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Byte This! Report
Wednesday 11/17/04
ECW Reunion Show
Part 2

TOMMY DREAMER

They showed the final moments of Tommy Dreamer vs. Raven from ECW WrestlePalooza ’97.

Matthews asks Dreamer why he isn’t in the studio. Dreamer says he guesses he was a last minute thing and that’s just what happens when it’s time to kick him low. Heyman says that certain people don’t want he and Dreamer in the same room at the same time. Dreamer says it’s that “restraining order” they have. Heyman says that people are afraid they might think alike. Dreamer says that if that happens, “something good might happen in wrestling and we can’t have that.”

Dreamer joked that Matthews won more matches in two weeks then Dreamer was able to three years. Dreamer said that the DVD is a phenomenal DVD and wanted to thank WWE for letting the truthful ECW story be told. He says that he suggests everyone go out and get it, if they can find it since it’s flying off the shelves. He says that WWE did a good job and he called Heyman and had an old school moment with Paul about it. He says that the people who worked on the DVD created a phenomenal piece of business.

Matthews brings up Dreamer’s ECW World Heavyweight championship win. Dreamer said that ECW, as always, made history as a WWE contracted wrestler faced a WCW contracted wrestler in an ECW ring. He says that it was all BS but Paul was in the middle of it with his lawyers. He says that WWE stepped in since everyone hated WCW. He says that he fought with Heyman forever about winning the belt but was happy that he only had it 18 minutes.

Heyman explained that Tommy’s character was the everyman, like Bruce Willis in “Die Hard.” He said the whole story was to see what would happen to Tommy when he was oppressed and what he would do to achieve and overcome when pushed to extreme measures and circumstances. He says that Dreamer was the perfect person to defeat Tazz for the championship. So, once Dreamer would win the belt, it was a great moment but it was wrong for the character because he couldn’t be oppressed if he was the champion – so they booked it for Justin Credible to take the belt immediately. Heyman says Credible was on the top of his greatest run in the business at that point, bringing up the angle where Credible stopped the 10 bell salute for Dreamer’s grandfather. He says that it was the best moment of Dreamer’s life with his friends from outside the business there, and everyone praising him. He says that right after the greatest moment of his life, he was faced with the worst.

When asked about the greatest moment of being a part of ECW, Dreamer said that it was getting up everyday as part of ECW. He said that he was making a difference in the world of wrestling and he took pride in that. He said that to name one moment would be an injustice for what went down with historic moments. Dreamer said his least favorite moment was the day it went out of business. He says that he was there longer than Paul, who was the owner. When asked how that could be, Dreamer said, “I was the stupidest person there.”

After a fan correctly guessed a trivia question about the lesbian angle in ECW, former ECW star Beulah McGuillicuty made her first public appearance since leaving the business in 1998. McGuillicuty came on the air briefly via telephone to thank him. She said that she is doing great and thanked the fan for his support of ECW. After McGuillicuty had left the show, Paul Heyman noted that she was now married to Tommy Dreamer and at one point, turned down a $10,000 offer from ECW to return for one appearance against Dawn Marie during Dreamer's feud with Lance Storm. Heyman also noted that when she left, she was out so completely that ECW's videogame license Acclaim had to personally negotiate with her in order to include her as a legends character in the first ECW videogame, Hardcore Revolution.

Dreamer joked that it was a shocking ECW moment as she’s someone who never wanted to be back on camera ever again. He says that she too enjoyed the ECW DVD. Heyman said that he had a problem with watching the DVD as to him it was confronting ECW. He said that Tazz and several others including Tommy told him that they had seen the DVD. Heyman said what compelled him to watch the DVD was the fact that Dreamer was choked up about it because nothing moves Dreamer. He says that Tommy thinks about ECW more than Heyman does and has moved on and talked about it. He said that when Beulah got on the phone and discussed ECW with him and he realized that someone who had truly moved on from ECW was moved by it, he knew he had to watch it right away.

Heyman says that Beulah was the greatest valet in ECW history and notes that WWE writers like Dave Lagana and Ed Croskey ask about Beulah He said that they tried to make her a heel and the fans loved her – it was “Miss Elizabeth times ten.” Dreamer asked “How come if so many former ECW fans are on the writing team, I’m not on Raw or Smackdown – what the hell?” Dreamer then says that that’s the controversy of Tommy Dreamer, his big fat mouth, and that’s why he’s sitting in an office.

Dreamer says that he wants to thank everyone and he’s spoken to a lot of former ECW stars like Shane Douglas, New Jack, Sandman, and Raven and they are very elated about the DVD. He says that a lot of WWE stars who weren’t a part of ECW were happy to watch it and see what ECW stars went through.

