Which Was Better: ECW One Night Stand 2005 Or WWE MITB 2011?

First off, thanks to everybody who read my TNA Impact Wrestling-Grantland column last Monday night. I actually put some real time and effort into that thing for nearly a full week, so I am happy everything went smoothly. The followup reader feedback edition done in my Jay’s Ways column a few days ago (on another website) went even better. Again, thank you for that. Always appreciate it.

This week, I wanted to dive back into my “Which Was Better?” concept. When deciding which two pay-per-view to choose, it was the WWE Network that gave me my top choice. The ongoing Monday Night War series featured an entry about ECW on Tuesday. That gave me all the inspiration necessary: ECW One Night Stand 2005. Perfect PPV to showcase! Now which excellent show would make a fair battle? Well, Raw takes place from Chicago on Monday night, so there you go…Chicago…

Which Was Better: ECW One Night Stand 2005 Or Money In The Bank 2011?

ONS 2005 Opening Match: Lance Storm VS. Chris Jericho – Originally thought to be the last match of Lance Storm. However, I think we all know how retirements go in the wrestling business. For his time in WWE though, what a way to go out! A victory over Chris Jericho. The history there writes itself. With Dawn Marie by his side. At a special ECW reunion show. Pretty cool if you ask me. Not to take anything away from “Lionheart” Chris Jericho, but this was about Lance Storm. In just seven minutes, these two set the tone for what would be a memorable evening in front of a rabid New York crowd.

MITB 2011 Opening Match: Smackdown Money In The Bank Ladder Match – Daniel Bryan, Kane, Sheamus, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, Cody Rhodes, Sin Cara, and Wade Barrett made this a jam packed bout. With a Money in the Bank briefcase on the line for a World Title match, you knew it would be exciting. With Chicago as loud as ever, the wrestlers did not disappoint. Right off the bat, you could cross off Slater and Gabriel from winning. Cara was the new pet project at the time, but that was a long shot at best. Barrett was fresh off The Corre nonsense, so he was ruled out. Cody Rhodes? No, too early for him. Kane won the previous year and had his final run as champ. No go for the monster. Sheamus and Daniel Bryan seemed like the best options here for WWE in hindsight. After a bout over 20 minutes long filled with high risk offense and wild ladder spots, it was the under dog (and indy darling to please the smarky smark Chicago fans) Mr. Daniel Bryan who was victorious. A MITB briefcase for a World Title shot? Nicely done. His rise to the main event scene was just beginning…

ONS 2005 ‘GoodButNotGreat’ Match – Rey Mysterio versus Psicosis (or however you spell it) was doomed before the bell even rang. This particular live wanted nothing to do with Mr. 619’s entrance theme. Nor did they like seeing Psicosis unmask when he hit the ring. It was never going to win the crowd over from the get go. The six minute match was good…but probably could have been so much better. Too bad.

MITB 2011 ‘GoodButNotGreat’ Match – I am going to defend the Divas division in WWE here. Yeah, you probably just rolled your eyes and/or let out a big laugh. Fine, your loss. When the Divas actually get time in the ring and have a GOOD story line to work with, they more often than not come through. When it is some garbage plot and two/three minutes to work with, yeah – what do you expect?!?! Kelly Kelly defending her championship against Brie Bella in a five minute match may not win any match of the year awards from 2011, but there was no problems with it happening at the pay-per-view. Quality outing from the Divas.

ONS 2005 Surprise Bout Of The Evening: Mike Awesome VS. Masato Tanaka – Not sure why I was surprised by this. I suppose it was due to this event being under the WWE banner. It definitely as ECW as ECW gets, but the amount of risks taken here and the ridiculous number of chairs shots was still shocking. Even if this was the night of extreme, WWE certainly let their guard down. Wise or not? You be the judge. Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka made no bones about it: They were going out their to steal the show one way or another. When this hardcore clash was over, a part of me wondered if Mike Awesome could have had a solid run with WWE in 2005, while the other part of me knew this was likely his last match on the big stage. Absolutely crazy match.

MITB 2011 Surprise Bout Of The Evening: Mark Henry VS. Big Show – Raise your hand if you want to see the current impending feud involving Big Show vs. Mark Henry? Okay, fair enough. There were similar feelings back in the summer of 2011. Mark Henry was on an absolute tear, and destroying Big Show was just the start of his Hall of Pain path of destruction. The two giants went out there and as clean as a heel can beat a face, Henry beat Show and left him laying in a fairly entertaining bout. The World Heavyweight Championship was near for The World’s Strongest Man.

