For those of you who don't know, ECW was a small federation working out of Philadelphia a few years ago. Now defunct some of the most successful and best wrestlers in the world have worked for ECW at one time or another. Wrestlers the likes of Steve Austin, Mick Foley, The Dudley Boys, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Eddie Gurrero and Rob Van Dam to name a few. In fact it is widely believed by the wrestling internet community that the reason the WWE turned their company around and rocketed back to the top a few years ago, was because they stole the style and talents of ECW.

Heatwave 98 is widely considered one of the best wrestling PPV's ever, for any company. And while it's not my favorite ECW event (for nostalgic reasons) it certainly is one of the best damn top to bottom wrestling events you could watch. ECW was always about the wrestling match itself, not so much the story lines building up to it. That's not to stay they didn't tell great stories, it just means that almost anyone can sit and watch an ECW PPV without having to know a huge back story.

Now before I get into the actual matches, a few things about ECW events you should know. Usually there was only one commentator, Joey Styles. On this event however Shane Douglas the then champ (and one of my all time favorite wrestlers) had had some surgery and could not compete. And so he, and ring valet Francine are also commentating. (Although, The Queen of Extreme Francine doesn't really say much)

Another thing about ECW events is that they were pretty small in comparison to your WWE events; most ECW events had an audience of maybe 3000 people. But as I think you will see when watching and I can tell you from being at a few myself, there is an intimacy and real sense of excitement at an ECW show that the WWE can't even touch.

The first two matches of the night Justin Credible vs Jerry Lynn, and Lance Storm vs Chris Candido are great. Two fast paced matches, both with great spots and great finishes.

Masato Tanaka vs Mike Awesome. "Right here baby, RIGHT here." This match while not the best these two ever had is still pretty awesome. These two have been wrestling each other in Japan for years, and they know how to put on a show. Mike Awesome gets powerbombed over the top rope, through a table and it looks like it nearly kills him. Definitely one of the best of the event this match is not to be missed.

The best match of the evening is the tag team of then champs Rob Van Dam and Sabu taking on Jinsei Shinzaki and Hayabusa.(from Japan) The match starts out with a few missed spots but once it gets going is a highflying, over the top rope, going through tables fiesta. There is nothing like this currently on TV, this match is incredible and the finish is totally awesome.

I said earlier that ECW didn't do a lot of backstage stuff, but the stuff they did do, was great. Being a smaller promotion, they got away with a lot more than WWE could do nowadays. Rob Van Dam is so cool here in ECW, he can' really do his character properly in WWE, they don't allow pot references, and lets face it Van Dam is a stoner.

And if you want to see the Dudley Boys like they should be portrayed, you'll see it here. When they come to the ring for the final match of the night it's just awesome. When Bubba Ray Dudley gets on that mic and runs down the fans, it's so cool. This is how a heel should act; they should hate everyone in the place.

Beer drinking? Well the Sandman was drinking beer and spitting it over fans long before Stone Cold's glass ever broke. With the longest entrance to the ring in probably any federation, The Sandman is not to be missed. Throw in Tommy Dreamer and Spike Dudley on ladders and you have a great way to finish an awesome PPV event.

ECW is what brought me back into wrestling when the then WWF was shit. ECW restored my faith in the wrestling industry that yes they could put out a product that was different from Vince McMahon and be successful. If you are even slightly interested in wrestling, if you watch WWE currently and have never seen anything else you owe it to yourself, and all the wrestlers who now suck in WWE but were great in ECW to watch this event. It's worth it, I'll guarandamntee you that.

DOWNS

What The Fuck, Send This to a Friend

Don't like what I have to say? Do you think I really care? Hit me here.

Click here for more Articles by this Author