Tape Reviews
ECW Deep Impact
By Jeremy Wall
Jan 31, 2003, 13:14

- This week�s review takes a look at ECW�s Deep Impact, one of four �Best Of� videos they released awhile ago. Each video will be reviewed in upcoming issues of the Touch Of Evil.

- Your host is Joey Styles. They open with roughly 4059390685092365 different video packages, although all are very well put together.

- They show clips of Steve Austin coming to ECW and feuding with The Sandman, and they show Mikey Whipwreck pinning Sandman to win the ECW title. Austin then attacks Sandman before a rematch with Whipwreck and takes his spot, but loses to Whipwreck when Mikey kicks out of the Stun Gun and then rolls him up by using the tights (and showing Austin's bare ass, which is something I didn't need to see).

[1] Sandman defeated Steve Austin and Mikey Whipwreck at 20:03 in a Three Way Dance to win the ECW World title. Austin and Mikey start, and Austin has his long blonde locks cut down to a crew cut, so this must be shortly before he debuted in WWF as The Ringmaster. Austin starts the match by playing nice with Mikey, shaking hands, breaking clean in the corner, stuff like that, until he eventually attacks Mikey in the corner during a break apart. Mikey tries to roll Austin up using the tights but it doesn't work this time. Sandman's music starts and he takes forever to get to the ring. He finally gets to the ring and him and Austin brawl to the outside. Mikey hits them both with a plancha, but Austin brings Mikey in and Stun Guns him for three, so he's eliminated. Austin does his impersonations of Hogan, but Sandman hits Austin with a pair of brass knux, and gets the pin despite Austin's foot being on the bottom rope to give Sandman the ECW title. Good brawl, although it went on too long and Austin held it all together. (***)

[2] Sabu defeated Terry Funk in a No Rope Barbed Wire Deathmatch to win the ECW World Title at 20:41. This is a No-Rope Barbed Wire Deathmatch. Lots of stalling to start off and both guys avoid touching the wire, until Sabu tosses Funk face first into the barbed wire. Sabu then gets a hurracanrana, but when he pins Funk he gets launched right into the barbed wire. Sabu then blades on-screen and Funk basically uses the wire on him for awhile. They switch spots and Sabu works Funk over using the wire. Sabu sets up a chair, and jumps off it at Funk in the corner, but Funk moves and Sabu lands right in the wire in a nasty looking spot. Funk pulls Bill Alfonso into the ring and rips off his shirt and uses a piece of the wire to cut up his back. Rob Van Dam comes out and attacks Funk, and then wraps Funk in barbed wire and lays him out on a table. Sabu then wraps himself in barbed wire and dives off the ring and him and Funk go through the table, and they are totally in a mess of barbed wire. Sabu rolls Funk in the ring and pins him to win the ECW title. Sabu spot-fest, but the barbed wire spots were amazingly violent. (**1/4)

[3] Bam Bam Bigelow pinned Taz at 13:37 to win the ECW TV title. They brawl, brawl, and brawl some more. Eventually the brawl out onto the elevated entrance ramp and Tazz T-Bones Bigelow off that and into the crowd, and actually onto a pile of chairs. Ouch. Back in the ring, Bigelow moonsaults onto Taz and then sets up a table. Taz ends up double-legging Bigelow through the table, though, and goes for the Tazmission. Bigelow jumps backwards, though, and both he and Taz go right THROUGH the canvas, leaving a big hole in the ring. Bigelow eventually climbs out of the hole, and drags Taz out and pins him to win the ECW TV title. Good brawl with a great finish. (***1/4)

[4] Terry Funk & The Sandman defeated Cactus Jack & Shane Douglas when Funk pinned Jack at 12:54. Douglas starts by using the cane on just about everybody, including his partner Cactus. Cactus does the same with a chair, but he doesn't hit Douglas. Foley dives to the outside off the second turnbuckle, dropping an elbow on Funk. Funk and Sandman then turn around and do something I've never seen done before and bring a piece of the guardrail into the ring and beat Douglas down with it. Double ouch. Funk then suplexes Cactus on the arena floor. They all brawl to the entrance and Funk picks up a tool box to hit Douglas with, but while he's holding it over his head all the tools fall out and clobber him. Well, no one ever said that Terry Funk was a smart guy. Sandman delivers a really sad looking back suplex on Cactus Jack on the floor, and they brawl into the ring. Sandman lays a chair across Jack's face and legdrops it from the top rope. Funk brings in a branding iron and brands Cactus with it while Sandman and Douglas brawl. Funk then piledrives Cactus onto the flaming branding iron for the three count. Really intense, crazy brawl, further cementing the fact that Funk and Foley were both one beer short of a six-pack. (****)

