Written by: Arnold Furious
I don’t know anything about this show but I was browsing for something to review and when I saw the content of this show I thought it’d shape up. Included in the matches are – Chetti-Guido, Tajiri-Super Crazy and RVD-Lynn. Considering it has matches from 2 of my 3 favourite ECW feuds on here I thought I’d give it a go. Let’s see if I was right, or not.
February 12th 1999 from Queens, New York.
No match times on this one. I can’t get them off my PS2 nor could I find this event on prowrestlinghistory.com, which is where I get my match times for DVD based events.
Chris Chetti v Little Guido w/Big Sal
The ring camera for ECW events in Queens is in a weird place. It’s on a corner, not a side of the ring. But it’s much closer than usual. It’s also the building that ECW first invaded the WWF in. It’s true, it’s true. Guido bails to avoid some wild Chetti kicks. Chetti goes for some kicks again but Guido takes him down and slaps on an armbar. Chetti makes the ropes. Waistlock takedown from Chetti and he rides him but Guido reverses. Audible “boring” chant. Oklahoma roll scores 2 for Guido. Sal trips Chetti so he goes out after him. Guido misses a pescado. Series of kicks for Chetti gets a 2. Flying crossbody gets 2. Chetti gets caught going up top again and Guido slams him off for 2. Outside goes Chetti and Sal slams him into a ring post. Springboard clothesline misses for Chetti and Guido elbow drops him for 2. Neckbreaker from Chetti. Then he runs the buckles and hits a sidekick. Powerslam gets 2. Heels miscue and Guido gets a face full of mock Italian flag. Amityville horror and a double springboard moonsault gets the job done for Chetti at about 7 minutes-ish. **1/2. Not bad for an opener. Some nice mat sequences but nothing amazing.
Danny Doring/Roadkill v Balls Mahoney/Axl Rotten
Doring gives a box of candy to Roadkill to celebrate Valentine’s Day to LOUD chants of “faggot”. Doring calls the girls in Queens “a bunch of whores”. “Cheap heat at it’s best” – Joey Styles. Dastardly shuffle prior to any action. Axl and Doring start out. Couple of arm drags from Axl and Doring tags out. So Balls tags in too. Balls runs through punches and clotheslines. Lots of stalling in between action here. Heels bail and Balls takes forever to hit a plancha. Balls points out that he’s “solid for a big man”. Who does he think he is? $ugar Daddy? Back inside New Jersey Jam misses and Doring hits a bareback. Botched Hart Attack from the heels gets 2 while the crowd get on their case. Avalanche misses for Balls and Roadkill hits the buckles. Amish splash misses and Axl tags in. Superkick from Balls and the babyfaces grab chairs. Chair shots for Roadkill and that’s the end of it. 1/2*. Awful match. Totally lacking anything resembling wrestling skills.
As we return Joey Styles has made his way down to the ring. Joey welcomes out the ECW champion – Taz. “I’ll choke out anyone in that locker room…any motherf*cker that wants me” – Taz. Well, that was brief.
This appears to be the interview time because out comes Shane Douglas w/Francine. Shane is carrying his boots and Francine is nearly crying. “Please don’t go” – NYC. Shane was going to WCW about this point. Shane refers to himself as “Troy Martin” – his real name. Shane talks about how his arm injury is the same kind that ended Ultimo Dragon’s career but Shane didn’t even stop wrestling. Shane claims the best match of his career was his second match against Taz. Hmm, if I were him I’d re-think that statement. Shane claims he’s “retiring”. He’s going to name the next Franchise of ECW – the man to continue what he started. Before he can finish what he’s saying Justin Credible comes out. He claims he’s the next Franchise. Lance Storm comes out and he claims he’s the next Franchise too. Shane has bad news for both of them. He names Tommy Dreamer as the next Franchise. Credible gets pissed and canes Francine. Shane takes a cane beating too. Dreamer comes out and Storm canes him.
Super Crazy v Tajiri
Quick dropkick from Crazy. Tajiri retorts by kicking Crazy in the face, hard. They fight outside and Tajiri suplexes Crazy into the crowd. Asai moonsault from Tajiri. Crazy tries to get back in but Tajiri slaps on the tarantula. Tiger bomb from Crazy gets 2 and he whacks on the Mexican surfboard. Crazy rolls with it and then slaps on the Mexican stretch. Perfect execution. Crazy slams Tajiri into the crowd and heads up top – springboard moonsault into the crowd. Back inside Crazy hits a springboard moonsault for 2. Another moonsault gets 2. Crazy gets crotched going for another and Tajiri ties him into the tree of woe for the baseball slide. Tajiri kicks Crazy in the head 3 or 4 times, hard. German suplex gets 2 for Tajiri. Crazy escapes the full nelson. Crazy misses a corner charge and spills to the floor – Tajiri follows over with a somersault senton. Back inside Crazy hits a leaping DDT for 2. Crazy goes for a powerbomb but Tajiri counters in mid air into a DDT for 2. 3 springboard dropkicks from Crazy and a springboard frog splash gets him the win. ***1/2. Not as good as other matches they had. Far too similar in places to their first match and at one point Crazy just forgets every move but moonsaults. I enjoyed it anyway.
