Pro Wrestling Superstars: Toronto
Date: April 14, 2012
Location: Doubletree By Hilton, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Bill Apter, Ken Tuccio, JJ Dillon, Tommy Dreamer, Shane Douglas

So back during the pandemic, Highspots had a crazy sale on its DVDs and digital downloads and I picked up a ton of them. Since I take forever to get to them, it’s been a bit since I’ve done one of these but here we go anyway. This is basically just a legends/independent show with whatever random lineup happens to be around (at the WrestleReunion convention), meaning you could expect anything here. Let’s get to it.

Host/boss Sal Corrente brings out Howard Finkel as a special surprise. Fink puts over the convention and Toronto and hopes the fans have a good time. It’s weird hearing him just talking instead of making some kind of announcement.

Michael Elgin vs. El Generico

Commentary sums up Generico’s entrance by saying if you don’t like it, you don’t like things that are fun. The much bigger Elgin powers Generico around to start and then shoulders him down without much effort. A leg lariat sends Elgin into the corner though and a Sami Zayn Helluva Kick connects. Generico tries another but gets elbowed in the face, only to get taken down by a hurricanrana to the floor. The dive is teased but Generico backflips into the middle before hammering away in the corner.

Generico’s high crossbody is pulled out of the air though and a powerslam gets two. Back up and Generico hits some clotheslines to limited success but a dropkick works a bit better. Now the big running flip dive can take Elgin down again but he’s right back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. The Blue Thunder Bomb gives Generico two, only for Elgin to muscle him up for some kind of reverse implant DDT. Elgin charges into the suplex into the corner though and another Helluva Kick into the brainbuster finishes for Generico at 7:55.

Rating: B-. This is the kind of match that is always going to work, with two talented guys working a power vs. speed style. There is something about watching an underdog like Generico fight back against a monster like Elgin and it worked well again. It helps that there are no stakes and you can pretty much do whatever, but they kept it straight here with a perfectly fine wrestling match.

Tito Santana vs. Shawn Spears

Rick Martel (there’s someone you don’t see very often) and Jimmy Hart are here as well. They fight over a lockup to start and Santana backs him into the corner, where Spears claims a pull of the trunks (as a heel often does). Spears backs him up against the ropes for a change and we get an ARRIBA off (the fans go with Santana on that one). Dillon talks about having no memory of EVER cheating as a manager and knows Hart wouldn’t either. Heels have to stick together man.

Santana headlocks him to the ground and Spears needs a breather on the floor. Back in and Santana runs him over with a shoulder as commentary talks about the 32 year old Spears like he’s about 14. Spears goes to the eyes in the corner to take over (Dillon missed it believe it or not) and stomps away, setting up the chinlock.

Back up and Santana charges into a knee in the corner so Spears can get his feet on the ropes (Dillon: “I missed that again.”) for two. The chinlock goes on again as Apter thinks there should be two referees in matches. Spears misses a top rope splash so Santana loads up the forearm, only for Hart to trip him up. Martel chases Hart off (Spears: “WHERE YOU GOING?”), leaving Santana to grab a small package for the pin at 8:16.

Rating: C. Again, this isn’t a show where the quality of the match is worth much, but for a match between a mostly unproven Spears and a mostly over the hill Santana, this was perfectly watchable. Dillon as a classic heel commentator was fine, with some of his stories being more interesting than the match itself. For a match with no story and a pretty random pairing, this went just fine.

Adam Page/Asylum vs. Rhett Titus/Caleb Konley vs. Super Smash Bros vs. Grizzly Redwood/Jake Manning

Page is better known as Hangman, Asylum would go on to VERY minor fame as Stone Rockwell in TNA, Titus and Konley (with Leah Von Dutch) were independent stars for a long time, the Smash Bros are the Dark Order (Evil Uno/Player Uno and Stu Grayson/Player Dos) and Redwood is a lumberjack while Manning is an adult scout (the Manscout). Got all that? Eh probably as it isn’t that complicated.

Redwood and Page start things off and go to the mat as Tuccio talks about eating lunch with Redwood today. Apparently Redwood ate a tree he had cut down earlier. That’s quite the level of efficiency. Neither can get anywhere so Titus comes in to face Page, who hands it off to Konley. They stomp the mat a lot and try to tag out, only for the other six to drop to the floor.

Titus drops down so Konley can cover him, with commentary saying it was like 1998 with Hulk Hogan. First of all, that was in 1999 and second of all, the better choice, from the same era, would be the New Age Outlaws who did it in a multi-team match. Asylum comes in to take over on Titus before both Bros come in to do the same. A fist drop/standing moonsault combination gets two on Titus and the Bros stop to pose, with Tuccio not being impressed.

Titus finally drives Dos into the ropes for the tag to Konley, who gets taken down by Uno just as quickly. Manning comes in with a dropkick to the knee so Redwood can add a running bulldog for two. Redwood gets sent face first into the corner though and a pull on the suspenders keeps him in trouble. A rather hard backsplash gives Konley two and Redwood almost gets dropped on his head with a release German suplex.

Konley’s top rope ax handle gets two and we hit the cravate. A catapult into the ropes gets two more and Titus puts on a bodyscissors. That’s broken up and the tag brings in Uno to clean house. Everything breaks down and Dos hits a high crossbody on Asylum before Manning feeds Dos over to a slingshot spear from Redwood. Page chops away at Manning and gets two off a powerslam but Asylum comes in with a double underhook into a neckbreaker (that was cool) to send Dos outside.

Konley and Titus take Asylum out though until Page hits a shooting star (or most of one) from the apron onto a pile. Uno hits a dive of his own before Dos hits a corkscrew dive onto just about everyone else. Back in and what would become known as the Fatality finishes Konley to give Dos the pin at 13:26.

Rating: B. This was the “get a bunch of people on the card” match and my goodness it’s weird to see a lot of these people being such young stars. You could see that there was talent here, but only Page would go on to become a major star. It was certainly a fun match though and a nice change of pace after the previous one. It’s nothing great or groundbreaking, but it did exactly what it was supposed to do.

Gene Okerlund is brought out and a special guest: Roddy Piper. Yeah that works. We get quite the PIPER chant and says he was supposed to face Terry Funk here but thank goodness he’s not here. Instead, Piper was trying to think of something fun for these guys, because there isn’t much of a place for wrestlers to get experience. There’s really only WWE, which makes him spit.

These wrestlers are talented, so let’s let one of those young wrestlers come out here and talk to someone. A fan shouts something that I can’t understand and it makes Piper laugh. For now though, Piper invites someone down for a Piper’s Pit, so here is Caleb Konley (as Piper had requested someone from the previous match). The fans call Konley a metrosexual and Piper says Konley is doing great so far.

Piper points out that he doesn’t know much about Konley but he hands Konley the mic and tells him to see what he can do. Konley talks about how he has looked up to Piper since he was a kid and he hated Piper’s guts. Then he realized that he likes that feeling because he’s prettier than everyone else out here.

The fans’ wives and girlfriends can attest to that and they aren’t pleased. Konley asks Piper something but Piper says the rule is to never let go of the microphone. Piper wants Konley to introduce the next guest and he whispers a name in his ear. If Konley screws this up, Piper promises a clubbing. Konley introduces….BRUNO SAMMARTINO!

Piper says Sammartino still scares him and lets Konley handle the interview, with the threat of that clubbing still being a very real thing. After some basic biography questions (the fans aren’t happy), Piper whispers something to Konley, who says he thinks he can bench press more than Sammartino. Konley: “LOOK AT HIM!” Piper suggests asking Sammartino how much he has benched, which would be a then world record of 565lbs. Piper takes the mic (Konley broke the rule) and asks about Sammartino’s other record, which was benching 335lbs 38 times.

Piper wants a LEGEND chant and Konley again says he could beat Sammartino. Believe it or not, Sammartino doesn’t seem impressed and lists off the rather intense exercise regimen he still follows. With Sammartino holding Konley’s wrist, he says if Konley tries something, he’ll teach him a lesson. Piper asks Konley who he is and what he’s famous for doing. Konley: “Getting chicks!” Piper: “Maybe you should try wrestling because you lost the match.”

Piper talks about how he was treated when he started out and slaps Konley, demanding he slap back. Konley does as he’s told and then gets slapped out to the floor, with Piper saying WIN NEXT TIME. Piper says Sammartino is a legend to wrap it up. Konley went on to have a decent career, but this was probably his biggest moment ever. He did fine, but how do you stand out with those two around you?

Dave Finlay vs. Harry Smith

Finlay is of course better known as Finlay and Smith is Davey Boy Smith Jr., complete with his old Hart Dynasty theme. Feeling out process to start with Finlay taking him into the corner by the leg and then putting it on the mat, with Dreamer going into some actual analysis. Smith reverses into a kneebar into the ropes but we pause for Finlay to invite a rather passionate fan (apparently even commentary knows her by name) to be the new Hornswoggle under the ring. Said fan gets in the ring and dances with Finlay for a bit (the interlocking arm deal he did with Hornswoggle) in a nice moment.

We settle down to Finlay headlocking Smith and taking him to the mat as Dreamer talks about working out with Nikita Koloff earlier today (cool enough). Smith reverses into an armbar, which is reversed into a leglock as the match is mostly being ignored as Apter is basically interviewing Dreamer.

Apter points out that the WWE fans would probably be calling a match like this boring, though to be fair it’s a match on an independent show rather than Raw or Smackdown. It’s not supposed to be the same kind of thing, though Apter probably isn’t wrong. Smith grinds away on a headlock before being sent outside in a heap. Finlay gets in a quick shot as Smith is trying to get back in and there’s a loud ram into the post. The countout doesn’t work for Finlay so he jumps Smith on the floor and hammers away back inside.

The double arm crank goes on as we talk about how attractive Diana Smith has stayed over the years. They move on to this new thing called “social media”, which is quite the easy way to keep in touch with wrestlers and fans. Smith is sent outside again but manages to get his foot up to block a splash. Back up and Smith makes the clothesline comeback, followed by a superkick. The threat of a Sharpshooter sends Finlay to the ropes so Smith grabs the running powerslam for the pin at 13:57.

Rating: B-. Good enough stuff here, with a more traditional wrestling match to slow things down a bit. I’m sure Finlay was happy with putting over the son of a legend of British wrestling, especially with only about eight months left in his active career. Finlay could more than go at this point and he made Smith look good here, with that powerslam being a nice way to go.

Vader vs. Necro Butcher

This is….well it’s certainly a thing. Vader throws some chairs in the ring and even Butcher bails from that kind of violence. They get inside, where Vader yells at the fans and then powers Butcher into the corner for the big punches. Some hard clotheslines put Butcher down a few times and Vader pummels away in the corner.

A rake to the eyes gives Butcher an opening and he kicks away in the corner, which seems to annoy Vader more than anything else. Vader comes out of the corner with that running body block of his, setting up a Fujiwara armbar. A chokeslam plants Butcher before a Vader Bomb and another chokeslam put him away at 5:49.

Rating: C-. This was more or less an extended squash for Vader, as Butcher only got in a little bit in one corner. At the same time, it was just Butcher doing a regular match, which isn’t the best way to go. Not much to see here, with Vader getting to do his usual stuff and nothing really beyond that for the whole match.

Gene Okerlund introduces our next match.

Dominic DeNucci/Shane Douglas vs. Lord Zoltan/Shawn Blanchard

JJ Dillon is here too. DeNucci is a legend in his own right but is better known for training Mick Foley and Douglas himself. Zoltan is a mainstay of Pittsburgh wrestling and has some Danhausen style face paint. Before the match, Douglas grabs the mic and says some people have been asking for some shoot comments. He talks about Dillon (in a SWEET Four Horsemen jacket) and insults his association with Ric Flair before bringing out someone to be in his own corner: Bruno Sammartino.

Douglas takes Blanchard (I’m assuming he’s related to Tully in some way) into the corner to start and hands it off to DeNucci for some chops against the ropes. Douglas comes back in and tells Blanchard to get up but gets taken into the wrong corner for a front facelock. Dillon gets in some choking from the floor but Douglas fights up and cleans house. That’s broken up so DeNucci comes in for the save as everything breaks down. A low blow to Zoltan sets up the belly to belly to give Douglas the pin on Blanchard at 4:50.

Rating: C-. This was a good example of “yeah what were you expecting?”. You’re only going to get so far with something like this and the point wasn’t in having an exciting match. DeNucci was 80 years old here (yes it was his last match) and this was really just a way to have the Pittsburgh guys together. Not a good match, but seeing DeNucci and Sammartino out there was fun.

NCW Femme Fatales International Title: Kalamity vs. LuFisto

Kalamity is defending and this is from Northern Championship Wrestling, a Canadian company still around today. LuFisto is billed from “Montreal, Japan” (Apter: “Montreal…Japan?”) in what I’m assuming is a misprint. The bigger Kalamity backs her into the corner to start and we go to a standoff. They trade some slaps and armdrags before going head to head. Some kicks to the legs don’t get either anywhere so LuFisto trips her down and ties up the leg for a bit.

Back up and Kalamity kicks her down for a change, setting up some running knees to the back on the ropes. The half crab keeps LuFisto down but she fights out and pulls Kalamity into a Downward Spiral into the buckle. A middle rope dropkick gets two on Kalamity and a headscissors keeps her down. Back up and Kalamity crushes her in the corner, followed by a running forearm to the chest for another near fall.

A double clothesline gives us a double knockdown before LuFisto hits a running dropkick against the ropes. The cannonball and running boot to the face get a slightly delayed two on Kalamity but she runs LuFisto over again. LuFisto fights out of a superplex attempt and hits a top rope double stomp in the Tree Of Woe.

