ECW One Night
Stand 2005
Backstory
There have been
many ECW tribute shows that have tried to recapture the excitement of Extreme Championship
Wrestling. But there will always be only one true ECW tribute show, ECW One
Night Stand 2005.
Extreme
Championship Wrestling was a wrestling promotion like none other. ECW came about in one of the most iconic images in wrestling history,
Shane Douglas, the reigning NWA World Heavyweight Champion threw down the belt and
claimed the Eastern Championship Wrestling title, calling the title a true World Heavyweight
Championship. This action was the birth of the rebellious ECW and paved the way for the
years following with controversial angles, hardcore stipulations and fans with
a passion for wrestling unmatched anywhere else on this earth.
In late 2004
wheels were set in motion for an ECW tribute PPV, thanks to former ECW talent
now working for WWE such as Paul Heyman and Rob Van Dam. Heyman was left in
charge of booking the show and immediately began ringing former ECW employers
to put on the greatest ECW tribute show that there ever was. However, there was
one big problem. One of ECW’s top workers and most loyal was injured, Rob Van
Dam. A tribute show without the “Whole Dam Show” would be a huge miss. But Rob
Van Dam promised he would rehab his injured knee as fast as he could to return
for the PPV.
The date was set,
June 12th 2005 ECW would return for a One Night Stand. WWE
programming began to promote the PPV. Originally there were plans for there to
be anti-ECW group from within WWE to rival the forthcoming show however this
storyline never came to light. WWE programming advertised the PPV by showing
old clips of previous matches and had former ECW employees to give documentary interviews. The card was slowly beginning to come together.
There was a mixture of old feuds reignited and dream matches that never took
place. However, one name was still missing, Rob Van Dam.
ECW One Night
Stand Preview
With just weeks
before ECW returns for One Night Stand we have a run-down of the card,
exclusively here on WWE.com.
Infamous Triple
Threat
Super Crazy vs. Tajiri
vs. Little Guido
Three different
wrestlers, from three different countries with three completely different
styles showed what ECW was all about when they first met up in ECW and launched
all three men onto the big stage in the future. Super Crazy with his Lucha
Libre moves, Tajiri with his puroresu skills and Little Guido with hit shooter
style. Just liked the original, this is sure to be off the charts.
Impact Players
Implode
Lance Storm vs. Justin
Credible
Acquaintances, tag
partners, friends there are many ways to describe the relationship these two
have with each other. These two began teaming in 1999 and formed the name the
Impact Players. They had great success winning the ECW World Tag Team Titles.
However, despite their skill as a team they now face off one on one to
determine who the best Impact Player really is. Both men want to prove
themselves as the better man but neither man will be willing to let go.
Brotherly Warfare
The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray
and D-Von)
vs. Spike Dudley and Balls Mahoney
Blood is thicker
than water. And tables are thicker than blood according to the Dudley family.
The Dudley Boyz will return to their ECW roots where they first began and
across the ring will be a very familiar face, their own brother, little Spike
Dudley. The “Giant Killer” will attempt to topple not just his brothers but the
most illustrious tag team in ECW history. Alongside him will be tag partner,
Balls Mahoney who together have beaten the Dudley Boyz for the ECW World Tag
Team titles twice.
Mexican Death
Match
Rey Misterio
Jr. vs. Psychosis
These two rivals
have wrestled all around the world, from their home of Mexico, to the far off
land of Japan but their first break in America came in ECW. Both men have gone
on to have wonderful careers but it is debatable that without their first match
in the States, they wouldn’t be where they are today. So now these two return
to the match that started their careers, the Mexican Death Match.
ECW’s Legacy
Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Jericho
There has been
many wrestlers who rode the ride through ECW and went onto become big names but
two of the most well-known names had their first big role in ECW are Eddie Guerrero and Chris Jericho. Between
them they have won many titles and many accolades and ECW gave them their first
big chance with gold. Now these two face off in tribute to all the workers who
passed through ECW.