ONS 2005 Wild Brawl Of The Night: Super Crazy VS. Tajiri VS. Little Guido In A Three Way Dance – Anything hat features a stage dive counts as a wild brawl in my book. In classic three way dance fashion, the rules were not a typical triple threat match. Elimination rules here. While about 50 guys came out for the entrances, there was actually just three men competing. All of them had plenty of good times in ECW and held up their end of the bargain in 2005. The match was fairly decent for its time length, but as hinted at, the entrances more than made up for it.

MITB 2011 Wild Brawl Of The Night: Raw Money In The Bank Ladder Match – My, how times change. Just look at the run down here gunning for a WWE Championship briefcase. You had The Miz, hot off a main event run that was clearly winding down. You had Alex Riley, the young upstart who just broke away from being The Miz’s sidekick and had a lot of momentum for him. His great theme song also does not hurt. Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne were in there for the ‘spots’ as usual. That left R-Truth, Jack Swagger, Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio. Not bad, not bad. As out of control as the ending sequence was, it seemed predictable that ADR would leave with the briefcase…and he did. Not as good as the Smackdown MITB ladder match but very fun. There are not a lot of ‘bad’ ladder matches in WWE.

ONS 2005 One On One: Sabu VS. Rhyno – After a very cool “shoot” (but not shoot) promo from Rob Van Dam, Rhyno attacked him. A moment later, the lights went out! What was going on? Who could it be? Why do the light always seem to go on and off at an ECW show? Ah, it was for Sabu, of course. Five seconds after a staredown, a referee came out of nowhere to ring the bell. It was on! Sabu battled Rhyno in a short but entertaining hardcore match. RVD got involved (injured at the time). Fans loved every minute of it. I think even Rhyno enjoyed it, even if he was on the losing side. Just a way to get Sabu on the card and show off his crazy moves. No fault in that.

MITB 2011 One On One: Randy Orton VS. Christian – …for the World Title. These had been fighting back and forth over the World Title for two months at that point. Christian had turned heel in the process of their feud and was desperate to regain a title he fought his whole career for but only held for a few days after finally reaching that goal. In this particular case, Christian had it written into the contract that if Orton got himself DQ’d at Money in the Bank, it WOULD result in a title change. Something the slimy Captain Charisma was well aware of. Just as WWE hinted at, that was precisely the finish. Christian spit in Orton’s face and made him snap! The bell was called for, and boom – new World Champion by disqualification. Christian, just as a heel should do, found an underhanded way to reclaim the gold. These two had MANY wonderful bouts throughout their careers. Go out of your way to watch the Orton/Christian series of matches, especially from summer 2011.

ONS 2005 Main Event: Dudleyz VS. Tommy Dreamer/The Sandman – So many amazing moment during the tag main event. Of course, The Sandman’s entrance was just about the coolest entrance ever. A FREAKIN cheese grater being used in 2005. Mick Foley (on commentary with Joey Styles) had a few good one liners. Speaking of Styles, him apologizing for the use of a certain word was quite funny. I guess WWE let evvvvvverything else go but that. The last hurrah of the Dudleyz in WWE was also seen during this build up. The bWo cameo and about 100 people interfering. This entire battle was bloody, intense, and ended with a flaming table. The Raw/Smackdown vs. ECW brawl closed the show, but this tag match summed up the entire evening. It was extreme as ECW was known for. No pull strings. No BS. No let up. No taking it easy. Simply a throwback to the Attitude Era done RIGHT and was such a success WWE brought the brand back a year later full-time.

MITB 2011 Main Event: John Cena VS. CM Punk – WWE Championship. In CM Punk’ hometown. On his last night with the company. With John Cena’s job on the line. In front of a jacked up crowd that rivals any ECW event. Two of this generation’s best going at it for 30 minutes. I am not a ‘star ratings’ guy at all, but when this main event gets the perfect ***** treatment, trust me – it deserves that recognition. Once in a blue moon when watching wrestling, I get goosebumps during a moment, surprise return, epic win, etc. The chills up your spine. You know the feeling. Well, for this match, I had them from bell to bell. Start to finish, the goosebumps were there. Not just for a second or two. Legitimately, the whole anticipation surrounding this main event was simply unreal, and when the bell rang, it increased ten fold. No exaggerations either. Easy match of the year winner and one of most memorable bouts of all-time.

Summary: Last year, WWE.com ranked the Top 15 Best PPVs Of All-Time for their official website. Coming in at #8 was ECW One Night Stand 2005. Coming in at #2 was Money in the Bank 2011. Obviously, that was just WWE’s opinion and/or whoever wrote the article, BUT it does put into perspective just how good these two shows were. Now the discussion goes to all of YOU reading – which was better: ECW ONS 2005 or WWE MITB 2011?

Self-Promoting Finale

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