FTW title – Sabu (c) v Skull Von Krush
Skull revels in his Nazi gold gimmick. No prizes for guessing the outcome of this one. Sabu has Fonzie in his corner and is wearing all black. Sabu misses with his single leg so Skull rides him and gets a 2 count. They run some mat wrestling sequences. Wow. That was surprising. Slingshot somersault legdrop gets 2 for Sabu. That’s more like him. Camel clutch. Skull doesn’t give up so Sabu hits a slingshot sidekick and a slingshot legdrop for 2. Chair to the face of Skull. Air Sabu gets 2. Skull cuts Sabu off in the midst of another Air Sabu. Powerslam from Skull and a top rope elbow gets 2. Hollywood legdrop gets 2 for Skull. Elbow drop to the groin for Skull. Frog splash misses for Skull. Sabu sets a table up between the guardrail and the apron. Sabu ends up on the table but recovers in time to crotch Skull on the ropes. Superplex from Sabu gets 2. Skull gets set up on the table – triple jump double axe handle but Skull had escaped the table. Sabu gets in a fight with a fan and stabs him in the head with his spike. I think he was a plant. Sabu puts Skull through the table at ringside with a splash to the back. Sabu gets on the mic. What???? Sabu never speaks. He calls Taz out. He turns up and they fight but the whole locker room spills out to keep them apart. *1/2. Not much of a match. It just dragged and then didn’t end. Taz names Sabu the number one contender and they fight again.
We return and the Dudleys (Joel Gertner/Sign Guy/Big Dick/Buh Buh/D-Von) are in the ring. The Duds run up some serious heel heat by reminding the fans that they ran Public Enemy out of ECW. Buh Buh claims he doesn’t like Philly but they’re a hell of a lot tougher than NYC. Some fat guy in the crowd moons the Duds. This is a long promo. Finally New Jack comes out to dispute the Dudley claims that no one is as good as them. New Jack cuts the single sweariest promo in the history of wrestling. Buh Buh Ray swears back at length. Mustafa comes out to join New Jack and Gangstas are back together. They clean house. Mustafa turns heel on New Jack. The Duds come back in and wail away on New Jack. Kronus does a run in and gets beaten down. Spike does a run in and gets 3-D. Mustafa is the revealed as the mysterious benefactor. That segment was painfully long and incredibly pointless as all it led to a shit match between New Jack and Mustafa.
Lance Storm comes out to cut a promo. Can we have a match please? During the promo Joey notices Don Callis in the crowd. He was the “Jackyl” in the WWF. He would shortly become “Cyrus”. Lance Storm names “Beulah McGillicutty” as his new manager but it’s just Dawn Marie in another guise. Dreamer comes in from the crowd and attacks Storm. Credible joins in as well and Storm canes the hell out of Dreamer. Shane Douglas comes back and makes the save. Didn’t they run this segment once already tonight?
Steve Corino v John Kronus
This was shot exclusively for ECW home video. Aren’t we lucky. Kronus takes control with kicks. Very loud “boring” chant. Kronus misses a moonsault and Corino hits a powerbomb. Judge Jeff Jones comes out. He claims Corino committed a crime. He used a powerbomb. Sid comes out. Corino doesn’t notice him. Chokeslam over the top rope through a table. Ouch. Powerbomb for Kronus. I guess this is a DQ then? DUD. Powerbomb for Corino as well. Sid stiffed the shit out of Corino. I guess he wasn’t very popular. Hey, if you have AOL IM send a message to CorinoWrestling and find out. He tells me all of Tajiri’s kicks hurt. See, I research these things.
TV title – Rob Van Dam v Jerry Lynn
This is the first ever meeting of RVD and Lynn. Slow start with RVD talking to Fonzie. Standing switches and RVD hits a few kicks. RVD back kicks out of a northern lights suplex attempt. More standing switches. Flying crossbody from Lynn after he dodged a moonsault press. RVD checks his pulse. Corkscrew legdrop misses. Jericho springboard dropkick from Lynn after RVD took too long on the apron. Senton off the apron from Lynn. Guillotine legdrop from RVD off the guardrail onto the adjacent guardrail. RVD hits a crossbody off the guardrail. Back inside and RVD stalls. Backbreaker gets 2 for RVD. Double underhook front slam for 2. Chair into the ring. Mexican surfboard from RVD for 2 (over the top). He botches a release onto the chair. They botch a top rope balance with dropkick spot and improvise another way to get RVD on the floor – clothesline. Lynn baseball slides RVD. Missile dropkick from Lynn gets 2. Northern lights suplex gets 2 for RVD. They botch another sequence. Rolling thunder gets 2. RVD misses a monkey flip and Lynn hits his corner roll up for 2. Another version of the corner roll up gets 2. German suplex gets 2 for Lynn. Senton press from RVD. COOL! I’ve never seen that before. RVD counters a sunset flip for 2, which leads to a near falls sequence. Leaping sidekick from RVD gets 2. Lynn counters a hip toss into a DDT. This is more like it. RVD kicks out. RVD blocks a tornado DDT but Lynn counters the counter into an inverted DDT for 2. Lynn goes up top but Fonzie crotches him. Lynn grabs the chair and ducks the top rope Van Daminator. Back on the mat Lynn ducks a Van Daminator, jumps a legsweep and drops the leg driving RVD’s head into the chair. I wondered where that sequence aired first. It was here. RVD kicks out. Lynn takes too long up top with a chair and RVD hits a running Van Daminator. Five star frog splash puts Jerry away. ***1/2. First 10 minutes or so were drek but it got really good towards the end. “To every saga there’s a beginning”.
That’s the end of the show.
Overall event rating – C-
Mental note – avoid ECW’s small shows. Ignore the card – it’s too good to be true. WAY too much crap on this. It was like watching an episode of RAW. An episode of RAW with a 20 minute Buh Buh Ray Dudley interview and a 10-minute Shane Douglas interview on it. Some of the matches are decent but there are better RVD-Lynn and Crazy-Tajiri matches elsewhere. Save your money and your time. This isn’t worth either.