You Broke my Neck
An historic moment
and a landmark event in ECW happened at November 2 Remember 1994. In the
scheduled main event the “Homicidal, Suicidal, Genocidal, Death Defying" Sabu got
dumped on his head by Chris Benoit leaving him on the shelf injured. From then
on Benoit was known as “The Crippler” and went onto great success. Despite his
quietness, Sabu has made it clear that he’s still wants vengeance for what
Beniot did to him and is willing to put everything on the line to get it.
Legends of ECW
Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman
vs. Mick Foley and Terry Funk
ECW was notorious
for its hardcore nature and rough and ready talent but none envision the image
of ECW quite like the four competitors in our main event. Between them they
have won the ECW World Heavyweight title 8 times and the ECW World Tag Team
Championship 6 times. All four have storied histories with ECW and will all
look to pull out all the stops to put on a great performance for the ECW fans.
Well, that’s all
for now. We can only predict what the ECW PPV will turn out like due to it’s
history of being very unpredictable. To find out what happens dial your PPV
provider now.
ECW One Night
Stand
June 12th
2005
The show opens
with a large clip package highlighting all the key moments from ECW, including
it’s demise. There’s more hype as the video ends with “But tonight we return
for a One Night Stand.” The camera then cuts to the arena with its deafening
“EC-DUB, EC-DUB” screams in the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York.
Paul Heyman was
the first man to make his way out to an ravenous applause. Heyman is stopped
from speaking due to the repeated “EC-DUB” chants. Heyman finally gets chance
to speak and riles up the crowd even more. He said tonight all the wrestlers
will put everything on the line for the fans. We then went over to out
commentators, Joey Styles and Taz to run down the card.
Match 1) Super Crazy vs. Tajiri
(with The Sinister Minister and Mikey Whipwreck)
vs. Little Guido
(with Tracy
Smothers, Tony Mamaluke
and Big Guido)
As you would
expect all three men used their differing styles to outdo the other
competitors. The action was very fast paced with move after move after move.
The match built up to a spot where all at ringside (including non-competitors)
fought into the crowd. Then Super Crazy (who had just disappeared) appeared in
the balcony. Crazy lived up to his name hitting a moonsault from the balcony
onto all below! The match ended soon after back in the ring after Smothers
tried to aid Guido but ended up getting the Posion Mist from Tajiri. Tajiri
then finished off Guido with the Buzzsaw Kick.
Joel Gertner was
at an interview set with Sabu and his manager Bill Alfonso. Alfonso said how
Sabu is the most dangerous man alive and Beniot will find that out later on
tonight. Alfonso promised Beniot that Sabu will snap his neck in two just like Beniot did to him 11 years ago.
Match 2) Lance Storm vs. Justin
Credible (with Dawn Marie)
Before the match
Storm took the mic and asked why they are facing off since they are good
friends. Credible snatched the mic away from him and told Lance that he was a
“Sell-out” by leaving ECW when they needed him most. Credible then brought out
Dawn Marie to be in his corner and attacked Storm when he wasn’t looking. In
the match the two traded holds and submissions before building the match up.
Dawn Marie got up on the apron but miscommunication sent Credible headfirst
into her. Justin recovered and went for the That’s Incredible only for Lance to
reverse it perfectly setting up a Deep Impact for the win. Following the bout Lance
offered a hand shake, Justin refused but then hugged Lance. Lance, Justin and
Dawn all celebrated together before leaving.
Match 3) The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray
and D-Von)
vs. Spike Dudley and Balls Mahoney
A different bout
to the two that this has followed on from. The Dudley’s made immediate impact
attacking their opponents in their entrance. They quickly wiped out their
brother with an aided powerbomb through a table. The Dudley’s then worked on
Balls and busted him open for the first blood spill of the night. Balls tried
to fight back but the handicap was too much. During this 2 on 1 beating Bubba
took time out to insult some fans. Spike made his return with a chair and
turned the odds in his team’s favour busting both his brothers open. From there
the action was even and more importantly hardcore. After almost killing Spike
with a throw to the outside, the Dudleys lit a table on fire and powerbombed
Balls through it OMG! Post match as the ring crew cleaned the ring Bubba
grabbed a mic and continued to insult the fans even calling Hat Guy “a worthless
pile of semen.”
