Jerry Lynn vs. Justin Credible
For an opening match, this was decent. It was a fast paced back and forth match that was designed to pop the crowd and get them fired up for the rest of the show but I think it was lacking in that department somewhat. After a good initial opening exchange that included an awesome plancha to the outside by Jerry Lynn, the two fell into the trap of souleslly exchanging momentum back and forth without much spark to it. They lost me and they lost the crowd who at that point was more interesting in making fun of Nicole Bass on the outside. The match got back on track and won over the crowd with Jerry Lynn taking out Credible’s entourage - which was pretty awesome btw - before Credible hit “That’s Incredible” off the second rope. **1/2
Lance Storm vs. Chris Candido
I’m not sure either guy is the best wrestler to do a grudge match. Candido is a wild character but lacks that serious grit. And Lance Storm is virtually a robot in wrestling gear. In a vacuum, this was a pretty fun match with some cool spots. Storm hit a gorgeous springboard plancha into the crowd and Candido had some great counter moves like his scoop slam counter to Storm’s attempted springboard cross body. There was some small stuff that revolved around Storm attacking Candido’s surgently repaired era but it wasn’t developed any further. Tammy/Sunny’s interference was minimal, but added to the match nicely since it led to the finish where Candido hit a brutal Blonde Bombshell. ***
Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka
Tanaka looks soo young in 98. He’s still got all his chubbiness and a full set of hair opposed to the balding, skinny but toned Tanaka of 2020. This was pretty insane but they escalated all the carnage really well, peaking with the scary powerbomb through the table on the outside. The running chair spot was great by Tanaka - a lovely visual of him running down the ramp. Awesome stiffing Tanaka with chairs only for Tanaka to still get to his fight (visually struggling while he does it) was incredible stuff. The crowd went nuts for it and Tanaka’s timing and facial expressions made it totally work for me. There was a pretty great nearfall by the end as well following a rolling elbow from Tanaka. Violent 12 minute war. ***1/2
ECW World Tag Team Title Match: Rob Van Dam & Sabu (c) vs. Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki
What words could I use to describe this match? A total mess? Soulless? Disjointed? Kind of embarrassing? I think maybe the latter would be a bit harsh but the rest totally fits the bill. This should work as a total spectacle but it doesn’t work at all. The match starts out rather traditionally with standard in and out tags but they mess up spots right away - RVD being way too deep on an armdrag, causing Hayabusa to fall on top of him. Then RVD awkwardly elbows Hayabusa in the face and sets up another mis-timed deep armdrag. The match never recovers from this two minute portion of the match. The two teams never seem on the same level, constantly being one step off from each other and it results in soulless back and forth exchanges. And the crowd’s heat tapers off throughout as a result of it all. The wrestlers realise that the match isn’t working so they begin to incorporate weapons into the match and it immediately goes awry when Sabu fails to catch a chair off the top. Everything that follows is either poorly executed or done in the most unfulfilling fashion. The whole section involving the table was just embarrassing. I even face palmed it subconsciously. First, Shinzaki breaks the table by trying to move it into position, then Sabu stops in his tracks after getting a splinter. And it’s topped off by Hayabusa having to give RVD a Firebird splash on top of a flat table on the floor. And the worst part of it all is that it went on seemingly forever. 20 minutes isn’t a long time but they made it feel so. If you want to see a great Hayabusa/Shinzaki tag match, watch their match against Honda and Jun Izumida. *
FTW Heavyweight Title Falls Count Anywhere Match: Taz (c) vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
This was a cool shortish brawl. It all felt complete and final like a blow off match should but I think this was lacking that big spark that would’ve made this better. The finish played off their first match and that’s all well and good but Taz shrugs it off too easily imo. **3/4
Spike Dudley, The Sandman & Tommy Dreamer vs. The Dudleys (Big Dick Dudley, Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley)
This was chaotic. This was wild. This was insane, great brawling. Yes, I am describing the post match brawl when New Jack showed up, saving us from *this*. The actual match however was nothing like that. There were some creative spots like D-Von and Dreamer fighting over the crowd seats with everyone scattered but the rest was standard brawling that lacked the hate to match the feud.Dreamer bugging his eyes a few times doesn’t count as that imo. Sandman was piss drunk, clearly. So uncoordinated and sloppy. At one point he stopped punching Bubba Ray in the face to call a spot before continuing punching him in front of the hard camera. Mate… *1/2
Comments
Post a Comment