El Puerto Ricano v. J.T. Smith (EXTRA)

 

I liked this a good bit. I've watched a lot of workrate sprints at this point but none of them had guys that bumped this well or had personalities as fun as J.T.'s. For some reason there is no audio on this DVD which hurts this a bit, but I liked all of the rope running spots a lot, thought J.T. hit his flippy offense and suplex/powerbomb finisher well and I also liked Ricano's snap frankensteiner that spiked J.T. Not enough to nominate it but my mission to get J.T. on the set, coupled with my love for Ricano and desire to see him on the set force me to list this as an extra.

 

Taz v. Little Guido

 

Decent little match. This was during the period where they were trying to get Taz over as a shooter and Guido was a guy who was capable of working relatively complex mat spots so he was a logical opponent.

 

Bubba Dudley v. Too Cold Scorpio

 

There was a lengthy dance off segment at the beginning of this was actually especially funny because of the lack of audio. Scorp finally gets pissed off at Bubba's attempt to break dance and attacks him from behind which of course leads to Bubba making a quick comeback and Scorp rolling out to the floor. Back in and Scorp establishes dominance and it's evident pretty quickly how awesome this match is going to be. Story of match is basically Scorp kicking the shit out of Bubba when he can get the advantage and Bubba telling him to bring it and Bubba bringing it himself only to come up a little short. At one point Scorp punts Bubba viciously and busts him open which makes stuttering Bubba even more sympathetic. There was a great spot early where Bubba eats a few clotheslines and screams at Scorp who then decks him with a running clothesline putting him flat on his ass. Also really loved Bubba taking a full length ricochet bump off of a really sick top rope dropkick from Scorp. Scorp was great working the crowd in this with taunts and man alive his big spots are awesome as he absolutely creams Bubba with a plancha and a couple of moonsaults. I also loved his big bump into the crowd as he seemed to hang in the air for effect. Gotta give it to Bubba too for really milking his moments in this hamming it up after hitting a powerbomb and having to be coaxed into going for the cover, running to the wrong rope after getting screw down and having to reposition leading to a missed splash, et. I've long thought that Scorp may have been the best in the States in 96 and this bolsters his case.

 

Chris Jericho v. Damian 666

 

I thought this was pretty damn fun as a wild sprint with good spots. Jericho is a guy that usually came across as plodding and sloppy even back them but here he looked really fast and really crisp. Damian took a series of really crazy bumps including a drop to the floor after a dropkick on the top, a crazy table bump off of Jericho's middle rope dropkick, and back drop driver. Jericho really unloaded with his offense here and Damian was willing to take it all and make it look good. I'll pass this one through on the lo wend.

 

The Gangstas v. Bad Crew

 

I actually thought this was pretty fun for a Gangstas match. Camera follows New Jack and there are some pretty big bumps and decent crowd brawling before the Elims come out and destroy the Gangstas.

 

Raven v. Axl Rotten

 

Another one that I liked for what it was. Axl was intense and seemed amped to get a title shot. Hack Myers run-in and stuff with Stevie, et. was kind of annoying but this wasn't bad.

 

Shane Douglas v. Sandman

 

This really wasn't a match as the ref was knocked out pre-match and they essentially brawled around ringside for ten minutes, but the brawl itself was great with some nasty bumps, great punches, stiffness, intensity, et. I would have for sure nominated this if it were a real match but it was essentially an angle that ran from the end of the previous match.

 

Billy Black v. Sabu

 

This is exactly what you want out of a Billy Black v. Sabu match. Black punches the shit out of Sabu, gets crushed on an unbreakable table, hits a crazy dive, et. Sabu does a seemingly impossible deep leap into the crowd, hits all of his big spots well and gets crushed by Black when appropriate. It's a total spotfest but an utterly enjoyable one that leaves nothing to the imagination. I think others have watched this recently and been disappointed but I thought it was a hell of a match for the style.

 

The Headhunters/Brian Lee v. Tommy Dreamer/Pitbulls (Falls Count Anywhere)

 

Don't know if you could call this good but it was entertaining. Wild crowd brawling with several hilarious bumps on ungimmicked tables, including Lee sliding across two and Pitbull 2 trying multiple times to get a Headhunter though a table before succeeding in hilarious fashion. There are several fucked up spots but they aren't fucked up in a business exposing way and thus aren't really detriments to enjoyment.

