| Simon Watches ECW - 1998 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jul 4 2013, 03:24 PM (6,356 Views) | |
| Big Tuna | Aug 2 2013, 04:21 PM Post #21 |
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The Master and Ruler Of The World
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ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Shane Douglas, Since 11/30/1997 - LONGEST REIGNING CURRENT CHAMPION ECW Television Champion: Rob Van Dam, Since 4/4/1998 ECW Tag Team Champions: Chris Candido/Lance Storm, Since 12/6/1997 ECW Hardcore TV April 29th, 1998 Philadelphia, PA In the back, Joey runs down the PPV card to "Bulls on Parade". Clips air of Shane Douglas forming the ECW Title and that famous promo, etc. in order to put him over for the match. Because I don't know. It's Shane Douglas vs. Al Snow, you can't make me give a shit. It's just not possible. A Shane Douglas tribute video then airs to "Villains" by Verve Pipe, and Joey sells it like this is a certain loss with his bad arm. Really great video though. A hype video for Bigelow/New Jack airs. Clips air of Candido and Lance's history since winning the Tag Titles in December. Clips of Credible beating up Mikey forever. God damnit. They re-air Gertner's backstage promo from last week. Clips of RVD and Sabu's recent history! Clips of Al Snow & Shane Douglas! A recap of Taz snapping Shane's arm ends the show. |
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| Big Tuna | Aug 2 2013, 10:58 PM Post #22 |
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The Master and Ruler Of The World
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ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Shane Douglas, Since 11/30/1997 - LONGEST REIGNING CURRENT CHAMPION ECW Television Champion: Rob Van Dam, Since 4/4/1998 ECW Tag Team Champions: Chris Candido/Lance Storm, Since 12/6/1997 ![]() ECW WRESTLEPALOOZA 1998 MAY 3RD, 1998 MARIETTA, GA Match #1: The Blue Meanie/Super Nova vs. Little Guido/Tracy Smothers w/ Tommy Rich This is a waste of the FBI, but it's still entertaining. Good comedy as always from the FBI, Nova has a surprisingly good dive, and then the FBI takes over and that's great. Tracy breaks out this SWEET Bicycle Kick for the transition spot. Great double teams too. It's downhill from Meanie's hot tag, since that involved buying this jabrone getting offense in on real wrestlers in a fair fight, and nope. Nova beats Guido with Novacaine, which is a shitty Downward Spiral. **1/4 Match #2: Mikey Whipwreck vs. Justin Credible w/ Jason & Chastity Mikey AGAIN makes Credible look good and then puts him over. So frustrating. Mikey just DIES on a bump into the railing off the apron, and then generally all match. The audio on this show is really strange, it keeps fading up and down at really weird points and when it fades out, it sounds like the crowd is DEAD. But then they're super hot otherwise. Credible pretty much contributes nothing as the most forced push possibly ever carries on. He makes lots of mistakes and all his offense just sort of happens. The motivation of the last quarter of 1997 is totally gone, but Mikey puts on an amazing performance and if Credible gave a shit at all, this would be great. Awesome comebacks, some killer nearfalls, etc. Mikey takes out both of the seconds, but Credible hits the lame flatback Tombstone on a chair to win. **3/4 In the "back", Joey Styles is interrupted by Axl Rotten and Balls Mahoney. Axl says he doesn't want to wait any longer, and says Candido and Storm have been ducking them because they know they can't beat them. Wait, what? Then why air that match a few weeks back? Axl says Candido is a pussy whipped sissy bitch that he already beat, and Lance is a great athlete, but he can't handle these hardcore chair swinging freaks. They demand the match is now. Lance and Candido come out, and again pull the trick with the double entrance music. Match #3: Chris Candido/Lance Storm [c] vs. Axl Rotten/Balls Mahoney [ECW Tag Team Championship] This was good, but not great. This was always going to be an awkward clash of styles, but this being entirely a wrestling match and a formula tag really took away what Balls and Axl are good at. Hey, they're still decent at this, but it was really a weird thing to see. Storm and Candido worked their whole deal well, and Sunny came out! Lance saved her from the Nutcracker Suite, but then Candido shoved him for checking on her. Lance hit a Springboard Missile Dropkick into a chair into Balls' face later on, but Candido steals the pin to retain. **1/4 Candido and Storm fight to the back. ECW HEATWAVE 98: AUGUST 2ND! DAYTON, OH! Clips air of a legend's ceremony before the show with JYD, Dick Slater, The Masked Superstar, and Bob Armstrong. THUMP. MOM THUMP. In the ring, Joey Styles sucks off Shane Douglas for competing tonight with several injuries and says he's going to have to have elbow surgery, and he brings him out for an interview. He takes his mic away and Joey leaves. Shane says he's been in this sport for 16 years and he started when wrestling was still wrestling and not "entertainment". He says he was there when he saw MEN wrestle with injury after injury, and he's seen punks on guaranteed money collect 6 months pay while at home with a stubbed toe. He says he was supposed to wrestle Shawn Michaels once, but the pussy had a bump on his head and came out to HAND him a belt, and that was only the first time he did that. He says he knew then that the IC Title meant shit, and when Shawn did it again, he knew THAT belt meant shit. Shane then turns the crowd against him again by saying down the road in Atlanta, Dick Flair sucks Bischoff's ass. Read the crowd, bro. He was doing great until that. He says he has two fractured bones in his elbows and a broken cheek bone. He says this might be his last match, so he's going out tonight and putting on the match of a lifetime, and no matter what, he's going down as the greatest World Heavyweight Champion of all time. AND TAZ COMES OUT! YEAH! Taz asks why Shane's this big hero now for fighting hurt, and tells them to tell the people that Shane's an idiot and goaded him until he busted up his arm and his pretty face. He says he's the uncrowned World Heavyweight Champion, and Shane tells him to sit down and shut the fuck up. Taz says he ain't going anywhere until he hands the belt over to him, and he's here to ruin this PPV. Shane says he has Al Snow to worry about and says to get the fuck out of his way. Taz hits him and puts an arm hold on while also pressing on the broken cheek bone. Shane taps out and security pulls him off. Taz goes to leave, BUT BAM BAM ATTACKS! FUCK YEAH THEY FINALLY FIGHT AGAIN! They get pulled apart and Taz is led out of the building. The Triple Threat helps Shane in the ring. Weird segment. It felt like they were doing a Taz/Shane double turn at points since Shane came off as almost reasonable until the Flair thing and Taz was kind of a dick about it, but that obviously isn't happening. In the parking lot, Taz is handcuffed and put in an "undercover cop car". It's a sedan. He kicks out the window and window frame, and the car drives off. I get it, I do. But you can't do "top face gets arrested" angles in 1998 and not have them just completely look second rate next to the Austin stuff in the WWF. Match #4: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. New Jack This wasn't great because it was a New Jack style match, but it was a lot of fun. Lots of weapon use and crowd fighting and New Jack does the balcony dive with a guitar, but fucks himself up doing it, and that's the last big spot before Bam Bam takes him to the ring. Bigelow wins back in the ring with the Greetings From Asbury Park. **1/4 A recap airs of the Dudleys injuring The Sandman and Tommy Dreamer. In the ring, Joel Gertner is in the ring and says it's time for an introduction. He is the Quintessential Studmuffin, the Innovator of Vocabulary, and a damn handsome man, Joel "The Ladies Call Me Fred Flinstone, Because I Always Make That Bed Rock" Gertner! But he gets cut off by Sandman's music. Sandman sells the neck by having trouble spitting the beer out in his pre-match ritual. Match #5: The Sandman/Tommy Dreamer vs. The Dudley Boyz Beulah, Gertner, Big Dick, and Sign Guy Dudley are all on the floor. Really fun match. Good brawl to start and they use a piece of railing for some really cool stuff. They injure Sandman's neck, and he gets taken to the back. Tommy is by himself and they do some cool things again, AND SPIKE DUDLEY RUNS OUT TO REPLACE SANDMAN! YEAH! Big Dick gets involved for a 3 on 2 though, and Spike dies off the 3D, BUT THE SANDMAN RUNS BACK OUT WITH A BRACE ON! CANE SHOTS ALL OVER! WOO! They get the revenge spot with the cane and chair shot, and then stereo DDTs for the win. Kind of wish that feud went on a little longer, because that feels like the end, and with that finish, it should be. **3/4 A hype video for RVD/Sabu airs. Match #6: Rob Van Dam [c] vs. Sabu w/ Bill Alfonso [ECW Television Championship] This is the debut of Sabu's famous music. And the match? Hey look, there's certain pairings that seem like a great idea due to the similarity of two wrestlers, but just never really click more than once or twice, and if they do click it's never on the level people would want. Triple H and Randy Orton, Steve Austin and The Undertaker, etc. Sabu and RVD is in that group. This went to a 30:00 time limit draw, so this was not good. They had trouble filling 20 minutes in 1996, and while RVD is so much better now, it's still a bad idea. Dude's the best spotty guy in the world at this point, but he's still a guy who does a lot of cool spots, you don't let him go over 20 minutes. Sabu's good at channeling people into his match and using their spots well, but he lets RVD mostly do his thing, so maybe if they hated each other and weren't friends, this would rule. RVD sort of works the knee, but abandons it, as does Sabu in regards to selling it. They try to work a real match for the first half, and then give up and do what we all knew they would do. I have no idea why this got booked. Some good old botching too, because it's this match. So yeah, lots of stuff happens and the time runs out. **1/4 They demand that referee Jeff Jones awards the match on points, but he says it's even and runs away. The awesome Shane video from the last HCTV airs again, but now with Heyman narration to spell everything out, because ECW feels the need to spell every single detail out. It cuts out to hype the Al Snow/Shane Douglas feud, and while the feud's been great and way beyond what it should have been...it's still Shane Douglas vs. Al Snow. Match #7: Shane Douglas [c] w/ Francine vs. Al Snow [ECW World Heavyweight Championship] Hey look, this could have sucked. Shane is a one armed man and Al Snow is Al Snow. It's a victory that this was even average and that the build up was good as it was, but that's all this was. I'd always heard that this was "so much better than it should have been", but that basically just meant it was average. Lots of shitty punches thrown, Al Snow sort of works the arm, but it goes nowhere, etc. There's some minor botching, but it comes during two of the bigger spots in the match. They seemed to have trouble filling time, which makes sense because Al Snow sucks and Shane Douglas has one arm. Best part was Shane's crowd dive to sell how big this was. The ECW locker room comes out to sell how big this match is and just OH MY GOD, STOP TRYING TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN. IT'S A HUGE VICTORY THAT PEOPLE CARE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THIS MATCH, BUT YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET ANYTHING MORE THAN THAT. They kick out of finishes and stuff and then Al Snow fucks up a Sunset Flip from the top rope. Shane recovers him and sits down on it for the win. **1/4 Heads are thrown. The roster gets in the ring to help him up and they lift both Shane and Snow up on their shoulders. OH MY GOD ECW, JUST FUCKING STOP. THIS IS SO EMBARRASSING. |
