ECW Path of Destruction
Released 11/14/00

Your host is Joey Styles.

• 4-Way Dance: Shane Douglas vs Pitbull 2 (w/Francine) vs 2 Cold Scorpio vs Television Champion Chris Jericho (Heat Wave – 7/13/96)

There are tag rules in this match, with two guys wrestling while two others stand on the apron. Shane sneak-attacks Pitbull in the aisle as Scorpio and Jericho start it off in the ring. An elaborate series of rope running and leap frogs ends with Jericho kicking Scorpio to the outside. They trade hammerlocks, Scorpio scores a snap mare, and after more ropes and leap frogs Scorpio hits a back heel kick. He gets two with a body slam and a somersault leg drop. Jericho hits the ropes and floats over into a tigerbomb for two. He follows up with an extremely uncommon takedown and submission move. It becomes a chopfest until Scorpio hits a spin kick and tags in Douglas. The Franchise pummels Jericho and gives a shot to Pitbull 2, but Jericho counters a suplex for two. Headlock takedown by Jericho, and he lays on it for two. Shoulderblock and cool little roll-up gets two. He clobbers Douglas and hits a slingshot splash. He beats him down in the corner for a while, then they have a long chopfest, and Jericho keeps the advantage with a spin kick. Lionsault gets two. Jericho tags in Pitbull, he’s already bleeding from Shane’s sneak-attack, and Shane tags out to Scorpio (ooohhh, he wants none of the Pitbull). Scorpio counters a press slam into a sunset flip for two. Pitbull tries again and hits a press slam into a front slam. Scorpio tries a Mysterio-like hurracanrana, but it doesn’t go too well and Pitbull powerbombs him for two. Scorpio gets two after a series of punches. He hits him with some forearms and delivers kind-of-a-hurracanrana to the outside. On the floor, he smashes Pitbull’s head into a chair. Back in, he drops Pitbull with some knee lifts and tags in Douglas. Douglas jumps all over the beaten down Pitbull and delivers a back suplex for two. As soon as Pitbull shows some life, Douglas tags out to Jericho (The crowd’s chanting “pussy” at Douglas). Jericho hits Pitbull with a snap mare, a kick to the head, a low dropkick and some right hands, but Pitbull stops the onslaught with a back elbow. Jericho reverses a whip, but Pitbull catches him in a leap frog and slams him for two. Some reversals end with Jericho scoring a kick, and he hits a German suplex with a lateral press for two. Pitbull catches another leap frog, this time into a powerbomb, and tags to out Scorpio. Body slam by Scorpio. He goes up top, but Jericho crotches him, they climb until both are standing on the top turnbuckle, and Jericho hits a SUPER FRANKENSTEINER! Jericho can’t cover him, so Douglas tags himself in, covers, 1-2-NO! Scorpio wins a rope running sequence with a rolling kick, then “unloads with the heavy artillery,” and Shane stumbles to the floor. Scorpio goes nuts on Douglas on the floor with stiff right hands, and he smashes his head into the railing and a chair. Back in, he gives Shane a bulldog on the chair. Late cover gets two, then he tags in the Pitbull. Shane sneaks away, then tags in Jericho, who school boys Pitbull for two. Jericho’s knee gives out on a slam, and Pitbull gets two. Pitbull knocks Jericho senseless, then a hard powerbomb gets 1-2-NO! Pitbull tags Scorpio, and a butterfly suplex sends Jericho to the floor. Jericho takes a beating on the floor, but hits a suplex back inside. He wants to tag Douglas, but to no avail, so Pitbull gets the tag. He hits Scorpio with a fallaway slam from the second rope and covers, but Shane tags Scorpio’s limp hand and goes after the Pitbull. They do that hiptoss-after-hiptoss spot until Pitbull sends Douglas outside. While Douglas throws right hands on the floor, Jericho hits a top-rope springboard plancha on both men! Scorpio follows up  with a big plancha of his own. Scorpio sends Jericho to the rail, but he gets backdropped into the crowd, where they exchange some stiff right hands. A chair eventually becomes involved, and Jericho drags Scorpio back to the ring. Douglas bulldogs the Pitbull onto a chair for 1-2-NO! Shane wants to tag out, but Scorpio ain’t havin’ it and Jericho’s out of sight, so he’s stuck with Pitbull. Pitbull gives him a beating until Jericho hits a missile dropkick. Pitbull covers, 1-2-NO! Jericho pulls him off and covers, 1-2-NO! Jericho claims he tagged in, so it’s him and Douglas. Might not be a good idea. Double sledge and a dropkick gets two for Jericho, then he goes to a spinning toe hold, then a figure-four. That gets a couple two counts. Douglas tags Scorpio, and he receives a snap suplex. Jericho goes for a lionsault, but Scorpio DROPKICKS HIM IN MID AIR! Shane wants in, Scorpio won’t tag him, and Jericho dropkicks him into Shane. Shane gets in reluctantly and jabs Jericho, but then tags back out. Scorpio delivers a tombstone and the TUMBLEWEED for the 1-2-3, and Jericho’s eliminated at 27:09.

