HITMAN383 Rant for ECW Hardcore History (DVD)

- The HITMAN383 Rant for ECW Hardcore History. The forth “Best of” tape for ECW (or in this case, DVD) and I’m hoping it will be good. (Originally written in September 2001)

- First, I’d like to put in my opinion on the incidents of September 11. Unbelievable. I will forever remember where I was when I heard the news (11^th grade math class. There was a commotion in the hallway, and when the teacher came back from telling those kids to quiet down, everyone wanted to know what had them all riled up. He explained that a plane had crashed into one of the towers at the World Trade Center, and we all figured he was messing with us), and saw the Twin Tower’s collapse. (By lunch time, every class had stopped doing anything/requiring attendance, and turned on the TVs. The first image I saw was of the second tower collapsing, in my marketing class) For someone who’s been up on the observation deck, it was especially hard to watch. I remember looking straight down, and thinking “damn, that’s a LONG, LONG fall.” People had to take that fall. Some people even had to jump off. That scares me. I hope the United States is going to wake up on airline security, and on our policies on terrorist harboring nations, and those who provide the money to them. G-D Bless America.

- BTW, I use this system:
***** - Excellent,
**** - Great,
*** - Good,
**- Okay,
* - Decent,
DUD – Nothing Match.

- Your Host is Joey Styles.

- Special Features! Wrestler bios! A Steve Austin promo, where he rants on Mikey Whipwreck and the Sandman, after the three-way from Deep Impact. He then begs Eric Bischoff to take him back at WCW (mockingly, of course), and tells him what a great announcer he is. Entertaining stuff. There’s a Pillman one, where he’s in his living room and wrestles a pencil. No, really. Short, and rather pointless, even with the angle behind it (see Path of Destruction). There’s a nice “extreme moments” montage, and a Shane Douglas vs. Brian Pillman incident. Here’s a review:

- Shane Douglas vs. Brian Pillman: From New York. Shane is cutting a promo, while Pillman is sitting in the crowd, and disrupts Shane’s promo. Shane goes after him, but Brian’s a paying fan, so Joey advises him against it. Shane pulls back for a punch, but Brian puts a little kid in front of him to stop the punch! They get into an altercation, and Pillman gets thrown out, as Shane is retrained by security. Pretty cool segment.

- And now, the DVD.

- First Section: Title Matches.

- ECW Tag Team Title Match: Sabu & Taz vs. Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko: From February of 1995, in Philly. Before hand, Benoit and Malenko beat up Public Enemy, so Taz and Sabu run out and attack, triggering the two teams to brawl. Taz was still in his long dreadlocks, caveman period, BTW. The faces dominate to start, with a “Sabu” chant going up. It doesn’t last, however, as Benoit and Malenko take over. They chop, but get suplexed by Taz. Sabu flies over the top, crashing to the floor, and the challengers go to work on Taz. Big “Taz” chant for that. Clothesline by Dean, and they drag Sabu in. Dean brainbuster’s him (twice) for two, and hits a combo powerbomb/reverse bulldog on Sabu, with the help of Benoit. Taz overhead suplexes them, however, and stuns Benoit on the top rope. Reverse suplexes for both challengers, and he tries to do something to Chris, but Dean clips his knees out. He works the knee, as Benoit keeps Sabu at bay. Both champs bail out, and 911 carries Taz to the back, because of his injured knee. That leaves Sabu to the wolves. Or The Wolverine, and the little man, I guess. Double backdrop, and they try again, but get dropkicked to the floor. Big pop for that! Somersault plancha on Dean, and a flying spear to Benoit! Asai moonsault on Benoit, and then flies out with a double bodyblock on both challengers. Table dumped in (to a BIG pop, since this IS early 1995, and this wasn’t yet the norm), and then does a springboard dive onto the floor, and onto the challengers. He sets the table on the turnbuckle, and drags Malenko in. Slam, and he puts the chair on top of the table. He climbs up, but Benoit knocks him off. Chris puts him up there, and follows, powerbombing him off for the pin at 10:26. Allright-ish match, but nothing special. ** ¼. Afterwards, they challenge Public Enemy, who come right on out. The big point is, however, that Rocco has bad, bleeding ribs. They beat up the new champs, as 911 brings Taz back in. All six men brawl, as 911 chokeslams the ref a couple times. The tag teams fight to the back, and then 911 leaves as an “ECW” chant goes up.