[5] Jerry Lynn & Masato Tanaka defeated Mike Awesome & Justin Credible at 15:04 when Lynn pinned Credible. One team is good, one isn't. You figure out which is which. Awesome no sells all of Lynn's offense, so he tags out to Tanaka, and him and Awesome stiff each other out. Awesome sets up a table outside and tries to powerbomb Tanaka from off the ring through it, but Tanaka gets out. Don't worry, it's coming later. Jerry Lynn asai moonsaults into Justin Credible (and into the crowd), and Mike Awesome delivers a plancha onto Tanaka. He then drags Tanaka into the ring, and a frog splash gets two. Awesome destroys both Tanaka and the chair with some brutal chair shots and tags out to Credible, who pins Tanaka for two. Tanaka then superplexes Credible, then tornado DDTs him onto a couple of chairs. Awesome grabs Tanaka though and finally delivers that powerbomb through the table on the outside, which looked really, really nasty. Tanaka went right through the table swiftly and landed right flat on the concrete. Awesome goes out there to apologize or something, and Lynn tombstones Credible for the three. Really awesome brawl with one of the most brutal table spots I've ever seen. (****1/4)

THE FINAL CUT
This video is a definite must-see, especially if you haven�t actually seen any of these matches before. None of the matches are clipped and Styles' commentary is great. If you can pick it up somewhere, do so. I'm really looking forward to the next three videos in the series.

Check out my sheet, the Touch Of Evil. This past week's issue has an article on Hulk Hogan's return, a review of last week's Smackdown, Raw and NWA-TNA, a look back in history at title changes around 1900 and beyond, news on Steve Austin's return, a review of the K-1 2002 Grand Prix, the review of ECW' Deep Impact that you read above, news on the Owen Hart wrongful death suit, a mega-preview of Pride 25, big news on the top lightweight fighter in the world being knocked out, news on the 1/28 Smackdown tapings, we compare the January TNA PPVs to Royal Rumble, results from all around the planet including WWE, NWA-TNA, NJPW, AJPW, Zero One, Pancrase, UCC, Indies and tons more. We have the TV ratings for the 1/21 W-1 show, news on a big name wreslter coming to Zero One, more signings with NJPW, news on Choshu's WJPRO, Ken Shamrock signs, news on Raven and Justin Credible outside of WWE, another wrestler released by WWE, one of the biggest name UFC fighters ever returns, news on ROH, lots of Bob Sapp news, NWA-TNA dark match results, news on a controversial injury over in Japan, news on the future of Pride, a WWE diva agrees to pose in Playboy, Vince McMahon going to court, and tons tons tons more news, notes, and opinions from all around the spectrum of professional wrestling and MMA. And that's this week's issue.

Next week's issue will have reviews for the 2/2 Raw, the 2/4 NWA-TNA show with PPV quality comparisons, review of ECW's Hardcore History video, a review of the W-1 1/21 show, a review of Jerry Lawler on 'Off The Record' and a preview of Bret Hart's upcoming appearance there and what they're going to ask him. I'm going to start a review on OVW TV this past November, we'll take a look back at World title changes prior to 1948, and we'll have tons of news, notes, opinions and results on UFC, Pride, UCC, WWE, NWA-TNA, AJPW, NJPW, Zero One, KOTC, ROH, XPW, WJ-PRO, and anything and everything under the sun. You can get your subscription started by clicking the link above, or you can purchase individual issues for US$2.

I also have a limited time offer running. For US$11, and this includes the cost of shipping, you get last week's issue of Touch Of Evil, a four week subscription, and a copy of the 1/21 W-1 show! And again, all of that is only $11. It's limited time though, so you'll have to take advantage of it quick.

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