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| Big Tuna | Aug 3 2013, 11:19 AM Post #23 |
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The Master and Ruler Of The World
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ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Shane Douglas, Since 11/30/1997 - LONGEST REIGNING CURRENT CHAMPION ECW Television Champion: Rob Van Dam, Since 4/4/1998 ECW Tag Team Champions: Chris Candido/Lance Storm, Since 12/6/1997 ECW Hardcore TV May 6th, 1998 Marietta, GA An Al Snow hype video set to "Breathe" opens the show, leading to his entrance for the PPV main event. HEATWAVE 1998: AUGUST 2ND! The Shane/Taz segment is played. A recap via photos of Shane/Al Snow airs, set to "Villains" again. Kinda love this song, but it works much better for videos AFTER the heel champion's reign on top is over and he's being celebrated for it. Still, great song/wrestler alignment. In the back after the show, new announcer Steven DeTruth tries to get an interview with Shane Douglas, but Francine and the other Triple Threat members refuse to let him in the dressing room. In the back, DeTruth interviews Justin Credible, Jason, and Chastity. She is in a neck brace, and Jason says it's the lastest in punk rock fashion. Credible says he's not just the greatest, he's not just the best, he's Justin Credible, and when you're Justin Credible, you're Justin Credible for life. OH MY GOD, DO SOMETHING OF YOUR OWN. A recap of Credible/Mikey airs. A recap of the Tag Title match airs. In the back, DeTruth asks Lance Storm what's next for Candido and Storm. Lance pushes him back and says it's Storm and Candido. A recap of RVD/Sabu airs, but then the last 10 minutes or so is aired. Another Shane/Al Snow vdieo recap airs, but this time with actual video, and set to "Heroes" by The Wallflowers. Another awesome one. These music videos set to actual music are the best thing ECW did. |
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| Big Tuna | Aug 3 2013, 07:45 PM Post #24 |
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The Master and Ruler Of The World
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ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Shane Douglas, Since 11/30/1997 - LONGEST REIGNING CURRENT CHAMPION ECW Television Champion: Rob Van Dam, Since 4/4/1998 ECW Tag Team Champions: Chris Candido/Lance Storm, Since 12/6/1997 ECW Hardcore TV May 13th, 1998 Buffalo, NY In the back, the Dudley clan is standing by. Joel Gertner says that for all your Hardcore Icons, heroes, and SHOOTAHS BRUTHAH~ (cue Taz stance), you have no idea just how The Dudley Boyz will make a mockery of the terms "hardcore" and "extreme". He says they're doing it for the fans' own benefit, raising the violence quotient in ECW, and sending out the same disrespect that has been afforded to them by the fans and the company. He asks why people don't approve of the job Big Daddy Dudley did raising his fine young sons. They say if it's violence they want, then it's violence they'll get. In the back, Joey Styles intros the show and Taz comes by. He makes Joey call him the World Heavyweight Champion in some more great heel work. Joey tries to throw it to the ring, but Taz says he's doing color commentary now. Match #1: Chris Chetti vs. Danny Doring Taz says Doring looks like Shane Douglas with his stupid colored gear, and asks why Chetti gets a shot at Douglas before he does. He says he can't believe his cousin would disrespect him like this, and nobody disrespects him. Taz leaves the booth and comes out through the crowd to attack both men. Loving Taz as a heel right now. 1/4* Taz puts Chetti in a Fujiwara Armbar, and officials have to pull him off. Taz is again laid out by security. Sabu and Bill Alfonso comes out, and Fonzie challenges Chetti to try and prove himself against Sabu now, and the match happens now. Match #2: Sabu w/ Bill Alfonso vs. Chris Chetti Good Sabu showcase for about five minutes. Sabu is now doing this fantastic play on his botching by intentionally (not in maycabe, but it's obvious) fucking up a springboard dive and crotching himself on the top rope. It doesn't make him look great, but the crowd buys it as an actual fuck up and it's Sabu so he's over forever anyways. Sabu wins with the Double Jump Moonsault. **1/4 THIS SATURDAY AT THE ECW ARENA: -THE DUDLEY BOYZ/BIG DICK DUDLEY VS. TOMMY/SANDMAN/SPIKE IN A STAIRWAY TO HELL MATCH There's supposed to be another FBI/BWO match, but the FBI attacks them before the bell, and they put on a great beatdown. They lay them out with chair shots as punishment for winning at Wrestlepalooza and Guido beats Meanie up using the flag. Lance Storm vs. Jamie Dundee is supposed to happen, but The Triple Threat comes out to the ring. Shane Douglas has a super heavy arm brace on now, and Dundee outright runs away to the back. Candido tells Lance to cool his jets and he wants to tell him something. Even though he's overcome all adversity and still beat Al Snow and is still the champion, it's no secret that Shane Douglas has a list of injuries a mile long and he's being forced to go get surgery on his elbow, on the roof of his mouth, his cheek bone, etc. He says the Triple Threat is a little short and they've talked about it. When they beat up he and Taz, they meant to beat up Taz, but Lance was just being tested. He says they want him in the Triple Threat for real now. Not because Shane is hurt, not because they need him, but from the bottom of his heart, because they want him. Lance says nobody screws him twice, and he doesn't want it. Shane says this is the most elite group in all of sports. Lance says he has no disrespect for Shane or his belt, and Bam Bam is the best big man ever, but Candido is a pain in the ass. NOW IF THEY KICK CANDIDO OUT, THEN HE'S IN. WHOA. Candido freaks out and says he's told them Lance has a lot of spirit, but they're partners, and says to do it. Lance agrees to it, and they all hold up the three fingers, BUT LANCE HITS CANDIDO WITH THE TITLE BELT! LANCE SPITS ON HIM! Quick cut to Lance/Bigelow happening now. 3 minutes of this air, but it's clipped entirely to shit, yet again. Candido interferes and Bigelow wins with Greetings From Asbury Park. In the back, Joey Styles announces the second main event for the ECW Arena, and it's Sabu & Chris Candido vs. Rob Van Dam & Lance Storm. IT'S A MATTER OF RESPECT! So that's probably the show name then. Match #3: Rob Van Dam [c] w/ Bill Alfonso vs. Doug Furnas [ECW Television Championship] Fun RVD showcase. He inadvertently invents the Phenomenon DDT here when he tries the Moonsault off the railing. They do some more cool stuff, and Sabu comes out. There's some questionable stuff where he hits both men with chair attacks, but RVD ends up beating Furnas with the Van Daminator after something like 5 minutes. **1/4 PULP FICTION: -In the back, Tommy Dreamer cuts a promo. He says he loves the violence and this Saturday night, he'll see them in hell. -Bill Alfonso says nobody will cause friction in his tag team -Lance Storm says he's tired of being screwed over by Chris Candido, and says he wants to settle this one on one -Chris Candido says he doesn't need to fantasize in bed because he just looks next to him, so now he fantasizes about beating up Lance Storm. But he can't put his problems aside for the pride of the ECW Tag Titles, because he's carried a lot of idiots on his back and he's the best tag team wrestler of all time, so he won't fight him again. -Lance Storm says he beat him the last time they did this, and challenges him to a Dream Partner Tag Match. -Chris Candido brings on Bigelow as his partner -Lance Storm challenges him to choose anyone outside of the Triple Threat -Chris Candido says he picks Sabu -Lance Storm picks RVD -HEY MAYBE THIS SHOULD HAVE AIRED LAST WEEK? ALREADY ANNOUNCED THE MATCH YOU FUCKING IDIOTS. - |
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| Big Tuna | Aug 4 2013, 03:01 PM Post #25 |
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The Master and Ruler Of The World