- ECW Tag Team Title Cage Match: The Gangstas vs. The Eliminators: From August 1996, at the ECW Arena. Brawl on the floor to start, defeating the purpose of building a cage to begin with. While they brawl on the floor, Saturn sneaks away, climbs to the top of the cage, and dives into the aisle onto the champs! Whoa! “ECW” chant for that one. John dumps Mustafa in the cage, and goes to work, as Perry and New Jack keep brawling on the floor. Damn, I think it’s time to turn off the entrance music, already! Saturn and New Jack enter, and Saturn nails a flying clothesline from the top of the cage. Everyone brawls inside, without any real direction. The champs dominate, however, and bust the challengers open. Mustafa juices as well, with New Jack following shortly after. Saturn-bomb on Mustafa, and he splashes him off the top of the cage! New Jack counters by dropping in with a trash can on John from the top. More domination by the thugs. Mustafa backbreaker’s John, and then Vaderbomb’s him for two! Meanwhile, Saturn drops a big elbow off the top of the cage on New Jack for two, but misses a second attempt, hitting a trash can instead. Dropkick by Mustafa on Perry, but he gets decked afterwards. New Jack comes off the top rope, but eats dropkick from Saturn for two. Eliminators control, but Mustafa butterfly suplexes Saturn for two. New Jack stabs John with something, and the camera view let’s us see he’s truly wearing a crimson mask. Meanwhile, some “Executioner” guy climbs the cage, and breaks a guitar on New Jack’s head. It ends up being Shane Douglas, and that shot allows Saturn to splash New Jack from the top for the cage, but it only gets two. He heads up again, to nail Mustafa, but takes another trash can shot. Saturn goes up AGAIN, but New Jack throws a trash can AT him, knocking him off, to the floor, and through a table! Wow! That allows Jack to go to the top rope, and drop a diving chair on John for the pin at 12:01. Lengthy, and made decent ALL because Saturn would NOT STOP taking risks to impress people. I totally credit him with the rating I give it, which is * ¼. Had he not done what he’d done, it would have been a hell of a lot lower. Afterwards, the Eliminators have a confrontation, but don’t break up.

- ECW Tag Team Title 2 out of 3 Falls Double Dog Collar Match: Raven & Stevie Richards vs. The Pitbulls: From September, 1995 in Philly. Stevie isn’t here, due to a broken arm, so Raven goes in alone. He connects with Pitbull #2, and attacks, but gets beat up. Chain-assisted punch knocks Raven over the top to the floor, and he hangs him like that. Meanwhile, Pitbull #1 runs to the back, presumably to find Richards. On the floor, chair between the eyes of Raven. #1 comes out of the entrance chained to Stevie, and Richards is ALREADY busted open! Chair shot to his head, as #2 sets up a table inside. He tries something, but Raven ends up piledriving him through it (in a gorgeous spot that also busted him open) to get the first fall at 2:11.
- Everyone brawls inside now, and Raven/Richards double DDT #1 for two. Stevie superkicks him for two, as Raven goes to the outside with #2. Table tossed in, as the challengers take over. They set up the table, and superbomb Richards through it for the pin at 4:21.
- To the crowd, Raven chair’s Pitbull #2, as #1 kills Stevie. Stevie comes back with a chair shot, however, as #2 grabs another table. Inside THAT goes, and it gets set up. Ref gets bumped in a spot set up, however, and in come the Dudleyz. Not today’s Dudleyz, but Dudley Dudley and Dances with Dudley. They allow Raven and Richards to both superbomb the Pitbulls, which spells doom. They no-sell it, however, and DDT everyone in the ring! Superbomb on Richards! Superbomb on Dances! Table set up … again … and Raven takes the superbomb, but instead of going through, his head hits the edge. Ouch. That gets a dramatic two count, as the crowd that that was IT. “Pitbulls” chant breaks out, as they continue to dominate. Raven takes control on #2, and puts him on a double table stack on the floor, then comes off the top with a leg drop. The top table BARELY cracks, and the second doesn’t at all, making that a pretty brutal spot. He drops an elbow off the apron to smash the second, because Raven’s a pretentious little monkey. He’s hurt after that as well, so we focus on Stevie and #1. Stevie gets crotched, and suplexed through a table inside, and Raven saves as the ref counts two. He’s unhooked himself from #2 so he can be more mobile. Beulah (with the champs) enters the ring at this point, and out runs Francine! Catfight! Raven stops it by DDTing Francine, and in comes Tommy Dreamer! He chains himself to Raven (since #2 has been carried out) and kicks the crap out of him. DDT hits, and he pins Raven at 13:55 to win the tag titles.
- Hold on! Out runs Fonzie, who say’s that this isn’t right since it wasn’t 2/3 falls originally, and Dreamer wasn’t even in the match. It’s really a good WWF/WCW point, but this is ECW! Todd Gordon runs out, and shoves Bill around, but Gordon gets decked! That sends Dreamer after Bill, so Big Dick Dudley (while on CRUTCHES!) chokeslams Dreamer! This was a big deal because Bill had outlawed the chokeslam earlier on. Bill’s a goodie-goodie, however, so he can’t break the rules, and says that the ban is lifted on the move. Guess who? The chokeslamming monster, 911! The crowd goes nuts, as he comes in to go after Bill. Chokeslam! A monster “ECW” chant breaks out, as #2 runs back in!
- Incredible double superbomb hits on Raven/Richards at the same time as the Pitbulls get the pin (with Gordon & Dreamer counting along) for the pin at 14:09. The match wasn’t really much, about ** ¼, but the angle around it, and the payoff’s make this all worthwhile! (Like many ECW matches, this was more about all the wild angles than actual in-ring stuff)

