The Date: 3 December 2006
The Venue: James Brown Arena; Augusta, Georgia
The Commentary: Joey Styles and Tazz
The Referee: Mickie Henson
The Stakes: Extreme Elimination Chamber match for the ECW World Championship

The Build-Up:
Back in the days when the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) competed in a vicious ratings war, Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) offered a different brand of sports entertainment. First founded in 1992 as Eastern Championship Wrestling, the company was re-branded by one of wrestling’s greatest minds, managers, and promoters, Paul Heyman, in 1993 and came to be known for its violent and controversial matches and content, which was instrumental in inspiring the WWF’s “Attitude Era”. Unfortunately, despite ECW’s rabid cult following, the company was unable to sustain itself after losing its television deal; many of ECW’s stars jumped to the WWF and the company officially closed its doors in early-2001. ECW lived on, however, not just in the rise of independent promotions but also in the confines of the rebranded World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE); the success of their Rise and Fall of ECW documentary (Dunn, 2005) saw the WWE host a special throwback event, ECW One Night Stand, in 2005 to celebrate the brand. It was so successful that a second event followed in 2006, one that would see ECW and many of its stars return as a third WWE brand. Unfortunately, despite initially being presented as an alternative product and a showcase for new talent, the WWE ECW was doomed to fail: it lacked the “Extreme” edge fans expected, Heyman’s influence was limited, and its top star and champion, Rob Van Dam, was stripped of his championship belts after being arrested on drug charges! The WWE seemed to lose interest soon after; although they promoted this pay-per-view event, very few matches were announced beforehand and the card was supplemented by Raw and SmackDown! talent. The entire show was built around this Extreme Elimination Chamber match, with former champion RVD being the first announced for the contest. There was also some drama surrounding Hardcore Holly’s involvement; he was initially scheduled to be a part of it before Bobby Lashley attacked him and took his place, failed to gain a spot in a match against RVD, and was finally included after Sabu was mysteriously attacked earlier on the show, a decision that irked the ECW original but would be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this universally lambasted event.

The Match:
Considering ECW December to Dismember 2006 was already criticised for its lacklustre card and padding its runtime, it’s perhaps not surprising that this match was preceded by not just a hype video emphasising its violent and brutal nature, but also a lengthy pre-match promo from ECW general manager Paul Heyman. While the crowd, and even the commentary team, have no love for Heyman, who turned heel by ditching the ECW originals for up-and-coming stars like Bobby Lashley and CM Punk (and, naturally, the Big Show) as the future of the company. This promo went on for about three minutes and, afterwards, the show wasted even more time by dwelling on the chamber’s lowering around the ring. What made this match unique, and “Extreme”, compared to previous elimination chamber matches was that each competitor also carried a weapon: CM Punk had a steel chair, Test a crowbar, Lashley a table, and the Big Show had a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. Otherwise, the rules were the same; two men (RVD and Hardcore Holly) started the match and, around every five minutes, another competitor was released to join in. As was often the case whenever the Big Show actually got a serious push, much of Heyman, Styles, and Tazz’s commentary emphasised the champion’s size and strength; despite the fact that the Big Show had been beaten like a drum over the years by this point, he was hyped as “unbeatable” simply because he was a huge man with a newfound motivation since capturing the championship. Of all the competitors, rising star CM Punk,the epitome of an indie darling, and the ever-popular RVD made the most waves during their entrances. Even now, as big a fan of Test and even Hardcore Holly I am as a dependable midcarder, it’s hard to deny that these two stick out like a sore thumb; nobody in the audience wanted Holly in this match and their inclusion really speaks to how limited and lacklustre the WWE ECW roster was.

As mentioned, RVD and Hardcore Holly started the match after what felt like an ice age of stalling and entrances and they kicked off what was sold as the most devastating match in the entire WWE by…trading lock ups and punches. A clothesline exchange was enough for Holly to go for the cover, which earned him barely a one count, then Holly gently tossed RVD to the raised steel floor outside the ring. RVD leapt to the cage wall when Holly dodged his dive, which was admittedly pretty impressive; unfortunately, he ended up hitting the ropes when he tried a follow up dive, which was apparently enough to draw an “ECW!” chant from the crowd. Holly pressed his advantage by running RVD into the chain-link wall and slamming him on the steel but crashed and burned when he uncharacteristically went for a dive off the top rope and ate a boot for his troubles. RVD capitalised with his patented Rolling Thunder manoeuvre from the ring, over the ropes, and to Holly’s prone body on the outside, only to find himself deposited back into the ring from a suplex for a two count. Holly and RVD traded blows, with Holly landing his trademark dropkick, before CM Punk joined the action. The crowd exploded when Punk launched his steel chair right at Holly’s face and took out RVD with a springboard clothesline, only to be blasted with that same chair when RVD tossed it at his head! RVD followed up with his rolling monkey flip in the corner, which saw Punk slightly graze the chair with his tail bone, only for Punk to duck RVD’s spin kick and sweep him onto the chair with his speed and martial arts skill. Punk kept Holly out of the game with a springboard dropkick and continued to work over the busted open RVD, thrusting him head-first through the chair as it was wedged in the corner, only to have his momentum cut off when Holly swung him into the chain link wall for a near fall.