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ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Shane Douglas, Since 11/30/1997 - LONGEST REIGNING CURRENT CHAMPION ECW Television Champion: Rob Van Dam, Since 4/4/1998 ECW Tag Team Champions: Chris Candido/Lance Storm, Since 12/6/1997 ![]() ECW It Ain't Seinfeld May 14th, 1998 Queens, NY Match #1: Jerry Lynn vs. Justin Credible w/ Jason & Chastity Fun opener. Credible gets the best brought out of him again, although Lynn is more just above average where as Mikey was great. Whatever gets this motherfucker to at least try and justify his push, I'm okay with it. Some good nearfalls and late 90s style workrate-y stuff. Credible tries That's Incredible, but Lynn reverses into his own Tombstone for the upset! YEAH CREDIBLE LOST! **1/2 Match #2: Sabu w/ Bill Alfonso vs. Danny Doring This is 4 minutes and a total Sabu showcase, but that's good because Doring is not of much use yet. Sabu hits a Springboard Arabian Facebuster, and puts on the Camel Clutch to win. ** Before his match, JAMIE DUNDEE GETS ON THE MIC! YES! He says he wants to tell you Yankee bastards something, and says every bitch in here is ugly and says to leave them at home. He tells a guy that he looks like his ballsack and then tells a less than well endowed girl that he'd tell her a joke that would knock her titties off, but it looks like she's already heard it. He calls out a fat man in the balcony, who moons him, so Dundee asks how many dicks he's had up there today. He holds up the Triple Threat sign and says this is how many fingers you can stick up Francine's cunt. THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN. Jamie Dundee is my favorite now. Match #3: Chris Candido w/ Francine vs. Jamie Dundee Dundee starts the "SHOW YOUR TITS" chant this time. ECW again puts Dundee in a weird heel/heel position where he's basically set up to fail. He doesn't fall flat on his face, but there was no way this would work. They did a lot of cool offense though, and Candido came out of this looking great, which was the idea anyways. Candido wins in about 4-5 with the Superplex and a Diving Headbutt. **1/4 Match #4: The Blue Meanie/Super Nova vs. Little Guido/Tracy Smothers w/ Tommy Rich I don't hate this pairing. It's a waste of the FBI, but as a non-hardcore solid old-school tag team, they were always going to be wasted in an ECW with this current tag division. Entertaining comedy, and Guido and Tracy can guide the others to a solid undercard match. They do the dance-off spot as expected. Nova again beats Guido with the Novacaine. **1/4 Match #5: Lance Storm vs. Balls Mahoney Fun eight minute midcard match. After 30 seconds of matwork, the ECW fans chant "BORING" and "SHOW YOUR TITS". ECW fans in New York is like a perfect cross section of awful. Storm has some good stuff, and they work a nice wrestler vs. brawler type deal. Balls no-sells Lance's bullshit weak chair shot, and tries to use it, but Lance evades. He hits a Springboard Missile Dropkick to send the chair in his face, and gets the win. **1/2 In the ring, Joey Styles introduces the show and says tonight is the Seinfeld finale, but this isn't that. The crowd chants "SEINFELD SUCKS DICK!" ECW fans are horrible tonight, even more than usual. Taz comes out to the ring with a bag and says he's got something to say. He says there's a conspiracy here, and while the Triple Threat sucks Paul E's dick, he's the rightful World Heavyweight Champion. He says he destroyed everyone's hero, Shane Douglas, he busted his arm and face, and it makes him the champ. He pulls a title with an orange leather strap out and says this is the World Heavyweight Championship. Call it the Brooklyn World belt, call it the FUCK THE WORLD belt, call it whatever. He challenges Shane to go belt for belt, but Bam Bam Bigelow comes out. He says Taz is no champion, because he put his ass through the ring. Taz says even a dumb bastard from New Jersey can see that this is a world title. Bam Bam says the only way he gets to Douglas now is through him. Taz lays the belt down and challenges him leading to a fight, but they get held apart. Taz gets taken out of the building again. Match #6: Rob Van Dam [c] w/ Bill Alfonso vs. Mikey Whipwreck [ECW Television Championship] This was fun, but never got a chance to be great, since it was more of a set up for an angle. They did some stuff, and Sabu then came out to fight RVD, and the match stopped existing. **1/2 Chris Candido came out to help Sabu beat down RVD to build up the Arena tag, but then Lance Storm runs out to save. Since Sabu and RVD's alignment is really ambiguous, I'm assuming this is them saying RVD is the babyface in this feud? RVD helps Lance out, and all four get pulled apart. Candido and Storm fight away, and RVD, Sabu, and Alfonso are left in the ring. RVD and Sabu try to fight again, but they ALSO get pulled apart again. Part 2 of this show isn't working very well. Large chunks don't play and it seems like when a file isn't done downloading, but this pack has been done downloading since May. I found the last match/segment from HCTV, but I'm missing the final two matches. Bam Bam Bigelow pinned Axl Rotten Buh Buh Ray, D-Von, & Big Dick Dudley (w/ Joel Gertner & Sign Guy Dudley) defeated Tommy Dreamer (w/ Beulah McGillicutty), the Sandman, & Spike Dudley at 23:24 when all three men pinned Spike after Big Dick dropped him with Total Penetration (ECW: The Best of the Dudley Boyz) |
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| Big Tuna | Aug 9 2013, 03:33 PM Post #26 |
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The Master and Ruler Of The World
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ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Shane Douglas, Since 11/30/1997 - LONGEST REIGNING CURRENT CHAMPION ECW Television Champion: Rob Van Dam, Since 4/4/1998 ECW Tag Team Champions: Chris Candido/Lance Storm, Since 12/6/1997 ![]() ECW A Matter of Respect 1998 May 16th, 1998 Philadelphia, PA Match #1: Jerry Lynn vs. Justin Credible w/ Jason & Chastity [Best of Three Falls] I have no idea why I'm being punished like this, but hey. It's 25 minutes because at least ECW will do a three fall match right, but these two have no idea how to pace a three fall match, so they go full speed immediately. I could blame the ECW style as the fans will shit on matwork longer than 15 seconds, but Lynn's like this everywhere else. CREDIBLE FINALLY DOES THE SHAWN/H CORNER BUMP RIGHT! YEAH! This isn't a bad match, it's just too long. Under 10 minutes in, Lynn again reverses That's Incredible into his own Tombstone to go 1-0. Lynn controls until Credible somehow busts Lynn open off of a Lance Storm-level weak chairshot. Lynn is messed up from the "blood loss", and Credible eventually hits That's Incredible to go 1-1. To their credit, they understand three-fall structure apparently and have a bad run in the final fall before the final two minutes. It's way too god damned long and this is a 25 minute match with at least 7-8 minutes of filler and 4-5 of it in the final fall, but it's better than I expected. The crowd responds the same way as me, not caring before the ending. Lynn takes out both seconds, but Credible gets a low blow and a roll up to win. **1/4 JAMIE DUNDEE MIC TIME! He says he's back in this stinking town to beat up some greenhorn punk who can't even lace his shoes, let alone a pair of wrestling boots. He says he knows they like him because he's Italian and he's in Taz's clique, but there ain't a greasy wetback dago out there who can whip a real Southern boy. He says he knows they want jokes, but singles out someone and says the only joke is that their daddy didn't pull out fast enough. He singles out Hat Guy and asks how it felt to send his sister a Mother's Day card last week. I LOVE JAMIE DUNDEE. He tells Chetti to get his pasta eating ass out here so he can beat it and go back to the South where men are men and women are trained. Match #2: Chris Chetti vs. Jamie Dundee I love Dundee, but he is not great. Certainly not great enough to carry Chetti for 8 minutes. So this was not that good. Chetti wins with the Springboard Double Moonsault. *1/4 Match #3: Mikey Whipwreck vs. Mike Lozanski I have no idea who this goon is, but it means Mikey wins! He's pretty good though, and in spite of a "YOU'RE NOT JERICHO" chant because he has long hair and is Canadian and ECW fans are stupid, he wrestles nothing like him. Mikey catches him off the top out of the air with the Whippersnapper to win. ** Match #4: John Kronus vs. Danny Doring w/ Lance Wright, The Equalizer, & Ulf Hermann What a weird stable. This is basically just a showcase for Kronus, and he wins with the 450 Splash. I had no idea he was still on the roster. *1/2 The others beat on Kronus after the match, AND JACK VICTORY COMES FROM THE CROWD TO HELP SAVE. BUT NEW JACK ALSO COMES OUT! New Jack tries to hit Wright with the guitar, but Jack Victory turns on New Jack and joins this really weird stable. FBI vs. Meanie & Nova is supposed to happen AGAIN, but they run the angle from Hardcore TV again with the FBI beating them down. After the beating, Tommy Rich grabs the mic and says that was their tribute to Mr. Frank Sinatra, who had just died, and he dubs himself the new Chairman of the Board. AMAZING. Tommy says they are ECW's chair men, but this brings out Balls Mahoney and Axl Rotten and a match breaks out! Match #5: Axl Rotten/Balls Mahoney vs. Little Guido/Tracy Smothers w/ Tommy Rich Good showcase for Balls and Axl for some 6 minutes. Guido and Tracy did some cool stuff, but this was mostly offense for the hardcore guys. FBI took some amazing bumps though and really took this from good to great for what it was. They win with the Stereo Chair Shots, and everyone goes wild. The FBI are the best. **1/4 Match #6: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Al Snow I WAS LIED TO. Apparently he's still around until early June, oh well. Snow is booed horribly now since he's going to the WWF, so that's awesome. He does his thing, but this is basically him putting Bigelow over. Even Joey has to call out the fans for being fickle. ECW fans now chant "FUCK THE HEAD" because they're the worst and only hate this awful gimmick now that it's not going to stay in ECW. Al Snow gets too much damn offense when it's this career midcarder vs. FUCKING BAM BAM BIGELOW. Anyways, Candido runs out and Snow takes him out, so Bigelow wins with Greetings From Asbury Park. **1/4 Match #7: Rob Van Dam/Lance Storm vs. Sabu/Chris Candido Alfonzo comes out before the match to stand on the floor. This was almost great, but as it is, the MOTN. All the combinations were really really good, especially RVD/Candido. They did lots of stuff based on the idea of the mismatched partners, also where the teams began to not get along as the match went on. Lots of highspots, but they avoided their big bombs, which is smart given the ending and what it sets up. Candido gets mad at Sabu mocking everyone's hand signs when he dows the RVD taunt, and then the 3T sign, so he attacks him. Storm hits Candido and Sabu with chair shots, and almost hits RVD, but RVD stops him. AND HITS THE VAN DAMINATOR! SABU PUTS CANDIDO IN THE CAMEL CLUTCH AND RVD HITS A CHAIR DROPKICK! They beat down on the tag champions and this stops being a match. **3/4 RVD and Sabu hold up the tag titles before throwing them on Candido and Storm, and they leave together. Match #8: The Sandman/Tommy Dreamer/Spike Dudley vs. The Dudley Boyz/Big Dick Dudley [Stairway to Hell Match] Beulah, Joel Gertner, and Sign Guy Dudley are all on the floor. Before the match, they get Spike to chug a beer. Bubba said he probably thinks Beulah is good looking now, so she gets on the mic and says she had a beer and Bubba almost looks thin now. He throws a fit, but the bell rings. Tommy and D-Von randomly work the RVD/Lynn sequence before that even becomes a huge deal after RVD/Lynn the next year. Weird. This was a strange match, since they spent the first 10 minutes working a straight six man tag with 3-4 minutes per pairing between Bubba/Spike, D-Von/Dreamer, and Dick/Sandman. It then broke down into the match we knew it would be. Blood, chairs, tables, ladder use, good barbed wire spots once it got down, etc. Lots of cool spots, but holy shit, this went 25+ and that is insane. The entire opening 10 minutes was clearly time killing, as fun as it was. That being said it didn't take away from the match at all. Sandman beats D-Von with a DDT. **1/2 They celebrate and drink, all while Tommy had a gigantic wad of barbed wire stuck in his back. Amazing. |
