Event
Before the event aired live on pay-per-view, an episode of Extreme Heat aired on Spike TV, showing footage from the build-up to the event.[22] The event started with a speech from ECW commentator Joey Styles,[23] who was greeted with an "ECW" chant. Styles welcomed the fans to One Night Stand before introducing the color commentator for the evening, Mick Foley.[24]
The first match of the event was Lance Storm versus Chris Jericho. Storm was accompanied to the ring by Dawn Marie.[23] During the match, a "Chris Candido" chant broke out, a reference to the recently deceased wrestler who was a tag team partner of Lance Storm in ECW.[24][22] Jericho locked in the Walls of Jericho on Storm, but Marie jumped on the ring apron and distracted the referee. This allowed Storm's former Impact Players teammate, Justin Credible, along with Jason Knight, to interfere, with Credible hitting Jericho with a kendo stick. Storm got the pinfall on Jericho for the victory.[22][23][24]
A tribute video played next, highlighting the wrestlers from ECW that had died between the promotion's end in 2001 and One Night Stand.[24][25] A three-way dance was next, with Tajiri facing Little Guido Maritato and Super Crazy. Tajiri was accompanied to the ring by The Sinister Minister and Mikey Whipwreck, and Guido was accompanied by his fellow F.B.I. members. One of the highlights of the match occurred when Super Crazy delivered a moonsault off the balcony onto all the members of the F.B.I. Guido was the first eliminated when Whipwreck delivered a Whipper Snapper from the second rope while the referee was distracted. Tajiri picked up the three count to eliminate Guido. Super Crazy won the match after performing a moonsault off the top rope onto Tajiri, getting the three-count in the process.[22][23][24]
Next was Psychosis facing SmackDown! superstar and ECW Original Rey Mysterio Jr. Mysterio won the match at the seven-minute mark after delivering a 619, followed by the West Coast Pop.[23] The two later revealed that they were disappointed with the way their match panned out.[26] After the contest, the SmackDown! crusaders entered the Hammerstein Ballroom. They consisted of Kurt Angle, John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) and his Cabinet, Carlito and Matt Morgan. The crowd chanted, "You suck dick" and "Fuck you SmackDown!" as they entered the arena.[22][24] Joel Gertner attempted to interview the invaders, but Angle took the microphone out of his hand and JBL pushed him to the ground. JBL and Angle cut a promo, with the crowd continuing to chant, "You suck dick", to which Angle replied with "Your MOTHER taught me how!". Angle stated, "The last time I was at an ECW event, I walked out halfway through because it sucked!" (referring to the
Rob Van Dam and Bill Alfonso interrupted the promo, with Van Dam stating it had nothing to do with SmackDown!. Van Dam claimed that WWE deserved no credit, that the interview was a shoot with no scripts, and that missing One Night Stand was worse than missing WrestleMania.[22][23][24] The promo was interrupted when Rhyno delivered a Gore. Van Dam's former tag team partner Sabu then appeared following the lights turning off, and had a match with Rhyno. Sabu won the match with Van Dam's help, as Van Dam delivered a Van Daminator on Rhyno before Sabu delivered the Arabian Skullcrusher on Rhyno through a table for the victory.[23][24]
The Raw crusaders, which included Eric Bischoff, Jonathan Coachman, Edge, Christian, Tyson Tomko, Snitsky, La Résistance and William Regal, entered the building. Chris Benoit versus Eddie Guerrero followed, with Benoit making Guerrero submit to the Crippler Crossface.[23] During this match, several anti-Lita chants could be heard, including "Lita's got herpes" and "I fucked Lita".[22] After the Benoit/Guerrero match was over, Gertner again tried to interview the crusaders and begged Bischoff for a job. He was not successful, and Bischoff poured his drink over Gertner, saying, "ECW sucks!".[22][24]
Mike Awesome versus Masato Tanaka followed, and Joey Styles made derogatory comments during the match about Awesome regarding Awesome's controversial departure from ECW in April 2000. At one point during the match, after Awesome delivered a suicide dive, Styles said, "And it's a shame he didn't succeed in taking his own life!".[22] 20 months after the match, Awesome would commit suicide by hanging himself on February 17, 2007. Styles has since confirmed that this comment, as well as several other comments he made, were actually shoots. He said if the original ECW was ending, he was "going to say whatever the hell I wanted."[27] The match was also notable for the large number of unprotected chair shots to the head that both men took, as well as several risky bumps. Awesome won the match after powerbombing Tanaka through a table on the outside of the ring and followed it with a suicide dive, getting the pinfall.[23][24]
ECW booker Paul Heyman then cut a promo in the ring, with the crowd chanting, "Thank you Paul" and rising for a standing ovation. After thanking several people, including Tod Gordon, Heyman turned his attention to the Raw and SmackDown! invaders. He first spoke to Eric Bischoff, stating that Bischoff was in "our (ECW's) house". Heyman turned to Edge and said, "Hide your wives, it's Edge!", with Heyman also saying that he had two words for Edge "Matt 'Freaking' Hardy!", both references to Edge's real-life affair with Matt Hardy's long-term girlfriend, Lita. At the time of One Night Stand, Hardy was not employed by WWE, having been fired as a result of his internet rants against Edge and Lita, but Hardy was soon hired back shortly after the event. A huge "We want Matt" broke out in the Hammerstein Ballroom following Heyman's comments.[22] Heyman then commented that the only reason JBL was WWE Champion for a year was because Triple H didn't want to work Tuesdays (a reference to the day SmackDown! is taped).[23][24]
The Dudley Boyz then faced Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman in the main event.[28] The Sandman entered the Hammerstein Ballroom through the crowd as Enter Sandman by Metallica played in full, with the fans enthusiastically singing along. As the match was about to begin, the bWo, a stable consisting of Hollywood Nova, Stevie Richards and The Blue Meanie entered the ring. Kid Kash interfered, and Balls Mahoney and Axl Rotten then came to the ring with steel chairs and took out the bWo. They attacked all three members of the bWo before hitting Nova with a steel chair twice. Styles made a reference to Simon Dean, the character Nova had recently played on WWE television, by stating "That's more painful than being Simon Dean on national TV."[22] When the match eventually started, it involved trash cans, cheese graters and street signs. The Impact Players interfered, attacking Dreamer and Sandman. Francine, Dreamer's former manager,[28] entered the ring and delivered a low blow to Dreamer. Dreamer's other valet and real life wife, Beulah McGillicutty, returned to wrestling for the first time in over seven years, sparking a
After the show went off the air, the ECW wrestlers left the ring one at a time, but Dreamer stayed in the ring. He bowed to the ECW logo as the crowd chanted, "Thank you Tommy". The Dudley Boyz came back to the ring and hugged Dreamer, with Bubba Ray saying to Dreamer, "This is all for you".[29]
