Welcome back to another installment of Cheap-Heat.com’s Main Even Match Reviews. В This time we take a look at ECW’s Anarchy Rulz ’99.
ECW Anarchy Rulz 1999 PPV Commercial
- Taz vs Masato Tanaka vs Mike Awesome – ECW World Heavyweight Title Match
I remember this night like it was yesterday.. Rumors had been flying for weeks leading up to this Pay Per View about Taz signing with the WWE. If I remember correctly, a few days before the PPV, maybe the Friday before, Taz the current ECW World Champion signed a deal to jump ship to the WWE. This of course made the originally scheduled match of Taz vs Masato Tanaka very interesting.
Enter Mike Awesome.
Awesome and Tanaka’s feud in Japan was growing to legendary status at the time. The two were still in the heat of this epic rivalry that had now carried over onto American soil. For weeks leading up to the event, ECW had run highlight packages for Masato Tanaka to hype his ECW Title match. Many of these highlights included Tanaka looking strong over Mike Awesome. Awesome took offense to this, and showed up at Anarchy Rulz. Let the ECW madness begin.
Tanaka and Taz were in the ring about to start the match, when Taz demanded the microphone. Taz grabbed the mic, and turns to the crowd off camera and begins to yell obcenities at someone amongst the fans. Taz threatens the man, and tells him if he wants some to come get some. The camera finally gets a shot of the person in the crowd, and we see that it is Mike Awesome and Judge Jeff Jones. Paul E. Dangerously, or as we know him today Paul Heyman, stands in between the guardrail where Awesome is and the ring where Taz is standing on the turnbuckle. Taz demands the match, Awesome is yelling for it as well. Paul E. gets on the mic and says that in ECW they have a little tradition called the THREE WAY DANCE! The crowd explodes at the sound of this, and Heyman motions for the match to happen. Awesome hops the the railing, takes off his shirt, and is ready to go.
Out of nowhere though comes Tanaka flying over the top rope with a cross body plancha taking Awesome hard to the floor and railing. Everyone gets back into the ring, and Awesome and Tanaka are going at it hard, as Taz watches on clapping and laughing. I loved the beginning of this match. It was classic ECW. You have your drama surrounding the match, you bring in the unexpected element, get the crowd involved… tease up the big pay off, then give them what they want. This was the reason that ECW was where they were at this point in 1999. You could feel that they were on the virge of something HUGE… something amazing. But we all know how that ended… but seriously go back and look at this crowd at the Odeum in Chicago, the largest that had ever seen an ECW event live. They were almost there. But damn man.. damn.
Okay I got distracted, I am not going to do Play by Play for the match, because I could never do it justice. But once Tanaka and Awesome realized that Taz was watching, they turn their collective attention towards the ECW Champion, and its on. Taz looks strong at first, as he does some nasty tazplexes all over the place on both men. Taz lands some STIFF clotheslines, but is nailed from behind by Awesome, and the match takes a turn. The squash is on from here. Tanaka and Awesome are all over Taz, they work well as a team and each shine individually as they hit their finishers on Taz. Awesome climbs to the top and leaps off with a HUGE frogsplash on Taz in the middle of the ring, and Tanaka and Awesome cover the champ for the 1….2…3! Taz is eliminated!
A new ECW Champion is guaranteed! Taz, rolls out of the ring as this was his ECW curtain call. The fans play it up and sing and jeer him, as the entire locker room is now out on the rampway to watch the match and to greet Taz on his way to the back. Taz turns and looks back to the ring and tells Awesome and Tanaka to go at it, as he continues to have the locker room show their appreciation.
Now the focus is back on the match, and holy shit do these two steal the show. I cannot begin to list all the highspots and crazy shit these two did to each other, but I will try. From Mike Awesome almost completely denting a chair in half over the head of Masato Tanaka… to the many high flying leaps from the ring to the floor, over the ropes and crashing to the concrete, sliding and slamming into the guard rail. It was brutal. Absolutely brutal.. oh, and did I mention when Mike Awesome power bombs Tanaka from the ring to the floor through a table? That happened. Or the big finish, where they set a table up in the ring, and Awesome counters a superplex attempt into a top rope powerbomb through the table for the pin? That happened too.
Seriously, enjoy the video I’m going to post, and watch this match. The crowd reminds me of the fans in Rocky IV… they turn mid way through the match from anti-Awesome, chanting his name and giving him a standing ovation after the match. Total Rocky moment that night.
I give this match a 4.2 out of 5.
Taz Vs. Masato Tanaka Vs. Mike Awesome
Not technically a beautiful match by any means, but holy shit was this match fun, and violent, and the story that was told can’t be touched today.