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| Big Tuna | Aug 9 2013, 06:22 PM Post #27 |
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The Master and Ruler Of The World
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ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Shane Douglas, Since 11/30/1997 - LONGEST REIGNING CURRENT CHAMPION FTW World Heavyweight Champion: Taz, Since 5/14/1998 ECW Television Champion: Rob Van Dam, Since 4/4/1998 ECW Tag Team Champions: Chris Candido/Lance Storm, Since 12/6/1997 ECW Hardcore TV May 20th, 1998 Queens, NY The Taz segment from 5/14 opens the show. Lynn/Credible then airs. Then Sabu/Doring. A promo airs via satellite from Shane Douglas. He asks if he's hearing this right, and asks how Taz became the World Champion. He says he hasn't beaten the champion for the belt, because this belt's still on his shoulder. He says he saw a promo on Monday night about being NWO for life, and that's a great deal because you don't have to hold up your end with that kind of a guarantee. When you're in the Triple Threat, you're there as long as you hold up your end of the bargain, and Candido and Bigelow teach it every night, and people say now that he's not holding up his end. He says he's coming to Philadelphia next week and he's going to prove he's still in this, and says if he can't hold up his end, he wants Francine, Candido, and Bigelow to kick his ass out. Good face promo. Candido vs. Dundee airs. Sabu vs. Mikey and the post-match angle airs. |
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| Big Tuna | Aug 9 2013, 06:38 PM Post #28 |
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ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Shane Douglas, Since 11/30/1997 - LONGEST REIGNING CURRENT CHAMPION FTW World Heavyweight Champion: Taz, Since 5/14/1998 ECW Television Champion: Rob Van Dam, Since 4/4/1998 ECW Tag Team Champions: Chris Candido/Lance Storm, Since 12/6/1997 ECW Hardcore TV May 27th, 1998 Philadelphia, PA In the ring, Joey Styles introduces the show in a segment not on the release of A Matter of Respect. He introduces the Triple Threat, and they come into the ring. Shane says he's called out World Champions from other places in this ring, and they never fought him, and puts over his effort at the PPV again. Shane says nobody gave him a chance to win, and while he doesn't remember the match, he scored a pinfall and won. He pulls his tights out of his pocket and says he built a legacy in these and in 1998, BUT NEVERMIND THAT SHIT, TAZ COMES OUT. He wants to shoot with Shane Douglas because everyone is awful now. He says he won't lay a finger on any of them, on his word as a man. Taz says they work injured in ECW, and he knows how bad Shane was hurt, because he busted up his arm. He says he's not 100% and he needs help, and that's where he comes in. Taz takes off his jacket to reveal a Triple Threat t-shirt and says he's the biggest asshole and scumbag here, but he's the best thing to watch his back and he needs help. But there's a loophole, and nobody gets to him, but when he's back from surgery, he wants a shot. Taz admits his belt doesn't mean shit and Shane's the real champ. So why even do the FTW Title angle? Taz says this is a one time deal and says to make a decision and they'll raise the fingers. Shane shrugs, and they all get in a line and raise up three fingers. Bam Bam doesn't want to and yells that this is bullshit, but Candido and Francine make him. Candido shakes Taz's hand and leaves, and Shane tries to get Bam Bam to do it. He refuses and leaves, and Shane and Taz both motion for the other to leave first. They shake hands, AND TAZ JUDO THROWS SHANE DOWN AND PUTS ON THE JUJIGATAME. AMAZING. Bam Bam and Candido come back to save and Taz and Bigelow get pulled apart. That was good, instead of it coming off like Taz is the heel, now it's more even since that was an amazing face move. Lynn vs. Credible airs. Then the Sabu/Candido vs. RVD/Storm match. |
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| Big Tuna | Aug 9 2013, 09:28 PM Post #29 |
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The Master and Ruler Of The World
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ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Shane Douglas, Since 11/30/1997 - LONGEST REIGNING CURRENT CHAMPION FTW World Heavyweight Champion: Taz, Since 5/14/1998 ECW Television Champion: Rob Van Dam, Since 4/4/1998 ECW Tag Team Champions: Chris Candido/Lance Storm, Since 12/6/1997 ECW Hardcore TV June 3rd, 1998 New Orleans, LA FBI vs. BWO is in the dance-off section to open the show, but Taz's music hits! He comes out and Joey Styles says for the first time that THE MOOD IS ABOUT TO CHANGE. FUCK YEAH THAT LINE. Taz dumps everyone on their heads and chokes out Tommy Rich. He gets on the mic and says he's Taz, World Heavyweight Champion. BEAT HIM IF YOU CAN, SURVIVE IF HE LETS YOU. AND BIGELOW COMES OUT AND THEY FIGHT AGAIN. Match #1: Rob Van Dam [c] w/ Bill Alfonso vs. Lance Storm [ECW Television Championship] I liked this a lot. They got 8 minutes and it was basically the match you'd expect. Tons of cool and athletic spots, but nothing that shows they were trying to do anything more than a fun TV match. Which is great, the world needs that and it makes their bigger efforts stand out more. Sabu comes out to interfere and hits Storm with a Triple Jump Splash through a table on the floor. He rolls him in, and RVD wins with the Split Legged Moonsault. **3/4 They keep on the attack, BUT CHRIS CANDIDO RUNS OUT TO SAVE LANCE! FUCK YEAH! They run them off AND HIT STEREO DIVES! YES! Joey announces Candido/Storm vs. RVD/Sabu for the titles this weekend at the ECW Arena. It's over then They have words in the ring, and shake hands! THIS SATURDAY JUNE 6TH AT THE ECW ARENA: -THAT TAG TITLE MATCH -CREDIBLE VS. LYNN IN AN I QUIT MATCH -SANDMAN/DREAMER/SPIKE/NEW JACK VS. DUDLEYS/BIG DICK/JACK VICTORY A recap of Jack Victory's debut and turn airs. Match #2: The Sandman/Tommy Dreamer/Spike Dudley vs. The Dudley Boyz/Big Dick Dudley All the usuals are on the show. This is literally what you'd expect. Fun hardcore match, nothing more and nothing less. They do the same pairings as at A Matter of Respect before the match breaks down. It's very much just the same match as the one in the middle of May, just without barbed wire. They handcuff Tommy to the ropes and this then stops being a match and becomes a wonderful angle. **1/2 Beulah tries to shield Tommy, but this time, it doesn't turn out well, BECAUSE SHE GETS THE FUCKING 3D. I THINK SHE'S DEAD NOW. Spike and Good Referee shield her, and Sandman has been taken out on the floor by now. They beat down Spike too, but New Jack runs out to save! He does alright, but then Jack Victory and Lance Wright sneak out and Victory hits New Jack with his guitar! The Dudleys and Jack Victory pose in the ring with everyone down, and Sign Guy holds up a "VICTORY!" sign in front of them. |
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| Big Tuna | Aug 9 2013, 10:08 PM Post #30 |
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ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Shane Douglas, Since 11/30/1997 - LONGEST REIGNING CURRENT CHAMPION FTW World Heavyweight Champion: Taz, Since 5/14/1998 ECW Television Champion: Rob Van Dam, Since 4/4/1998 ECW Tag Team Champions: Chris Candido/Lance Storm, Since 12/6/1997 ECW Hardcore TV June 10th, 1998 Philadelphia, PA R.I.P. JYD. MEMORIAL THUMP. Match #1: John Kronus vs. Jamie Dundee Basic Kronus squash, but Dundee calling him a retard was awesome. 450 Splash ends it. *3/4 The ending 5 minutes of last week's show airs again. In the back, Joey Styles says now they've injured Beulah and says Joel Gertner has told The Dudley Boyz that they will either apologize to Beulah, or he will resign as their spokesman. Footage airs of Beulah leaving Raven for Tommy Dreamer at House Party 96. In the parking lot, Lance Wright is with Jack Victory and he interviews The Dudley Boyz and Joel Gertner. Gertner says the Dudley Boyz went beyond extreme, and he, Joel "I Only Beat On Women When They're Asking Me To" Gertner has issued an ultimatum. He says they must apologize IN PERSON to Beulah or they will lose the services of The Quintessential Studmuffin. Bubba says they don't want to lose him, and they'll apologize. Bubba says they'll do it in person too, so he opens the ambulance, AND D-VON IS WITH A BLOW UP DOLL IN A BEULAH T-SHIRT. AMAZING. D-Von says she gave him crabs and Bubba says he's sorry Tommy's rat is spreading VD to all the boys, and they're real sorry. D-Von says they're not as sorry as Tommy Dreamer is gonna be. TESTIFY. In the back, The Triple Threat is sitting in a circle and they talk. Chris Candido says that idiot Lance Storm can't get a flight on time to Philadelphia, so ECW is letting him pick a partner for the night and says the big man will do. Bigelow says he can't wait and Candido tells Shane if he wasn't hurt, he'd do fine, and Bigelow has some revenge for RVD. Shane says to hold on now and says he's getting a little antsy sitting back and watching them have all the fun and he feels like he's got something to prove. He tells Bam Bam to stay in the back and watch out for Taz jumping them again, and he'll be Candido's partner. He says he has surgery next week and says it's not like it can get any worse. Candido says a one-armed Franchise is still better than a two armed Lance Storm. Cut to The Triple Threat in the ring, and Shane has the mic. He talks about how they all have to pull their weight here, and Shane says he's tired of hearing from people about how Rob Van Dam is the real singles champion in ECW so he's going to prove a point tonight. He says RVD is nothing more than a high flyer and a risk taker and he's a Johnny come lately coming into the house that The Franchise built. Shane says he's got to know, so it's he and Candido against Rob Van Dam and Sabu. Not sure why we needed two segments for that. Clips air of Taz's attacks on Shane's arm. Match #2: Rob Van Dam/Sabu vs. Shane Douglas/Chris Candido The usual suspects are on the floor. Shane doesn't have his gear on, since this is fairly last minute. This is clipped a lot, but enough airs to consider it something like a real match since like 6-7 minutes air. RVD/Candido is good and Sabu/Candido might be better. Shane tries harder with one arm than he has in months, probably since the NYC Shane/Bigelow match. Taz runs out though and attacks his arm. Bigelow comes out to save and they fight. Candido is alone and RVD and Sabu put him through a table with the Double Flying Legdrop for the win. ** |