"Italian Stallion" JT Smith vs. El Puerto Ricano

 

The fans really hate JT and he is great here playing to them. There was some fun stuff here but some blown spots as well although they make up for it with Pablo being awesome as the spunky high flying babyface. I fucking loved JT's finisher here with the pickup DDT into a sitout bomb. This was lots of fun and I agree with it being an extra.

 

"Human Suplex Machine" Taz vs. Damien Stone (Little Guido)

 

Guido was a fun opponent here for Taz as he took a lot of punishment but hit some good spots here as well.

 

ECW World TV Title: 2 Cold Scorpio © vs. Buh Buh Ray Dudley

 

The shit before the match was hilarious as Buh Buh stuttered on the last name not the first then Scorp slapped him which made him go normal and they went at it but in a dance off with Buh Buh telling him he could outdance his black ass anyday. Scorp does his signature moves to start then Buh Buh follows with his own so Scorp steps his game up forcing Buh Buh to go to the John Travolta Saturday Night Fever dance moves. Scorp then goes into breakdancing mode which Buh Buh tries and does okay until Scorp just kicks the piss out of him in the back of the head. Scorp is awesome here as the dickhead heel that works over the big young dummy hitting some great spots on offense and on defense especially when Buh Buh launched him off a backdrop all into the fans at ringside. Buh Buh juiced hardway on the eye but it doesn't deter him as he goes on the offensive hitting some big spots including a Buh Buh bomb that looked vicious for a nearfall. Scorp would then jack his jaw with a superkick then hit a beautiful moonsault for the win. This was loads of fun and is a testament to Buh Buh who was only wrestling for a few months but he hung with Scorp who at this time was fucking awesome. Easy nomination.

 

"Lionheart" Chris Jericho vs. Damian 666

 

They bring their feud from WAR over here and they have a good match with Jericho looking good on offense while Damian does Sabu tribute spots using the steel chair and bumping well. This was a good match but there was nothing that blew me away so I'm going no on a nomination.

 

The Gangstas (Mustafa & New Jack) vs. The Bad Crew (Dog & Rose)

 

Gangstas have become babyfaces and the Crew were good opponents for this style as they could take a lot of punishment and this went all over the building with chairs flying everywhere. I'm glad they followed New Jack around because I'd much rather see him brawl than Mustafa. I love that there was this big ass trophycase by a door and New Jack glanced at it but decided that discretion is the better part of valor and didn't throw Rose into it. The Eliminators would attack the Gangstas which eventually ended the match.

 

ECW World Heavyweight Title: Raven © vs. Axl Rotten

 

This is an interesting matchup and I think the only singles match between these guys. Raven has Stevie, Meanie, & Brian Lee at ringside so the odds are stacked in his favor as usual so Axl brings out hack Myers to be his backup. Axl throws some really good punches here and is motivated which is understandable because he is in a fairly big singles match. What sucks is the usual silliness that goes on in Raven matches as you have interference out the ass before Raven finishes Axl off with the DDT.

 

Shane Douglas comes out calling for Raven who comes out with his crew in tact and the brawl is on as they work over Douglas until Sandman comes out and tells them to leave so he can start his match but then he canes the referee.

 

"The Franchise" Shane Douglas vs. The Sandman

 

These guys have a pretty great brawl all over the building with both men laying in the shots. Very fun for what it was.

 

"Bad Boy" Billy Black vs. "Homicidal, Genocidal, & Suicidal" Sabu

 

Fun watching my boy 4-B work again and he rules here as usual throwing some great punches and goes spot for spot with Sabu mostly while bringing some old school wrestling along as well. The dive into the crowd by Sabu which ended up with him mostly hitting chairs garnered hardly no response from this crowd as they only wanted tables broken by this time in the show. Sabu then tries to put Black through the table but it doesn't break which must've sucked for Black then you had the fans no sell it as well. Sabu then puts himself through the table on the floor to break it after the match which was great. This was a pretty damn fun spotfest and moves forward.

 

Falls Count Anywhere Match: Tommy Dreamer & The Pit Bulls vs. The Head Hunters & "Primetime" Brian Lee

 

This was what the crowd wanted as it was an insane brawl all over the building and even outside using just about everything they could find. Lee choking Dreamer with a pay phone cord then yelling out "he can't come to the phone right now because he's tied up" was great. There were quite a few fuckups but that was expected here and this gave the fans what they wanted so that's what matters.