Part 2 of my ECW was 1996's Natural Born Killaz. I didn't know what to expect going into this one as I'd never seen it before. The only pre-1998 show I'd seen was Hostile City Showdown 1996 (boy did that suck). Anyway, let's see what I thought.
Match 1 - Louie Spicolli vs Devon Storm
This was more or less a squash for Spicolli. At the start of the match he beat down Storm with a steal chair and focused completely on the leg. When the match started, he focused on the leg some more. Storm did a great job of selling the injury. The most noteworthy offense for Storm was a slingshot from the ropes which was reversed into a pin attempt. The comeback was brief however and Storm was eventually victim of the fireman's buster. After the match, Cactus Jack lookalike Damian Kane offered his managerial services, but he got a buster for his awful persuasion as well. The crowd went nuts for Louie and it suggested a new star was born.
Match 2 - European Jr Heavyweight Championship - Little Guido vs Mikey Whipwreck
This was not what I expected...
It started off as expected you know - mild brawling, fast paced wrestling and 1 or 2 top rope dives. But when the FBI got involved Mikey got nutty. Guido was on the outside of the ring being attended to by his manager JT Smith. Whipwreck does a vaulting body splash over the top rope and takes them both out. Big Guido then decides to get involved and tries to powerbomb Mikey. Mikey grabs the rope and kicks him over the guard rail. He climbs to the turnbuckle and jumps on Big Guido, who ducks and causes Mikey to totally botch the move and land on the concrete floor. Guido capitalises on the mistake and chokes Mikey with a chair and rolls him back into the ring. He locks in a short arm scissors and then performs a series of moves on Whipwreck's arm. Mikey connects with a kick and misses a splash. Mikey then kicks out of of a series of weak pin attempts. Pay attention to Style's commentary because some of it's funny. Like when Guido delivers a scoop slam and Styles calls it, ''A scoop ada slam.'' Mikey takes a beating for the majority of the match but he's resilient and eventually wins with an elbow drop and retains the gold.
Match 3 - Axl Rotten & D-Von Dudley vs Buh Buh Ray Dudley & Big Dick Dudley
D-Von starts off by insulting the crowd in the most insulting ways of imaginable. I mean, it's just uncalled for. It's hilarious though. Buh Buh runs out and goes straight for his brother. The story going into this match was that D-Von was being an abusive brother. He exemplifies his strained relationship with his ethnically opposing brother by running splashing him through a table. The match is just a brawl and it goes into the crowd. They assault each other with crutches and Buh Buh takes a 10 foot dive onto everyone. It's nuts considering who it is. This is nothing new in ECW. Every show had a nuts brawl and this was no different. So damn fun though.
Match 4 - Badstreet Match - Brian Lee vs Terry Gordy
Gordy is one of the best ever in my opinion. Sure, he's not THEE best but the Freebirds were awesome and I love him so fuck Bret Hart. Terry Gordy enters the ring to 'Freebird' by Skynyrd. I love Terry Gordy. This is another brawl and it goes outside of the arena. Back in the arena, Lee gets backdropped on a table tnat doesn't break, which makes it look even scrappier and more awesome. It's a slugfest. Gordy delivers a scrappy DDT and it's the closest thing we see to a wrestling move. Gordy wins the match via pinfall with a thumb to the throat.
Match 5 - Doug Furnas vs Rob Van Dam
Doug Furnas made his way from AJPW to face young, arrogant heel RVD. It's a speed vs power affair and Van Dam bumps like a psychopath - especially taking a shoulder block off the apron and landing in the third row This match also takes into the bleachers. That's 3 matches in a row where the crowd have been in touching distance of the wrestlers. Furnas manhandles Van Dam in the crowd. On the apron, RVD suplexes Furnas onto a table which doesn't break but it does look painful. RVD then puts a chair on Furnas' face and guillotine leg drops over the apron onto the chair. It looks COOOOOL. This match was physical and awesome. This was RVD at his best.
Match 6 - Taz vs Tommy Dreamer
Taz challenges Dreamer to a wrestling match and Dreamer agrees. There's a brief brawl at the start but once in the ring, it's time to wrestle. It starts of with some even mat work, but Taz gains control for the majority of the match. When there isn't brutal stomping it's a pretty good wrestling match, which is a nice welcome contrast from a show packed with insanity until now. Taz turns hypocrite though and throws Dreamer outside and beats him with a chair - now it's Dreamer's game. Oh wait... nah he gets pounded again for a bit. Then Dreamer dives on ''Team Taz.'' Taz puts Dreamer through a table with a Tazplex and puts the Tazmission on Dreamer. Some random interference, no officials and more interference ensure that this ends with all out chaos.
Match 7 - Tag Team Dog Collar Match - Raven & Shane Douglas vs Sandman & Pitbull #2
I don't know if there was ever a lengthy spell in ECW where Franchise wasn't despised. His heat in this match was hot. Sizzling even. I burnt myself watching and listening. This wasn't a wrestling match. It was carnage. It was barely even a fight. It was just a brutal beatdown of Sandman. The psychology was amazing, with Sandman's old lady and his son in Raven's corner. Pitbull #2 comes to Sandman's aid after Sandman is half dead to even the odds though and pretty much bitches the opponents for a long period. Aside from some big moves from Pitbull, this was kinda boring.
Match 8 - ECW World Tag Team Titles - Cage Match - The Gangstas vs The Eliminators
We're not 2 minutes in before Perry Saturn has dived from the cage so that's always a bonus. Like a lot of the show, it's just a blood brawl with forks in the equation. To be honest, it's not all that exciting and a pretty average match.
Overall Thoughts: I love ECW but watching 2 shows in the one night got a bit repetitive after a while. It is a lot of the same stuff most of the time. That being said, you'll always find a gem. When you're in the mood for it, ECW is perfect. When you're not, then it can get pretty annoying. Overall though, this was a decent show with a couple good matches.
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