The Name on the Marquee: ECW Legacy #4
Posted by Adam Nedeff on 10.16.2009
I hope bWo Japan dominates, because their names are the easiest to type.
-This week, we’re going to look at lucha libre, which, while not invented by ECW, certainly gained America’s attention there.
-Your hosts are Joey Styles and Taz.
YOSHIHIRO TAJIRI vs. LITTLE GUIDO vs. SUPER CRAZY
-From One Night Stand 2005. Guido gets dumped early and Crazy hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Tajiri. Crazy gets dumped and now Guido is back in the ring. He applies a Fujiwara armbar and Crazy manages to work that into a near fall for himself. Crazy dropkicks Tajiri out of the ring and baseball slides him for good measure. Interference from Tony Mamaluke allows Guido to take advantage of Super Crazy and they head out to the crowd for the happy saunter through the crowd.
-Balcony moonsault by Super Crazy and he sprints back into the ring, where he gets tied up in a tarantula by Tajiri. FBI interferes again and beats the hell out of Super Crazy. Tajiri fights off the FBI by himself with green mist and a lot of kicks. Mikey Whipwreck comes into the ring and hits the whippersnapper on Guido, and Tajiri gets the three-count to eliminate him.
-Springboard moonsault nearly finishes for Crazy. Tajiri fights back and hits a DDT for two. Fireman’s carry slam grounds Tajiri. Bottom turnbuckle moonsault by Crazy, second rope moonsault by Crazy, and Mikey Whipwreck stops him from completing the sequence. Tajiri takes advantage but gets planted by a powerbomb. Crazy gets to the top to complete the sequence and he scores the three-count. 1 for 1.
GREAT SASUKE, GRAN HAMADA, & MASATO YAKUSHIJI vs. bWo JAPAN
-From Barely Legal '97. bWo’s constituents are TAKA Michinoku, Terry Boy, and Dick Togo. A quick check of Wikipedia helpfully explains the special stipulation for this encounter: this is a tag team match. Thanks, Wikipedia.
-Hamada starts with Taka. Fastest armdrag ever captured on videotape by Hamada. Snapmare and a slam by Hamada. Yakushiji tags in and gets a near-fall before bringing in Sasuke, who gets a huge round of applause just for being there. bWo triple-teams Sasuke to turn the tide. Great sequence by the bWo, going from a spinebuster into a Boston crab into a camel clutch into a dropkick in one continuous motion to really mess up Sasuke.
-Elbows by Togo and a senton splash gets two. Yakushiji tags in and gets more of the same treatment. TAKA attacks the throat and slams him down. Terry Boy hits a series of knees to the face and follows with a delayed suplex. Togo comes in and drops Yakushiji on his face. Yakushiji comes back with a Hunan-canrana followed by an armdrag that sends Togo out of the ring. TAKA tries to take the advantage back, but Yakushiji has too much momentum going and TAKA has bad luck. Hamada gets double-teamed by bWo but dodges a clothesline and comes back from there. Sasuke & Hamada double-team TAKA Terry Boy comes in and they dual for moves off the ropes until Sasuke finally hits a bodypress to thunderous applause. Yakushiji winds up in the wrong corner and triple-teamed. He gets dumped on the floor and Terry Boy tries to attack, but Yakushiji manages to rush back into the ring. For good measure, he turns the tables completely by blocking Terry Boy from re-entering.
-Togo battles with Hamada. Hamada gets a near-fall on Togo, then one on TAKA. Sasuke applies a half-crab on Sasuke, but TAKA gets free and hits an enziguiri. Yakushiji tries to interfere, but gets dumped. Sasuke gets double-teamed by Terry & Togo. Taka hits a dropkick while his partners hold Sasuke upside-down. GREAT little asshole spot sees TAKA & Terry prop up Sasuke’s body and position it so Togo can use it as a platform and pose on top of it. Spinning toehold by Terry Boy. Sasuke gets free but falls victim to a DDT immediately. TAKA hits a brainbuster for two. (Note: Joey calls it a Michinoku driver, but I recall the Michinoku driver being closer to a piledriver. Did he change it somewhere along the way or am I remembering it wrong?)
-Yakushiji falls victim to some sick triple-teaming for a two-count (and the crowd seems shocked that it wasn’t the finish). Terry Boy gets a near-fall but Sasuke makes the save. bWo works together for a powerbomb, and Sasuke makes the save. They try to do the same move to Sasuke and after fucking it up, they manage to apply it and only get a two-count. Sasuke takes things out to the floor with an Asai moonsault. Terry Boy hits in inverted atomic drop on Hamada from the top rope. Yakushiji is right there to fight for his team and hits a moonsault for two. Chokeslam/powerbomb combo by Terry Boy for two. Togo and Hamada wind up in the ring and they trade near-falls.
-Hamada ‘ranas Togo off the top rope. Yakushiji hits one of his own from the top rope. TAKA & Sasuke battle it out in the ring and TAKA hits an overhead belly-to-belly and a missile dropkick. Michinoku Driver #2 (Ah...okay) gets two. TAKA goes to the top and gets dropkicked in the chest when he comes down. Sasuke finishes with a suplex/pinning combo. 2 for 2. Pause for oxygen.