A nice spear drops Kalamity and LuFisto grabs something like a guillotine. That’s broken up as well and they kick each other in the face (geez) with LuFisto getting the better of things. Some rollups give LuFisto two and a German suplex into a spinning back elbow drops Kalamity again. A top rope headbutt misses though and Kalamity grabs a fisherman’s driver for the pin at 13:33.

Rating: B. This was a heck of a match and easily the best one on the show so far. I’ve never seen Kalamity before but she had some size and knew how to use it. LuFisto was more than handling her own and fighting against the power. Good match here, and keep in mind that this was before the Women’s Revolution, making this even more of a total hidden gem.

Roderick Strong vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

Sweet goodness Liger’s music is great. Liger takes him to the mat to start but gets pulled into a leglock. That’s broken up for a standoff until Liger grabs a surfboard and rocks Strong back and forth for a bit. Liger ties up various limbs on the mat until Strong makes the rope and goes old school with a spinning toehold. Back up and Strong’s chops don’t do much as Liger sends him to the floor for a dropkick through the ropes.

Strong is back up and strikes away in the corner, setting up a suplex to put Liger down for a change. The waistlock stays on the ribs for a good while as Liger is in trouble. Back up and Strong misses a charge in the corner, allowing Liger to get in a German suplex. Another surfboard goes on, with Strong having to get over to the ropes. A belly to back side slam gives Strong two and it’s an Angle Slam into the Stronghold.

Liger gets out and they strike away until Strong grabs a fireman’s carry gutbuster. Back up and some running palm strikes rock Strong and a superplex gives Liger two. The Liger Bomb gets two more and a frog splash is good for another near fall. Strong knees him in the face though and a torture rack into the backbreaker gets two more. A tiger bomb finally finishes Liger at 15:35.

Rating: B. Another good match here with Strong getting a big win over a prominent name. Strong was already a big deal on the independent circuit and in Ring Of Honor but beating someone like Liger is still a feat. At the same time, Liger isn’t someone who needs to go over in any match as he’s been a legend for so long and is just so likable no matter what he does. The fact that they had a good match made it even better.

Respect is shown post match.

Raven/CW Anderson vs. Rhino/Tommy Dreamer

Believe it or not, this is indeed under Extreme Rules. Dreamer and Raven start things off, with the fans wanting blood. They circle each other but Raven brings Anderson in rather than fighting, because he’s smart like that. Both of them miss clotheslines and we have a standoff, as this is going a bit more slowly than you might have expected. Dreamer can’t get the sunset flip but Anderson can get the basement dropkick for the first good shot.

Back up and Dreamer hands it off to Rhino, which has Raven giving advice in the corner. A clothesline puts Anderson down and it’s back to Dreamer for a running elbow. Anderson gets in a left hand though and NOW Raven is willing to come in, as you might have expected. Some knees to the face keep Dreamer down and it’s back to Anderson for the reverse chinlock. Dreamer manages to send him into the corner though and it’s Rhino coming in to clean house. Raven breaks up the Gore and crotches Rhino on the post and the double stomping is on.

Commentary reminds us that this is an extreme rules match, despite nothing being extreme thus far. Dreamer teases the DDT on Anderson but stops to glare at Raven, who goes outside and heads up the aisle. Raven gets tossed back inside and Dreamer hammers away, with both of them going to the floor again. The fight goes into the crowd as things finally wake up a bit. Dreamer rings the bell low on Anderson before slugging at Raven back inside.

The DDT gets two on Raven so it’s time for a chair and table. Naturally that takes too long so Raven sends Dreamer into the chair for two, only to get Gored by Rhino (hey he’s still in this). Anderson’s spinebuster gets two on Rhino and the table is set up in the corner. That takes too long and the Death Valley driver through said table gives Dreamer the pin at 12:08.

Rating: C. This was an ECW match almost in name only, as they barely did anything with the weapons. You had the table in the end, because they had to get one of those in, but other than that it was just a bunch of guys doing basic stuff because it was about all they could do. Dreamer vs. Raven is a famous feud, but this was all they had?

Dreamer and Rhino leave so Raven yells at Anderson, who gives him a superkick. Then Anderson leaves and Raven stands there for a long time. He finally says Toronto sucks to wrap it up.

Overall Rating: B-. This is a show where the quality isn’t the point, but rather how much fun you have with the thing. It’s a bunch of thrown together matches with a variety of generations coming together to make the whole thing work. I had a good time watching it with no expectations, plus a few good matches to make it that much better. Throw in Bruno Sammartino and Roddy Piper in the same ring and it was hard to not have fun.

 

 

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ECW House Show
Date: June 24, 2006
Location: ECW Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

So this is another hidden gem from the WWE Vault and in this case we have a house show from just after the brand was brought back. It’s not a complete show, but there should be something worth seeing on a show like this. If nothing else, it should be interesting to see what happened when WWE still cared about ECW. Let’s get to it.

We open with some fans in the parking lot being VERY happy that ECW is back.

Little Guido shows us where things started and says he has gone from Guido to Nunzio to Guido again. Seeing the fans wrapped around the building have brought back memories to him and now he hopes they can give the fans what they want.

Some fans and wrestlers talk about their favorite moments and wrestlers.

Paul Heyman barely recognizes the inside of the renovated arena.

Francine is excited.

Kelly Kelly isn’t sure what to expect.

Big Show has heard horror stories about this place but no, he isn’t scared.

FBI vs. Danny Doring/Roadkill

So there are no introductions and this is shot on a handheld camera so I’m going to assume clipping will be involved. Roadkill tosses Mamaluke down to start but gets caught with a headlock takeover. An armbar doesn’t work very well for Mamaluke but he avoids a sitdown splash, setting up the double basement dropkick. We’re clipped to Doring coming in to slap Mamaluke and a clothesline gets two.

We’re clipped (maybe) to Roadkill hitting a Vader Bomb for two before we’re clipped to Nunzio hitting a tornado DDT. The Sicilian Slice gets two but a Hart Attack takes Nunzio down. We’re clipped to Mamaluke hitting a dive to the floor, followed by Roadkill hitting one of his own (his is bigger). Back in and Mamaluke hits a top rope DDT to pin Roadkill (the camera is looking at the crowd for the pin) at 3:50 shown. I’ll pass on the rating due to the clipping but this was a smart way to open the show, with the fans clearly way into everything and having a good time.

CM Punk vs. Stevie Richards

From what I can tell, other than a one off dark match a few months earlier, this is Punk’s main roster debut. Punk grabs a headlock to start before running him over to set up another headlock. We’re clipped to Punk chopping away in the corner and tying him up in the ropes for some choking. We’re clipped again to Punk being sent to the apron and flipping into a knee to the back.

We’re clipped again to Punk fighting out of a chinlock and hitting the leg lariat into a butterfly backbreaker for two more. The Stevie Kick gets two but Punk strikes away and grabs the Anaconda Vice for the fast tap at 2:44 shown. There might have been more clipping in the middle, which is a bit surprising as these two should be capable of having a good match.

Post match the fans give them some nice applause and we get a handshake.

At this point, Francine won a bikini contest over Kelly Kelly and Trinity, which doesn’t air here for obvious reasons.

Mike Knox vs. Balls Mahoney

Joined in progress with Knox working on the arm. They go outside with Mahoney hammering away but getting stomped back inside. The fans decide they want New Jack and we’re clipped to Knox sending him face first into a chair in the corner. The fans don’t think Knox can wrestle but we’re clipped again to Mahoney hitting a superplex.

We’re clipped again to Mahoney hammering away and hitting the Nutcracker Sweet for two, with the camera again cutting away on the cover. We’re clipped again to Knox hitting a superplex and we’re clipped yet again to the referee telling Mahoney he can’t use a chair. Then Knox rolls him up for the pin at 2:23 shown of what looked to be a less than thrilling match. They were doing some moves but Knox was so dull at this point and that was on display here.

Sabu vs. CW Anderson

Sabu takes him down by the leg to start and goes for the camel clutch and we’re clipped to Sabu sending him outside for a chair to the head. A table is set up but Anderson gets in a chair shot to the arm. We’re cut to the chair being set up in the corner but Sabu knocks him down again. We’re clipped again to Sabu hitting the super Arabian press through the table for the pin at 2:23 shown. Well they had to get Sabu on there.

Sandman vs. Justin Credible

Dueling Singapore Canes. Sandman canes him down to start and we’re clipped to Credible hung over the top rope for a top rope Fameasser. We’re clipped to Credible getting in some cane shots but crotching himself against the post. Credible gets in a superkick but walks into a DDT. We’re clipped to Sandman shrugging off a cane shot and hitting the White Russian Legsweep for the pin at 1:01 shown. Apparently he match ran less than three minutes total….and they had to edit it on here?

Fans: “THIS SHOW SUCKS!” Wow that actually made the release?

Here is Paul Heyman for a chat and the fans are happy again. Heyman hugs Hat Guy and the fans want a shoot but then stop for another THIS SHOW SUCKS chant. It’s hard to understand what he’s saying to start but then he says some of the music sucks. Heyman says this is their first house show in this sacred hall and now it’s a THANK YOU PAUL chant. He gives a quick tribute to Ted Petty and talks about some people who can’t be here (Heyman: “Yes, AND NEW JACK TOO!”).

After yelling at a fan for talking too much (and for being a John Cena fan), Heyman talks about how there is someone here who gave everything for ECW. The fans chant for Tommy Dreamer and Heyman introduces him for a chat of his own. Dreamer talks about how one of his daughters got hurt earlier today and had to be taken to the hospital. Dreamer: “She was no selling it because she’s hardcore too.”

Once he found out his daughter was ok, Dreamer’s wife sent him to the show because he needed to be here. These people are a family and Dreamer says it is great to be home. He may never have wrestled at Wrestlemania but he has main evented in the ECW Arena. With that, he calls out the Big Show for a fight and that isn’t a good idea.

Tommy Dreamer vs. Big Show

Dreamer hammers away to start and is shoved down just as fast. We’re clipped to Dreamer getting crotched on the barricade and then again to Dreamer ramming him into the wall. Another clip (How long is this match?) takes us to Dreamer hitting him with a bunch of weapons and grabbing a DDT for two. We’re clipped again to Show chokeslamming him through a table for the win at 2:58. The whole match was about ten minutes and they couldn’t even show half of it?

ECW World Title: Kurt Angle vs. Rob Van Dam

Van Dam (with two belts) is defending and Dean Malenko is the guest referee. Angle powers him into the corner to start but Van Dam shrugs it off. We’re clipped to Van Dam getting two off a rollup and we’re clipped again to them fighting on the floor (They made sure to show us a rollup?). Van Dam whips him into thee barricade and hits the spinwheel kick off the apron.

Angle is right back up with an overhead belly to belly and we’re clipped to him hitting another inside. A bunch of clips take us through Angle choking and Van Dam fighting up and making a comeback, including the split legged moonsault for two. We’re clipped to Van Dam hitting the top rope kick to the face and we’re clipped again to Angle grabbing a German suplex.

We’re clipped again to Van Dam countering an Angle Slam into a DDT and we’re clipped again to Van Dam doing various things to a chair (with EVEN MORE clipping). A gordbuster onto the chair sets up the Angle Slam for two and we’re clipped to Van Dam hitting Rolling Thunder.

The Five Star is countered with Angle running the corner for the belly to belly superplex for two and we’re clipped to the ankle lock keeping Van Dam in trouble. A chair to the head gets Van Dam out of trouble and we’re clipped to Angle’s chair shot hitting the rope and bouncing into his own head. The Van Daminator sets up the Five Star to retain the title at 7:03 (out of almost seventeen minutes the match apparently ran).

Rating: B-. It’s hard to say how good this was when we didn’t even see half of it but you can imagine that these two had a rather impressive match if given the chance. Angle was the biggest WWE name to be part of the new ECW so he almost had to be Van Dam’s first opponent, but that wasn’t going to last very long. For now though, pretty good main event but the show was a disaster anyway and this wasn’t going to save it. Malenko was a completely non-factor here.

Van Dam gets his belts and celebrates with the fans, who want a speech. He’s really happy to be champion and that ECW is back. We hit the catchphrase to wrap it up.

Some fans are very happy after the show to wrap it up.

Overall Rating: C-. I get why this was aired, but my goodness it’s a sad thing to see. I was never a big ECW fan and even I thought this was a pathetic version of what ECW was supposed to be. I’m sure the fans were glad to see some of these people and you could feel the emotion, but there are seven matches on the card and only two of them break ten minutes. There was barely any hardcore stuff going on until the last few matches and nothing stood out as interesting.

In other words, it felt like the WWE version of ECW and that is not something that was overly interesting. ECW worked because it wasn’t WWE and trying to tie the two things together isn’t a great idea. This show wasn’t so much bad as much as it was embarrassing and sad, which are worse for something that is going to be built around nostalgia and emotion. It’s a VERY cool thing to get to see, but it’s also a great illustration of why the whole thing fell apart so fast.

 

 

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A Tribute To The Extreme 2
Date: April 5, 2024
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentator; Joe Dombrowski

It’s Wrestlemania Weekend in Philadelphia so you knew something like this was coming. The show is exactly what it sounds like as Battleground Championship Wrestling (local indy) is presenting a special night for ECW. There are various ECW wrestlers on the show and the Dudleys are going into the arena’s Hall Of Fame, which should be special. Let’s get to it.

Here is Team 3D to a hero’s welcome to get things going. The fans thank them but Ray says thank you instead. Ray talks about being in a much worse version of this building in 1997 and hit the first 3D right in here. They went on to become the most successful team in history and it was because of the fans. Thank you for showing up for either Team 3D or the Dudley Boyz. D-Von does the catchphrases and you can tell that they’re both loving this.

