review ECW one night stand last year and a look at 2vr2007 and my favorite superstars

 

THIS IS A CLIP OF ECW FROM SVR2006

MY SONG: KING OF KINGS - MOTORHEAD

Who else likes my sport?
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On the May 9, 2005 episode of RAW, the first commercial for the event was aired, narrated by Paul Heyman. RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff was shown to be unhappy about this. The next week on RAW, Tajiri and Chris Benoit, two former ECW wrestlers, faced one another in a ECW rules match. Soon after the outset of the match, Bischoff's assistant Jonathan Coachman came to ringside and informed the participants that Bischoff had not been informed that the match was taking place. Bischoff himself then came out and cancelled the match before any of the "extreme" elements that made ECW famous could be brought into play, then proceeded to ban anything related to ECW from RAW, including barring the audience from chanting "ECW" or displaying pro-ECW signs. He also banned RAW performers from attending the pay-per-view, and said that the only way RAW would be involved with the event would be when he and a select group of wrestlers arrived to end ECW "once and for all."
The following week, Bischoff came to the ring to conduct a "funeral ceremony" for ECW, only to have Vince McMahon interrupt the proceedings, saying that he had invested money in ECW and thus had a vested interest in seeing the One Night Stand PPV become a financial success. In a worked shoot promo, McMahon noted that he had helped keep ECW afloat in its latter days, that many ECW stars had gone on to great success in WWE and that he was responsible for the PPV commercials. McMahon proceeded to order the Tajiri-Benoit match from the previous week to go on, and then brought in former ECW owner Paul Heyman to complete the promotion for the PPV. Among other things, Heyman denounced Bischoff's negativity towards ECW, telling him the following: "ECW was a lifestyle, it was anti-establishment, it was counter-culture, and it was up in your face!" Heyman finished it up by setting the ECW funeral wreath, which was appropriately made out of barbed wire, on fire, stating that Bischoff would "start a fire that you cannot put out."
Two weeks later, on June 6, 2005 Chris Benoit was placed in an ECW Rules match against Gene Snitsky by Bischoff. The Dudley Boys interjected themselves into this match, putting Snitsky through a table. Later that night they were found leaving the building, and Bischoff, initially eager to see them arrested, allowed them to return to the ring. The Dudleys were joined by Paul Heyman, and Bischoff approached the ring with a large group of heels. The outnumbered Dudleys were then joined by ECW alumni The Sandman, Rhyno, Tommy Dreamer, Axl Rotten, and Balls Mahoney, who routed the WWE wrestlers and hung an ECW banner from the top rope.
The anti-ECW sentiment was not limited to the RAW roster. On the June 9, 2005 episode of Smackdown!, after losing to Booker T, Kurt Angle confronted Tazz with a hostile attitude and demanded an answer from him about choosing between ECW or WWE and that he would sit next to the Announcer's Table and wait there until he gave him the answer that he wanted. Tazz ignored Kurt Angle until Kurt Angle decided to leave. Saying "I'm not going to play your games Tazz. If you're not going to give me an answer, that's fine with me. I'm outta here." It looked like things were settling back down until Kurt Angle sucker punched Tazz and busted his head with a steel chair shot. Tazz had to be taken for immediate medical treatment for a bleeding head wound. Resulting in Paul Heyman being asked to take Tazz's place as a Guest Commentator. Tensions between the ECW Superstars and the Smackdown! Crusaders began to build in the Chris Benoit VS JBL match. Just as Benoit applied the Crippler Crossface on JBL, Kurt Angle jumped in the ring and attacked Benoit. The ring erupted into a full blown fight as the ECW Superstars and the Smackdown! Crusaders began attacking each other. As the ECW Superstars were leveling the Crusaders, Tazz came to the Ring with backup. Refusing to let his bleeding head wound keep him out of the fight. Just like in the June 6th Episode of RAW, the Crusaders were quickly defeated and the ECW made their presence felt on Smackdown!
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Results

