Burning Hammer DVD Review #1

Burning Hammer DVD Review #1

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ECW: The Best of Cactus Jack Compilation Tape

--I'd like to note that the packaging on this really sucks. I mean how hard is it to provide a little booklet that actually lists the dates, or the events where the matches took place, or even the wrestlers? So, unless they mention it in the DVD, I'm not sure what event some of these matches are from.

--Taped from mostly Philadelphia, PA

--Your host is Joey Styles

--Cactus Jack V. Sabu (W/ 911 & Paul E. Dangerously). This is from Hostile City Showdown 1994. Sabu actually wrestles in the beginning of the match, even pulling out a Backdrop Driver. The wrestling doesn't last long however, as chairs come into play about 2 minutes into the match. Cactus almost makes me cream my pants by actually selling an arm injury he got in WCW. Sabu then does make me cream my pants by working on said arm. A frying pan comes into play, Cactus hits Sabu with it a couple of times, and then bashes his own head in with it. Cactus goes aerial with a Cannonball Senton, a move I don't ever remember seeing him pull off before. Sabu hits a Springboard Legdrop through a table. Sabu barely hits a Moonsault to the outside through a table. Sabu gets the pin at 13:02 after Paul E. taps Cactus in the back of the head with his cell phone. **3/4 Bad ending, but a decent match. Sabu actually wrestled, wasn't his usual spot-rest-spot self, and hit all of his spots. I almost forgot that Sabu used to be able to wrestle.

--We get post-match interviews from both Cactus & Paul E.. Pretty good stuff.

--ECW Tag Team Championship Match: Cactus Jack, Mikey Whipwreck V. Public Enemy. Clipped all the way to the ending. Mikey gets the pin and the titles at 1:21 shown with a Rollup on Rocco. NO RATING.

--ECW: Tag Team Championship Match: Public Enemy V. Cactus Jack, Mikey Whipwreck. Another clip job. Sabu decides to interfere by shoving Rocco off the balcony and through a table. He mocks Rocco afterwards, but for full effect he really should have copied Rocco's funky white boy dance. Grunge gets the pin and the titles at 4:20 aired with a top-rope swing with a baseball bat on Mikey. NO RATING.

--ECW Tag Team Championship Match: Cactus Jack, Kevin Sullivan V. Public Enemy. Another major clip job. Match is declared a no-contest at 2:54 aired when Sullivan turns on Cactus. NO RATING.

--Falls Count Anywhere Match: Cactus Jack V. Sandman (W/Woman). Yet another clipped match. Cactus gets the pin at 1:20 aired with an Elbowdrop off the apron. NO RATING.

--Cactus Jack V. DC Drake. Clip match. Cactus gets the pin at 0:06 aired with a Butterfly DDT. The actual air time of the match is about 20 seconds longer, so DUD. Post-match Sandman & Cactus brawl, leading to Cactus shoving Sandman into a box, pulling him back out with a cover over his body, and it turns out to be Terry Funk. Funk & Sandman do a extended beatdown on Cactus until Shane Douglas makes the save.

--Cactus Jack, Shane Douglas V. Sandman, Terry Funk (W/Woman). Another clipped match. Funk debuts the flaming branding iron. Funk gets the pin on Cactus at 3:03 aired with a Piledriver on the flaming branding iron. NO RATING.

--Cactus Jack V. Terry Funk. They brawl into the crowd to start. Cactus misses an Elbowdrop from the balcony and goes through a table. Funk Bodyslams Cactus off the apron and onto the concrete. Funk breaks a bottle over Cactus's head. And then uses the broken bottle to carve up Cactus like a Thanksgiving turkey. Mikey Whipwreck & Hack Myers try to help Cactus but Funk keeps them at bay. Cactus gets the pin at 13:02 with a DDT on a chair. ***1/4 Good brawl, although it did slow down a little too much near the end. Post-match we get more flaming branding iron action.

--We get some clips of Cactus & Douglas interfering in each others matches with Sandman.

