“Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those whom we cannot resemble.”
Samuel Johnson (1709 – 1784)
Two shows, one masterpiece. ECW vs. ECW, the traditional vs. the unknowing, fake vs. real, a show to truly give ECW the respect it has earned vs. a show to make money off of a high selling DVD. Before I compare the cards, Shane Douglas’s Hardcore Homecoming vs. Vince McMahon’s One Night Stand…let me rant on why the WWE is making a mockery of ECW…
On the outside it seems like a good idea, lets have an ECW honoring the past and the superstars ECW created and give the fanatic, nostalgic ECW fans some good times courtesy of Vince McMahon. I have a grin from ear to ear when I see the ECW promos, my head fills with the euphoric feeling of watching an ECW show and they make me believe that all good will come out of this Pay-Per-View…Then reality kicks in…Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler especially. The emphasis on “ECW Rules” is annoying…
There were no rules.
The notion that using tables, Singapore caines and Chris Benoit will help with any ECW fix is ridiculous. ECW had goddamn flaming tables match, barbed wire rope matches, stairway to hell matches, f***ing TAIPEI DEATH MATCHES, for those who don’t know is when the competitors have broken glass taped to their wrists, Thank you Ian and Axl Rotten. (now comes the rant…)
I have no time for CUTESY matches with “oh my god JR! Is that legal?!” and oh no, a table? Someone put a stop to this crap! The WWE is the middle aged white guy who is trying to hang out with his sons’ friends and failing miserably. The heaviest the WWE gets music wise is Evanescence…Go Die. The fastest the WWE gets is a Shelton Benjamin T-Bone suplex (which isn’t even a real T-Bone, take some lessons from Taz you dork), the bloodiest they get is a Triple H blade job and the most violent is well…a Triple H blade job. ECW emphasized wrestling aside from violence, the WWE emphasizes “entertainment”, and to my recollection, nobody was buried in ECW, and most importantly, they had some damn respect for their fans! In my opinion the WWE doesn’t DESERVE to put on an ECW show, in my opinion Vince McMahon should get on his knees and thank Paul Heyman for creating the future of wrestling only for it to be taken and used for profit. You have the WORST world champion of all time next to Bill Goldberg and you want to put on a tribute PPV because you realized that ECW can make you money? Is this a sick way to get back the 500,000 owed to you Vince? You made much, much more off of “WWF Attitude”. I don’t buy the friendly way in which Vince McMahon approaches ECW in it’s aftermath, his eyes are silver bullets and you know his intentions when taking Taz and the Dudleyz right before their debut on TNN, you knew ECW was a pilot for your timeslot on TNN and then you had Triple H make a joke of the ECW title when you had him go over Taz and Tommy Dreamer.
And why shouldn’t have you? You took over your fathers business from a strict business standpoint. You never made Hulk Hogan, you were lucky that Verne Gagne didn’t know what to do with him in the AWA so it was easy to offer him so much fame. Your father even crowned Buddy Rogers the first WWWF champion in a “phantom” tournament in Brazil, he could care less about “wrestling” after losing to Lou Thesz the then current NWA world heavyweight champion. Even when Ted Turner adopted Georgia Championship Wrestling into World Championship Wrestling, you admired Mr. Turner, and waited for the challenge…of BUSINESS. How DARE you promote a Pay-per-View and a promotion built around the PASSION for wrestling when you yourself have none!? How dare you even think that you could have any legible hand in ECW when it made the very sport you hold back as we speak? The WWE does not make progress, it merely buys progress, and when you put on your split brand shows every week filled with lackluster, mere, unmentionable wrestling with nothing more than green stiffs in the ring billed as being gods among men you dare even smile at the very core of what made wrestling great? Smart business man you are, but a wrestling mind? No. Not even close.
My rant is finished, lets look at the two Pay-Per-Views!
The cards aren’t finalized as of yet, but from what I can see…well let’s see…
Hardcore Homecoming’s main event features Sabu vs. Shane Douglas vs. Terry Funk, they had one of the greatest matches in ECW history when they wrestled to a one hour draw. It was never settled, and over 10 years later, it will be. One Night Stand is looking to be Tommy Dreamer & The Sandman vs. The Dudley Boyz a match from when ECW invaded Raw which had very little to do with ECW storylines. I’m not sure if this is the main event, they really haven’t announced what s the main event, but this match holds little history…Advantage: Hardcore Homecoming
Justin Credible vs. Jerry Lynn/Rey Mysterio vs. Psychosis…Heyman brought lucha libre to the American forefront and this is a good way to pay homage to that…but Justin Credible and Jerry Lynn had some memorable matches, for the sake of being fair, I’ll say no advantage: Draw.
Raven vs. The Sandman/Tajiri vs. Super crazy vs. Guido…No brainer here, although I love Tajiri, it would make more sense for him to wrestle Super Crazy one on one, since this isn’t happening, at LEAST pair Tajiri up with Mikey Whipwreck and re-form the Unholy Alliance. Raven and Sandman had a memorable feud that is still talked about to this day. I think this one is very easy…Advantage: Hardcore Homecoming.
Lance Storm vs. Chris Jericho/Kid Kash vs. CW Anderson…You’d call me crazy if I took Kash/CW but…I am.Jericho and Storm have no history in ECW, and this will be a great match, it has no meaning behind it. Anderson and Kash had a few battles right before ECW’s demise so that means a little bit more. Advantage: Hardcore Homecoming.
There is a reason why Joey Styles is announcing this PPV and Terry Funk refused to participate in One Night Stand…Funk even said this is where the “real ECW fans” will be. I don’t want to exclude anyone from watching ECW, it was the best, I encourage it, but Funk is right on the levels that Vince McMahon did not understand, he is nowhere a part of ECW, and it shows with the lineup they have for One Night Stand. Paul Heyman has little creative control in this and I know it would be a different story if he had full control.
Now the rosters are slightly different, RVD will be making a appearance which helps ONS out a lot. I’m happy to see Mikey Whipwreck on both shows, and I notice Masato Tanaka is on the One Night Stand card…If Mike Awesome is not there to wrestle him, it’s utterly pointless. New Jack is not listed for either show, but I believe he’ll be at one or both of them. I’m curious to see what matches are announced in the weeks leading up to the Pay-Per-View, but the deciding factor for me is simple…ECW was not born in New York. Was Vince McMahon afraid to do such a small venue? A bingo hall? That’s right, because McMahon’s intentions aren’t about money are they? He wants to pay tribute to ECW…all the way to the bank. Hardcore Homecoming…The Arena, Viking Hall, Philadelphia. Deciding factor right there.
Advantage: Hardcore Homecoming.
Please order One Night Stand, it could prove to be a lesson, it also could prove to be a total disaster with Bischoff’s “invasion” of it coming up. It could be the best PPV of the year, I still believe ECW will always carry some magic with it, even in the most wrong intentions. If you want the better of the two, pre-order your copy of Hardcore Homecoming, while you’re at it, hit Ebay and get as much ECW as you can. It was and always will be the best there ever was, and the best there ever will be. (Sorry Bret.)
Next week: The wars begin again…
-Joseph Bachman
