Controversy, destruction, and the complete embarrassment of one John Cena. Welcome back ECW! This was without a doubt the best pay-per-view of the year. Personally I had some problems with it, but it was worth all the money I spent to watch it.
We kick of ECW with the sold out Hammer stein Ballroom chanting ECW! The ECW music begins to play and Paul Heyman enters the ring. He then begins an emotional promo, not unlike Joey Styles did last year, and begins to thank the fans, saying that they're the reason ECW is coming back. We then go into the theme video/music.
The first match was Taz vs. Jerry Lawler. Taz's old school music hits and he comes in with an explosion of cheers. The exact opposite happens when Lawler enters. As soon as Lawler enters the ring, he is attacked from behind by Joey. Lawler shakes him off and is about to give Styles a pile-driver when Taz comes up behind him and puts Lawler in the tazmission and chokes him out. The end. Not bad, but it's exactly what everyone expected. After the match Taz joined Joey on commentary, saying that he might as well stick around since he had had such a short night. Match Rating 7:10
Next came Randy Orton vs. Kurt Angle. Randy came into a semi-dead heat from the crowd. Kurt Angle managed to get a good reception and the match began. Kurt went for the ankle lock early in the match, but it was reversed. Randy Orton bailed out of the ring and was struck with a "Pussy" chant from the fans. He then went back 9in and after going back and forth, Randy was slapped a few times by Angle. This caused the fans to chant "You got b**** slapped!". It seems to me that the crowd made this match. The wrestling was good but Orton was hit with chants like "Go blow Cena" or " Angle's gonna kill you". Great match. Angle wins with the Ankle lock. Match Rating 10:10
Next was the F.B.I. vs. Super Crazy and Tajiri. I love cruiser weight matches. Super Crazy did not disappoint. Although he may not have leaped of the balcony, he did get in some spectacular moonsaults. I will not give Way all the spots in the match so as to not ruin it. In the end the F.B.I. managed to get Tajiri alone and pinned him with a double brain buster. After the match the Big Show came in and cleared house. Excellent match. Match Rating 12:10
Next came the World Heavyweight championship match Rey Mysterio vs. Sabu. Spectacular match. I have always been a great fan of the Suicidal, Homicidal, Genocidal, Death-defying maniac, Sabu. And who can forget the high-flying tendencies of Rey Mysterio? Both showed and gave it their all. Sabu showed how innovative he can be, and Mysterio reverted to his ECW hardcore style. The match ending wasn't much to my liking. Sabu hit a triple-jump DDT on Mysterio through a table on the outside. They didn't land on non-awkward angles and both had to be helped outside. Still a classic Match Rating 20:10
Next match Tommy Dreamer, Terry Funk vs. Cactus Jack, Edge. Tommy and Terry came in with Beulah at their side, while Cactus and Edge came in with Lita. This match went Hardcore to the EXTREME! Both Terry And Mick Foley showed that they can still take suicidal bumps and come back fighting. The match included fire, wood and barbed wire. Not necessarily in that order. The highly anticipated cat fight between Lita and Beulah was nice. Edge won when he speared Beulah. Match Rating 15:10
Next match Balls Mahoney vs. Masato Tanaka. Not a bad match, could've been longer. Masato Tanaka showed how tough he was by taking the hardest chair-shot I have ever seen. Balls wins with a chair-shot. Match Rating 8:10
What happened next was disgusting. Eugene came out to some boos, which I half expected, but I did not like what happened next. After Eugene read a poem The Sandman came out. He pulled out his Singapore cane and started caning Eugene. And after forcing Eugene to beg for mercy, he started caning him again. Eugene had to retreat in to the locker room, with the Sandman giving chase. Promo Rating -20:10
Now for the main event, John Cena vs. Rob Van Dam. This was the emotional slaughter of John Cena's soul. He came into explosive boo's, and "F*** you Cena" chants. Someone even went as far as to make a sign that said "If Cena wins we riot". I was cracking up the whole time. These boos were only topped when Cena threw his shirt into the ring, and the fan threw it back. He tried this several times, but kept getting his shirt returned, one time a fan actually spit on It., "Throw it back chants" began rising and Cena was forced to leave the shirt lying. I can't believe how hard I laughed. For Cena's entire entrance the fans threw toilet paper at Cena, even some during the match. You suck Dick chants ran through the match. And every time Cena did a move, "Same old s***" chants would rise. When Cena did a flying move, the fans chanted "You still suck". Rvd put a nice beating on Cena, as did the fans. The match ended when edge came out and speared Cena through a table. Although Edge had been booed earlier in the evening, "thank you, Edge" chants rang after he speared Cena. Rvd hit his patented five-star-frog- splash and pinned Cena. Match Rating 10:10 Fan Rating 100:10
This was great pay-per-view. I only have one question. Whatever happened to the Benoit vs. Dean Malenko match that was supposed to happen?PPV Rating 1000:10