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| Big Tuna | Aug 10 2013, 02:41 AM Post #31 |
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ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Shane Douglas, Since 11/30/1997 - LONGEST REIGNING CURRENT CHAMPION FTW World Heavyweight Champion: Taz, Since 5/14/1998 ECW Television Champion: Rob Van Dam, Since 4/4/1998 ECW Tag Team Champions: Chris Candido/Lance Storm, Since 12/6/1997 ECW Hardcore TV June 17th, 1998 Philadelphia, PA The Dudley Boyz are in the ring to open the show and Bubba stutters and dances, and asks if they remember that, and says they fell for that hokey shit. They all jumped on the big babyface bandwagon and worshiped the ground that Bubba Ray Dudley walked on. And with that, it's a quick cut to the intro in a very off putting transition. Match #1: The Sandman/Tommy Dreamer/Spike Dudley/New Jack vs. The Dudley Boyz/Big Dick Dudley/Jack Victory w/ Joel Gertner & Sign Guy Dudley [South Philadelphia Street Fight] This starts as Sandman vs. Bubba, but Joey says after a certain amount of time (which is never specified) without a pin, both men's tag partners will come in in two minute intervals. Bubba gets on the mic and says beer cans don't hit back and they have a great fight. Bubba gets the upper hand, and Bubba gets back on the mic. He says all Sandman has is a cane, a beer, and a pack of smokes, and he's been paying dues in this company for as long as his wife's been fucking Raven, and Sandman fights back at that. They clip a lot of this, but there's enough to get a good flow. They go overboard with it at the end so it becomes a collection of moves, and it sucks because this was really good and could have been great in full. Tommy uses an Emerald Frosion for the first time here. Victory very surprisingly beats New Jack with a guitar and chair shot combo. **3/4 JUNE 27TH - ECW ARENA: -CANDIDO/STORM VS. RVD/SABU FOR THE TAG TITLES They air the Beulah vs. Fonzie part of the tag from As Good As It Gets Match #2: Jerry Lynn vs. Justin Credible w/ Jason, Chastity, & Nicole Bass [I Quit Match] Man, this sucked. I can usually put up with their match because it's a solid midcard match that they keep improving on, but this was basically the same thing, but it doesn't fit an I Quit match at all. There's no focus on anything, which again I can usually deal with because they do a solid constant action deal, but here they actually tease focus with holds and then nothing goes anywhere and they just do more moves. Lynn hits the Tombstone and then locks on a cool STF type deal to win. This was basically just another match and then they added on a submission at the end. Why even bother? *3/4 A video airs of Taz/BBB stuff over the last 4 months, narrated by Paul E. In the back, Joey Styles announces Taz vs. BBB for Heatwave for the FTW Title! |
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| Big Tuna | Aug 10 2013, 08:07 PM Post #32 |
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ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Shane Douglas, Since 11/30/1997 - LONGEST REIGNING CURRENT CHAMPION FTW World Heavyweight Champion: Taz, Since 5/14/1998 ECW Television Champion: Rob Van Dam, Since 4/4/1998 ECW Tag Team Champions: Chris Candido/Lance Storm, Since 12/6/1997 ECW Hardcore TV June 24th, 1998 Philadelphia, PA ECW finally runs a non-ECW Arena building in Philly! Tommy Dreamer is in the ring and says he's here to fight any one of the pussies that hurt his fucking girl. D-Von Dudley comes out, and Tommy attacks him, but then Bubba Ray Dudley, Big Dick Dudley, and Jack Victory come out from behind to attack him in a 4 on 1. Tommy gets hit with the 3D, but Balls, Axl, New Jack, and Spike run out to save and the heels bail. Clips air of other matches on the show. Taz and Bam Bam had another brawl. SIGNED FOR JUNE 27TH: -SANDMAN/DREAMER/MYSTERY PARTNER VS. THE DUDLEYS In the back, Fonzie cuts a promo with RVD and Sabu. RVD says he's the TV Champion, not that Shane Douglas has been defending his belt anyways, but this means he's the champion of TV. He says there's three of them and they need three belts, he'll have 2 and Sabu can have 1. Right down the middle, baby. He says there will be consequences, like Lance Storm getting fired for being boring maybe, and Chris Candido's old lady banging on his door. He then says they'll let Francine touch the gold too, if she lets Fonzie touch the silicone. Sabu shoves him and RVD asks if he wants to touch it too, so Sabu shoves him again. A clipjob of Sabu vs. Ulf Hermann airs, to the point where it's just a collection of spots from the match for 2 minutes. Sabu wins. Match #1: Rob Van Dam [c] w/ Bill Alfonso vs. John Kronus [ECW Television Championship] This is clipped too, but there's enough here to get a rating. Joey Styles calls it the Uranagee. Pronunciation matters! Kronus does stuff and his retard big man karate is both fun and hilarious at the same time, which is impressive. Really shitty selling at the end, as RVD gets up from a chair shot in 15 seconds and hits the Van Daminator to win. ** Match #2: Chris Candido/Lance Storm [c] w/ Francine vs. Mikey Whipwreck/Chris Chetti [ECW Tag Team Championship] Also clipped far away from being anything memorable. Awesome showcase for the champions for 5-6 minutes. They work super well together now that they actually get along. Candido takes the insane RVD Stunner bump off the Whippersnapper, so that rules. Chetti has a decent hot tag, but misses the Double Jump Moonsault. Lance takes out Mikey and they win with a Powerbomb/Flying Legdrop combo. **1/4 In the back, The Dudleys and Jack Victory are in the back. Joel says this is the team that took out America's Sweetheart...of a prostitute. The lights go out and they are mad. Sounds of fighting and struggle are had, AND SANDMAN'S CIGARETTE LIGHTER COMES ON AFTER A WHILE! YEAH! The lights come on and the babyfaces are beating them up. Jack Victory's leg is all cut up and it's complete anarchy. Sandman comes back in and fights Bubba. The cumworthy Beulah video from late 1996 airs again. Before the main event, Bubba gets on the mic. He says he doesn't know why everyone was so mad, because Beulah was just a two-bit whore and Tommy Dreamer's broken in hole. He says Tommy's breath is a lot better now, because whenever he used to kiss Beulah, his breath smelled like the cum of everyone in the back. Match #3: The Sandman vs. Bubba Ray Dudley w/ Everyone SANDMAN IS IN SHORTS. WEIRD. This was about what you'd expect for a 3-4 minute match to lead into an angle. Bubba gets on the floor for the fight, but a fan hits him and Joey Styles says that's Beulah's brother. Bubba drags him over and it stops being a match. *3/4 They beat the shit out of him obviously, and all the other people in the feud come out for a big pull apart at the end. |
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| Big Tuna | Aug 10 2013, 08:25 PM Post #33 |
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TOP 25 MATCHES OF THE HALF-YEAR: 1. Bam Bam Bigelow [c] vs. Rob Van Dam, Hardcore TV (April 8th) 2. Taz [c] vs. Bam Bam Bigelow, Living Dangerously (March 1st) 3. Chris Candido/Lance Storm [c] vs. Little Guido/Tracy Smothers, Hardcore TV (March 11th) 4. Rob Van Dam vs. Bam Bam Bigelow, House Party (January 10th) 5. Taz [c] vs. 2 Cold Scorpio, House Party (January 10th) 6. Chris Candido/Lance Storm [c] vs. Little Guido/Tracy Smothers, Monaca (January 17th) 7. Chris Candido vs. Lance Storm, Cyberslam (February 21st) 8. Rob Van Dam vs. 2 Cold Scorpio, Living Dangerously (March 1st) 9. The Sandman/2 Cold Scorpio vs. Rob Van Dam/Sabu, Hardcore TV (March 11th) 10. Rob Van Dam/Sabu vs. The Dudley Boyz vs. Tommy Dreamer/The Sandman vs. The Gangstnators, Hostile City Showdown (January 31st) 11. The Sandman/Tommy Dreamer vs. The Dudley Boyz, Wrestlepalooza (May 3rd) 12. Mikey Whipwreck vs. Justin Credible, Wrestlepalooza (May 3rd) 13. Rob Van Dam [c] vs. Lance Storm, Hardcore TV (June 3rd) 14. Mikey Whipwreck vs. Justin Credible, Hardcore TV (April 8th) 15. Rob Van Dam/Lance Storm vs. Sabu/Chris Candido, A Matter of Respect (May 16th) 16. The Sandman/Tommy Dreamer/Spike Dudley/New Jack vs. The Dudley Boyz/Big Dick Dudley/Jack Victory, Hardcore TV (June 17th) 17. Justin Credible vs. The Great Sasuke, House Party (January 10th) 18. Axl Rotten/Balls Mahoney vs. Rob Van Dam/Sabu, Hardcore TV (February 18th) 19. New Jack/Spike Dudley vs. Axl Rotten/Balls Mahoney vs. The Dudley Boyz, Living Dangerously (March 1st) 20. Rob Van Dam vs. Al Snow, Hardcore TV (March 25th) 21. Chris Candido vs. Axl Rotten, Hardcore TV (April 22nd) 22. Sabu/Rob Van Dam vs. Axl Rotten/Balls Mahoney, Hostile City Showdown (January 31st) 23. Tommy Dreamer vs. Justin Credible, Cyberslam (February 21st) 24. The Sandman/Tommy Dreamer/Spike Dudley vs. The Dudley Boyz/Big Dick Dudley, A Matter of Respect (May 16th) 25. Rob Van Dam [c] vs. Mikey Whipwreck, It Ain’t Seinfeld (May 14th) Wrestler of the Half-Year: Rob Van Dam - 40 Points Tag Team of the Half-Year: Little Guido/Tracy Smothers - 18 Points |
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| Big Tuna | Aug 10 2013, 11:08 PM Post #34 |
