Hello ECW fans! Today, we are getting loud and proud over a show which aired over fifteen years ago; a little WWE produced PPV titled ECW One Night Stand 2005. Despite not seeing it for a long time, I still remember it pretty well as it’s one of my most watched wrestling shows ever.
Student Of Extreme
Back in 2005, I’d only had the internet for about a year? I didn’t catch much of ECW in the Attitude Era as I was more of a WWF fan living in the UK. Given my limited avenues, what I knew of ECW was mostly through word of mouth and bits I’d watched or read about. YouTube was around but was still in its infancy, so finding clips of ECW didn’t come easy. Not unless you wanted to try your luck with downloading them illegally from Kazaa, Limewire or Bearshare.
For any younger reader, imagine having to wait literally hours to download one music album. You finally get said album and it’s riddled with a virus… as you got it from an unreliable source that you had no way of checking beforehand. That’s how it was back then. You couldn’t just Google something and find it in two seconds, you had to do a ton of searching. WWE educated us somewhat about ECW, but you could tell much of it was revised, edited, and given out sparingly.
For anyone like me who wanted to learn what “Extreme” was really about? I had to dig deep. And I think I did an adequate job of learning what I could, but I still went in to this PPV with a sense of dread. We know what WWE is like, even back then… they had a tendency of screwing things up. Even more so with something they didn’t create. I thought it was an ambitious idea to bring back ECW one last time, but how different would it be? Would Raw & SmackDown wrestlers work matches? And who would book it? Commentate? There were so many questions… but WWE wasn’t answering any of them.
“ECW was a lifestyle. It was anti-establishment. It was counter culture. And it was UP IN YOUR FACE!”
While WWE had already announced several matches for ONS, they did very little to build them. Instead, they had Eric Bischoff, Kurt Angle and others, look down their noses at ECW while threatening to invade the show. All the emphasis was on the WWE guys, which is why I initially felt like it wouldn’t go well.
They proved me wrong, however, as WWE set the stage for themselves to become the villains. Raw & SmackDown became the heels, while ECW played the underdog babyface rising from the ashes to prove itself one more time.
The one segment which helped to plug One Night Stand to the extreme, was Eric Bischoff’s ECW “funeral”. It soon got shut down after the chairman strolled out and informed him that his company had always invested in ECW from behind the scenes.
Paul Heyman’s out next, and in front of Mr. McMahon (who can be seen chuckling to himself), he completely destroys Bischoff with words alone. Acting as the voice of everyone who ever cared about the land of extreme, he tells Bischoff what they have always wanted to say to him for years. “I guarantee you, that you’re going to start a fire that you cannot put out”
Disclaimer: This review is intended for a maturer audience of the extreme persuasion. Explicit language and adult themes will apply.
There are several ways you can watch ECW One Night Stand 2005, but if you want a quick fix, there is a video on Facebook at the following link. This is not my video however, nor do I have any contact with the owner, so if it disappears you would have to find an alternative way of viewing: Watch ONS 2005
Before we begin, I can say that it was Rob Van Dam who pitched the idea for the show to Vince McMahon. Work began in March and was originally led by Tommy Dreamer, who was soon joined by Paul Heyman to assist with preparations.
ECW One Night Stand 2005 Review – To The Extreme!
The 2,500 fans in attendance (including a young Kevin Owens) begin the night in the Hammerstein Ballroom with an “EC-DUB” chant. Stephen DeAngelis introduces ECW play-by-play commentator Joey Styles to the ring, and boy does he look happy. Well… til he gets in the ring, then he looks like he’s about to cry like a baby. “JOEY” chant. He responds with an “OH MY GOD!”, and welcomes everyone to ECW One Night Stand. Joey introduces a good friend who will join him at the table, the “Hardcore Legend” Mick Foley. And…we cut to the intro package with the musics “This Is Extreme!” and Drowning Pool’s “Bodies”.
Wasting no time, we get straight to the action with Lance Storm being accompanied by the lovely Dawn Marie. They look at old footage of when he was a tag team champion with Justin Credible, called the Impact Players. This was also Lance Storm’s last-ever WWE match. “Lionheart” Chris Jericho is out next, an old friend of Storm’s when they broke in to the business together. Jericho’s first title in America was in fact the ECW TV Championship. I will not detail every match move for move, but I will highlight the biggest moments.
