Search - ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling) - Heatwave '98 on DVD

ECW at its prime.

Lynn E. Major | Hemet, CA United States | 12/16/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Being a long time fan of Extreme Championship Wrestling, I have to say that this was HANDS DOWN the most exciting ECW Pay-Per-View I had the pleasure of watching. There wasn't one match that I thought was boring "filler," every match had its own history and importance -- and to be honest, either of them could have qualified as "main event" status in my opinion.My absolute favorite matches were:Mike Awesome VS. Masato Tanaka:
These two have history which dates back to Awesome's days in FMW, wrestling under "The Gladiator" name (Better gimmick since Awesome epitomizes the name.) This was the start of many matches between the two afterwards, and the "awesome" bump which sees Masato Tanaka powerbomb him OVER the top-rope and out of the ring through a table, demolishing it in the process!Rob Van Dam & Sabu VS. Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki
This is DEFINITELY my favorite tag-team match of all time. Both teams were constantly trying to show the other up with spectacular double-team maneuvers. Even Van Dam and Sabu constantly out-do eachother and hog for the spotlight! The ending involves Hayabusa and Shinzaki both laying on two tables side by side in the center of the ring and Sabu/Van Dam on opposite ends of the top turnbuckles dropping double leg-drop's in unison to flatten their opponents (and the tables!)Dudley Boyz VS. Sandman, Dreamer, & Little Spike Dudley
There was an emotional build up leading to this match. The Dudley Boyz had previously delivered Beulah, Dreamer's vallet, "3D: The Dudley Death Drop" at a prior event, thus breaking her neck which sent Tommy Dreamer into a tantrum wanting revenge on his crude, foul mouthed aggressors. Boy, is revenge sweet! This was a riot! Near the end when all four members of Dudleyville are hanging upside down on the turnbuckles (Tree-of-Woe position) Sandman, Dreamer, and Little Spike Dudley place chairs next to their faces and of all people the REFEREE decides to lend a hand as everyone baseball slides into the chairs! This was halarious and pretty F'N cool. To top it off, New Jack comes out and adds the icing to the cake with his small arsenal of weapons.Some people try to pass off ECW as a "mindless violence" organization, but I guarantee that it wouldn't have had the following it does without some GREAT wrestling. What many fail to see is that ECW had many of the best PURE wrestling matches you or I had ever seen this side of Japan, where they treat it moreso as a sport and not "sports entertainment." WWE's watered down, cliched wrestling matches are 90% not even worth keeping your eyes open for, whereas ECW would have you literally standing, eyes glued to the television in disbelief saying "I've never seen that in my life!" ECW was all about originality -- it started the "hardcore" trend over here, and despite many weak attempts by feds like XPW to mold themselves after ECW, they could never quite get the knock-off ingredients to work. Many of ECW's wrestlers were extremely innovative in the wrestling department, and we've seen moves and ideas both copied and stolen by the WWE and WCW in their respective time. Speaking of the WWE, it's rather saddening to see former ECW talent being held back, thrown away, or ruined. I wish Vince McMahon and the higher-ups would wake up and market these guys correctly.. Can't you still hear those "ECW" chants for guys like Tommy Dreamer on Monday Night Raw?"

ECW HEATWAVE 1998 IS EXTREMELY HOT

cengiz mutluol | Australia, NSW | 06/13/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"ECW performed one of there most hot wired performances of there short history.All matches were done with 100% effort, if you are a WWE fan you would find this hard to believe considering the WWE PPV's, but welcome to ECW where all wrestlers poor there guts out for there fans no matter how bad they are injured these guys will give top performances.THE SUMMER SERIES FINALS!
JUSTIN CREDIBLE vs JERRY LYNN
Unbelievable opener, if you know these guys from the WWE, you dont really know them.This is a back and forth scientific wrestling war with a nice table spot and a great ending.I really enjoyed this match.FORMER PARTNERS COLLIDE!
CHRIS CANDIDO vs LANCE STORM
Very nice match up between these two.Fans of Lance Storm will enjoy this, although he has had better matches, these two worked very well with each other which ends with a powerbomb from the top rope to the other side of the ring.INTERNATIONAL WARFARE!
MIKE AWESOME vs MASATO TANAKA
Extremely hard hitting matches you would expect from these two.Alot of chairs, high flying moves and a table makes this a very in your face confrontation.No rest periods taking in this match just back and forth fast paced power move after power move battle which ends with a very extreme table break which Awesome landed to the concrete on the back of his neck and somehow finsihed the match.Most defanatly one of the nights HOTTEST.ECW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP!
SABU & ROB VAN DAM vs HAYABUSA & JINSEI SHINZAKIWOW what a match, alot of effort poured into this hard fought match.A slow start but do give it time as it will turn into a classic back and forth, martial arts war.The japanese guys are very good in this match and really shine more than RVD and Sabu.The match also features another AWE inspiring finisher.This would have to be one ECW's finest tag matches and if there is another one like it i do really want to see it.Some say this is the best match on the card and i cant really argue with that.MUST SEE MATCHFTW DEATH MATCH!
TAZ vs BAM BAM BIGALOW
If you are a fan of out of control brawls you will love this.Im not a fan of brawls so to me this wasnt the best match but the scorching hot ending is worth the wait.DUDLEYVILLE STREET FIGHT!
TOMMY DREAMER, THE SANDMAN & SPIKE DUDLY vs THE DUDLY BOYZ
The name of the match says it all.They start off with some wrestling but doesnt take long till all participants spread out to ring side and ladders and chairs come in to use.Some say this was very dissapointing, i can see why as when the brawling started to get really interesting and fast it all of a sudden just ends.But for some reason i put this dvd on just to watch this match, probably because it is a fun bumb fest match.If there are more matches like this i want to know what they are.New Jack also makes an appearance and makes work of the Dudlyz and jack victory with all sorts of weapons with a great picture of the champs.OVERALL
Im going to say it straight out, this is a must have dvd whether you are a fan of hardcore, high flying, techniqle or scientific wrestling it is all here on one HOT disc."