Scorpio goes to town on Douglas with a back body drop and a dropkick, then an abdominal stretch. He chokes him down for a two count. Douglas reverses a whip and hits a belly-to-belly suplex. He goes to the second rope, and Scorpio stops him with a sunset flip for 1-2-NO! Pitbull jumps in the ring and Scorpio unloads on him. Scorpio sets up both guys in position, but they dodge a moonsault, and Douglas drops him with a DDT. Douglas and Pitbull decide to team up, and Pitbull finishes Scorpio with a SUPERBOMB at 31:43.

It’s down to Douglas and the Pitbull. Douglas takes the advantage and sends Pitbull to the floor. Pitbull hits the ring post, but eventually takes over and even has time to give Hat Guy a high five. Back in, he sets up two chairs next to each other and powerbombs Douglas though them! Then he brings a table in the ring, but Douglas reverses a whip and hits a belly-to-belly suplex. He covers but Francine distracts the ref. Douglas yanks Francine into the ring and lays a kiss on her, Pitbull charges, Douglas moves, and the ref gets bumped! Pitbull goes for a press slam, but Francine turns on him and tosses powder in his eyes. Then he takes a low blow from Shane and a slap from Francine. She takes down her skirt to reveal “Franchise” panties. Pitbull 1 shows up at ringside to fire up his partner. Pitbull 2 knocks Shane around and spills him on the floor. Both Pitbulls gang up on Francine, they set up a table, Pitbull 2 perches himself up in the corner, and Francine receives a SUPERBOMB THROUGH A TABLE!!! ECW! ECW! ECW! But Douglas sneaks back in, he drops Pitbull 1 with an armbreaker DDT (the one that broke his neck!) and nails Pitbull 2 with the title belt, covers, 1-2-NO! Then he goes for a piece of table and breaks it over Pitbull 2’s face, 1-2-NO! The brass knuckles get 1-2-NO! Chain around the fist gets 1-2-NO! Pitbull 2 fights back and whips Shane to the corner, but misses a spin kick and falls outside. Right back in, Shane scores a belly-to-belly, and that gets the 1-2-3! (39:46) The crowd is FURIOUS after the match. I was kind of bummed out by the tag rules at first, and the first time I watched this match, I was disappointed that Jericho and Scorpio were out first and that Shane manipulated his way to victory, but that’s exactly what makes it great. I don’t care how “smart” a fan you are, this match will have you praying to five different gods that Shane doesn’t win. Shane’s performance as the cowardly heel is frustratingly precise, he takes a rough beating, HE BREAKS SOMEONE’S NECK, and sneaks away with the win. I hate to imply that a legitimate injury makes a match better — I think this would have done fine for the Douglas/Pitbulls feud without the injury — but of course ECW exploited the hell out of it, which heated the feud up like crazy. Anyways, the tag rules actually work quite well, the action is non-stop, and there are several dramatic nearfalls. Add that to how well this match riled up the crowd and how the storytelling was effective and consistent, and you can put this is up there with the best ECW matches ever. ****3/4

• Television Champion Bam Bam Bigelow vs Rob Van Dam (w/ Bill Alfonso) (Hardcore TV – 4/4/98)