Team 3D vs. Atshushi Onita/Tommy Dreamer

Dreamer is a mystery partner but…..it’s the ECW Arena. What was the mystery supposed to be? Believe it or not, Dreamer has something to say before the match. He agrees that this is awesome and this is the point of a place like this. Dreamer is here with Onita because of a talk that Onita, Dreamer and Ray had at WrestleCon in Dallas a few years ago. They talked to Terry Funk on the phone and Onita was given the phone, which left him in tears. Without Funk, there would be no Onita or Dreamer so for that they are bonded forever. With that, Dreamer hits Ray in the head with a microphone and let’s get started.

Believe it or not, it’s a brawl to start with the Dudleyz being knocked down and the referee getting misted by Onita. They fight to the floor to keep up the brawl, with commentary saying Ray and Dreamer are probably fighting about Busted Open Radio. Dreamer’s sends Ray face first into a woman’s chest and then rings the bell on D-Von’s crotch.

A plastic table is brought in and Onita is busted open off something in there. D-Von hits Onita with popcorn as Dreamer hits the Flip, Flop and Fly on Ray for a double knockdown. Back in and the Dudleyz switch places on What’s Up to Onita before it’s time to get the tables. A 3D puts Dreamer through the table for the pin at 7:52.

Rating: C. I don’t think there is any secret to the fact that this wasn’t about having a top level match or really anything close to it. Instead, this was about the Dudleyz getting back in the ring for one more match in the arena where they started. There is nothing wrong with that and while the match was little more than a garbage brawl, that was pretty much entirely the point.

Respect is shown post match. Dreamer grabs the mic (again) and talks about how D-Von and Onita have had health issues but they had to do this one more time. Oh and thank you Paul Heyman for everything. And the fans too. We’re still not done as Onita says….something about ECW.

We pause to clean up the ring, with the ring announcer grabbing a broom as well.

Here is our host for the evening, the Blue Meanie! The fans chant for the BWO, with Meanie talking about how that was supposed to be a one off appearance but the fans made it go on for years. Meanie thanks the fans and Battleground Championship Wrestling and the building which changed wrestling forever.

Shane Douglas vs. CW Anderson

Francine is here with Douglas and seems very happy to be here. Douglas asks the fans to treat them like they did in 1994 and the rather insulting chants almost have Francine crying. Francine hasn’t forgotten everything they’ve sang and chanted at her over the years and she DESERVES RESPECT! They can walk out right now but instead just get Douglas’ opponent out here.

Douglas grabs a headlock to start as commentary talks about how great he was, despite other promotions telling him no over and over. They’re quickly on the floor with Douglas whipping him into the barricade but getting rammed face first into the apron a few times. Francine offers a distraction though, allowing Douglas to get in a low blow on the way back in. Another Francine distraction doesn’t work as Anderson blocks the low blow and hits a basement clothesline. Francine comes in and gets spanked, leaving Anderson to hit a superkick for the pin at 5:39.

Rating: C. As you can probably guess, the wrestling itself isn’t the point of this show. This is about getting people out there in front of the fans one more time and having a quick match to make it a wrestling show rather than a reunion. I’m a bit surprised that a star as big as Douglas lost, but let the fans be happy I guess?

Post match Anderson bows down to Douglas and we get some hugs. Anderson goes to leave but Douglas says hang on. We look at the Hall Of Fame banners as Douglas talks about how this place used to be infested with rats and a terrible place to be, but there was nowhere in the world better for wrestling. Douglas brings up people like Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Candido, but Anderson showed up closer to the end. Anderson worked hard and got over and, after getting in a quick shot at Vince McMahon, Douglas tells the fans to applaud themselves and give us one heck of an ECW chant.

Crowbar vs. Danny Doring

Crowbar has his lackeys Vanessa and Percival with him. They fight over a lockup to start with Doring hitting a chop, allowing him to strut. A suplex puts Crowbar down and Doring knocks him out to the floor, where Percival cuts off a dive. Vanessa offers a distraction so Doring can get in a cheap shot to take over.

A neckbreaker over the ropes into a slingshot splash gives Crowbar two but Doring drop toeholds him down. The Rings of Saturn is broken up and Crowbar grabs a Sky High into something like a surfboard. We’ll make that a camel clutch, with Doring making the ropes. They head outside with Crowbar hitting a Vader Bomb off the barricade for a big crash.

Back in and they slug it out with Doring no selling some shots to the face. Doring sends Crowbar outside for a flip dive, which takes out Percival as well. Since it’s ECW, we get a chair brought in for some shots to the back, with Vanessa pulling the referee at two. Crowbar clotheslines Vanessa by mistake so Doring plants him, only to have Percival break it up. A northern lights suplex onto the chair gives Crowbar the pin at 13:19.

Rating: C-. Of all the matches on this show to get this much time, they picked a guy who was best known for a comedy tag tam and a guy who is barely remembered in ECW? This was a really weird choice and the match was boring on top of it, making this quite the mess. The other matches at least had some nostalgic charm to them but this one was just mostly dull.

Respect is shown post match. Crowbar says they didn’t spend much time together in ECW but they got to know each other and now they are brothers.

Alvin vs. Jason Knight

Alvin is a rather large Battleground Championship Wrestling guy with no connection to ECW and Missy Hyatt in his corner. Knight on the other hand has been mostly inactive for about nine and a half years and is in rather good shape. Knight grabs a hammerlock into a headlock takeover before firing off forearms to the chest.

Back up and Knight knocks him down a few more times, only for Hyatt to grab the rope. A corner splash gives Alvin two and he sends Knight outside. With that adding nothing, it’s back inside where Alvin hits another splash. The fans don’t like Alvin so he hammers away and goes up, only to miss a middle rope elbow. Hyatt offers a distraction so that Alvin can get in a brass knuckles shot for the pin at 7:23.

Rating: C-. Just like the previous match, this one was lacking the fun or special feeling that made the show fun for the first part. Alvin getting the win over an ECW guy isn’t exactly interesting and it was a slow match to make it worse. I’m not sure what the thinking was here, as it’s fine to push one of your regulars, but doing it at a tribute show is a bit weird.

Post match Alvin gets the mic and is told to shut the f*** up. Alvin: “I HAVEN’T TALKED YET!” Alvin mocks Knight and calls ECW, Knight, the Dudleyz, Shane Douglas and various other ECW legends “myths”. Cue Sandman through the crowd and we get the big Metallica entrance, which is still awesome. Alvin keeps calling him a myth and an f’ing drunk, with Sandman giving a funny “is this guy serious?” look. Sandman whips out a beer and canes Alvin down, then does it again as per the fans’ request. This is the definition of harmless nostalgic fun.

We seem to get an intermission (cut from the recorded version).

Joel Gertner vs. Bill Alfonso

Battleground Championship Wrestling owner Tim Embler (who can’t stand Gertner) is at ringside. Gertner mocks the idea of Alfonso calling it down the middle but says Embler has no idea of how to call it down the middle. Embler wasn’t here for the first half of the show but he’s here now because he’s taking sides. Gertner does his usual limerick about Embler, suggesting that he’s here for Alfonso, with his whistle, due to his fondness of blowing. As a bonus, we have Tod Gordon as guest referee.

We get a weapons check and Gertner has a bottle of ether. And a manicuring set, which is totally not to stab Alfonso. And a pen, which is there to clean his shirt. Alfonso throws the ether at Gertner, who wants a DQ, but the match hasn’t started yet. We’re still not ready to go yet, because Gertner has a note note.

He is unable to wrestle due to a variety of wrestling injuries, such as a broken meniscus in his nasal cavity. The note is from his mother, who apparently knows about Gertner’s swollen groin. Gordon says ring the bell, so Gertner offers money ($1 bills) so Gordon drops down for a trip, with Alfonso getting the win at 32 seconds. Funny stuff here and nothing wrong with that.

Post match Gordon has Embler get in the ring and praises him for what he has done. Embler says he will never allow the flame of the extreme to be extinguished. He hopes Paul Heyman dedicates his Hall Of Fame induction speech to the fans because this doesn’t work without them. Embler and Gordon leave so here is Krisitan Ross (one of Gertner’s goons) to jump Alfonso and bust him open. The fans want Rob Van Dam and Ross mocks the RVD pose but security takes Ross out instead. Well that’s disappointing. Even if you don’t have Van Dam, you don’t have one legend there to make a save?

Rhino vs. Masato Tanaka

This should hurt. Tanaka backs him into the corner to start and we get a clean break. A wristlock sends Rhino into the ropes before he grabs a wristlock of his own. That doesn’t work for them so they head outside, where Rhino’s chop hits the post. Back in and Tanaka slugs away, with Rhino telling him to bring it. Tanaka gets the better of things and grabs a chinlock…but Rhino fights up and hits the Gore for the pin at 9:13.

Rating: C. This was another disappointing match as I was expecting more from two guys who might be a bit older but are still active. I’m not sure I get why they cut this so short, as while I didn’t need some big violent bloody brawl, I could have gone for more of….anything. This could have been worse and Rhino winning is fine, but where was the rest of this one?

Pitbull Revolution vs. Da Baldies/HC Loc

That would be Alec Odin/Gary Wolfe/Traxx vs. Angel/Tony DeVito with Loc. Street fight and it’s a brawl to start, with Wolfe hammering on DeVito as we get the New Jack tradition of having the music playing throughout. They head outside as the fight is all over the place and Traxx FU’s Loc through a chair. It’s time for the box of Legos but Angel saves Loc. Instead it’s Traxx being shoved onto them, with Loc hitting a middle rope elbow for two. Wolfe cleans house with an Anthony Durante (Pitbull #1) flag and it’s time for the ladder around the neck, with a shot to the face finishing DeVito at 6:22.

Rating: C. So that happened. This was supposed to be the big wild, hardcore brawl and it only worked so well with the people involved. I didn’t care for Da Baldies back in the original ECW and watching them almost twenty five years later didn’t make it much better. It was barely a match and rather a bunch of wild spots, which is about all it was ever going to be. You had to have something like this on the show so they might as well get it out of the way.

Samoan Gangsta Party vs. FBI

That would be Samu/Lance Anoa’i (father and son) vs. Little Guido/Tommy Rich. Samu and Rich start things off with the latter working on the wrist as commentary gives us a brief Anoa’i Family Tree history. It’s quickly off to Guido….but Rich would rather have a dance off. Lance busts out a Worm and the FBI does their own version, only to have Lance deck them from behind.

Guido gets knocked to the floor, where he hits Lance in the face with a drink to…well not do much really as Lance takes over back inside. The Samoan drop gives Lance two but the Superfly Splash misses. It’s back to Rich to clean a few of the rooms before going to the floor with Samu. Lance superkicks Guido for the pin at 6:34.

Rating: C. Is it bad that I was wanting more from the dance off? Lance looks like someone who could be something somewhere with some better coaching as he certainly has the look and the lineage. Guido is an older guy who can still do well enough in the ring, while Rich and Samu are the really old guys who are there to make this feel special.

Post match the FBI teases brawling again before hugging, as is their custom.

Juventud Guerrera vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

Before the match, Juventud says this is his last match in the United States. He loves the fans but he is sick of the backstabbing and the politics in this country. On May 18, he’ll have a big show in Mexico and that’s his last show there too, so come check it out. Scorpio grabs the mic and doesn’t buy Juventud saying that he’s going to retire. Eh ok he is lying and drops a bunch of F bombs on the fans.

Scorpio slugs away to start and knocks the mask off before dropping a leg. The slingshot flipping legdrop connects before Scorpio takes him down for a hair pull. Juventud flips out of a sunset flip and hits a basement dropkick. A middle rope crossbody gives Juventud two and a dropkick just annoys Scorpio. Juventud gets knocked down but avoids a moonsault. A running knee finishes Scorpio at 6:02.

Rating: C+. This one at least had a slightly faster pace, but it was still only so good. I’m not sure what the point was in having Juventud lie to the fans, insult them, and then get the win but the people didn’t seem to mind. This was still one of the better matches of the show, mainly due to the talent involved.

Tajiri vs. Super Crazy

The fans rather approve of this as they lock up to start. They fight over wrist control as commentary explains the history between the two, which really was quite nice. Nothing happens on the mat and the fans are rather split. Crazy manages an armdrag out to the floor and Tajiri is happy to take a breather. Hold on though as cue Mikey Whipwreck to ask what the f*** is going on. Forget the chain wrestling because it’s midnight in Philadelphia this needs to be a Mexican Japanese Death Match!

Tajiri takes the hint and they brawl out into the crowd, with Crazy already busted open as they come back to ringside. Some chairs are thrown inside and a piece of a door to the head rocks Crazy again. The ladder is put between Crazy’s legs in the corner for the big chair shot and Tajiri kicks him down for two.

We hit the chinlock for a needed breather (and some near falls) before another kick gets another two on Crazy. They had outside (with Whipwreck very interested) with the beating continuing for a rather delayed near fall. Crazy manages a quick backbreaker and some right hands in the corner but Tajiri is back with the Tarantula. Tajiri misses the Buzzsaw Kick though and Crazy mists him into the rollup for the pin at 11:50.

Rating: B-. This feels like a pairing where they might not have worked together in years (and they hadn’t) and still have a good match because they know each other that well. Of course they weren’t as good as they were twenty plus years ago but this was still the best match of the night and likely would have been with or without the rule change halfway through. Good stuff here, and it did feel like the renewing of a classic rivalry.

Overall Rating: C+. I don’t think there’s any secret to the fact that this show was about the atmosphere and nostalgia rather than the wrestling. In a way that makes sense, as ECW was rarely about the wrestling (with some exceptions) and was mainly about the fans having a good time. That’s what they did here, and while they didn’t have all of the ECW legends (which would have made the show run WAY too long), they had enough to make the whole thing work well enough.

With that being said, this show needed some tweaks, as there is a stretch near the middle that REALLY drags. They might have been better off by closing with the Sandman stuff or the Dudleyz’s match, just for the sake of going out on their biggest notes. In short, the show was good when it focused on ECW and bad when it focused on the non-ECW, which is kind of the point of a show like this one. What we got was good but with another daft of the rundown, this could have been a fair bit better.

