ECW One Night Stand
June 12, 2005
New York, NY
March 2, 2014
Background: I had mentioned in the December to Dismember review that the 2004 Rise and Fall Documentary was the first step in the revival of ECW. This was step two. The documentary was a huge success. Rob Van Dam reportedly continually pitched the idea of a ECW Pay-Per-View. And here it is.
There was a lot of doubt in regards to how good this show would actually be. Would Vince McMahon ruin it? The InVasion was still kinda fresh in some people’s heads. Would Vince throw out a watered down product? A LOT of people thought this was going to be a failure. Like somehow JBL would be the last man standing or something.
Storyline wise, Paul Heyman wanted to bring ECW back for a One Night Stand, and Eric Bischoff, arguably the most hated man in ECW history, didn’t want it to happen. There was a lot of real life animosity between Bischoff and Heyman due to how Bischoff would raid ECW’s talent roster in the mid-90s. Of course Bischoff was very defensive about how some actually thought there were times when ECW was the #2 promotion in the world (something Bischoff even provides in the documentary). Nonetheless, Bischoff is the perfect heel for this scenario. On the Smackdown side, JBL was also against the show for the standard reason Jerry Lawler was against ECW in 1997. He didn’t think they were in his league and deserved any TV or PPV time the WWE could provide. Both Raw and Smackdown had threatened to invade One Night Stand.
The Card
The crowd is electric early on! ECW! ECW! ECW!
Here comes Joey Styles!
Everyone just seems so happy to be there.
“OH MY GOD!”
Mick Foley is going to be Joey’s commentating partner tonight. Awesome. A lot better than Schiavone and Hudson.
The new ECW intro video package at first doesn’t feel like what ECW is about…but then you realize if ECW ever made it big time this is exactly what it would look like.
Lance Storm vs. Chris Jericho
Storm of course has the beautiful Dawn Marie with him.
I believe Storm had recently retired. Of course, an ECW reunion show with a match vs. Jericho I’m sure was an easy sell. Styles and Foley actually state this this is intended to be Storm’s last match.
Impact Players are talked about from Styles and Foley. Will we see Justin Credible later?
Jericho comes out dressed as Lionheart Chris Jericho, but has the Y2J music. Good thing that theme owns anyway.
Storm and Jericho shake. These guys are best friends afterall.
Amazing chain wrestling to start. Favorite was a Jericho monkey flip being countered into a cartwheel from Storm.
Dawn gets the “she’s a crack whore” chant.
Jericho does a dropkick from the first rope. That just looked cool.
Lionheart chant. ECW crowds were great.
Lance Storm probably had the best dropkick in the business.
Storm even makes a delayed vertical suplex look amazing.
Storm jumps to the top rope, when he jumps back (which makes no sense, but whatever), Jericho dropkicks him in the back of the head! No one cares when spots make no sense when they were amazing.
Chris Candido chant. He had passed away like a week before this and was Storm’s partner in ECW.
Fuck John Cena chant. Because why not.
The Calgary Crab! Or the Straight Shooter, whatever you want to call it.
Justin Credible and Jason are here! Jericho fights them off.
Lance Storm pins Chris Jericho in 7:22. Jericho rolls up Storm, but Storm kicks out and Credible cracks Jericho right in the face! Storm gets the win! Styles says “what a crappy way to win your last match” Match was excellent. I wish it was longer.
We get a Gary Wolfe interview…time to reflect on a lot of ECW wrestlers who had passed.
Rocco Rock, Bam Bam Terry Gordy, Mike Lockwood (Crash Holly), The Original Sheik, Mike Lozansky, Pitbull Anthony Durante, Big Dick Dudley, Chris Candido all honored. Great video.
Yoshihiro Tajiri vs. Super Crazy vs. Little Guido
Tajiri has Mikey Whipwreck and The Sinister Minister with him.
We are reminded that this is an elimination match.
I totally forgot Guido comes out with the whole FBI. JT Smith, Tony Mamaluke, Tracy Smothers, Big Guido. Just awesome.
Never understood how Super Crazy was never a bigger deal.
Tilt-a-whirl into an armbreaker from Guido to Tajiri, nice. They go into a chain wrestling sequence.
The way Super Crazy would nip-up from everything was great.
Crazy and Guido end up in the crowd.
O DIOS MIOS!
Super Crazy does a balcony moonsault onto the FBI! I’m pretty sure that was the moment fans realized this was going to really an ECW show and not a watered down show.
FBI interference everywhere. Tajiri mists Guido! Guido gets Whippersnappered from the top! Tajiri pins Guido! It is hard to keep up.
Double springboard moonsault!
Super Crazy wins when he pins Tajiri in 6:12. Crazy gets the top rope moonsault for the win! Can’t believe that was only 6 minutes. It was an amazing 6 minutes.
We get some ECW memories.
Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Psicosis
Psicosis takes off the mask to honor the ECW fans. Although the fans actually don’t appreciate it.
