Each week, members of the Place to Be Nation staff come together to watch a professional wrestling show from the past as a group. As they watch and interact, they also track their grades and overall thoughts in various categories along the way. We will regularly be bringing you their output here in a variety of projects and entries.
Anarchy Rulz 1999 (Viewed October 4, 2018)
Card:
Jerry Lynn vs. Lance Storm
Jazz vs. Tom Marquez
Chris Chetti & Nova vs. Simon Diamond & Tony DeVito
Super Crazy vs. Taijiri vs. Little Guido
Sabu vs. Justin Credible
Masato Tanaka vs. Mike Awesome vs. Taz – ECW World Title Match
Tommy Dreamer & Raven vs. Rhino & Steve Corino – ECW Tag Team Title Match
Rob Van Dam vs. Balls Mahoney – ECW TV Title Match
What Worked
JT Rozzero: Tanaka’s outfit is so very 1998; Dawn Marie hache mache; Smarmy Lance Storm showing some bravado and personality was cool to see; Storm working Jerry Lynn’s ribs; Baller Jazz; Classic ECW flowing from one match into another bridged by a quick angle; Danny Doring’s bomb ass pink tights; New Jack wrecking shit; Big Fucking Sal E; Give me Tajiri vs. Crazy vs. Guido all day; Crazy’s perfect moonsault into the crowd; The ref working so hard to get Guido’s dead body out of the ring; Tajiri is amzing; Sabu just doing whatever the fuck he wants to his body and Credible’s; Credible getting splattered across a table and just sliding down in a heap; The streamers for Tanaka were cool; Taz telling the fans to shut the fuck up and the wild build to Awesome getting added to the match; Taz gathering all the heat and then getting knocked out of the match right away and then walking away in near tears; The crowning of Awesome; The in depth recap of Dreamer vs. Raven; Francine smashing Jack Victory with a chair; Main event was fine but anticlimactic
Tyler Kelley: This is DIFFERENT than WWE’s been for 15ish years (different look, feel, pacing and style) and it’s a breath of fresh air. Lance Storm and Jerry Lynn have a really good technical opener. Tajiri kicking people’s fucking heads off. Tajiri/Super Crazy/Guido is a super smooth, fun match. Also, Tajiri’s brainbuster, and Tajiri overall, f’n rules. Sabu’s bat-shit crazy high-flyin’ crash and burn style and connection with the crowd. The on-the-fly addition of Mike Awesome to the title match giving you a feeling that anything can happen. Awesome and Tanaka killing themselves and each other for our viewing pleasure. Awesome looks like a motherfucking killer here (as opposed to the Fat Chick Thriller he became once the WCW marketing geniuses got a hold of him), Raven’s promo and the Raven-Dreamer video package, RVD looks like a huge star compared to everyone else on this PPV, RVD has the “It” factor.
Trent Williams: The team of Cyrus & Joey Styles on commentary, while Joey was great on his own for all those years it never hurts to have a second man in the booth to interact with and Cyrus was the perfect choice. Really good opener with two all time underrated talents. The international three way, because any match with Tajiri and Super Crazy going against each other is guaranteed to be good. The pre-match shenanigans with Taz and Mike Awesome. Taz leaving the promotion with class and the entire locker room coming out to thank him. Axl Rotten getting the fans to quit chanting “Fuck you Taz” and telling them to get on their feet for all Taz did for ECW. The crazy match Awesome and Tanaka put on after Taz was eliminated early. The video package recapping the Dreamer vs Raven feud. RVD getting a good match out of a guy that is usually nothing more than a brawling garbage wrestler. Majority of the show was really good and definitely the best show we have watched for the Live Watch Project yet.
Tim Slomka: First time I’ve ever watched a ECW PPV and what I got what I expected with crazy hardcore spots, booking as quick as possible, crazy crowd chants; Dawn’s dress; “Is there a real pair in the business” line; giving Tazz a quality send off (can’t think of another wrestler who go that who wasn’t retiring); Lita; Epic feel of title match, including most wrestlers on the ramp for it (this is my favorite thing); all the performers who really gave their bodies for ECW, some of the spots were stupid, this isn’t my cup of tea, but A+ for effort from these guys and girls – especially Jazz.
