ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling) - Anarchy Rulz '99 [VHS]

Anarchy Rulz '99 was one of the turning points in ECW history as it was the first PPV after yet another massive exodus of talent, namely the Dudley Boyz and current champ Taz. The one thing about this particular PPV was that it was a definite hit or miss with some GREAT matches and segments and some decent parts and some otherwise worthless tripe. In all though, it's still worth at least a borrow or a watch as the entertaining parts are worth seeing while the rest can be easily fast-forwarded through.Here's the rundown of this DVD:Taped 9/19/99 from the Odeum in Chicago, IllinoisTHE MATCHES:1. Intro by Joey Styles and Cyrus2. Lance Storm (w/ Dawn Marie) vs. Jerry Lynn: Solid scientific/aerial contest between two of the best workers in the world. 4 stars.3. Simon Diamond promo which leads to...4. Jazz vs. Tom Marquez: Jazz is the same Jazz who was the WWF women's champ. Dud of a match but it's pretty cool to see Jazz take on a guy and hold her own. This leads to...5. Simon Diamond and Tony Devito vs. Nova and Chris Chetti: Decent tag action for however long it lasted. Match was a DUD with a run-in by Danny Doring and Roadkill (followed by C.W. Anderson, Rod Price, The Skull, Spanish Angel, Billy Wyles, etc) which leads to...6. New Jack running in and unleashing some "Natural Born Killa" violence on everyone...7. Super Crazy vs. Tajiri vs. Little Guido (w/ Big Sal): Patented ECW style Three-Way Dance elimination match. Solid action between three world-class workers. 4 stars.8. Steve Corino promo9. Sabu vs. Justin Credible (w/ Jason): Credible promo. Story behind this was Credible got Sabu suspended. Sabu comes back with a vengeance and Credible's scared to face him. Anyway, this is a typical Sabu match. ULTRA-VIOLENT with tons of table spots. 4 stars.10. Taz (champ) vs. Masato Tanaka vs. Mike Awesome: Three-Way Dance for the ECW Heavyweight Title. This was one of the most emotional and pivotal turning points in ECW history. Taz was one his way out of ECW and this was basically his last hoorah. This was definitely one of the Matches of the Year as it saw a dramatic and emotional all-out war between longtime rivals Tanaka and Awesome. The crowd was HOT for this one. Easy 5 stars.11. Tommy Dreamer promo followed by a Steve Corino promo12. Tommy Dreamer (w/ Francine) vs. Rhino (w/ Corino and Victory): Dud of a match but mercifully short.13. Axl Rotten promo featuring a confrontation between he, Balls and Spike Dudley against the Impact Players (Justin Credible, Lance Storm and Johnny Smith).14. RVD vs. Balls Mahoney: Decent match with solid action, if not otherwise unspectacular. 3 ½ stars.THE DVD FEATURES:The features section of the DVD contains the normal standard for ECW released PPVs on DVD, namely the match history write-ups by Jim Johnston III, the same guy who did the ECW website and the previous ECW DVDs. Overall, the match histories give good background info on the storylines that led up to the matches and are a good read prior to viewing the matches themselves.THE GRADE:Price of Admission: The Heavyweight Title MatchGood: Sabu vs. CredibleDecent sides: Lynn vs. Storm, RVD vs. BallsWorthless but fun: The Diamond/New Jack fiascoFlush it: Dreamer vs. RhinoTHE VERDICTAgain, the PPV definitely had its "hit or miss" parts. The Heavyweight Title match, with its great drama and AWESOME action is worth the price of buying or renting this alone. Everything else ranged from okay to blah...If you view this only the heavyweight title match is must see, anything else you can feel free to take or leave.Highly Recommended ONLY for the Hvt. Title MatchMildly Recommended/Passable otherwise

Great pay per view, great video! Well worth the money. Several great matches, RVD does the sumersault poncha he did against Bigelo to Balls Mahoney which I think is even more impressive since Balls is a smaller guy!! Hot girls as well with Dawn Marie, Francine, and Jazz. Little Guido vs Tajiri vs Super Crazy was an amazing match that was tons of fun to watch. Sabu and Justin Credible's match was really good as well. I thought the crowd wasn't quite as loud during big moments as ECW crowds usually are but there's no negatives with this ppv. I just dont know how ECW could have ever gone out of business. They were bigger then they had ever been in 1999, it just doesn't make sense that it could completely disentergrate in only two years. I guess it had a lot to do with Taz selling out to the WWF and then Mike Awesome selling out to WCW. Losing two big main event stars hurts a company, but ECW was still the best bar none. Did I mention I HATE Vince McMahon!!!!

The Jerry Lynn-Lance Storm match was a back-and-forth,hard-hitting,high tech showstealer. The Jazz-Tom Marquez match was a 58 second stinkfest. The Nova/Chris Chetti-Simon Diamond/Tony DeVito tag team match was short and ruined by many interferences by many wrestlers. The Yoshihiro Tajiri-Super Crazy-Little Guido-3 way dance was a high-flying/solid match. The Justin Credible-Sabu match was a hardcore,hardhitting,bloody brawl. The Taz-Mike Awesome-Masato Tanaka-3 way dance for the Worlds title was a high-flying,hard-hitting,entertaining match and the same goes for the RVD-Balls Mahoney-TV Title match. The Tommy Dreamer/Raven-Steve Corino/Rhino-World Tag Team title match was short but sweet. I give this PPV a 8 out of 10.

