Damien Kane/Devon Storm v. Bad Crew (EXTRA)

 

God help me but I really liked this. I love Devon Storm from this period as he is such a goofball it's impossible not to like him. Here he just leaps around hitting highspots, some of them connecting full tilt and others like his tope con hilo onto seated opponent half missing. Bad Crew brings more than I would have thought to. Finish is total bullshit and I can't justify passing this along, but I'm going to tag this as an extra even if it is destined to get shot down.

 

Hack Myers/Axl Rotten v. FBI

 

This is hilarious as these teams work a full on Southern tag, stockpiled to the brim with comedy spots, ref distraction shit, tons of stalling and rampant homophobia with a chain in the trunks finish. Pre-match is great as Hack Myers beats the shit out of Joel Gertner with vicious chairshots. This isn't something I can nominate in good conscience but it was fun and unique.

 

Mikey Whipwreck v. John Kronus

 

I watched this recently and this is really a pretty awesome little match. The only real knock on it is that you wish it had gone a little longer. It's really hard to get John Kronus to settle down and wrestle a real match where the high spots are tempered by a reasonable pace and actual control segments but Mikey succeeds bolstering my theory that he may have been top five in the States in 96. Really love Mikey's selling and comeback spots in this. It's also really nice to watch Mikey the reckless backyarder hitting ugly but effective flip planchas and careening around ringside off of big bumps instead of Mikey the workrate freak trying to be as smooth as his tag partner Tajiri. Give Kronus credit to as I thought he looked really good taking Mikey's offense and hitting his really well with nothing reaching overkill. The flip leg drop actually came across as a brutal finish. Good match.

 

D-Von Dudley/Bubba Dudley v. Steve Richards/Raven

 

I actually like 96 Bubba a fair amount as he was always willing to work hard, his offense look good, he bumped big for a big guy, and he was dynamic as both FIP and/or fat kid always on the verge of snapping. Problem with this match is that it's a bunch of comedy stuff with Richards, followed by D-Von forsaking Bubba so you don't really get to see any of that. Also Raven really isn't any good and if this project is teaching me one thing it's that Dreamer was a substantially better wrestler than he was.

 

Rob Van Dam v. Chris Jericho

 

The opening of this is absolutely awesome. They exchange disrespect slaps. Van Dam freaks out after getting punked and unloads with rapid fire "karate" strikes rattling Jericho. Then we get RVD doing the one thing he does well which is bump big. He takes three consecutive massive bumps on the floor, including an inside out bump, a rewind bump back to the floor off the apron and a face plant off of a moonsault bump before Jericho hits him with a missle drop kick from the top to the floor. Just an awesome early sequence. When it comes time for RVD to transition back to offense it's as a result of Jericho being over aggressive and it feels really organic. Even "injured" RVD vaulting onto Jericho with a flip plancha off the railing doesn't come across as excessive because of the pacing and his subsequent choice to bury Jericho in chairs rather than try anything else really cute. Second half of the match has some Jericho offense that I thought was a little iffy, but i was shocked by how good some of the RVD bullshit that would be so tired and contrived looking just a few years later came off here. This match had one of the only Van Daminators I ever bought as somewhat credible, a slingshot legdrop with chair on the face spot that worked and a definitive finish without the match devolving into absurdist RVD prop road show. Of course Van Dam was a lot better in 96, and he's way better as a heel, but watching this really makes me think Fonzy really ruined his act because this was a really fucking good match and honestly he was the better worker in it.

 

Sandman/Todd Gordon v. Fonzy/Taz

 

This was kinda disappointing because I thought it was going to be Sandman v. Taz which I would love to see but then I have to admit that Gordon suckering Fonzy with a kendo stick shot and Gordon bumping around was pretty amusing. As angle development I thought this was pretty decent.

 

Perry Saturn v. Pitbull 2 (Falls Count Anywhere)

 

God there were some bumps in this. Pitbull 2 takes a vicious German and Saturn takes a tombstone on the floor. They brawl over the building including onto the stage. At one point that bust open a door and Van Dam is stretching on the floor and scrambles off camera. Seconds later Pitbull 2 gets whipped into the railing and almost kills a female fan in the process. At one point they trade some really nasty strikes on the floor. In it's best moments this felt like a Bull Pain/Necro Butcher brawl. At it's worst moments this came across like the ECW clusterfuck that it ultimately was. In the end I prefer my bomb throwing brawls to have SOME selling so I can't stand by this as a must see or should see, but it was entertaining.

 

Sabu v. Shane Douglas

 

Parts of this were really good and I liked the fact that everything kept coming back to Sabu's neck, but Sabu's penchant for going for spots over and over even when they don't work and Shane's habit of poorly executed basic bumps really dragged this match down. I've seen fuck ups hurt a match before but in this case they kept happening at the absolutely worst times and the match just totally fell apart as a result. At least they tried.

 

Brian Lee/Bruise Brothers v. The Gangstas/Tommy Dreamer

 

This was actually a really fun brawl considering who was involved. Dreamer took some big bumps, the crowd brawling felt chaotic as fuck and the finish with Dreamer getting smashed to shit with cinder blocks was pretty sweet. Solid.

Damien Kane & "Dangerous" Devon Storm vs. The Bad Crew (Dog & Rose)

 

Devon had one of the all-time great mullets in wrestling at this time and one of the best themes as well in Terrible Lie by NIN. Storm's rep at this time was that he was the white Sabu and he does some spots here that validates that but he also works a standard tag style with Kane here. Bad Crew were pretty good here at taking punishment and this was fun.

