Last time we looked at the issues that the rebirth of ECW suffered, in balance I thought it would be good to look back at the early days of ECW to redress the balance. So our show in question isn't actually a PPV its a live show that was recorded for TV and video tape. The fact that ECW had a video tape distribution deal in 1995 shows what the promotion had done in a very short time. The show begins with a promo from an example of what ECW did well. “The sexiest man on earth” Jason was up until that point known as Jason Knight a WCW jobber. Paul Heyman, wrestling genius that he is, looked at the package and did not see a great wrestler, what he did see was a heat machine. A good looking young man who could cut a promo and take indignity with heart (he lost to Jazz on a later PPV) the ideal concept behind a manager. It is what Bobby Heenan did well for years here its reinvented. This is early in ECW's development, so early the fans are still trying to pronounce the W in ECW, but even in the first five minutes the manifesto of the company is laid out. Fan interaction, chants the whole deal is as Pavlovian as it gets. The fans loved this attitude and they loved Jason in way that has only recently become mainstream. Jason was not a great wrestler, but the fans knew he had talent on the mic and booed him because they where supposed to, a mark of respect accorded to few in the ECW locker room at the time. Jason also introduces the one other factor that set ECW apart from other promotions of the time, they brought in wrestlers from all over the world and gave them equal time with their stars. Jason the Terrible never really caught on as the second coming of Abdullah the Butcher in the US, however over in WINGS and later the IWA he was a huge star. ECW knowing they had a very loyal but also very knowledgeable tape trading fan base brought him in for a series of matches teaming him up with the super over Pitbulls to great effect. Really this opening segment sets the tone of the show and lays out the philosophy of Paul Heyman as a booker. Hide the negatives accentuate the positives, make the most out of what you have got. Give people the opportunity to excel and see what happens, when it works chase it up and keep it moving. Respect the fans and respect their opinions. Even Shah Hack Myers was an ECW legend through his never ending but usually futile efforts. Note to this is no squash match, everyone gets even billing and is a competitive contest, though it maybe kept short to hide the short comings of the participants. 6 man's always do it gives the appearance of greatness without anyone having to be great.

The video packages are also part of the charm of these old ECW tapes, cool music quick cuts and use of locker room interviews that where revolutionary at the time. The company really didn't hide anything. It looks like it comes from a disused bingo hall because it comes from a disused bingo hall, but presented like it comes from MSG. Making things special even when it seems they are not, is incredibly important, especially for a small company.

We then have Steven (not quite yet Stevie) Richards, Raven's lackey, vs Tommy Dreamer, also not quite yet the epic feud that Raven Dreamer would become. This is the opening salvoes, with Raven controlling the gullible Steven to do his bidding. Its a scrappy affair but of note because of firstly Tommy Dreamer's physique which is ripped to say the least and then secondly because of his aerial offence. This was Tommy 30 lbs from his heyday and it showed in his crispness and pure wrestling aesthetic. (I tweeted about this while I was writing this article Tommy replied “I still fly these days just not so high"). Steven and Raven show only potential as to where this feud could go. No Beaulah, no flock and it is amazing to think what happened with this feud after this match and how it touched so many lives.

Then onto an example of the Heyman booking philosophy in full effect Mikey Whipwreck and “Giant” Paul Laurie. Whipwreck was a true Heyman protege, a small young guy who would help set up the ring if they could get some training time in before the show. Paulie saw the young wannabe flying around the ring and he had a vision of a guy who would get beat up for months on end, no jobbers in ECW remember, until one day he got in a shot and the crowd got behind him. They saw something different in Mickey, he was not the same as anyone else on the roster, in fact he wasn't like anyone else in wrestling. Now if Paulie could do that for some one like Mikey, what could he do for someone with real star potential? Which brings us neatly to the Bad Breed fall out. As documented on the tape, Ian and Axl Rotten had a falling out over their break up by The Pitbulls which resulted in this extremely violent affair which began steadily but slowly but surely got up the card with yet another ECW calling card, extreme. This was the year where blood and guts moved up the card in ECW, Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman, New Jack and The Dudleys took it to the next PPV level in the years to come. This match is pertinent for also what happened after ECW, with Ian Rotten going on to promote matches like this as the bread and butter of his IWA Mid South, using DVD and IPPV sales as a platform much the same as Paul Heyman had done with video tapes back in the day.