However, the important thing here though was to pay tribute to ECW and that is exactly what this felt like. As was said many times on here, it’s hard to believe that a lot of these people are going to be able to get back in the ring again so letting them do this at a pretty well put together show is a nice way to go. The tributes and nice moments were what mattered most, as a lot of the people felt like they were saying goodbye to one of the most important venues in modern wrestling history.

 

 

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Powerrr
Date: March 3, 2020
Location: GPB Studios, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Joe Galli, Stu Bennett

The Crockett Cup is starting to look and that could mean things are starting to pick up. We still have over a month to go before the show but Marty Scurll is coming for the NWA World Title, which could make for a heck of a title match. The tournament is coming up as well so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

Sean Mooney previews the show, including two title matches.

TV Title: Zicky Dice vs. Ricky Starks

Dice is challenging and takes Starks to the mat without much trouble. Starks gets knocked down again and this time Dice wraps his ribs around the post. Back in and the chinlock doesn’t last long so Dice chokes on the ropes instead. A Falcon Arrow gives Starks two but Dice hits the Snake Rattle and Roll. Starks is in the ropes at two so Dice walks around and points to his head (ironically enough: never a good idea). The Stroke is loaded up, but Dice backdrops him over and sits down for the pin and the title at 5:08.

Rating: C. These short form matches are a clever idea but I’m not sure how long it can actually work. You just can’t do much in a 6:05 time limit, but they are a gimmick for the title and that’s a good thing in theory. Dice winning the title makes sense as he’s getting a big reaction from the crowd almost every week so maybe he’s the next homegrown star.

Before we can get a word from Dice, Thom Latimer comes out to yell at Galli about Kamille speaking next week. It’s going to be like two words isn’t it?

Buy tickets!

We see clips of the Crockett Cup press conference with Scurll and Aldis both promised to win.

The Question Mark and….a Mongrovian ventriloquist dummy talk about the Mongrovian flag.

We look at Trevor Murdoch beating Question Mark but getting beaten down by Mark and Aron Stevens.

Stevens and Mark want the Tag Team Titles so they call out the Rock N Roll Express. Stevens suggests that the Express lay down for a spot in one of his movies, but that’s not happening. They’ll fight next week though.

We look at Kamille attacking Allysin Kay last week and then staring down Thunder Rosa.

Dawsons vs. Caleb Konley/CW Anderson

Texas tornado rules and losers leave town. The Dawsons jump them from behind to start and the fight is on in a hurry. Konley slugs away at Zane and hits a running dropkick in the corner. Dave and Anderson take their place with CW hitting a crossbody for two. The Dawsons clean house and hit a double release suplex for two on Anderson.

A side slam/neckbreaker combination gets the same on Konley but the Dawsons get sent into each other, setting up a middle rope double dropkick from Konley. Dave is back with a splash in the corner and a Boss Man Slam gets two on Anderson. A low bridging sends Dave outside and there’s a suicide dive from Konley. That leaves Anderson to bust Zane’s spine, setting up Konley’s moonsault for the pin at 4:38.

Rating: C. I’m not sure if the Bouncers are sticking around but if they are, there isn’t much of a point in keeping the Dawsons around. They aren’t the most thrilling team in the world as they come off as the standard big guys team, which isn’t something that you need to have. Anderson is a very established veteran, but Konley could go somewhere around here and that’s a good thing.

We look back at the Pope buying off the Bouncers to jump Eddie Kingston.

Here are May Valentine and Sal Rinauro, the latter of whom is helping her with her new vlog and her new lingerie line. Sal sees his broken arm as his lucky break because he wouldn’t have gotten to me May’s friend. She’s going to shoot an episode of the vlog right here, but here’s Royce Isaacs to go after Rinauro’s good arm. May stops him and leaves with Rinauro.

Pope is fired up and talks about how the Bouncers are going to go win the Tag Team Titles so they can shine like he does. The Beer City Bruiser is ready to win the titles and drink all night long.

Tag Team Titles: Bouncers vs. Eli Drake/James Storm

The Bouncers are challenging with Pope in their corner while Drake and Storm have Eddie Kingston. Drake and Milonas start things off with Eli hurting his back on a slam attempt. Milonas sends him to the apron but Drake comes back in with a slingshot shoulder. That just earns Drake a shot to the face and it’s Bruiser coming in to hammer away. It doesn’t last long though as Storm comes in, only to get taken down as well. Milonas hits a splash and takes his shirt off, which does not seem to please the fans.

Bruiser does his non-existent bite and Milonas comes in to sit on Storm’s chest in the corner. Storm enziguris his way to freedom though and it’s back to Drake for the fast paced house cleaning. Everything breaks down and Storm dives onto Bruiser on the floor. The Bouncers crush Drake with a double standing splash for two but Drake is back in with a sunset bomb to Milonas. A double slam puts Milonas down again and it’s the Last Call into the E-Li-Drake elbow for the pin on Bruiser at 8:39.

Rating: C. The Bouncers are a lot more fun and entertaining as faces but I can go with the whole invaders deal around here. Drake and Storm are good for what they are and it’s not like this show is flush with tag teams in the first place. If nothing else, teasing Kingston vs. Pope is great and I could see that match going down at the Crockett Cup.

Pope runs from Kingston to end the show.

Roll credits.

Overall Rating: C+. This show didn’t do much in the ring but they covered a lot of stuff and teased some big moments going forward. Powerrr isn’t the kind of show that is going to be wrestling heavy in the first place and that was clear this week. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad show, but it is so different from anything else. Your individual tastes may vary on it though, which was the case this week.

Results

Zicky Dice b. Ricky Starks – Rollup

Caleb Konley/CW Anderson b. Dawsons – Moonsault to Zane

Eli Drake/James Storm b. Bouncers – Jumping elbow to Bruiser

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Anarchy Rulz 2000
Date: October 1, 2000
Location: Roy Wilkins Auditorium, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Attendance: 4,600
Commentators: Joey Styles, Joel Gertner

The card does seem to be a major improvement in some of ECW’s problem areas. While there’s nothing that is going to save the company in one night, this is a good step for them as Van Dam is finally doing something important again and maybe Lynn can get the major win that has eluded him for so long. Let’s get to it.

Joey and Joel are in the ring to open things up and Joel gets through his rhyme (sans swearing for once, this time about being with women of all races and thankfully not having 27 children) before throwing us to the opening video. More from them later.

Joey Matthews/Christian York vs. Roadkill/Danny Doring

Matthews (more famous as Joey Mercury) and York (didn’t do much after this other than showing up in TNA for an uneventful run thirteen years later) are young guys who could be described as pretty boys. Matthews and Doring get things going with Doring pulling on the hair to take over. The audio is a bit off here for some reason as Joel sounds like he’s a foot away from his microphone. Doring sends Joey face first into the mat before bringing in Roadkill to a very positive reaction. Off to York who gets taken down by a running shoulder but he comes back with some armdrags.

York counters a slingshot into the corner into a bouncing legdrop, only to have Roadkill pop up and slam both guys down. Matthews and York stay on the monster but Doring gets a hot tag and helps Roadkill with a Hart Attack to Joey. Doring is sent over the top rope and comes down on his arm, followed by double suicide dives from the young guys. Back inside and a double powerbomb drops Doring, but Matthews and York turn around into the springboard clothesline from Roadkill.

Danny nails a top rope elbow but York breaks it up with a top rope legdrop. A middle rope backsplash gets two for York but Doring escapes a headlock and hits the double arm DDT. There’s the hot tag to Roadkill who cleans house and splashes both guys in the corner before the Buggy Bang (wheelbarrow slam from Roadkill/top rope Fameasser combination) for the pin on York.

Rating: C. Nice match here as the tag team division continues to heat up, and for once there’s actually something for them to go after. Roadkill would be another guy that seems ready to push on his own, especially since most of the main eventers are regular sized guys. Being able to fly like he does is only a plus.

Roadkill and Doring help up Matthews and York in a nice display of sportsmanship. Simon and Swinger come in and clean house with chairs before leaving Doring laying. That sounds like a decent feud but they need to have something to fight over.

Joel Gertner has challenged Cyrus to a match tonight. His training method is eating Lucky Charms, though he’s been trained by an unnamed wrestler.

Cyrus comes out to the ring and says he’s ready for Gertner tonight. Everyone at TNN Center says that he’s got pop (the TNN slogan at the time) and he’s going to take Gertner apart. Joey sends Gertner to the ring. “You can do it! You can do it!” Gertner is out of earshot. Joey: “He’s a dead man.” Remember that Cyrus was a wrestler and actually knows what he’s doing. Gertner gets in the ring but Cyrus says Joel has to win another match to get it.

Joel Gertner vs. EZ Money

Money is part of the Hot Commodity stable, which went nowhere. It’s comprised of Money (a cruiserweight who would be in WCW in a few months), Chris Hamrick (a southern wrestler), Julio Dinero (he bounced around wrestling companies for a few years and is probably the most successful of the team) and Elektra. Before the match though, Commissioner Little Spike Dudley comes out and says Gertner has a replacement.

Kid Kash vs. EZ Money

If Kash wins, Joel gets to fight Cyrus. Money jumps Kash before the bell but Kash comes back with some fast armdrags to send Money out to the floor. Hamrick and Dinero get nailed as well but the distraction lets Money sneak in from behind. Money picks up Kash for a suplex but lets him fall backwards and crash down to the mat for two. A charge goes badly for Money as he falls onto his partners, setting up huge springboard flip dive from Kash to take out everyone.

Back in and Money flips over the top rope into a clothesline for two and we hit the chinlock. Joel is screaming for Kash to get up with more emotion than he ever showed as the Dudleys’ manager. Money spends a bit too much time swiveling his hips and gets rolled up for two. A running tornado DDT gets the same for Kash but Money comes back with a spinning suplex neckbreaker (Electric Dreams, named after Elektra) for no cover.

Kash nails something like a Whisper in the Wind for two before they trade pinfall attempts for two each. There’s the Money Maker but Elektra distracts the referee, allowing Dinero to take Kash down. A double suplex has Kash in trouble and Hamrick adds a top rope legdrop for two. Money gets crotched on top but still manages to try a super bomb, only to have Kash reverse into a weak hurricanrana for the pin.

Rating: D+. The spots weren’t bad but if you’ve seen one Kid Kash match you’ve seen the all. As usual it was obvious that Kash was going to win here as Joel vs. Cyrus was almost guaranteed. If nothing else, Hot Commodity could be a decent midcard heel stable and is far better than the Dangerous Alliance.

Post match Hot Commodity beats on Kash until Spike tries to make a save. They go after his leg and put him in a Figure Four but Sandman makes the real save. Elektra tries to seduce him but Sandman pours beer on her chest and shoves Gertner’s face onto the beer.

Joel Gertner vs. Cyrus

Joel jumps him to start before taking off his shirt to reveal Kamala (old Ugandan savage) chest paint. Cyrus trips him up and chops in the corner but Sandman spits beer in his face, allowing Gertner to get a rollup for the fluke pin. This was harmless fun.

Kash, Sandman, Gertner and Spike drink beer.

Da Baldies vs. Balls Mahoney/Chilly Willy

Willy is just a muscular guy who showed up near the end of the promotion and wrestled on pay per view a few times. There’s not much else to say about him other than he wore a hat and danced a lot. It’s a brawl to start with Da Baldies get laid out and nailed with double neckbreakers. Balls stabs DeVito in the head with a fork as Angel and Willy fight on the floor. DeVito is busted open as you would expect and a backdrop puts him into the crowd.

Balls bites at the cut and whips him through another barricade right under the announcers’ area. DeVito flips off the announcers for no apparent reason before moonsaulting off I believe a wall. Angel and Willy show up next to them with Chilly getting powerbombed on some chairs. DeVito takes Balls back to the ring for a dropkick but makes the mistake of going after his head.

Mahoney comes back with a series of punches and a superkick to the shoulder. A huge chair shot knocks DeVito senseless but Angel comes back in with the staple gun to the eye. Chilly comes back in and Da Baldies hit three straight chair shots to both of their opponents’ heads for the pin. Mahoney only sells the staple after the match is over.

Rating: D. This was your usual garbage brawl with no wrestling and an overly violent ending. Mahoney not being phased by the staple was the usual nonsense you would expect by something like this, but it doesn’t make up for how ridiculous it was, or how bad this match really was.

Lou E. Dangerously lays out Gertner with his phone. Joey goes after him and we cut to interviews.

Justin Credible says he’ll take out Jerry Lynn just like he’s done to everyone else.

Jerry Lynn says he’s tired of being a starmaker so tonight, in his hometown, he’s making himself World Champion.

Cyrus replaces Joel on commentary.

C.W. Anderson vs. Steve Corino

Winner gets a World Title shot at some point in the future, even though they’re both on pay per view losing streaks. Corino has turned face and now has Dawn Marie with him. They trade shoulders to start but Corino can’t get a neckbreaker. Instead they trade armdrags and duck punches to get us to a standoff. They chop it out with Corino getting the better of it, only to get taken down by a superkick.

Chairs are brought in and Corino gets in a quick shot to the head to take over. C.W. is busted open and a kick to the face makes things worse. We hear about a recent match where Corino almost beat Justin for the World Title which is one of the few reasons why Corino is in this spot despite his win/loss record. Anderson nails Corino with the chair to take over and bust Steve open. Anderson wedges a chair in the corner and sends Corino arm first into the steel to give him a target.

Corino tries to fight back with one arm but a hammerlock belly to back suplex gets two. Anderson stomps onto the chair onto the arm and kicks Corino in the face as the blood starts to flow. It’s nowhere near as bad as it was before but it’s coming. Steve fights back with right hands but the Old School Expulsion is countered into a suplex.