Paul Heyman
returned to the ring to introduce a video of a tribute to ECW wrestlers that
have passed on. The fans respected the one minute silence Heyman requested then
continued “EC-DUB” to show their respect for all the workers who have passed
away.
Match 4) Mexican
Death Match: Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Psychosis
Both men were
wearing attires alike to that of what they wore in their original encounter in
1995. The match was held under Mexican Death match rules just like the
original. As well as being best friends these two have been great opponents and
know each other so well. The first fall went to Rey after he hit the West Coast
Pop in the centre of the ring. Psychosis quickly stole the second after Rey’s
attempt at a hurricanrana was flipped around a full 360 and Pyschosis got the
pin. Joey Styles shouted "Ay Dios Mio” translated to Oh My God! After that
move adding “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that before!” The match continued with both men going all
out for the final fall. The action later entered the crowd. Just like back at November
to Remember 1995, Rey found a raised platform to climb. After climbing to the
top Rey dived off and hit a hurricanrana on Psychosis. However, Psychosis kicked
out! They fought back to the ring where Rey tripped his opponent up on the
ropes. Rey finished off with a 619 (which wasn’t met too happily to the diehard
ECW fans) to get the final fall.
Joel Gertner was
yet again at the interview area. He begins his speech about why he loves ECW
only for Terry Funk to appear instantly knocking Gertner out with a punch. Funk
cuts a mad promo about how he had to return to the ring tonight. He added it
will be an “honour” to team up with Foley and a “privilege” to whup Dreamer and
Sandman a****.
Match 5) Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Jericho:
Like the match
before both men had “retro attires” as Taz put it, they were wearing attires
that replicated previous attires worn in ECW. As said in the preview this bout
was a tribute to all the great workers who have passed through ECW. The action
was top notch with both men putting on great performances. They teased the fans
with multiple near falls and some ECW-esq spots. Jericho took a dive off the apron toward
Eddie who protected himself with a chair. The action continued with Eddie
placing Jericho on a ladder for a Frog Splash but Chris moved sending Eddie
front first onto the ladder. Jericho capitalised with a Lionsault, crushing
Eddie between his opponent and the ladder. The battle raged on as both men
traded blows but Jericho’s Liontamer made Eddie submit.
The Blue World Order’s
(B.W.O) Stevie Richards, Hollywood Nova and the Blue Meanie all made their way
out. Stevie complained how the three weren’t booked on the show while maintaining
his NWO parody. He then announced that their leader was here pointing to the
entrance. After a long build up with the fans chanting “Raven” Stevie revealed
it was all a hoax and called Raven a pussy for not showing up and showing where
his true loyalties lie. They continued their “take over” of the PPV until Taz
got up from commentary claiming “enough was enough.” Taz marched down to the
ring telling them they have one last chance to get out of the ring. Instead
Meanie gave Taz a middle finger. Taz then destroyed all three members of the
B.W.O quickly, thowing Stevie and Nova about with suplexes then locking in the
Tazmission on Meanie. The B.W.O finally pulled Meanie away and scurried away as
Taz remained in the ring, standing with arms folded.
Match 6) Sabu
(with Bill Alfonso)
vs. Chris Benoit
The action started
right away with Sabu’s entrance. The “Homicidal, Suicidal, Genocidal, Death Defying" Sabu came
running out for his entrance launching two chairs at Benoit in the ring
immediately. “The Crippler” took the fight back to Sabu and tried to neutralise
Sabu by keeping him away from weapons however with Bill Alfonso at ringside
Sabu was handed weapons at every opportunity. The action continued to a point
where Benoit attempted to drop Sabu on his head again! However Sabu reversed
out of it after blocking numerous attempts. A table was brought into play where
Sabu came flying off the ropes hitting a led drop with a chair in his hand onto
Benoit who was laid on the table. Sabu never went for the pin always wanting to
go for more punishment on the man who broke his neck. Alfonso set up a table
between the apron and the guardrail which was later used against his own man as
Benoit reversed a dive into a German Suplex off the apron through the table!