The story here is that Van Dam is only trying to soften up Bigelow to give his buddy Sabu an easier time winning the title at the upcoming pay-per-view, at least that’s what Bill Alfonso is saying. Bam Bam strikes first with a takedown, fists, and a shoulderblock. Van Dam gets shot off the ropes and hits a spinning heel kick. He goes for a hurracanrana, and it’s countered into a powerbomb. Van Dam has a talk with Fonzie outside and stalls way too long. Bam Bam ducks an enziruri and hits some headbutts, but RVD comes back with a side kick, a flying crossbody, a flying side kick, and ROLLING THUNDER, but only gets a one count. He misses a charge and falls outside. Bam Bam has control on the floor until RVD comes back with a side kick off the railing. Bam Bam sends him into the post, then the railing, but RVD gets a boot up on a charge. He tries a headscissors from the rail, but Bam Bam launches him into the crowd. Bam Bam is on top of the brawl, but RVD snap mares his head into the rail and hits a sloppy flying hurracanrana. A wooden chair to the head puts Bam Bam down long enough for RVD to get to the top rope and deliver an incredible crossbody plancha into the second row! That was just the warmup for RVD though, as he goes up again and this time hits a somersault plancha! That move would be shown a million times in ECW’s intro packages. Bam Bam gets halfway over the rail before RVD comes off the apron with a guillotine leg drop. Eventually, Bam Bam hits RVD with a clothesline and powerbombs him onto the timekeeper’s table. The table doesn’t break, so Bigelow adds an elbow drop from the apron. It broke. RVD comes back by nailing Bigelow with part of the table and a chair, and a preexisting cut opens up above Bigelow’s eye. Bigelow comes back with a stiff chair shot, and they finally get back to the ring. RVD gets pummeled on the apron, Bigelow goes for a front suplex, but RVD counters and drops Bigelow’s neck across the top rope. RVD leaps off the top turnbuckle but gets caught in a powerbomb. He avoids the BIGELOWSAULT and hits the FIVE STAR FROG SPLASH for 1-2-NO! A modified Samoan drop by Bam Bam gets two. Brainbuster by Bam Bam gets 1-2-NO! RVD gets launched into the corner, Bam Bam tries a running splash, and RVD holds a chair up but gets the worst of it anyways. Bam Bam picks RVD up, and here comes Sabu down the rampway. He throws the chair at Bam Bam’s head, which frees RVD. Sabu goes for AIR SABU, but Bam Bam catches him and tosses him into RVD. Bigelow tries to powerbomb Sabu, but Sabu jams a small weapon into his eye. Then comes the VAN DAMINATOR, 1-2-3! New champ! (15:43) There’s obviously good high spots, but this isn’t the finest match ever. This was the beginning of Van Dam’s near two-year TV title reign. ***

• Barbed Wire Ladder Match: Sandman vs Sabu (w/ Bill Alfonso) (House Party – 1/10/98)

So there’s a bunch of barbed wire hanging above the ring, and the match ends on pinfall or submission. The ladder’s in the middle of the ring to start, they jostle over it, and Sabu dropkicks Sandman’s knee, then drops the ladder on him. He folds it up and bashes Sandman with it a few times. Sandman gets draped over the folded ladder, Fonzie holds a chair above his head, and Sabu hits a nasty guillotine leg drop. That gets two. He sets the ladder on Sandman and hits an Arabian facebuster from the top rope! That gets another two. Sandman rolls outside and a baseball slide sends him into the crowd. Triple jump plancha into the crowd by Sabu! People and chairs are falling all over the place while Sabu dominates the brawl. They climb through the bleachers and head to the stage, where Sabu puts Sandman on a table and hits a leg drop from the 6-foot platform. Sabu tries to punch Sandman off the stage, but Sandman comes back with a back elbow. A body slam and an elbow drop sends Sabu rolling off the stage. They brawl back through the entranceway, Sabu gets the worst of it, and again he ends up in the crowd. Sandman gets in the ring and drops the ladder onto Sabu in the second row! Sabu really made no attempt to use his hands or arms to soften the blow there. Then, Sandman leans the ladder on the rail and seesaws it into Sabu’s face! They go to some slow brawling at ringside, and Sandman heaves a table at Sabu. Sandman bridges the ring and the rail with a ladder and a table, drapes Sabu on the ladder, and hits a slingshot guillotine leg drop! He went through the table there, so I guess that’s a bit of a nonsensical spot. Back inside, an elbow drop buys Sandman some time. He heads upstairs and gets the barbed wire, but Sabu tips him over and he goes through two tables at ringside! Sabu takes the barbed wire with him on a triple jump plancha, Sandman moves, and Sabu BREAKS HIS JAW as he crashes into the railing. Instead of devising a rushed ending like 99 percent of wrestlers would do, Sabu decides he’s going to deal with it and continue the match. Sandman wraps some barbed wire on the turnbuckle, sets him up with some left hands, but Sabu fights back and shoves Sandman into the corner, then nails him with a chair. A moment after that chair shot, you can tell Sandman’s either tired or hurt or both and has had enough of this match. Great timing then, as Sabu proceeds to scrape him with the barbed wire while he does a bad job of hiding his blade, and Sabu stabs away at him with a loose strand. He puts some rolled up wire on Sandman’s head and puts him in a tree of woe, places the chair down in front of his face, and launches off another chair for a low dropkick. Sandman’s looking messed up. Sabu misses AIR SABU and falls on the barbed wire. Sabu’s adrenaline rush begins to wear off as he holds his jaw in pain. A bloody Sandman canes the daylights out of him, and he crawls to the edge of the ring to ask Fonzie for some medical help. Sandman tries killing some time with an elbow drop before Fonzie returns and tapes Sabu’s jaw. With the roll of tape hanging off Sabu’s neck, Sandman picks him up, and Sabu reverses a whip into a hiptoss into the wired turnbuckle. TRIPLE JUMP MOONSAULT. It wasn’t the prettiest, but the guy’s wrestling with a broken jaw, you gotta cut him a break. Top rope leg drop follows. Sabu takes a chair up top and hits an Arabian facebuster, but even as Sandman wears a crimson mask and barbed wire on his head, he gets up first. If it didn’t look like Sabu needed to end this match before, it sure does now, and Sandman’s also ready to call it a night, so Sabu gets caned mercifully (not really, but for Sandman’s standards) and Sandman covers for the 1-2-3. (17:46) Everything after the broken jaw can be downright hard to watch, but up to that point, this match was as intense as they come. This is how you do hardcore. Both guys just seemed to abandon any sense of fear, and well, they obviously went a little too far. Awesome match nonetheless. ***3/4