Anderson’s sleeper is broken when Corino crotches him on the chair. A Bionic Elbow and low blow have Corino in control but Simon and Swinger come out for a distraction. C.W.’s big left hand gets two and Steve’s superkick gets the same. The spinebuster is countered into the Old School Expulsion on the chair to make Corino #1 contender.

Rating: C-. The match wasn’t bad but I have no idea why I should buy Corino as a #1 contender because he’s beaten a midcard guy. Corino is good in the ring and more interesting as a face than a heel, but it’s too soon for him to be in the World Title picture. It’s a good enough match, but either Simon and Swinger are messing with everyone or they’ve forgotten that they already have a feud.

The Sinister Minister is with the Unholy Alliance and their book on witchcraft sets itself on fire.

Rhino says he wants this match with Van Dam because he wants to prove how great he is. God won’t be able to recognize Van Dam after Rhino beats his face so bad.

Tag Team Titles: FBI vs. Unholy Alliance

The FBI (Mamaluke and Guido) are defending. They’re now all Italians, turning them from the comedy act they used to be into a fully serious group and defeating the purpose of putting them together in the face place. Both members of the Alliance (Tajiri and Mikey Whipwreck) are in white masks with red paint around the eyes. Mikey one ups Tajiri though with a hat from Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Mamaluke’s weight is given in liquid ounces.

It’s a brawl to start of course with the challengers taking over. Some hard kicks to the head have the Italians in big trouble and stereo dropkicks below the belt have the Italians reeling. Things settle down to Guido vs. Tajiri as Mikey posts Big Sal on the floor. Mamaluke gets put in the Tree of Woe for the running baseball slide from Tajiri. Sinister Minister adds some fire between Mamaluke’s legs and Guido gets kicked in the chest a lot.

Mikey hammers away on Tony but Mamaluke hits him low to take over. The Italians hit a double powerbomb out of the corner for two on Whipwreck. Guido’s middle rope Fameasser (Sicilian Slice) gets two on Mikey but he catches Tony in a wheelbarrow facebuster. Tajiri comes in and cleans house with kicks to the head, only to get caught in a German suplex from Mamaluke. Guido breaks up Mikey’s rollup with a legdrop but gets the green mist to the face.

The Whippersnapper gets two as Big Sal pulls the referee to the floor. The Minister tries to go after Sal and gets crushed against the barricade. Guido sends Mikey outside and Sal throws in a belt, only to have Tajiri take it away and pelt it at Sal. An Asai Moonsault puts Sal down again but Guido nails Mikey with a title belt, setting up a kind of double powerbomb for the pin to retain.

Rating: C+. The match was so much better because it actually meant something. Just having the title back is a great feeling and now all those other matches could build up to another title match. I have no idea why Heyman waited so long to bring the belts back but it came at a good time with the tag division being deeper than it has been in years.

TV Title: Rhino vs. Rob Van Dam

Rhino, the champion, jumps Van Dam during the introductions and they quickly go outside. Both guys are whipped into the barricade but Rhino knocks him into the fans. They brawl around the arena with Rhino in full control and sending Rob through another barricade. Back to ringside and Rob nails a quick kick to the head followed by a Van Daminator with Alfonso’s help. Rob dives over the top rope to take Rhino down again.

Back in and Van Dam skateboards the chair into Rhino’s face but a springboard is knocked out of the air with a middle rope clothesline for two. The Gore in the corner puts Rob down but Rhino stops to set up a table on the floor. A second table is thrown into the ring and set up in the corner but Rhino puts on a chinlock. Back up and Rob nails a spinning kick to the face but comes up with a bloody nose. A Van Daminator misses and Rhino pelts the chair at Van Dam’s head to make things even worse.

Rob comes up with a fireman’s carry slam into a middle rope moonsault (so much for the selling) followed by the Five Star for two. A telling sign: the fans didn’t move because they know a main event match isn’t ending that early. The Gore puts Rob down and the piledriver through the table wakes the fans up a bit. Back in and Rob nails a quick Van Daminator and loads up the Van Terminator but Justin Credible runs out for a distraction. Rob tries the Terminator anyway but Rhino pulls Alfonso in the way. A Gore through the table and a piledriver onto the chair retains Rhino’s title.

Rating: C-. This was nowhere near what it should have been for a few reasons. First and foremost, the match was a big spotfest with only a little wrestling in between. It also doesn’t help that the ending was one of the last things the fans wanted to see. Now that being said, it makes Rhino look like even more of a monster than before and in theory sets up Rob vs. Justin for the title, which should be a walkover for Van Dam. This is ECW though and by late 2000 Rob still hasn’t been World Champion, so I don’t have the highest hopes.

Rob checks on Alfonso after the match and realizes how bad he might be hurt.

We look at a lot of replays and Joey claims a fast count. That may be the case, but ECW referees always counted their pins faster than the average referee.

The announcers hype up the main event to kill more time.

ECW World Title: Jerry Lynn vs. Justin Credible

Justin is defending and comes out in a Bret Favre Green Bay Packers jersey (big rival to the Minnesota Vikings) for the easy heat. Francine has taped up ribs. Lynn is the hometown boy and gets the reaction to go with it. They start slow and head to the mat where an armdrag frustrates Justin out to the floor for an argument with a fan. Back in and they trade chops with Lynn getting the better of it. Neither guy can hit their finisher so Jerry settles for a middle rope bulldog and a headlock.

Justin is sent to the floor again for Lynn’s big dive off the top but he might have hurt his elbow. Back in and a swinging Boss Man Slam from the champion puts both guys down again. We get a chair brought in for the drop toehold onto its back to give Justin two. A sitout powerbomb out of the corner onto the chair gets the same and the fight heads up the aisle. Justin hammers away by the barricade and it’s back inside the ring.

Lynn grabs a DDT to plant Justin on the chair for a delayed two. Credible comes back with a front facelock as the fans get on his nerves. He stops and grabs a mic to talk trash about Lynn and Minneapolis, causing the fans to throw in a bunch of beer cups. Back to the front facelock after that minute and a half were wasted. They trade near falls for two each until Justin hits that running release DDT to take over.

Lynn kicks the chair into Justin’s face to get a breather but gets sent to the apron, only to come back with a jumping leg to the back of Justin’s head, driving the champion throat first across the middle rope. A guillotine legdrop gets two for Lynn and it’s table time. Justin gets laid on the table but Francine offers a distraction to allow Justin to slam Lynn through the table. A sunset bomb out of the corner gets two for Credible but he walks into the cradle piledriver for another near fall.

That’s Incredible gives Justin two and the fans are right back into this. Credible superkicks the referee down by mistake but Lynn rolls him up. The same referee that Joey said gave a fast count on Van Dam comes in and counts two but stops and waves his finger at Lynn. A belt shot to the head gets a fast two on Lynn and the crooked referee nails Lynn in the head. That’s Incredible gets two more as New Jack comes out for the save. The crooked referee and Lynn counters That’s Incredible into a cradle tombstone for the pin and the title.

Rating: C-. The match was ok but it has a lot of issues. Above all else, this would have meant a lot more if it came about a year and a half ago. ECW completely missed the boat on Lynn when he was on fire and now it’s a nice but mostly meaningless moment. Second, beating Justin Credible makes me wonder what took so long to get there. The guy just did not belong in the main event and everyone seemed to know it. The match itself was just ok with way more overbooking than needed, especially with the story they were trying to tell. At least Lynn will have some good matches as champion though.

The locker room empties out for Lynn to give a speech but the microphone doesn’t work. Instead everyone just stands around to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. The show wasn’t the worst I’ve seen in the series but it’s certainly not a good entry either. The problem here is there’s nothing interesting going on until the ending. Almost everything here feels like it was just thrown together, which is likely true due to the impending cancellation of the show. Lynn getting the title is a good idea, but the fans still see Van Dam as the top guy, and there’s no reason he’s not at worst a former World Champion at this point. You can see that things are dying and it’s not likely to get much better.

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ECW on TNN
Date: September 29, 2000
Location: The Icenter, Salem, New Hampshire
Attendance: 1,500
Commentators: Joey Styles, Joel Gertner

The show is on borrowed time as Monday Night Raw has debuted on the same network so this episode really doesn’t mean anything. It’s the go home show for Anarchy Rulz but at the same time it’s featuring a three way dance for the ECW World Title with Justin Credible defending against Jerry Lynn and Steve Corino. Let’s get to it.

Lou E. Dangerously cuts off the intro and says he wrote all of Joel’s material. They even made him a Dudley and now he’ll be the death of Joel Gertner. Joel goes on a rant about how he never liked Lou in any of his characters. Now Lou is the Network’s music consultant and gay jokes are made. The “fight” is on with Joel slapping him into the corner, only to have Cyrus come in for the beatdown. Joey actually makes the save and thank goodness this isn’t the WWF or we’d get a tag match.

Opening sequence.

Joey threatens violence if Lou interferes on Sunday. Egads I’m shaking in my….well I’m not wearing shoes but I wouldn’t be shaking in them even if I was.

Here’s the whole Kid Kash vs. Rhino TV Title match from last week, plus the post match brawl with Van Dam.

Rhino dreams of breaking Van Dam’s neck.

ECW World Title: Justin Credible vs. Jerry Lynn vs. Steve Corino

Justin is defending and we see the entrances for the second week in a row. We take a break and come back for the big match intros as they might as well just put up a test patterns for all the time they’re killing here. Justin gets double teamed to start and all three wind up on the floor. Back in and Justin puts both guys down so it’s time for a chair and some swearing.

Corino fights back as this is getting a lot less heat than you would expect. Now it’s Jerry firing off right hands onto Justin’s head to bust him open. Everyone fights into the crowd for a few seconds and all three are bleeding. There’s just nothing to talk about here and it’s getting more and more obvious every second. The referee gets bumped as Jerry hits the cradle piledriver on Justin.

Cue heel referee Danny Daniels to count two and stop, allowing Justin to hit That’s Incredible……and now the referees start fighting. Of course they do. A superkick sends Jerry into another That’s Incredible for the first elimination. Way to make the #1 contender seem important ECW. So we’re down to one on one but let’s pause for Jack Victory and Francine’s interaction which goes nowhere.

Corino chops away until Justin hits him low, allowing Francine to tape him to the top rope. As in WHERE JUSTIN CAN’T PIN HIM. Well done Francine. Justin canes him a few times for two more as the fans want Sandman. Old School Expulsion on the chair gets two more with Francine making the save so here’s Dawn Marie for the catfight. Gah JUST END THIS ALREADY! That’s Incredible retains Credible’s title.

Rating: D+. Here’s the problem: why should I care about any of these guys? Lynn is the guy who has never won anything, Corino’s big deal is that he was a comedy jobber a few months ago and Credible is as uninteresting of a champion as you can find. The brawling was fine, even though they’ve made no secret of the fact that Lynn is getting the title on Sunday, making this overbooked mess a big waste of time.

CW Anderson is looking for Steve Corino and beats up Jack Victory to set up a #1 contenders match with Steve on Sunday.

Justin says he’ll beat Jerry.

Lynn is tired of making everyone else so he’ll make himself this time.

Overall Rating: D. When you have to air last week’s match to fill in time, you’ve reached the point of cutting the cord. I know it doesn’t warrant mentioning tonight as they’ve basically canceled the program at this point but the main event is where it is because of their love affair with the TV Title. Rhino might as well be World Champion at this point and it basically left the main event a glorified midcard title match. This company is clearly ready to die and it’s getting really hard to sit through these shows.

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ECW on TNN
Date: August 18, 2000
Location: ECW Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 1,400
Commentators: Joel Gertner, Joey Styles

The big story continues to be the upcoming Tag Team Title tournament which is taking place a week from this show. You would think they could schedule it sooner but the belts have already been vacant for four months so it’s not like it really makes much of a difference at this point. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Joel and Joey are doing their thing when we cut to Rhino, who grabs Francine by the hair to show us her broken nose. Justin Credible gets in his face so Rhino says he’d be champion if he had the chance. Injuries are promised and we get no explanation for who hurt Francine, though it’s treated like something we’re supposed to know.

Jerry Lynn vs. Bilvis Wesley

Lynn is suddenly #1 contender. Actually hang on a second as the referee grabs the mic. Apparently he’s not happy with Lynn for running into him every single time he referees Jerry’s matches. There’s a bounty on Jerry so the referee might want to claim it. The referee gets dropped so here’s Rhino to Gore Jerry Lynn through a table and then leave. Jerry fights off Tom Marquez before the cradle piledriver knocks Bilvis silly. The original referee gets up though and calls a DQ for Jerry hitting him again.

The Prodigette tries to interfere and gets a piledriver of her own. I have no idea what the point of any of this was.

Tajiri vs. Psicosis

This is from Hardcore TV for reasons that aren’t entirely clear. They’re quickly on the mat with Tajiri putting on a Brock Lock but getting flipped into a cover for two. The match is clipped (Why is this happening?) to a fast sequence and a bunch of one counts. Another clip takes us to a sweet pinfall reversal sequence and a third takes us to Psicosis crashing out to the floor thanks to a missed dive.

Another clip means we see Psicosis diving over the top to take Tajiri out again. Clipped, yet again, to a baseball slide into Psicosis’ face as he’s caught in the Tree of Woe. Tajiri hits a Stunner for two and….well you know what happens by this point. Clipped again to a Psicosis getting two off a guillotine legdrop, setting up some kicks to give Tajiri the pin. WAY too much clipping here for it to be rated but what we saw was fun.

Tajiri is in Sinister Minister’s clothes as Minister talks about crossing a line. Mikey Whipwreck comes in with balloons on his hands and sounding like Chris Farley. This show makes my head hurt very badly. Thankfully Tajiri and the Minister are confused as well.

