This is I think the ninth episode and thankfully for the sake of WWE, the show is out of ECW country this week. The main event is Angle vs. Sabu in a match that has some historical significance which we’ll get to at the end of this. Other than that there isn’t much to talk about but Summerslam is coming up so you know there’s going to be talk about the non-ECW matches from that show right? Let’s get to it.

After a clip from last week with the opening tag, we’re ready to go.

Mike Knox vs. Tommy Dreamer

Knox jumps Dreamer as he’s getting in and we’re going fast. He tries a backdrop but Dreamer hits a bad neckbreaker to take over. Dreamer hits a Cactus Clothesline to put both guys outside. Knox goes into the steps and let’s head back inside. Middle rope elbow gets two for Dreamer and here’s Heyman. Dreamer hits the DDT but the security guards come in and take out Tommy. Knox hits a DDT for the quick pin.

Heyman and the guards set for a double beatdown but Sandman comes in for the save and we take a break.

Back with Heyman telling Sandman that Heyman gets what’s wrong. It’s about Dreamer getting attacked right? Dreamer was going to get another match with someone (presumably the tag match from last week) but instead Sandman gets to go it alone. Oh and it’s regular rules so no cane.

Test/Mike Knox vs. Sandman

I mean, what would we do without a Test appearance right? As Dreamer is on his way to the back, Test kicks his head off in a nice heelish move. Sandman tries to use the cane anyway but misses Knox. Test beats him down and the double teaming begins. The heels beat on him for awhile until Test missses a charge in the corner. Sandman dropkicks Knox and then grabs the cane for the quick DQ. This was less than nothing.

Sandman canes them both and leaves.

Video on Sabu.

We see Sabu attacking Big Show the last two weeks, which is why Sabu is in a #1 contenders match with Angle tonight.

Sabu says he’ll win. Insert rage about Sabu talking here.

Balls Mahoney loves ECW and has cuts in his head.

There’s a full moon, which of course leads to….

Kevin Thorn vs. Al Snow

DANG those things on Ariel are big. She hangs upside down on the ropes during the entrance. Thankfully Joey is there to pound it into our heads that they follow Vampirism. Snow jumps him to start and gets a very quick one. Thorn catches him and hits a very bad gutbuster as he works on the ribs. Snow fights back a bit but gets caught by the elevated Stunner. Razor’s Edge ends this squash.

Video on Angle.

Angle says that Sabu will lose tonight, because it’s suicide to come into the ring with him.

Rene Dupree is coming. Oh geez.

Here’s Big Show for a chat. Show knows that he’s the best ECW Champion ever. He doesn’t represent the blood and guts that usually are associated with the title. Instead he’s bringing some class to the belt. Angle will be crushed like crackers in soup and Sabu would be suicidal if he comes after the title. No one can beat him apparently.

We get a clip from last week with Punk debuting.

Punk says he was welcomed into the ECW family and he thanks the fans for that reception. All the years of training have paid off but now it’s about the future. He’ll be in the ring again next week.

Kurt Angle vs. Sabu

Main event and #1 contender match. Sabu charges straight at him which gets him nowhere at all. Angle takes Sabu down and slaps him around a little bit. He goes after the leg but Sabu gets a rope. The idea here is that Sabu has to be careful while Angle is looking for an opening. Sabu avoids a charge and Angle’s shoulder goes into the post. Sabu sends him to the floor and we take a break. Back with Sabu in a rear chinlock. The winner gets the title match at Summerslam.

Sabu fights up and hits a springboard tornado DDT for two. Angle is in a little trouble but he snaps off an overhead belly to belly to take over. Off to the grapevined chinlock which doesn’t last long. Sabu hits a springboard leg lariat and a slingshot legdrop for two. Let lariat gets the same. The American hits rolling Germans on the Arabian and loudly calls the flip over spot on the last one.

There go the straps but Sabu counteres the Slam. Sabu hits some springboard attacks for two. Camel clutch goes on but Angle reverses into the ankle lock. Sabu rolls through and the counter sends Angle out to the floor. A flip dive almost totally misses and both guys are down on the floor. Angle AGAIN can be heard talking to Sabu. This is getting ridiculous. Back in a spinning splash off the top gets two for Sabu. Angle counters an arm hold into the ankle lock but here’s RVD for the DQ.

Rating: B-. I was getting into this as Sabu having to go crazy to hold off Angle was a nice idea. The key to Sabu is to have someone in there with him that can keep him sane and the match works WAY better. This was way better than I was expecting and it’s always nice to have a match exceed yoru expectations, especially when you’re expecting a mess with Sabu.

Rob attacks both guys and stands tall to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. I liked last week’s show better but this certainly wasn’t bad. Rob returning is a good thing because the historical significance I was talking about earlier is that Angle would never have another WWE match on TV. After this he would be gone within a week and would be in TNA in less than two months. Rob needed to come back and they would soon start changing the way ECW looked. Decent show but nothing great.

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Back to the land of Extreme for another episode, this one being from an old ECW stomping ground. It’s hard to say what the crowd is going to think here but you know that the fans are going to be behind the ECW originals which is so cute because they think those people still mean a thing in this new company. It’s hard to say what to really expect here other than that. Let’s get to it.