#1: Lance Storm (w/ Dawn Marie) vs. Chris Jericho
This is technically sound from the offset, and the first pop comes after some solid wrestling. “She’s a crack whore” directed at a three-month pregnant Dawn Marie. Joey Styles points out that the only reason they are using mats on the floor is because the ” bunch of sissies” in New York demanded they use them. It’s these kinds of comments which made me think in the back of mind… wow, this is not a typical WWE show.
Regardless, Joey Styles sincerely thanks WWE for making this event happen. A delayed vertical suplex on Jericho is appreciated. Foley asks Joey if he wants to thank anyone else, but he’s thanked out for the time being. Jericho whips Storm to the corner, who jumps on to the turnbuckle instead. He attempts to leap back on to Jericho, but is crucially nailed from behind with a dropkick! A “Holy Shit” for that?? Wow. We get a “Chris Candido” chant, which is very respectful of the fans. Storm teases a spike piledriver, but it’s reversed in to a back body drop. He gets up and hits a super kick! And soon after, a single leg crab! Jericho fights back and goes for a lionsault… Storm gets his knees up, but Jericho grabs them and turns him over for the Walls Of Jericho!
Dawn Marie gets on the apron to distract the ref while Jason Knight & Justin Credible interfere. After it looks like Jericho has done enough, Justin Credible grabs a kendo stick and completely obliterates his head with it! Lance Storm wins his last WWE match against his old friend, thanks to some other friends. Joey Styles thinks that was a sucky way to win your last match. At least they made an impact? The fans show their respect to “Lionheart”. Winner: Lance Storm
RIP ECW Legends
There’s a private booth reserved for the Raw & SmackDown invaders, but they have yet to arrive. Moving on from that, Pitbull #1 Gary Wolfe is on hand to reflect on all the ECW brothers who couldn’t be here tonight. He knows they are watching from the best seats in the house. Below are images of everyone who they paid tribute to on the show. ECW Remembers:
#2: [International Three Way Dance] Yoshihiro Tajiri (w/ Mikey Whipwreck & Sinister Minister) vs. Little Guido (w/ FBI members Big Guido, Tracy Smothers, J.T Smith & Tony Mamaluke) vs. Super Crazy
Joey Styles points out the difference between an ECW Three Way Dance and a WWE Triple Threat, is that the match becomes a singles after the first wrestler is pinned. Styles says if you think this isn’t going to break down in to gang warfare, then you must be kidding yourself. The action is so frenetic that Foley lets Styles call the action as he’s the only one who can keep up. I can honestly say I had never seen Super Crazy before this match and quickly became a fan. Tony Mamaluke is the first to interfere by tripping up Crazy. Doesn’t take long for it to go in to the crowd. Super Crazy climbs a balcony and hits a sick moonsault, taking out all the FBI! Dios Mio!
Back in the ring, Super Crazy taunts before being attacked by Tajiri, and is subsequently locked in to the Tarantula. Two minutes later, the FBI return and take over proceedings. Crazy gets his nuts rearranged on a turnbuckle, then Big Guido sets Tajiri up for a Doomsday Device? But Tajiri spits the green mist at Little Guido! Sinister Minister gets in the ring for the weakest looking low blow I have ever seen. Mikey Whipwreck’s in and nails Lil’ Guido with the Whippersnapper (stunner from the top turnbuckle). Tajiri pins Guido, making this a singles match between himself and Crazy.
#2: Tajiri (w/ Mikey Whipwreck & Sinister Minister) vs. Super Crazy
Tajiri points at him as they have a brief standoff. Beautiful springboard moonsault by Super Crazy. He plants Tajiri, then hits a bottom rope spring moonsault. Then a second rope moonsault. Aww! Whipwreck stops him doing the top rope moonsault.