More Hardcore TV clips of Roadkill/Danny Doring/Tommy Dreamer vs. CW Anderson/Simon and Swinger. There’s more clipping here but less action as the match was cut off for a posedown, including Roadkill doing Hogan’s poses. A wild brawl broke out and the Buggy Bang puts Swinger away.

Justin Credible/Rhino vs. Kid Kash/Rob Van Dam

Apparently Francine’s nose was broken last night at a house show. Well that’s more of an explanation than I was expecting. Kash and Credible start things off and a headscissors sends the champ off to a tag to Rhino. That means it’s time for Kash’s first hurricanrana which staggers Rhino far more than it should. Rob gets the tag and fires off some kicks before Kash has to save him from a gorilla press.

Back to back dives to the floor take the villains out again and everyone is down. Justin gets in his one non-finishing move, the superkick, to take over on Kash before handing it off to Rhino to do the work. Kash finally moonsaults onto Justin to put them both down and slides over for the tag to Van Dam. That means it’s time for a chair as everything breaks down, only to have Rhino clean house again.

Van Dam kicks Rhino in the face and drops Kash into a legdrop for two. A low blow breaks up Justin’s superplex on Kash and sets up a HORRIBLY botched super hurricanrana as Justin is dropped onto his head. The Five Star gets no cover as Rob goes up again, only to get caned by Justin. The Moneymaker plants Justin and there goes the referee. Rhino piledrives Kash through a table and of course here’s Sandman because this feud just won’t end. Sandman canes Rhino a few times until Justin canes Sandman from behind. Now it’s Steve Corino coming in to superkick Rhino, setting up the Van Terminator for the pin.

Rating: D. So the big deal is that Van Dam finally pinned Rhino and it only took four people to do it. If this is the best thing ECW can come up with, then they’re in more trouble than I was thinking coming in. It’s also going to be even harder to care about Van Dam vs. Rhino on pay per view as we’ve seen it twice on free TV already but that doesn’t seem to matter to the company.

Overall Rating: D-. I’m really not sure what this show was supposed to be. We had a weird angle at the beginning, two clipped matches from another TV show and a long main event with an angle that doesn’t really mean much. We’ve got about six weeks before Anarchy Rulz and I’m really not sure what I’m supposed to be excited about. Jerry Lynn getting a World Title shot in his home state? That’s the best they’ve got? Is there any reason we’re not getting Rob Van Dam as World Champion already? Bad show this week as they’re getting more bizarre than better.

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ECW on TNN
Date: July 14, 2000
Location: ECW Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Joey Styles, Joel Gertner

It’s the go home show for Heat Wave and it can’t get here soon enough. I’m not sure what to expect when ECW wants to put on a go home show but they’re on a bit of a roll with advancing stories. Unfortunately there’s only so much advancement you can have here, though a few matches to Sunday’s card might help as I can only think of three matches at the moment. Let’s get to it.

Joey and Joel do their thing and Joel actually gets through his very dirty tennis rhyme. Instead of Cyrus for a change, here’s Raven to interrupt. So the rumors are that Raven is leaving so we hit the PLEASE DON’T GO chants. He thanks the fans and hugs the announcers, only to have Cyrus and Scotty Anton (of course) cut him off.

It’s a full THANK YOU RAVEN chant now but Cyrus says none of that matters to the network. He doesn’t care about Raven’s revolutionary gimmick either because Raven stole it from the Jackyl. Raven asks if this is going anywhere because he wanted to say goodbye and leave. Cyrus says Raven is going to have to bend over for the network, just like Paul Heyman. And now a match!

Raven vs. Scotty Anton

Anton takes a quick Even Flow but Rhino saves Cyrus from the same treatment. Raven gets driven through a table but Sandman (with one heck of a tan) comes in with the cane. Lori Fullington (Sandman’s wife) comes in and jumps on Cyrus’ back until security breaks it up. During the melee, Anton has Raven in the Clapper on the floor.

Rob Van Dam promises to debut the Van Terminator.

We go to the bathroom (of course) where Gary Wolfe says he’s back. Blue Meanie, now skinny and with adult star Jasmine St. Clair, comes out of a stall. Apparently his name is now the Blue Boy and he makes a bunch of fat jokes about Wolfe. Gary doesn’t take kindly to this but gets beaten down anyway. By the former Blue Meanie.

Tajiri vs. Mikey Whipwreck

Circling to start until Tajiri just blasts him with a superkick. Another kick sends Mikey off the apron for a crash into the barricade but Tajiri doesn’t know how to use a ring wrench. Instead Mikey takes over with a slingshot legdrop, only to get kicked in the face again. An inverted tornado DDT sets up an Octopus to make Mikey tap.

Rating: C. They kept this moving but I’m not sure what the point is in squashing Mike, who is doing stuff backstage to set up his new character. Tajiri can beat up anyone else to set up this big heel push but at least it was a good match with Mikey being able to work well with anyone. Tajiri wasn’t really a heel here though and that makes the turn a bit questionable so far.

Francine teases flashing us but it turns into Justin Credible talking about Sunday’s match against Tommy Dreamer.

Here are Simon and Swinger and their wacky band of misfits (great examples of people who could be let go to cut some costs) with something to say. They’re sick and tired of being a comedy act but here’s CW Anderson to get in Simon’s face. Anderson cleans house and even punches the Prodigette in the face. The Problem Solver lays out the Prodigy as the misfits seem to be gone as Anderson has joined Simon and Swinger.

CW issues an open challenge for a tag match, quick is quickly answered by Danny Doring and Roadkill. The numbers game gets the better of them but…..my goodness Bobby Eaton of all people comes out for the real save. Eaton is eventually superkicked down and the new alliance stands tall.

We run down the top of Sunday’s card.

Anderson, Swinger and Simon make jokes about Doring and Roadkill. A six man is announced with Doring and Roadkill plus Kid Kash fighting the trio.

Steve Corino/??? vs. Jerry Lynn/???

Another dream partner tag match with Corino picking Rhino and Lynn picking….well we’ll get to that in a second as Lynn gets Gored before anyone can come out. Jerry reaches over to the towel he brought in and pulls out a beer. Well that’s good for Jerry as he just happened to pick the guy Corino’s mystery partner was feuding with.

Sandman hits the ring and immediately eats a superkick from Corino. Well so much for that one. Everything heads outside with Lynn diving onto Corino despite there being almost no space between the ring and the barricade. Rhino and Sandman fight in the ring as Jerry blasts Corino in the head with a chair. All four get back inside for more brawling as they might as well have just had this be a brawl. I don’t know why they refer to this as a tag match as I don’t remember the last time there were actual tags in an ECW match.

Rhino piledrives Lynn for two, followed by a White Russian legsweep to give Sandman the same. Cyrus comes in to break up the cradle piledriver and Corino elbows Lynn through a table at ringside. This brings in Little Spike Dudley to play Bubba in a 3D to give Sandman the pin on Rhino.

Rating: D. Yeah whatever. I know this is the ECW standard but that doesn’t mean it holds up or is anything that I’d want to see again. The ending does help set up Sunday’s title match and I guess helps with Lynn vs. Corino but there was no better way than having this mess? I’m just not a fan of these things and they really show how horrible Sandman is at “wrestling”.

A long pay per view ad takes us out.

Overall Rating: D+. This was another example of ECW being all over the place with a few matches being added to Sunday’s show. That helps a few things but doesn’t make this the best use of less than forty one minutes I’ve ever seen. Heat Wave really needs to change some things up for the sake of keeping the show fresh, but I have a feeling we won’t exactly be seeing that on Sunday.

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Time to go extreme. Today is Tommy Dreamer.

Dreamer is of course most famous for his time in ECW. He started in the very old days of the company when it was still Eastern Championship Wrestling where he was originally a self described pretty boy who wasn’t respected by the fans. That began to change at a show called The Night The Line Was Crossed.

Tommy Dreamer vs. Jimmy Snuka

Snuka is EVIL here and Dreamer is a pure rookie. I’ve seen this before somewhere. Dreamer is from Dreamland USA. Wow indeed. He’s the pretty boy in bright blue tights here and no one cares about him. Snuka is by far the biggest star in the company at this point. Joey promises a classic. That’s never a good sign. Dreamer is 22 here. That’s hard to imagine as he’s always been old.

Lots of stalling to start as we just had to stretch this show out further didn’t we? Dreamer puts on the hat of a kid for no apparent reason. After about three minutes of stalling we lock up and go to a headlock. And now we stall some more. I thought WE WRESTLE IN THE NWA! The fans chant for Piper although I’m not sure why. Would it kill you guys to do something?

Snuka pops him with a pretty weak chair shot on the floor in by far the most interesting move of the match so far. Dreamer kicks out of the Superfly Splash and Joey apparently thinks he can walk on water too. Snuka hits two more of them and Dreamer is more or less dead. He’s bleeding from the mouth and Snuka finally pins him. He beats up some referees and other people afterwards and hits a fourth splash on Dreamer. Gordon comes out and gets beaten up too.

Rating: F+. This was about 80% stalling and then a bunch of splashes. It was like a weird kind of squash and by that I mean it wasn’t any good. The stalling is what hurts this as it’s nearly 8 minutes long and WAY too much of it was just them standing around and yelling at the crowd. Snuka wouldn’t mean anything in the long run anyway as he was only around for a few months after this while Dreamer became one of the biggest stars in the company.

1994 was spent with Dreamer becoming more and more of a fan favorite, including a memorable feud with Sandman. Dreamer knocked a cigarette into Sandman’s eye and blinded him, resulting in Sandman saying he had to retire. This was a huge work against the entire fanbase, many of whom fell for it, thereby ticking them off.

Next up was the biggest feud of Dreamer’s career with a creative backstory. The idea was that Dreamer went to camp as a popular teenage jock with an outcast named Scott who would become a wrestler named Raven. At the same camp there was a girl named Beaulah who liked Dreamer but he rejected her so she slept with Raven. Now she’s back as a Penthouse Pet and wants revenge with Raven. This set off a two year feud with Raven’s Nest fighting Dreamer, including at the main event of November to Remember 1995.

Terry Funk/Tommy Dreamer vs. Raven/Cactus Jack

 

Main event time. Funk is “planning on retiring”. That’s just amusing. Funk says he’ll remember what happened with Cactus last night forever. Apparently it was a big attack on Terry but Dreamer made the save. This is a revenge match for Funk and Dreamer always hates Raven Cactus is in a WCW Dungeon of Doom t-shirt. He was in a WEIRD (yet awesome) heel push where he longed to be back in WCW with “Uncle Eric”.

 

The pairings pair off and Raven and Jack rule the ring for the moment. Now we get to the brawl and Funk fights Raven. Stevie Richards brings in some weapons and gets put in a shopping cart for his troubles. Dreamer BLASTS Raven in the head with a freaking VCR. WHY WOULD YOU BRING ONE OF THOSE TO A WRESTLING SHOW??? In a funny bit, Dreamer hits him with the remote also.

 

Funk beats up the referee because he’s Terry Funk. Dreamer DDTs the referee for good measure. Funk hits Raven with a golf club in the putter. Cheese grater is broken up and Cactus drills Dreamer with a chair. Dreamer gets taken down by a double chain shot to the throat. Raven is busted open and poses anyway. Cactus channels his inner Abdullah as he jabs at Funk with a fork.

 

DDT to Dreamer as Raven and Cactus are dominating. They try the chain again but Dreamer does something smart and dives on it, bringing them together. Not that it matters as Cactus takes him down with ease. Cactus takes the Dungeon of Doom shirt to reveal another one with a huge picture of Eric Bischoff and the words “Forgive Me Uncle Eric” (coining that nickname) on the back. Only Mick Foley could make that work, period.

 

It’s more or less a big mess but were you really expecting something else here? Jack hits a double arm DDT on Funk onto the chair but there’s no referee. Raven dives over the top to take out Dreamer and Jack looks for more weapons. Here are Fonzie and Taz to be referees but Funk kicks out at two. Taz beats up Funk so Dreamer takes Taz out. Jumping DDT takes Raven down and for some reason a regular one does more damage. The referee is back up and Dreamer piledrives Raven onto a chair, letting Funk steal the pin.

 

Rating: B-. Pretty fun match overall as they kept things just weapons based instead of going everywhere. Also Jack having the continuing mental breakdowns in the middle of the match (the Uncle Eric thing) is great. Dreamer not beating Funk is one of those little things that makes a match better. Fun stuff here and one of the better brawls ECW did.

 

Cactus beats them down a bit but gets taken down too. DREAMER SUPERKICKS RICHARDS! Ok so it was in the ribs but still! Raven leaves Dreamer laying to end the show.

Dreamer and Raven feuded for most of 1995, all of 1996 and most of 1997. The key to the whole thing was Dreamer NEVER pinned Raven but kept getting closer and closer every time. Dreamer even got Beaulah to join him at one point during the feud. This finally led to a loser leaves town match at Wrestlepalooza 1997.

Raven vs. Tommy Dreamer

The fans immediately chant YOU SOLD OUT at Raven who was leaving for WCW. Before the match, one of Raven’s lackeys named Lupus says don’t bother doing this because it’s your last night. Raven takes the advice and runs through the front door but Dreamer catches up to him and rams Raven into a steel wall. They head into the bleachers and Dreamer throws both of them through the merchandise table in a big crash. Raven comes back with something resembling a piledriver through a table but the table gives way. Dreamer is already busted open.

Raven throws a table onto Dreamer but Tommy backdrops his way out of a piledriver. The fans actually chant that they can’t see anything. Raven avoids a splash through a table and whips Dreamer into the barricade so hard that it’s knocked off the hinges. Tommy comes back with the same kind of whip before crotching Raven on the steel. They head back to ringside and Dreamer hits a bulldog on the concrete before taking him back into the crowd.