The outside challenger of the week is Batista.

Sandman/Tommy Dreamer vs. Test/Mike Knox

This is EXTREME Rules and I guess the blowoff to their month long feud. Sandman of course gets busted open on the way to the ring with the beer can. The fans get on Kelly (lucky) and it’s Dreamer vs. Test to start. It occurs to them that they don’t have to tag so everything breaks down quickly. Sandman fires off a dropkick to the shock and awe of the announcers. Knox kills Sandman with a shoulder and the non-ECW guys take over.

Test gets the Singapore Cane but Dreamer saves Sandman from a caining. The Extremists bust out the weapons in the form of some trashcans but the fans want tables. Since it’s ECW, Dreamer and Sandman bust out some barbed wire boards to pop the crowd. Knox avoids going into it and Test saves him from a double suplex through it. Dreamer is busted and the fans think that Test takes steroids. Gee what gave you THAT idea?

Test goes shoulder first into the post as Dreamer is gushing blood. Oh wait that was just one side of his head. Sandman finds his cane but Kelly shields Knox. Sandy actually thinks for once and moves her out of the way so he can cane Knox up the aisle. Dreamer leans down to kiss Kelly but spanks her instead. Heyman and his security guards come out and beat down Dreamer, putting him through the board. Test throws him through it again and gets the easy pin with a TKO.

Rating: C. Not a bad brawl here and I’m certainly not complaining about the upskirt shots of Kelly that we got, but it’s the same thing I’ve said week after week so far: the ECW guys mean nothing at all in this modern incarnation. Test wasn’t going to be able to be pushed anywhere else so this is the best that they could do. The match was ok I guess but the Heyman security guards stuff was as weak as you could get.

Hogan is at Summerslam. Can you EVER imagine Hogan in ECW?

Heyman talks to his security and runs into Nunzio. Nothing is said so Heyman keeps walking until he finds Sabu. Still no title match.

Punk tells us about discipline until the battle begins when he’ll unleash his rage.

CM Punk vs. Justin Credible

The fans LOUDLY chant for Punk who is known as an indy legend at this point. Punk takes him to the mat with ease and makes Credible look stupid for fun. They go into the corner and Punk hooks an Anaconda Vice/Tarantula hybrid. Credible gets in some offense but Punk comes back with the kicks. Justin hits some rolling suplexes for two. Off to a half crab which doesn’t last long. Springboard clothesline gets two. Corner knee, bulldog, high kick, Vice and we’re done.

Rating: C. This was your usual debuting squash. Credible got in some more offense than your usual jobber would, but that’s because he’s not your usual jobber. He’s a jobber with a stupid name. Not much to see here from the Straightedge one, but obviously he would go on to have some far better days.

Video on Batista.

Shannon Moore is on a subway.

Brooklyn Brawler is in the ring and says he’s too hardcore for Raw or Smackdown.

Brooklyn Brawler vs. Kurt Angle

Ankle lock. Do you really need another detail?

Video on Big Show.

Ariel says that Kevin Thorn will take over. Thorn says nothing of note.

ECW World Title: Big Show vs. Batista

Batista’s reaction is pretty mixed. There are definitely cheers though. The fans want RVD but they get a muscle head from the WWE isntead. Then the music stops and Batista gets on the ropes where the people just rip into him. They do the big match intros and Batista is loudly booed. Then again they’re not that thrilled with Big Show either. We get a loud YOU BOTH SUCK and it’s off. They fight over a power advantage to start as Joey and Tazz have to ignore the fans.

Batista escapes an arm hold and pounds Show down to the floor as we take a break. Back with Show in control as the fans are ranting about the match again. Show flips them all off and the announcers have to ignore them again. Chokeslam is broken up but Show clotheslines him down. There’s what sounds like a boring chant. Now it’s CHANGE THE CHANNEL. Show slams him down but his Vader Bomb is broken up by Big Dave. A superplex puts both guys down.

Big Dave avoids a charge and hits his shoulders in the corner. Some clotheslines don’t do much so he spears Show down for two. Now the chant is BORING. Chokeslam out of nowhere gets two. Show grabs the belt but walks into the spinebuster. The Bomb is countered into the Final Cut for two. And never mind as the belt shot draws the LAME DQ.

Rating: D+. The problem here is the crowd. The match itself wasn’t that bad. It was your standard main event power match and could have been a watchable match on TV or PPV with few complaints being made. Well ok everyone would complain about the bad ending but the rest of the match was fine. That being said, the fans flat out did not want to see this at all and they were very vocal about it. Not the wrestlers’ fault though.

Post match Sabu (who was thrown out earlier) comes out and beats up Show with a chair to pop the crowd. Show falls through a table and Sabu poses to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. You can clearly tell that things are changing here but the most important thing is they’re getting a formula down. The show isn’t that bad although it’s certainly not what I’d call good. It’s more or less just there at this point and considering how bad the earlier episodes were, that’s a major compliment. Not a great show or anything but for an hour of wrestling, this was fine.