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ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Shane Douglas, Since 11/30/1997 - LONGEST REIGNING CURRENT CHAMPION FTW World Heavyweight Champion: Taz, Since 5/14/1998 ECW Television Champion: Rob Van Dam, Since 4/4/1998 ECW Tag Team Champions: Chris Candido/Lance Storm, Since 12/6/1997 ECW Hardcore TV July 1st, 1998 Philadelphia, PA In the ring, Joey Styles introduces the show and brings out his new color commentator, Shane Douglas. This is quite the step down from Rick Rude. All of the Triple Threat comes out, and they also have Lance Storm with them, although not in a Triple Threat t-shirt like the others. Mutants pop for Shane's continuing rudeness to the sound guy. Shane says he came back too fast from injury and got hurt again and shows off his scars and says this is what comes from being a wrestler, not a sports entertainer. Shane says somebody's been running their mouth, and he's fucking sick of it, and says Taz can make a belt but all it makes him is a pretender to the throne. He says the real gold is around his waist and he's gonna shoot. UGH. STOP IT. IT'S NOT INTERESTING IF YOU SHOOT EVERY TIME YOU'RE NEAR A MIC. Shane says his elbow was injured before Taz so much as laid a hand on it and says Bam Bam Bigelow did that, NOT TAZ. He says Taz took advantage of that to try and make a name for himself, but now he's pissed off the wrong people, and calls Taz out to jump him now. So Taz comes out and Lance Storm just kind of leaves. Taz says he could whoop Shane with one arm behind his back. Taz again says this is the real World Title, weeks after saying it doesn't mean shit, and Taz says he'll fight him now and says to turn the cameras off. Just stick to one narrative, god damn. Apparently he meant Bam Bam, so hey. Coming back from the intro, Joey and Shane say it was an epic battle. What a cocktease. Shane says Bam Bam manhandled him and hypes the Heatwave match. According to the internet, they went to a draw. Match #1: Masato Tanaka vs. Balls Mahoney Really fun match. I've liked everyone ECW has brought from Japan, but Tanaka is easily the best fit so far, since he can brawl well enough and his style is basically just a ton of spots, which is essentially perfect for ECW fans. Balls is game, but this is basically led by Tanaka as an introduction to his stuff, and it rules. He survives a chair shot and just murders Balls with three more. Tornado DDT on two chairs gives Tanaka the win. *** In the back, RVD and Fonzie cut a promo. RVD says he's winning both belts tonight in Philadelphia, because he's getting a push and that means he's going to win. God damnit. ECW is on a mission to make me hate everyone it's made me love over the last few years. He redeems himself by saying that even though Sabu isn't here right now, he'll say all of Sabu's lines now, and just points at the ceiling. He says he doesn't say a lot, but that's okay. He says he'll bring all his belts back to Philadelphia next time, and says he'll defend them too, unlike OTHER champions. He's not naming names. Well, maybe he is. Holyfield, Austin, Hogan, they wouldn't do that. Shane Douglas won't even give them a title shot and he's actually in ECW. He says he used to want to leave ECW, but now he's a team player, and he's using his talents to build up ECW to give him the kind of houses and money he deserves. Was that a face turn? That feels like a face turn, but then so does the last few months of Douglas/Taz stuff, so I never really know with ECW. In the ring, Joel Gertner has the mic and he is with The Dudley Boyz, Big Dick Dudley, Jeff Jones, and Sign Guy Dudley on crutches. He has an "I HATE DREAMER" t-shirt on and the Beulah blow up doll too. Joel says they'll prove tonight that not only are they the best tag team in ECW, the most violent tag team in ECW, but also the most respectful tag team in ECW. Gertner says this is three weeks late, but this is what they feel they need to do. Sign Guy holds up an "R.I.P. BEULAH" sign. Joel says recently the wrestling world lost one of its most beloved personalities, and they would like to pay homage to the career of the most disgusting slop to ever grace an ECW ring, Beulah McGillislutty! They lay the doll on the mat and demand a 10 bell salute, but the timekeepers refuse. D-Von does it himself. Match #2: The Sandman/Tommy Dreamer/Atsushi Onita vs. The Dudley Boyz/Big Dick Dudley w/ Joel Gertner, Jeff Jones, & Sign Guy Dudley Onita comes in after like 3 minute and is dressed like a monk, clearly not giving a shit. He then turns on Tommy and Sandman pretty much immediately, and drinks Sandman's beer. Amazing. AND THEN NEW JACK COMES OUT. ONITA AND NEW JACK ARE FIGHTING HOLY SHIT. Jack Victory again attacks New Jack with his own guitar. Onita then leaves, because ECW brought him here to do that two minute appearance? Spike Dudley comes out to be the actual third man, realistically. He gets murdered by Big Dick though. Tommy is taken out and Bubba then hits him with the Flying Back Senton under a ladder. Both Dudleys cover and Bald Referee refuses to count because I don't know. This is clearly a match without rules, I don't know why this is the match an ECW referee chooses to take a moral stand in. Jeff Jones takes him out and makes the count anyways though. Okay then. More of an angle than a match, and kind of a shitty one at that. ** They reair the final moments of Tanaka/Balls again for some reason. Match #3: Chris Candido/Lance Storm [c] vs. Rob Van Dam/Sabu w/ Bill Alfonso [ECW Tag Team Championship] This was only 7 minutes, because I have no idea why. As such, it was kind of disappointing, which is very upsetting given how much potential this has. Basically just all constant action with a few flubs also holding it back. Candido and Storm get a long really well, except that when they have RVD and Sabu on the table, Candido jumps before Storm is ready, and RVD moves, so Candido goes through the table! RVD then takes Lance out with a chair sidekick deal and they set up another table. Stereo Diving Legdrop gives RVD and Sabu the titles to end the best ECW Tag Title reign yet. **3/4 |
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| Big Tuna | Aug 11 2013, 12:49 AM Post #35 |
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ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Shane Douglas, Since 11/30/1997 - LONGEST REIGNING CURRENT CHAMPION FTW World Heavyweight Champion: Taz, Since 5/14/1998 ECW Television Champion: Rob Van Dam, Since 4/4/1998 ECW Tag Team Champions: Rob Van Dam/Sabu, Since 6/27/1998 ECW Hardcore TV July 8th, 1998 Queens, NY In the back, RVD and Fonzie have all their belts. Fonzie yells about having all three belts, and RVD says it's everybody's favorite wrestler and the reason you watch ECW, Rob Van Dam. RVD puts himself over and in his pauses, Fonzie yells HOMICIDAL, SUICIDAL, and GENOCIDAL. RVD says Fonzie has Sabu's dialogue down, and Fonzie shoves him. AHAHAHAHAHA. RVD says he can handle a stronger push, and tells the promoters to listen up. When you think of RVD, think push. In the ring, Joey introduces the show and NYC still hates Philly. Joey brings out his co-host Shane Douglas. He insults NYC, so Taz comes out. Candido, Storm, and Bigelow also come out, and Lance gets in Taz's face. Lance says he used to be a Tag Champion and if someone hadn't gotten pinned last week, he still would be. Lance says maybe you can make up a belt here, but he believes you have to earn a real one, and that belt in his hand doesn't mean shit. Taz slaps him and a match is on! Match #1: Taz vs. Lance Storm This is 2 minutes, so what the fuck? It was awesome and full of highspots, but still 2 minutes. Taz wins with the Tazmission. *3/4 The Triple Threat holds Bigelow back on the floor from fighting Taz. Match #2: Masato Tanaka vs. Mike Awesome Hey, this match! Look, it's a Masato Tanaka vs. Mike Awesome match. I've seen this before, you've seen this before. It's a fun match, I'm almost always going to give it ***. This is a little different than their 1999 stuff, which is much appreciated. Still, you know what you get. Powerbombs, elbows, head drops, kickouts. Tanaka wins with the Rolling Elbow. *** After the match, Awesome attacks and puts Tanaka through the timekeeper's table with the Awesome Bomb. Match #3: Spike Dudley vs. Ulf Hermann w/ Lance Wright & The Equalizer This is back from the 6/27 ECW Arena show. Spike immediately kicks him in the dick and hits the Acid Drop to win. Awesome. Poop/54 He does the same to Lance and The Equalizer. In the back at the commentary station, Francine gloats about finally outlasting Beulah. Before the main event, Bubba says they have a surprise partner for tonight too, AND SAYS IT'S THE MOST HARDCORE MAN THAT EVER LIVED! "DESPERADO" PLAYS AND OH MY GOD IS TERRY FUNK FINALLY TURNING ON TOMMY?! NOPE. NOBODY COMES OUT AND BUBBA YELLS "PSYCHE! YOU FUCKING MARKS!" He asks if they really thought Terry Funk would leave a cushy gig in the WWF making everyone else look good to come back here. Match #4: The Dudley Boyz w/ Everyone vs. The Gangstanators Good short New Jack Match. No more than five minutes, but whatever. I'd rather the time be given to Awesome/Tanaka being aired in full than this. Big Dick gets involved and it becomes a 3 on 2. Shane spends all of this calling out Taz, and making a valid argument that Taz is the one who picked a fight with him. New Jack gets hit with the 3D and Tommy Dreamer and Spike Dudley come out, but it cuts to the back as Taz rushes to the commentary position. AND BAM BAM ATTACKS FROM BEHIND! They keep fighting in the ring and the show just ends before a finish. Great work, ECW! *3/4 |
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| Big Tuna | Aug 11 2013, 02:01 AM Post #36 |
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The Master and Ruler Of The World
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ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Shane Douglas, Since 11/30/1997 - LONGEST REIGNING CURRENT CHAMPION FTW World Heavyweight Champion: Taz, Since 5/14/1998 ECW Television Champion: Rob Van Dam, Since 4/4/1998 ECW Tag Team Champions: Rob Van Dam/Sabu, Since 6/27/1998 ECW Hardcore TV July 15th, 1998 Lots of Places The last 5 minutes of last week opens the show. Of course, they don't bother showing the match's finish. In the back, Shane and Francine have Bam Bam Bigelow guarding the commentary position. Before the opening match, Lance Storm gets on the mic and says as a former Tag Team Champion, this match is beneath him. He says this building is beneath him too, since this isn't The Pavilion in Calgary, and he's not sure if this is worthy of his talent. Meanie then starts a "WHERE'S YOUR BELT?" chant because he's awful. Lance says Candido always said he carried the team, so he can do it for real, because he doesn't feel the need to wrestle tonight. He goes out and takes a seat at ringside. Match #1: Chris Candido/Lance Storm vs. The Blue Meanie/Super Nova This is from Queens. Another decent showcase for Candido and Lance, and I was under the impression that they split immediately after losing the titles, so this is great to see, even though the split is clearly soon because I read PPV cards. Lance and Candido could have been an all-time great team if they stuck with it, but at this point they're on a list of best short-term tag teams ever. Nova actually looks pretty decent here. Candido actually does this all by himself, until Lance kills Meanie with his chair and Candido just takes the cover to win. **1/4 Candido is mad at Lance, but Shane is impressed with Lance finally on commentary. In the back, RVD, Sabu, and Fonzie are standing by. Fonzie yells about August 2nd and RVD says they're gonna defend his Tag Titles or even their Tag Titles. RVD says their opponents can come from anywhere in the world - Japan, England, Czechoslovakia, Vietnam, Kalamazoo, it doesn't matter. Huge pop for Kalamazoo. RVD says he's showing off on August 2nd, and it doesn't matter who else is there. THIS SATURDAY AT THE ECW ARENA: -RVD/SABU VS. CANDIDO/STORM II: RVD'S TV TITLE ALSO ON THE LINE! WHOA! -DREAMER VS. BUBBA -SANDMAN VS. D-VON -SPIKE VS. DICK A pre tape airs with New Jack on the subway and asks where they expected to find him. The gym? That ain't New Jack. He's