• Taipei Death Match: Ian Rotten vs Axl Rotten (Hardcore Heaven – 7/1/95)

You know the story: Both guys dumped their taped hands into crazy glue, then into broken glass, so they’ve both got glass-covered fists. There’s a cool moment when Axl lets the fans touch the glass and one guy cuts himself. Yup, it’s real glass. They face up like boxers a bit until Axl ducks a clothesline and pops Ian in the forehead. We’ve got the heel Bill Alfonso referee here, and he stops the match because Ian’s bleeding! For some strange reason, a brawl between the Gangstas and the Public Enemy spills out into the entranceway. All the security guys break it up and New Jack puts up a fight before being taken away. Tod Gordon gets in the ring and declares that the match is back on. They charge right after one another, connecting with wild haymakers until Ian rakes the forehead. He unloads with more punishment for minutes until Axl is one bloody fucking mess. Axl comes back with a kick and slices away at Ian’s forehead. They go to the floor, and Axl cuts open Ian’s arm and bends it over the guardrail. There’s blood everywhere. Back in, Axl gets a two count, then slices the forehead some more. Ian makes the big comeback with a pair of low blows and puts more glass to Axl. He hits a DDT and dumps a bunch of thumbtacks on the canvas. He goes for a piledriver, but Axl backdrops him on the tacks. And a splash, yes, a splash, earns Axl the 1-2-3. (9:15) Yeah, so it’s an ECW classic — everyone needs to see it once, I suppose — but hardly any thought was put into this and it became boring pretty fast. 1/2*

• 3-Way Dance: Jerry Lynn vs Yoshihiro Tajiri (w/ Steve Corino and Jack Victory) vs Super Crazy (November 2 Remember – 11/7/99)

Lynn’s got taped ribs. Tajiri takes the first advantage on both guys with some low kicks. Super Crazy reverses Tajiri’s cross-corner whip, charges, ends up on the top turnbuckle, and hits a flying crossbody on Lynn. Right back up, he charges over Lynn and dumps Tajiri with a dropkick. Lynn wins a long rope running series with a headscissors takedown. Crazy pops right up, he hits the ropes, and counters a tilt-a-whirl into an armdrag. Tajiri gets back in, Jerry reverses a corner whip, but he ends up in the TARANTULA. Crazy kicks Lynn to break up the hold, and he too ends up in the TARANTULA. Lynn breaks it up and works over Tajiri. Lynn escapes a corner whip, but Tajiri hits him with a surprise side kick. They have a battle on the turnbuckles, Lynn knocks Tajiri to the mat, and he takes a massive leap toward the entranceway onto Super Crazy! Tajiri seizes the opportunity and delivers an asai moonsault. After some jostling, Tajiri suplexes Crazy into the crowd, and Lynn dives at both of them off the guardrail. They quickly brawl toward a tunnel, and Crazy hits a moonsault off an 8-foot ledge! Crazy drags Tajiri back to the ring, catches him with a drop toe hold, puts on the Mexican surfboard, rolls it around, and Jerry Lynn bulldogs Tajiri out of the hold. Lynn puts Crazy in a Gory Special, then catches him coming off the ropes with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Tajiri nails Lynn with a dropkick to the ribs, and then catches Crazy with a hurracanrana. Lynn goes for a hurracanrana on Crazy, but it’s countered into a powerbomb, setting up a beautiful second rope springboard moonsault. That gets two before Tajiri breaks it up. Crazy avoids a suplex and hits a powerbomb, covers, but Lynn breaks it up at two. Lynn avoids a backdrop from Crazy and hits the CRADLE PILEDRIVER. Tajiri stops the count with a dropkick to the face. (The explanation Styles gives us is that Tajiri and Lynn are feuding, so they want a chance to go one-on-one.) Tajiri finishes off Super Crazy with a brainbuster, 1-2-3, at 6:44.