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Back to the past for some old WWF action. We’ve got Backlund defending against Patera tonight as well as Hogan in heel form against Dominic Denucci, who I’ve never actually seen wrestle. Other than that we have a lot of guys that I’ve heard of and have seen occasionally but don’t know a ton about, which is par for the course in 1980. Let’s get to it.

Kevin Von Erich vs. Johnny Rodz

From what I can tell this was the fourth match that took place on this night but maybe all of them aren’t on the broadcast. That’s happened before. Fink calls this the second bout so maybe my list is wrong. This is Kevin’s MSG debut. Rodz is the short guy with a temper. Rodz hooks a front suplex but instead drives Von Erich down like a front facelock. This is match that follows the style of the time, meaning a LOT of standing around and mostly punching.

Von Erich misses a dropkick but Rodz hides in the corner anyway. They go to the mat and Von Erich manages a headscissors while standing on his head. That was pretty cool. Kevin drops some forearms to the back and hooks a headlock. Rodz hooks an armbar which is quickly broken. Kevin tries a spinning cross body out of the corner but misses completely. Sunset flip gets two for Von Erich. Splash gets the same. Rodz comes back with a hip toss and legdrop for two. Von Erich wins with kind of a Thesz Press.

Rating: D-. Oh man I’m in for a long show. This was REALLY boring as Rodz had it in about negative fifth gear while Von Erich couldn’t hit much of anything. I don’t think Rodz did anything beyond punching and kicking for about 90% of the match, which doesn’t make for a very interesting opener. Awful match.

The Great Hossein Arab vs. Larry Zbyszko

This is called the third bout and it’s right after the previous one on my list. Arab is much more famous as The Iron Sheik. Sheik tries to take it to the mat but Larry escapes to a stalemate. Larry speeds things up and sends Sheik to the floor where he gets very ticked off. Back in an elbow misses and Sheik is even madder. I sense a humbling. Larry hooks a headlock and pounds away with right hands. The fans are way into this.

Back to the headlock and things speed way up with a crisscross. Sheik hits a pair of leapfrogs but gets caught in the headlock again. Sheik has finally had enough and blasts Larry in the face, but a knee drop misses and it’s back to Zbyszko. There’s an abdominal stretch but Sheik reverses into one of his own but that gets reversed as well. Sheik sends him into the corner and backdrops him for two.

We finally get to the heel control portion of this but it ends just as quickly in a Zbyzsko sunset flip. They collide and both of them go down. Sheik gets up first with a suplex but he can’t cover immediately so it only gets two. Another suplex is countered into a small package which gets two for Larry, as does a slam. Sheik loads up one of the boots but Larry trips him down and goes after it. That somehow gets two but Sheik kicks him onto the ref. That’s not enough for him so he drops an elbow on the referee for the DQ.

Rating: C-. It’s amazing what charisma can do for you. This was only a little bit better of a match than the previous one, but the charisma the two guys have made me want to see them fight which is what made things work better here. Sheik getting more and more disgruntled until he snapped worked a lot better for a story than “I’ll hit you a lot.” Larry would turn heel on Sammartino the very next day.

Dominic DeNucci vs. Hulk Hogan

This should be interesting. Hogan is still a heel here and has Blassie with him. Hogan shoves him around a lot to start and for some reason DeNucci tries to match power with him. The more famous one pretty easily wins a test of strength but DeNucci comes back with a monkey flip and Hulk is frustrated. Dominic dives at Hogan and falls on top of him for a Thesz Press for two.

Back to their feet and Hogan easily breaks Denucci’s full nelson. Hulk pounds him down and drops an elbow for two. Knee drop gets the same. DeNucci fights back but ducks his head and gets kicked in the face. Hulk hits something like what we would call a hot shot and the big leg gets the pin.

Rating: C-. Another boring match but you know Hogan is going to have charisma. Seeing him in MSG is always something cool to see too. The interesting thing about Hogan was that he was clearly going to be a big deal and probably a world champion even before the rise of Hulkamania. Pretty much just a squash for Hulk here.

Tag Titles: Wild Samoans vs. Ivan Putski/Tito Santana

Putski and Santana are champions and their opponents are making their MSG debuts. This would be Afa and Sika, the original Samoans. Putski (who is barely taller than the top rope) starts with Afa. Long stall before we get going and Putski gets a BIG reaction for pushing Afa into the corner. They trade full nelsons and we get heel miscommunication. Everything breaks down and the Samoans are rammed together.

Putski tries a double noggin knocker which gets him nowhere at all. Off to Tito vs. Afa now and the Samoan growls a lot. Maybe he wants a taco? The champions work on the leg without tagging. What great role models. They take turns stomping it and I think Tito kicked him low at least once in there. The leg work continues and more or less it’s just kicks to the leg of Afa. The idea of holds seems to be lost on the champions.

Just as I say that of course, Putski hooks onto a weak leg lock. He doesn’t tag Tito but Santana comes in anyway. The referee does a lot of not paying attention. Afa kicks Ivan away so Putski pounds him down and tags in Santana again. It’s very strange to see the faces in such long lasting control. Afa hits Putski very close to the groin and headbutts him down. There’s the tag after almost nine minutes of pounding.