Sabu locked in the Arabian Clutch for a rare submission victory over Benoit.
The bell rung as Sabu won but he wouldn’t let go. Alfonso tried to stop him but
Sabu was out of control. After attacking some staff who tried to intervene Sabu
exited.
Match 7) Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman
vs. Mick Foley and Terry Funk
In the scheduled
main event of the evening all four men got thunderous applause and chant. The
Sandman even made his trademark entrance though the crowd singing to “Enter
Sandman” while swinging his cane and drinking his beer. After all men had entered the crowd burst out
their loudest “EC-DUB” chant of the night which went on for minutes. The action
itself was what you would expect from four of the toughest men ECW has ever
held host to. Every kind of weapon was used in this bout from barbed wire,
steel chains and even a ladder which Funk missed a Moonsault from. The action
went into the crowd briefly where Sandman smashed Foley up with multiple beer
cans. Heading into the closing minutes all four men were bleeding heavily. Sandman
was knocked off the apron into a barbed wire board on the outside. Foley
followed this up with a Diving Elbow off the apron onto Sandman in the barbed
wire. Meanwhile in the ring Funk and Dreamer traded blows before Dreamer
hoisted a heavily bleeding Funk onto his shoulders for a Dreamer Driver for the
3-count. After being cut out of the barbed wire, Sandman and Foley joined Funk
and Dreamer in the ring. Sandman grabbed a 6-pack of beers and handed them out
to the 3 other competitors. They all celebrated, hugged and drunk beer to end
the broadcast.
Or so we thought.
From out of the crowd and behind the 4 ECW legends came Rhino. He hit the Gore
on all 4 competitors and cleared the ring of their bodies. The fans were
boo’ing him as he exited the ring to bring something back into the ring. He
brought a black bag, he undid the drawstring and brought out the ECW World
Heavyweight Championship. Grabbing a mic he said how much of a travesty it is
for the true ECW World Champion not to be on the show. He cut a shoot promo
directed at WWE for not realising his potential and how he still is a true
World Champion. But he was interrupted by the music “Walk” by Pantera. This
meant only one thing, “the Whole F’n Show” Rob Van Dam! Van Dam made his way
out taking his time to soak in the whole atmosphere. The fans were the loudest
they have been all night as Van Dam slid in the ring but Rhino obviously didn’t
like Van Dam taking all his attention and attacked him straight away.
Match 8) Rob Van Dam
vs. Rhino
The fans were
really vocal in this final unsanctioned match. Van Dam was the obvious fan
favourite making his return from injury and Rhino was hated for attacking the
ECW legends. Rhino dominated the early parts of the match using his superior
strength and power over Van Dam. RVD fought back using quickness to get the
momentum before bringing a chair into the match. Rhino fought back smashing the
chair over RVD’s lower back but RVD was soon back on the offensive with a kick
smashing the chair back in Rhino’s face. Rob Van Dam followed it up with a
chair assisted Rolling Thunder. Rhino later nailed a huge Powerbomb which send
RVD crashing onto the canvas, somehow RVD got the arm up to keep the match
going. The match led to Rhino throwing the chair from the ring after
continuously being assaulted with it then lined RVD up for the Gore though a
table set up in the corner. However, as Rhino charged, RVD leapfrogged “the Man
Monster” and Rhino crashed into the referee sending him thought the table! The
match continued with no referee as the two competitors traded blows in the
corner. Rhino attempted to lift RVD into a Rhino Driver from the second rope
which would have defiantly ended the match-up but RVD countered sending Rhino
to the mat with a head kick. Perched on the top rope RVD hit the Five-Star Frog
Splash with pin point precision even adjusting his body shape in mid-air to hit
Rhino with all his force. RVD rolled back over his opponent but there was no
count with the referee still broken in half in the corner. Out came Paul Heyman
who slid in and made the 3-count. The show ended with Rob Van Dam celebrating
and Paul Heyman picking up the ECW World Heavyweight title and handing it over
to RVD. Wrestlers who had competed throughout the night all came out to celebrate
and listen to the fans chant “EC-DUB” one last time.