Holly continued his attack with a sidewalk slam to Punk before dumping him on the ropes and booting him right in the head and driving him to the mat with a superplex. Regardless, CM Punk kicked out of two follow-up pin attempts and all three men were fatigued when Test brutally attacked with his crowbar, slamming, clawing, and choking Punk and RVD to give Holly time to recuperate. RVD somehow found a second wind, attacking with the chair then eliminating CM Punk with the Five-Star Frog Splash, which initially caused the audience to pop but their cheers quickly turned to boos when they realised what’d happened. Test then shockingly hit Holly with his Big Boot; however, despite the referee not counting to three and Tazz insisting that Holly kicked out, Hardcore Holly was summarily eliminated in confusing, frustrating, and anti-climactic fashion. RVD then flew in with a side kick off the top rope that downed Test and left him in prime position for a Five-Star Frog Splash off the top of the Big Show’s pod; however, the Big Show grabbed at RVD and interrupted the move, allowing Test to attack with a chair, dump him off the pod, and land a massive elbow drop from the pod to the steel chair, which took RVD out of the match and left the audience incensed as they realised their two favourites were gone.

There was a huge lull in the match where Test was left to awkwardly stumble about the ring as the counter wound down; then, when Heyman’s riot squad refused to let him out, Lashley broke out of his pod by smashing the roof with his table. Although he almost slipped off the top rope, Lashley, hit a diving clothesline, kicking the chair in Test’s face, and smashing him in the gut with the crowbar. The Spear that followed then took Test out of the match, leaving Lashley to stalk around the ring for over a minute as he waited for the Big Show to be released. The Big Show lumbered out with his barbed wire baseball bat and hammered at Lashley, who desperately defended himself with the chair; quickly, Lashley tricked the Big Show into getting the bat caught in the cage wall, allowing the challenger to drive the champion into the steel mesh and right through a pod, busting him open and leaving him prone for a beating. The Big Show rallied, effortlessly tossing Lashley into the ring and flooring him with a clothesline; however, when he went for his trademark Chokeslam, Lashley countered into a huge DDT! The Big Show got pissed when Lashley deftly ducked his haymakers and tried to plant him with a running powerslam, but Lashley easily slipped off, hit the ropes, and collided with a Spear to finish the clearly winded champion and capture the ECW Championship to reluctant applause. I can understand why this match is so poorly regarded; there’s just not enough star power, heat, or intrigue behind it. The weapons added some spice but they were barely used and there was too much waiting around, not to mention the two clear fan favourites being unceremoniously dispatched and that botched pin on Hardcore Holly!

The Aftermath:
This wouldn’t be the last time that the Big Show and Bobby Lashley clashed over the ECW World Heavyweight Championship; on the very next episode of ECW, Lashley defeated the Big Show in a one-on-one match, retaining the belt and temporarily removing the Big Show from WWE programming. Lashley continued to mix it up with his fellow chamber opponents, clashing with RVD on ECW and defending the championship against Test at Royal Rumble, but he ended up embroiled in a “Battle of the Billionaires” at WrestleMania 23 as he represented Donald Trump in a match against WWE chairman Vince McMahon’s proxy, Umaga. This ultimately led to perhaps the most outrageous storyline of the revived ECW as McMahon and Lashley feuded over the championship, with the chairman actually capturing the belt in the process! Although December to Dismember wouldn’t be the end of ECW, it was the end of Paul Heyman’s tenure with the company, and the WWE, for some time; the show’s poor buy rate and attendance figures escalated tensions between Heyman and McMahon, with the former walking away from the company after his booking decisions regarding CM Punk, Rob Van Dam, and Bobby Lashley were ignored. Contrary to popular belief, ECW limped on for about two more years after December to Dismember, but the brand was never again afforded its own pay-per-view and December to Dismember went down in history as one of the worst produced, worst attended, and worst regarded wrestling events of all time.

My Rating:

Terrible

What did you think to the Extreme Elimination Chamber match? Who did you want to see win the match at the time? Were you annoyed that Sabu was swapped out for Hardcore Holly? What did you think to CM Punk being the first person eliminated? Do you think the match should have made better use of its weapons? Were you excited that Bobby Lashley won? What did you think to the WWE’s revival of ECW? Would you like to see the December to Dismember event make a comeback? Whatever your thoughts, feel free to leave them below or drop a comment on my social media.