- ECW Television Title Match: Shane Douglas vs. Pitbull #2: From August 1996 in Philly, as Pitbull tries to get revenge for his partner after Shane broke his neck. Before hand, #1 announces that he has to retire because of the injury, but will never lose hope for a comeback. Shane comes out, and the fans look like they want to kill him. Now THAT’S heel heat. For the ring intros, Joel Gertner (THIN) comes in, and throws the original guy out so he can “properly” introduce Shane Douglas. See, now THAT’S how ya build up hatred for your heels. Shane jumps him to start, all while giving the fans the finger. No-selling begins, however, and Shane eats turnbuckle! Low blow turns the tide, but Pitbull brainbuster’s him! Neckbreaker (see the psychology?) and a spike piledriver get two, as he’s in the ropes. “Break his neck” chant starts from the ANGRY crowd, and he twists at Shane’s neck! Shane comes back with punches, buts gets DDT’d out of the ropes! He gets a nasty looking headvice on the champ, and then pulls him to the floor. Into the rail, and he hits him with a pie he got from a fan. Chair shot, as the ringside fans yell death threats at the champ. Shane manages to crotch the challenger on the rail, and beat him with a chair. You can see Shane’s back is BLACK from laying on the floor in the ECW arena. Gee Paul, it’s called a MOP! Shane tosses him to the rail, and then the post, allowing him to set him on a table. Pitbull fights back with solid punches, and chair’s the Franchise. Into the crowd, Shane uses a crutch on him. He cracks his neck on the rail, and back in the ring they go. Shane up top, but he gets caught, and punched! He gets whipped into the corner a couple times, and charges with a spin heel kick, but flies to the floor through a table instead! Shane rolls him in, and works him over, as Francine taunts the hell out of #1. It spills out, and #2 tries a top rope dive, but hits nothing but rail. To the post, and he’s busted open! Back in, hanging vertical suplex by Shane for one! He starts powering up, as a “Pitbull” chant breaks out. Lariat gets one, as he goes on the Hogan-type rampage. Knux gets two. Chain shot gets two. Running chair shot for two! Piledriver on a chair for two, as the blood flows all over the place. Flat-out no-selling begins, and he press slams Shane for two. Another … another two. He tries a third, but the blood gets in his eyes, so Shane hammer’s away. No-sold, however, so Shane sticks his FINGER’s in his eyes. That fails, too, so Francine wraps a chain around his fist. He whacks the hell out of Pitbull with it, and places him up top. He hammers him up there, so Pitbull tries the superbomb, but Shane drops down. Belly to belly hits, but it’s no-sold. Another, and Shane gets the pin to retain at 15:26. Okay. Good match, although not a GREAT match. ***. Afterwards, the ref takes a vicious superbomb, and so does Joel!