They missed a spot somewhere as the fans chant “You Fucked Up!”. Crazy plants him again and gets the top rope moonsault this time! 1-2-3, and Super Crazy wins this one. The fans loved him here, I think this was by far his biggest victory in WWE. This is a standard mid-card match for ECW, while other shows would be happy having it as a main event. Winner: Super Crazy
ECW Memories
We get a video package showing the formation of ECW, when Shane Douglas rechristened Eastern Championship Wrestling as Extreme. New stars like Taz, Public Enemy, The Sandman, Sabu, and Tommy Dreamer being born. The chair incident during a Terry Funk vs. Cactus Jack match. Public Enemy inviting the fans in to the ring to dance and jump around on it til it breaks. It’s things like this which helps us to transition smoothly between matches, while showing new fans what ECW is all about.
#3: Psicosis vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.
This rivalry helped to put these two guys and lucha libre on the radar of companies like WCW. Psicosis unmasked just before Rey Mysterio was scheduled to enter. Didn’t seem to faze the fans though, as they chanted “Lucha Libre!”. Some fans chanted “Put Your Mask On!”, although Joey Styles claims Psicosis did this as a sign of love to the fans. There’s some gorgeous lucha libre sequences here… I miss this in American Wrestling.
Ok, a few minutes in and the “Put Your Mask On!” chant is much louder. Why can’t they appreciate good wrestling? Is it because they don’t like his face, or what? A sleeper hold by Psicosis gets jeered. It seems he’s doing everything not to put on a lightning quick lucha libre-style match, and would rather fish for heat. He puts Mysterio on the guardrail on the outside, climbs the turnbuckle and lands hard on him with a Psycho Guillotine flying leg drop. Back in the ring, he pushes Rey in to the corner, backs up, runs at him, and misses a dropkick… landing hard on the mat.
Mysterio fights back as Styles points out Psicosis might be taking too many chances. Foley says that while they have wrestled each other over a hundred times, it’s been at least five years since they had a contest. Psicosis is sent flying to the outside and rather conveniently lands on two female fans. Mysterio ascends the turnbuckle and flies through the air, landing on Psicosis! Rey pushes his opponent back in the ring and sets him for the 619! Followed by the West Coast Pop! Not a poor match, but I think we were expecting more. Winner: Rey Mysterio
Invaders Cometh
The SmackDown crusaders are here, led by Kurt Angle and JBL. Orlando Jordan, The Bashams, Carlito and Matt Morgan are with them. Fans direct chants of “You Suck Dick!” and “Fuck You SmackDown!” their way. Styles says to cut to something else, so we get more ECW memories. There’s too many to list though.
Back from break… “Well, Well, Well”, it’s the “Quintessential Stud Muffin” Joel Gertner. He tries talking to the SmackDown invaders, but Angle snatches the microphone. JBL pushes him over and kicks him hard in the backside! Is it time to rile things up? I think so. Kurt Angle calls ECW the lowest form of scum walking God’s green Earth. The fans chant “You Suck Dick!” again, and Angle tells them their Mother told him how. Angle says he walked out on an ECW event once because it wasn’t wrestling, it was humiliation. He promises that every ECW wrestler who steps in the ring tonight are getting their asses kicked.
JBL has the mic now and gets called an “Asshole” before he can say anything. He says that you put his name on the marquee of Madison Square Garden, it sells out. But ECW can barely sell out a bingo hall. When the little ECW fans sit on the internet flicking between the porn sites at their mummy’s house, emailing buddies saying they’re hardcore; we love ECW. The fans loudly tell him to “Shut The Fuck Up!”. Any of the fans could be ECW, even the fat one in the blue shirt. All you gotta’ do is get in the ring and mutilate your body. JBL is above that, because he is a wrestling god! That’s some solid heel work, but he rambles on til the familiar music of Rob Van Dam hits…
Whole F’N Show
Rob Van Dam is here in a knee brace with manager Bill Alfonso. JBL tries yelling at RVD but his mic cuts out. There’s a ton of love for RVD. He tells the invaders it sucks enough that they are in this building sucking up credit for something they had nothing to do with. Tonight will be one of the biggest PPVs all year (he isn’t kidding), because these people are sick and tired of having guys like JBL’s likeness being shoved down their throats every time they want to watch wrestling.