Aftermath
The 2005 ECW One
Night Stand proved to be a huge success. Fans and wrestlers alike commented on
how well it worked and there were soon petitions made for another. WWE saw the
potential they could have and quickly came to a decision in late 2005. ECW One
Night Stand was to return and following the show ECW would return as a third
brand with its own TV show on the Sci-Fi Channel. The build up began at
Wrestlemania 22 where Rob Van Dam won the Money in the Bank match. Soon after
RVD said he would use his title shot on the 11th June, the night of
ECW One Night Stand 2.
Unlike the first
show, the PPV featured not just ECW alumni but also ECW vs. WWE matches which
was headlined by ECW’s Rob Van Dam facing the WWE’s John Cena for the WWE
title. The undercard featured such matches as The Sandman and Tommy Dreamer
teaming up once more to face WWE’s invading team of Randy Orton and Edge and
Sabu facing Kurt Angle. The action led to the main event where the hostile
crowd watched as Rob Van Dam beat John Cena cleanly with the Five-Star Frog
Splash to become ECW World Champion.
The ECW brand was
then launched with Rob Van Dam as the main face of the promotion. Although he
lost the WWE Championship within 2 months he held onto the ECW World title for
6 months facing all competitors. The ECW brand served as an alternative to the
other WWE brands with its hardcore wrestling and edgy style. Paul Heyman was
given plenty of control to make this incarnation of ECW a big success. Heyman
mixed the ECW originals with some newer characters which the WWE brought in
such as Kevin Thorn- a Vampire with a lust for blood, Elijah Burke - a New York
street preacher and most importantly CM Punk- a talented young Straight Edge
athlete.
ECW was later
given a second PPV “December to
Dismember” which Heyman took full advantage of to showcase the ECW talent
putting on another good PPV headlined by Rob Van Dam losing the ECW title to
the recently turned heel Kurt Angle. Angle had joined the roster originally as
a face as the big shock on ECW’s first TV episode but in late 2006 Angle turned
heel as he set his sights on the title injuring Van Dam’s ankle in the process.
With a new champion and a new year the future looked bright for ECW. Heyman
continued to book ECW strongly as it continued to do well in the ratings
despite fans unwillingness to see some of the wrestlers move away from the
Extreme brand in the annual WWE draft.
CM Punk caused huge waves in the new ECW. He
quickly developed a following and won the respect of many of the ECW Legends
especially Tommy Dreamer who took the “Straight Edge Superstar” under his wing.
Punk battled for the ECW World title on numerous occasions each time getting
closer to holding the belt. He won the Money in the Back briefcase at
Wrestlemania 23 and over the next 9 months teased on who he would cash the
briefcase on (having the choice of all 3 World champions from the 3 brands)
Eventually he chose to cash in against ECW World Champion, Tommy Dreamer
minutes after he had just won the belt.
Punk turned heel now calling himself “the
Saviour of ECW.” He claimed it was his mission to take out all ECW originals
and set about on his quest to do so. After “retiring” such Extremists as The
Sandman, Balls Mahoney and Stevie Richards, Punk changed his mission objective.
From now on Punk said he would not just get rid of the ECW Originals but ECW
all together. Many ECW wrestlers stepped up to “the Second City Saint” and many
failed including the return of his former mentor, Tommy Dreamer. With ECW falling, Paul Heyman
made the call to one man to return to fight Punk, Rob Van Dam. It was “Do or
Die” for both men with not just the title on the line but also ECW. Punk
defeated RVD in an absolute show stopper to retain the ECW World title and
close the ECW brand once and for all.
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