Commentators: Joey Styles and Mick Foley
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Match #1
Referee: Mike Kehner
Lance Storm (with Dawn Marie) defeats "Lionheart" Chris Jericho
Storm pins Jericho following the interference from Jason and Justin Credible, who hit Jericho with his Singapore cane. This match was billed as Storm's retirement match beforehand.
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Tribute segment
Gary Wolfe (Pitbull #1) introduces an "ECW Remembers" video honoring "extreme" wrestlers who had died since ECW folded:
Ted Petty (Rocco Rock): tag team partner of Johnny Grunge as The Public Enemy.
Terry Gordy: legendary personality in wrestling famous as a Freebird.
Mike Lockwood (Crash Holly): a 21-time former WWE Hardcore Champion.
The Original Sheik: the uncle of ECW's Sabu and the original "Hardcore Legend".
Mike Lozansky
Anthony Durante (Pitbull #2): the tag-team partner of Pitbull Gary Wolfe as The Pitbulls.
Alex Rizzo (Big Dick Dudley): the largest Dudley from the Dudley clan.
Chris Candito (Chris Candido): a member of the Triple Threat.
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Match #2 - International Three-Way Dance
Referee: John Finnegan
Super Crazy defeats Yoshihiro Tajiri (with The Sinister Minister and Mikey Whipwreck) and Little Guido Maritato (with The F.B.I. - Tracy Smothers, Tony Mamaluke, Big Guido and J.T. Smith)
Tajiri pins Guido following a Top rope Whipper-snapper by Whipwreck. Crazy pins Tajiri with the Trifecta (triple Moonsault)in an amazing match."
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Match #3 - Extreme Lucha Match
Referee: Jim Molineaux
Rey Mysterio, Jr. defeats Psicosis
Mysterio pins Psicosis with a West Coast Pop.
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Invasion segment #1
Roadkill & Danny Doring had a promo but more footage of the SmackDown! anti-ECW crusaders entering the arena interrupted it. The promo was actually cut quickly because it referred to a match on the card which had not happened yet, giving away its result. The production crew had began playing the promo earlier then they were supposed to.

"The Quintessential Studmuffin" Joel Gertner tried to interview the crusaders but Kurt Angle and JBL beat him up.

The next ECW alumnus, Rob Van Dam, came out, accompanied by Bill Alfonso. Van Dam cut a "shoot promo" about how he hated the fact that he couldn't participate due to his injured knee. Rhino then appeared and gored Rob Van Dam and assaulted RVD's knee until the lights went out. When the lights came back on, they revealed Van Dam's former partner Sabu in the ring.
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Match #4
Referee: John "Pee Wee" Moore
Sabu defeats Rhino
Sabu pins Rhino following an Arabian Skullcrusher through a table after Rob Van Dam interfered. John Moore was accidentally Gored by Rhino and was replaced by John Finnegan.
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Invasion segment #2
Backstage Al Snow yelled at his trademark mannequin head and said tonight was for ECW and not for a bunch of "SmackDown! assholes".

The RAW anti-ECW crusaders, lead by Eric Bischoff, arrived and took their seats. Along the way, a fan spat their drink in the face of Bischoff.
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Match #5
Referee: Mike Kehner
"The Crippler" Chris Benoit defeats Eddie Guerrero
Benoit forces Guerrero to submit using the Crippler Crossface.
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Invasion segment #3
Joel Gertner tries to interview the RAW crusaders and says he has a very important question for Bischoff; "Can I please have a job?", Eric Bischoff spits out his beer and laughs along with the other crusaders.
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Match #6
Referee: Jim Molineaux
Mike Awesome defeated Masato Tanaka
During the opening moments of this match, Joey Styles berated Mike Awesome for the fact that he jumped to World Championship Wrestling in 2000 while he was still the ECW World Heavyweight Champion, but later stated that he thought that Awesome redeemed himself after the fans chanted "This Match Rules!" throughout the match.
Awesome defeats Tanaka following an Awesome Bomb through a table outside the ring, followed by a slingshot Awesome Splash. After the match Mike Awesome powerbombed referee Jim Molineaux.
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Invasion segment #4
Paul Heyman came to the ring, got on his knees and bowed to the fans, who chanted "Thank you Paul!", and cut a shoot promo mocking Bischoff, Edge's backstage love life ("I've got two words for you.. Matt-Freakin'-Hardy!"), and JBL ("The only reason you were WWE Champion for almost a year was because Triple H didn't want to work on Tuesdays!" [SmackDown! is taped on Tuesdays]).
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Match #7
Referee: John Finnegan
The Dudley Boyz (Buh Buh Ray and D-Von) defeated Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman

Sandman came out and did a near 10-minute entrance complete with beer drinking and fan-appreciation (singing along to his entrance music, Metallica's "Enter Sandman"). At this point The Blue World Order (Big Stevie Cool, Da Blue Guy and Hollywood Nova) appeared. Big Stevie Cool claimed that the bWo was "taking over" and attacked Sandman until Kid Kash came out. Then Balls Mahoney and Axl Rotten appeared and a large brawl broke out and moved to the backstage area before the match began. When Kash did a flip over the top rope, Joey Styles called him "Mr. TNA - Total Nonstop Attitude" in a reference to TNA wrestling, who refused to allow their ECW alumni such as Raven & Shane Douglas to take part in the event. Kash left the company during this, although it is not confirmed if it was because of this matter.