Sika comes in and things continue to go slowly. Off to some choking which doesn’t last long at all. Putski fights up but Sika elbows him right back down. The Samoans hit a double clothesline and Putski is in trouble. We get the unseen tag to Santana which gets them in trouble this time. You would think that would be a heel move but here the champions did it. Nice change of pace at least. The second attempt at the tag works and everything breaks down. Afa crotches Tito on the top rope and that’s a DQ apparently.

Rating: C+. Best match of the night so far with both teams going at a pretty fast pace. The heel in peril idea was definitely interesting and having them go wild and get disqualified at the end was a nice choice as it fits their crazy men mentality. Good little match here which probably set up a gimmick mater later on.

Actually scratch the DQ as it was a countout.

WWF World Title: Bob Backlund vs. Ken Patera

Patera is blonde here and is the strongest man in the world. Backlund has been champion almost two years here. Backlund backs Patera into the corner twice and the challenger hides in the ropes. Backlund easily breaks two attempts to send him to the mat and backdrops Patera to the apron. Patera charges in again but gets knocked back again. This is basically the Backlund formula in action.

A forearm sends Patera down so Bob hooks a headlock. Patera easily picks him up and sits the champion on the top rope. Bob gets down and speeds it up, hitting a dropkick and a pair of armdrags. Backlund rolls out of a wristlock but Patera pulls his hair to take him down. They fight over a top wristlock and Backlund gets pulled down again. Patera cranks on the arm as things continue to be very slow.

After a minute or so, Backlund fights up and hooks the exact same hold on Patera for good measure. Off to a headscissors as the champion maintains control. Back to the arm hold and the fans are into this. Patera finally gets up and takes him down, dropping an elbow for two. A bearhug to Backlund is quickly broken up but Patera takes him down almost just as fast. Now the bearhug goes on full and things slow right back down again.

They take the bearhug to the mat and Patera gets a pair of two counts. Backlund tries to break it but can’t as they’re back on their feet. This hold has been going on for almost three minutes now until Backlund finally gets an atomic drop to break it. Backlund hits a suplex but a splash hits knees and the champion is down again. Patera drops a double ax off the middle rope and sets up the full nelson, his finisher.

Backlund slips down before the hold goes on but Patera kicks him in the back. Backlund comes back with his atomic drop (semi-finisher) but Patera gets a foot on the ropes. Patera whips Backlund into the referee in the corner and everyone is down. There’s the full nelson but Backlund walks the ropes to escape. They slug it out from their knees as the referee is stretchered out….and the match is thrown out.

Rating: C-. That’s probably being generous too. The ending was getting good until they did the setup for a rematch later on. This is also a great example of a match that I’d point to when people talk about guys like Dusty Rhodes going an hour a night. This match ran just under 26 minutes and was REALLY dull at times. Two of the holds combined for six minutes of it which doesn’t exactly make it interesting. That’s more of a generational thing though so it’s more understandable.

Post match Backlund goes off on Patera so the locker room comes out to break it up.

Intercontinental Title: Pat Patterson vs. Lou Albano

Patterson goes right after him to start and Lou bails. He stays gone far longer than a ten count but is allowed back in anyway. Albano kicks Patterson in the knees and tries a foreign object which is taken away. Patterson scoops the leg and starts choking away. He chokes with some tape and Albano hits the floor. Back in Lou gets in a shot with the object but Patterson pounds him down again. Albano walks out and takes the countout.

Rating: D. This was just for fun as Patterson was still very popular and Albano was only an occasional wrestler. There wasn’t much to it and that’s just fine as it got the fans fired up despite there being like 15 minutes left in the show counting another break. Patterson is a guy who isn’t remembered as well as he should be.

Tony Atlas vs. Swede Hanson

Hanson is a big fat guy and this is Atlas’ debut in MSG. Atlas knocks him into the corner very quickly and I think we’re in squash territory here. A pair of dropkicks has Hanson reeling but he gets in some shots to break the momentum. Atlas shrugs it off and a middle rope headbutt gets the quick pin.

Overall Rating: D. Pretty boring show here without a lot really happening. Then again you would get a show a month at this point so it didn’t really hurt to have a show to burn every now and then. The matches here were all pretty boring and nothing significant really happened, but we did get some fairly big MSG debuts. Bruno vs. Larry would help things a lot though.

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What a name for a venue. We’re past the Rumble and the Main Event, but only the Rumble had aired when this show was taped. We won’t be into a post Main Event set of tapings until the end of the month so for now all you’re going to hear about is the Rumble (in theory). We’re getting into some very interesting times now though so let’s get to it.

We hear from the arena manager who welcomes us to the arena.

Vince says that the announcers aren’t allowed to talk about the ending of The Main Event. That’s pretty clever actually.

Opening sequence.

Ultimate Warrior vs. Hercules

Hercules gets fired up before the match. Heenan is at ringside for this so Vince is alone on commentary. It’s a pre-match posedown because the chain is still in the ring. We’re going to get a tug of war to start. There’s been no contact yet. They keep moving their hands closer and Herc kicks him in the ribs. They keep pulling on the chain and it breaks in half. Herc hits him with half of the chain and the thing is thrown out before it officially starts.

