The 2000s was a year of Extreme Championship Wrestling offshoots and reunion shows. Now, Ring of Honor became the most successful offshoot but we can’t for the Hardcore Homecoming show from June 2005.
This show went down two days before the original ECW One Night Stand. We’re looking at Hardcore Homecoming but we’ll also look at One Night Stand in “Extreme is Alive”, compare the two shows, and include a bonus for “extreme vibe check” or how much it resembled an ECW show.
Hardcore Homecoming: The Best
It takes a bit but once we get to 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Kid Kash, we’re looking at the exciting, competitive bouts ECW had in its shows. This one isn’t a fast-paced as it would’ve been a few years earlier but Kash wasn’t half-stepping and 2 Cold Scorpio was as crisp as he could be here.
Actually, Kash was as nimble and speedy as Scorpio used to be in ECW whereas Scorpio kind of paced the match but was still looked like a strong athlete. If it was a little faster this would’ve been my hands-down pick for match of the night.
With no partner, Kronus faced the Bad Breed (Ian and Axl Rotten) on his own before New Jack came out, reforming “The Gangstanators” for one night. This was an absolutely wild and bloody brawl—mandatory for an ECW event.
The crowd popped when New Jack came out and was rabid throughout the match. It wasn’t lengthy and winding and there weren’t many lulls in the action as clubbing blow and weapon shots were plentiful.
New Jack’s dive off of the rolling scaffold also got a great reaction from the crowd as did his post-match promo—which was the promo of the night. Match of the Night honors goes to Jerry Lynn vs. Justin Credible.
This was match would’ve been perfectly at home on an ECW Hardcore TV or any ECW PPV. It was exciting, it was perfectly paced, and have plenty of thrills and spills in addition to the ringwork you’d expect from these two.
Even with the interference from Jason—expected—and Jazz coming in to even the score—expected and welcome—this was still a really good match.
The Rest
Tracy Smothers vs. The Blue Meanie was an alright comedy match nothing to write home about. It went a little long but it was alright. This and the rock-solid opener with Mikey Whipwreck and Chris Chetti facing Simon Diamond and C.W Anderson were the only two matches where I didn’t know who was going to win.
Raven vs. The Sandman kind of went the way you’d expect but it was solid enough. You expect Raven to out-trick The Sandman before taking him apart that going punch-for-punch first. Still don’t know where in the hell The Musketeer fits in.
The main event obviously wasn’t going to be as good as the original three-way dance barbed wire match but Sabu, Terry Funk, and Shane Douglas did put on an entertaining match.
Funk’s yells, when caught in the barbed wire, were still as loud as they’ve always been. Sabu was really the only one in near original condition for the action in this bout which is to be expected with the years of punishment everyone involved took over the years.
There was a botch at the end when it was down to Sabu and Funk with the ladder giving out on Funk after Mick Foley—who ran in as the referee—attempted to steady it. I mean that ladder crumpled.
This wasn’t one of the sturdy ladders used by WWE at all, folks. Also, the fans weren’t here for Mr. Socko at all but they rocked with Mr. Socko wrapped in barbed wire.
Verdict: Bronze Medal Show (2.7/5)
Without the comedy match and a few minutes off the Scorpio vs. Kash match and this would’ve been in Silver Medal territory. Everything else was fine where it is and went down as expected.
As I said, the match of the night was Lynn vs. Credible followed by Scorpio vs. Kash and Bad Breed vs. The Gangstanators. However, we still have to factor in the Extreme Vibe Check! How true to the original was Hardcore Homecoming? https://theovertimer.com/2020/12/into-the-vault-ecw-the-doctor-is-in/
Extreme Vibe Check: Gold Medal (5/5)
This was a pure ECW show from the crowd’s energy to the disjointed flow of the show to the production quality of the original DVD. All of it was pure ECW to the core. Actually, it’s more accurate to say it’s true to 1994-1997 ECW with some 1998-2001 for seasoning.
That’s an important distinction to make as the first half of Extreme Championship Wrestling’s run was different from the later years.
Final Verdict: Silver Medal Show (3.8/5)
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