ktc

Dueling Chair Shots
by Kurt La Mont
Column date 12/04/2000

I initially was going to my match ratings for the PPV but I want to see the show on tape before I do that as there are things you miss when you are in attendance as I was. Overall, I thought the show was pretty good. You got nearly everything you expect out of ECW: good wrestling, lots of high spots, innovation, and tables & chairs in matches. In terms of ECW PPVs it was probably slightly above average. On the minus side of things I went 5-5 on my PPV predictions, including correctly guessing Kash as the mystery partner of Crazy, so the show was a little too predictable.

The match of the night was easily Mikey/Tajiri vs. Crazy/Kash. If you saw the match you probably wouldn't dispute that. The match that surpassed my expectations going in was Tommy Dreamer vs. CW Anderson. I'm liking that match the more I think about it. The match that didn't meet my expectations was the FBI vs. Doring & Roadkill. While the match wasn't bad by any means, it could have been a lot better. When the stipulation that Doring & Roadkill would split as a team if they lost was added to the match it is imperative that you have a few false finishes. You have to think that the match can go either way and there was nothing like that in this match.

The one thing that stuck out to me like a sore thumb was how disinterested the crowd was in the main event, especially after Jerry Lynn was eliminated. They were chanting for the Sandman and chanting at Francine but hardly reacted to what was going on in the match. I know Corino likes to be a tweener but it's causing people not to care about him one way or another. Credible is pretty established as a heel so they're not cheering for him (although interestingly he did get some face pops). It led to a pretty flat match even though there was nothing wrong with the work of the match from any of the wrestlers. The last time at Hammerstein when Corino and Credible faced off Corino was definitely established as a face and the match came off great. Everything that night hit, everything last night was flat.

It's also obvious that Sandman is extremely over and should be put in serious contention for the title and not just as a glorified jobber as he's been much of the last year. It looks like this is ECW's path to the next PPV which is good because Sandman is one of the few legitimate draws in ECW.

Bump of the night: There are many candidates for this one; Tony Mamaluke crashing into the guard rail, Mikey taking the rana onto the table on the floor, Tajiri's table stomp on chairs on Crazy's chest, Spike's balcony dive, etc. However, I think the worst bump came in the dark match when New Jack knocked Devito off the apron and he landed squarely on my left foot. Don't worry though, I came out of it with only a small bruise. Later in the show I ended up taking a few drops of green mist. Just part of being an ECW fan live at a show. And here is a secret of wrestling: the green mist comes out nicely with soap and water.

Be sure to check back later this week as I'll score each of the matches and probably give some thoughts on the current state of ECW.

Send any comments, questions, or concerns to me at [email protected]

Past editions of Dueling Chair Shots
10/4/99
10/16/99
10/27/99
11/5/99
11/10/99
11/17/99
11/19/99
12/03/99
12/10/99
12/17/99
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
10/05
10/12
10/24
11/01
11/06
11/16
11/28