ECWANARCHY RULZ 19991.LANCE STORM VS JERRY LYNN-this was an excellent opening match for the PPV. These two are amazing together as this was one of the best matches on the show and possibly my favorite. They go back and forth for the entire match and bring the crowd to their feet with a nice pin fall chain combination on each other. Great technical but physical match that sees Storm come out on top.2.JAZZ VS TOM MARQUEZ-after Simon Diamond makes an open challenge Jazz comes out. After some funny stuff on the mic by Simon he then calls Tom in to face Jazz. It is very quick after the bell rings that I guess Jazz wins by DQ since a tag match kicks off after the ref is pulled out.3.SIMON DIAMOND & TONY DEVITO VS NOVA & CHRIS CHETTI-this match was good for what it was. Chetti hurts himself while going for a moonsault off of the ropes. So Nova carries on in what is basically a handicapped match. Good match over all that ends in a no contest I believe with everyone it seems coming out and getting involved until New Jack comes out.4.YOSHIIHIRO TAJIRI VS SUPER CRAZY VS LITTLE QUIDO-another amazing match between these three that rivals the opening match as my favorite of the night. All three guys shine here with various moments each that put them over. It is an elimination match that sees Quido get eliminated first with Crazy and Tajiri continuing this classic. Never a dull or boring moment here what so ever with Tajiri coming out on top, in a match that showcased three excellent performers in an absolute classic.5.SABU VS JUSTIN CREDIBLE-two of my favorite guys from ECW did battle right here after Justin tries to get a forfeit win with a restraining order on Sabu. But that night Anarchy Ruled so those papers were thrown out. This was a very physical and violent match with various tables and cane shots going down. Great spots in this match that would see Justin get the win. Very entertaining and fun match.6.[ECW TITLE]TAZ VS MASATO TANAKA VS MIKE AWESOME-this match was supposed to be a match between Taz and Tanaka for the title. But Awesome would end up at ringside with Taz wanting to fight both men it ended up as this three way. Still even with three to begin with it was actually another match in the classic series between Tanaka and Awesome as they would eliminate Taz minutes into the match. Tanaka and Awesome put on another classic with each other with various power moves and tables involved. They may have been the best feud in ECW or at least the most fun if we are being honest about it. Awesome ends up with the win and title in a match he wasn’t supposed to be a part of. Also Taz was leaving for the WWE and the crowd was not happy about it, booing and chanting “you sold out”.7.[TAG TITLE]TOMMY DREAMER & RAVEN VS RHINO & STEVE CORINO-this match just started after Dreamer came out and said he needed a match for the night. It quickly turned into a handicapped match and then a tag match as Dreamer’s long time archenemy Raven comes out to his defense. This one is quick but sweet with the enemies becoming tag champs, Dreamer and Raven new champs.8.[TV TITLE]ROB VAN DAM VS BALLS MAHONEY-the night ends with another great match that is much better than most would have thought I am sure. These two battle all over the place with Balls looking great here and RVD launching one f his longest jumps ever. Great war between these two that goes twenty minutes or something. RVD pulls out the victory here in a hard fought contest with a great show of sportsmanship afterwards, great match.This was a really good event that held some of the best matches ECW has had. Highly recommended to all wrestling fans out there.

毎度おなじみ恒例の前説は、ジョーイ・スタイルスとサイラスにて始まります(すでに客は出来上がっていて最高の雰囲気！)第１試合はランス(wishダーン・マリー)vsリンの職人対決だけにしょっぱなから最高の内容の試合！フィニッシュはちょっとこれだけの試合内容と比べるとちょっと肩透かしですが。２試合目の試合開始早々ノヴァが足をすべらせて怪我して戦線離脱、デヴィトはサイドエフェクトみたいな技をミスって観客全員立ち上がって大ブーイング何とか乱入でごまかしますが(リタも登場)最後はニュージャック親分が乱入してなんとか場を納めました。この試合でECのファンがいかにプロレスを愛してるかが伺えます。６試合目のタズvsオーサムvs田中(ワカヤマ・ジャパンとちゃんとコールされてますｗ!)のタイトルマッチは急遽ポールEの絶叫とともに独断で3wayダンスに変更。背景としてこの時点でTAZ(当時王者)のWWF移籍は決まっていたのでベルトを渡さなければいけません普通この場合王者は最後まで残るんですが、さすが男TAZだけにあっけなく最初に敗退し残りの二人にバトンをあずけ花道を引き返します。試合後改めて登場しオーサムにベルトを巻き、ポールEと抱擁し全選手(たぶん)がスタンディング・オーベーション。これはプロレスでしか味わえません一見の勝ちあり。その他Yoshihiro Tajiri vs Super Crazy vs Little Guido(現ヌンジオ)、Justin　Credible vs Sabu、Tommy Dreamer & Raven vs. Steve Corino & Rhinoが収録されてますどれもこれも名勝負ばかりでこの団体のグレードの高さを感じさせてくれます。僕の中ではPAL方式を含めないECのDVDの中でこれが一番おすすめです！ECWファンは絶対買いだ！！

Love this release from ECW, 3 thumbs up!