (Da Blue Guy, Hollywood Nova & Big Stevie Cool) to cut a promo ending with Stevie super kicking Sandman in the face, then the remaining people beat on Dreamer. Kid Kash comes to make the save but gets tossed out of the ring (Poorly) and then Axel Rotten & Balls Mahoney come to make the save. Turns into a pier 6 brawl until the Kid Kash finally does something and dives onto everyone knocking them all down, eventually we get a match though.

Half way through the match we even get the Impact Players (Lance Storm & Justin Credible) jumping in for interference to attack Dreamer & Sandman, this leads to Francine coming out to kick Dreamer in the nuts, followed by Beulah McGillicutty hitting the ring to attack Francine, everyone eventually clears the ring.

The Dudley Boyz win after powerbombing Tommy Dreamer through a flaming table, this is achieved by Spike Dudley coming down to set fire to the table, Bubba Ray then leaps onto Tommy to get the pin fall victory. This is without a doubt the most violent match of the night, lots of random foreign objects such as cheese graters being used and a tonne of blood spilt all in the name of entertainment. J.

Segment 7

The Dudley Boyz go to attack Beulah but Sandman makes the save, then shouts demanding a beer, bringing out Stone Cold Steve Austin. People often forget that Austin was in ECW, not for very long but he was there.

He invites all the ECW guys to the ring for a beer bash, then before handing out the beer he invites the RAW / SMACKDOWN superstars to the ring for a brawl. They oblidge, come down and enter the ring, as the battle lines are drawn, TAZ’s music plays, he walks to the ring, enters and him and Kurt Angle start the brawl off against each other while the others fight away. As the RAW / SMACKDOWN superstars are cleared from the ring, Austin gets back on the microphone, here is where Sandman makes a fool of himself, he then tells Mick Foley to bring Bischoff from the commentary table to the ring to be royally beaten on. First he gets the 3D from the Dudley Boyz, followed by a diving headbutt from Benoit and then a 619 from Mysterio to finish off the flurry. Austin then gets back on the microphone and he asks Bischoff his thoughts of the evening to which he replies “Fuck ECW” which annoys Austin who has Bischoff picked back up and stunned! The Duldey boyz then remove Bischoff from the building as the beer bash begins.

The show ends with Sandman and Austin on the entrance way raising their hands. This ending sucked in my view, Sandman was blatantly off his face but never mind. This is still one of the best value for money PPV events I ever bought and is still one of my favourite shows to sit and watch, it was also the only real ONE NIGHT STAND event as the next one was a bit more WWE vs ECW themed and lost a bit of the point really. I hope you enjoyed this little recap and if you haven’t seen the PPV i suggest you go watch it, with the JBL commentary of course ;-) . I’ve been Big Boss (Follow me on twitter @bigboss010) I’m out Peace!!!