The Year That Was 1996 - Part 3

Sabu vs. Stevie Richards (ECW 1/5/96)
The critiques of Sabu and his pension for botchiness is well known in wrestling circles. He has several full episodes of Bothchamania, entiled Sabuamania, dedicated to his mistakes in the squared circle. I am used to thinking its just Sabu, no big deal. What I see here is a younger more spry Sabu that is very impressive. This is not to say that he doesn't screw up, but it is not as noticeable as it would become later in his career. His trademark top rope springboard moves to the outside after coming off of a chair are performed so fluid it is amazing. I can see why fans were gaga over him in the early-mid 90s. Neither wrestlers are scientific masterminds, but what they pull off is an intense brawl that tells a solid story. ECW was a macho wrestling company with action tailored towards men. The story's are rarely of the scientific variety, which was smart since they wanted to be different from WWF and WCW, and they did not have the talent to pull off scientific matches night in and night out. This is a coming out party of sorts for Stevie Richards. He is able to take all of Sabu's best shots, and through a loss he elevates himself in the eyes of the fans as a wrestler that is tougher than his persona would indicate and if he faced Sabu again might be able to steal a victory. Stevie took a sunset flip to the floor which was brutal since ECW did not have any padding on the floors at this time. The highspots I remember the most is the Big Stevie Kick that takes Sabu's head off. This kick looked as if it could have hurt Sabu, it was that good. The Arabian Facebuster is vintage Sabu and enough to finally put Richards away.

Public Enemy vs. The Gangstas (Public Enemy Farewell) (ECW 1/5/96)
There isn't much to analyze here, it is four guys beating the tar out of each other. I only counted two wrestling moves, a spinning toe hold and figure four leglock, in the entire match. They find any and everything to hit each other with including pies and cheese graters. While it is packed with a lot of action, it starts to wear a bit thin by the end. Flyboy hits a Drive By through a table for the win. Kind of surprised with Paul E's penchant for good booking he didn't do something more epic for TPE's last match. The match is followed by a quick retrospective of the Public Enemy's ECW career.

The Year That Was 96 - Part 2

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Kazuo Yamazaki (NJ 1/4/96)
I love matches like this where it is just two big bulls going at it. Yamazaki focused on Hashimoto's arm, Hashimoto fought it off with kicks and got the brainbuster for the win. This was a very simple match and a test of wills. It might be everyone's cup of tea due to the slower pace, however I loved this.

 
Vader vs. Antonio Inoki (NJ 1/4/96)
You would be hard pressed to find a wrestler in Japan, short of Giant Baba, more legendary than Antonio Inoki. This is the fifth stop in Inoki's Final Countdown Retirement Tour ending his 35 year career. The story through the match is Inoki dealing with the size and ferocity of Vader. Ionki's strategy for doing this is by wrapping up Vader and chocking certainly doesn't hurt either, Inoki has the most awesome death sell of a suplex. He literally did not move for a minute. They went outside where Vader was walloped with a chair that caused him to bleed. Vader, understandably, let Inoki have everything including a powerbomb, Vader Bomb, and a moonsault. Inoki kicked out of everything and body slammed Vader and put him in a cross arm breaker for the win. The building was so hot for Inoki you can tell even watching 16 years later how much the people loved him. This match is so awesome and is my first real MOTY candidate.

 
Keiji Muto vs Nobuhiko Takada - IWGP World Heaveyweight Title(JIP) (NJ 1/4/96)
This was a huge match in the NJPW vs UWFi feud, which may be the most money making feud in history. Takada is one of the forefathers of the MMA boom in Japan. What is shown here is beautiful, I love exchanges of holds and grappling. There was one point where Muto had Takada in a figure four and Takada had a funky heel hookish hold on Muto. That hold looked painful like it could rip both your ankle and knee apart with its twisting motion. The fan were solidly behind Muto and the heat was incredible. Muto gets his big moves in (power drive elbow, moonsault) but the grappling of Takada eventually gets Muto in a position he is incapable of getting out of and he submits to the cross armbreaker. Takada wins the IWGP World Title. After the match Hashimoto gets in Takada's face and we have our next big feud set. I need to track down the full version of this match, as I mentioned before this looks right up my alley. I bet the full Dome show is good too.

Raven + Beulah + Tommy Dreamer Angle (ECW 1/5/96)
This might be the most famous angle in ECW history. Stevie had been making out with Missy Hyatt the previous week and tries to kiss Beulah (Raven's girlfriend) and she vehemently rejects him. She reveals she is pregnant which draws out Raven who is pissed and blames Beulah, she then reveals it isn't his. This enrages Raven and he attacks Richards who would have the closest access to Beulah besides Raven. She tells Raven to stop it isn't Richards.....It's Tommy's! Tommy responds as the noble hero protecting his lady. We get the famous "Tommy use my sign" sign spot which contains a stop sign underneath and used on Raven, as is a pie. Everything is built so well, progresses logically and takes one step at a time. It is such a fun moment and a lights a new fire under the already hot Raven/Dreamer feud, I should note that I love this time period. I was in sixth grade and had the world by the balls. I had a flannel shirt I wore virtually everyday for a year or two. I really enjoy watching 96 ECW since it captures everything I was about at the time.