- Second Section: Hardcore Matches (DVD exclusive, although there’s more VHS/DVD stuff later).

- ECW World Title Match: The Sandman vs. Cactus Jack: This is from Hardcore Heaven ’95, in July of that year. You can guess where it’s coming from. The story here is that Sandman is fresh of beating Shane Douglas for the title, and Shane’s still pissed, but Jack’s getting the shot. Mick has his arm wrapped in barbwire, BTW. Stalling to start. And lots of it. Woman (Sandman’s manager) throws something in Mick’s eyes to start, which allows Sandman to cane the hell out of his challenger. He tosses Mick to the floor, and hits a no-hands leap over the top, hitting a cane shot on the way down. Shit, that’s pretty damn athletic right there! Back in, more caning. He misses a swing, and gets DDT’d, however. Solid one, too. Cactus grabs the cane, and whacks the champ with it some. To the floor, more caning. Chair shot, and it goes back in. Man, Mick, you’re boring the hell out of me! Sandman chairs him a few times, as even the hicks in Philly start to get bored. More cane shots, including some to the wire-covered arm. Woman gets her shots in, too, albeit weak ones. Weak DDT on the chair by Jim, but it looks like he got hurt, too. Slam, and a slingshot legdrop for two. Sandman is pretty agile for a man his size, but he’s just SOOOO slow. Top rope legdrop gets two, and a solid piledriver on the chair hits. Woman passes him some wire of his own, which he wraps around himself. He rams Cactus with it, hitting a solid Stinger splash in the corner. Slam, and he goes upstairs for a big splash. He charges Jack again, but Mick outsmarts him, and backdrops him to the floor. He follows, and hits a chair-assisted elbow. Nice one, too. He throws Sandman to the rail, and the wire wrapped around him hurts him. Inside, he tries to un-wrap himself, so Cactus ties his FACE up with it, and places a chair on that. He drops a leg from the 2nd rope on his head (nice spot!) for two, and beats him with the barbwire fist for two, also busting him open. He cuts his face up some more with it, and in comes Woman. Cane shot, but Mick no-sells, and goes after her! He slams her, and then breaks the cane in two. Before he can do anything, however, Sandman avalanches him in the corner, bumping the ref in the process. Cue Shane Douglas, who piledrives the Sandman, and then jams a cane into Cactus’s eye. Okay. That allows Sandman the easy pin at 12:00, to retain. Some nice spots save it from being total crap, but very, very slow overall. *. Afterwards, Todd Gordon scolds Douglas, and fires him. That prompts Shane to kick his ass, and then goes straight to the WWF … but not before 911 gets to chokeslam him! (I gave this mess ½* in a BUExperience for Hardcore Heaven ‘95)

