From "Cyberslam 99"
If you can put up with interference by Sabu and Fonzy at the very end this is a great match, maybe one of the ten best ECW matches I've ever seen. And it's a total Scorpio carry job. Right out of the gate this has a really awesome dynamic as you have the guy who sort of defined slick highspots and the ECW TV title v. the guy who fetishized slick highspots and elevated the tv title above the World title. It has a real clash of the titans feel to it and Scorp wrestles this almost like he believes the title still belongs to him and Van Dam has it on a loner basis.
Early you get a bunch of cool shit like Scorpio going into a fighting stance leaning into RVD's kicks making them look like potential knockout blows before crumpling in the corner. Later when Scorp has Van Dam back pedaling with strikes, RVD goes for a standing jump kick and Scorp just sort of leans his head back before peppering him again. Scorp brings his A game and really unloads on Rob with his offense but the match never even enters spotfest territory because the pacing is perfect and Scorpio drops his staple "cocky guy hitting big moves and then not going for pinfall" gimmick which really helps the flow of this.
I thought they structured this really well with even handed mat exchanges early, Van Dam winning the first battle, Scorp winning the second, a brief Van Dam comeback and then Scorp trying his damnedest to win the match by any means necessary. Tables get turned for Van Dam off of Sabu interference, but Scorp makes another comeback only for Fonzy to intervene. Finish was pretty great as Scorpio takes a jump kick/chairshot from Van Dam/Fonzy combo, RVD scrambles to the top and Scorp desperately tries to get to his feet before falling at the last second (with RVD in mid air) and getting hit with the five star for the finish.
At this point in 1999 no one was talking about Scorpio being a great wrestler and yet here he is having a great match with a guy who was basically working a Carrot Top tribute gimmick, with shitty prop spots instead of shitty prop comedy. The "who was the best wrestler in ECW history?" debate is basically a two person field, with Scorpio and Tajiri being the only legitimate options. Several years removed from his peak run in the company, this is a real feather in Scorp's cap.
I like this match. But I liked the Living Dangerously 98 match more. I think Scorp was a great guy for RVD to work with as Scorp could make the spot A to spot B formula work.
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