ECW Living Dangerously 2000 Review

Hello and welcome to another edition of Seanomaniac Wrestling Reviews, the only wrestling review series on the internet that forgot that Alexa Bliss was Raw Women’s Champion! (Don’t say you remembered it with all this focus on Rousey and Asuka) ECW’s Living Dangerously 2000, February must be the month of extreme as I continue to dive through ECW pay per views in the hopes of reaching the end and starting a new arc which will be WWF’s Golden Era for those interested (I am thinking of you, the two people who always read these reviews). ECW’s Living Dangerously 2000 could be seen as the beginning of huge problems again for ECW as RVD has broken his leg so we are having a tournament for the ECW Television Championship while Sabu has walked out on the company. Mike Awesome is wrestling Kid Kash, not the most thrilling contest, a rather carbon-copy of last month’s big man vs small man match. So I am not thrilled at the sight of this card but let’s see what happens.

Opening Promo

Gertner does his shtick, Cyrus is Network and not happy with Gertner’s use of language. Cyrus jumps Gertner, Styles pulls off Cyrus and we begin the show. Bleh! Corino talks shit to Sandman’s wife Lori, Rhino comes in and Gores Lori through the table. Sandman is distraught and going to the hospital with his wife.

(Bull Rope Match) Steve Corino vs Dusty Rhodes

Rhodes was called out by Corino, Corino has to pay for his sins now as Rhodes is here in ECW. This is Rhodes’ signature match, Corino is brutalized with the cowbell as we begin the match. Lots of crowd brawling involving Jack Victory too, we end up back ringside where both men are bleeding. Stomps by Corino, Corino goes to the middle rope before Rhodes yanks down Corino. More scraping with the cowbell, cowbell to the head of Corino. Corino begs for mercy, eye poke by Corino. Cowbell to the back, Corino wedges a chair between the turnbuckles. Rhodes rams Corino into the chair, Bionic Elbow. Slugfest, elbow by Corino. Bionic Elbows for both, the referee helps Rhodes tape a cowbell to Corino’s head. Chair shot to the cowbell, huge Bionic Elbow from Rhodes and it’s over.

Rhodes never was one for being reminded that he was old and past it, Rhodes would hate if the WWE used him in such a manner, I can see that and agree with that. Nobody wants to believe that they are past it, look at Ken Shamrock still fighting at 52, it eats away at you. But based on this performance, Rhodes was not worth the pay for ECW, I doubt it brought extra eyes to the product. The one thing ECW is doing right here is pushing Corino as the most annoying person on earth, Corino continues to shine.

Winner: Dusty Rhodes over Steve Corino via Bionic Elbow!

The New Dangerous Alliance W/ Lou E. Dangerously vs Doring & Roadkill W/ Elektra

Doring & Roadkill are now babyfaces, Anderson and Wiles are parodying The Dangerous Alliance. Left hand by Anderson, Dirt Road Slam for two by Roadkill. Falling slam by Roadkill, slingshot elbow. Tag to Wiles and Doring, shoulder block by Doring. Armdrag into an armbar by Wiles, tag to Anderson. Blind tag to Roadkill who nails a springboard clothesline, corner splash on Anderson. Bare-back by Doring, Doring dives onto The Dangerous Alliance. Right hands to Anderson, Wiles nails a powerslam on Doring for two.

Sit-out chickenwing slam, Anderson works the arm. Doring chops back at Anderson, Anderson nails a huge exploder suplex for two. Tag to Wiles, who nails Doring before a tag to Anderson. Huge double team for two, G-Spot Suite by Doring. Roadkill gets the tag, clotheslines. Sidewalk slam, TKO on Anderson. Roadkill is low blowed and thrown to the floor, Doring is catapulted into a superkick for two. Wham Bam Thank You Mam, Wiles saves Anderson. Super Lancaster Lariat of Lust, Danaconda but Roadkill is tripped by Elektra. Phone to the back of the head and Spinebuster, The Dangerous Alliance win with Elektra turning heel becoming Madusa.

Decent tag match, love the tag team moves of Roadkill and Doring, a lot of potential when it comes to those too. Their time will come in ECW, Anderson and Wiles have some nice moves but nowhere near as interesting or over as they need to be in the company. A few months will do both men well but a return to form in terms of opening matches from ECW.

(ECW World Heavyweight Championship Match) Mike Awesome © vs Kid Kash

Simon Diamond was meant to face Kid Kash, Mike Awesome says fuck that. Awesome wants to kill Kash, Diamond obliges. Awesome hurls Kash across the ring, corner clothesline and splash for two. Awesome pummels Kash on the floor, Kash manages to stun Awesome before diving into the crowd like a mad man. Judge Jeff Jones gets spiked before Awesome nails a slingshot shoulder block. Kash nails a hurricanrana for no effect, lariat by Awesome. Awesome Bomb, table is setup. Kash tries a hurricanrana from the top, Awesome says nah, Super Awesome Bomb, game over. Impressive move but DUD!