The office might be blind to it, but the invaders get zero credit for the show’s success. He doesn’t have any creative geniuses writing his script tonight folks, so he’s shooting’ from the heart. He’s going to take us back to a time when RVD’s vocabulary was more than just “whatever”, and “cool”. Remember when RVD had a voice? Talk about the pressure, no sweat. He was going to come out and use his abilities to ensure everyone went home happy. So long as he got to play his part, that’s all that matters. Do you know why? Because he’s the Whole. Fucking. Show!
Remember what RVD 420 means? Both RVD & Alfonso say, “I just smoked your ass!”. How long did he defend the TV title? Alfonso says “one year, eleven months, eighteen days, two hours and forty-two seconds daddy!” That was the best time of his career, and that is the way you showcase RVD. He tells us how he went to Vince and said “have you ever thought about doing an ECW PPV?” It would be huge, you gotta’ do it. Don’t worry about us getting hurt… we don’t even need a storyline.
Let us show you what we’re all about. And yeah! He liked it, and the dream became reality. Then he had to get this knee surgery. He’s not going to be cleared to work this PPV, and that sucks more than anything. Way worse than missing anything else. Worse than missing WrestleMania. RVD is ECW. Rhino appears in the ring and hits Rob with a Gore! He attacks his knee and takes off his brace. The lights go out! They come back on and it’s Sabu! We have an impromptu matchup.
#4: Rhino vs. Sabu
Rhino looks amazing, and Sabu’s not too shabby either. As predicted, it doesn’t take long for Sabu to use the first steel chair of the night. Joey reminds us there are no rules in ECW. While Rhino tries recovering on the outside, Sabu gets airborne and springboards on to him. As the action continues, Foley sells the genuine spirit of ECW. Styles talks about Sabu and how he personifies self sacrifice. How do you beat a man who isn’t afraid of anything? Foley agrees. He calls himself a hardcore legend, but has realized that he isn’t in Sabu’s league when it comes to working through the injuries he’s suffered.
Rhino goes to the top for some reason, and Sabu cuts him off. Frankensteiner! Wonderful. Alfonso throws Sabu a chair and he sets it up in the middle of the ring. As Rhino gets up in the corner, Sabu runs, jumps, and crashes in to him! Rhino falls throat first on to the back of the chair. Leg drop gets a near fall. Sabu goes for another springboard, but Rhino grabs his leg and sends Sabu face first in to the chair! That’s gotta’ hurt.
Rhino hits some powers and regains the advantage. He goes for The Gore, but Sabu pulls the referee in front of him and eats it instead. Rhino hits a piledriver. RVD’s in the ring with one good knee and throws a chair at Rhino’s head. He’s got no business being in there, but feels like he has to give the fans something. Hobbling around, he dropkicks a chair in to Rhino! Alfonso gets a table. RVD sets Rhino up and holds him down while Sabu flies, crashing through and destroying Rhino with a chair! This one is over. Winner: Sabu
Got Head?!
Crazy stuff at a frantic pace. What’s next? It’s Al Snow, and he’s got head. He calls her a liar. Apparently she called the invaders and invited them here? It’s supposed to be a show for the guys and ECW fans, not a bunch of SmackDown assholes! Snow tells her to shush… they’ll talk about it later. For now, he wants to relive some more ECW memories.
After another video package, we’re back in the ballroom watching Eric Bischoff arriving with his Raw invaders: Edge, Christian, William Regal, Gene Snitsky, Tyson Tomko, Rob Conway, Sylvain Grenier, Maven & Jonathan Coachman. The next match is between two close friends who are no longer with us.
Guerrero & Benoit Heat?
Chris Benoit walks to the ring and stares a hole through the invaders while shaking his head. Eddie Guerrero is here and this encounter, on paper, should be the match of the night. He’s a full-blown heel, but is looking more pissed than usual. There’s something seriously off about this one, and I’ll probably spend more time on it than the rest. Apparently, for reasons unknown, Eddie sabotaged it by sandbagging his performance. Some reasons cited by fans was because Eddie had just turned heel and didn’t want to lose clean on PPV. He thought he’d lose too much momentum after being WWE Champion only a year ago.
Apparently during the match, he got angry with fans for chanting at the invaders and ignoring what they were doing in the ring. Eddie was usually professional with booking decisions, but either this really stuck in his craw, or there was something more personal going on. We also have to remember this happened only five months before he unexpectedly passed away, so perhaps he was dealing with health issues and didn’t want to work this one? The tension could be because Benoit wanted to work a worthy match, but knew Eddie wasn’t playing ball? Benoit was always about putting on the best match.
