I do not like there 96 matches at all as they are car crash affairs with tons of botched shit. This was a car crash affair but nothing was really botched and most of the big spots looked almost murderous. Even simply shit like RVD's rolling plancha looked like it may have concussed Sabu. They were even laying in some nasty punches to go along with the table and chair spots. This also had the added benefit of Fonzy being a neutral party and a camera angle that made his inane bullshit inaudible. The longer this went the more of a chore it became to sit through. Just as it started to get laborious though they went to the "draw" finish and then on the restart Sabu hit a roll through Camel clutch spot which I have to admit was pretty damn awesome and a legit "this feels like the end" moment. Of course it doesn't end and amazingly enough the OT period is actually really good as it is Sabu unloading everything onto RVD, with RVD folding up like an accordian and playing defense nearly the whole time. There is even a really good cross armbreaker spot in there. Then there is another five more minutes call and RVD tries to walk away and gets nailed with a diving plancha and then a sweet splash from Sabu and I can't believe it but this match is actually becoming really awesome. Sadly the rest of the second over time isn't all that compelling though Sabu does kick out of the five star which was sort of surprising even to me. Still I think this has to make the set as it is easily the best Sabu v. RVD match. It sort of comes across as a "Sabu's last stand" match and looking back I'm not sure that's inaccurate.

+Sabu v. Rob Van Dam Solid Nomination - FanCam 10-23-99

- Damn, this may be my favorite RVD-Sabu matchup yet. Seriously, this was pretty damn exciting and might have been the cleanest match between the two where almost every spot was hit clean and both guys were on fire. The table spot was pretty great as it originally a typical table set-up only for RVD to think he outsmarted Sabu only to get put through the table anyway. I love how Sabu sold the ribs as RVD sold his legs after the springboard moonsault. What an awesome stretch run to a pretty great match. The extra time period felt organic as the crowd was really pissed about the time limit draw and the extra innings were super hot. Completely different from Malenko-Benoit where the crowd didn’t give a shit or the recent Angle-Hardy match where it made no sense in the end. In a voting situation, I could see this in my Top 10-20. I know I called the 12/17/99 show one of the best ever but this may have it beat with the three strong matches nominated.

ECW World TV Title: Rob Van Dam © vs. Sabu (10/23/99)

 

Jesus what a match and I agree with Will in that this could've been the best ever match between these two even over the 1996 classics. Every spot was done well and there barely any mistakes as both men were as on point as I've seen. The stretch run to the draw was awesome and the fans were pissed which made the two overtimes even greater as they were super hot for everything. This was simply fantastic and a slam dunk nomination.