Dueling Chair
Shots
by
Kurt La Mont
Column date
11/06/2000
November to Remember Review
I was really impressed with the PPV last night. I thought it was the best ECW PPV since Heatwave 98. When you consider that this was a better show than last year, and that show had the 'star-power' of RVD, Taz, Awesome, Tanaka, Storm, and Raven on it, it is even more impressive.
I thought the commentating was much improved over previous shows, especially Cyrus. I think that there is a direct correlation with the quality of Cyrus' commentating and whether he is a part of The Network angle. When Cyrus is on his game I find him to be a better color commentator than Jerry Lawler (although probably not as good an artist).
Onto the matches: Simon & Swinger vs. York & Matthews The way York and Matthews act reminds me a lot of the Rockers from way back when. Of course neither will be HBK but then again who is. Solid opening match.
2.75 out of 4.00
Kid Kash vs. CW Anderson
Although there were a couple of missed spots in the match this was one of my favorite matches of the night. The thing I really liked is that the traditional 'finisher' didn't get the pin. I think 'finshers' are overrated, but that's another column for another time. The point is, is if you think a match can end at any time the match has you hanging on the whole time. This did that for me.
3.25 / 4.00
Money/Dinero/Hamrick vs. Doring/Roadkill/Spike
It's good to see Spike back, especially without the knee brace. This was a good way to get him in a match to get the feel of the ring back. Maybe it's just me but when Doring comes out there's a small pop. When Roadkill comes out there's a huge pop. Doring is better as a heel. Roadkill is better as a face. I'd like to see them split and go at it in singles for a while. Then down the road if it doesn't work, you'll get a big pop for the reunion.
3.00 / 4.00
Chetti vs. Nova
How bad would this match have been if we knew Chetti was leaving ECW before the PPV? That's one of the bad things about the internet, but a lot of people kept this pretty quiet, so when the stipulation was announced the match took on a much greater importance.
With all of that Chetti pulled out one of his best matches in ECW. The intensity in this match was excellent. The match itself was solid.
3.00 / 4.00
I assume the jump to the WWF is based on financial reasons on Chetti's part. When you are a new father it's probably good to now that you'll be paid no matter what happens. He'll have that certainty now. As for the WWF's interest in Chetti, it doesn't make too much sense to me. They are loaded and he doesn't seem to do anything terribly impressive but they know talent better than I do. Apparently we now know that the "dirt sheets" think Chetti was one of the top 10 wrestlers in ECW.
Baldies vs. Chilly Willy & Balls
Wow, there were some stiff moves in this match. The crowd just ate this match up like crazy. Brawling through the crowd is good when you are there in person but on TV it's just not the same. They held the interest better than most of the ECW crowd brawls though. I was shocked to see Angel go through the table. I thought Balls was the only one allowed to do that.
3.25 / 4.00
On a side note, after someone goes through a flaming table you'd think that there would be better preparation to make sure that the person going through is extinquished. I see a couple people trying to put it out with 12 ounce water bottles with small necks. Why not use something where the water comes out QUICKLY, like a super-sized cup with no top or a bucket that you can dump on him.
Rhino vs. New Jack
I don't like New Jack matches in general but this was worse than usual. And then putting it after another brawl that was much better made this look worse. No surprises here.
2.00 / 4.00
FBI vs. Tajiri & Mikey/Super Crazy
I think I was the only one not to realize Super Crazy was coming out after Mikey was "hurt" (a neck brace and stretcher for a shoulder injury?). Nevertheless, his return was great and the moonsault was just insane. I was shocked to see that Tajiri and Crazy didn't win, especially from a move that didn't look like something that should pin Tajiri. I thought it was a certainty that they'd win after Crazy came out. Hopefully they get another shot down the road.
3.50 / 4.00
Jerry Lynn vs. Sandman vs. Justin Credible vs. Steve Corino
The work in the match was really good, although the late entrance by the Sandman was lame. The concept for this match is interesting and I think they can make it work even better in the future. I thought that Lynn had this match won when it appeared that Corino was the heel in the Sandman/Corino part of the match. My thinking being that Corino was a lock in my mind to advance so Lynn would be the face counterpart. Lynn being the new champ, superior wrestler, and more over wrestler would seem to be the logical one to win the match. Then both heels won their portion of the match, Corino (who was swatting beers and Dawn Marie away at the time) over Sandman and Credible over Lynn. I can see why the crowd would be pissed. You have 2 guys fighting for a title that the fans weren't cheering for during the match up to that point. As for the Corino / Credible portion of the match I expected to see Credible win, especially after Dawn Marie turned on Corino so I was surprised to see Corino get the pinfall. Excellent match.
3.50 / 4.00
Putting the title on Corino to me is a very, very puzzling move. Here's a guy that has been an active singles wrestler in ECW for less than a year and now he has the top belt in the company? And it's not like he has had the big build that Goldberg or Kurt Angle had before they won their company's top title. Goldberg had the huge win streak in WCW and Angle won every legitimate singles belt that the WWF has over the past year. On PPV this year Corino lost to Dusty Rhodes, Tajiri, Jerry Lynn and defeated CW Anderson before N2R. Off of PPV this year Corino hasn't had what I consider a real credible win over anyone that would make you think he is World Title worthy. Sure he's had good matches with both Credible and Lynn but I don't think competing in a match improves your image in the fans eyes if you don't win.
Rhino is the one that's received the monster push, he hasn't been beaten clean in forever, it seems (and I'm in no way endorsing Rhino to be a World Champ anytime soon). If Rhino had a match with Corino today wouldn't you think that Rhino would win easily? Why should the TV Champ be considered superior to the World Champ? It's happened before (Taz, RVD) and it's happening again.
It's the same thing with RVD. If he came back from making movies today wouldn't you expect him to beat Corino with ease if they faced? I realize that's a mark-ish comment, but perception is reality and I think the reality is that I don't think Corino is a legitimate champion at this point.
Don't get me wrong. I think Steve Corino is a really good wrestler right now. I think he'll be a great wrestler and a worthy champion down the road. I just don't think that time is now.
I haven't even started about how I think Jerry Lynn was screwed again but that's another column for another time. Overall, this was ECW's 2nd best PPV ever behind Heatwave 98.
Overall: 3.50 / 4.00
Going forward I see a quick heel turn by Corino. I've been sensing this for a couple weeks now with his actions toward Dawn Marie and the Sandman. With the title around his waist it makes sense, as his main combatants will most likely be faces.
More good stuff next week. Contact me with questions or comments at [email protected]
Past editions of Dueling Chair
Shots
10/4
10/16
10/27
11/5
11/10
11/17
11/19
12/03
12/10
12/17
01/03
01/19
01/29
02/04
02/14
02/22
02/29
03/06
03/13
03/20
04/12
04/28
05/08
05/18
05/23
05/30
06/05
06/13
06/21
06/29
07/06
07/11
07/17
07/24
08/01
08/07
08/20
08/30
09/06
09/14
09/20
09/27