Views from the Hawke’s Nest: ECW’s Most Violent Matches

August 27, 1994
The Public Enemy(c) (Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge) vs. Cactus Jack & Mikey Whipwreck [ECW World Tag Team Championship]
This was a very fun brawl! The dynamic of the insane Cactus Jack and perpetual underdog Mikey Whipwreck teaming together was great. Them pulling off a victory on the hot Public Enemy team was a great way to create a “moment” which was essentially ECW’s specialty. The brawling never really reached that next level, but it was consistently fun throughout. (***¼)

 

March, 17, 1995
The Sandman & Terry Funk vs. Cactus Jack & Shane Douglas
This was excellent. The intensity of the brawling was unreal. The violence was off the charts. They managed to keep up a rigorous pace without it ever feeling monotone. This was just four crazy guys beating the shit out of each other repeatedly for reasons only they could understand. The match ended with Funk giving Jack a piledriver on a FLAMING CATTLE ROD. Matches like this make you understand why people loved ECW. (****1/2)

 

Hardcore Heaven
July 7, 1995
Axl Rotten vs. Ian Rotten [Taipei Death Match]
This was shit, but it was a spectacle that people clearly were invested in a great deal. Unless you just love blood, there was nothing here to enjoy. Axl won after a backbody drop into thumbtacks and then a running splash. (*)

 

November 2 Remember
November 18, 1995
Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Psicosis [Mexican Death Match]
This was a fantastic match. They combined their excellent death-defying spots psychology with the classic story of Psicosis dominating the smaller Rey. Psicosis had the edge, but Rey then fought back with some HUGE spots. That eventually led to Rey hitting him with a diving rana on the stage to pick up the win. Great, great match. (****¼)

 

ECW Heatwave
July 13, 1996
Chris Jericho(c) vs. Shane Douglas vs. 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Pitbull #2 [ECW World Television Championship]
This was more of the cliche ECW match as it went very long and was very boring despite the generally good effort from all parties. It took 27 minutes to eliminate the first competitor which is all you really need to know. Francine ended up turning on Pitbull which eventually helped Franchise win. That led to the only hot moment of the match: The Pitbulls giving Francine a avalanche powerbomb through a table. Ugh, ECW. (¼*)

 

Hardcore Heaven
June 22,1996
Tommy Dreamer vs. Brian Lee [Weapons Match]
This was a very fun plunder brawl that ended in a typically trashy ECW fashion. Kimona took her clothes off to distract Lee, and Dreamer then picked up the win shortly thereafter. Lee chokeslamming Dreamer off the stage and through multiple tables was more memorable than anything in the actual match. (***)

 

The Doctor Is In
August 3, 1996
Sabu vs. Rob Van Dam [Stretcher Match]
Unsurprisingly, this was a bit of a mess. There were a handful of fun spots, but this unsurprisingly did not come together as a cohesive whole. You can safely skip this match and not miss out on anything. (**¼)

 

Barely Legal
April 13, 1997
Terry Funk vs. Sandman vs. Stevie Richards
This was an elimination match with the winner immediately getting a title shot at Raven. The match felt a bit too long and monotonous. It also did not have the rabid atmosphere that you would expect given the stakes and show. However, there was something compelling about this battle, and that was mostly due to Terry Funk’s journey to the title on this night. Thus, this match was just good enough to earn a positive review. (***)
We also got to see footage of Funk winning the title from Raven immediately after that.

 

Born to be Wired
August 8, 1997
Terry Funk(c) vs. Sabu [No Ropes Barbed Wire Match for the ECW World Championship]
This was a fun spectacle that unfortunately just went too long to get too excited about. Funk and Sabu both had that compelling presence that makes it hard not to enjoy watching them. Putting them together made for an easy watch even if barbed wire generally lowers the match quality. Sabu won cleanly after both men seemed to be completely tangled in barbed wire. (***)

 