- Tommy Dreamer (w/Francine) & Raven vs Steve Corino & Rhino (w/Jack Victory) – ECW World Tag Team Title Match
Joel Gertner comes out and does his usual schtick, the crowd eats it up as always. He has an interview to conduct he says, and he calls out Tommy Dreamer. Music hits, and here comes “The Queen of Extreme” Francine and Tommy Dreamer. Gertner asks Tommy about his back, and his injury, and whether he will be able to defend the titles tonight. Tommy gets the mic and responds with some CHEAP-HEAT by mentioning in Chicago that he was at Wrigley Field the day before and saw Sammy Sosa hit home run #60 on the year. Now, does that make you feel old or what?! For those of you that actually remember that home run race, wow… I feel ancient. Anyway… Tommy does his baby face routine, saying how he is going to innovate some violence in Chicago, yatta yatta yatta… and out comes Steve Corino and company.
Corino mocks Dreamer and tells him he is going to make him bleed, so he tells Rhino to go get him. Rhino charges the ring, and Tommy Dreamer vs Rhino starts… Which this confuses me, as Joey Styles announces the match as officially beginning… So it’s not a tag match? I don’t understand. Wait, here comes Steve Corino to the apron and into his corner. So I guess it is a tag match? Fuck if I know, classic ECW confusion, to follow up classic ECW greatness.
This match is typical Tommy Dreamer. Not very pretty, lots of Dreamer shining, and then Dreamer being the huge victim and underdog. Francine gets inolved at some point, and Rhino slams the ever loving shit out of her in the ring. Dreamer is down I think at this point, and here comes Raven rushing the ring to make the save on his tag partner… but Raven botches the HELL out of this, as he gets caught on the middle rope trying to get into the ring and he falls and drops to the rampway. Crowd doesn’t miss it however, and a “YOU FUCKED UP” chant breaks out. Raven full of anger gets into the ring, and makes the save. Dreamer up of course now, and he and Raven do the tandum simultaneous DDT’s and make the cover for the 1…2…3. Champs retain. Now, I must point out that for some reason, Jack Victory was in the ring and took a DDT instead, and was covered for the pinfall. He wasn’t even part of the match, but was counted down for the finish. Okay, thats cool. Whatever. But damn man..
What a horrible match to have follow the brilliant ECW World Title match. Sigh.
I give this match a 2.4 out of 5.
ECW Anarchy Rulz 1999 – Rhino vs Tommy Dreamer
- Johnny Smith vs Rob Van Dam – ECW World Television Title Match
Axel Rotten comes out to the ring and calls out Mike Awesome. Here come the Impact Players, Lance Storm/Justin Credible/Johnny Smith … they talk shit to each other. Out comes Balls Mahoney to make the save for Axel who is now being beat down by the Impact Players. Balls lays out Johnny Smith with some nasty chair shots. Smith is out, and they take him to the back.
Axel says its not going down like this in Chicago, the fans are getting their moneys worth. They call out Rob Van Dam, saying he doesn’t have an opponent any more since they took care of Smith.
MATCH CHANGE
- Balls Mahoney vs Rob Van Dam – ECW World Television Title Match
Rob Van Dam and Bill Alfonso make their way to the ring to the delight of the crowd, and this match is official.
I will go out on a limb here and say that this is probably the best Balls Mahoney match you will ever see. Easily. But a lot can be said there to argue that is because of Rob Van Dam. RVD was probably at the pinnacle of his career here. He had held the ECW TV Title for over a year already I think, and was by far the most over talent in the company.
This was a total RVD spotfest match that you love and want to see every time out. I don’t think anyone in the business can sell a move like Van Dam either, I might add. Just watch this one, and enjoy it. They incorporate every style and aspect of the sport into the match. Balls shows off his excellant, and very underappreciated mat wrestling. Rob Van Dam shines with his ability to chain wrestle, and counter maneauvers from pretty much anywhere. You get to see Rob Van Dam fly off the top rope about 4 rows deep, roughly 15-20 feet into the crowd onto Balls at one point. And because you know it’s a Balls Mahoney match, that you can expect some chair play, and they deliver there as well. Lots of Van Daminator teases, and then Balls unloads and wraps the chair around the back of RVD’s head. You can literally see the chair dented in the shape of Van Dam’s head. Classic ECW match here really when you look back at it. The crowd wasn’t sold at first, and then became so invested in the match and the men involved that it became something special. The match took on a new life it seemed, and you could see it and feel it as RVD and Balls really went out and put on a fantastic main event. If you had advertised RVD and Balls Mahoney in the main event, people would have laughed and completely discredited the validity of the show. Nobody would have given those two a chance to close the show and deliver a main event calibur match. NOBODY… except Paul Heyman. The booking seemed so on the fly for this PPV, and out of control I can’t say how much of it was planned or not. The World title match was at the mid point of the PPV, and then the show built back up towards the TV Title main event. Only in ECW.
In the end Rob Van Dam showed why he is Mr. P-P-V…RVD.. and he retains his World Television Championship over Balls Mahoney. This match shows you that Balls Mahoney can go. I will say that Balls Mahoney is by far one of the most underrated and underappreciated wrestlers that has ever stepped into the ring. I will put him in my Big Man Top 10 somewhere, probably up towards the top 5… but I’ll leave that article for another day.
I give this match a 3.8 out of 5.
Rob Van Dam vs. Balls Mahoney-ECW TV Title
