[2000-09-10-ECW-Hardcore TV] Rob Van Dam vs Scotty Anton

[soup23]

Hopefully, this is the end of this feud. RVD just doesn't hold up at all as there is no emotional connection for me with him and the moves don't look that state of the art or fluid. I guess he has more polish than some of the stuff he did in 1996 but there is also more bloat. He dominates the first half of this match and takes his sweet time to execute everything. Anton takes over and this is the best part of the match although nothing extraordinary. RVD going back on offense with a kick of a chair from a running charge from Anton was lame. Frog Splash a few minutes later ends it. Yawn and way too long. *

[AstroBoy]

I can't buy into the grudge here at all. RVD really lacks any kind of menace or seriousness to work this kind of grudge match anyway. So much of his offense requires time and cooperation from his opponent and it takes away from any harsh brawling. This was on the long side and Anton doesn't do much for me either. RVD wins with the Frog Splash.

 

*1/4

[GSR]

A pretty ropey start to this with Anton powerbombing Bill Alfonso after Fonzie had told him that Rob Van Dam is going to “smoke his ass”.  What looked bad was that RVD was in the ring as this was happening and while I know he gets easily distracted in matches, this was pushing it to think he wouldn’t notice what was going on.  Eventually he does, although only after the damage is done, and levels Scotty with a spinning heel kick.  Anton rolls to the outside with Van Dam following him to the floor, hammering away on him before throwing him into the front row.  He climbs to the top turnbuckle and leaps off it with a plancha deep into the crowd.  Guillotine leg drop to the back of the neck after Anton had been dumped across the metal railings.  For a supposed ‘grudge match’ Van Dam is more interested in slapping hands with the fans as opposed to dishing out some pain.  Thrust kick off the guard rail.  Back inside and a slingshot legdrop followed by ‘Rolling Thunder’ as RVD looks to target those ribs that Scotty was just holding.  Joey Styles says how Van Dam is “consumed with hatred”, he’s consumed with something alright, I don’t know whether it’s hatred though!  He crotches Anton across the top rope, looks around, then crotches him on another side of the ring, finally kicking him in the head.  This made no sense at the time and only some while later, when typing all this up, did I realise he was expecting Fonzie to throw him a chair.  Anton falls into the corner after an inverted atomic drop, RVD looks for Fonzie to pass him the chair but he’s nowhere to be seen following that earlier powerbomb.  Scotty with a clothesline, he then picks Van Dam up and dumps him over the top rope to the floor.  Bulldog from the apron into the guard rail, although Anton hurt himself as much on that as he’s back clutching his ribs.  Oh there’s Fonzie, laid out on the floor.  Scotty runs him into the ring post before returning to the ring and tying him in the ‘Tree of Woe’.  He picks up a chair and charges at RVD who, from an upside down position, kicks the chair into Anton’s own face.  Split legged moonsault for a two.  Van Dam leaps to the top, however Scotty swipes his legs out crotching him up there.  Suicideplex as Anton goes for broke looking for the win.  He does the clap with RVD’s own hands but that just seems to fire him up.  Step through spin kick.  Leaping side kick from the top followed by a cart wheel into a back flip.  Fonzie finally comes through throwing a chair in there and even though it’s caught by Anton in essence it’s just saving RVD a job as he hits the ‘Van Daminator’ kicking the chair into his own face.  The ‘Five Star’ frog splash and this one’s over.  Rhino is out, not wanting to wait until Anarchy Rulz, and the show goes off the air with the two going at it.

Terribly dull and like with a lot of Van Dam’s matches there appears to be no urgency whatsoever from him; that comes across even worse than usual in a bout like this where Joey Styles is preaching about supposed ‘hatred’ that he has for his opponent.