Highlights
- ECW One Night Stand 2005 was a historic event that brought together the biggest and best wrestlers from the Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion.
- The show featured incredible matches and a white-hot crowd that showed no signs of burning out. Former ECW owner Paul Heyman delivered a memorable promo, and The Sandman's entrance was legendary.
- The night ended with a classic beer bash involving 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, The Sandman, and the entire ECW locker room, making it a perfect tribute to the era of extreme.
2,500 passionate, screaming wrestling fans can still be heard echoing the chants of "ECW" in the streets of New York City almost two decades after a truly historic pay-per-view
WWE sold out the iconic Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City for an intimate one-night reunion of the biggest and best wrestlers from the Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion on June 12th, 2005, over four years after the original demise of the hugely popular hardcore wrestling company.
The show gave a glimpse of an alternate reality where ECW never went broke, and instead made it big time.
A star-studded card filled with ECW veterans produced some incredible matches. Lance Storm battled his old running buddy Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio took on Psicosis, Sabu and Rhyno destroyed each other, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero put on a clinic, and Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka played it back one last time.
This was ECW at its best, in what looked to be its final and finest hour.
Paul Heyman addresses the ECW fans in the iconic Hammerstein Ballroom
A white-hot crowd showed no signs of burning out during the entirety of the show. The extreme fans were riled up even further by an emphatic planned shoot promo by former ECW owner Paul Heyman, who directed a tirade of abuse towards WWE Raw and SmackDown superstars sitting in the VIP sections.
Then, just when it looked like the ovations couldn't get any louder, it was time for the main event.
Enter, The Sandman.
Video: The Sandman's uncensored ECW One Night Stand 2005 entrance
"He's already busted open, and the match hasn't even begun yet!" - ECW commentator Joey Styles on Sandman's entrance, ECW One Night Stand 2005.
The roof of the Hammerstein Ballroom was metaphorically lifted the second that "Enter Sandman" by Metallica began playing over the speakers. "Nobody embodies the ECW lifestyle more than this man" were the words spoken by WWE Hall of Famer and ECW legend, Mick Foley, a sentiment which was shared by 2,500 strong as The Sandman emerged in the middle of the crowd.
There wasn't a single butt left in a seat in the entire arena as the quintessential badass cracked open his first beer and drank a mighty gulp before proceeding to beat himself senseless with the can and spitting the contents all over his adoring audience, a traditional Sandman entrance.
Sandman proceeded to make his way through the electric audience, receiving pats on the back and thank-yous, but the Hardcore Icon wasn't ready to make his way to the ring just yet. In fact, the party had just begun, echoing Joey Styles' previous comment stating "the bar is open."
Sandman shares a beer with 2,500 screaming ECW fans
Sandman, with the fans holding him up, cracked open another beer. There was incredible audience participation with 2,500 frantic ECW fans belting out his iconic theme music. This one wasn't to go completely to waste, however, as a smiling Sandman proceeded to pour one out onto the audience below.
Finally, creeping closer to the ring, Sandman was once again held stable by the fans as he climbed atop a guard rail to crack another one open. One fan in particular held up a replica of the original ECW World Heavyweight Championship to Sandman's waist, a stern reminder for the five-time World Champion, Sandman, of the brand he was representing to perfection.
An, ahem, genetically gifted planted female fan in the front row was about to get the ultimate Sandman experience as he proceeded to cover her chest in beer, before indulging. ECW alumna Elektra was also in the front row and received the same treatment from both Sandman and the man who was scheduled to be his tag-team partner in the main event, fellow ECW legend, Tommy Dreamer.
The Sandman sends a message to John "Bradshaw" Layfield
At ringside, Sandman had one final statement to make as he looked up and locked eyes with John "Bradshaw" Layfield in the VIP section. JBL, who was notoriously outspoken about his hatred of ECW, was visibly livid as Sandman challenged him to come down for a fight, before using his own trademark Singapore cane to call Bradshaw a certain something.
Sandman proceeded to spit and blow snot on the floor, still maintaining eye contact with Bradshaw and making his feelings toward the loudmouthed WWE veteran abundantly clear. As Sandman and Tommy Dreamer stood across the ring from their opponents, the legendary Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von), chants for "ECW" could be heard as "Enter Sandman" finally faded out.
The fans in attendance were given a classic and chaotic ECW match full of nostalgia, as ECW alumna the Blue World Order and the Chair Swinging Freaks also made appearances. ECW pulled out all the stops and referenced so many classic rivalries and moments. In the end, a blood-stained canvas, remnants of burnt tables, and the crumpled mess of Tommy Dreamer were all that remained in the ring.
The Dudley Boyz had won the match, but Sandman was about to win the war. With a Singapore cane in hand, Sandman came to the aid of Tommy Dreamer and cleared The Dudleys from the ring to a roaring ovation before scrambling over to check on a bloodied and battered Dreamer, who had just been put through a flaming table.
Just when it looked like Sandman was about to call for medical assistance for Dreamer, he looked to the curtain and shouted, "Someone get me a beer!"
That was the signal for another former ECW wrestler turned WWE megastar, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, to make an appearance. The show closed out with a classic beer bash between Austin, Sandman, and the entire ECW locker room after the hardcore veterans had cleared the ring of the invading WWE superstars.
ECW One Night Stand 2005 was the perfect tribute to the era of extreme from start to finish. WWE fans will be hard-pressed to find a show as electric as this one, and for any fans who may not be familiar with ECW, this is a show to watch back, and it will likely inspire you to go back and watch the ECW classics over on Peacock and the WWE Network.
Here at GIVEMESPORT, we would like to pour one out for The Sandman for giving wrestling fans one of the most epic goosebump-inducing wrestling entrances of all time.