Dudley Boyz defeated Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman when Spike Dudley, wearing full old-school Dudley-gear, came down with a bottle of lighter fluid to help The Dudleyz Powerbomb Tommy Dreamer through a flaming table. Earlier in the match, Dreamer and Buh Buh Ray opened each other's foreheads with a cheese grater. Francine, Beulah McGillicutty, Lance Storm and Justin Credible also showed up during the match.
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WWE Invasion

For the most part the WWE superstars (including on JBL's "alternate commentary" on the DVD) simply insulted the fans and talent until interrupted by Van Dam, attacked Joel Gertner when he went to their private seating section to interview them, and were involved in a large brawl to end the show.
This large brawl came about after Stone Cold Steve Austin came to the ring to fulfill The Sandman's request that somebody bring him a beer. Austin said Sandman did not need just one beer, rather, he needed a whole case of beer, for a beer bash. The ECW locker room filed out and got in the ring as the anti-ECW crusaders watched from the balcony. Steve Austin invited the anti-ECW crusaders into the ring, threatening to "go up there and slap the piss out of every one of (them)" if they did not accept his invitation.
The anti-ECW crusaders then entered the ring, standing face-to-face with the ECW alumni. At this point, the crowd began chanting "We want Tazz!", and Tazz responded by coming to the ring and attacking Kurt Angle, sparking a brawl between everyone in the ring. One by one, the anti-ECW crusaders were thrown out of the ring... Aside from Angle, who was rather quickly choked out by Taz's Tazmission, with Austin commenting that the invaders "got their asses whooped".
Steve Austin then asked color commentator Mick Foley to grab Eric Bischoff (who had entered the commentary booth instead of entering the fight) and drag him to the ring as the anti-ECW crew retreated. Mick Foley tossed Eric Bischoff into the ring, where the Dudley Boyz gave him a 3-D at the behest of Austin. Austin then told Chris Benoit to give Eric Bischoff a flying headbutt, and Rey Mysterio to give him the 619 (which brought booing, as it did when he used it during his earlier match, as the move never formed part of his ECW repertoire, having ironically been introduced by the WWE).
Austin then bent over the prone Bischoff and asked him what he thought of ECW now, holding a microphone to Bischoff's mouth. Bischoff then screamed "Fuck ECW!", prompting Austin to give him a Stone Cold Stunner. The Dudley Boyz then dragged the unconscious Bischoff backstage to dispose of him, while Austin started the celebratory beer-bash with all the ECW stars, sharing beers with The Sandman.
Reportedly during the Crusader/ECW brawl, JBL sought out The Blue Meanie and punched him repeatedly "shoot"-style after The Blue Meanie called JBL a "Backstage Bully", causing Meanie to tear some recent stitches and bleed. JBL and Meanie reportedly have issues dating back to when they were both in WWE several years ago. This issue was surprisingly shown up to the public by WWE itself, in which they feature the article in wwe.com. JBL & Meanie settled their feud by having a match on Smackdown two weeks afterward in which JBL jobbed to Meanie, Meanine winning with the aid of Batista and Steven Richards.
A backstage confrontation also took place between Francine and Dawn Marie.
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Anti-ECW Contingent
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RAW
Eric Bischoff
Jonathan Coachman
Edge
Lita
Maven
Snitsky
Christian
William Regal
Robért Conway
Sylvain Grenier
Tyson Tomko
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SmackDown!
Kurt Angle
John "Bradshaw" Layfield
The Cabinet (Orlando Jordan and The Basham Brothers)
Matt Morgan
Carlito

WWE.com recently had a chance to check in with THQ about SmackDown vs. RAW, the hottest wrestling video game franchise on the market. SvR 07 just made its debut this week at E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo. E3 is the biggest event in the video gaming industry and WWE has definitely laid the smack down on it.