- Stretcher Match: Rob Van Dam vs. Sabu: From August of 1996 in the ECW Arena, at the same show as the Shane/Pitbull match earlier. The rules are that you have to injure your opponent enough to be able to put him on the stretcher and cart him all the way to the locker rooms. They play around to start, kind of shadow boxing to show off to eachother. Sabu hits the first spot with a dropkick to the knee, so Van Dam does his own. Slugfest won by RVD, and he kicks away. Snapmare, and a legdrop hits, so Sabu kicks him in the jaw. Sabu rolls him up, but no pinfalls count in this match, so he turns it into a grapevine of sorts. RVD quickly makes the ropes, so they have another feeling out process. Yawn. Sabu takes over with punches, and hits an asai leg lariat. Slingshot headbutt, but he gets a cross between a pedigree and a tiger driver for his efforts. Ouch. RVD tries a slingshot bodyblock, but eats dropkick, knocking him to the floor. Sabu follows up with a crazy senton bomb, crashing RVD’s head into the rail. Double ouch, and an “ECW” chant to boot. Sabu props a table up between the rail and the ring, but RVD recovers, and kicks him in the abs. He drapes him over the rail, and drops a leg, in a nice spot. He follows over the rail, but eats chair a few times, and it goes back in. Sabu throws the chair in his face, and puts him up top, then tries to DDT him off, but he gets crotched! RVD spin kicks him off, knocking him to the floor as a result. Sabu climbs right back in, so RVD drapes him on the apron, and drops a leg from the top on his chair covered face! Ouch, ouch, ouch. He puts Sabu on the stretcher, and the officials start to wheel him back, but he rolls back in. A nice powerbomb hits, and he mocks Sabu with a handshake offer. Legdrop, and he drives the knee into the back of the neck. Criss cross gets screwed up, so RVD hits a standing moonsault to save the sequence. Up top, RVD grabs him, and snaps his neck on the top rope. He grabs a chair, but eats dropkick on the way inside, prompting a slugfest. Sabu wins, and forward suplexes him on the ropes. He drapes him on the middle rope, and goes to the top, dropping a leg on him. He puts him on the table he set up earlier, and tries a spot, so RVD tries to springboard in, but trips on the top rope, falling flat on his face. Ouch. Legdrop by Sabu, and the rolling Arabian facebuster. Regular Arabian facebuster follows, and he dumps him on the stretcher, so they cart him off. Half way, and RVD climbs off, staggering back to the ring. Back in, Sabu hits a vicious lariat. Triple jump moonsault beautifully connects, and he covers, but there ARE no pins! He puts Rob on the top, and tries the Air Sabu, so RVD leaps off, only to be flying clotheslined by Sabu! RVD falls onto the stretcher, but Sabu doesn’t want him wheeled back, instead he hits an asai moonsault out there, but hits the rail with his leg at the same time. Oh man, that looked like it hurt a LOT. Both men are damaged, so both get wheeled back, but Sabu pops off, springs off the rail, and legdrops RVD off the stretcher! That looked pretty damn dangerous. At ringside, RVD superkicks a chair in his face, and a rail-assisted asai moonsault! Inside, Sabu throws a chair at his head. Cross corner whip, and he puts him upstairs, then rana’s him off! They ALMOST screwed that up, but it ended up fine. RVD gets put on the table from earlier, and Sabu tries to dive onto him, but Rob catches him with a fisherman’s buster, right through the table, and to the floor. Unbelievable! You have to see that one to appreciate it. Sabu gets thrown on the cart, and dragged off, but he refuses to quit! Baseball slide by Van Dam, and inside they go, where RVD beats him with the chair for a while. Both guys try a springboard spot, and Van Dam wins with the asai leg lariat! Good spot there. He tries the fisherman’s buster, but Sabu counters, and hit’s his own! Triple jump moonsault hits chair, but it hurts Van Dam too! He still hits a spin kick, knocking Sabu onto to the cart, and they drag him off. RVD isn’t satisfied, however, and tries a senton bomb from the top, but Sabu moves, and he crashes onto the stretcher! Oh my G-D, that was BRUTAL! Rob gets carted, and it’s over this time, rightly so, giving Sabu the win at 23:14. Some sloppy spots, but overall a brutal classic! **** ¼.

- Third Section: Classic Matches (this IS available on the VHS, too).