#5: Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero
They tie up and Benoit backs him in to the corner. Eddie shifts his body out of the ring and Chris pushes his shoulder in a disapproving manner. There’s a lot of talking, but it’s hard to make out what they’re saying. Eddie might be playing up his heel persona too hard at this point. The fans are yelling obscenities at the invaders while the match finally gets going. “Lita’s got herpes?” apparently.
There’s literally only one point in the match where Guerrero could have bloodied his nose. When Eddie’s hooked up behind Benoit… Chris drops to the mat and accidentally catches Eddie’s face on to his shoulder. This seems right, because shortly after… Eddie purposely backs out of their exchange and walks to the corner. Eddie looks exhausted, although they have done little. He gets out of the ring and takes a breather, while Chris looks confused, but with a deal of concern. The camera tries to get a shot of his face, but he looks away. Benoit holds the rope open for Eddie while he talks to the ref.
Fans haven’t noticed this break, as they direct a “You Screwed Matt” chant at Edge. I think the timing of this match was bad, considering the Raw invaders had just arrived, and the fans hadn’t given them the same treatment as the SmackDown guys. Eddie finally fires up and pops off some quick, powerful strikes. We do eventually get to see his nose, but there’s no other way it could have happened. Tired? Concussed? Frustrated? Commentary point out his mental well-being, and the fact it could get worse when he figures out his nose is bleeding.
Fans finally take notice of the match with a “Let’s Go Eddie, Let’s Go Benoit!” chant. Benoit drops Eddie down with a back drop really, really hard, and the blood trickles in to Eddie’s eye. I can see why he’d be pissed off, I would be too. Some of this offense is stiff, almost like they are in a proper fight. “Fuck You Bischoff!” chant. They end up at ringside and Eddie hits Benoit with a chair. They are doing everything to keep the fans attention, and after getting back in the ring, a mean superplex does that. Ok, so it looks like they have finally got flowing and the fans aren’t dicking around anymore.
Benoit takes over from here, and the Crippler Crossface ends it a couple minutes later. You can see that Eddie isn’t selling this at all. Usually when someone is in a Crossface they would squirm and try to break free, but Eddie lies there motionless before tapping out. After Eddie recovers, the stare down between them is borderline chilling. Eddie has a look of disdain, while Chris is more like… what the fuck man? Disbelief. Eddie mouths “I owe you”? Now that I’ve seen this match again, something tells me that Eddie wasn’t happy going in, and when he got his nose busted open, he took a rest and slowed the pace down to not only recover, but to get the fans invested.
When it seemed like they weren’t clicking and hadn’t succeeded, they got their planned spots done and went home. We may never know the true extent of what happened here, but what is apparent is that the match was poorly placed and it didn’t live up to expectation. But it wasn’t terrible, they worked an acceptable match despite the issues and no one seemed to notice. It’s an enigma, and I’d appreciate it if others dissect this move by move to see if they come to the same conclusions I did. This should have been an instant classic. Winner: Chris Benoit
Joel Gertner’s back, and he has a question for Mr. Bischoff. On behalf of ECW, he asks him… if he can please have a job?? What the hell Joel?! He does his best to sell himself as a model employee, but Bischoff wants the mic and demands he holds his beer.
Hell no, he won’t hire Gertner! He’s just a piece of garbage like everyone else he sees. Bischoff doesn’t want to see any of these ECW fans at Raw because they don’t have the class.
#6: Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka
Please read the article in the link below, for the full breakdown of the rivalry between these two. Includes a detailed rundown of their last match at ECW One Night Stand 2005.
Also Read: Wrestling Feuds: The Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka Rivalry
Afterwards, Joey Styles says if this show is much like a One Night Stand… where the lights go out, they sneak out the back and leave cab fair with a fake number; he thanks all the fans for buying the Rise & Fall of ECW DVD. Without that their support, this show wouldn’t have happened.
“I Have Something To Say To You!”