When asked about how the game has been received at E3, Tracy Muniz, THQs marketing representative, said the press and retailers have been very responsive to the game, with the two most notable being Microsoft and Sony. Microsoft will release the game on their next generation console, the Xbox 360, and Sony will be releasing the game on PS2, PSP and eventually PS3. With those two corporate giants being onboard and extremely impressed with the new product, WWE knows that this years version will be another smashing success.

The positive feedback didnt come easily though, SmackDown vs. RAW 06 was released last November and our teams started working on the 07 release in October, so before the current release goes out were already working on the next one, commented Tracy.

The 07 release will feature several new and upgraded features that will catapult the game to a whole new level. Every year the game gets better and better, and after speaking with THQ, 2008s version is going to be hard pressed to best the 07 incarnation.

So what made this years version the talk of E3?

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The game has four big new features, said Tracy These are the interactive fighting areas where the Superstars can fight in the crowd and even receive help from them (fans can provide weapons, signs to tear up or flaunt, etc.) There are the environmental hot spots that the players can interact with, like the steel ring steps and scaffolds. Theres also a new innovative analog control system that will completely change the players experience. Weve also added new high impact movesets.
Beyond that, the game includes updated rosters for RAW and SmackDown (60 some odd Superstars, including legends) an upgraded General Manager Mode, a more non-linear and unique season mode and online multiplayer game play with voice chat support and stat tracking features.

The countering and reversals system has also been revamped in this new version. You will be able to chain reversals and counters together repeatedly until one Superstar manages to come out on top. Players will be able to reverse and chain both strikes and grapples, which will allow for more exciting and dynamic matches, Tracy mentioned also.

When asked about the new graphics Tracy said The graphics in the game will be dramatically improved. In last years version each Superstar consisted of 500 polygons. This year they will be comprised of a staggering 20,000.

The Superstars are laser scanned to accurately record their body and facial features for the game. They also participate in motion capture sessions for their entrances and their signature moves.

When asked about the process, World Champion Rey Mysterio said, The body scanning is a really cool experience, the machine circles around your head and face, capturing every little detail. They took pictures of each of my tattoos from different views. They took pictures from the front, from the side, facing down and so on. Its funny, I felt like I was in prison. Its amazing how real it looks, I saw myself on the cover of a magazine the other day and I couldnt believe how realistic it looked, it was like I was looking at a picture of myself, the eyes and everything were perfect.

After all the physical aspects are accounted for, the Superstars have to tend to the audio side of the game, recording hours of voiceovers. WWE.com also got a chance to speak with Chris Argento, Director of Audio Engineering for WWE, about just how much depth this game will have just considering the voiceovers and whatnot. Each Superstar in the game recorded approximately 2-4 hours of audio for the game, and spent even more time just in the studio. They recorded for situations within the season mode storylines and various other aspects of the game that require it.

In addition to the Superstars having to record hours of audio, the commentators also had some serious studio sessions. We had Michael Cole and Tazz in here, Cole recorded some 1,200 plus lines for the game, said Argento. Even Lilian Garcia came into the studio and recorded the introductions for each and every one of the Superstars. Nothing has been overlooked in this game. When asked if there were any moments that stood out throughout the recording process, Argento recalled the Chairmans time in the studio, Mr. McMahon came into the studio to record several hours of storyline related audio and at one point he had screamed youre fired about 20-30 times in different tones and mannerisms, it was very unsettling.

Mysterio also commented on the audio recording process, saying that it was really cool doing it this time because I have a much larger part now. You have to beat different people to be able to face me, I liked the process because it was like being in the ring because I had to be in there and get aspects of my personality across.

With WWE Superstars being on the road all the time and having little time to rest up and heal in between matches, these types of efforts cut into what little downtime they have. While it takes a lot of time and effort, WWE is committed to making sure that the game is as engaging and realistic as possible.

Everyones efforts have definitely paid off though. At E3, THQ had to have private showings and play-testings of the game due to the hordes of WWE fans that were itching to get their hands on it.

While not everyone was able to play the new game at E3, they were able to stop by and check out Reys actual ring gear from WrestleMania 22, complete with mask, tights and Aztec warrior headdress.

SmackDown vs. RAW 07 will be the first version of the series to be released on multiple platforms at the same time. The first release will be for Xbox 360, PS2 and PSP in November, with the PS3 release following afterwards.

WWE.com will keep the fans as up to date as possible with insider information and exclusive content. Stay tuned for the coming updates.

 

my favorite raw and smackdown superstars