Rey’s theme does not fit here.
They both kinda start off slow, with a small botch in there. Still, it’s good chain wrestling though.
I remember people thinking Psicosis was wrestling for a job with the slow downed pace.
Suddenly the match kicks into high gear with Rey on the railing and getting hit by a Psycho Guillotine!
Psicosis misses a dropkick into the corner and does a violent flip into the mat. Psicosis was so good, shame he also never really got the big push in the WCW Cruiserweight division.
Rey does a seated senton into the crowd and Psicosis!
619 did not get a good response.
Rey Mysterio Jr. pinned Psicosis in 6:22. Rey hits the West Coast Pop for the win. You can kinda tell that Rey’s style changed a lot since becoming a WWE guy. The match wasn’t bad, it was still pretty good for the most part, but it was missing the flow you’d expect from both of these guys. It didn’t help that the previous two matches were a lot better.
Here come the Smackdown Invaders! JBL, Orlando Jordan and Kurt Angle are the leaders here.
We get a you suck dick chance. Angle will own them later. Now we get fuck you Smackdown.
JBL: “I got a ticket you little Mexican”!
Some more ECW memories.
Joel Gertner!
Kurt Angle and JBL embarrass Gertner. Good heel heat.
Angle cuts a promo.
ECW fans: You suck dick. Angle: Your mother taught me how!
JBL talks about how Madison Square Garden sells out with his name on the marquee. I like JBL, but that’s a stretch.
I do think this is one of JBL’s best promos. He buries the ECW fans pretty badly. It’s great.
Here comes Rob Van Dam and Bill Alfonso to shut JBL up!
RVD is megaover…obviously.
RVD points out that he will be shooting from the heart.
“Remember when RVD had a vocabulary?” This is RVD’s best ever promo as well.
RVD basically explains how much better he was used in ECW than WWE. He’s 100% right.
He tells the crowd the idea of an ECW PPV was his.
RVD talks about how crushed he was that he injured his leg how it won’t let him wrestle on the show.
RVD says the line that missing ONS sucks worse than missing Wrestlemania. I’m sure he means that 100% too.
It’s RHYNO!
Lights go out…it’s SABU! Great moment! Impromptu match!
Rhyno vs. Sabu
You got fired chant. Rhyno was fired a few weeks before this show.
Sabu with the springboard dive to the outside!
Nobody threw a chair into someone’s face like Sabu.
Air Sabu in the corner!
Triple Jump Moonsault blocked as Rhyno sends Sabu face first into the chair!
Ref gets GORED!
RVD is back in, nails Rhyno with the chair.
Skateboard! Dropkicks the chair in Rhyno’s face!
Sabu pinned Rhyno in 6:30. RVD puts Rhyno face first on the table….Arabian Skullcrusher through the table! Fun little brawl, great finish!
Foley and Styles steal one another’s lines, which was pretty awesome too.
Al Snow and Head promo! Snow blames Head for inviting the Invaders. Lol.
More ECW memories.
Here comes RAW!
“Oh no there’s Coach now I’m scared”. Lol.
Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero
Eddie plays rudo. While he’s great at it, I wish for this show he didn’t.
There’s an early sequence where Benoit accidentally breaks Eddie’s nose, which I think is the reason this match doesn’t live up to expecations.
Let’s go Benoit…Let’s go Eddie…Let’s go Eddie etc….
This match is surprisingly slow, and while it isn’t necessarily bad, it’s disappointing so far.
Eddie hits Benoit with a pretty nice chairshot to the back.
Very nice top rope superplex by Eddie.
Chris Benoit def. Eddie Guerrero by submission in 10:52. Benoit hits a Diving Headbutt, then makes Eddie tap to the Crossface. It was a hard hitting bout and by no means bad, but like Rey-Psicosis there was just something missing in it. Still though, it was good.
Gertner’s back!
Gertner asks something of Bischoff that he says everyone of ECW has been begging to ask him…”Can I please have a job?!” Hilarious!
Masato Tanaka vs. Mike Awesome
The best part of this match is Joey Styles trashing Awesome…and JBL rooting him on…because of his betrayal of ECW in 2000.
Crazy over the top rope suicide dive from Awesome. Unfortunately Joey Styles utters a line on commentary that became awkward when Awesome committed suicide 18 months later. (It’s a shame he didn’t succeed in taking his own life!)
AWESOME BOMB FROM THE APRON THROUGH A TABLE. I think Tanaka is dead. My god!
Big top rope splash from Mike Awesome. What hangtime!
Absolutely sickening chairshots! Tanaka no sells the first couple, but the third takes him down!
Tornado DDT on two chairs by Tanaka! This match is stiff and violent.
God damn Tanaka slams a chair on another chair on Awesome’s face…then does the same from the top rope!
Top rope chair shot!
Awesome is grabbing a table. Top rope Tornado DDT by Tanaka through the table!
Awesome Bomb from the top through the rest of the table! Tanaka kicks out! For sure thought it was over there!