As Good As It Gets
September 1997
Beulah McGillicutty vs. Bill Alfonso
This was seemingly one of the most heated matches in ECW history. There is something undeniably uncomfortable about watching an intergender match in the the misogynistic ECW environment though. This match at least though was clearly positioned in a bubble as two people fighting and looking to kill each other. It wasn’t as much of a vehicle for doing shitty things with women in wrestling. The brawl was crazy as fuck, and the crowd went wild for it. This was a unique spectacle if nothing else. Beulah won with a hurricanrana. (***½)

 

Heatwave
August 2, 1998
Tazz vs. Bam Bam Bigelow [ECW Death Match]
This was a shockingly awesome brawl. Bam Bam was a great wrestler obviously, but Taz never seemed to really get all the way there. Both guys were on their game here though. They were both working like they were trying to kill each other, and that made this an incredibly pleasant viewing experience. That made the final spot through the entrance ramp actually feel earned as well. Instead of just wasting time until the big spot, this felt like the organic conclusion to two guys trying to desperately murder each other. Tazz then crawling out from underneath the wreckage to do a leaping Tazzmission to win was a near perfect-finish to top it off. This was lowkey one of the best ECW matches ever. (****)

 

House Party
January 16, 1999
Shane Douglas vs. Tazz(c) [ECW Heavyweight Championship]
This was a pretty flat brawl unfortunately. They tried to integrate some bigger spots into it, but none of them really felt significant in any way. The match came across as being a very forced brawl like a of Douglas’ work in ECW. The Tazzmission Suplex through a table was a great finish at least. (**)

 

Hardcore TV
July 5, 1999
The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & D’Von Dudley)(c) vs. Spike Dudley & Balls Mahoney [Chicago Street Fight for the ECW Tag Team Championship]
This was actually a pretty fun plunder brawl. The way the nuttiness got progressively crazier and crazier was the key to the match’s success. It oddly felt totally organic and earned that the finish has to be Balls being put through a flaming, thumbtacked table. This was probably once again one of the lowkey best ECW matches ever. (****)

 

Guilt as Charged
January 9, 2000
Mike Awesome(c) vs. Spike Dudley [ECW Heavyweight Championship]
This match was absolutely fantastic and objectively the greatest ECW match ever (don’t @ me). The match was obviously about Awesome quite literally tossing Spike around and putting hing through table after table. The key to the match was that Spike sold the destruction beautifully while still fighting on. His fighting on wasn’t melodramatic though or anything like that. He just kept plugging away. While he never seemed like had a believable chance of winning, you knew he was not going to go down easily. Awesome then finally killed him with an avalanche Splash Mountain through a table. (****½)

 

ECW on TNN
February 25, 2000
Rhino vs. The Sandman
This was a fun plunder match that in no way overstayed its welcome which was the key. They got in and got out before Sandman’s weaknesses could be exposed, and it made a for a fun TV battle. It did eventually end in a No Contest though which was less than ideal. (***)

 

ECW on TNN
March 3, 2000
Super Crazy vs. Yoshihiro Tajiri vs. Little Guido
This was a fantastic sprint. They didn’t even go ten minutes, but it had everything you need from a match like this. The wrestlers always looked like they were trying to finish each other off. It never felt too choreographed. They were always trying to win. The win coming right after a low blow from Super Crazy on Tajiri was unfortunate, but it was only a minor blight on what was other an all-time great juniors match in America. (****¼)

 

Guilty As Charged
January 7, 2001
Tommy Dreamer vs. CW Anderson [I Quit]
This was a mostly dull match. Dreamer has almost always been dull, and Anderson was not capable of being dynamic enough to compensate for that. The spot that made Anderson quit was strong (cable-assisted crossface), but the journey there was totally uninspired. Oh well. (**¼)

 

One Night Stand
June 12, 2005
Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka
These two fuckers. They went out there and killed themselves over and over again. All the while, they managed to progressively up the level of insanity as the match went longer and longer. They peaked with the final sequence as Awesome gave Tanaka an Awesome Bomb through a table on the floor and then dove onto him for the pin. This match was fantastic and belongs on every list/compilation of best matches on a WWE produced PPV. (****½)

 

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