Tazz squashed Jerry Lawler via submission. Lawler slaps Joey Styles on the way to the ring & following a resultant distraction by Styles, Tazz chokes out Lawler with the Tazmission in under a minute! How the hell do I rate this, if at all? 1/2 *
Kurt Angle defeated Randy Orton. The first 6 minutes of this bout is a combination of Orton avoiding Angle & Kurt schooling Randy on mat wrestling. He even went as far as asking Orton to put him in a hold a few times, just so he could escape from them! A mis-timed charge into the corner by Angle turns the tide, as Orton slows the pace down to the dismay of the live crowd. To this stage of the match (nearing the 10 minute mark), this wasn't bad, but it was a little disappointing for mine. But it very much kicks into a higher gear afterwards, as these 2 go at it in an even & hard-fought match full of counters & near-falls. Angle eventually gets the predictable victory at the 15 minute mark with an Ankle-Lock. Overall, the final 5 minutes really made this match quite good. I could see the story that was attempting to be told earlier, but it only worked to some extent. Kudos should also be given to Orton, who handled the attention he was getting from the crowd very well. *** 1/2
Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke defeated Tajiri and Super Crazy. Very entertaining tag-team match. What I liked most about it was that they resisted the urge to go immediately into high spots, instead choosing to showcase some mat & submission wrestling. Great idea, as Guido has always been very good when getting technical, while Tajiri & Crazy are underrated & bring enough variation to make it interesting. I've only seen Mamaluke a few times before & he very much seems to have improved sufficiently to earn an ECW roster spot. Obviously, the pace & spots stepped up as the bout went on, although the spots were of the type that played to the crowd more, rather than be amazing. Great stuff all-around though, as The FBI get the victory at the 12 minute mark with a double Fisherman's Buster. Not exactly the most psychological of matches, but being the huge fan of Tajiri & Crazy that I am, it's difficult for me to not rate this high. ****
Rey Mysterio and Sabu wrestled to a No Contest. Even better than I expected it to be… up until the slightly disappointing ending. Rey really adapted well here & even made his opponent part of the story of the bout by trying to outdo Sabu at his own game of musical chairs. Obviously, that could only last so long though, as Sabu gradually worked his way on top. This is where the match really kicked into gear & what was especially impressive was the lack of any botched moves, considering the spots performed & the lack of time these 2 would have had to plan & rehearse this bout. Very entertaining & both men were extremely impressive in showing that they still have what it takes. The match was disappointingly called off at the 9 minute mark when Sabu gave Rey a triple-jump DDT into a table (not long after another huge table spot). It looked as if a Sabu injury was legitimate, but apparently this was the planned ending. ****
Edge, Mick Foley and Lita defeated Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer and Beulah McGillicutty. : Great mic work (especially by Foley) before the match begins & the ensuing discussion results in the bout being changed to a 6 person match involving Beulah & Lita. Pretty much breaks down into a tornado match immediately from the beginning, as Foley & Funk fight out of the ring, while Edge & Dreamer go at it in the ring. Meanwhile, Lita & Beulah just stand there! The usual foreign objects of trash cans, road signs & ladders are also used, although a huge barbed-wire covered board also makes an appearance! Foley then uses a single piece of barbed-wire to slice Funk’s forehead open, resulting in Terry heading to the dressing room. And then… Out comes Barbie to become acquainted with Dreamer’s crotch! A bandaged Funk returns with his own barbed-wire instrument, which he sets on fire (to the delight of the crowd) & uses on Foley. And while both Foley & Funk are literally locked up in barbed-wire on that huge board, Edge removes Dreamer from the equation & spears Beulah for the pinfall at the 18 minute mark. I presume that hardcore wrestling fans would have loved this. I can’t go quite that far & the opening few minutes did not impress me at all. But at the end of the day, these guys worked so hard to get all fans (live & at home) into the match. Bottom line: It came off as entertaining. Better than I could have hoped for & kudos to all 4 men (& 2 ladies) involved. *** ½
Balls Mahoney defeated Masato Tanaka. This was definitely no Awesome vs Tanaka from 2005, but Balls has always been a rather limited wrestler. The one thing he does do though is get a good reaction from the ECW crowd… That was no exception here. Sufficiently entertaining, although nothing too special, this was kept short with Balls winning at the 5 minute mark with a huge chair-shot to Tanaka’s head. **
Rob Van Dam defeated John Cena to win the Raw World Title. There was a great atmosphere to this title match, as it genuinely felt like a main-event thanks to the WWE’s build-up & the fantastic live crowd. It was actually an interesting first few minutes wrestling-wise, as RVD looked a little out of it. I’m unsure if he copped a knock or was over-selling a little, but it seemed to be Cena carrying the load for quite some time. Even when RVD eventually worked his way on top, his famous flurry of offense didn’t seem to have the same oomph as usual. Obviously, a good distraction from all of this was the crowd’s taunting of Cena (& Cena’s very good reactions). Then, in an overbooked finishing sequence, 2 ref bumps & a run in by Edge (complete with motorcycle helmet) leads to a 5 star frog-splash & Paul Heyman counting the pinfall at the 20 minute mark. The controversial finish is a good way to build interest for the ECW brand launch & the Vengeance ppv, but it probably detracted from the moment a little here. Overall, it was an uneven, but successful match. Cena appeared to really step up, but (being critical) RVD didn’t. That’s the last thing I expected to say at an ECW ppv. Very much a sufficient main event though & it’s difficult to rate due to the extraordinary crowd involvement. *** 1/2
Overall, from beginning to end, probably the best PPV of the year. Nothing spectacular, but nothing horrific other then the opening bout which, due to it's short length, was difficult to rate above *.