Jacob Williams: Hot opener with great fire, selling, and an overall crispness you don’t always get from ECW; Keeping the big garbage brawl pretty short; Overall solid commentary with some great Cyrus lines -”He could be Sal’s suppository”; Super Crazy’s beautiful moonsault into the crowd; All of Tajiri’s offense; ECW elimination rules for triple threat; Sabu/Justin Credible bringing some ECW ridiculousness to show; Epic feel of the ECW title match; Awesome being added last minute; The #hossfight after Taz is eliminated; Tanaka taking some insane bumps; Overall presentation and execution of the world title match; Bringing up years-old footage to build up Raven; RVD’s charisma
Stacey O’Loughlin: Lance Storm being near his peak here; Jerry Lynn selling the ribs; a Jazz sighting; the neverending tag team clusterfuck with the run ins; a Lita sighting; New Jack fucking shit up; Super Crazy and Tajiri working like madmen; Sabu being Sabu; the crazy ass ECW Title booking; Awesome and Tanaka continuing to try to murder each other; the nice Taz send off; skinny Steve Corino; young Rhino; JOEL GERTNER; the Dreamer/Raven recap; RVD being RVD; Balls getting to have a workrate match; the overall chaotic ECW feel; and above all, Jennifer Smith discovering ECW before our very eyes
Logan Crosland: Jerry Lynn and Lance Storm tearing it up in the opener; Cyrus and Joey are great on commentary; Two awesome three way matches; Taz got a great send off; Both of the garbage matches were short; RVD being over like rover; Raven/Dreamer rivalry recap
Neil Trama: Lance Storm’s RASSLIN; wild three-way-dance craziness; even more wild world championship three-way-dance craziness; Taz’s send off; Justin Credible, Rhino and skinny Steve Corino; RVD’s main event aura
Steve Riddle: CYRUS THE VIRUS!!, This felt like a big show for ECW just weeks after getting on national TV; this was easily Lance Storm’s best stretch sans his WCW run in 2000; gotta love the ECW crowds and their chants; Jazz is ECW’s version of Chyna on a smaller scale; Angelica looking good before she became Lita; Danny Doring and Roadkill were a very underrated tag team; New Jack, SAL E. GRAZ, Tajiri + Super Crazy + Little Guido = utter awesomeness; Steve Corino, Jack Victory, and Rhino are a unique trio; only Credible would take a forfeit win and celebrate like he won the world title; Sabu still has dangerous as ever, big showing of faith for Awesome to make him the new champion; Awesome and Tanaka still have great chemistry, cool moment having the roster on the ramp to see Taz off and cool seeing Taz put Awesome over strong; pretty cool seeing the history of the Dreamer/Raven feud even though it ended two years ago; Rhino looking spry and full of energy; the Impact Players were pretty awesome by this point; at least Balls Mahoney seemed like more of a threat to RVD than Johnny Smith; clearly having RVD in the last match shows he’s the big star for ECW now
What Didn’t Work
JT Rozzero: Jerry Lynn’s awkward DDT onto a chair, the positioning was off and looked forced; Simon Diamond looks like a cross between a basic CAW and a tiny regional indy opening match dude here; Tom Marquez’s absurd selling; Nova in green; Jason still hanging around doing the same shit, but with a goatee; Justin Credible beating down the ring announcer felt a bit forced, like him as a whole; Credible using “suck it”; Credible as ECW’s Triple H; “You Sold Out” chants; As insane and wild as they were at the time, the chairshots to Tanaka are tough to watch; Jeff Jones is a clown; I wasn’t feeling Tommy Dreamer’s promo; Fans didn’t seem very into Raven at all; The World Title match should have closed the show, the crowd was burned after that; Balls Mahoney never felt like a legit threat and as a result the main event felt more like an exhibition showcase
Tyler Kelley: Holy shit is Simon Diamond a tool, he makes Justin Diamond look cool. Diamond insulting Jazz’s “flat chest and ghetto booty.” Simon SHOULDN’T say (anything really.) I have no idea who the babyfaces or heels were in the tag team match? Matches? General clusterfuck mess? I’m not even sure what matches to rank, people just kept coming out of the dressing room and I have no clue what the feuds were if there were any feuds. Justin Credible’s half-shirt-jorts combo, which might be his worst look since he wore a jockstrap on his face. Also he wore a mask as Aldo Montoya, but that’s unrelated. Justin Credible’s offense. Dreamer/Raven vs. Corino/Rhyno match. Axl Rotten promo as the show structure as the show fell off a cliff after the Taz/Awesome/Tanaka match. Closing the show with a Balls Mahoney match. RVD hadn’t quite pared the stupid out of his offense (like carrying a chair in a flip only to drop it to be powerbombed on it later or doing an Asai moonsault to land on his feet and pick up a chair). RVD/Balls match about 15 minutes too long. Ended show on a cold note compared to vibe after title match.
