| Guilty as Charged (2001) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 The event was held at theHammerstein Ballroom. | |||
| Promotion | Extreme Championship Wrestling | ||
| Date | January 7, 2001 | ||
| City | New York, New York | ||
| Venue | Hammerstein Ballroom | ||
| Attendance | 2,500 | ||
| Buy rate | 50,000[1] | ||
| Pay-per-view chronology | |||
| |||
| ECW Guilty as Charged chronology | |||
| |||
Guilty as Charged (2001) was the third and finalGuilty as Chargedprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV)event produced byExtreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). It took place on January 7, 2001, from theHammerstein Ballroom inNew York, New York. This was the final nationally and globally broadcast event held by the original and independent ECW before it filed for bankruptcy two months later that year. Advertisements aired byTime Warner Cable andIn Demand originally promotedScott Hall as appearing at the show untilPaul Heyman had him pulled.
Themain event was the first and onlyTables, Ladders, Chairs and Canes match in ECW history for theECW World Heavyweight Championship, in whichSteve Corino defended the title againstThe Sandman andJustin Credible. Sandman won the title but then immediately defended the title againstRhino, who defeated Sandman to capture the title. Rhino issued an open challenge which was answered byRob Van Dam, but Van Dam was attacked byJerry Lynn, leading to animmediate contest between the duo, which Van Dam won.
Rob Van Dam versusJerry Lynn was included on the 2005WWEDVD releaseRob Van Dam: One of a Kind.Tommy Dreamer versusCW Anderson was included on the 2006 WWE DVD releaseECW Blood Sport: The Most Violent Matches. TheUnholy Alliance (Yoshihiro Tajiri andMikey Whipwreck) versusKid Kash andSuper Crazy versusThe F.B.I. (Little Guido andTony Mamaluke) was included on the 2012 WWE DVD andBlu-ray releaseECW Unreleased: Vol 1.
The event kicked off withJoel Gertner interviewingThe Bad Street Boys (Christian York andJoey Matthews) in the ring until Da Baldies attacked Bad Street Boys. This led toCyrus andJerry Lynn beginning a match against Bad Street Boys. Lynn delivered acradle piledriver to Matthews and Lynn pinned him for the win.
Next,Danny Doring and Roadkill defended theWorld Tag Team Championship against Hot Commodity (Julio Dinero andE. Z. Money).Chris Hamrick's interference backfired on Money, leading to Doring and Roadkill delivering aBuggy Bang to Dinero to retain the titles. After the match, Hot Commodity attacked Doring and Roadkill untilNova returned to ECW and made the save, leading to Nova facing Chris Hamrick in a match. The referee was knocked out and then Hamrick covered Nova for the pinfall andChris Chetti returned to ECW in a referee shirt and made a fast count, awarding the win to Hamrick. However, the original referee regained consciousness and revealed that Nova had his shoulder up, therefore Chetti's decision did not stand.Lou E. Dangerously knocked out the referee with his cell phone untilSpike Dudley made the save and brawled with Chetti. Nova hit asenton bomb to Chetti and delivered aKryptonite Krunch to Hamrick for the win, with Dudley counting the pinfall.
Next,Tommy Dreamer competed againstC. W. Anderson in an"I Quit" match. Anderson brought a table into the ring but Dreamer hit him with a chair and delivered aDreamer Driver from the top rope onto the table. He then got a piece of cable from the table and wrapped it around Anderson's head and pulled it back, which cut Anderson's eyes and he quit. After the match, Dreamer and Anderson shook hands with each other.
Later,Kid Kash andSuper Crazy competed against theUnholy Alliance (Yoshihiro Tajiri andMikey Whipwreck) andThe F.B.I. (Little Guido andTony Mamaluke) in aThree-Way Dance to determine the #1 contenders for the World Tag Team Championship. Sal E. Graziano interfered in the match bysplashing Kash, allowing Mamaluke to pin him for the first elimination. The action then continued between Unholy Alliance and FBI. Tajirikicked Guido in the head three times and sprayedmist into Mamaluke's eyes. Tajiri and Whipwreck deliveredtiger suplexes to Mamaluke and Guido respectively to win the match.