Mike Awesome pinned Masato Tanaka in 9:52. Awesome hits Tanaka with another Awesome Bomb….from the ring through a table on the floor! Awesome adds a suicide dive over the top and the ref makes the count on the floor! Holy shit what a match. Some of the shots make me cringe, but god damn a great match is a great match. Awesome Awesome Bombs a ref at the end.
Here comes Heyman. Some more shootin’ comin’ up.
He isn’t crying, he just was smoking a joint with Van Dam!
He tells Bischoff that it’s not him at a WCW PPV, that he’s in ECW’s house!
Hide your wives, it’s Edge!
Matt Freak’in Hardy!…which actually seems to legitimately surprise Edge.
To JBL: The only reason you were WWE Champion for a year was because HHH didn’t want to work Tuesdays!
This stuff actually may seem tame for someone watching this for the first time in 2014, but at the time, a shoot like this on PPV was a big deal. Remember, this is pre-youtube and pre-twitter. In 2005, this was a great and revolutionary segment.
The Dudley Boyz vs. Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman
I know WWE Network has blocked out some violent spots in this one. If I remember them I’ll mention them.
Oddly, this would be the Dudley Boyz last WWE match.
Tommy Dreamer seems so happy to be there.
Of course no Enter Sandman on the Network. The entrance is still cool though. Sandman is horribly out of shape…but he would be in amazing shape one year later.
The Dudleyz dance to Enter Sandman in the ring. It was a pretty cool vision just overall.
IT’S THE BWO!
Stevie kick to the Sandman!
It’s Kid Kash. He hilariously dumps himself over the top rope.
Balls Mahoney and Axl Rotten!
Poor Nova gets double chairshotted: “That’s more painful than being Simon Dean on TV!”
Kid Kash somersault dives into everyone over the top rope to the outside!
Match begins.
We get some cheese grater action. Which I thought was edited out, but it’s not!
Of course, Dreamer is a bloody mess.
Dreamer wears a ladder and does the spinning ladder spot Terry Funk made famous.
Now Bubba Dudley gets the cheese grater!
The steel tray shots look stiff as fuck.
Bubba just dented a chair over Sandman’s head!
Holy shit is right.
Double Figure Fours is a funny spot here. You know, since the rest of the match had no wrestling whatsoever.
Storm and Credible are back!
That’s Incredible to the Sandman on Barbed Wire!
Francine is here and she low blows Dreamer!
Catfight with Francine and Beulah!
Dreamer and Beulah double DDT the Dudleyz!
Dreamer mocks the WWEDudleyz “WHAT’S UP” gimmick and makes sure D-Von isn’t having kids.
Sandman is powerbombed through a table.
3D to Dreamer!
Here comes Spike Dudley!
Spike is the key to getting a table on fire!
The Dudleyz win when Bubba pins Dreamer in 10:52. FLAMING TABLE! Dreamer gets powerbombed though and Bubba gets the pin. Wow. So violent but amazing match! Poor Dreamer!
Dudleyz threaten Beulah, but Sandman makes the save…and calls for a beer!
Here comes Stone Cold Steve Austin! Huge pop of course.
He’s wearing a XFL jersey. Lol.
Austin calls for the rest of ECW to come out for a show ending party.
Austin holds off on the beer. Austin challenges the Invaders to a fight!
We get a We Want Taz chant…and here he comes!
Angle vs. Taz showdown…
We have a brawl! Taz chokes out Angle!
Unfortunately this is where JBL stiffs The Blue Meanie. You can see the Dudleyz pull JBL to safety.
Mick Foley brings Eric Bischoff in.
Strategically, only WWE guys actually get a hand on Bischoff. First the 3D, then a Benoit flying headbutt, a Rey 619.
Bischoff lets out a fuck ECW!
Stone Cold Stunner to Bischoff!
The Dudleyz dump Bischoff somewhere outside the arena.
The ring full of ECW alumni celebrate as the show goes off the air!
Last Thoughts
What a show, what a fucking show.
Every match at minimum would be considered good. Jericho vs. Storm? Excellent. International Three Way Dance? Excellent. Rey vs. Psicosis, alright to good. Sabu vs. Rhyno? Good. Benoit vs. Eddie, alright to good. Awesome vs. Tanaka? Amazing, arguable Match of the Year Candidate. Dudleyz vs. Dreamer/Sandman, great.
Everything on this show connected. The history of ECW. The shoots. Even Austin being the man to challenge the Invaders gave ECW legitimacy.
Maybe if you didn’t grow up with ECW you don’t understand a lot of this. Afterall, ECW closed its doors 13 years ago and really hadn’t been all that great since 1999. Even so, you’d have to admit this was a very fun and very good show.
But if you grew up with ECW, well then, damnit, this show was perfect. It’s a shame 18 months later ECW as we knew it would be dead.
This show is great. One of the best Pay-Per-Views ever.
Final Grade: A+