Trent Williams: The entire cluster that happened between Simon Diamond making his entrance and New Jack leaving the ring, all of that took away from this being in consideration for one of the best PPVs of all time. The promo Simon Diamond cuts on Jazz doesn’t age well. The ECW Tag Team Championship match had a chance to be good on paper, but it was over before it really began, although there was a great match between Raven and the ring ropes as he tried to enter the ring. The ECW Championship match not closing the show as wrapping up the show with the end of one era (Taz) and the beginning of a new era (Mike Awesome) would’ve been a great thing to have as the main event, RVD vs Balls wasn’t great enough or memorable enough to close the show. If they had done a RVD vs Jerry Lynn match then I would’ve been fine with the TV Title closing the show, but not Balls.
Tim Slomka: The whole second match being an overbooked mess; random music just playing mid match; the bell ringing throughout; beating up of Jazz doesn’t look so good either; although there is a great comment by them: “Are we off format again”; chair shots to the head; the music; main event being heatless (though I don’t mind the Tazz match in the middle); this was the era, but way to many kickouts of finish moves, especially in the Sabu match; the whistle
Jacob Williams: Missing member of Lit; Simon Diamond and his sideburns; The complete mess of brawl with New Jack and friends; Most people in the brawl looking like jobbers; Sabu and Justin Credible dragging on too long; Ending with RVD vs. Balls; The brutal chair shots to the head through 2018 eyes; Justin Credible as a big time heel; Dreamer’s overly babyface promo feels off for the tone of ECW; Uncomfortably misogynist crowd responses
Stacey O’Loughlin: Dorks like Simon Diamond, Tom Marquez, Tony DeVito and Jason hanging around; Justin Credible; all of the disgusting chairshots right to the brain cells; Network overdubs; not knowing what was happening half the time; the last couple matches being an anticlimax; misogyny
Logan Crosland: The whole second match mess with Simon Diamond and Jazz; New Jack’s existence; Credible going over Sabu; Not ending with the world title three way; If you weren’t going to end with that, you need to choose someone better than Balls to go against RVD; Raven not being more involved with the tag match
Neil Trama: The tag team match that ended with 30 random guys getting in the ring; New Jack’s overdubbed Network music; Balls Mahoney in the main event; peak-1999 gratuitous bullshit chairshots and man on woman violence
Steve Riddle: Why is Simon Diamond around?; obviously seeing man on woman violence in 2018 feels so wrong when it was well accepted in 1999; flowing from one segment to the next was fine once in a while, but ECW went way overboard with it at times; Nova wearing a Green Lantern ripoff outfit; using a staple gun was way too much; Justin Credible: ECW’s most overrated superstar; a bit weird Awesome was added at the last minute and having the ECW Title match in the middle of the show; tough for ECW to lose their top star only a few weeks after losing their top tag team in the Dudleyz; I get Taz was leaving but he was made to look like a bitch