Lynn jumps all over Tajiri to start, but Tajiri turns a whip into a handspring back elbow. Lynn sells the ribs big time as Tajiri nails him with kicks. Lynn is in the tree of woe, and Tajiri hits a baseball slide to the face! Tajiri gets whipped and tries another handspring, but Lynn catches him and tries a German suplex, Tajiri lands on his feet, Lynn ducks a roundhouse, German suplex by Lynn, 1-2-NO! Lynn tries a tombstone, Tajiri reverses it, and he turns it into a backbreaker, then misses a second rope moonsault. Lynn drives Tajiri back with forearms, and a tornado DDT gets two. Lynn hits a hurracanrana, but Tajiri bridges out and hits a side kick and a German suplex, 1-2-NO! Tajiri stays on top with a kick to the ribs. Lynn avoids a suplex and goes for a piledriver, but the ribs are hurting too much to lift Tajiri. Jerry takes another kick in the ribs, but now he’s fired up, “C’mon motherfucker!” he yells, he catches Tajiri’s foot and levels him with an uncharacteristic punch. Right back up, Lynn hits the CRADLE PILEDRIVER, 1-2-3. (10:59) After the match, Corino jumps Lynn, but he ends up getting the CRADLE PILEDRIVER as well. Talk about three guys working their asses off. This was a lot of fun. ***1/4

• 2/3 Falls: Dean Malenko vs Eddie Guerrero (Hardcore TV – 8/26/95)

First fall: The audience is notified just before the match that this will be both men’s last ECW appearance. As a result, the crowd gets way behind this match from the very beginning to the very end, and Styles goes on relentlessly about how emotional an atmosphere it is. They start with some good chain wrestling, ending with Eddie freeing himself from an arm submission. More chain wrestling leads to a leg sweep and a cover by Dean, but Eddie pops right up before one. Hammerlock by Eddie, snap mare, grounded crucifix, and he holds Dean down for two. Dean turns it into a leg submission, then Eddie maneuvers around into an armbar, leading to more tussling until there’s a rope break. This next sequence will take longer to read than to watch, but here goes anyways: Dean gets sent for the ride and Eddie scores a hiptoss, then an arm drag from an electric chair position, Dean counters a hiptoss into a monkey flip, Eddie lands on his feet, hits the ropes and slides through the legs, scores a double-leg takedown, Dean twists and hits a monkey flip, Eddie avoids a dropkick, springboards into a sloppy bulldog, and ends on top of Dean with a chin lock. Damn. He works the arm a bit, then springboards into an arm drag. A uranage and a fisherman’s suplex with a cradle gets two. Eddie puts on a headscissors hold and pulls back on Dean’s arm. Dean eventually turns it around into an Indian deathlock surfboard, gets a couple two counts, then goes to an STF until Eddie reaches the ropes. Dean boots the midsection to stop a test of strength and stomps on Eddie’s face. Eddie trips Dean to the mat and gets him back with a face twist. He uppercuts Dean and shoots him off the ropes, and Dean ducks out to the floor for a quick timeout. Eddie gets sneaky with an eye poke, and an overhead belly-to-belly suplex gets two. A whip and an enziguri gets another two. Top rope superplex gets two. He delivers a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, then sends Dean for the ride, and Dean hits kind of a sunset flip for two. They battle for a backslide, Eddie flips over, and a quick school boy gets 1-2-3! Hate to nitpick a great match here, but one of Malenko’s shoulders was clearly off the mat during the count. Eddie’s ahead 1-0 at 10:30.

