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Hello everyone, and welcome to review of Extreme Evolution….the first DVD released by ECW! Once again, everyone’s favorite crazy man, El Loco Hombre reviewing this, and I promise that this review will be more serious then the Deep Impact one I did…..if I feel like it…so enough talking, here’s the review…
-match
#1
Rob
Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn
Usually, the first match in a wrestling program is not usually the best, but is a sign of things to come, so I find it odd that the first match, and in my opinion, the best match on the DVD is the classic match Hardcore Heaven 99 showdown between RVD and Jerry Lynn. When I originally saw this match, I was blown away. That match made me a Jerry Lynn fan, and he took RVD to the limit. The match is full of many good high spots and there is very good pacing to the match. I’m still wondering if Jerry Lynn really hit his head on the ground when RVD kicked him off the apron or if he was acting, because he really took a nasty spill. Also, there were some good reversal showdowns, and all this combined into a classic match. Definitely worth getting the DVD just because of this match.
4 and a ½ stars
-match
#2
Mike
Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka
Ahhh…..we come to another classic confrontation between Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka. Mike Awesome is a pretty good wrestler, but I’m not a fan of him, but I love Masato Tanaka. He is the freakin man! So I’m glad that one of his matches got put on the DVD, and this is a very good choice. Lots of Awesome bombs through tables, and diamond dusts and roaring elbows…just what I wanted to see. Although the match is a little slow at first, he really starts to pick midway, and is a great match to watch. However, this isn’t there best match against each other that I’ve seen, but good nevertheless.
4 stars
-match
#3
The
Sandman vs. Raven (barb wire match)
Now this match….let me try to explain this. If you like technical wrestling, or as a matter of fact, actual wrestling in matches, stay away from this match like a candy bar that was dipped in shit. Now, if you’re a hardcore kind of guy, and love blood and high spots that mess up the guys good, watch this match and love it. I’m in between when it comes to that so I somewhat enjoyed this match. Raven and Sandman all get busted open really bad, especially Sandman. He was a bloody mess! Anyways, this match is pretty much standard fair concerning ECW barb wire matches. They wrestle a little, then start throwing each other into barb wire, then start cutting barb wire, then wrap it around each other into a big finish where both men are covered in barb wire and then one guy jumps onto another guy through a table for the win. Got all that? I hope so, cause even I don’t get it! Anyways, that was the whole match pretty much. However, I thought the Terry Funk/Sabu barb wire match was much better, but that’s just me. Not the best barb wire match I’ve seen.
2 and a ½ stars
-match
#4
The
Dudley Boys vs. Balls Mahoney & Spike Dudley
This match was far too long. Far….far….FAR too long! Now, don’t get me wrong, I like all of these guys, but this match sucked. After about 5 minutes whipping each other into walls and then fighting in the crowd, I was bored too tears. It was like a more slightly more violent WWF hardcore match, and we all know how bad those matches suck (Oh my god…A COOKIE SHEET!!). The only good part was when Spike went through the double flaming tables, but not even that could save this bore fest. Hardcore wrestling alone can’t carry a 30 minute match. You need to mix in wrestling and hardcore just enough to not bore audiences, and that formula was thrown out the window in this match….along with myself to end the pain.
1 star
-match
#5
The
Eliminators vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams
I like The Eliminators….them and Sabu & RVD are too close to call for my favorite tag team in ECW history, but I with they got some better opponents for this match. This match was…decent I guess, but I didn’t feel that The Eliminators got to show off those awesome karate skills they have against Williams and Gordy (I have respect for Gordy and Williams….well maybe into Williams, but they sucked in this match). The only redeeming part of this match was Saturn’s elbow drop. Saturn is the freakin MAN for jumping from that scaffold…what…maybe 15-16 feet in the air. I think Saturn knew as well that the match sucked and needed something to redeem it. I have the utmost respect for Saturn because he sacrificed his body when he didn’t have to. I think on impact he broke his arm and ribs…which is insane. Crappy match, but one hell of an elbow drop.
2 stars
-match
#6
Sabu
vs. Taz
This is probably the most well known matchup between these 2 men, but it isn’t there best. Even though it isn’t there best, this is still a very good match. Taz and Sabu are just awesome in the ring, which saddens me because of the role that the WWF has Taz in, as a stupid announcer. Put him in the ring for christ’s sake!!!! Anyways, this match had a couple of blown spots, most noticeably when Sabu was supposed to jump on Taz through a table but couldn’t keep his balance on the ropes. However, this is still a classic match in many people’s opinion. I mean, if you go up to a casual ECW fan, and mention the first PPV, they’ll probably immediately think of this match. Pretty good, and with a nice ending with the Alfonso turn, but not the best match these 2 men put up against each other.
3 and a ½ stars.
-match
#7
Tommy
Dreamer & Beulah vs. Shane Douglas & Francine
This was a very good match, not necessarily because of the wrestling, but because of the intensity of the ECW Arena. I seriously thought that a riot was about to happen, with a massive beat down of Shane Douglas. This proves to me once again that Douglas was definitely the best heel in ECW History. Man…when the fan hit Douglas with a chair, and Douglas started beating the shit out of him, I was expecting the crowd to start beating down on Douglas. However, Douglas somehow got out of that to continue to fight Dreamer. Anyways, this match is also infamous for Francine’s boob poping out. For those who don’t know (I know everyone knows but I’m going explain it anyways to make this review seem longer), Dreamer was setting up Francine for a piledriver, when her boobs popped out of her dress. Dreamer then proceeded to show all of the crowd, turning to all 4 corners of the ring so that the crowd could see. No one knows if Dreamer didn’t know or if he did and just wanted to show the crowd (well maybe I’m the only one not to know. If anyone knows drop me a line). But this match had some pretty good wrestling, but it gets a high rating from me because of the intensity and ring psychology of the match.
4 stars
Conclusion: In the middle
I know when I reviewed Deep Impact, I said that it was probably the worst DVD that ECW released, but I take that back. In my opinion, this was the worst DVD released by ECW. If you like technical, definitely go with Path of Destruction. But if you like hardcore wrestling, this is the DVD for you. Lots of blood, and some wrestling thrown in to boot!!
Like this review? Hated it? Are you bored and want to e-mail someone? Drop me a line and tell me what you think. So this is everyone’s favorite (or most hated) crazy man signing out.