*First of all, apologies for the lateness of this review. It should have been done weeks ago but was put back due to issues of time and other priorities. Also, following the sudden and tragic deaths of Lance Cade and Luna Vachon, I thought it was more appropriate to dedicate column space to them first and pay tribute to their respective careers.
ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling) is a promotion or company that will never be forgotten. It’s legacy is so strong that to this day, people are still talking about it and recalling their fond memories of the “little promotion that could” nearly a decade after its demise.
I’m not writing this to give you all an ECW history lesson. It’s common knowledge amongst even the most casual of wrestling fans that Paul Heyman’s Extreme Championship Wrestling revolutionised the business, mostly for the better (I say “mostly” because as useful as ECW was in giving the business the proverbial “kick up the backside”, it also gave the impression to fans that wrestlers were seemingly “invincible”; apparently being able to fully recover from brain-rattling chair shots, excessive blood loss, crazy stunts and insane “crash and burn” plunges through hard wooden tables. This was the direction the business would later go in, but ultimately, the “vicious cycle” led to injuries and in some cases, personal problems as the performers’ bodies eventually began to break down. (In the wake of the study linking hard shots to the head with dangerous concussion problems and following the infamous Benoit tragedy, WWE has wisely eliminated chair shots that may cause head trauma and has also issued a company-wide ban on “blading” (a wrestler cutting themselves or an opponent with a razor-blade to draw real blood and add drama to a match. While this has admittedly led to a safer WWE, in the eyes of many fans and critics, it its now a more “boring” WWE (however how much of this is down to the lack of blood and “anarchy” is open to debate, as the company coped very well without blood, strong violence and all the other “PG 13” trimmings during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s period; the main problem WWE has is developing new characters and telling good stories, two simple premises that wrestling has always been built on, regardless of the era).
We all know the ECW story: It was Paul Heyman (who wanted to buck tradition and stick it to the “high and mighty” politically-correct “suits” at his old employer WCW (World Championship Wrestling) by doing everything they didn’t allow him to do while he was under their umbrella) who was the brains behind the operation (although Tod Gordan [who was there in the early days and collaborated with Heyman] deserves credit as well). He had his concepts stolen and his talents “raided” by the “big two”, but he soldiered on; creating new stars along the way and continuing to keep the dream alive.
In 2001, the dream died. Heyman went to work for the WWF as an announcer, while many of the old ECW favourites hit the independent scene, perhaps knowing inside that as far as their wrestling career was concerned, ECW would always be the “zenith.”
Fast-forward to 2010: TNA and Dixie Carter were eager to pay respect to the fallen “Hardcore” outfit after their legacy had been sullied by WWE (who bought the rights to the ECW name and video library in 2003) following a woeful “revival” in 2006 (it was made further depressing by the fact that the first tribute shows [the first of which was only supposed to have been a one-off]; ECW: One Night Stand # 1 (2005) and ECW: One Night Stand # 2 (2006) had both been tremendous; a true way of paying respect to ECW whilst leaving the legacy on a high).
To give the show authenticity, Dixie had given full creative control to Tommy Dreamer (who had become so disillusioned with WWE’s watered-down, inferior version of ECW that he quit the company in 2009), who set about “gathering the troops” for a reunion show on August 8, 2010.
Of course, we all know that TNA had been hoping for Paul Heyman himself to join the company; using the “ECW” gig as bait (in a manner of speaking) to lure him in and reportedly place him on the creative team. But Heyman didn’t bite and to date, still hasn’t.
Admittedly, it was hard to remain optimistic about an ECW reunion show that didn’t have Heyman on the bill. Not just that, but there were further problems: The “voice” of ECW Joey Styles also wouldn’t be there (he now works for WWE.Com) and the actual “ECW” initials would also be absent. TNA would also have to be careful when it came to talking about the company’s history, describing favourite feuds and even calling matches (overall, it would be a legal minefield).
On the other hand, you had to respect TNA for attempting to make use of a company (and a fan base) that WWE had merely discarded and dismissed as being a “cult following” in a bingo hall. Sure, the critics were quick to piss on this attempt to respect the past and possibly build an new audience for their own product, but why didn’t they save their tongues and actually watch the show first before passing judgement?
Despite being held in the “IMPACT Zone” in Orlando, Florida, TNA Hardcore Justice certainly stood out as a different show from the get-go. In the ring was veteran ECW ring announcer Steven D’Angelo, who kicked things off by introducing the “Human-Suplex Machine” Taz.
Taz got a little irate with some of the fans who talked over him and basically told all the doubters and critics who “never got it” and “never will get it” to “Kiss My Ass!” Oh well, that sure told them (were you listening, Vince?).
