TNA’s tribute to the legacy of ECW was always going to split the fans down the middle.
There are some people who feel that style of wrestling has had its day and on the other hand ones who love it and want to see their heroes back in the squared ring again.
HardCORE Justice covered both bases as it pleased both fans of extreme wrestling and those who wanted to see some of the industries finest battle it out in a war of wits and athleticism.
So just how did Tommy Dreamer book the EV2.0 heavy card that TNA President Dixie Carter entrusted to him?
The opening match pitting The FBI against the Kid Kash, Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger was a wonderful step back in time.
The FBI proving the perfect foil for the heel trio, Smothers, Guido, Marmaluke and Big Sal all kept spirits up, Guido hitting a nice unprettier to pick up the win.
With the crowd suitably pumped-up TNA ran the first of a series of where are they now montages, highlighting former ECW stars. These went down well with long-time fans.
Next up Too Cold Scorpio and CW Anderson showed no signs of age or ring rust, as they impressed with a by-the-book bout. The still impressive Scorpio winning by moonsault legdrop.
PJ Polaco (aka Justin Credible) then faced Stevie Richards in a decent scrap. The duo trading trademark moves, Richards buddies ‘fake’ Blue Meanie and Nova distracted Polaco where they could.
Richards won by Stevie Kick but received a Singapore cane shot for his trouble, a returning Sandman making the save to huge crowd approval.
ECW mainstay the Three-Way-Dance followed, this time Al Snow (with head), Brother Runt and Rhino took to the ring. All three gave their all to entertain in what can be a hard-hitting and brutal style of match.
Rhino picking up the win after Runt eliminated Snow and walked into a gore.
Kahoneys (the artist formerly known as Balls Mahoney) teamed up with Axl Rotten for a pretty crazy street fight with the appropriately atired Team 3D (with Joel Gertner in tow).
Pure old school madness prevailed with Kahoneys even taking a flaming table 3D hit for the team, The Gangstas turned up to thwart Bubba’s victory speech and had a mini weapons-filled brawl, before all six men hugged and posed for the fans.
EV 2.0 main man Tommy Dreamer and longtime enemy Raven tore the house down in a bloody brawl to finally end their three company stretching feud, with Mick Foley donning the ref shirt as well.
The pair holding nothing back in brutalising each other, as usual Dreamer taking the worst of the pasting. The bloody war saw Dreamer’s wife (Beulah) get involved and him almost snatch a victory from his nemesis. Raven however dug deep and DDT’d a weary Tommy to win.
With Bill Alfonso managing both combatants, TNA World Heavyweight Champion Rob Van Dam faced his old friend and partner in many legendary battles Sabu in the main event.
Losing Jerry Lynn (due a back injury) was TNA’s gain, as this match was the icing on the cake for ECW fans.
RVD and Sabu holding nothing back, working their way through their high-risk repertoire of moves and exchanges as only they can.
After a succession of near falls and chair assisted moves Van Dam scored the win with a nice frog splash.
The post match handshake and in-ring celebration featuirng the EV2.0 guys ended things on a high, even Dixie Carter got in on the act, raising a beer to a pleased Dreamer and his boys.
HardCORE Justice did exactly what it promised it would, it showed the ECW originals as true talents, athletes and stars in thier own rights, it gave them closeure in many ways and proved to TNA fans old and new that the company does indeed need to have an extreme edge to it.
As a stand alone event the PPV acted well as catalyst for building new feuds and reigniting old ones within the company.
Here’s hoping Dreamer and co. hang about a while and help elevate TNA to new heights.
By Phil Allely