Despite the violence what I remember most about the early ECW was the pure wrestling that they had on offer. Here Al Snow takes on the Crippler Chris Benoit. Snow was an underground sensation at the time while Benoit was world famous from his time in NJPW and Stampede. These two where perfectly matched, a much more agile Al than you may remember from his WWE days. After the initial exchanges they had the crowd in the palm of their hands. So with a guy like Whipwreck Paulie could make a star, with the ready made stars he just let them go and do what they do best and it all worked for itself. Here Benoit and Snow tell the story of cocky Canadian National arrogance and American Revenge, even ECW fans where not that cynical back then.

And so we move onto the ECW world title match, Tully Blanchard vs Shane Douglas. Paulie always had a cool way of using the veterans, bring them into get the younger guys over. If they proved vital then they would get longer programmes. Blanchard here is clearly angling for a job after a less than stellar previous performance that saw him booed out of the building. Shane Douglas, then champ, takes a beating while Tully goes to town. Tommy Rich and Terry Funk where used in a similar way at times, though Funk was born for ECW. Blanchard makes a good account for himself here and looks as if he is in as good a shape as his Horsemen heyday. Douglas as always is The Franchise, with all the pomp and swearing you can muster. Blanchard, always sharp when it came to money matches, really earned it on this night. You may also notice this was not the main event. That would be saved for the Tag Team titles later on, yes the TAG TEAM TITLES. That's how over The Public Enemy where.

The Sandman and Cactus Jack, the two biggest draws in the arena, Texas Death Rules seemed appropriate, a good idea you would say. Except when, at 1:23:33, Jack takes a swing with a frying pan at Sandman's head. That isn't the flimsy Poundland special Jack took a swing with, something more akin to one of Tefal's greater creations. Which had predictable results on The Sandman. He was knocked unconscious. The rest of the match is a disaster area, or the greatest bottle feeding job of all time as Jack tries to get Sandman to lay down so he can get some medical attention, because its Texas Death Rules so the ref can't stop it . . . When you play with fire . . . This was only topped in the ECW bad ideas stakes when The Sandman got drunk before wrestling Sabu.

And so the main event The Public Enemy Defending against The Tazmaniac and Sabu. When Paul Heyman took over the book of ECW his first creation was The Public Enemy. Flyboy Rocco Rock and Johnny Gurnge where always opponents, so Paul thought they know each other so well why not put them together? The white guy playing black gimmick went down a storm with the locals and it took off better than Paul imagined or hoped. Sabu was a man on the rise before ECW came along and Tazamaniac was an incredible wrestler who never got anywhere because, well to be blunt, he was short and had to have the wild man gimmick to get used anywhere. He hated it, and it was blessed relief for him when he had the chance to reinvent himself as Taz. Double Tables was the ideal environment for two high flying teams like this and showed what the ECW environment could do for match quality.

So there you have it, not all that violent, not all that much violence against women, not to much bad language but all the elements of what ECW is remembered for are there one year after its rebirth. The key element though, reinvention was there from day one.

Enjoy the show.

Prelude to a Car Crash

Someone asked for something American or British this week, never man to turn down a request let us look at potential disaster in the waiting. ECW One Night Stand.

This isn't of course the ECW we know and love, the violence, the risqué content, the profanity laced interviews. Well okay it is, but its the first steps WWE made towards ruining the legacy of a company whose star had shone so brightly years before. This is the second One Night Stand and marked the relaunch of ECW as a different entity. I chose this one because its an interesting mix of WWE presentation and ECW before the WWE ideas took over and brought us something not that good. Bobby Lashley as Champion anyone? Kelly Kelly? Mike Knox? Oh yeah we are still stuck with him, but for a while there it was all good in the hood and as usual, most bad ideas do start with good intentions.