getting ready for Jack Victory at the PPV and says if he wanted trouble, he chose him right. He's the original Gangsta, and if he wants to mess with someone who's gonna light him on fire, he chose right. He came out from under a rock to mess with New Jack, so he's gonna show him about what violence is all about. He tells him to get his bow legged ass to the PPV and he'll take him to another level of violence. He's gonna beat the dog shit out of him because he's started something he won't finish. Clips air of Tanaka/Balls and Tanaka/Awesome. The last 2 minutes of a probably awesome Tanaka/Smothers match airs, but it's not enough to rate. Tanaka wins with the Tornado DDT on chairs. In a pretape, Taz says he's doing cardio and Bam Bam is playing bodyguard to Shane and his fake belt. He says they know he's not there, but maybe he's coming there right now. He says he can make it soon, and he's gonna be there by the end of the show, and maybe they won't even have to wait until August 2nd. Match #2: Jerry Lynn/Pablo Marquez vs. Justin Credible/Jason w/ Nicole Bass & Chastity Well, this sucked. On commentary, Joey tries to strongly imply that Justin Credible is the successor to Shane Douglas, and Shane does something good and totally shuts him down and shits on Credible. Dat foreshadowing. Jason is awful as always. El Puerto Ricano is useless, but works half the match vs. Credible. Credible pins him with That's Incredible as Lynn makes Jason tap out to a Texas Cloverleaf, but Joey says both men are eliminated, so apparently this is an unannounced elimination match. This is the reverse Awesome vs. Tanaka. They change their spots up all the time, and the match seemingly gets worse and worse. Taz arrives at commentary at the end and fights Bam Bam and off camera, Credible is announced as the winner. Fuck this. 3/4* |
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| Big Tuna | Aug 11 2013, 02:06 PM Post #37 |
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The Master and Ruler Of The World
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ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Shane Douglas, Since 11/30/1997 - LONGEST REIGNING CURRENT CHAMPION FTW World Heavyweight Champion: Taz, Since 5/14/1998 ECW Television Champion: Rob Van Dam, Since 4/4/1998 ECW Tag Team Champions: Rob Van Dam/Sabu, Since 6/27/1998 ECW Hardcore TV July 22nd, 1998 Philadelphia, PA Taz comes out to the ring and says four and a half years ago, ECW had to cancel a TV taping due to a big snow storm and a lot of the faces he sees here were part of the 90 people that show up to the new taping, and he was there too. He says the people there chanted ECW and while nobody gave a shit then, they basically said "Fuck WCW, Fuck WWF, I'm about ECW". In effect, they said "fuck the world". Later that year, Shane Douglas threw down the NWA Title and proclaimed a belt to be Extreme. In effect, he said "fuck the world". And he was proud then because he was on the team and in the revolution, but when Shane lost his belt, he jumped. But everybody forgot that Shane did that, so while he claims to be the Franchise and says he's not a real champion, and maybe that's something you can argue, BUT SHANE DOUGLAS ISN'T A FRANCHISE. A Franchise sticks it out, a Franchise wrestles when he doesn't want to, a Franchise wrestles in shitty buildings to help build the company, and he's been on EVERY one of these shows, guys like him, Tommy, and The Sandman, AND THAT'S IT. They turned down offers and stayed loyal so they could grow with ECW, and they did, but Shane didn't. He says Shane was the foreman on this job, but he left the job site, and came back when the building was near completion and claimed he did it by himself. So now HE'S standing in the ring holding up a belt that he just invented, and HE'S SAYING "FUCK THE WORLD". He says Shane got shot after shot until he got the World Title, and that's fine, but what about the miserable fucking workhorse? He makes Shane Douglas tap out in three minutes for the TV Title, and the next PPV, Shane's given a World Title shot because of it? RVD's done great, but he's the guy that made that TV belt, because Taz now thinks he's Scorpio. He challenges Shane to a title vs. title match and says he'll make him fucking tap and that's it, and says he wants to DEFEND this title. THAT PROMO RULED. Match #1: Taz [c] vs. Bam Bam Bigelow [FTW World Heavyweight Championship] This is like 2 minutes of decent action, before Lance Storm and Chris Candido run out to save Bigelow for a DQ. *1/2 They beat on him and hit a horribly mistimed version of RVD and Sabu's Rolling Thunder, BEFORE RVD AND SABU COME OUT TO SAVE! WHOA! The three heels bail out, and then because fuck yeah continuity, Taz faces off against RVD, Sabu, and Fonzie. Fonzie points to the titles on the mat and signals that that's four belts, being the first one to recognize that title, and offers a handshake. Taz walks past him and gets the FTW Title before holding it up, and RVD and Sabu then hold up their belts. Taz leaves, and Joey yells about the FTW Title now being recognized, and Shane is surprised Taz left without a fight. In a video, Joey Styles announces RVD/Sabu vs. the #1 Contenders, yet unnamed. Also, Dudleys vs. Sandman/Tommy/Spike with stipulations to be decided by this three match series, New Jack/Jack Victory, and another Lynn/Credible match. AND AWESOME/TANAKA II. A clipjob airs of Bubba/Tommy and the other two matches in the series. Bubba pins Tommy after lots of interference and him using a guitar shot. The clipjob of Sandman/D-Von then airs. It looks great, just like Tommy/Bubba, but is clipped down to some 3 minutes, so it's not anything I can justify counting. Sandman wins with the White Russian Leg Sweep for the first time to tie it up at 1-1. A final clipjob of Spike/Big Dick airs. This was a minute with clips, so hey. Big Dick Dudley wins with a Torture Rack Neckbreaker. So The Dudleys win, and will pick stips for Heatwave. In the back, Lance and Candido cut a promo. Lance asks if Candido trusts him, because he trusts Candido. Candido asks why he trusts him, and Lance says he just does, and he'll prove it. He stands on a chair and does a trust fall. Lance says a week ago in Boston, Candido almost got his ear ripped off and Lance tries to show it off, but Candido shoves him away and says to get off his ear. Lance says he went with him to the hospital, and all he could think about was tonight, and they're going to prove that they're still the best tag team in wrestling. Lance puts his arm around him and gives a thumb up, and Candido says to watch the ear, but also gives a thumbs up. Match #2: Rob Van Dam/Sabu [c] w/ Bill Alfonso vs. Chris Candido/Lance Storm [ECW Tag Team Championship] This is JIP again, and Candido's head is taped along with amateur headgear on. This is clipped because ECW is out to let me down over and over again in 1998 apparently. This gets 6-7 minutes, but it was AMAZING. Everythign was super crisp this time and they had a ton of really impressive spots. RVD takes insane bumps, Lance has an awesome crowd dive, etc. Candido avoids the Double Legdrop through a table this time, but Lance kicks out! They have a collision later, AND LANCE SMACKS CANDIDO IN THE HURT EAR AND WALKS OUT. WHOA! Candido gets beat with the Event Omega. *** Lance walks out on Candido. Awesome long double turn. PULP FICTION: -The tag champions cut a promo and RVD does a sweet Fonzie impression but says they need to be cool like RVD. He says he's heard rumors about who their opponents could be, but they know that they're leaving with his belts too. RVD says they call him "stiff" and RVD 4:20 means he just smoked your ass. RVD tells Sabu to finish the promo, so he just points up -Joel Gertner says they had a Penthouse pet spayed, neutered, and fixed. He says The Dudley Boyz are merely products of their own environment, and Beulah was the one who ventured into Dudleyville. If she wants someone to blame, she should blame Tommy Dreamer. Bubba says Tommy's made some mistake, and they all make mistakes, but Tommy made the biggest one of all. He brought his girlfriend into a wrestling ring, aka Dudleyville, because that's wherever they happen to be. Bubba says they'll beat up a 2 year old boy or an 80 year old grandmother, because that's their house, city, state, and world. -Tommy Dreamer says he thought getting rid of Raven would stop the pain. Jerry Lawler was different because everyone knew it was just him on behalf of ECW. He says his life's an open book, and people come to take out his friends and apparently all of his friends get hurt. Sandman gets sent to the hospital in front of his pregnant life and he has to tell Lori that he got hurt because of him. And then just like everyone else he loves, Beulah gets hurt, but she gets hurt worst of all. They were supposed to be together forever, and he breaks down crying. He gets up and yells wedding vows in between headbutting lockers. |
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| Big Tuna | Aug 11 2013, 03:25 PM Post #38 |
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The Master and Ruler Of The World
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ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Shane Douglas, Since 11/30/1997 - LONGEST REIGNING CURRENT CHAMPION FTW World Heavyweight Champion: Taz, Since 5/14/1998 ECW Television Champion: Rob Van Dam, Since 4/4/1998 ECW Tag Team Champions: Rob Van Dam/Sabu, Since 6/27/1998 ECW Hardcore TV July 29th, 1998 Philadelphia, PA In the back, Fonzie is with RVD and Sabu and yells that he's bringing them to Dayton. Rob Van Dam does another Fonzie impression and yells RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE. He says he still doesn't know who they're facing, but it doesn't matter because they can go rush to buy tickets because RVD is coming to their town. And Sabu too! They're gonna watch Sabu help him defend RVD's tag titles in Dayton, OH. In the back, Joey announces that RVD and Sabu will fight HAYABUSA AND JINSEI SHINZAKI AKA HAKUSHI FROM FMW FOR THE TITLES! YEAH! The ending moments of Taz/Bigelow from Living Dangerously air. In a pretape, Taz cuts a promo. For five months, he's kept hearing "THE WINNER AND NEW WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPION". He says he's been saying his famous credo but Bam Bam CAN beat him, but this isn't about his FTW belt that half the people recognize and half the people don't. It's about a victory, and in Dayton, he's talking back his victory and his credo. Bam Bam stopped him from feeling it in his heart. Bam Bam beat him, and while he survived, he doesn't lose a lot. He says Bam Bam's now gotta be asking himself if he can do it again. He's not. He's not going to beat him again, because he can't let him. BEAT HIM IF YOU CAN, SURVIVE IF HE LETS YOU. AUGUST 8TH AT THE ECW ARENA: -TAZ/SABU FOR THE FTW TITLE -AWESOME VS. TANAKA Clips air of the Lance/Candido stuff from last week. In the back, Shane Douglas says Lance went over the line. He was flying high until the Triple Threat brought his ass down and took Candido, who carried him for 6 months, and he hit him at his most vulnerable point. Shane says at Heatwave, Candido would put his ass under a magnifying glass and fry him. Joey then makes the match official. He runs down the card and apparently the stip for the six man is merely a Dudleyville Street Fight. Match #1: Masato Tanaka/Jerry Lynn vs. Mike Awesome/Justin Credible w/ Jason & Chastity This is #2 for Awesome/Tanaka. I'm keeping track. Credible and Lynn finally have a great match, although that's like 75% due to Awesome and Tanaka. Both feuds get highlighted well and there's enough changing of the pairings that they both come off well. Awesome was kind of sloppy here on everything but his big highspots, but whatever, it didn't really damage the match. Tanaka again gets put through a table over the top with the Awesome Bomb, but Lynn reverses a Tombstone into his own for the win. *** In the back, the card gets run down again. Clips air of some of the angles over the last few months with Taz/Shane and Lance/Candido, along with Tanaka's recent matches. The Pulp Fiction from last week airs again. |