ECW announcer Bob Artese enters, and then Paul Heyman does as well! This is probably my joint first moment of the PPV. He’s already getting emotional. He gets on his knees and bows graciously to the fans. “Thank you Paul!” chant. Paul wants us to know he’s not crying, his eyes are red because he was backstage smoking a joint with RVD. Damn! Never going to hear a comment like that again on WWE TV.
He thanks former ECW owner Tod Gordon, Ron Buffone and Charlie Bruzzese for helping him to run the show. Heyman thanks the “crazy bastards” in the front row. He was thinking about taking the high road… but “I Have Something To Say To You!” directed at the invaders. He tells Bischoff it’s not Paul Heyman with his tail between his legs coming to a WCW PPV, they are in ECW’s house bitch! Hide your wives… it’s Edge. He’s got two words for this guy; “MATT FREAKING HARDY!”. Edge can’t believe what he just said… surely that was three words, right? And now it’s time to shoot with the cowboy, seeing as he loves talking about checks bouncing and all that.
Directed at JBL he tells him “The only reason you were WWE Champion for a year… is because Triple H didn’t want to work Tuesdays!” – One of my favourite moments of any PPV coming up right now… Heyman says let’s do it one more time for old times sake, right at the camera where the world can see it. “This ain’t WCW, this ain’t Monday Night Raw, this ain’t SmackDown, this ain’t even WWE, this my friends… is E–C–FUCKING–W!”. One of my all-time favourite promos. Heyman’s passion is undeniable in this moment.
The Sandman Enters
This would always be a brutal main event, but no one predicted that The Sandman would have one of the greatest entrances in the history of wrestling. Sadly, the link I provided is from footage which has cut Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” and the fans singing along to it. Luckily for us, I have found an unedited version of it! Bask in the glory of what is The Sandman entering to a sold out Hammerstein Ballroom singing in unison. The Sandman is already busted open before they even begin. He also calls the invaders a bunch of tossers.
“Say your prayers little one
Don’t forget, my son
To include everyone
Tuck you in, warm within
Keep you free from sin
‘Till the sandman he comes
Sleep with one eye open
Gripping your pillow tightExit, light
Enter, night
Take my hand
We’re off to never-never landSomethings wrong, shut the light
Heavy thoughts tonight
And they aren’t of Snow White
Dreams of war, dreams of liars
Dreams of dragon’s fire
And of things that will bite
Sleep with one eye open
Gripping your pillow tight”
“We’re Taking Over!”
Before this match gets started, the four fist bump each other as a mark of respect. Wait, what’s that music?? It’s the Blue World Order! Joey Styles jokes that WCW couldn’t sue them because the gimmick is a parody.
Big Stevie Cool (Steven Richards) tells us he’s heard a lot of people talk about invading, about crusading, but you cannot have a real, true hardcore invasion without the BWO! With that being said, they have three simple words for ya… “We’re taking over!”, and then he kicks Sandman in the face. The Dudleys jump on this and it prompts Kid Kash to enter; who according to Styles is “Mr. TNA, Total Nonstop Attitude” (he was fired from TNA earlier that year for criticizing the company). Axl Rotten & Balls Mahoney, the Chair Swinging Franks (both RIP) are out next to smash the BWO with chairs. Styles: “That’s more painful than having to be Simon Dean on TV”.
Kid Kash hits a SICK springboard somersault dive! That was $$$$. Foley chants “ECW!”; he’s seriously in to all of this carnage. And finally, we get a bell ring, signifying the main event has begun. Oh, did you know this was the last Dudley Boyz match in WWE for over a decade? And WWE ensured they weren’t allowed to use the “Dudley” name, so they became Team 3D in NWA:TNA and Japan til their return in 2015.
#7: Tommy Dreamer & The Sandman vs. The Dudley Boyz
There’s so much going on here that I feel the need to bullet point key events. Don’t judge me! It’s an ECW main event.
- A steel chair and a cheese grater across the forehead busts Tommy Dreamer open something wicked, like something out of a horror movie.
- Sandman introduces a ladder, and Dreamer takes it for an aeroplane spin, taking down everything that moves.
- The Sandman places the ladder on top of D-Von and crashes down on him with a senton bomb.
- Bubba Ray wrapping a chair around Sandman’s head gets a “Holy Shit!” chant.