Second fall: Dean pushes Eddie back with a test of strength, lays in some knee lifts, cross-corner whip, dropkick to the knee, but Eddie almost no-sells it and comes back with a boot in the gut. A German suplex gets two for Eddie. As he pulls Dean to his feet, Dean attacks the knee and locks on a legbreaker. Eddie eventually squirms out and grabs the rope. Dean continues going after the knee, corner whip, Eddie tries bouncing over Dean, but Dean catches him by the legs and plants him hard. He cashes in on his work to the knee with a Texas cloverleaf, Eddie taps, and it’s all tied up at 13:32.

Third fall: Eddie takes the advantage with a boot and an uppercut and drives Dean into the turnbuckle, but Dean reverses a whip and hits a clothesline in the corner. A brainbuster and a slow cover gets two for Dean. A back heel kick sends Eddie to the floor, and Dean shoots him to the guardrail. Back in, Dean decks Eddie with a running forearm. Dean delivers a picture-perfect tigerbomb for 1-2-NO! Dean deals out some punishment in the corner, lifts Eddie onto the turnbuckle, but Eddie brawls back and hits a tornado DDT. That gets two. A brainbuster and the FROG SPLASH gets two. Dean reverses a whip, but Eddie hits a hurracanrana for 1-2-NO! Eddie heads up top, Dean is right behind him, and Eddie delivers a sunset flip for two. Eddie goes for another tornado DDT, but Dean launches him across the ring. Dean hits his patented fireman’s carry into a rib breaker, and a delayed cover gets two. Eddie gets whipped to the ropes and counters a hiptoss into a wicked roll-up for 1-2-NO! Right back up, Dean hits the ropes, floats over, waistlock into the ropes, rolls Eddie up, all four shoulders are on the mat, 1-2-3! It’s a draw. (20:10) There’s some after-match hugs and handshakes, and even Malenko says a few words. I’ve seen several people list this match as the best match in ECW history, and although the Dean/Eddie matches are classics, and although their styles provided a huge breath of fresh air in the magical year that was 1995, I wouldn’t go that far. ****1/2

• Psicosis vs Rey Mysterio (Hardcore TV – 9/16/95)

Unfortunately, this is not their unbelievable 2/3 falls classic. I’ll get to that one on another review. This is actually the ECW debut of both men. A quick arm drag by Mysterio puts Psicosis on the floor. Back in, hammerlock by Psicosis, Rey struggles to break free, and eventually gets out with snap mare. Psicosis gets his legs kicked out from under him, Rey backflips off the second rope, and a teeter-totter ends up with Mysterio scoring another arm drag, sending Psicosis back to the floor. Joey Styles assures us that he’ll ask these guys what their moves are called so he will be prepared for the rematch. We luv ya for it, Joey. Psicosis jaws with fans so we know who’s the face and who’s the heel. Rey drops down and Psicosis puts on the brakes for an elbow drop. He takes over with a powerbomb and launches Rey into the air, then runs him into the turnbuckle. He takes his time before press slamming Rey onto the turnbuckle. He adds a dropkick, what Styles calls a frisbee slam, and a leg drop. Rey gets chopped in the corner and Psicosis hits something like a bronco buster while Rey’s standing. Cross-corner whip and he tries another bronco buster, but Rey gets out of the way and delivers a springboard hurracanrana for 1-2-NO! Some quick rope running leads to a Mysteriorana, then some more of it ends with headscissors for Rey. He gets dumped onto the apron, Psicosis goes after him, they exchange chops, Psicosis charges, and Mysterio monkey flips him into the ringpost! Back in, Rey chops away in the corner but misses a corner splash. Psicosis slams him and hits a flying leg drop for two. Powerbomb gets two. A spinning heel kick sends Rey to the floor, Psicosis goes for a suicide dive through the ropes, but Rey has a chair waiting for him. Back in, Psicosis drops Rey with dropkicks to the knee. A slam sets up a corkscrew senton splash for two. Psicosis whips Rey to the corner, but misses a high knee and falls outside. Rey threatens a tope and Psicosis hops the guardrail to gain distance, so Rey hits a springboard plancha into the first row! Back in, Psicosis chops Rey down and heads up top, but Rey quickly pulls him off with a slightly botched hurracanrana, and that gets the 1-2-3! (10:18) There is some creative stuff here, but it pales like Conan O’Brien in comparison to their 2/3 falls match. **3/4

Final Thoughts: It’s kind of a shame that two out of seven matches had terrible injuries, but hey, that’s just ECW being ECW. You shouldn’t take the label of ECW’s “Best Of” DVD series literally, but this particular release has a real good mix of matches, including two absolute classics. Thumbs up, duh.