 

The Full Blooded Italians (Little Guido & JT Smith) vs. Axl Rotten & Hack Myers

 

Joel Gertner getting fucked up by Hack before the match was fucking awesome. FBI was awesome here even before the match running from the chair throwing by the faces and acting like complete chickenshits on the floor. Axl then demands that JT sing before the match and then destroys him as he does which was hilarious. Axl saying that JT had a woody while trying a go behind then saying that this isn't the WWF was awesome. JT & Hack doing chain wrestling on the mat also awesome. This went into full Memphis mode with FBI doing being your PYT's and Axl/Hack being the Fabs and even saw Hack break out the fucking Memphis chain to KO Smith for the win. Guido then complained that he used a chain and they restarted the match with Guido nailing Hack with a forearm and JT covers him for the win. Jesus Christ Dylan, how could you not nominate this spectacle, everything about this match was awesome and they overturned a finish because of a FUCKING CHAIN....IN ECW..... This is a fuckin easy nomination for me.

 

John Kronus vs. Mikey Whipwreck

 

Mikey looks good early hitting some big dives keeping Kronos on the defense and goes for the pin on numerous occasions trying to get a quick win but Kronos would get his opening and took over after a nice butterfly suplex off the middle rope. Mikey fought back though and hit a huge swanton from the top rope to the floor on a standing Kronus. Mikey then takes it back to the ring where he tries to get the win using some cradles but Kronos would overpower him then took him out with a somersault legdrop. This was a good solid match and I think it moves forward.

 

Raven & Baron von Stevie Richards vs. D-Von & Buh Buh Ray Dudley

 

BARON VON STEVIE & COL. DeMEANIE!!! This was awesome. D-Von was taking the Big Dick role of loving his brothers but not wanting to see them make idiots of themselves. Boy was there a lot of bullshit here but it was fun for what it was as you had Stevie comedy, Buh Buh being Buh Buh, & D-Von being an asshole letting his brother get destroyed.

 

Rob Van Dam vs. "Lionheart" Chris Jericho

 

RVD is working the disrespect gimmick here with Sabu and it carries over to this match as he slaps Jericho then backflips so Jericho returns the favor. RVD is pretty great here as he isn't into fullblown RVD match mode yet and he does some different stuff here as in using actual strikes than just jumping all over the place while pointing to himself. Jericho lost RVD on a Tiger Suplex for a nearfall but other than that hit some big spots here trying to finish off RVD before RVD brought a chair in the ring that would backfire on him as Jericho used it to his advantage before he ate a vicious Van Daminator. RVD again before he became the RVD of the last 12 years was working total heel in his mannerisms telling the fans to fuck themselves and asking where Sabu was before finishing off Jericho with his flying kick off the top rope. I loved this RVD more than any incarnation because he was doing his high flying moves but he had an edge to him and didn't act like a pothead douchebag just an arrogant douchebag. This was great stuff and an easy nomination.

 

"Human Suplex Machine" Taz vs. The Sandman

 

This is an interesting matchup because I don't remember these two ever crossing paths on TV during this run. Fonzie runs his mouth before the match which brings out Tod Gordon in full Sandman attire turning this into a tag match. Watching Tod & Fonzie work spots was hilarious. This wasn't much but we got a Fonzie choking out Missy Hyatt spot after the match.

 

Falls Count Anywhere Match: Pitbull II vs. Perry Saturn

 

These two lay in the shots here early on as everything looks like it has some pepper behind it. Pitbull juices good off a chain shot then they brawl all over the building with some wild bumps such as Saturn taking a tombstone right on the floor. Then they go back to just beating each other hard with Saturn nearly knocking himself out with a diving headbutt off the top rope. Pitbull would fight back though hitting a fallaway slam off the top rope to win. Hard hitting match but I'm with Dylan on the selling part as there wasn't much to speak of here. No nomination.

 

"The Franchise" Shane Douglas vs. "Homicidal, Genocidal, Suicidal" Sabu

 

Heyman coming out wanting Sabu to wear the neckbrace was a cool touch. Sabu really tries to break his neck on a moonsault off the ropes which would lead to Douglas working the neck over. There were some really fucked up spots here yeah and Sabu was frustrating trying to go back and hit them instead of just moving on. I mean there were fucking some terrible botched spots here then RVD would come out and he finished of orf Sabu with a brainbuster off the middle rope or so it seemed because Sabu kicked out. Douglas continued to work over the neck which brought out Heyman who demanded the match be stopped and Douglas had to be pulled off Sabu. This was quite the spectacle.

 

Tommy Dreamer & The Gangstas (Mustafa & New Jack) vs. The Harris Brothers (Brian, Don, & Ron)

 

Always fun watching the brothers team up in 6-mans. The audio guy who had a bad night already played the wrong theme for the Gangstas as he started playing Murder Was The Case by Snoop instead and the fans lit him up for it. Fun seeing Dreamer & Gangstas team up and this was insanity at the bell as everyone just started beating the hell out of each other with any weapon they could find. The brawl went to the parking lot and the bathrooms breaking tables everywhere before finally making it back to the ring. The cinder blocks would then make their appearance and Lee hit them with the chair to get the win. The brawling would continue after the match before the Gangstas came back for Dreamer. Fun wild brawling here.