The premise of this PPV began with The Money in the Bank ladder match held at Wrestlemania that year won by none other than Rob Van Damn. With Vince more than willing to put himself on TV to fire up the feud a lot of the angles wrote themselves. The first match on the card, Tazz vs Jerry Lawler was quick. Inevitable really as Tazz is permanently retired through injury. This stemmed back from the days of ECW taking over Raw to support their first Barely Legal PPV, a rehashed angle but with strong heat. Jerry Lawler was Satan to ECW fans, and if you've seen the night that Raven left ECW you will see how hot he was. Next we have Kurt Angle vs Randy Orton, which is especially interesting because Angle's first foray into pro wrestling was with ECW. He attended one show and left when Raven crucified the Sandman swearing up and down he would never get involved with Paul Heyman again. So why he ended up being an ECW guy is beyond me, though he fit into things quite well, and as always the ECW fans gave good wrestlers respect. This match leads on to a good comedy aside. The FBI vs Super Crazy and Taijiri. Crazy and Taijiri both made their names in ECW and by then had been WWE regulars as had the FBI, this showed in a more polished version of the ECW three way dances Guido, Taijiri and Crazy worked in the early 2000's. Then it was on to the business end of things.

Sabu vs Rey Mistero for the World's Heavyweight Championship, oh sorry World's Championship, like not calling it heavyweight was going to make us think Rey wasn't 190lbs and 5' 9. Anyways, this was a very good match, and full of the things both where famous for, they lived up to their legacy. However Sabu was about 6 years past his prime and Rey was in on of those spots in his career where he wasn't injured, though he looked like he could be injured at any time. The two ECW veterans knew what the crowd at the Hammerstien Ballroom wanted though and they gave it to them, the match ending in a no finish, which back in the day would have caused a riot. Maybe the ECW fans had calmed down?

Mick Foley, Lita and Edge vs Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer and Buelah. This match is another booking choice oddity. Cactus Jack was the first true star of the fledgling ECW in 1993, his work for them while with WCW as tag champion made the company name (along with some incredible matches with Sabu). The angle came from real emotional interplay between Paul Heyman and Mick Foley. Heyman had called Foley a prostitute for going to the WWE in real life, and they cut some of the some rabid promos that hark back to the days of the Anti Hardcore ECW interviews that where quite possibly the best interviews ever done in wrestling. This was a nostalgia match for sure. Even Terry Funk who I do believe will go on for ever didn't look good, despite taking most of the big bumps. He was outpaced by younger talent in the opening of the match. But did they put their bodies on the line? You bet they did. All in the name of ECW, which for Edge was quite the thing having not been an ECW guy to begin with. As this is really a WWE show we had what The Masked Man calls “the palate cleanser”, something a bit more throwaway before we got onto more serious business. Balls Mahoney and Tanaka put together a fun, chair shot laden, high spots match that you would come to expect from those two really. Did what it said on the tin and gets us to the main.

John Cena vs RVD for the WWE title. There have been crowds bigger than this for WWE title match, but none more vocal. This was the birth of “Cena Wins, We Riot” (okay those fans hadn't calmed down at all). This is where Cena began his route to being a heel in the 18-30 male demographic and clearly he loved it. Having not been a heel for so long he revelled in the fact that he could do as he liked, all he had to do was be himself and do his regular thing and he was over like no other guy in front of any ECW crowd. They hated him of course, RVD was God for a night, but if you want to see where the kernels of the Second Summer of Punk come from, this is it. Daniel Bryan's feud against John Cena? That starts here to. As Punk said himself if there was one city that appreciates Daniel Bryan more than any other its Philadelphia. Bryan and Punk would have been right at home in the old ECW, and as we know Punk made the new ECW his brand. This match of course would not be in Philly, its in New York. The sentiment is the same though wherever you go, and it gave Cena, and Vince, the chance to see the possibilities of where things could go. It wasn't the first time he was booed, London crowds have always been particularly unkind to Cena, and Boston doesn't seem to hold home town advantage any more, but back then this was something very different and it worked perfectly.

Of course in the end the idea of an ECW relaunch turned out to be a dud. The wrong bits of ECW came forward, the philosophy of breaking new talent and trying to make stars would not happen until NXT 6 years later. RVD was caught in possession about a week later, the TV show sucked because they didn't take it seriously enough and on top of that RVD, Paul Heyman and Tommy Dreamer, the architects of the new ECW did not have enough power over the WWE old order; Michael Hayes, Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn to make the show work with one vision. However at the beginning there, it was a sight to see.