- D-Von misses Sandman and cracks his brother in the face with a kendo stick
- Dreamer & Sandman lock in Figure Four Leg Locks, and the Impact Players Lance Storm & Justin Credible break it up.
- Justin Credible drops Sandman on to a barbed wire sphere with a tombstone piledriver.
- Francine low blows Dreamer in the nuts. It’s Beulah McGillicutty! CAT FIGHT!!!
- Tommy & Beulah fight off the Impact Players. They hug it out in the middle of the ring, then counter the Dudley Boyz with a double DDT. “She’s Hardcore!”
- Bubba gets pissed and stiff shots Dreamer in the back of the head with a kendo stick, and Sandman too, before throwing it up in the air and saying “Fuck This”. He gets his own table.
- Sandman goes through a table but they only get 2! What do the Dudleys have to do?!
- 3D on Dreamer! Bubba gets another table. He motions to someone to join them… it’s little Spike Dudley (in his last WWE PPV) and he’s got lighter fluid! Styles thinks they’re gonna’ be put in jail for this.
- They light the table and powerbomb Tommy through the flaming table!! OH MY GOD!!! 1-2-3, and this one is over! Winners: The Dudley Boyz
- Sandman saves Beulah from the Dudleys with a kendo stick. He yells for beer… has anyone got a beer?!
Stone Cold Steve Austin Is Here!
JBL’s face is priceless. Austin tells Sandman he doesn’t need one beer, he needs a whole case of beer. Tommy Dreamer is gone and likely getting medical attention, as Austin asks for everyone from the back to join them for a beer bash. The Dudleys remain. This includes: Mikey Whipwreck, Super Crazy, Tajiri, BWO, Al Snow, Tony Mamaluke, Tracy Smothers, Roadkill, Danny Doring, Axl Rotten, Balls Mahoney, Rhino, Masato Tanaka, CW Anderson, Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio, Pitbull #1, Johnny Swinger.
ECW wrestlers we know were at the show (except Dreamer), who did not join the party include: Mike Awesome, Eddie Guerrero, Lance Storm, Justin Credible, Sabu, Rob Van Dam, Psicosis*, Little Guido, Big Guido, JT Smith and Chris Jericho.
*Joey Styles says he is out there but I cannot see him. Maybe he was scheduled to be there but chose not to?
Austin congratulates the ECW locker room on an epic night of brutality and violence. But all he’s been hearing is little Eric Bischoff, JBL with his little yellow tie, little sorry sum’bitch Kurt Angle, running their damn mouths saying they’re gonna’ whip somebody’s ass. So since they’ve been talkin’ so much trash, why don’t they get single file and march down to the ring?
They are reluctant, so Austin sits at ringside and drinks a beer. When they don’t move, he gives them til the count of 10, or he’s gonna’ come up there and slap the piss out of every single one of ’em. Upon counting, they soon start shuffling their asses to the ring. You can tell Austin is having a fun time here, he’s grinning like a Cheshire cat. There’s two guys I’m not accounting for on the ECW side, but it looks roughly like twenty-five ECW guys versus sixteen Raw/SmackDown superstars. The fans chant “We Want Taz!”, which is exactly what we get. Taz makes his way to the ring and the battle commences once he hits the ring. Meanwhile, Eric Bischoff has joined the commentary table.
The Blue Meanie vs. JBL
This has been well-documented in interviews and they have since made up, but a shoot fight happened in the melee between the ECW Originals and the WWE Crusaders. JBL isn’t interested in Meanie at first, but something irks him during Taz’s entrance to the point he locks on a stare as Meanie points fingers. He’s staying behind Al Snow as Grenier gets involved too. JBL appears to lose interest for a moment, to look at Taz before the brawl kicks in to motion.
Immediately, JBL can be seen heading in Meanie’s direction but is held back by Al Snow. Meanie goes his own way and attacks someone else. JBL comes up behind Meanie and punches him stiffly in the back of the head. Meanie says in an interview he’d just had stitches put in two days ago at another show, so JBL busted it back open. He’s going full force on Meanie’s face and no one breaks it up; although Coachman seems to be between them for a moment. Bradshaw tries lifting his shirt over his head, so Meanie counters with a head lock. The camera pans away to watch Taz locking in the Tazmission on Angle and when we come back, Meanie isn’t in the ring anymore and JBL moves on to someone else.