In the penultimate match,Balls Mahoney andChilly Willy took onSimon and Swinger. Swinger brought outThe Blue Boy andJasmin St. Claire along with him as he was dissatisfied withDawn Marie's managerial services.Rhino interrupted the match by taking out everyone withGores and then he drove Jasmin from the middle rope onto a table with aRhino Spike.
The scheduled main event of the show was aTables, Ladders, Chairs & Canes match, in whichSteve Corino defended theECW World Heavyweight Championship againstThe Sandman andJustin Credible. After a back and forth match, Sandman climbed the ladder and grabbed the title belt to win the title. After the match, all three men shook hands and then Da Baldies showed up to fight Corino and Credible and the fight spilled to the backstage. Rhino hit aGore to Sandman from behind and challenged him to a match for the title and threatened to hurt Sandman's family in the audience if Sandman did not give him a title shot and Sandman accepted the challenge. Rhino hit aGore through a table and then delivered aRhino Spike from the apron onto a table outside the ring. Rhino hit aRhino Spike to Sandman on the broken table to win the title.
After the match, Cyrus issued an open challenge to anyone on behalf of Rhino and thenRob Van Dam came out to answer the open challenge and fight Rhino until Jerry Lynn attacked him from behind. This led to a match between Van Dam and Lynn. Van Dam attempted aFive-Star Frog Splash on Lynn but Cyrus prevented it but Van Dam managed to hit the move but Lynn ducked it.Joel Gertner hit aDDT to Cyrus and then he helped Van Dam in hitting aVan Daminator to Lynn for the win.
Justin Credible and Steve Corino formed the New Impact Players and the seeds were planted for a possible Rob Van Dam vs. Rhino feud over theECW World Heavyweight Championship.
The original plan was to have their next pay-per-viewLiving Dangerously air on March 11, 2001, indicating that ECW was cutting their pay-per-view schedule in half. However, by the end of the week, a house show in Pine Bluff, Arkansas on January 13 would end up being the promotion's final show ever. In February, it was announced that ECW cancelled the Living Dangerously pay-per-view. On March 5, Paul Heyman shocked the wrestling world by appearing onMonday Night Raw, reuniting with his former WCW colleagueJim Ross, replacingJerry Lawler, who had just quit the WWF. In April 2001, ECW officially closed down.
Arnold Furious ofWrestling Recaps wrote "ECW went all out to ensure that their last show would be exciting and it was. The aim was to consider the future, yet conclude every feud with the possibility that the company may fold. Hence RVD over Lynn, Rhino over Sandman, Sandman over Corino/Credible, Tajiri/Whipwreck over FBI, Dreamer over CW and the general jobbing of Hot Commodity. It finished up all the storyline arcs they had running. The company died with its story told."[2]
Kevin Pantoja of411Mania gave a score rating of 5 with "Only two matches on this show are really good. The I Quit match and the Three Way Tag match are damn good. Everything else is passable, though none of it is really bad. RVD and Lynn disappoint, but this is a recommended show, even if it’s mostly for historical purposes."[3]Larry Csonka, also of 411Mania, gave a score rating of 6, writing "Overall not the greatest of PPV’s. A lot doesn’t hold up well in 2005, namely the 3-way ladder match. RVD and Lynn wasn’t nearly as good as past encounters, with RVD looking very rusty and stalling too much. The I QUIT match and 3-way tag were still as good as I remember and make this a fun show. But the real reason to own this is for historical reasons. It wasn’t ran as a “final” show, but knowing that it was you just get this feeling of completion when it comes to ECW. This was truly an end of an era in pro wrestling that still has a major impact today. Recommendation to own, especially if you loved ECW."[4]