The opening match was a 6-man tag pitting the FBI against Simon Diamond, Johnny Swinger & Kid Kash. The FBI consisted of Tracey Smothers, Little Maritano (WWE owns the “Little Guido” and “Nunzio” monikers), Tony Luke (again, another court-case-avoiding name change) and Big Sal (who had dropped a lot of a weight, pity some of it seemed to have transferred to Diamond and Smothers).
This was okay for an opening match. It was mostly played for laughs (there was a “dance off” in the middle, although it didn’t have nowhere near the same impact it would have had in ECW back in the day). Kid Kash sped things up with an awesome suicide-dive splash to the floor, while Tony Luke took a quite frankly reckless power-bomb into the bottom turnbuckle.
In the end, The FBI got the win after Maritano hit the “Unprettier” on Diamond. Unfortunately, what stood out most for me here was how old and out of shape Smothers and Diamond looked (I mean no disrespect and I understand that they both didn’t have much ring-time before the show as they haven’t wrestled full-time in years). However, the match still worked, but more for nostalgic purposes and the “feel-good” factor (I.e. the comedy) rather than the actual quality of the wrestling.
Also looking older and less nimble in the ring was Too Cold Scorpio (his opponent for the night, CW Anderson, also looked a little rusty, again that’s down to not having much time to prepare and being a part-time performer). However, despite a few slip-ups, Scorpio DID manage to hit the “Tumbleweed” on Anderson for the win and generally didn’t really do himself or his fans a great disservice here. (Unfortunately, the two men had little chemistry and the action [for all their efforts] was fair at best).
Stevie Richards then beat PJ Polaco (Justin Credible) in a short, throw-away match. The fans chanted “Justin Credible” despite the law-abiding name change. Richards’ “BWO” team mates Nova and “Blue Tillie” (a fake “Blue Meanie”; the original had prior commitments but did appear in a pre-taped video) interfered on his behalf and the former “Dr” soon got the win with a “Stevie Kick”.
In the post-match, Polaco attacked Richards with a Singapore Cane. Then the lights went out. When they came back on, The Sandman was standing behind Polaco with a Singapore Cane of his own. After a cane-assisted Russian Leg-Sweep and a brutal cane shot of his own, Sandman’s work for the night was done.
Up next was a Three-Way Dance (fought under elimination rules) pitting Rhino against Little Runt (Spike Dudley) and Al Snow (with Head). This was the best match on the show thus far, but it was hampered by a short match time and some misplaced comedy (the old “Eddie Guerrero” chair routine, which is always funny, but here felt inappropriate was many fans were no doubt expecting a no-nonsense war).
At one point, Rhino hinted at throwing Runt into the crowd for a “surf”, but thankfully simply power-slammed the under-dog onto the stage instead (that’s one spot that would only work with the original ECW crowd). Little Runt eliminated Snow with the “Dudley Dog” (although it wasn’t called that by Mike Tenay and Taz, for the aforementioned legal reasons) but then got “Gored” to hell by Rhino straight after. Your winner: Rhino.
Following an “old-school” (and typically smutty) pre-match introduction from Joel Gertner, it was time for another throw-back to the old ECW “bingo hall” days; the arena -wide brawl.
The participants were Team 3D (Brother Ray & Brother Devon) and the “Chair-Swinging Freaks” Axl Rotten & Kahoneys (Balls Mahoney; another victim of WWE purchasing all the legal rights to the ECW brand and character names). TNA wisely gave the viewers at home a split-screen so they could follow the action, but even with this added option, the match felt disjointed and mediocre.
It was certainly violent and bloody but there was little psychology to it and the only guy who seemed like he could “keep up” was Axl. On the plus side, I did enjoy the hockey “light-sabre” moment, although like the three-way dance earlier on, the comedy felt misplaced here.
Of course, the finish saw Kahoneys get power-bombed through a flaming table; an unnecessary risky and dangerous spot that I’ve never been a fan of (not even back in the days of the original ECW).
As 3D celebrated, out came The Gangstas (New Jack and Mustafa). They did the old “weapons” routine with 3D, before calling a “truce” and raising each other’s arms; also being joined by Kahoneys and Axl. Again, this moment felt misplaced, although the fans in the arena seemed to appreciate it.
It was now up to Raven and Tommy Dreamer to pick things up again, but unfortunately, they weren’t up to the task. In fairness, they tried hard out there but overall they’re “final showdown” felt desperate and lacked crowd heat .
For me, there was little psychology between the anarchy and so I couldn’t indulge myself into the story. Both men bled buckets but the plasma loss added little drama to proceedings; it just made the whole thing look desperate.
What’s more, Mick Foley (serving as the Special Referee) was left looking like a spare part for most of the match, only getting involved later on, mainly to apply a barbed-wire-assisted “Socko Claw” to Raven’s former lackey from the early ECW days whom no-one can remember.