Herc has to be pulled off of Warrior allowing the painted one to come back and choke Hercules to the back. This would result in a Wrestlemania rematch.

Mania is officially announced for Atlantic City at 4pm. We hear about some people who are going to be in the city although not exactly at the show.

Jerry Gray/Rex King vs. The Bolsheviks

Slick is with the Russians here. Heenan is back on commentary here. After the Russian anthem Nikolai goes after Gray. Heenan wants to talk about Indianapolis but he’s not allowed to. Off to Boris who gets pounded in the corner which gets him sent to the floor. Nikolai and King come in and Boris hits King in the back of the head. A double ax to the chest gets the pin. Squash.

Demolition says that Billy Jack Haynes and Ken Patera can’t stop them. They want whoever they can get their hands on, but they especially want the new champions, Strike Force.

Bad News is back next week.

Gino Carabella/Brian Costello vs Young Stallions

Roma and I think Costello start things off. Powers comes in with a sunset flip and it’s back to Roma. Heenan talks about hanging out with Donald Trump. The jobbers double team Roma but the Stallions make a blind tag. Roma (I think the illegal man) pins Costello with a belly to belly suplex.

Slick and the One Man Gang say that the Gang will win the world title this coming year.

The Bulldogs say thank you for your get well wishes to Matilda.

Rick Rude vs. Brady Boone

These two went to high school together actually. Boone jumps over Rude in the corner and does it again. His momentum is short lived as he walks into a powerslam for two. Rude Awakening ends this quick.

Jim Duggan talks about winning the Rumble. He’s always got the board in case he needs it.

Butch Reed vs. Dave Stoudemire

Heenan comes back into the booth and talks about The Main Event but it’s censored. There’s nothing to say here. It runs about two and a half minutes and Reed wins with a top rope shoulder block.

We get clips from the Rumble with Dino Bravo trying for a world bench press record. They only show about two minutes here but the whole thing ran about twenty and ended with Jesse helping.

We also get a clip of the end of the Women’s Tag Title match.

Demolition vs. Rick Hunter/Omar Atlas

Atlas starts and gets beaten down very quickly. Off to Hunter who is taken down even faster. Hunter gets demolished and the Decapitator ends this quick.

Ron Bass thinks all the top talent is hiding from him.

Heenan gets censored again and Vince leans his head in front of Bobby’s mouth so no one can read his lip. That’s a pretty good idea.

Overall Rating: C. The show was just ok but the story was clearly coming strong here and it would only be a matter of time before the whole thing finally got to be talked about. Once that happens, the road to Mania will begin and we’re only about seven weeks away from that show anyway. The wrestling wasn’t great here, but the story was.

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TNA shows take awhile to find so here’s something else to fill in the time with. We’re still in late 86 here and it’s still Piper vs. Adonis and Hogan vs. Orndorff, which will go on for a few more months. After that we upgrade to the biggest one on one storyline of all time. Still though, this is a very fun time in the company’s history. Let’s get to it.

Theme song and the usual Vince preview of the show.

SD Jones vs. Hercules Hernandez

Herc jumps him to start and Danny Davis is all cool with that. The fans already think this is boring. It’s a total squash so far with Hernandez running over Jones with a variety of clotheslines and chokes. Slick says Hogan is next. Jones comes back with a headbutt and some punches but that’s about it. A Torture Rack ends SD quick.

Rating: D. Just a squash here for Hercules who was supposed to be a big deal but it never really happened. I’ll go with this as proof of that: at Wrestlemania II, the original plan was Bret vs. Steamboat in the show stealer, but Hercules got the match with the Dragon instead because Herc was seen as the better prospect. See, he’s strong.

UPDATE!

This gives us a strange sequence of Orton and Muraco watching Superstars reruns at Muraco’s house. They see themselves beating up Piper and hurting his leg.

Luscious Johnny V has a new man in Dino Bravo, who has dark hair here.

Tony Parks vs. Dino Bravo

Apparently the announcers have seen Bravo before. He throws Parks around and atomic drops him to the floor. Parks makes a quick comeback but gets his head clotheslined off. Bravo throws him to the floor, brings him back in for a dropkick and a belly to back suplex ends the massacre.

House show ad. Piper says he doesn’t need a referee when he’s beating up Muraco.

Brutus talks about taking care of himself outside of the ring and we get a clip of Greg Valentine getting a massage on Tuesday Night Titans.

Bob Bradley/Tiger Chung Lee vs. Killer Bees

The Bees are in their masks still here but they take them off before the match starts. Lee and Blair get us started and it’s off to Brunzell very quickly. Lee hits some kind of shot to the throat to take over but Bradley doesn’t have such good luck. Blair hits a powerslam and it’s back to Blair. Bradley tries a splash but it gets knees. Brunzell’s dropkick gets the pin. More squashification but the Bees would hook up with the Harts soon and things would get a lot better.

Another ad for the same Boston house show. Savage is ready for Steamboat, who is a great athlete. He’s just not great enough to take the title.

Butch Reed vs. Rick Hunter

Hunter actually gets a quick headscissors to take Reed down which is more offense than I was expecting from him. Reed grabs one of his own and punishes Hunter with it a little bit. Off to a chinlock but Hunter breaks out of it. Not that it matters as a jumping knee takes him down. Top rope clothesline ends this quick.

