Whoomp! There It Is

Dean Malenko (c) VS 2 Cold Scorpio - ECW TV Championship 3/21/1995

JJZ: Please forgive me for the playing a match forward that has the Long Island Ice Z introducing and interrupting these great wrestlers. I started watching this match because how the hell could I not watch a Dean Malenko versus 2 Cold Scorpio ECW TV Title match. But while I was watching I saw a match unfold that was 180 different than your Sabu 2 Cold match, and I knew that this was my pick. Whenever I can get a match that showcases the depth of wrestler I always lean towards it. Watching Dean being Dean and 2 Cold selling very well while building to the highspots was just plain fun to watch in an ECW ring. I probably have seen this before but I don't recall off the top of my head and who cares. I had a blast watching this.

CJD: I'll say this. I'd much rather see Ryder in this capacity than see him wrestle. It suits the superfan in him. Scorpio did sell really well in this and Dean did too. He had a great ability to seem like a world beater while still showing vulnerability. This is our third straight Misawa Dick Togo Santo OuterContinental Championship match commentated exclusively by Joey Styles, so let me take a minute to sing his praises. Joey had cliches he'd fall into at times. He knew what he did well and he milked that. But his positives really can't be taught. He knew when to let a match breathe. He knew when to slide into analysis and when to call the action. He knew how to make me question the outcome of a match. And most of all, he knew how to sound sincere in his reactions even when he's seen the same stuff over, and over, and over. Back to the action, I was going to joke after the headlock held out of and back into the ring that Kobashi and MiSu clearly were inspired by this match. But by the end I really did get a little bit of a Kobashi babyface vibe from Scorpio. Way less fire but still a very determined, sympathetic performance here. And man am I happy to dig back into some Malenko next week.