After we look at Sandman, Nova, Tajiri etc, we can see Meanie reappear in the top right of our screen in a bloody mess. He’s not interested in fighting at this point as he’s in pain. Meanie clings to the turnbuckle and remains there til he can talk to Al Snow.
JBL’s still in the ring (Sandman is holding him), so it looks like Snow tells the guys to get him out. After Bubba Ray does, you can see Al Snow consoling Meanie in the corner. You can see others talking to him while Austin asks Mick Foley to grab Eric Bischoff and bring his sorry ass to the ring.
If Time Could Stand Still
All things considered, it’s still the perfect ending to a PPV. Eric Bischoff eats a 3D, a flying headbutt from Chris Benoit (I will not repeat what Austin says here), and a 619 from Rey Mysterio. After a post-match interview, Austin delivers a Stone Cold Stunner and The Dudleys take out the trash. Not without controversy,
ECW One Night Stand 2005 proved to be the best of them all. This should have been the swansong for the ECW brand, as it encapsulated the spirit of extreme and nothing has ever come close to the experience. We all know WWE tried bringing back ECW as a third brand, but it failed so miserably it’s best we forget it ever happened. This should have been the last show befitting of the name One Night Stand. It didn’t need 5-star matches. Sure, it was missing key players like Terry Funk, Shane Douglas, Raven and a few others, but we can’t have everything. In the end, Joey Styles wished time could stand still so this moment could last forever.
Honestly, I have not seen a PPV structured this well since. The only way it could have been better is if Benoit & Guerrero delivered. When that’s the only negative we can take away? It’s a big fat thumbs up from me. This is EC-FUCKING-W! And I thank you for reading this extremely lengthy review of one of my all-time favourite shows.
Did You Know?!
– According to Torch, Dawn Marie called Francine a bitch after the latter refused to acknowledge her greeting in the locker room. Johnny Ace and Vince McMahon were told and they had to conduct a meeting on the topic of professionalism.
Francine had this to say: “Dawn came over to me and said Hi. I extended my hand to her and we shook hands. I then said How are you? She said, I see you are as pleasant as ever, rolled her eyes and walked away. I just ignored her comments…I didn’t disrespect her in any way and I did shake her hand. We are not the best of friends but I shook her hand because it was the right thing to do”
– While Terry Funk did appear at Shane Douglas’ Hardcore Homecoming two days earlier, he decided not to appear at One Night Stand because he felt it would not hold true to what ECW is about. He also didn’t want Vince McMahon making anything from the ECW name. Funk later regretted this and worked a match at 2006’s One Night Stand.
– New Jack was asked to be there, but due to legal issues which led to a warrant for his arrest in New York, he let WWE know he wouldn’t be able to make it. He was willing to work future shows but nothing came of it.
– When Paul Heyman directs the comment “hide your wives” at Edge, he’s referencing him & Lita having an affair in real-life. Edge, having been married for little over a year, engaged in a relationship with Lita; who was still Matt Hardy’s girlfriend since 1999.
At the time of One Night stand, Matt was sidelined with a severe knee injury and not with WWE. They had fired him in April following a severe outburst on social media when he found out Lita & Edge were cheating on him and Edge’s wife. This became public knowledge and the fans were chanting “You Screwed Matt!” weeks before One Night Stand. They never mentioned it on-screen til Paul Heyman cut his promo.
– Tracy Smothers stated in the video below, that he joined in with the shoot on JBL after he saw what went down with Blue Meanie.
– Raven was asked to work One Night Stand. He wanted to go, but TNA turned around at the last minute and said he couldn’t do it. Raven says he doesn’t know what the plans were, but it’s likely he would have screwed Tommy Dreamer in some fashion.
– WWE hooked up JBL with a microphone so they could use his commentary as an extra on the DVD. And of course, the hatred for ECW oozes from his mouth like horses excrete manure. You can listen to some of the classic lines in the video below. Warning: It may contain fat jokes, sexism, racism, and a holier-than-thou attitude from a wrestling god.