Winner: Mike Awesome over Kid Kash via Super Awesome Bomb!

Nova & Chris Chetti vs Team No Respect

Some FMW flavour as Jado & Gedo join ECW for another match, Jazz checks on Kash. Diamond attacks with Jado & Gedo, out comes Chetti and Nova. Jazz also attacks Diamond, double hiptoss on Jado. Headscissors by Gedo, Jado elevates Chetti to the floor. Asai moonsault by Gedo, Gedo and Nova square off. Sledge O Matic by Nova, tag to Chetti. Scissors Kick by Chetti, tag to Nova. Gedo eats a sitout-facebuster by Nova for two, Jado is legal. Huge clotheslines to Nova, Chetti ends up in the crowd. Team No Respect, nail a drop toehold and elbow combination. Jado has a Romero Special with a double axe handle by Gedo, Chetti saves Nova.

Nova is crotched on the top rope trying to turn the tide, Jado nails a super back superplex. Two for Jado, tag to Gedo. Gedo tries a middle rope hurricanrana but Nova nails a massive powerbomb. Tag to Chetti, German suplex by Chetti. Blue Thunder Bomb to Gedo, backslide on Jado for two. Gedo nails a superkick to Chetti, middle rope powerbomb on Nova but Chetti saves the match. Superkick to Gedo, clothesline on Jado. Nova nails a senton bomb, Gedo nails Chetti with a frog splash, both get two. Kicking combination on Jado, Amityville Horror on Gedo. Tidal Wave on Gedo for the win.

An upset? A huge victory? Against a team that has not been in ECW before brought in for the pay per view? I do not think anyone thought that Team No Respect were going to walk away with the win? Anyways, it was fine but nothing special.

Winners: Nova & Chetti over Team No Respect via Tidal Wave!

(ECW TV Championship Semi-Final Match) Super Crazy vs Little Guido

Well, this is new. New my damn ass! Low dropkick by Guido to start off for two, Guido is tossed into the crowd. Big Sal misses a splash and meets the guard rail, Asai moonsault by Super Crazy. Things change in the ring, chops by Guido. Sunset flip powerbomb by Crazy for two, Guido powders. Fujiwara armbar on the floor, Crazy is elevated to the apron before diving into a clothesline for two. Big Sal gives Guido a chair, Crazy takes the chair. Shot to the head, top rope chair shot. Two, Guido is bleeding. Ten punches, Big Sal is here. Big Sal squishes Guido, ten punches to Big Sal. Guido is knocked off as Crazy eats feet to the face from Guido for two. Big Sal gives Guido his belt, Crazy is whipped by Guido.

Two for Guido, Guido stomps all over Crazy. Swinging DDT from Crazy for two, Crazy has the belt. Guido begs for mercy, Guido stops Crazy. Sicilian Slice for two, knee drop by Guido. Crazy is placed on a table, Big Sal helps Guido climb him for extra pressure. Guido misses an elbow through the table, hurricanrana on Sal. Crazy covers Guido for two, Guido faceplants Crazy in one of their signature spots. Maritato is blocked, low blow and powerbomb on the edge of a table. Springboard moonsault and Crazy gets three but the referee says two, Brainbuster for the win due to the referee’s botch.

The two cannot have a bad match, they have fought a bajillion times, they probably know what the other had for breakfast lunch and dinner. It was fun, fast-paced and exciting at the end of the day, all you could really want from these two. I just wish they could have matches with other wrestlers, I feel they are pigeon-holed into these types of matches where at every pay per view Super Crazy must fight either Guido, Tajiri or Lynn. Give me something new, I beg of you!

Winner: Super Crazy over Guido via Brainbuster!

Balls Mahoney vs Kintaro Kanemura

Kanemura starts off hot with sentons, finger-gesturing at the crowd and such. Spinebuster by Balls, Kanemura tries to use Balls’ chair. No effect on Balls, Nutcracker Suite on the chair and the match is over, Da Baldies attack Balls and out comes New Jack. New Jack clears house and does his thing before Grimes and New Jack are forty feet in the air on scaffolding and it dawns on me, this is the moment where two men nearly die on pay per view before thousands of peoples’ eyes. New Jack tries to drag down Grimes, Grimes shits himself at the thought of falling and comes down on New Jack’s head blinding The Gangsta in one eye. They barely scratch the table as they go wide almost immediately, you do not want to see the state of the two wrestlers. Enough has already been said at the incident, it was reckless and they nearly died. New Jack tried to kill Grimes the next time they met on scaffolding, the less said the better.