A chair to Raven’s head has him busted open as they head to the other end of the building. Some Philadelphia Eagles are watching from the balcony as Raven throws Dreamer back into the aisle. They’re finally inside the ring again after about a nine minute brawl and Raven hits the drop toehold onto the chair. Another chair is brought in and Raven throws Tommy off the top and through the chair in a nice spot.

Tommy kicks out at two and counters a hiptoss into a DDT to take over. The referee is knocked out by a sign as people keep throwing in weapons like an old N64 game. A piledriver onto the Do Not Enter sign is good for two as Lupus makes the save. Beaulah comes in to DDT Lupus but Raven hits a low blow and rolls up Dreamer for two. A Beaulah distraction lets Dreamer do the same thing to Raven.

Raven’s chick Chastity comes in and sprays hairspray in Dreamer’s eyes, allowing Raven to dropkick him down for two. Everything breaks down and Dreamer DDTs Raven on the sign for a VERY close two. Dreamer loads up another DDT but Raven drives him into the referee. The DDT connects but Louie Spicolli comes in for another save. Spicolli’s DDT gets two for Raven and his own DDT gets the same and Raven isn’t sure what to do. Dreamer grabs a Death Valley Driver on Raven before picking him up, shouting ECW and DDTing Raven on the sign, finally good for the pin after trying for over two years.

Rating: C-. This is a match where the rating depends on your knowledge of the backstory. If you know and care about what Dreamer has gone through to get here, this is a huge moment and a great feeling. I never got into the whole story so it’s just another ECW brawl, but there’s no denying the emotion to it and how big of a deal this was for Dreamer.

One of Dreamer’s most well known associations over the years was with Terry Funk. Tommy appeared on Terry Funk’s retirement show called Terry Funk’s Wrestlefest in 1997.

ECW World Title: Shane Douglas vs. Tommy Dreamer

Beulah is the hottest I’ve ever seen her here, period. Francine looks pretty good too. Shane has just gotten the title back at Hardcore Heaven so there’s more or less zero chance of him losing here. Shane’s heel stuff is underrated I think. He’s overrated beyond belief, but he’s decent at times I think. Ok apparently this is now non title. Ok apparently it is. Dreamer threatens to beat up the announcer if he doesn’t say it’s for the title.

 

Beulah gets on the mic and says that after looking at Shane’s trunks she knows not everything is big in Texas. If I’m Dreamer I’m thinking two things. Why is my wife looking at his trunks, and how in the world did I get a woman that looks like that? Dreamer dominates until Shane kicks the chair he’s holding into his face.

 

The fans keep shouting about Lex Luger for no apparent reason. Shane works on the knee and Francine helps which causes him even more trouble. I’m liking some of the stuff Shane is using on the knee as he’s varying it up very well. We’re told that there are ten minutes left, meaning the time limit was 15 minutes. Dang we get a figure four from Shane. There are about a millions jokes there.

 

Both girls come in and Beulah manages to break up the hold and Dreamer gets two on a rollup. Dreamer goes for the DDT but there’s Francine for the save. You know what’s coming. Shane beats up Beulah including the belly to belly. Dreamer hits everything he has on Shane but can’t get the pin. Francine saves him after the DDT and takes the safest piledriver I’ve ever seen. I love that he never even checked on his wife. A quick belly to belly ends this.

 

Rating: B-. I liked this a lot more than I should have. The interference was annoying beyond all belief to say the least, but we get hot women so I can’t complain much. This was a good match though and it got the job done that it was shooting for so I can’t complain about all that much.

 

1998 wouldn’t be the most interesting year for Dreamer as he would just fight random people wherever he was needed. ECW would begin expanding around this time and Dreamer would be on the second episode of their TV show in a handicap match against the most dominant tag team ECW ever produced, the Dudley Boys. This was also the Dudleys’ last night in the company and they won the World Tag Team Titles. They goaded Dreamer into a handicap match for the belts, but things would change at the end.

 

Tag Titles: Tommy Dreamer vs. Dudley Boys

 

Dreamer takes them down with a double Russian legsweep for two. Tommy finds some salad tongs and grabs D-Von’s balls. Francine throws in a ladder which Tommy tettertotters into the Dudley’s faces. Francine hits Sign Guy in the head with something to take him down. Bubba gets thrown into the ladder and D-Von gets thrown into Bubba, resulting in the falling headbutt ball shot to D-Von.

Bubba gets up and sends Dreamer into the ladder which kills him because of his back. The Dudleys destroy Tommy with belt shots and loads up 3D but Dreamer counters with a DDT. Cue the returning RAVEN who kills Bubba with the Even Flow and pins him to win the titles with Dreamer, his mortal enemy.

Rating: C. This is a really hard one to grade because all that mattered were the last 10 seconds of the match. A lot of it was Dreamer out cold while the Dudleys beat on him so it barely qualifies as a match. Anyway, this was the big return mentioned earlier and Raven got an eruption after finally returning from WCW. At WCW, there had been a meeting where Bischoff told the roster that if anyone wanted out to get up and leave now. Raven was the only one that walked out and he was in ECW in a week.

This was Dreamer’s first title in over five years with the company. In 2000, Taz would win the ECW Title despite not being employed by ECW. Obviously an ECW wrestler needed to be champion, leading to this match from Cyberslam 2000.

 

ECW World Title: Tommy Dreamer vs. Taz

 

Feeling out process to start with the champion grabbing a headlock before taking him down with a T-Bone Tazplex. Hard crossface shots to the face send Dreamer outside and the brawl is on. Dreamer sends him face first into the post but gets whacked in the head with a chair to put him right back down. They head back inside with Taz kicking Dreamer in the side of the head and taking him down with a nice capture suplex for two.

 

Tommy hits a quick DDT for two and loads up the Death Valley Driver, only to have Taz slip down into the Tazmission. A low blow gets Dreamer free but he walks into a northern lights suplex for two. They hit the mat for a quick wrestling sequence and Dreamer flips Taz over into a sunset flip for the pin and the title out of absolutely nowhere.

 

Rating: C-. This is what’s so frustrating about ECW: they can have nice matches like this without all the violence and brawling but that’s all they relied on for most of their important matches. Dreamer was never a great mat warrior or anything but this was perfectly acceptable for the most part.

 

Taz gives a very emotional speech, putting Dreamer over as the man that is now the standard bearer for ECW. Tommy talks about how he may never make it to Wrestlemania but he’s made it here in ECW as he begins to cry. The locker room comes out to celebrate and even Raven hugs Dreamer. Then some other stuff happened.

 

The title reign would last about twenty minutes as Justin Credible would jump Dreamer and win the belt in an impromptu title defense, which really does fit Dreamer’s luck over the years. The company was on its last legs by this point and would hold its final PPV in January of 2001 where Tommy Dreamer would face CW Anderson in an I Quit match.

 

CW Anderson vs. Tommy Dreamer

This is an I Quit match and is your standard veteran vs. young punk with something to prove feud. Dreamer is in a freaking Logan’s Roadhouse shirt. Is he a waiter on the side since he’s not getting paid? I’m not sure if I’m kidding there or not. We’re on the floor immediately as Cyrus is irritating. Back in the ring and Dreamer has a Dragon Sleeper of all things.

Anderson goes to the arm which is likely hurt since it’s Tommy Dreamer. Why should an I Quit match be a wrestling match? Cyrus wants it to be technical which is completely against the idea of the match but whatever. Dreamer goes violent with the ring bell hammer and busts Anderson open. Fairly sick drop toehold into the back of a chair busts Dreamer open.

CW works on the knee which doesn’t really get him anywhere. Dreamer takes some very bad looking unprotected chair shots and busts out a ring of barbed wire. The towel boy from the last show comes in and helps Dreamer beat him up. And there’s a metal sheet to the non-wrestler. Throw in a suplex and I’m sure he’s perfectly fine right?

Spinebuster onto the wire, called razor wire here, and of course Anderson goes for the arm instead of the back which was just slammed into barbed wire. We switch back to the spine as he goes through some chairs. Ok make that the neck as it’s all Anderson here. It’s table time but Anderson goes through it. They take part of it and Dreamer chokes him out for the victory.

Rating: C. Not bad but if this is supposed to be a classic in ECW I fail to see it. Also, nice job of elevating Anderson there by giving the win to the old man that still has never quit. I don’t get this one really and while it was a good beatdown, the psychology was just not there at all as Anderson couldn’t just pick a body part. It’s ok but nothing great at all.

 

Dreamer would join the WWF in the summer and be a fairly small part of the Alliance. Eventually he would join the hardcore division as most people expected him to do. He won the Hardcore Title in August 2002 and would defend it in a battle royal on August 19, 2002.

 

Hardcore Title: Battle Royal

Tommy Dreamer, Jeff Hardy, Bradshaw, Bubba Ray Dudley, Crash Holly, Johnny Stamboli, Steven Richards, Terri, Spike Dudley

Eric Bischoff comes out and says that the 24/7 rule is gone and at the moment Tommy Dreamer is champion coming in. There’s going to be a six minute time limit and whoever is champion at the end gets to keep the title. There are weapons under the ring and a tarp covering something big. A shoulder on Dreamer gives Bradshaw the title so everyone jumps the future JBL.

We’re under five minutes left now and Bradshaw finds a cookie sheet to clean house with. Various weapons are brought in and it’s your usual hardcore style brawl. Bradshaw loads up a powerbomb on the floor but Stevie superkicks him so Crash can pin him for the title. There’s a table in the ring now and we’re under 3:30 to go. Jeff uses Bubba as a launching pad to dive over the top and onto Stamboli.

Crash tells Bubba to get the table but gets powerbombed through one by Bubba instead for no cover. Dreamer KO’s Bubba with a kendo stick and pins Crash for the title. The Clothesline from Bradshaw gets two on Dreamer as Bubba saves. Bubba hits Bradshaw low and superplexes Dreamer for two. We’ve got less than a minute left and Bradshaw keeps breaking up pins. Nothing else happens and the clock runs out with Dreamer as champion.

Rating: D. Well that was boring. Nothing interesting happened here and the match just ended with the same stuff going on for the last two minutes. Terri was gone after about a second so she didn’t need to be in there at all. Thankfully the title would be unified with the IC Title a week later and the thing was put out of its misery. The joke had gotten old like a year and a half ago so ending it was the right idea.

 

We’re going to jump WAY ahead as 2003/2004 saw Tommy do little more than job on Heat. Around early 2005 there was a DVD released called the Rise and Fall of ECW which sold incredibly well. So well in fact that there was a reunion show announced called One Night Stand. Naturally Tommy was in the main event.

 

Dudley Boys vs. Tommy Dreamer/Sandman

Ok, so this is more or less by far and away the most famous and popular part of this show as the match won’t start for about 15 minutes or so. This was the first time the Dudleys had been seen in months on end and they would be gone and in TNA rather soon. Foley sums up a lot very easily: “There are guys like me that absolutely love ECW and everything it stood for but at the end of the day consider themselves WWE guys. Then you have guys like the Dudley Boys that work for WWE but in their hearts are always going to be ECW guys.”

 

That sums up this whole show better than anything else could I say. Dreamer gets a pop and a half. You can tell Dreamer is WAY impressed and really in awe of this. The music hits and so begins the most famous entrance in modern wrestling history at least. Enter Sandman (original, not that Motorhead nonsense) hits and he’s in the crowd.

 

The fans sing the song for his entrance in what is an awesome moment. He’s on his second beer and he’s still on the top floor. Hey he’s at the railing! His entrance is at 3 minutes now. Bubba gets beer spit at him. Tommy and Sandman have beers with CW Anderson and Chris Chetti in the front row before pouring one on two girls’ chest, one of which is Elektra, and licking it off.

D-Von dancing to Metallica is funny and the cane gets jacked off. Five and a half minutes now. Hand pounds all around…and there’s the BWO. The reaction from Foley is hilarious. Think Ray from Ghostbusters when he says “It’s the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man”. Just cracks me up every time. Match hasn’t started yet. Stevie looks good here actually. Joey sums up the BWO perfectly: “If any gimmick never deserved to make a dime and made a whole boatload of cash, this is it. And the best is they couldn’t sue us because it was a parody.”

 

For those of you that have no idea what I’m talking about, the BWO is the Blue World Order: Big Stevie Cool, Da Blue Guy and Hollywood Nova (Simon Dean). They were a parody of the NWO which wound up being ridiculously popular so they ran with it. Stevie says they’re taking over and kicks Sandman in the face. Let the brawling begin. Kid Kash is here, having just been fired from TNA, marking I believe the first and only time it was mentioned on WWE programming. He does nothing and here are Balls Mahoney and Axl Rotten: the Hardcore Chair Swingin Freaks.

They beat up the BWO so the interfering people are fighting the other interfering people. Nova gets the tar chaired out of him. Joey: that’s more painful than having to be Simon Dean on national TV. Everyone brawls in the aisle and Kash has the referee get on all fours for a HUGE front flip onto all of them. Bubba busts out the trashcans. Remember the match hasn’t started yet. Oh hey there it is, 14 minutes after the Dudleys’ song started. Dreamer has a cheese grated.

The fans chant for Cactus Jack which Foley kind of laughs off. Cheese grater across Dreamer’s head is SICK! Oh he’s busted bad so Bubba rubs it on his face. Joey: Tommy’s skin looks like cabbage in a coleslaw. In case you can’t tell, I freaking love this. Foley calls the grater comical. Sometimes I’d pay to be inside that man’s head. Sandman brings in the ladder. We get probably my all time favorite comedy line in wrestling.

Joey says he was going to compare Dreamer wrestling tonight to Gehrig’s last at bat at Yankee Stadium but Gehrig didn’t whip out a cheese grater and start mutilating people with it. And that my friends is why I love wrestling. It’s so insane that to us it makes sense, but when you compare it to something else, it sounds ridiculous. However, in wrestling, there are three words that make things magical: It Could Happen.