--ECW Heavyweight Championship Match: Cactus Jack V. Sandman (W/Woman). More clipping. We pick up the match with both guys wrapped in barbed wire. Sandman gets the pin at 4:18 aired after interference from Douglas. NO RATING

--Barbed Wire Match: Cactus Jack V. Sandman (W/Woman). Sandman limbos into the ring so he can avoid the barbed wire. Cactus wishbones Sandman into the barbed wire. Sandman gives Cactus a wicked Gutbuster onto the barbed wire. Joey Styles, ever the observant announcer, notes that while Cactus is getting his stomach wrapped in barbed wire, that must be awfully painful to his face. How anybody ever got the idea he was a good announcer I'll never know. Cactus gets the pin at 12:13 with a DDT. * I'm not big on barbed wire or Sandman matches, so this one sucked accordingly.

--Cactus Jack, Tommy Dreamer V. Raven, Stevie Richards. Another clipped match. Pit Bulls, 'Big' Dick Dudley & Dudley Dudley are all brawling at ringside. Raven gets the pin on Dreamer at 1:50 aired after Cactus turns on Dreamer with a Butterfly DDT. NO RATING.

--A collage of Cactus promos during his awesome 'I'm Hardcore' angle. These are just some really SWANK~ promos.

--We get a really long beat down segment on Dreamer by Cactus & Raven.

--Cactus Jack, Raven V. Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer. This is from November To Remember 1995. Dreamer nails Raven with a VCR. I've never quite understood ECW logic when it comes to weapons. You can hit somebody with as many weapons shots as you want, but you won't get the pin until you apply your finisher. I think a shot from a VCR will finish off somebody just as good as a Piledriver or a DDT. Cactus is wearing a SWEET~ Dungeon Of Doom heart shirt. He then takes off the shirt to reveal the uber SWANK~ 'Forgive Me, Uncle Eric' shirt. Funk gets the pin on Raven at 13:37 after a Dreamer Piledriver. *** Good brawl, with just a little too much dead space in certain parts, and it went on a little too long.

--ECW Tag Team Championship Match: Eliminators V. Cactus Jack, Mikey Whipwreck. Yet another clipped match. Kronus gets the pin on Mikey at 1:30 aired after Total Elimination. NO RATING. Post-match Cactus turns on Mikey.

--Cactus Jack V. Shane Douglas. Douglas is fresh off his stint as the Dean in the WWF. Cactus wrestles the match in a suit & tie. Douglas pulls out a top-rope Plancha, and it's odd to see him doing moves like that knowing what a broken down has been he has become. We get a pre-cursor to Royal Rumble Ô99 as Douglas handcuffs Cactus's hands behind his back and wails away on him with a chair. Cactus calling for Vince to save him while he's getting whacked with a chair is pretty funny. Douglas gets the pin at 15:43 after Mikey nails Cactus in the head with a chair. ***1/4 Good match, even though the endings impact is lessened somewhat, having already seen the much more vicious RR Ô99 ending.

--Awesome Cactus promo, as he equates Mikey offering him Doritos to attempted murder on account of his eating disorder.

--Cactus Jack V. Mikey Whipwreck. This is Cactus's farewell match from ECW. Just as an aside, I'd like to point out that whoever the guy with all the signs is in the front row is a jackass. They're all pretty stupid, and just aren't as witty as he seems to think. Vicious spot, as Mikey slams the back of Cactus's head into the railing. Mikey follows that up with an equally vicious Backdrop Driver on the concrete, and a Russian Legsweep onto a chair. Mikey just about kills himself with a Springboard Somersault Senton to the outside over the railing. Cactus uses the Mandible Claw, and this would be the earliest match that I know of him using it in, pre-Mankind. Cactus hits a SWEET~ Neckbreaker on the railing. Cactus gets the pin at 17:19 with a Butterfly DDT on a chair. ***3/4 Really good match. A great mix of brawling, and actual good mat wrestling from both guys.

--Final Flash: I've got mixed feelings on this DVD. Some decent-good matches, but no great blow away matches. Way too many clipped matches, and if you're going to do a 'Best Of' tape, then put actual matches on there, not clip jobs. Still, every promo on this DVD was great, and really proves how great Foley is on the mic.

Mildly Recommended

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