In what has caused great debate and controversy among fans, Dreamer also sat his wife (Teresa, who had to be referred to by her real name as WWE also owns her “Beulah McGillicutty” character) and his two young daughters at ringside to play a part in his “underdog” quest against Raven. It reminded me of “Beyond The Mat”, where we see Mick Foley take a vicious series of chair-shots from The Rock at Royal Rumble 99’, much to the distress of his wife and children at ringside.
Now granted, Dreamer’s kids were quickly moved away from the blood-shed (and weren‘t bawling their eyes out like Foley‘s kids were), however I’m shocked that Dreamer would even fathom involving children so young in such a brutal and bloody match like this (I’m also shocked that TNA President Dixie Carter would sit there ringside next to Tommy’s family and allow it).
For me, this was disturbing to watch, as was Dreamer’s brain-rattling chair shots (whilst hand-cuffed, no less) courtesy of Raven.
In the end, Raven won after giving Tommy an “Even-Flow” DDT on a steel chair, after Teresa pleaded for Raven to have mercy on her husband.
The final match of the night saw Rob Van Dam battle his former tag-team partner/ opponent Sabu (who was filling in for an injured Jerry Lynn). This was the best match of the night, although it wasn’t the best match in the RVD/ Sabu series and at times, felt like a collection of signature hardcore spots with little flow. (On the plus side, both men were in great shape, even Sabu who’d been out of the ring a while and definitely looked older in the face, but moved around the place with relative ease, looking like he hadn’t really missed a step since his original ECW career).
There were the classic ringside thrills and spills, the chair and table-assisted offence and athleticism and workmanship that we’ve come to expect from RVD and Sabu over the years.
But in the end, only one could prevail: It was Van Dam, courtesy of a “Five-Star Frog Splash.”
At the end of the show, the ECW wrestlers (and TNA-contracted ECW wrestlers) celebrated in the ring with TNA President Dixie Carter. This was a nice touch, but sadly, for me, the show has been a mixed bag at best and was nothing like an original ECW show from back in the day or even the “one-off” specials promoted by WWE in 2005 and 2006, respectively.
For the most part, the non-TNA-contracted wrestlers looked out of shape and out of their depth plus the product overall looked out-dated. For all the crowing from Taz and Mike Tenay, saying that ECW was more than just “blood and tables”, with “hardcore” meaning working hard and delivering in the ring, there was little here to suggest otherwise to the naysayer or the “non-fan.” There was no lucha-libre or truly great “straight” wrestling to counteract the generally average action that was served up. What’s more, after TNA had finished making all the law-abiding name changes (and talked about guys who had no interest in taking part in the show or were contractually unable to), the whole thing seemed second-rate.
Please bear in mind that I’m not here bashing the show for the sake of it. I respect what Tommy Dreamer, Dixie Carter and everyone else involved tried to do. I also enjoyed some of the matches and moments for nostalgic purposes and feel that it was something that was worth taking a chance on. However, it came up short as far as being a “true” show and also proved that ECW and the style of wrestling it pioneered has had its day.
For me, one of the best moments was hearing from the original ECW guys like Blue Meanie, Tod Gordan and “Queen Of Extreme” Francine. It was particularly heart-warming to see Francine and her cute baby daughter Molly on camera, Francine the proud mom talking about her ECW past but adding that it’s no longer a part of her life. It seems that while Francine loved her time there, she has since moved on. It’s high time everyone else did the same.
*TNA’s “Whole F’N Show” (the follow up to “Hardcore Justice”, although it was heavy with TNA-talent and featured matches that were originally intended for “Hardcore Justice”), was a lot better (which begs the question; “Why Didn’t They Scrap The ECW And Book This On PPV Instead?” [they could even have mixed the ECW guys in with TNA guys like Abyss, something which I was hoping for initially anyway]).
Kurt Angle beat AJ Styles in a great opener, Angelina Love regained her TNA Knockouts Championship from Madison Rayne in a fine effort, Matt Morgan bested The Pope and Mr Anderson in a short but effective three-way match, Jeff Hardy beat Shannon Moore in an “Open Challenge” Match that made Moore look like big deal (why hasn’t TNA capitalised on this?), The Motor City Machine Guns finally became TNA World Tag-Team Champions in the final bout against Beer Money and TNA World Heavyweight Champion Rob Van Dam beat Abyss in a memorable “Stairway To Janice” Ladder Match (although the use of barbed-wire, particularly the “Van Terminator” into a barbed-wire board-into-Abyss-face was a step too far in the “risk-taking” stakes).
For the time being, it appears that TNA are continuing to run with the “Fortune” (Ric Flair’s heel stable) VS “EV2.0” (Tommy Dreamer and his band of “hardcore misfits”) angle, which so far has been pretty entertaining. Long-term, however, TNA needs to do something bigger and “10.10.10” could very well be the night for them to drop their next bombshell.
Previously posted on Smash Wrestling:
http://www.firetank.com/smashwrestling/
