It has now been a little over ten years since ECW aired its final episode under the WWE banner. After buying its assets in 2003, Vince McMahon pulled the plug on Extreme Championship Wrestling in 2010 and repackaged the brand into what's now known as NXT.
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Although the last memories of ECW were of a development brand more than its own thing, fans never forgot Paul Heyman's visionary product in the '90s. Heyman was working for ECW when it was known as Eastern Championship Wrestling and purchased the company in 1995. Before they first went out of business in 2001, here are the five best matches in ECW's final year and five worst.
10 BEST: Mikey Whipwreck & Yoshihiro Tajiri Vs. Super Crazy & Kid Kash
ECW's second to last pay-per-view, Massacre On 34th Street, took place on December 3, 2000. The co-main event that night was a show stealing tag team match which saw Mikey Whipwreck and Yoshihiro Tajiri defeat Super Crazy and Kid Kash.
Tajiri and Crazy were in a heated rivalry and in this match the two zeroed in on each other. The bout was creative and fast-paced, contained a barrage of high spots and included numerous tables and chairs, resulting in a painful double stomp finisher by Tajiri on Crazy involving the aforementioned weapons.
9 WORST: Jerry Lynn & Cyrus Vs. Christian York & Joey Matthews
This match is interesting to watch in retrospect because little did we know at the time what would become of Joey Matthews; he later found fame in WWE as Joey Mercury. The final ECW pay-per-view, Guilty As Charged, took place on January 7, 2001.
York and Matthews were attacked by Da Baldies to open the show which led to an impromptu tag match against Jerry Lynn and Cyrus that lasted a few minutes. The match was most interference and got heat on Lynn and Cyrus as they easily won. As a wrestling match, it bombed horribly.
8 BEST: Kid Kash Vs. EZ Money
Anarchy Rulz 2000 took place October 1, 2000 from Saint Paul, Minnesota and saw several memorable matches that night. The second match on the card saw Kid Kash take on EZ Money and the shenanigans were bound with numerous valets and managers at ringside.
Although interference was imminent, the two put on an exciting high-flying, technical match-up. Kash executed several Luchador-esque reversals along with a head scissor takedown, springboard front flip and a midair powerbomb reversal into a hurricana for the win to the amazement of the crowd.
7 WORST: Rhino Vs. The Sandman
Rhino versus The Sandman was a one minute contest at Guilty As Charged 2001. This bout was for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship and was the second world title match of the night. Sandman had just won the ECW World title in a three way Tables, Ladders, Chairs and Canes match.
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Rhino came out immediately after, attacked Sandman and threatened his family if he did not get a title shot. One minute later, Rhino had squashed Sandman to win the championship after connecting with a piledriver onto a broken table to the dismay of the crowd.
6 BEST: Jerry Lynn Vs. Steve Corino
Approximately 5,700 fans packed the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles on July 16, 2000 for the Heat Wave pay-per-view. Fans were entertained that night by several matches including Rob Van Dam vs Scotty Anton and a Four Way Dance match.
Third on the card was a fifteen minute war between Jerry Lynn and Steve Corino. The crowd was invested into the match from the start. A Lynn DDT to the concrete busted Corino open. Jerry also paid tribute to RVD by executing a Van Daminator and won the match with the Cradle Piledriver.
5 WORST: Joel Gertner Vs. Cyrus
Anarchy Rulz 2000 saw one of ECW's best matches of the year but also saw one of their worst. The great match that came from this event was EZ Money vs Kid Kash but right after, the fans had to endure Joel Gertner versus Cyrus.
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Joel started the fight by revealing body paint similar to Kamala The Ugandan Giant. Joel hit a splash on Cyrus and then attemped, of all moves, The People's Elbow to no avail. The Sandman interferred, distracted Cyrus which allowed Gertner to roll him up and get the win in a short match.
4 BEST: Jerry Lynn Vs. Rob Van Dam
Jerry Lynn and RVD have had a love-hate relationship throughout their careers. RVD defended his ECW World Television Championship against Jerry at Hardcore Heaven 1999 and a year later at Hardcore Heaven 2000, sans gold, the two met once again.
The crowd got loud for Lynn and RVD before the bell rang. Lynn and Rob traded outside dives and chair-assisted attacks. Lynn put RVD through a table, Rhino interfered , Van Dam hit a Van Daminator and Five Star Frog Splash but in the end, Lynn won with 2 Cradle Piledrivers.
3 WORST: Sal E. Graziano Vs. Balls Mahoney
Heat Wave 2000 was another event that saw one of ECW's best and worst matches of the year on the same night. The showed opened with a two-and-a-half minute match pitting Sal E. Graziano up against "The Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freak" Balls Mahoney.
Sal no sold Mahoney's offence which included a chair shot. Graziano connected with a chokeslam on Mahoney and then executed terrible looking belly-to-belly suplex for a quick victory. The match served no purpose, had questionable booking and a dismal finish. The match had no follow up as the show moved on to an RVD segment.
2 BEST: Spike Dudley Vs. Mike Awesome
ECW entered the new millennium with a classic David vs. Goliath storyline in Little Spike Dudley challenging Mike Awesome for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. Awesome had a ten inch height advantage and weighed almost twice as much as Spike.
The clash took place on January 9, 2000 in Birmingham, Alabama. The match opened with Awesome sending Spike through tables numerous times. Chairs got involved, Spike stunned Awesome with an Acid Drop to the outside through a table but in the end Mike hit an Avalanche Awesome Bomb through a table to retain.
1 WORST: Balls Mahoney Vs. Kintaro Kanemura
The Living Dangerously pay-per-view on March 12, 2000 saw the majority of its matches lasting less than ten minutes. A short contest on the card saw Balls Mahoney battle Japanese hardcore wrestler Kintaro Kanemura.
Kanemura got off to an early start, connecting with a top rope senton splash but would end up taking a Ball Breaker, frog splash and Nutcracker Suite en route to defeat. Kanemura tried to attack Mahoney with his own chair but the latter no sold the move and executed his finisher for an abrupt win.
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