Time for Piper’s Pit with the guest Jimmy Hart. Hart has presents in an attempt to buy his own safety. Everyone chipped in and got him a crutch. Muraco got him a Hawaiian lei, Fuji got him a pair of women’s underwear and Orton got him a cowboy hat and a noose to hang himself with. Piper forces him into a chair and says he has a surprise for him.

Jimmy has to close his eyes so Piper can tie Jimmy to the chair with the rope. Oh wait that’s not the present. He has a bottle of I think soap to wash Jimmy’s mouth out. Piper: “You can give this lei back to Muraco because it’s the only lay you’re ever going to get.” He puts the soap in Jimmy’s mouth and makes him spit it into the cowboy hat. As for the bad leg, Piper hops off on one leg. Good segment.

We get a clip from Hillbilly Jim’s house with Granny. Jim plays the guitar and sings a song for her. Then he heats up a wooden stove and shows us his workout routine. Then he wrestles a dog but Granny comes in to yell at him. This whole thing ate up several minutes.

Paul Orndorff looks into three mirrors while Heenan praises him.

Mike Sharpe vs. Ricky Steamboat

Feeling out process to start but Sharpe gets in a shot with the loaded pad to knock Steamboat to the floor. Steamboat comes back and hits a top rope chop to get back into the ring. Regular chop sets up the cross body for the pin.

Muraco is ready for Piper in Boston. He talks about how they used to be friends but now things have changed. Really good promo here.

Overall Rating: C-. This was a very segment heavy show which is ok but a lot of the segments were pretty random. The Hart/Piper thing was hilarious as Piper was insane as usual. Other than that though there wasn’t much here, especially the Hillbilly deal. One thing I will say though: some character development such as stuff like that is better than almost none that we get today.

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We’re in Detroit tonight and the challenger of the week is Kane in an Extreme Rules match. That’s an interesting idea as there’s no better way to have someone built up as a monster than by having them run through people, especially when the regular roster has nothing they could throw at him for a reasonable challenge yet. Also tonight there’s more in the Knox vs. Sandman feud which I’m sure you’re all dying for. Let’s get to it.

After a quick intro about Show vs. Kane we hit the theme song.

Knox and Sandman are in the ring to start and Knox gives us a montage of Kelly’s dances. However, Kelly can never take her clothes off again after the cane shot last week, which we see. Knox claims that he didn’t abandon Kelly but rather was in the back getting the EMTs.

Mike Knox vs. Sandman

Sandman busts himself open with a beer can on the way to the ring. Knox goes off on Sandman with right hands but Sandman comes back with the legsweep. He gets the cane and goes to swing it at Knox but Kelly gets in the way. Sandman stops himself but Test comes in for the DQ win for Sandman.

Dreamer jumps Knox and Test in the back.

Heyman is talking to Sabu (kind of) and says that Sabu won’t get the title match he wants with Show. Heyman tells Sabu to leave. He keeps walking and runs into Guido, who he yells at for doing nothing. The security guards beat him up and Heyman says Guido’s match is next.

CM Punk says he hasn’t been handed anything. He’s from the streets and he debuts next week.

The Vampire vs. Little Guido

The Vampire would later be known as Kevin Thorn. Guido is dragged to the ring by the security guards. The Vampire destroys Guido and Ariel the tarot card girl gets on the apron and sucks his fingers. A modified powerbomb puts Guido down again and an elevated Stunner (think Orton’s DDT) kills him. Razor’s Edge ends this. Guido never got his vest off.

Video on Kane.

Shannon Moore still has nothing to say.

Justin Credible vs. Balls Mahoney

Balls starts fast and pounds Justin into the corner. Off to a neck crank as Tazz and Joey talk about how insane Mahoney is. Justin tries to run but gets caught by the ears. Back in Justin drops some legs and a running release tornado DDT for two. Northern lights suplex gets two.

Off to a kindof seated abdominal stretch and then to a regular knee to the back chinlock. Balls hooks a suplex to get out of it and the punches get two. Justin tries a slide into the corner but crotches himself on the post. He whips Mahoney into the corner and dropkicks him into the referee. A reverse DDT hits but there’s no referee for Justin so he goes and gets a chair. Balls steals the chair and clocks Credible with it for the DQ.

Rating: D. This wasn’t much of anything and the ending didn’t help it. For some reason Credible was a total jobber in ECW despite being a long reigning world champion in the original incarnation. Mahoney was mainly a tag wrestler but was getting a pretty significant push in this version. He’s more interesting though so I can’t complain there.

Mahoney clocks the referee with the chair post match.

Show wants to know why he can’t fight Sabu. Heyman says don’t worry about it.

Vote in the Diva Search! If there was a mention of something like that in the original ECW, riots would break out.

Angle is back next week.

ECW Title: Kane vs. Big Show

Kane fires off some clotheslines but is thrown up and over to the floor on the third attempt. Oh and this is Extreme Rules. Kane sends him into the post and throws some weapons into the ring. Show knocks him back down and we take a break. Back with Kane down in the ring and Show stalking him. Kane gets up and hits a chair shot to take Show down. The chair is wedged between the ropes in the corner and Kane slugs away.