here losing so quickly; Dreamer and Raven as Tag Champions just doesn’t feel right as they feel like natural rivals; as great as Francine is, her as Dreamer’s valet seems bizarre as no one can replace Beulah; random time for Axl Rotten to call out Mike Awesome; RVD/Balls should probably been in the middle of the show and not the last match; to do a bit of fantasy booking I would’ve had Taz retain the title and have a unification match with RVD at the next PPV where he puts RVD over clean as the new top face of ECW
Match of the Night
JT Rozzero: Tajiri vs. Super Crazy vs. Little Guido
Tyler Kelley: Tajiri vs. Super Crazy vs. Little Guido
Trent Williams: Tajiri vs. Super Crazy vs. Little Guido
Tim Slomka: Awesome vs Tanaka vs Taz
Jacob Williams: Awesome vs Tanaka vs Taz
Stacey O’Loughlin: Tajiri vs. Super Crazy vs. Little Guido
Logan Crosland: Awesome vs Tanaka vs Taz
Neil Trama: Tajiri vs. Super Crazy vs. Little Guido
Steve Riddle: Tajiri vs. Super Crazy vs. Little Guido
Worst Match of the Night
JT Rozzero: Chris Chetti & Nova vs. Simon Diamond & Tony Devito
Tyler Kelley: Chris Chetti & Nova vs. Simon Diamond & Tony Devito
Trent Williams: Chris Chetti & Nova vs. Simon Diamond & Tony Devito
Tim Slomka: Chris Chetti & Nova vs. Simon Diamond & Tony Devito
Jacob Williams: Chris Chetti & Nova vs. Simon Diamond & Tony Devito
Stacey O’Loughlin: Chris Chetti & Nova vs. Simon Diamond & Tony Devito
Logan Crosland: Chris Chetti & Nova vs. Simon Diamond & Tony Devito
Neil Trama: Chris Chetti & Nova vs. Simon Diamond & Tony Devito
Steve Riddle: Chris Chetti & Nova vs. Simon Diamond & Tony Devito
MVP of the Night
JT Rozzero: Mike Awesome
Tyler Kelley: Mike Awesome
Trent Williams: Masato Tanaka
Tim Slomka: Masato Tanaka
Jacob Williams: Mike Awesome
Stacey O’Loughlin: Super Crazy
Logan Crosland: Mike Awesome
Neil Trama: Mike Awesome & Masato Tanaka
Steve Riddle: Rob Van Dam
Best Live Chat Comment of the Night
JT Rozzero: “Blood adds a star” – Jennifer Smith
Tyler Kelley: “His mullet was too great not to be in the match.” – Jambalaya Jake
Trent Williams: “I never knew Taz and Sting had the same first name of This Is” – Tyler Kelly
Tim Slomka: “His mullet was too great not to be in the match.” – Jambalaya Jake
Jacob Williams: “So much blow.” – Tim Slomka
Stacey O’Loughlin: “What the hell is happening??” – Literally everyone at some point
Logan Crosland: “Is that the White Trash Green Lantern?” – Jennifer Smith
Neil Trama: “Is that the White Trash Green Lantern?” – Jennifer Smith
Steve Riddle: “Future Rapist Dawn” – Stacey O’Loughlin
Show Grade
JT Rozzero: 7/10
Tyler Kelley: 7/10
Trent Williams: 8/10
Tim Slomka: 6/10
Jacob Williams: 7/10
Stacey O’Loughlin: 7/10
Logan Crosland: 7/10
Neil Trama: 6/10
Steve Riddle: 7.5/10
Match Grades
JT Rozzero: ***½; ¼*; *¼; ****; ***; ***¾; **; ***
Tyler Kelley: ***½, DUD, ½*, ****, ***, ****, *¾, **
Trent Williams: ***3/4, DUD, DUD, ****, ***¼, ***½, *, ***
Tim Slomka: ****, ½*, **, ***, ****, *, **
Jacob Williams: ***½, ½*, ½*, ***¾, **½, ****, **, **½
Stacey O’Loughlin: ***½ , *, **½ , ****, ***, ***½, *½, **
Logan Crosland: ***½, ¼*, ¼*,***¾ , ***, ****, **, **
Neil Trama: ***, *, *, **** ¼, ***, ****, **, ** ¾
Steve Riddle: ***½, DUD, DUD, ****, ***, ***½, *½, ***½