2 OUT OF 3 FALLS: DEAN MALENKO vs. EDDY GUERRERO
-FALL ONE: Joined in progress at a bow & arrow by Malenko. He switches to an STF, but Eddy gets to the ropes. Eddy gets to his feet and they go for a knucklelock, but Malenko kicks Eddy down. Eddy fights back and hits an uppercut, then sends Malenko to the floor. Back in, Eddy goes to the eye, then hits a belly-to-belly for two. Enziguiri by Eddy gets two. Superplex gets two. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker by Eddy. He goes for a backdrop, but Malenko reverses it for two. They dual for a backslide, which doesn’t go anywhere, and then Eddy simply rolls up Dean out of nowhere for three.
-FALL TWO: “Please don’t go!” chant erupts as both men circle the ring. Malenko tries to attack the ankle, but Eddy walks off the pain and then gets a near-fall. Malenko goes to the knee and that grounds Eddy. Leglock by Malenko. Eddy won’t give up, so Malenko goes for the Texas cloverleaf and that gets the submission.
-FALL THREE: Eddy uses the commercial break to walk off the pain. Back inside, Eddy turns it from a wrestling match to a fight with uppercuts. Malenko reverses an Irish whip and follows through with a clothesline. Brainbuster by Malenko gets two. Eddy goes outside and Malenko goes after him, Irish whipping him into the barricade. Back inside, Malenko hits a Tiger bomb for two. They brawl in the corner and Eddy hits a swinging DDT for two. Eddy hits his own brainbuster and goes up top for the frogsplash. Only a two-count. Malenko fires Eddy into the ropes but gets ‘ranaed for two. Joey goes over the difference between a Frankensteiner and a ‘rana while Eddy gets another near-fall. Malenko goes from a press slam to a ribbreaker for two. Eddy gets a surprise roll-up off the ropes for two. We finish with a double-pin spot, as Malenko rolls up Eddy, and Eddy thinks quickly and grabs Malenko’s arms to hold his shoulders down, figuring that a draw is better than a loss. Crowd gives them a standing ovation as the referee raises both men’s arms. 3 for 3. Finish seemed like a cop-out for a company that prided themselves and doing things differently, and the second fall wasn't much, but still a great bout.
2 OUT OF 3 FALLS: REY MYSTERIO, JR. vs. JUVENTUD GUERRERA
-FALL ONE: Mysterio offers a handshake and gets spit at for it. Mysterio takes him down and goes for a surfboard. Guerrera fights free and applies a leglock. Mysterio gets free and applies a Muta lock. Juvy makes the ropes and hits an overhead slam for two. Mysterio ‘ranas him from the top for two. He goes for a backdrop and they trade pinfall attempts. Standing knucklelock and they trade reversals and counters for an extended sequence until Rey gets a two-count. Chops by Juvy and he goes for a crucifix, but Rey turns it into a flying headscissors that sends Juvy to the floor. Back in, Rey gets another near-fall. Juvy fights back with a brainbuster for two. Juvy hits a Dragon suplex to take the fall.
-FALL TWO: Shoulderblocks by both men and Rey ‘ranas Juvy for two. Series of chops by Rey. Juvy charges at him but crashes into the turnbuckles and goes out of the ring. Rey joins him out there, then goes back inside and uses the referee’s body for leverage on a dive. Back in, Rey powerbombs him for two. Springboard moonsault gets another two. Short-arm clothesline by Juvy gets two. Juvy comes off the top and meets a dropkick. Tiger bomb by Rey gets the three-coutn and we’re all tied up.
-FALL THREE: Juvy sends Rey crashing out to the floor with a dropkick off the top rope. They wind up in the crowd. Back inside the ring, Juvy gets another near-fall. Springboard somersault legdrop misses. Juvy tries a missile dropkick but Rey catches his legs and rolls him up for two. Northern lights suplex by Rey. Juvy gets a fallaway slam for two. We go back out to the ring and into the crowd, where Hat Guy helpfully hooks up Rey-Rey with a folding chair for a little help. Mysterio hits a springboard somersault that sends hem right into the second row. We go walking through the crowd and out into the parking lot, where Rey gets powerbombed onto a car. He fights back with a ‘rana onto the concrete and we do our little walk back to the ring, where Rey launches a chair right into Juvy’s face. Back inside, Rey reverses Splash Mountain and rolls up Juvy to take the win. 4 for 4.
The 411: So, 4 for 4, yeah, but I can't go the full monty with the rating because of the problem that I have with lucha libre, and that is that too much of it in one sitting burns me out. I felt exhausted through the final match of the hour. And I think that's why WCW was always so brilliant with the way they presented lucha libre. Keep it early in the show when the crowd has energy, and limit it to just one or two matches on the card. If burn-out isn't an issue for you, though, and if you love lucha libre, this is by all means a must-watch hour.
The brainbuster TAKA did was the original Michinoku Driver. The one that he did during his WWF/E run was the Michinoku Driver II, but referred to without the 'II' likely for simplicity.
Posted By: Ryan Mac (Guest) on October 16, 2009 at 09:03 PM