Dreamer said it was the story of David and Goliath and “this time, Goliath won” but “David kicked a little bit of a** along the way.” Dreamer said thank you to all the fans and he’ll be in trouble tomorrow but he has to be who he is.

Dreamer said to Heyman publicly that he wanted to kill him a lot of days after the end of ECW but they had a lot of great days during ECW. He thanks Heyman for everything he did for Tommy Dreamer and he’s still the craziest man Dreamer knows, but “No, the restraining order isn’t lifted.”

REY MYSTERIO

After a clip of Psicosis vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. aired, Rey joined the show. Heyman pointed out that the match they just saw was so good, that everyone involved was brought to the next level, and that’s what ECW was all about.

Rey said that ECW opened the doors for bigger companies to bring in Cruiserweights and that for the first time ever, fans in Philadelphia were able to see the Lucha action they could only follow on cable television.

When asked about ECW’s influence on Cruiserweight wrestling, Rey said that ECW helped make it bigger than it would have been. He said that WCW thought their cruiser division dominated but it wasn’t run the right way. He said that ECW would throw Cruisers on the top of the card and they would be all over the card, from the top to the bottom. He equated it to Mexico where there are smaller stars and said that ECW gave a lot of smaller stars a chance to shine, including him.

Heyman says that Konnan deserves a lot of credit for that, as he was the one who brought the Lucha stars to ECW. Heyman said that Konnan wanted to get involved with ECW and always asked if there was anything he could do to get involved and help. In August 1995, WCW stole Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, and Chris Benoit from the company at a point where Benoit was being groomed to be ECW champion and the others were feuding over the Television championship. He said that the locker room was freaking out and he decided that instead of more pure wrestlers, he needed something new. He asked Konnan what he thought they should do and Konnan said he would send Rey and Psicosis and follow up with La Parka and Juventud Guerrera. Heyman said he was a big fan of all of them and the Lucha style and thought they would fit in with the Extreme style. He said that by the end of their debut match, no one was worrying about what they had lost anymore. He said Konnan deserves a lot of the credit and they gave it to him on the DVD.

Matthews asks Rey if WWE gives the Cruiserweights the same type of attention that it received in ECW. Rey said that everyone is aware of how the Cruiserweight division is treated, in that it isn’t emphasized enough and it isn’t given enough credibility. He says it could be a lot higher than it is right now. Rey says that there is so much talent in it right now and it is full of excitement and technical wrestling and aerial moves and they can dominate.

When asked if the current crop is the best collection of Cruiserweights, Rey says that he thinks so but there will always be someone new coming up trying to innovate and doing even more new moves. He says that when he was coming up, that was his mindset but the current talent that WWE has could easily put the Cruiserweights on top.

When asked who he would want to face in an ECW match, Rey said Sabu as he never got to face him in ECW. Rey says that he enjoys working with tables and chairs and going into the crowd and brawling on cars, but it’s something he doesn’t get to do in WWE. He says that he could bring that style to a match with Sabu.

Matthews discusses the hurrancarana off the car that Rey did in ECW. Rey said that the first time he walked in, he asked what he was allowed to do and not do and Heyman told him to just go out there and tear it up so they did. He said that they did every move they could think of and did a frankensteiner off the stage. He says that everytime they worked ECW, they couldn’t get enough of the adrenaline rush. He says that it’s a shame ECW isn’t alive today because “I’d be there in a heartbeat.”

Rey says that everyone who came to ECW whether they were there for a year or just one appearance, took pride in what they did and teared it up for the fans in the ECW Arena. He said that they gave it all that they could give in one night and left a lot of memories behind.

Rey left the show, thanking Paul Heyman for bringing him into the United States for the first time. Matthews brought up the story of Super Crazy being deported while working for ECW. Heyman said that he was living with Tajiri and when he went home, he didn’t have the proper visa to return to the United States. He says that they brought him back eventually and he really misses watching him. He says that his Three-Way Dances with Nunzio and Tajiri was some of the greatest matches ever.

Heyman tells the story of how the fans would count in Spanish when he was punching an opponent in the corner without any provocation and Crazy began laughing so hard, he began crying. Heyman said that was the story of ECW, the fans. He said Crazy was moved and they were all shocked by the connection that the fans had to ECW.

Heyman said that ECW was the love affair of the audience with the performers and giving back to the audience. He says the performers were like junkies for the audience’s acceptance. He says that as big as the WWE has become, no fans chant, “WWE.” On the same coin, he says that ECW never drew 70,000 fans like WWE. He says that there were fans with tattoo with ECW and a fan who’s son was given the initial ECW. He says that that kind of bond can’t be bought and only happens at the right moment at the right time and he hopes that the DVD gives back to the audience what they gave to ECW. He says that the fans drove the company and he has nothing to sell to them anymore so he’s saying it out of appreciation.

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