GREATEST PPV I EVER SAW!

cengiz mutluol | 12/11/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"WOW...I recently bought Barely Legal 97 and I thought that was great...but Heatwave tops that off...Here are my ratings for the matches...1. Jerry Lynn vs Justin Credible- This was a good choice for an opener to a great PPV. Both men were great in the ring..had a couple of highspots and was fast paced. I think like one chair was used once and it still turned out to be a great match. RATING- 8/102. Chris Candido vs Lance Storm- This second match of the match was very awesome as well. Both used great technical, highflying, and quick paced wrestling into a nice match. RATING- 8.5/103. Mike Awesome vs Masato Tanaka- This match was just AWESOME. With Mike's great size and him flying through the air with ease was just amazing by itself. These two men had been feuding for a while and this match was great. The table spot at the end was breath taking. RATING 9/104. RVD/Sabu vs Hayabusa/Shinaki- This match was the best match in the PPV. The moves and the highspots were tremendous and the ending truly put this match over the top. The match was a little slow in the beginning, but once you give this match some time...it's truly worth it. RATING- 10/105. Bam Bam vs Taz- This was a cool grudge match. A little boring but they went all around the arena and the spot with the entrance aisle was very cool. RATING- 9/106. Buh Buh/Dvon/Big Dick vs Spike/Dreamer/Sandman- This was a great main event. All the men impressed me in this match and all of them took great bumps that made my jaw drop. Great post match ending with appearances by New Jack and Jack Victory. RATING- 10/10With out a doubt...Heatwave 98 was the greatest PPV that I ever layed on eyes upon. All the men put their hearts and souls into making this ppv great. No half-(...) jobs here...it was more than Justin Credible...it was Overly Amazing!"

ECW AT ITS BEST

pacer317 | Kernersville, NC United States | 12/06/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I gog this DVD a couple of months ago...and have now decided to write a review for one of ECW's BEST PPV's in history!!! Let's get a rundown of some of the fine matches:Match 1: Justin Credible vs. Jerry Lynn-What an awesome match! These two waged war to end their feud in the Summer Series Finale. Great table work by Jerry Lynn (hurricanranna off the top rope outside through a table!) Also, a great and brutal ending! ****1/2 (out of 5)Match 2: Chris Candido vs. Lance Storm-Also a great matc with good technical contest at some points-but at some points an all-out brawl. Good entertainment. ****Match 3: Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka-Oh My God. What a match. Tanaka with his chairs, and Awesome with the tables (even though that backfired on him bad!) makes this a must-see match. Great action...not a boring moment!! ****1/2Match 4: Sabu and RVD vs. Hayabusa and Shinzaki-Another classic. I couldn't believe what these guys did to each other. This match is so hot you're gonna want to hose yourself down afterwards. *****Match 5: Taz vs. Bam Bam Bigelow-A huge brawl that spanned the arena until it ended up right back in the ring where they use a table and some chairs...and then...then ending! Taz putting BBB through the ring was nothing compared to what he puts him through this time! A good quote just after the "ending" happened: "They are dead...oh my God!"-Shane Douglas. *****Match 6: Dudley Boyz vs. Dreamer, Sandman, and Spike Dudley-Well...this sums it up...the last match on the dvd. Not even the best...but the most HARDCORE. Spike flies off about 20 feet in the air...4-way- sliding-kick-chair-in-the-face. Dudleys pissing the crowd off, chairs, tables, and canes. What a match!X-Tra Stuff:
1. Footage of New Jack being attacked by Dudleys and Jack Victory in the parking lot. REALLY cool.2. RVD/Sabu/Bill Alfonso Promo-Hilarious3. Taz Promo4. Dudley Boyz promoAnd...an appearence of New Jack at the end of the last match...really cool!Overall...a great PPV. One of the best ever. Go ahead and buy it! *****"