According to the laws of wrestling, Kane goes face first into the chair that he set up. Show goes up for a Vader Bomb but Kane hits him low and a belly to back superplex puts both guys down. They slap it out from their knees and then punch it out on their feet. Kane knocks him into the corner and hits a running clothesline. He lost his elbow pads in this somewhere.

Here comes a chokeslam but Show grabs one of his own which only gets two. Not much of a surprise on the kickout either, as in the crowd didn’t seem to care. Show gets a table and sets it up on the floor and then a second one. He sets for a suplex over the top but Kane guillotines him on the top rope. A trio of chair shots knocks Show off the apron and through the tables.

Heyman and the security come out to try to tell Show that he needs to shake it off. I think Show is busted open. Kane tries to get Show back in the ring and DANG that’s a good cut. Kane goes up but jumps into a chokeslam but Kane counters into a DDT for two. Heyman put the foot under the rope to break it up so Kane goes after the boss. That allows Show to hit Kane in the back with a chair and chokeslam him onto it to retain.

Rating: B-. WAY better than I was expecting here as it was about beating each other up which is the whole appeal of battles of monsters like this. Kane moved around in this and his power was enough to make you believe that a title change was possible. It was very unlikely but it was possible. Good match and a nice surprise.

Sabu comes in and lays out Big Show with a variety of chair shots.

Overall Rating: C. This was one of the first times where you could feel part of a running story throughout the show which is what this show has been lacking. Until now it’s come off as more like a collection of segments and then a long main event. Now we’re actually getting some stories together and the show is a lot more interesting as a result.

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At the moment this is the last show that I have from this era and this show in particular. There will probably be more but until I get them I obviously can’t review them. We’re past the Rumble now and not a lot has changed. However five days after this, we have the live Main Event which is where for the first time in four years, Hulk Hogan won’t be world champion. Let’s get to it.

We get the usual highlights of the city we’re in and Gorilla opens us up.

Bad News Brown debuts today.

Tiger Chung Lee vs. Junkyard Dog

Dog shoves him to the floor and grabs a hammerlock back inside. The announcers talk about Hogan vs. Andre as the powerslam gets the pin in a quick match.

Craig DeGeorge talks about the card for The Main Event on Friday. We get some clips of the matches that set up Hogan vs. Andre II and Harts vs. Strike Force II. DiBiase and Andre say Hogan is going down and DiBiase will get the title.

Scott Casey vs. Greg Valentine

The fans have the Outshout The Mouth megaphones still. They trade slams and Brutus says that whatever problems Valentine has had before, he’ll have real ones coming up soon. Valentine sends him to the floor where Casey manages to get in a few right hands. Back in Casey misses a top rope splash and the Figure Four ends this quick.

House show ads.

Steve Lombardi vs. Sam Houston

Lombardi isn’t the Brawler yet but is still a jobber. Houston works over the arm and an atomic drop gets two. We hear about the Jumping Bomb Angels winning the Women’s Tag Titles at the Rumble as Lombardi’s offense is stopped very quickly. The armbar takes Steve back to the mat and it’s time for Sam to dance. Belly to belly sets up the bulldog for the pin.

Gene tells us that there actually are other things going on in the company besides Hogan vs. Andre. He brings in Hacksaw who talks about how tough the competition is and how you always have to deal with managers anymore. Hacksaw doesn’t like Harley Race either. They make a “going both ways” joke and it sounds very dirty for some reason.

The fans say who thinks will win some of the bigger matches on Friday.

Hart Foundation vs. Omar Atlas/SD Jones

Bret and Jones start things off. Hart gets sent to the floor so Jimmy yells about a hair pull. Strike Force is looking forward to the match on Friday. Atlas gets caught in the Tree of Woe and Neidhart pounds away. Here’s Bret again with a backbreaker and it’s back to Jim. Brain makes fun of the Bomb Angels as the Hart Attack ends this squash.

Dibiase says that he’s going to collect on the biggest deal of his life on Friday. Andre says he wants to be world champion now and it’s going to be Giantmania.

Randy Savage vs. Terry Gibbs

Gibbs gets in a quick shot and that’s about all he’s got going for him in this match. Savage says he’ll beat Honky on Friday. Slam and elbow get the pin.

With Savage still in the ring, Honky, Jimmy and Peggy Sue come out and say nothing of note before Savage comes to the platform.

Bad News Brown vs. Rex King

Brown jumps Rex during the introduction and the pain begins. Total squash just like any debut, ends in about two minutes with the Ghetto Blaster.

House show ads.

British Bulldogs vs. Dusty Wolfe/Barry Horowitz

Barry pounds away on Davey to start and gets suplexed for his efforts. Off to Dynamite for the snap suplex. Davey powerslams him for no cover as Gorilla talks about the show on Friday. For some reason, they’ve never said what network it’ll be on. More suplexes follow and Davey hits a piledriver. He still won’t cover so Dynamite hits a top rope knee. A middle rope belly to back superplex ends this domination.

