This feud seems to have produced a lot of disappointing matches even while being fun as an idea. But this particular match rocked and is easily the best of their series by a pretty big margin. I think that's because it's unique. They close out the feud by letting Spike get lots of shots in, which in turn makes Awesome look even better than by dominating him because of all the kickouts after taking so much punishment. Spike also comes out looking better for going toe-to-toe with Awesome as much as he did. He used a chair as a big neutralizer here, which didn't bother me in the least because it's pretty much the only way this would hold up as a credible fight I think. And I think this resembles the best FMW matches in that it's not so much about the plunder as it is the cadence of the match - look past the weapons and you see a strong and psychologically sound performance from two guys where the live crowd really gets into the babyface comebacks because the work in the ring is set up to generate specific reactions. This was the final chapter of their series and I guess the best match of it as well. ***1/2

 

The post-match angle with RVD has genuine excitement because it looks like Van Dam is finally feuding with the world champ. I understand Heyman's mindset in not rushing RVD's big moment and agree that it wasn't a magic bullet, but it's a shame they were never able to deliver the obvious coronation.

After watching the PPV match, I found myself enjoying this much more. It was more concise and I think served to get both more over in the process. Spike got a lot more offence in and it was better fitting for the revenge story they were going for. It didnt have the table excess of the PPV match, and I thought the bulldog from the apron through the table was better than any spot in the Guilty as Charged match. The post match stuff was ok, would have been interesting to see how ECW in 2000 would have lined up if RVD didnt get injured.

 

***1/4