That is why I love wrestling: you never know what you could see. Naturally this is just a wild brawl all over the place. Bubba hits a frog splash on Sandy which has to be better than some forms of execution. D-Von takes the White Russian legsweep and we get a double figure four on the Dudleys but the Impact Players run in. Sandman gets a That’s Incredible on barbed wire and here’s Francine.

Beaulah makes her return for the CATFIGHT CATFIGHT CATFIGHT!!! Dreamer saves her and they have their big reunion with Dreamer’s face covered in blood. The Dudleys get DDTed by the two of them, making me smile. WHERE ELSE BUT IN WRESTLING COULD YOU GET THIS? Beaulah gets two on Bubba and she’s hardcore according to the fans. Joey is told in his headset that he can’t say balls, which he makes fun of of course.

Sandman goes through a table for two. 3D on Dreamer, and it’s the old style, not the crap one now. We have another table and here’s Spike who is seeing COLORS! Yep, the table is on fire and there goes Tommy. In a spot that makes me cringe, Tommy’s head is tilted towards the mat and blood just pools up from his head. That’s a great visual. Bubba actually dives on him for the pin.

Rating: N/A. Can’t give this a fair grade as it wasn’t a match by any definition of the word. Make no mistake about it though: this is the highlight of the show and as much fun as I can remember having watching wrestling perhaps ever.

Post match (oh like you didn’t expect something else to happen) the Dudleys go after Beaulah and get the heck cained out of them. In a spot that always makes me chuckle, Spike comes back again and Sandman turns around and just canes him again before going back to what he was doing. He looked like he was paying a parking meter or something. Sandman looks at Tommy and says someone….someone…SOMEONE GET ME A BEER! Joey: screw the beer, get him some plasma!

 

Another year passed and Dreamer jobbed even more, but in 2006 it was announced that ECW was being brought back as a separate brand. One of the first major storylines was the ECW Originals vs. the New Breed, which led to an eight man tag at Wrestlemania.

 

New Breed vs. ECW Originals

It’s Elijah Burke/Matt Striker/Kevin Thron/Marcus Cor Van vs. Rob Van Dam/Tommy Dreamer/Sabu and for no reason whatsoever this is a regular eight man tag instead of the Extreme Rules match we would get on ECW a few days later. Striker starts with Sabu and Matt is in early trouble. It’s quickly off to Sandman vs. Burke but before Sandy does much he brings in Dreamer. Cor Von hits Dreamer in the back and comes in to pound away a bit.

It’s quickly back to Burke (the New Breed’s leader and more famous as D’Angelo Dinero) for the running knees to the back for two. Thorn comes in to crush Dreamer into the corner and put on a chinlock. Back up and a sitout powerbomb gets two for Thorn and here’s Cor Von again. Burke comes in as well but Dreamer takes them down with a simultaneous neckbreaker/reverse DDT combo. The hot tag brings in Van Dam and there’s the top rope kick to Thorn. Rolling Thunder lands on Striker as everything breaks down. With everyone else on the floor, Van Dam Five Stars Striker for the pin.

Rating: D+. Seriously, why wasn’t this the Extreme Rules match? The whole point of ECW is to be extreme but we got a seven minute tag match which went nowhere at all. The theory was to finally let these guys get on Wrestlemania, but Van Dam had been on it before and won a title here. Nothing to see here at all.

Dreamer went back to jobbing on ECW for years, but would eventually get an ECW Title shot at Extreme Rules 2009 in a triple threat.

ECW Title: Christian vs. Tommy Dreamer vs. Jack Swagger

If Dreamer loses he’s gone. This is a hardcore match so it’s pinfalls count anywhere. Who would believe Swagger would be the most successful guy a year later? So Dreamer is on a one day contract since they mistimed the whole contract thing in storyline terms. Swagger is the guy Christian beat to get the title.

We even get big match intros. Dreamer is wearing something close to silver pants. Hey, did you know that the champion is at a disadvantage here? I didn’t know if telling you that twice in 40 seconds would be enough indication. Striker says Dreamer has a Singapore Stick. Let the ECW fans freak. White Russian Leg Sweep to Swagger. Dreamer hits a front flip with a trash can behind him so that hits their faces. This is kind of sad considering what ECW was originally about.

Dreamer sets for the baseball slide but Christian stops him and does it himself. In other words, the blonde haired WWE product did the ECW original’s thing to another WWE guy. That sums up so many things so easily. The people want tables. Yeah I’m stunned too. Swagger no sells some kendo shots and hits a belly to belly on Dreamer.

We’re going with the various one on one matches here which is about as expected. Crowd is DEAD other than for the big spots. Swagger goes for the Gutwrench but Dreamer nails him with a crutch twice and hits a DDT to get the ECW Title. More on that in a bit.

Rating: D. This is your traditional “hardcore” match which means let’s hit each other with trash cans and hope the people care. This just felt completely lifeless to me and I just wanted to see it end, which isn’t something that I have issue with that often. There are far worse matches, but this just had nothing at all to it. Even Dreamer’s win, while a big moment for old school ECW fans feels flat. Let’s look at this for a minute. Imagine Christian or Swagger in the original ECW.

One of Dreamer’s only title defenses woul dbe in a five way scramble at The Bash.

ECW Title: Christian vs. Tommy Dreamer vs. Jack Swagger vs. Mark Henry vs. Finlay

This is a Scramble match which is more or less a gauntlet. Every three minutes someone else comes in and whoever gets the final pin is champion but you have to pin the champion for the pin to count. Uh…sure. Christian and Swagger start us off. Wow it’s weird to see Swagger as champion before Christian. I miss the pushups.

Ok so if Swagger pins Christian he’s IT more or less? I guess that makes sense. I’m assuming that there will be a clock once everyone comes in. Striker implies a heel turn for Christian but nothing ever came for that. The clock begins far before three minutes is up and it’s Finlay. Striker talks about Irishmen from centuries ago as no one cares at all. Swagger pokes Finlay in the eye and rolls him up to become IT.

Christian and Swagger do a nice little sequence that gets two for the Canadian. He beats Christian down as Dreamer is number four. Dreamer beats up everyone with incredibly basic stuff but throws out a Sky High. Ok apparently it’s not Swagger that has to lose the title as it’s just the last pin. Uh…that kind of makes sense I suppose.

They blow a spot where Christian is on the mat and Dreamer gets thrown onto him. It just looked really awkward. Finlay finally comes back to life and hits the Celtic Cross on Swagger to become IT. Finlay and Dreamer don’t work well together to put it mildly. And here’s Henry to suck the life out of the match. Ok so now we have five minutes left and whoever gets the last fall is champion. Got it.

Dreamer takes the World’s Worst Finisher with 4:15 to make Henry IT. Everyone not named Dreamer beats Henry up and the people start booing for some reason. Finlay hits a freaking suicide dive onto Swagger. Have to love old men flying all over the place. Henry teases a top rope dive but for the sake of the gravitational pull, Swagger saves him and gets the pin to become it with about 2:20 to go.

I like knowing how much longer to go at times and this is one of them. Christian hits the Killswitch on Swagger but Dreamer DDTs him at 1:20 to become IT. It becomes a big mess now which makes sense at least. On instinct Dreamer goes for a cover which they don’t point out the stupidity of. Everyone goes for covers but the clock runs out and Dreamer retains. He screams “I WON???” in a funny moment.

Rating: C+. These matches are hard to call but I liked it. Thankfully they haven’t killed them by having them every two weeks or something like that. This still feels fresh though and it comes off as a good way to be different. Also it makes Dreamer look like a competent champion and not a jobber which I can’t complain about. This worked but was still a little bit weird.

It would soon be off to TNA and ANOTHER ECW reunion stable called Extreme Violence. They would face four young talented guys called Fourtune in a Lethal Lockdown match at Bound For Glory 2010.

Fourtune vs. EV 2.0

This is a one ring WarGames match. A man from each team starts and after a set amount of time (5 minutes I think) there’s a coin toss and another guy comes in from the winning team. That goes on for two minutes then a guy from the losing team comes in. Two more minutes of that and then the winning team gets the advantage again. Alternate until all 8 are in and then we lower the roof, complete with weapons. No pins or submissions until everyone is in.

EV has Dreamer, Sabu, Rhyno, Richards and Raven. Yeah ten people in there great. Foley is with them. Flair brings out AJ, Storm, Roode, Kaz and Morgan. Fourtune has the advantage so screw the coin flip idea. Flair is in an undershirt. Oh dear.

The old guys go at it before the match starts and we try to figure out who starts the match. Kaz and Richards to start. Again Taz wants to say ECW and can’t do it. Kaz beats the tar out of him to start. And he continues doing so. Well that’s what you get for sending in Richards as your leadoff man.

Stevie gets a Downward Spiral into a modified Koji Clutch but AJ comes in seconds later to make it 2-1. Richards is of course in WAY over his head and gets destroyed. Figure four on Richards and he’s almost dead. Dreamer is in next. How in the world is this guy feuding with AJ Styles?

Dreamer spits mist or something at AJ as Richards gets back into it. All of Fourtune is in blue which is a cool idea I guess. Roode goes in third as this is going to take awhile to just get everyone in. Flair punches Dreamer through the camera hole. I love that thing as it gives you far better shots.

Sabu comes in and hooks a seated crossface chickenwing on AJ which we’ll call a camel clutch for fun I guess. This is REALLY slow now with EV controlling. Dreamer is bleeding fairly badly. Storm is in so it’ll be Morgan and Raven or Rhyno in last. Storm turns the tide and we get BEER MONEY!

With nothing left in the other minute here’s Raven who looks stupid with blonde hair. He cleans some house and shoves a snot rag in someone’s face. Ah ok it was Roode. Dreamer gets his crotch stepped on for fun. Dude seriously, Raven is your hot tag in essence? Roode is busted open.

Sabu is busted too. Morgan comes in as the final member of Fourtune. He drills Richards and drills Sabu back first into the cage. Dreamer takes the elbows in the corner as the advantage does the same thing it’s done the whole time so far. Raven is bleeding too so every member of EV who is in the match is busted.

Big Gore to Storm and here comes the roof. This is where the advantage is supposed to come for EV I guess. Flair and Foley get into it of course as is their custom. EV takes over and there are bigger weapons on top of the cage such as a table, a ladder and something else that I can’t make out.

Raven and Morgan beat the heck out of each other as EV is mostly in control. Morgan goes for the Carbon Footprint and misses, hitting the door which doesn’t move at all. Kaz gets drilled into the door and there it goes. Richards and Kaz go up and we set up the ladder up there. This always scared the living daylights out of me.

Sabu dives through the door to take out Morgan and maybe Storm. Richards sets up the table on top of the cage and Kaz goes up the ladder and here’s Kendrick on top of the cage too. Kaz goes through the table and Kendrick appears to be meditating or something. In the ring Dreamer drills AJ in the leg and drops him on a chair, winning the match. Yes, EV won the match and everything seems to be fine with it. WELL OF COURSE THEY ARE.

Rating: D+. Not much here as there were a lot of very slow spots. Also the Kendrick thing just did nothing for it. The weapons were ok but the ending felt kind of tacked on. This never got to the level that they wanted it to get to and that hurt it a lot. This was one of the weaker matches they’ve done with this gimmick and I think a lot of that is due to the participants.

Oh yeah. DID I MENTION EV 2.0 JUST FREAKING BEAT FOURTUNE and that TOMMY DREAMER PINNED AJ STYLES??? And people wonder why this company can’t be taken seriously.

AJ would want revenge and get a chance at Sacrifice 2011.

Tommy Dreamer vs. AJ Styles

Very basic technical match to start and remember that this is no DQ.  Why Immortal isn’t out there destroying AJ immediately eludes me but whatever.  Dreamer takes over for a bit and drops a bunch of elbows.  Out to the floor and AJ hits a plancha to take over.  AJ pours a soda over Dreamer’s head and crotches him on the railing.  He slides under the railing and it’s forearm time.  Love that move.

 

Out into the crowd because that’s just what we do.  The fans chant ECW which is I guess what TNA wants to do.  Dreamer breaks a cardboard Impact (no wrestling) sign over his head and AJ is bleeding from around the temple.  Back to ringside and it’s time for some weapons.  AJ gets a shot in and there’s a table.  Table gets set up as the fans want fire.  AJ uses the table like a launch ramp for a clothesline in the corner for two.

 

DDT by Dreamer gets two as AJ is under the ring ropes.  I love little rules like that which are cool while there are all kinds of weapons in the ring.  Dreamer finds a fork for a throwback to their I Quit match but AJ blocks it.  Dreamer’s shirt is off and I’m very glad he has a muscle shirt under it.  The table legs are broken but AJ says Dreamer is going through it.

 

Dreamer gets a shot in and sets for the Dreamer Driver only to get caught with a Pele.  Styles Clash is set but Ray comes in with a chain shot to AJ.  Daniels comes out for the save but AJ is more or less dead.  Piledriver through the table marks the second time that Tommy Dreamer has pinned AJ Styles on PPV.  I give up.

 

Rating: C-. Tommy Dreamer has pinned AJ Styles twice on PPV in less than a year.  Dude, WHY IS TOMMY DREAMER PINNING AJ STYLES ON PPV???  The match was just ok but at the same time it was nothing past a basic hardcore match and Ray coming in was about as not shocking as anything you could have asked it to be.

We’ll wrap it up there as Dreamer has mainly been on the indies for the last few years. Tommy Dreamer is a guy who got over on hard work and his heart, plus the ability to use a lot of weapons. He’s somehow made a second career for himself on ECW tribute shows and characters so he’s a smart guy if nothing else. He’s a character that you need to see a lot of in order to get behind, but he can give some good speeches to make you care.

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