Rating: C-. The Bulldogs were near the end of their run here and would be gone by the end of the year. Not a bad match but the jobbers literally didn’t get in a single shot of offense at all. The Bulldogs are still fun to watch though and this was decent enough for a main event I guess.

Butch Reed says that Gene’s questions are none of his business. He has soup bones for fists and is going to take out Muraco like he took out Billy Graham.

Hogan says he wants to break DiBiase’s financial empire and that he’ll prove all the doubts about his first victory this Friday.

Gorilla and Bobby wrap it up.

Overall Rating: C. This made me want to pop in The Main Event which makes this a success. The matches weren’t anything of note but it could have been a lot worse of a show. Either way, Hogan vs. Andre is pushed to the moon and the pushing would work as it holds the record for the highest rated wrestling match ever. Good hype show.

Here’s The Main Event if you’re interested:

Back to Superstars again as we continue what would become the build to Wrestlemania 3 in a few months. If we somehow get to the new year, I’ve already reviewed the January through March shows so I have a lot of this covered. Today we have a big match as the Dream Team faces the Bulldogs in a Wrestlemania rematch. Let’s get to it.

Usual opening jazz.

Dream Team vs. British Bulldogs

This is non-title. We get a quick interview backstage where Matilda the dog debuts. The non-champions jump the Bulldogs before the bell to take over. We start with Valentine vs. Dynamite and there’s the snap suplex. Off to Davey who clotheslines Greg down but walks into a back elbow.

Off to Beefer who suplexes Davey but has it no sold. Greg comes in again and hits a backbreaker on Dynamite but gets slammed off the top. Valentine hits a backbreaker of his own for two. Hot tag brings in Davey and everything breaks down. The referee goes down and comes up to count a pin from Valentine, but since he’s not legal it’s a DQ? Ok then.

Rating: C-. Well it wasn’t exactly their match in Chicago. This was nothing to see for the most part as neither team seemed all that fired up. Then again it wasn’t for the titles and they didn’t even get five minutes so how good can it be? The Bulldogs would drop the titles to the Harts soon enough after this.

The Update this week is about Jake Roberts and Damien. They’re in the shower and Jake talks about fear. The audio is really bad here and you can barely understand what he’s saying.

Don Muraco/Bob Orton Jr. vs. Billy Jack Haynes/Sivi Afi

Muraco and Orton come out to the bagpipe music. Afi and Muraco start. Sivi works on the arm of the bearded wonder before it’s a double tag. Muraco and Orton tag in and out quickly before the superplex pins Afi. Squash.

Savage says Steamboat will be a three time loser in Boston.

Big John Studd/King Kong Bundy vs. Dick Slater/Ricky Hunter

The jobbers actually get an entrance here. This is when Slater was The Rebel and was getting a small midcard push. He and Studd get things going with Slater punching him into the corner and avoiding a splash. The size and power becomes too much though and Slater is carried into the corner. Bundy misses a big elbow and the place gets all fired up. Hunter comes in and the heels take over. Studd hooks a chinlock and the fans want the Machines. Avalanche pins Hunter.

Rating: D. Literally a squash. Slater was in there for about 45 seconds and after that it was all downhill for him and Hunter. Studd and Bundy would challenge the Bulldogs a bit on some house shows but nothing would ever come of it. Studd would be gone fairly soon after this if I remember correctly.

Steamboat is ready for his shot at Savage and that he’s waited his 30 days to get his rematch. Savage would only defend when he had to at this point, allegedly.

Rougeau Brothers vs. Hercules/Barry O

Ray and Barry start off and Barry gets thrown around so much that he tags out quickly. Hercules uses his power but the speed frustrates him enough to bring in Barry to face Jacques. The Cannonball gets the quick pin.

We go to Roddy Piper as he builds the set for the new Piper’s Pit. Nothing is said.

We get a clip from SNME with Piper chasing Adonis off with a crutch.

Piper says it hurt when Adonis and company attacked his leg and he’s going to take out Muraco first.

Islanders/Pedro Morales vs. Ken Glover/Hart Foundation

One of these things just doesn’t belong. The Islanders team jump the other guys and clear the ring. We start with Tama vs. Hunter as Jimmy praises the Harts in an inset. Top rope splash ends this quick. The Harts were never in and I don’t think Morales was either.

Post match Hunter takes the Hart Attack.

We see Slick, Volkoff and Sheik arriving in a limo. Jesse greets them and Slick says he wants the tag titles.

Junkyard Dog/George Steele vs. Steve Regal/Terry Gibbs

No not that Regal. Regal jumps the Dog and that goes as well as you would expect it to go. Steele comes in to a nice reaction and then it’s back to Dog for the powerslam and the pin. This didn’t last a minute. Steele throws out Regal post match because he’s a nice animal. Kids get to dance with the winners.

Bob Orton is ready for Billy Jack Haynes and Piper needs to find a new job.

Muraco warns Piper to stay away too.

Vince wraps things up.

Overall Rating: D. This flew by but there wasn’t enough angle building to make the squashes interesting. That’s been one of the things you can get from the previous shows: there have been a lot of angles thrown out there to balance out the weak wrestling, which is a lot more than you can ask for in a lot of these shows. Not much here this week.

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