Winner: Balls Mahoney over Kanemura via Nutcracker Suite!

(ECW Tag Team Championship Match) The Impact Players W/ Jason & Dawn Marie vs Mike Awesome & Raven © W/ Francine vs Tommy Dreamer & Masato Tanaka

Awesome and Raven are called out as the story of Raven and Dreamer took another twist, Raven and Dreamer separated which left Tanaka & Dreamer as a team while Raven and Awesome won the championships. Awesome and Raven make quick work of The Impact Players. In comes Tanaka and Dreamer, they clean house. Clusterfuck with everyone punching anything that moves, Dreamer goes after Raven. Dreamer and Raven have a table in the ring, bulldog by Raven. Awesome is raping Storm on the floor, Raven drop toeholds Dreamer into the table for two.

Awesome has a table in the corner, Tanaka back drops Awesome into the table. Roaring Elbow on Awesome and the champions have been eliminated! Credible uses his kendo stick to wipe out Tanaka, Storm and Credible measure a bloody Dreamer.

Mike Awesome & Raven Have Been Eliminated!

Swinging DDT on Dreamer for two, tag to Storm. Jawbreaker and dropkick for two, tag to Credible. Credible superkicks Storm by mistake, Dreamer DDT on Credible. Tag to Tanaka, elbows to all. Pumphandle Slam by Tanaka, double stunner by Tanaka for two. Super cutter by Tanaka and Dreamer for two, Credible has his kendo stick, wham to the head of Dreamer. Diamond Dust on Credible, piledriver on Tanaka. Dreamer is smashed with the championship, spike piledriver and The Impact Players win the match.

Two questions: Why have your champion in this match? And why take the belts off The Impact Players for that? Did not make a lot of sense for me, Awesome pulled double duty for a good reason I mean we hardly got to see ECW’s main attraction and no furthering of the feud between Raven and Dreamer, it did not last long enough for us to see the two do battle. There was no need to switch the titles, there was no real need for the match either, I would have preferred a straight-up tag team match.

Winners: The Impact Players over Everyone Else via Spike Piledriver!

(ECW Television Championship Match) Super Crazy vs Rhino W/ The Network

Passionate stuff as it is portrayed as The Network TNN vs ECW, real-life being woven into a storyline. Crazy is the hopes and dreams of ECW, Rhino stands for TNN. Crazy throws everything at Rhino, splashes, topes. Rhino comes back with a powerslam and Crazy is whipped into the crowd. Suplex by Rhino for two, flapjack by Rhino. Military press through a table at ringside, powerbomb by Rhino for two. Rhino attempts a gore but Crazy leaps out of the way, Rhino smashes through the table. Crossbody for two, lariat by Rhino.

Tornado DDT by Crazy, Three Turnbuckle Moonsaults. Rhino uses the referee as a shield, Tajiri is here. Green mist, Buzzsaw kick and low dropkick. Low dropkick on Crazy who is in the tree of woe, RVD’s music hits in the arena. Scotty Anton is carrying RVD, Anton attacks Tajiri. RVD breaks a crutch over Rhino’s back, flapjack through the table. Moonsault by Crazy and we have a new television champion. Rhino Gores RVD, The Network are destroying everyone, who can save the day. Cue the drunken man with a Singapore cane, Rhino is waffled with the can over and over. ECW stands tall, ECW is the victor on this night.

In terms of drama and excitement, it was a clusterfuck but beautiful, a nice piece of story-telling with RVD helping Super Crazy and The Sandman coming down to make the save, a good moment that probably is not brought up due to ECW being seen as dead in the water by the time of the TNN deal. Plus, you have the whole New Jack/Vic Grimes thing happen on this show but Crazy’s win is a great moment!

Winner: Super Crazy over Rhino via Moonsault!

That was ECW’s Living Dangerously 2000, a show that seems rushed like your friend who does not pack the night before a flight but rather the morning of said flight. It ended after two hours, that never happens so you can see they were in a bit of a panic and matches that could have been stretched out simply were not salvaged. Have to admit, I was suckered into the ECW vs TNN storyline by the end of the night, the last match was so much fun compared to the chaos that surrounded the pay per view. Big matches were let downs, the tag matches were nice, Corino’s performance was great even if the match was slow and sloppy. A waste of Tanaka, Awesome and The Raven vs Dreamer feud, do not know what they were thinking but this was not the answer, it was a bad day at the office. Thanks for reading and remember: There’s always another night!