- 2 out of 3 Falls Match: Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera: This is their last ECW appearance, from March 1996 in Philly. They spit at eachother to start, and then Rey takes over with a surfboard. Juvy escapes, and leglocks Mysterio, but HE escapes, and hooks a bending back toehold. Juvy with an overhead belly to belly for two, but Rey rana’s him off the top for two. Sunset flip for one, reversed by Guerrera for two. Juvy hooks a knucklelock, so Rey monkeyflips him, but Guerrera refuses to break the hold! They trade pin attempts, and a criss cross allows Rey a rana for two! Chops by Juventud, and a criss cross allows Rey a flying headscissors. That knocks Juvy to the floor, so he hits a slingshot moonsault onto him! Inside, a top rope sunset flip gets Rey two, so Juvy brainbuster’s him for two! They fight over the next spot, which Guerrera wins with a springboard somersault kick for two! Dragon suplex with a bridge is nicely done, and gets the pin at 5:30, giving Juventud the first fall.
- Rey bails out to re-group, and drinks some guy’s beer. Inside, he rana’s Juvy for two, proving the beer worked. Chops in the corner, and he tries a cross corner whip, but gets reversed, and Juvy tries a flying broncobuster, but misses! He bails out, so Mysterio rana’s him on the concrete! “ECW” chant for that, and he follows with a senton bomb to the floor (using the ref as a springboard), as Joey comments “What gymnastics! You know, he should enter the summer Olympics coming up in Atlanta! Then again, who wants to go to Atlanta?” Cute. Inside, powerbomb gets two. Gorgeous asai moonsault gets two, so Guerrera hits a short-arm clothesline. Kicks follow, and he tries a moonsault bodyblock, but takes a dropkick! Powerbomb by Rey get the fall at 9:03!
- Juvy bails now, taking a breather of his own. He charges back in with a hard dropkick, and he puts him up top, and does another, dropping Rey to the floor. Baseball slide (HARD ONE, too), and he dumps him into the crowd. Asai moonsault out there earns an “ECW” chant, and inside he hits an asai leg lariat for two. Springboard somersault legdrop misses, and Rey puts him up top. Rana fails, so Juvy dives at him, but takes a powerbomb for two! Ouch! Overhead belly to belly, and an asai moonsault, but he misses, and takes a blockbuster slam for two. Rey hits a spinkick, knocking Guerrera out, and he flying headscissors out after him! Into the crowd, Rey chairs him! Springboard senton into the crowd earns another “ECW” chant, and they brawl to the outside of the building. This being 1996, this was probably heavy shit, not like today. (There's that word again. ‘Heavy.’ Why were things so heavy in 2001? Was there a problem with the Earth's gravitational pull?) Juvy powerbombs him on the hood of a car, but Rey rana’s him on the pavement. Back inside the building, the fans call for a table. In the ring, Guerrera tries a super-splash mountain, but Rey rana’s his way out to get the pin at 16:02. What a hell of a match, which in 1996 was probably even better! ****. Rey, never one to let the fans down (at least back then), powerbombs Juvy through a table afterwards, drawing an “ECW” chant.

- High Incident Match: Tommy Dreamer vs. Brian Lee: This is a quite famous match from October of 1996 where they fight on a swinging scaffold, over the ring, and the ring is loaded with tables. Knock your opponent off, and you win. Dreamer attacks as Lee makes his entrance (Lee is best known as the fake Undertaker, BTW), and hits him with a garbage can, while the fans chant “Underfaker.” He definitely SELLS like him, that’s for sure. He rams him into a vending machine, and follows up with a can shot. They brawl all around the arena, with Lee in control. Nothing special, however. Tommy gets busted open, but manages to use a chair on the no-seller. Towards the ring, Tommy gets crotched on the apron. Brian hammers him some, and slams him on the floor. Man, I hate Brian Lee so much. Dreamer comes back with a pie to the face (no … really), and they fight over to the scaffolding. Prime Time smashes him into the scaffold a couple times and climbs to the top. Dreamer follows, as we see how incredibly shaky the scaffold is. Up there, Brian beats him up. Tommy comes back with a low blow, and a DDT, then tries to toss him. No dice, so they trade headbutts. He tries to chokeslam Tommy off, but Dreamer kicks him low, and tries his own. That fails, too, so they punch some more. Tommy gets crotched on a piece of scaffold, in a very dangerous looking spot. Slugfest won by Dreamer, and he hammers him until he falls off, and through some tables into the ring at 8:46. They were smart, “wrestling” on the floor before going upstairs, but THAT wasn’t good anyway, so it didn’t help much. The scaffold part was boring, too, but I give this ¼* for the final bump.  (I remember them hyping this match constantly to sell home videos when I first discovered ECW on a Saturday morning in early 1997)

- Bottom Line: Hey, a winner! Two amazing matches, and a bunch of history can’t miss. Even the stuff that wasn’t so good was historic, so it wasn’t a wash or anything like that. The DVD adds the best match of the whole thing, so it certainly has some edge over the VHS, but the VHS ain’t too bad either.

- Recommended.