Review of WWE: ECW December to Dismember 2006

Introduction

Although the two companies are known by the same ECW moniker, and many of the original stars are still present in some capacity, the difference between the independently-promoted Extreme Championship Wrestling and the WWE-owned version couldn`t be more stark. The former was a cult phenomenon on the back of its innovative style and minimalist presentation. The latter added wonderful production values but lacked every ounce of rebellious charm.

"December to Dismember" was the first WWECW (as it has been coined) pay-per-view event, emanating from the James Brown Arena in Augusta, Georgia, on 4th December 2006. The event`s positioning on the WWE calendar was startling, given that it was held one week after the Survivor Series, traditionally one of the "Big Four" events of the year. The card too, seemed a little lightweight, with the main event one of the few announced attractions, as ECW champion The Big Show defended his title in an Extreme Elimination Chamber match against CM Punk, Rob Van Dam, Sabu, Bobby Lashley, and Test.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL and is typically excellent for a DVD of this genre. The ECW production values are toned down ever-so-slightly from the usual WWE standard, in an attempt to preserve the cult feel, but are still light years ahead of anything the original ECW crew had when they promoted their first pay-per-view in 1997. The transfer remains at WWE DVD standards, making the video here much better than on the original television broadcast.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and is also very good. All sounds are mixed superbly, so that in-ring action, music, and commentary (provided by Joey Styles and Tazz) can all be heard clearly at all times.

There are further 2.0 tracks available in Spanish, Italian, German, and French, as well as subtitles of the English track in Dutch and Portuguese.

Features

There is little of any great note contained within the extra features here, which begin with post-match interviews with every man involved in the Extreme Elimination Chamber match. These are short, basic interviews, although Bobby Lashley does show more charisma here than I have previously seen from him.

The other extra available is the ECW World Title re-match from 5th December 2006. Without giving anything away, the bout is contested between The Big Show and Bobby Lashley, and is a reasonable bout, though more intriguing for Lashley`s attempts at slamming his 500lb opponent than anything else.

Conclusion

December to Dismember began with a tag team match, featuring a total of zero participants from the ECW TV shows. Indeed, although MNM vs. The Hardy Boyz was a very good opener, some of the wind was taken from their sales by both this fact, and because it was announced that neither combination were likely to team ever again.

After Matt Striker faced Balls Mahoney in a dreadful TV-style encounter, former K-1 kickboxer Sylvester Terkay teamed with Elijah Burke to face Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke. This was only marginally better than the Striker vs. Mahoney encounter. At no point was the result in doubt, and this felt more like a television time-filler than a pay-per-view attraction.

In between this and the next bout, Tommy Dreamer vs. Daivari, we got a look backstage look at EMTs attending to Sabu, who was apparently attacked and injured, thus eliminating him from the main event. Unfortunately for WWE, the crowd were smart to the storyline, and fervently chanted their disgust.

Dreamer then faced Daivari in seven minutes of absolute nothingness, before Kevin Thorn and Ariel teamed to face Mike Knox and Kelly Kelly (sic). This match was without question one of the very worst of 2006, with the female exchanges somewhat worse than pathetic.

Curiously early in proceedings, it was then time for the main event, which featured Bob Holly replacing the "injured" Sabu. This match was at least reasonable, although the extra weapons that adorned the Chamber actually took away some of the structure`s aura. There was also a surprising (and not in a good way) early elimination of one of the participants, which seemed to further flatten the crowd, evidenced by several "Boring!" chants later on.

And then, at 2hrs 15minutes…that was it.

Except for at home, where hundreds of viewers telephoned their pay-per-view suppliers, demanding a refund for such a dreadful show, which did not feature the advertised main event, and ended thirty minutes earlier than expected. Thank goodness the event was shown on "regular" Sky Sports in the UK.

The criticism of the event was unrelenting, and rightly so. Of the six matches presented here, only one felt like pay-per-view calibre, and that only because of the unusual match stipulations. The others - with Thorn/Ariel vs. Knox/Kelly the worst culprit - would have been channel-changing fodder had they been shown on free television, and thus their inclusion on a pay-per-view event was nigh on criminal. In a world where TV ratings are so important, the company would never have dared offer up such rubbish for television consumption.

In the days after the show, ECW writer Paul Heyman either quit, or was removed from his job. Heyman claimed that Vince McMahon changed the December to Dismember script from his original plan, thus rendering it a dud. McMahon, on the other hand, blamed Heyman for writing a show that had to be changed so drastically. In the end, McMahon vs. Heyman would have only one winner.

Overall, December to Dismember was truly one of the worst pay-per-view events of all-time, even worse than the previous week`s Survivor Series. I enjoyed the opening tag team bout, but was somewhat bored even with the main event. In between, four matches completely insulted my intelligence, and as such I have no hesitation in suggesting that this disc is the worst WWE release in recent memory.