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| Big Tuna | Aug 11 2013, 07:25 PM Post #39 |
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The Master and Ruler Of The World
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ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Shane Douglas, Since 11/30/1997 - LONGEST REIGNING CURRENT CHAMPION FTW World Heavyweight Champion: Taz, Since 5/14/1998 ECW Television Champion: Rob Van Dam, Since 4/4/1998 ECW Tag Team Champions: Rob Van Dam/Sabu, Since 6/27/1998 ![]() ECW HEATWAVE 1998 AUGUST 2ND, 1998 DAYTON, OH Joey Styles brings out his co-host Shane Douglas to open the show. Francine comes out in a bra and thong, so that's great. Shane promises that Taz will get beat up even worse than last time and a "SHOW YOUR TITS" chant starts. They huddle up and Francine shows them her tits, and Shane applauds. Joey clearly has a boner and Joey says he has a new suit and it's double breasted like Francine. She says it didn't cost him six grand like these did, and shoves his face in her cleavage. I hate you, Joey Styles. THROW IT TO THE INTRO! ECW weirdly set the ramp and entrance up to the right side of the hard cam instead of the left. It's not a huge deal, but it is kind of bizarre. Match #1: Jerry Lynn vs. Justin Credible w/ Jason, Nicole Bass, and Chastity Joey claims this is the final match of an unannounced until right now Summer Series between these two, so lol. Joey takes the time to shit on "know it all wrestling fans and journalists" saying Credible didn't deserve the publicity ECW gave him. This is their best match yet perhaps, and it's like I said in 1997, this is the perfect undercard match. They do fun stuff to get the crowd hot, but there's no danger of them having a great match or killing the rest of the card, because they don't have the skill to do so. They do some chair and table stuff that's good, but again, whatever. Lynn finally takes out the entire entourage, but Credible hits a Super Tombstone to win. **3/4 A hype video airs for Lance/Candido. Match #2: Chris Candido w/ Tammy Lynn Sytch vs. Lance Storm Sunny's here, and Joey calls her by this name for the first time. She's starting to deteriorate, but is still very good looking. Awesome match. It's what a grudge match between technicians should be, as they still do wrestling, but it's faster and rougher. It's a total movefest, but the pace themselves well enough (for the most part) that there's almost always something great happening and it doesn't peak until the end. Lots of highspots at the end, but Candido pulls it out with the Blond Bombshell. *** Video airs from earlier tonight, where New Jack was in front of the building with the fans and talking about how he's gonna whip Jack Victory's ass. He came over and they started to yell at each other, BUT A CAR PULLS UP AND BUBBA AND D-VON STEP OUT TO ATTACK NEW JACK FROM BEHIND! Big Dick also came out, and Balls and Axl came over to save and it's a big gigantic pull apart. Joey says New Jack vs. Jack Victory will now not take place due to New Jack's injuries. In the back, RVD, Sabu, and Fonzie are standing by. Sabu is in a suit and sunglasses and looks insanely bad ass. Fonzie yells a lot and RVD says to relax. They're here because Mr. Monday Night brought them to the top and Sabu helped him too. He says they're here to win and Fonzie yells some more about how they're losing. RVD says he's gonna be 6-0 on PPV, since they really know who won last time, because Rob Van Dam is the whole fucking show. Match #3: Masato Tanaka vs. Mike Awesome Again, this is what you'd expect. Also #3 in their ECW battles. The Liger Bomb is clearly becoming a stylish move now, as this is the third match in a row to have one. Anyways, this is what it is. Head drops, elbows, Awesome Bombs, Awesome dives, chair no-selling, etc. Masato almost kills Awesome with a revenge Awesome Bomb through the timekeeper's table, and then wins in the ring with the Tornado DDT onto the chairs. *** In a pretape, Taz cuts a promo. He says tonight is the night and in a short while, he's going to tap to the only champion on PPV that means anything. Not Austin, Goldberg, or Tyson. TAZ. He says Bam Bam pinned him on PPV, but he's taking back that victory on PPV tonight, and he knows he's getting his ass kicked on the way to that win. He won't beat him again. BEAT HIM IF YOU CAN. SURVIVE IF HE LETS YOU. Basically a retread of the promo on the last TV. ECW NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER 1998: NOVEMBER 1ST! FROM NEW ORLEANS, LA! In the back, the Dudleys cut a promo. Bubba says nobody will save Tommy, Sandman, and Spike tonight. Tommy Dreamer might be the savior of wrestling and he might give his soul to Jesus Christ, BUT HIS ASS BELONGS TO THE DUDLEYS. that ring is their church, the 3D is their cross, and TONIGHT IT'S HIS CROSS TO BEAR. FUCK YEAH. Match #4: Rob Van Dam/Sabu [c] w/ Bill Alfonso vs. Jinsei Shinzaki/Hayabusa [ECW Tag Team Championship] This isn't bad, but like, it's a perfect storm of stuff that isn't good. Lots of miscommunications due to language and just general botching early on, but they cut that out. Then they do lots of slow matwork type stuff before they do stuff, but then it doesn't really flow and it just...I don't know. I don't know how to describe the specific kind of mess that this was, but when you see it, you know what I'm talking about. Nothing clicked at all and this is a large stain on an otherwise great show. *3/4 Hype video for Taz/BBB II. Match #5: Taz [c] vs. Bam Bam Bigelow [FTW World Heavyweight Championship - Falls Count Anywhere] This ruled, but not to the extent of the first match. Lots more crowd brawling than big epic stuff, but they still did a lot of cool stuff. Good brawling, it's just that it wasn't AS interesting, you know? They have one of the better finishes in ECW history yet again, as they fight on the ramp. Bam Bam tries a slam, BUT TAZ TORNADO DDTS HIM THROUGH THE GOD DAMN RAMP JESUS CHRIST. They both slowly get up, big Bam Bam crawls out first. He slowly walks forward, BUT TAZ GETS UP OUT OF THE HOLE AND SIGNALS FOR DEATH. TAZ RUNS AND JUMPS TO GET THE TAZMISSION, AND BIGELOW TAPS! *** Taz gets on the mic and points up at Shane on commentary, and says BEAT HIM IF YOU CAN, SURVIVE IF HE LETS YOU. Shane throws shit and storms off. Hype video for the main event. Match #6: The Sandman/Tommy Dreamer/Spike Dudley vs. The Dudley Boyz/Big Dick Dudley w/ Joel Gertner, Jeff Jones, & Sign Guy Dudley [Dudleyville Street Fight] This was really disappointing. It hurts that they basically have run this for 2 months, because almost everything they do in this match has been done before, and this had lulls in the action that their other matches didn't. It also ends way way before it should, as they never really reach a peak of insanity like the other ones. Tommy beats Bubba with a DDT onto a ladder. ** Tommy celebrates, but Jack Victory runs out and breaks the guitar on his head. The heels beat on the faces, AND NEW JACK COMES OUT! YEAH! NOW the brawl becomes awesome and chaotic and all the wonderful things you wanted the actual match to be. The heels get driven off, and Sandman, New Jack, and Tommy climb up the three ladders and pose while Spike stomps around the ring to end the show. |
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| Big Tuna | Aug 15 2013, 02:07 PM Post #40 |
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The Master and Ruler Of The World
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ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Shane Douglas, Since 11/30/1997 - LONGEST REIGNING CURRENT CHAMPION FTW World Heavyweight Champion: Taz, Since 5/14/1998 ECW Television Champion: Rob Van Dam, Since 4/4/1998 ECW Tag Team Champions: Rob Van Dam/Sabu, Since 6/27/1998 ECW Hardcore TV August 5th, 1998 Dayton, OH A recap of Taz/Bigelow opens the show. In the back, Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Candido are standing by. Bigelow keeps saying that he never tapped and Taz may have had it on, but he'll have to choke him out because he'll never quit. He says he's gonna kick his ass for taking his trophy, but he's gonna get it back. Taz is going down. AUGUST 8TH IN THE ECW ARENA: -TAZ VS. SABU FOR THE FTW TITLE -AWESOME/TANAKA III -NEW JACK VS. JACK VICTORY IN A WEAPONS MATCH -CANDIDO VS. STORM -RVD VS. LYNN FOR THE TV TITLE Awesome looking lineup, it's a shame it has no commercial release. They air most of Taz/Sabu from Barely Legal to hype up the Arena match this weekend. Taz/Sabu II from Wrestlepalooza 97 airs in full, followed by Taz/Shane right after, so basically two of the four segments that made up the best hour of ECW ever. A recap of Candido/Lance airs. A recap of Awesome/Tanaka II airs. A recap of Lynn/Credible airs. In the back, Fonzie is with RVD and Sabu. RVD says nobody is surprised that the night's over, and he's still the World Champions. He means they're still the champions, and they defended his belts well. He says he's beat up, but it'll go away, and it's not like he's some scarred up fr -- no offense, Sabu. He's still the best, he's still Rob Van Dam, and hey, Sabu is still here. He's still the whole fucking show. A recap of the main event of Heatwave airs. |
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Sandman sells the neck by having trouble spitting the beer out in his pre-match ritual. 



6:52 PM Jul 10